Author: Platform Times Newspaper

Nigeria has been ranked the fourth most dangerous country for school children caught in armed conflicts, according to a new United Nations report. The 2024 report of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, published in 2025, revealed that Nigeria recorded 2,436 grave violations against children last year, trailing only Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories (8,554 cases), the Democratic Republic of Congo (4,043), and Somalia (2,568). The violations, described as the highest in nearly three decades, include abductions, killings, recruitment into armed groups, sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals. Globally, the UN said it verified 41,370…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed frustration over its inability to sanction politicians and political parties already engaging in premature campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ roundtable on early political campaigns. He said the commission is legally handicapped despite the clear provisions of Section 94(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which prohibits campaigns earlier than 150 days before polling. Yakubu lamented that while Nigerians expect INEC to act against violators, the Electoral Act does not prescribe any penalty for such breaches. “Quite correctly,…

… Primary Pupils To Learn Digital Literacy From Age Six … Fact-checking, Digital Literacy Now Core Subjects In Nigeria … Trade Skills Like Solar Installation, Fashion Design Also Included Daud Olatunji The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has introduced sweeping changes to the country’s basic and secondary school curriculum, making Artificial Intelligence (AI), journalism, fact-checking, and digital literacy core subjects from the 2025/2026 academic session. The Council said the reforms are designed to prepare Nigerian children for the digital economy while reducing over-reliance on rote learning. Trade skills such as solar installation, fashion design, livestock farming, and computer/GSM…

Operatives of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command have arrested the village head of Ibagwa in Abak Local Government Area, Chief Friday Jonah Umoren, for allegedly attempting to murder his sister during a family dispute. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Timfon John, confirmed the incident in a statement on Tuesday, disclosing that Umoren shot his 32-year-old sister, Unwana Effiong Friday Inyang, in the head with a locally made single-barrel gun. According to the police, the victim sustained serious injuries but was rushed to a hospital, where she is receiving treatment and is reported to be in stable condition. John…

Tragedy struck in Zaria, Kaduna State, on Monday when a woman, her three-year-old child, and a commercial motorcyclist were swept away during a heavy downpour that left parts of the ancient city submerged. An eyewitness, Mustapha Badamasi, popularly known as Dan Bakano of Tudun Jukun, told PLATFORM TIMES that the incident occurred along Gaskiya Road, near a church in Tudun Jukun, when floodwaters overran the major drainage in the area. According to him, the victims were on a motorcycle when the rider lost balance on the edge of the flooded drainage. The woman, identified as Fatima Sani Danmarke, attempted to…

Egbin Power Plc, Nigeria’s largest power generation company, has restated its commitment to education and sustainable community development as it marked the 10th edition of its annual scholarship awards. The event, held at the Egbin Power Clubhouse in Lagos on Tuesday, drew community leaders, parents, teachers, students, and the company’s management to celebrate a decade of academic support for children in host communities. Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of Egbin Power Plc, Mokhtar Bounour, described the initiative, which began in 2015, as a transformative programme that has not only relieved parents of financial burdens but also opened…

An Ebonyi-born businessman, Comrade Jeremiah Obaji, has trekked for 17 days from Lagos to Abakaliki to express gratitude to Governor Francis Nwifuru for brokering peace in the protracted Ezza–Effium communal crisis. Obaji, who began the 600-kilometre journey from Ikorodu, Lagos, on August 21, arrived Abakaliki on September 7, saying the sacrifice was his way of appreciating the governor’s intervention in restoring peace to the crisis-ridden Ohaukwu Local Government Area. Narrating his ordeal to journalists in the Ebonyi State capital on Tuesday, the peace enthusiast recalled battling hunger, fatigue, insect bites, and severe blisters that forced him to abandon his jeans…

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, on Tuesday reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to tackling sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) as she paid a working visit to the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who described violence against women and girls as a “community crisis that undermines peace, family life, and development,” said the Ministry was implementing new social intervention programmes under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to protect survivors and empower women. Citing alarming national statistics, the minister said “31 percent of Nigerian women aged 15–49 have experienced physical…

The Federal Government has dismissed fears of an imminent hike in fuel prices, clarifying that it has no immediate plans to enforce the 5 percent fuel surcharge contained in the newly signed Tax Administration Act 2025. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while addressing growing public concern that the surcharge would worsen the hardship already faced by Nigerians. The assurance comes two days after the Trade Union Congress (TUC) rejected the proposal, describing it as “economic wickedness” and threatening to mobilise for a nationwide strike if the policy…

The escalating wave of kidnappings and banditry in Kwara North has forced workers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Patigi and Edu Local Government Areas to abandon their duty posts and lock up offices, throwing the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise into uncertainty. Multiple security sources confirmed that operatives in the intelligence community had advised INEC staff to stay away from volatile areas, warning that they could become “soft targets” for armed gangs terrorising the region. One source disclosed that Lade town in Patigi had been largely deserted after sustained attacks, adding that officials were warned not…