Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a judgment stopping the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), officially known as the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, from arresting motorists, impounding vehicles, or imposing fines on road users across the Federal Capital Territory. A three-man panel of the appellate court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by the agency and affirmed that its officers lack constitutional powers to stop vehicles on the road. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi held that the VIO’s appeal had “no merit whatsoever,” insisting that the agency had acted outside the scope of its…

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday vowed to mobilise millions of workers for nationwide protests and declare a national day of mourning as kidnappings and violent attacks escalate across the country. NLC President, Joe Ajaero, speaking at the opening of the Congress’ National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos, said the country was “under siege” and warned that the labour movement would not sit idly while criminal gangs overrun communities, abduct schoolchildren and kill workers. A visibly angry Ajaero said the recent abduction of schoolchildren, following the sudden withdrawal of security operatives from their school, raised troubling questions about…

Controversial Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has invoked a fierce divine curse on individuals he accused of sponsoring the lingering insecurity ravaging parts of the country, declaring that Nigeria’s banditry and terrorism crisis is being deliberately fuelled by powerful interests. In a viral video sermon delivered in Hausa on Wednesday, Gumi prayed that Allah’s wrath should continuously descend on political actors, military officers, and businessmen allegedly profiting from the violence plaguing the North-West and North-Central regions. “May Allah curse whoever is sponsoring insecurity in this country, whether they are politicians, military officers, or businessmen,” the cleric declared. “May Allah’s…

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday swore in retired Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, as the new Minister of Defence, charging him to immediately restore public confidence in Nigeria’s security architecture. The brief ceremony, held at the State House, Abuja, came barely 24 hours after the Senate confirmed the former CDS following a tense five-hour screening session dominated by questions on rising insecurity and alleged operational failures under his watch. Musa, who replaces Mohammed Badaru after his resignation reportedly on health grounds, told lawmakers during the screening that he would order a full-scale probe into the controversial withdrawal of…

The Imo State Police Command has launched a full investigation into the brutal assault of a young girl in Uruala community, Ideato North Local Government Area, after her guardian allegedly poured candle wax and boiled water on her as punishment for allegedly stealing meat. The state Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, was said to be deeply disturbed by the incident and has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to immediately investigate and ensure the suspect is charged to court. The suspect, who admitted to the act during an interview with journalists, claimed…

Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to order his immediate transfer from the Sokoto Correctional Centre, insisting that the facility’s distance from the capital is obstructing his right to appeal his conviction. Kanu, who was recently sentenced to life imprisonment on terrorism charges, made the request in a motion ex parte he personally signed. The application was formally presented in court on Thursday by his younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu. In the motion, the IPOB leader argued that his transfer to Sokoto—over 700 kilometres from Abuja—has created…

Multiple witnesses on Tuesday told the National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, that the August 16 bye-election for the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency was riddled with violence, overvoting, intimidation and widespread vote-buying. The witnesses, lined up by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), narrated how suspected thugs allegedly loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) stormed polling units, disrupted voting, chased away voters, and in some cases allegedly thumb-printed ballot papers in the open. The three-member panel, chaired by Justice A. M. Yakubu, heard that the disturbances reportedly occurred in polling units across Sagamu, Ikenne…

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Osun State, Dr Mutiu Olaleke Agboke, on Tuesday visited the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp in Ede as part of preparations for the 2026 governorship election. Agboke, who led a team of INEC management staff and officials, said the visit was aimed at equipping corps members with the technical knowledge and confidence needed for their roles in the forthcoming poll. Addressing the prospective ad hoc staff, the REC described the NYSC as a “strategic backbone” of Nigeria’s electoral process, noting that corps members had consistently contributed…

Daud Olatunji Ogun State Governor on Wednesday presented a N1.669 trillion Appropriation Bill for the 2026 fiscal year, with infrastructure receiving the largest allocation as the administration pushes to consolidate six years of what it described as unprecedented economic and structural growth. The budget, tagged the “Budget of Sustainable Legacy,” marks the seventh consecutive financial plan of the administration and reflects what the governor called a deliberate commitment to continuity, consolidation and long-term impact. Giving a broad overview of the State’s economic progress, the Governor disclosed that Ogun’s economy has expanded to an estimated ₦17 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—a…

Mariam Aleem A man, Victor Fajemirokun, has confessed to killing a Federal Road Safety Corps officer, Funmilayo Lasisi, and her teenage daughter, Sewa, after an Islamic cleric allegedly told him the woman had “used his glory,” prompting him to lure her into the hands of suspected ritual killers in Osun State. Fajemirokun, 40, was paraded on Wednesday at the Osun State Police Command headquarters in Osogbo alongside two herbalists, Gboyega Daramola and Sunday James, who allegedly butchered the victims and removed several vital organs. Funmilayo, 39, and her daughter were declared missing on November 2 after leaving their home at…