Author: Mohammad Adamu

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother in possession of 90 grammes of skunk, saying she turned to drug dealing after losing her provisions shop to fire. She told investigators her Lagos-based daughter supplied her with cannabis every four days for resale — the daughter has since been arrested too. Given her age, NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa ordered she be granted bail and counselling instead of prosecution. In a separate Akwa Ibom operation, operatives intercepted a boat bound for Cameroon, arresting three suspects and seizing over 42kg of narcotics, including 20 grammes of cocaine concealed…

Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, will pair with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, a six-time major champion and two-time US Open singles winner, in this year’s US Open mixed doubles, organisers confirmed Saturday. The US Tennis Association announced the wildcard pairing, marking Williams’ first appearance at the US Open since 2022. The 44-year-old American returned to competitive tennis this summer after a four-year absence, playing singles at Wimbledon and doubles alongside her sister Venus at the Cincinnati Open. Williams will not play singles in New York. The USTA had held one women’s wildcard open, possibly for her,…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says headline inflation slightly declined between June and July, attributing the drop to monetary tightening and exchange rate unification. The Acting Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, disclosed this at the CBN Fair held on Thursday in Lokoja, Kogi State. She was represented by Mr Zubairu Abdulrahman Salihu, Branch Controller, CBN Lokoja. The fair, themed “Driving Alternative Payment Channels as Tools for Financial Inclusion, Growth and Accelerated Economic Development,” is one of the platforms the apex bank uses to engage the public on its policies and initiatives, she said.…

The World Health Organisation says more than 10,400 attacks on healthcare facilities have been recorded across 29 countries and territories since 2018, killing over 5,700 people and injuring 8,500 others. WHO said in the first seven months of 2026 alone, attacks on healthcare left more than 900 people dead and over 1,400 injured, with Ukraine, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory and Myanmar worst affected. Nigeria has not been spared, with hospitals, ambulances and health workers repeatedly coming under attack, particularly in the North-East, where insurgency has damaged facilities and driven medical staff from their posts. The WHO, alongside the International…

The Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) says the ongoing recruitment exercise into Nigeria’s four paramilitary agencies will be concluded within the next four weeks. Secretary to the board, Abdulmalik Jubril, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.The board is recruiting into the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Nigerian Correctional Service, all under the Ministry of Interior. Jubril said the process had reached its final stages, and successful candidates would be notified through the recruitment portal, https://recruitment.cdcfib.gov.ng. He said the board was committed to…

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now spreading “exponentially,” with more than 2,500 deaths recorded and half of them occurring in just the last 20 days, the United Nations’ senior Ebola coordinator said on Friday. Speaking from Bunia, at the centre of the outbreak, Julien Harneis told reporters in Geneva that the epidemic is the worst in the country’s history and is spreading faster than any previous outbreak on record. “The epidemic is spreading widely. It’s now covering an area bigger than France,” Harneis said, adding that transmission was outpacing the response effort. Declared on 15…

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has shut down a suspected illegal maternity facility in the Elelenwo area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and arrested three people over an alleged ₦13.5 million baby sale involving a Liberian national resident in Belgium. NAPTIP said the arrested suspects included the facility’s owner, an alleged facilitator of the baby sale and a staff member. According to a statement by the agency’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Vincent Adekoye, the facility was operating out of a residential apartment in Elelenwo. The raid was conducted jointly by NAPTIP operatives…

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is launching a major new campaign targeting Iran’s economy, warning that any country doing business with or assisting the Islamic republic would face severe punishment. The escalation in economic pressure comes as the war approaches its sixth month with no diplomatic or military resolution in sight, and as Trump faces renewed domestic political scrutiny with November elections approaching. “Today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that…

President Bola Tinubu has directed the immediate preparation of a comprehensive national threat assessment alongside a rolling five-year strategic defence operations plan, aimed at strengthening coordination across Nigeria’s defence, intelligence and security agencies. His media aide, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement that the directive was given on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja, with the President stressing the need for a coherent framework to tackle evolving security threats nationwide. The Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka Famadewa, will coordinate and provide secretariat support for the 11-man committee set up by Tinubu…

• Human mascots, SMS mobilisation, Pidgin radio show, jingle headline grassroots drive • Group cites economic, security, education, infrastructure reformsGiant, colourful mascots promoting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid on Wednesday flooded strategic locations across Abuja as the Hope Alive Initiative (HAI) commenced its grassroots mobilisation campaign in support of the President. The street activation, which marked the opening phase of HAI’s multi-platform campaign, saw about 40 human mascots deployed across major roundabouts, markets, motor parks and other high-traffic locations in the Federal Capital Territory. The initiative attracted the attention of motorists, commuters and residents as the mascots moved…