Author: Platform Times Newspaper

Judicial activities were paralysed across Ondo State on Monday as magistrates and presidents of Grade ‘A’ customary courts commenced an indefinite strike to press for judicial financial autonomy and improved welfare. The action, embarked upon by members of the Coalition of Magistrates, Presidents of Grade A Customary Courts and Legal Research Officers, led to the closure of all magistrate and customary courts across the state, forcing litigants and court workers to return home. The striking judicial officers accused the state government of paying “lip service” to the issue of judicial autonomy, despite repeated assurances and previous agreements. They lamented what…

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a Port Harcourt–based medical doctor and pastor, Dr. Tombari Joseph Gbeneol, over an alleged plot to assassinate the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in a development that has further heightened tensions in Rivers State’s deepening political crisis. Security sources said that operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team arrested Gbeneol, founder of Life Forte Chapel Church, following what was described as a “high-risk intelligence intercept” involving a phone conversation between him and the immediate past Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo. According to the sources, the…

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has rejected claims by a national newspaper that tuberculosis (TB) is spreading uncontrollably in the country’s prisons, describing the report as “malicious” and “misleading.” Speaking in Abuja, NCoS Public Relations Officer, Jane Osuji, said the January 3 publication wrongly portrayed custodial facilities as “hotbeds” of TB, ignoring verified data from the Service. “The report adopted a sensational tone that is not supported by our records,” Osuji said. “Inmates diagnosed with TB are promptly treated under nationally approved regimens at no cost, and all facilities operate health clinics in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and…

The Nigeria Police Force has summoned a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and an Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in Imo State over allegations that they demanded a N100,000 bribe from a 15-year-old rape victim. The incident, captured in a viral video circulating on social media, involved a teenage girl who reported that an unidentified man broke into her family home in an unnamed Imo community and raped her while her siblings attended a masquerade ceremony during the Christmas festivities. The attacker allegedly threatened the girl with a knife before fleeing. According to the victim’s sister, when the family visited a police…

..Opposition Questions Afuye’s Qualification … APC Dismisses Claims As Political Distraction Daud Olatunji The All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party and the African Democratic Congress in Ekiti State have locked horns over the academic qualification of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye, following the publication of candidates’ credentials by the Independent National Electoral Commission ahead of the 2026 governorship election. Documents released by INEC showed that Mrs Afuye submitted a West African Examinations Council certificate, indicating that she sat for the examination in June 1978 at Amoye Grammar School, Ikere-Ekiti. The result recorded credits in Literature in English and…

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…