Category: PM News

The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna State, Rev. Caleb Ma’aji, has asked all Christian-owned schools located on the outskirts of Kaduna to close down or operate only as day schools for now.

He said this is important because of the recent rise in student kidnappings by bandits.

Rev. Ma’aji made the appeal following the growing insecurity and the recent abductions of schoolchildren in Kebbi, Niger, and other states. He advised that schools in rural areas should also close temporarily or take strong security measures to avoid attacks.

He said, “Schools outside Kaduna town should close for now to keep students safe until the security situation gets better.”

The CAN chairman also urged the government to act quickly to protect students in all schools and prevent a repeat of what happened in Kebbi and Niger States.

He sympathized with the governments and families affected by the kidnappings and prayed for the safe return of all the abducted students and teachers.

Rev. Ma’aji encouraged parents to continue trusting God for the release of their children and called on government at all levels to do more to protect Nigerians.

He noted that the increasing attacks by bandits across the country are worrying.

“Nigerians need a safe environment to live, work, and reach their full potential,” he said.

By Aminu Garko

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned that recent remarks credited to Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Ata, on internal matters of the party in Kano could mislead members and encourage disunity across the state chapter.

The party accused Ata of making repeated “uncomplimentary and derogatory” remarks and warned that continued conduct of this nature could lead to sanctions.

The APC in Kano said this in a letter signed by Chairman, Abdullahi Abbas to warn the Minister over the alleged unguarded utterances.

In the letter, the party alerted the Minister that recent remarks credited to him the media on internal matters and aspirants could mislead members and encourage disunity across the state chapter.

The Kano APC Chairman further noted that only authorised spokespersons may address issues being spoken on by Ata.

He noted that Ata holds no communications role within the APC.

The party acknowledged the right of Ata to support any aspirant but reminded him that his cabinet position requires him to strengthen unity within the party.

On Tuesday, 9 December 2025, the Nigerian Army Conference Centre and Suites in Abuja will once again transform into a vibrant hub of creativity, innovation and sustainable development advocacy. The reason is clear: the Grand Finale of the 3rd Edition of the SDGs Short Film Challenge and Awards–a fast-rising global platform that has successfully positioned young filmmakers at the heart of the push towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What began humbly in 2023 with just 73 film submissions has now evolved into one of the most influential youth-driven development advocacy movements across Africa. This year, the Challenge reached a historic milestone with 2,265 entries received from 140 countries, reaffirming the power of storytelling to cross boundaries, inspire action and connect global citizens with shared development aspirations.

Vision Born from Decade of Action

The initiative, jointly organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs), the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) and FreshNEWS Multimedia Networks, was created to galvanise young creatives to contribute to the 2030 Agenda through film. It aligns perfectly with the Decade of Action, the global call urging nations to accelerate their progress on the SDGs.

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the Short Film Challenge represents “a dynamic vehicle for mobilising young people to interrogate developmental issues, provide homegrown solutions and inspire society through the creative power of film.” Her message captures the soul of an initiative that bridges creativity and policy, entertainment and advocacy, youth expression and global development.

Festival Beyond a Competition

The 2025 Grand Finale is designed not merely as an award ceremony but as a full-scale development and creative festival. Proceedings will begin at 2:00pm with the Opening of the Exhibition Centre–an interactive space showcasing SDG-themed artworks, innovative installations and development solutions imagined by young creators.

This will be followed by screenings of shortlisted films, each one tackling urgent issues ranging from climate action to gender equality, poverty, education, responsible consumption, health, environmental sustainability and more. The films give voice to global concerns, local realities and personal stories, all crafted within fifteen minutes of visual storytelling.

Dialogue sessions will bring together a cross-section of young filmmakers, policymakers, development partners, civil society actors, and creative industry stakeholders. These conversations are among the most anticipated moments of the festival, as they deepen the exchange of ideas and provide a bridge between creativity and policy reform.

From 4:00pm, the ambience transitions into glamour and celebration as the Red Carpet opens, setting the stage for the Gala Night, the high-level opening and the signature highlight–the Awards Presentation.

Growth Story Rooted in Purpose

The journey of the SDGs Short Film Challenge is a testament to the rising appetite among youth globally to engage with social challenges using accessible digital tools. In 2023, the first edition attracted just 73 entries.

By 2024, the initiative grew exponentially, receiving 2,250 films from 119 countries. This year’s tally of 2,265 entries from 140 countries not only sets a new record but also reflects a fast-growing creative community committed to development storytelling.

The Challenge provides much more than recognition. For many participants, it is a life-changing opportunity–offering international exposure, expanded creative networks, potential mentorships, and the chance to participate in exchange programmes and development-focused platforms.

Fueled by Partnerships, Driven by Youth

One of the most significant strengths of the initiative is the partnership behind it. OSSAP-SDGs brings policy leadership, UNIC contributes global resonance and credibility, while FreshNEWS Multimedia provides the creative backbone, youth mobilisation and production expertise. Together, they have shaped a model that is both developmental and entertaining.

The films submitted each year are more than artistic expressions; they are calls to action. They challenge stereotypes, confront injustice, spotlight inequalities and celebrate resilience. They articulate the reality of communities often ignored. And most importantly, they demonstrate that young people are not just passive beneficiaries of the 2030 Agenda–they are active architects of sustainable development.

Looking Ahead to 9 December 2025

As anticipation builds, Abuja prepares to host filmmakers, diplomats, development partners, creative industry figures, youth leaders, civil society groups and members of the public–all coming together in celebration of a global movement driven by passion, vision and creativity.

The 3rd Edition of the SDGs Short Film Challenge and Awards is set to be a festival that blends advocacy, culture, entertainment and policy dialogue. It promises to reinforce one central message: storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools for accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals.

And as the world meets once again in Nigeria’s capital city, the spotlight will shine brightly on the young visionaries shaping the narrative of a sustainable future–one film at a time.

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Newcastle United produced one of their most resilient performances of the season on Saturday evening, battling past Manchester City for a deserved 21 victory in a fiercely contested Premier League clash at St James’ Park.

Harvey Barnes scored twice, one a precise low strike, the other a poacher’s rebound as Eddie Howe’s side overcame City’s long spells of possession and late pressure to secure a statement win against the reigning champions.

City enjoyed early control, probing through Jeremy Doku, Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden, but it was Newcastle who carved out the clearer chances.

Nick Woltemade twice forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into sharp saves, while Lewis Hall’s deliveries troubled the visitors’ back line.

The breakthrough arrived in the 63rd minute when Bruno GuimaraPound es threaded a clever pass into Barnes. The winger shaped his body and fired a clean strike into the bottom-left corner, igniting St James’ Park.

Moments earlier, City had seen a penalty appeal turned down after VAR ruled no foul on Foden, a decision that proved pivotal as Newcastle seized momentum.

Manchester City responded swiftly. After a flurry of corners and relentless pressure, Ruben Dias struck a composed first-time finish from inside the area in the 68th minute, levelling the match and briefly silencing the home crowd.

City pushed for a second, with Haaland twice denied by Nick Pope and Cherki drifting dangerously between the lines, but Newcastle held firm.

The decisive moment came in the 70th minute. Sandro Tonali’s whipped corner caused chaos, Bruno GuimaraPound es crashed a header onto the crossbar, and Barnes reacted fastest to smash home the rebound for 21.

City protested, and goalkeeper Donnarumma was booked amid claims of offside, but after a VAR check, referee Samuel Barrott confirmed the goal.

Newcastle, forced into defensive reshuffles after injuries to Lewis Hall and substitutions of Barnes and Woltemade, absorbed sustained waves of late Manchester City attacks.

Oscar Bobb, Savinho, and Nico O’Reilly all went close, while Phil Foden and Haaland were repeatedly frustrated by Newcastle’s disciplined defending and Pope’s safe hands.

City’s final chance fell to O’Reilly deep into stoppage time, but his header drifted wide, ending their hopes of a comeback.

The victory marks a significant boost for Newcastle, who showed steel, character and tactical clarity.

Barnes was the standout performer, while GuimaraPound es dictated the tempo and Tonali delivered one of his best matches of the season.

Manchester City, for all their possession, struggled with end product and defensive lapses. The champions will view the defeat as a missed opportunity, having controlled large phases but failed to convert pressure into goals.

Michael Olise delivered an incredible performance on Saturday as Bayern Munich came from two goals down to beat Freiburg 6-2 in the Bundesliga.

Olise scored twice and assisted three goals. He set up goals for Lennart Karl, Dayot Upamecano and Nicolas Jackson, while Harry Kane also added one as Bayern turned the game around after a poor start.

Freiburg shocked Bayern early with two goals from Yuito Suzuki and Johan Manzambi, both from set pieces.

Bayern responded quickly. Young winger Lennart Karl scored after receiving a pass from Olise. Moments later, Karl assisted Olise, whose deflected shot brought Bayern level.

Karl had another goal cancelled for offside early in the second half. But Bayern took the lead shortly afterward when Upamecano tapped in from an Olise corner.

Kane made it 4-2 with a powerful shot. The England captain now has 24 goals in 18 matches in all competitions this season.

Olise then set up Nicolas Jackson for Bayern’s fifth goal and later scored another to complete the 6-2 comeback. Bayern have now dropped only two points in 18 matches this season and lead the Bundesliga by eight points after Borussia Dortmund failed to win.

In Dortmund, Deniz Undav scored a second-half hat-trick as Stuttgart earned a 3-3 draw. Dortmund had led 2-0 through Emre Can’s penalty and a goal from Maximilian Beier. Karim Adeyemi scored late to make it 3-2, but Undav struck again in stoppage time.

Stuttgart have not lost to Dortmund since October 2022.

In other matches, Bayer Leverkusen beat Wolfsburg 3-1 with goals from Jonas Hofmann, Edmond Tapsoba and Malik Tillman. The victory pushed Leverkusen into second place on the table.

Augsburg defeated Hamburg 1-0 with a goal from Anton Kade, while Borussia Malnchengladbach beat last-placed Heidenheim 3-0.

Nigerian music sensation, Divine Ikubor, better known as Rema, has joined the growing list of voices warning that Nigeria is toying with its future by failing to protect its young people.

Rema, in a short tweet posted on Saturday, said the country cannot hope to achieve greatness when its youths, the supposed backbone of tomorrow are left exposed and unsupported.

His comment is coming at a tense moment for the nation, following the renewed wave of student kidnappings that has gripped several states in recent months. The latest and most troubling incident occurred at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State, where over 200 students were whisked away by gunmen on Friday morning. i

The attack, which has thrown families into confusion and reopened old wounds from previous school abductions, has once again raised questions over the government’s ability to secure classrooms across the country.

It was against this backdrop that Rema’s words struck a nerve. “Until they protect the youths and allow them to grow into their full potential, Nigeria will never be truly great,” he wrote.

The Zamfara State Police Command has successfully rescued 25 abducted residents, including 10 women and 15 children, after armed bandits launched a night attack on Kuraje village in the Damba area of Gusau Local Government Area.

The incident occurred late Friday around 9:45 pm, when heavily armed bandits stormed the community, firing sporadically before abducting the women and children.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Command’s spokesperson, DSP Yazid Abubakar, confirmed that police operatives from the Damba Division, the Department of Operations in Gusau, and members of the Community Protection Guards (CPG) swiftly mobilised after receiving a distress call.

“Upon receiving the report, joint police patrol teams and the CPG moved to the scene, confirmed the incident, pursued the fleeing bandits, and engaged them in a coordinated and strategic operation,” Abubakar said.

Thanks to their “professionalism, gallantry and swift response,” all abducted victims were rescued unharmed.

The rescued women and children were taken to Sabongari Damba for safety and profiling before being reunited with their families.

Zamfara Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Balarabe Maikaba, commended the bravery of the operatives and reaffirmed the command’s dedication to protecting lives and property across the state.

The latest attack adds to a troubling rise in violent abductions across the country. Recent incidents include:

The kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls at Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, on November 17.

The attack on Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, Kwara State, on November 18, where worshippers were abducted and at least five people killed. The abduction of 303 pupils and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, on November 21.

By Cecilia Ologunagba

The UN has expressed shock at the killing of 17 civilians, including women in labour and patients receiving care, that were slaughtered inside a Catholic Church-run health centre in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last week.

The UN, in a statement on Friday, described the killing as one of the most appalling attacks in a new wave of violence by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed extremist rebel group.

Four wards housing patients were set ablaze during the assault in Byambwe, a remote community about 60 kilometres west of Lubero in the restive North Kivu province, which has been plagued by fighting between a plethora of armed groups and national security forces for years.

The Byambwe killings were part of a series of coordinated attacks carried out between Nov. 13 and 19 in several localities of Lubero Territory.

According to information gathered on the ground by UN human rights staff from the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, 89 civilians were killed in total, including at least 20 women and an undetermined number of children.

Other areas hit by the violence include Mabiango, Tunarudi, Sambalysa, Thucha and Butsili, where abuses ranged from abductions and the looting of medical supplies to the burning of homes and the destruction of property.

UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told journalists in New York that “as we dig deeper, and as we have sent people there, the information we have received is truly horrific.”

The UN extended its condolences to the affected families and communities, stressing that attacks on civilians, particularly medical facilities, may amount to war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

“We express our solidarity with all those affected,” Dujarric said. “Violence committed against civilians, including the targeting of medical facilities, may constitute war crimes.”

MONUSCO said it remained fully committed to supporting Congolese authorities in protecting civilians, preventing further human rights violations and combating impunity.

The stabilisation mission urged national authorities to promptly open independent and credible investigations to identify those responsible for the massacres and bring them to justice.

It also renewed its call for armed groups operating in the region to lay down their weapons unconditionally.

Dujarric said that “all too often”, massacres of the kind reported in Lubero “happen away from the eyes of journalists, away from the eyes of the international community.”

He called on regional powers to cooperate and for armed groups to disarm, “so that those who are responsible for these crimes that are beyond words [can] be brought to justice.”

The Allied Democratic Forces are an armed group of Ugandan origin that has operated in eastern DRC for decades. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng) CIA/SH

The Federal Government has ordered the immediate closure of 41 Federal Unity Colleges across Nigeria following escalating security threats to students and staff.

The directive, issued on Friday through a circular from the Federal Ministry of Education, affects schools in the North-West, North-East, North-Central, and parts of the South.

Principals of the affected institutions were instructed to suspend academic activities immediately.

“Sequel to the recent security challenges in some parts of the country and the need to prevent any security breaches, the Honourable Minister of Education has approved the immediate closure of the listed Federal Unity Colleges (FUCs) with immediate effect.Principals of affected Colleges are to ensure strict compliance,” the circular read.

The move comes amid a spate of recent abductions in Nigerian schools, highlighting persistent vulnerabilities in the country’s education sector.

The shutdown of 41 Federal Unity Colleges marks one of the most sweeping responses yet to Nigeria’s deepening security crisis, coming amid an alarming resurgence of school attacks and mass abductions across several states.

The decision follows similar measures in Katsina, where the state government ordered all public schools to close immediately after intelligence reports warned of imminent threats to students and teachers.

The urgency of the situation was underscored on Friday in Niger State, where armed men stormed St. Mary’s Primary and Secondary School in Papiri. The attackers, travelling on more than 60 motorcycles, overpowered security personnel and shot the school’s gatekeeper before abducting an unknown number of pupils and staff.

Residents described the assault as one of the most coordinated witnessed in the area in recent months.

The Papiri incident is the latest in a string of violent attacks that have rattled northern communities. Earlier in the week in Kwara State, bandits invaded a Christ Apostolic Church parish in Eruku, killing three worshippers and abducting at least 30 others. The kidnappers have reportedly demanded 100 million ransom for each hostage.

In Kebbi State, 25 schoolgirls were seized on Monday during a pre-dawn raid on Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga–an attack that has drawn national outrage and intensified scrutiny on the country’s security architecture.

Panic spread further on Friday when reports circulated about the alleged abduction of two pupils in Nasarawa. However, the Nasarawa State Police Command swiftly dismissed the claims as false, urging the public to avoid spreading unverified information.

Miss Mexico, Fatima Bosch, has won the 2025 Miss Universe crown in Thailand after a week filled with drama, public accusations and setbacks behind the scenes.

Bosch was announced winner on Friday in Nonthaburi, Thailand, beating contestants from the Ivory Coast, the Philippines, Thailand and Venezuela. More than 120 women competed in this year’s pageant, one of the world’s biggest beauty contests.

However, the road to the crown was far from smooth.

Earlier this month, Bosch walked out of a meeting after the pageant organiser, Nawat Itsaragrisil, publicly scolded her for allegedly failing to post promotional content. In a livestream of the meeting, Nawat appeared to single her out, leading to a tense confrontation.

“What your director did is not respectful: he called me dumb,” Bosch later told reporters. “The world needs to see this because we are empowered women and this is a platform for our voice.”

Her walkout, done in an evening gown and heels, was supported by Miss Iraq, while other contestants briefly attempted to join before Nawat warned them to remain seated. Nawat later issued an apology.

The incident even caught the attention of Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, who praised Bosch as “an example of how we women should speak out” when confronted with aggression.

More controversy followed in the days leading up to the final. Two judges resigned this week, with French composer Omar Harfouch claiming the contest was manipulated through a “secret and illegitimate vote.” The Miss Universe Organisation denied the allegation, saying no extra jury was created. Former footballer Claude Makelele also withdrew, citing personal reasons.

There were also safety scares. During Wednesday’s costume round, Miss Britain Danielle Latimer tripped and fell on stage. Miss Jamaica Gabrielle Henry was taken to hospital after falling off the main stage during the evening gown segment. She was later reported to be “resting under medical observation” with no serious injuries.