Author: Platform Times Newspaper

No fewer than 40 people were killed on Saturday when terrorists invaded Kasuwa Daji market along the Sokobara–Tunga Demo axis in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, abducting an unspecified number of women and children in what residents described as a coordinated and brutal attack. PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the assailants stormed the rural market during peak trading hours, shooting indiscriminately, setting shops ablaze and extending the violence to surrounding villages, forcing residents to flee in fear. A disturbing video obtained by SaharaReporters showed dozens of lifeless bodies scattered across the market, while plumes of thick smoke rose from…

No fewer than 25 persons have been confirmed dead following a tragic boat accident in Garin Garbi, Nguru Local Government Area of Yobe State. Eyewitnesses told PLATFORM TIMES on Saturday that the passenger boat capsized on Friday, throwing occupants into the water and triggering a frantic rescue effort by residents and security operatives. Fourteen passengers were reportedly rescued alive, while several others are still missing. A security analyst, Zagazola Makama, who first reported the incident, said the boat was conveying men and women when it overturned under circumstances that were yet to be officially explained as of the time of…

Three unarmed women were on Saturday brutally murdered while working on their farmland as renewed communal violence between Bachama and Chobo communities flared up in Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State. The Adamawa State Police Command confirmed that the women were attacked on January 3, 2026, on a farm near Tigno village, allegedly by suspected Bachama youths amid the resurgence of the long-running tribal conflict in the area. Confirming the incident in a statement on Sunday, the command’s spokesperson, SP Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje, described the killings as fallout from what he termed a “renewed Lamurde tribal conflict.” “The Adamawa…

A Nigerian Catholic priest, Fr. Celestine Eze, has condemned the Federal Government and health authorities following the alleged death of a pregnant woman at the National Hospital, Abuja, reportedly due to the ongoing doctors’ strike at the facility. The incident, which occurred on Saturday, has sparked renewed outrage over the prolonged industrial action that has grounded medical services at one of Nigeria’s foremost tertiary hospitals, leaving patients—particularly pregnant women—without access to critical care. In a viral video shared on his Facebook page and seen by PLATFORM TIMES, Fr. Eze was visibly distraught as he narrated how the woman, who was…

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, to investigate allegations of murder levelled against the Senior Pastor of the Mountain of Liberation and Miracles Ministries, Chris Okafor. The directive followed mounting public outrage and renewed claims circulating on social media, where some individuals accused the cleric of involvement in murder, amid an ongoing sexual misconduct scandal that has dominated public discourse in recent weeks. PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the police order came despite the absence of a formal petition from any of the alleged victims. Confirming the development on Sunday, the…

Islamic scholars and clerics have strongly rejected any attempts to link banditry, terrorism, and other violent crimes with Islam, stressing that the religion stands for peace, justice, and the sanctity of human life. The declaration came at the 17th Annual Islamic International Conference, organised by Daaru Na’im Academy for Shariah Sciences, Nigeria, which held in Lagos and drew over 20,000 participants from across Nigeria and beyond. The four-day conference carried the theme: “The Jurisprudence of the Sound Creed and Contemporary Challenges.” Speaking at the event, Dr Imran AbdulMajeed Eleha, convener of the conference, said the gathering aimed to examine the…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sounded a sharp warning to governors and lawmakers defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the act as a threat to democracy that should be criminalized. In an  interview  Comrade Ini Ememobong, PDP National Publicity Secretary, condemned the recent wave of defections, noting that at least seven PDP governors and several National Assembly members have joined the APC in recent months. “Defections undermine democratic principles and erode public trust. Those who abandon the mandate given to them by voters should be treated as criminals,” Ememobong said. Supreme Court Ruling Raises Fears of…

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the national leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has declared that he will only defect to another political party ahead of the 2027 general election if he is offered either the presidential or vice-presidential ticket. Kwankwaso also described the reported plan by Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as an act of betrayal, warning that such a move could undermine the political struggle that brought the NNPP to power in the state. Speaking on Sunday at his Miller Road residence in Kano while addressing supporters under the…

The Kwara State Police Command has arrested three men in connection with the burning of a house belonging to an elderly traditional worshipper in Ilorin, the state capital, following what police described as threats rooted in religious intolerance. The suspects were alleged to have issued threats as far back as November 2025 to set the woman’s house ablaze over her practice of traditional religion before allegedly carrying out the act on January 1, 2026. Confirming the development on Saturday, the police spokesperson in the state, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said the incident was reported at about 10pm on January 2 at the…

No fewer than 181,824 male and female condoms were distributed during the 2025 Carnival Calabar as part of a coordinated HIV prevention and youth health campaign by the Cross River State Government and its partners. The Director-General of the Cross River State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr Charles Iwara, disclosed this on Saturday, saying the intervention was carried out under the ninth edition of the Wise Up Carnival Campaign. Iwara said the month-long campaign, implemented in partnership with the state Ministry of Health and the United Nations Population Fund, ran from December 1, to mark World AIDS Day,…