Author: Alade Adisa

The trial of self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile, Simon Ekpa, who was arrested in Finland for alleged terrorism-related activities, is scheduled to begin in May 2025, according to Finnish authorities. Confirming this, a Senior Detective Superintendent at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, Mikko Laaksonen, said the district court had set May 2025 as the deadline for prosecutors to present possible charges against Ekpa. The Finnish government had last week announced the arrest of Ekpa alongside four others on suspicion of terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and terrorism financing. Finnish police confirmed that Ekpa, allegedly used social…

The United Kingdom (UK) has unveiled its largest Visa Application Centre in Africa, located in Ikeja, Lagos. The opening of the new centre on Wednesday marks a significant step in enhancing visa application services for Nigerians travelling to the UK. A statement by the British High Commission in Lagos disclosed the development on Wednesday. With additional centres in Abuja and Victoria Island, Lagos, now operational since November 19, the facility in Ikeja is designed to streamline visa submissions and offer applicants a seamless experience. The British Deputy High Commissioner, Jonny Baxter, attended the launch in Ikeja, emphasizing the importance of…

Faustine Ndugulile, director-elect of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for Africa, is dead.Ndugulile, a 55-year-old lawmaker and medical doctor, reportedly died on Wednesday morning in India while undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness.Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, expressed shock over the passing of the organisation’s top official and condoled with Ndugulile’s family.“Shocked and deeply saddened to learn about the sudden passing of Faustine Ndugulile, WHO Africa Regional Director-elect,” he wrote on X.“My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends, and the parliament and people of Tanzania.”Matshidiso Moeti, the current WHO regional director for Africa, also sent her condolences.“I’m deeply saddened and…

Bode George, a former deputy national chairman (south) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says Bayo Onanuga, the presidential spokesperson, will face repercussions for insulting former President Olusegun Obasanjo. BACKGROUNDObasanjo, speaking at the Chinua Achebe leadership forum at Yale University in the US on November 16, said the 2023 general election was a “travesty”.The former president said Nigeria’s failing state status is evident due to “widespread corruption, poor leadership, and immorality,” causing insecurity and underdevelopment.He described the situation in Nigeria as chaotic under the “Baba-go-slow” and “Emilokan” reigns.“Emilokan” is a term popularised during President Bola Tinubu’s election campaign, when he…

The Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) is collaborating with MBR Signatures and Optiva Capital Partners to thrill airport users to a 20-day Christmas festival.The Managing Director of MBR Signature, Mr. Stanley Ezeani, made this known at a press conference at the premises of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd., operators of MMA2, on Wednesday in Lagos.He said that the festival would start on Dec. 1 with activities lined up daily as from 4.00 p.m.Ezeani said that the collaboration with Bi-Courtney would be for five years, adding that it was aimed to bring back the unique experience of what Christmas.“MBR Christmas Festival…

Sheer hypocrisy is what makes Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to accuse today’s INEC of malpractices when the same INEC under him in 2007 organised what was popularly adjudged the worst election in Nigeria’s history through Professor Maurice Iwu (Wuruwuru). So much that the beneficiary of the ill-gotten mandate, President Umar Yar’Adua, openly admitted the glaring irregularities and, as his own atonement, instituted the Uwais Panel to come up with electoral reforms.

Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, says that the proposed tax reform bills are designed to address immediate fiscal challenges and lay sustainable framework for economic growth and development of Nigeria.Oyedele said this in Abuja while presenting his committee’s findings on the proposed tax reforms bills to the Senate on Wednesday.The committee was constituted by the Federal Government to evolve measures of addressing the country’s economic challenges, including high poverty rates, low government revenue and rising public debts.Oyedele said the current economic situation in Nigeria had necessitated immediate and comprehensive tax reforms to…

Chairman, Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Taskforce), CSP Adetayo Akerele, said its operatives have apprehended 53 suspected criminals in the Gowon Estate area of the state.Akerele made this known in a statement, signed by the agency’s Director, Press and Public Affairs, Mr Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, on Tuesday in Lagos.He said that the agency carried out the operation to enhance safety, security of lives, property and environmental decorum in the area.“The agency apprehended drug peddlers, addicts; miscreants; street urchins; illegal street traders and people of shady business dealings.“We found several mix of different illicit drugs and narcotics, suspected to…

Russian President Vladimir Putin was expected Wednesday in Kazakhstan for talks on energy projects in the central Asian state which he called a strong ally ahead of his arrival.While Putin’s international travels have been limited since Russia’s all-out military offensive in Ukraine in 2022, he has been a regular visitor to Central Asia.Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has highlighted the friendship between the two countries while also making wary comments about the Ukraine war.Kazakhstan, which has denied Western accusations that it has not applied sanctions against Russia, has not condemned the invasion but has defended Ukraine’s territorial integrity.In a speech reported…

Amnesty International said Wednesday it had evidence that Angolan police killed at least 17 protesters by using excessive force, including live bullets, against public demonstrations over around 30 months.None of the officers or their superiors responsible for the killings had faced justice, the rights group said in a report that accused police of a brutal crackdown instead of respecting the right to peaceful assembly.Police are notoriously tough in oil-rich Angola, a legacy of a 1975-2002 civil war and almost four decades of repression under former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos.The current president, former Defence Minister Joao Lourenco, took over in…