Nigeria’s escalating debt burden is threatening to cripple the country’s capacity to finance climate adaptation and essential public services, with women, girls and children facing the harshest consequences of the widening fiscal and environmental crisis, ActionAid Nigeria has warned. The organisation said the projected use of more than half of Nigeria’s government revenue for debt repayments in 2026 raises serious concerns about the resources that will remain available for tackling floods, food insecurity, environmental degradation, energy poverty and other consequences of climate change. ActionAid Nigeria, alongside its partners, issued the warning on Friday in Abuja following the publication of ActionAid…
Author: Abimbola Ogunaike
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The Northern Christian Youth Professionals (NCYP) has demanded a thorough, transparent and credible investigation into the deaths of 37 suspected young miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State. The group said the circumstances surrounding the deaths required urgent clarification, particularly because the victims died after being arrested and detained by a government security agency. The suspected miners were among scores of people arrested by the NSCDC during enforcement operations against illegal mining in the M.I. Wushishi/Lukoto area of Niger State on September 15 and 16. The Corps said…
The United Kingdom has reaffirmed its commitment to deepening economic and digital cooperation with Abia State, with the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Jonny Baxter, highlighting the state’s entrepreneurial base and emerging opportunities for investment, innovation and job creation. Baxter made the commitment during a two-day visit to Abia, where he held talks with Governor Alex Otti, engaged civil society and electoral stakeholders, visited the Geometric Power Plant and participated in a state-level programme designed to strengthen the policy and regulatory foundations for digital transformation. The visit provided a platform for discussions on expanding UK-Abia cooperation in trade, investment,…
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has removed its Niger State Commandant from operational duties and commenced a full-scale investigation into the deaths of illegal miners who were in the custody of the Corps. The development followed an order by the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, directing the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Prof Ahmed Audi, to conduct a transparent and unhindered probe into the circumstances surrounding the deaths. Acting on the minister’s directive, Audi ordered the Niger State Commandant to immediately step aside and report to the NSCDC National Headquarters in Abuja to appear before the…
Seven decades after Shell drilled and capped oil wells that were considered commercially unviable in parts of Akwa Ibom State, communities in Ikono and Ibiono Ibom Local Government Areas say they are still paying the environmental and economic price of an oil operation that ended long ago. From dying oil palm seedlings and declining harvests to polluted streams, vanishing aquatic life, lost fishing grounds and damaged property, residents of eight communities say the abandoned petroleum infrastructure has become a continuing source of hardship rather than a relic of the past. The communities made the revelations during a capacity-sharing dialogue organised…
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has confirmed the death of some suspected illegal miners arrested during enforcement operations in Niger State and constituted a high-powered team to investigate the incident. The suspects were arrested during a coordinated operation by the Niger State Command in the M.I. Wushishi/Lukoto axis on September 15 and 16, 2026, as part of ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining and protect the nation’s natural resources. The deaths were discovered in the early hours of Thursday, 17 September, 2026 triggering a national directive from the Corps headquarters. In a press statement issued on Thursday,…
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, on Wednesday warned foreign missions to stop bypassing her ministry to deal directly with the Presidency and other arms of government, declaring that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains the only official channel to the Nigerian government. Odumegwu-Ojukwu issued the warning on Thursday at her first formal briefing with the Diplomatic Corps since assuming office as substantive Foreign Minister. “This Ministry is your diplomatic home. My doors remain open,” she told ambassadors, high commissioners and international organisations, but added that official requests must be routed through the ministry to ensure coordination and institutional…
By Richard Elesho Nigeria has come a long way in transforming its standing in the comity of nations. In the hey days of military interregnum, especially during the late Gen Sani Abacha military junta, the country was reduced to a pariah nation as many advanced democracies in Europe and America stigmatised it. The return of democracy in 1999 has since changed Nigeria’s standing and status with successive administrations pursuing policies to bring the country back to international reckoning. The Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government has doubled up on the efforts of his predecessors to…
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, 17 September, 2026, sentenced a 38-year-old South African woman to 40 years imprisonment for importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria using her three-year-old son as cover. Justice Obiora Egwuatu convicted Ms. Will Jessica Ann on two counts of importation and conspiracy to import heroin in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/422/2026, which she pleaded guilty to. The court sentenced her to 15 years on count one and 25 years on count two. The sentences will run concurrently. She will effectively spend 25 years in jail. Ann was arrested on July 6, 2026, by operatives…
Eight Nigerian entrepreneurs who represented the country at the World Startup Championship (WSC) finals in Pakistan have called on the Federal Government to recognise their achievement and provide funding to enable them commercialise their innovations internationally. The entrepreneurs, sponsored by the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), made the appeal on Thursday after returning from the global innovation competition, where Team Nigeria won two awards across the country and individual categories. Nigeria won the Country Award in the Growth and Innovation Category, while Uthman Fatimah Zahra of Nature’s Sleek Limited, Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), Minna, Niger State, received the Individual…