Author: Mohammad Adamu

He came home without a World Cup assignment. But he came home a hero. Somali referee Omar Artan landed in Mogadishu on Tuesday to a rousing reception — over 100 flag-waving supporters, chants and emotional scenes at the city’s main airport — days after the United States denied him entry and effectively ended his World Cup dream. “I will be at the next World Cup and will continue to make Somalia proud,” Artan declared, unbowed. Washington’s explanation was blunt and bruising: a State Department official told AFP that Artan was “associated with suspected members of terrorist organisations” — a claim…

Armed bandits stormed Government Secondary School in Iluke Bunu, Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State on Wednesday morning, killing three people — including the school’s Vice Principal — and abducting students and residents. The attack, which occurred around 9:45am, targeted students sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination. The Vice Principal of UBE Secondary/Primary School, Iluke, Mr. Ganiyu Anifowose, was among those killed, alongside Sunday Jacob Alhassan, 70, and six-year-old Sunday Ayele. The Kogi State Police Command said approximately 40 heavily armed bandits on motorcycles invaded the school. Security forces, including police mobile units, military personnel, and…

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee about his relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest men, told reporters he hoped his testimony would assist the committee’s work in finding justice for Epstein’s victims before entering the hearing room without taking further questions. The committee requested his appearance after Justice Department documents raised fresh questions about his contacts with Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. A spokesperson for Gates said…

The head of the White House Task Force for the World Cup has defended the United States government’s decision to deny visas to Somali referee Omar Artan and some support staff affiliated with the Iranian national team, saying the refusals were made for legitimate security reasons. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the task force and son of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, made the remarks on Tuesday at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington. “No players, no coaches have been denied,” Giuliani said, noting that 35 teams had so far entered the country without incident. “There…

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has announced plans to sponsor a bill that would replace Nigeria’s current two-term system with a single six-year tenure for presidents and governors, arguing the change would allow elected officials to focus on governance rather than re-election. Bamidele disclosed the proposal during a media interview on Tuesday, saying the bill would be among the first he intends to introduce when the 11th Senate is constituted after the 2027 general elections. Under Nigeria’s current constitutional framework, presidents and governors may serve a maximum of two four-year terms. The Senate leader argued that this arrangement often pushes elected…

President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats, releasing ₦10 billion in emergency funding to strengthen Nigeria’s response to the disease resurging in neighbouring countries. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this on Tuesday, saying the fund would bolster the operational capacity of the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical public health emergency activities. The task force will be chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, with membership drawn from…

For decades, Nigeria’s military has fought insurgents, bandits and separatist agitators on land and in forests. Now, a new front has opened — and it requires a different kind of weapon. At a media workshop in Abuja on Tuesday, Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu delivered a stark warning: misinformation and propaganda have become as destabilising as armed attacks, and the Nigerian Army intends to fight back. “Today’s adversaries rely heavily on propaganda and information manipulation,” Shaibu said in a statement read by Maj.-Gen. Musa Etsu-Ndagi. “When left unchecked, disinformation can be as damaging as a direct security threat.”…

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission has launched an internal investigation into a recently detected infraction on its official website, inviting the Department of State Services to participate in the probe. The incident has drawn reactions from civil society groups, political commentators, and opposition figures, many questioning how a breach could occur within the country’s foremost electoral body. INEC’s decision to respond openly rather than deny the incident has, however, drawn cautious praise from observers who note that institutional accountability begins with acknowledgement. The Commission’s chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, and members of his team were abroad in South Korea at…

MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, has defended the recent telecoms tariff increase, saying the company was on the verge of collapse before the adjustment was approved. Toriola made the disclosure at a stakeholder engagement session themed ‘Data on Trial’, held in Lagos and hosted by television personality Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.He said the company could not meet its basic financial obligations at the time. “At the point when the tariff increase was implemented, we practically could not pay our bills. There was not enough money coming into MTN’s accounts to pay for diesel, rent and software licences. We were effectively…

A phone call from Washington has — for now — stopped the bombs from falling. Israel has halted its strikes on Iran after President Donald Trump personally intervened, a senior Israeli official told Channel 12. Netanyahu reportedly relented following a direct call from the US president. But the ceasefire comes with a warning: if Hezbollah keeps hitting Israeli towns, Israel says it will return fire on Beirut’s southern suburbs. The report remains unverified, though multiple outlets have corroborated the broad outline of Trump’s intervention.