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The resurgence of armed secessionist violence, the rise of politically sponsored cult groups, and institutional weaknesses collectively pose serious threats to the credibility, inclusiveness, and safety of the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State, a new report has warned.

The Security Threat Assessment report, presented by the Director of Programmes at CLEEN Foundation, Dr. Salaudeen Hashim, ahead of the November 8, 2025, governorship poll, revealed that since 2022, more than 200 lives have been lost to politically or ideologically motivated violence in Anambra State, with Ihiala Local Government Area accounting for over 46 confirmed deaths.

‘While certain LGAs remain relatively stable, the cumulative effect of violence in key zones like Ihiala, Ogbaru and Orumba could erode public confidence in the electoral process and discourage participation,’ the report said.

It further cautioned that without deliberate interventions to curb voter suppression, reform security deployment strategies, and restore trust in community institutions, the risk of election-day violence and post-election grievances remains high.

Key findings highlighted in the report include heightened insecurity in specific LGAs, politicisation of cult groups and youth gangs, weak security infrastructure and institutional gaps, voter suppression through fear, misinformation, and mobility constraints, as well as community fragmentation and manipulation of traditional institutions.

To address these threats, the report recommended targeted risk mapping and early warning mechanisms in high-risk LGAs like Ihiala, Ogbaru, and Orumba North through regular, data-driven threat assessments and locally driven early warning systems.

It urged the involvement of community stakeholders, INEC, traditional leaders, town union presidents, peacebuilding structures, security agencies, CSOs, and the media to ensure a timely response to potential security threats and prevent escalation before, during, and after the election.

The report further called on security agencies to prioritise the identification, disarmament, and prosecution of cult groups and their political sponsors, particularly in flashpoints like Nnewi and Onitsha. It also stressed the need to rebuild and strengthen police stations and INEC offices in previously attacked or underserved areas such as Anambra East, Ogbaru, and Idemili South to ensure adequate coverage across all LGAs.

Also, it recommended intensifying voter education and public sensitisation campaigns in fear-stricken areas like Anambra West and Ihiala to counter voter suppression, while urging credible CSOs and investigative journalists to fact-check and counter misinformation before, during, and after the elections to promote peace and calm.

In his opening remarks, Acting Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Peter Maduoma, expressed optimism that the Anambra election would be counted among Nigeria’s successful staggered polls. He urged citizens to turn out en masse and exercise their right to vote.

Troops of 6 Brigade Nigerian Army/ Sector 3 Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), in conjunction with operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have arrested two fake police officers with two trucks loaded with cannabis.

Acting on credible intelligence, troops alongside NDLEA personnel intercepted and apprehended two fake policemen at Takum Junction in Wukari Local Government Area.

The suspects, who were dressed in mobile police uniforms, were found with two Toyota Hilux vehicles loaded with substances suspected to be cannabis.

The Acting Assistant Director, Army Public Relations 6 Brigade Nigerian Army, Jalingo, Lieutenant Umar Mohammed, said a preliminary investigation revealed that none of the occupants are serving policemen.

He stated that the cannabis-laden vehicles were traced to have been loaded from Akure in Ondo State, and were heading towards Adamawa State.

Lieutenant Umar explained that one of the arrested suspects has been identified as Monday George, a 71-year-old dismissed Police ASP, and the other as Ezeugo Destiny Uche, 41 years old, while the occupants of the second Hilux abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene on sighting the troops.

‘A total of 1,134 blocks of cannabis were recovered from the two vehicles. Both the suspects and the recovered exhibits have been handed over to the NDLEA office in Wukari for further investigation and prosecution,’ he said.

The Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority Mortgage Bank, Hayatudeen Atiku Awwal has stated that the Bank has accessed N27 billion in Mortgage loans for over 3,400 Nigerians since inception.

The Managing Director made the disclosure in Abuja on Tuesday at the commissioning of the New FHA Mortgage bank corporate headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said, ‘FHA Mortgage Bank was incorporated in 1997 and since then has been one of the biggest collaborato4 with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

‘I stand proud today to say that we have accessed well over 27 billion on behalf of 3,427 Nigerians. And these eligible contributors who are Nigerian have their houses across the 36 states of the federation including Abuja.

‘In addition, through the PENCOM retirement savings window, we facilitated access to mortgages for well over 6,000 Nigerians. Again, through the family home funds, we have delivered keys to residential buildings for our customers in Asaba, Delta State, among others with genuine developers,’ he said.

Speaking on the future plans of the authority, Awwal noted that ‘In the future, we are aiming to be a national bank. Already the Central Bank of Nigeria has been informed of that and they have located it, given us a checklist of what is outstanding and we pray and hope with our commitment that soon, this bank will be a national bank.

‘We also intend to expand at least 20 branches nationwide in the next 3 years to grow our active customer base to 100,000 families, to scale our loan portfolio to N100 billion,’ he added.

Also speaking, the Board Chairman of FHA Mortgage Bank, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo stated that the Mortgage Bank has over the years operated to aid Nigerians with Mortgage to build their own homes.

I write this column with a heavy heart on the occasion of my country’s 65th Independence Day Anniversary. We must acknowledge the sacrifices it took us to come this far, from those who gave their lives and offered years of dedicated service to ensure that Nigeria is not worse than it is right now. We may not be where we want to be, but the journey has not ended yet.

Still, tragedies like the death of the journalist Somtochukwu Christelle Maduagwu, and the thousands of avoidable tragedies unfolding across the country daily, do not only dampen days like this, when the country should be celebrating a milestone, but continue to shred the already battered optimism Nigerians have about this country.

That optimism we had from commemorating Independence Day as schoolchildren back in the day, standing along the street or in the stadiums with shiny lotioned faces, stiffly pressed uniforms, and hearts full of euphoria to wave past our governors and cheer on the impressive parades all seem so far away now. The children growing up in this generation will only vicariously experience that euphoria through our nostalgic recollection of those days. Sadly, not many Nigerians like to recall those days because it will just retraumatise you over the pains the country has inflicted on us.

Somtochukwu Maduagwu, who died at 29 on Monday morning, somehow retained her optimism for Nigeria. She studied in the UK, returned home to Nigeria, and was enthusiastic about participating in politics because she believed she could contribute to making the country better.

The fact that she died during an armed robbery invasion of her residence in Katampe, Abuja, is shocking enough. What makes it even more painful are the circumstances surrounding this death.

Crime is a universal phenomenon, and there is hardly any society in the world, no matter how wealthy or advanced, that has been able to eradicate it completely. The objective of any well-governed society has always been the mitigation of crime to the barest minimum, and crucially, prompt and effective response to distress calls when crimes happen.

Over the last 65 years of independence, we have not really improved on our crime rates or notably improved our responses to crimes commensurate with our development and population growth.

With increasing access to small arms and light weapons, coupled with increasing social, political, and economic discontent, crime rates over the last 20 years have continued to soar. For example, over the last few months, homicide rates rose by 25 per cent in Q1 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, with 222 tracked cases against 177 previously, according to the Lagos-based Nigeria Risk Index. In February 2025 alone, there were 83 cases recorded. Mind you, this data is limited and often excludes incidents from hard-to-access regions of the country, of which we know there are far too many.

Over the last few months, we have also witnessed an increase in deaths from banditry and insurgency, with the data showing that at least 2,266 people were killed by bandits or insurgents in the first half of 2025, already exceeding last year’s total.

With one out of five surveyed Nigerians reporting that they were victims of crimes (violent and non-violent) in the last year, it is clear that safety is a major concern in the country and we must actively work to curb crime.

What the numbers mean is that criminals have the audacity to colonise parts of the country, as they have done in parts of the Northwest, the Northeast, and the Southeast, or raid huge apartment blocks and take their sweet time breaking in from one apartment to the other, as they did in Katampe in the early hours of Monday, resulting in the death of Somtochukwu and one of the security men protecting the building.

In all these cases, our security responses have been lamentable, sometimes deliberately slow because even our security personnel sometimes fear to confront the criminals, preferring to show up well after the goons have left with their loot. Far too often, their sacrifices for our safety are ignored, and their families left to suffer in vain.

The most heartbreaking part about Ms Maduagwu’s death is the reported decision of the Maitama General Hospital not to treat her immediately when she was eventually brought to the hospital. Reportedly, they refused to do so until identification was provided and they obtained clearance from the police.

The law has been clear about this. Section 20 of The National Health Act (NHA) 2014, for instance, stipulates that every healthcare provider or health establishment is legally prohibited from refusing any person emergency medical treatment for any reason. Failure to comply constitutes a criminal offence, punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.

The fact that we needed the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Wounds Act 2017, and the Patients’ Bill of Rights 2018, both of which mandate all hospitals, public or private, to accept and treat patients needing emergency care, including those with gunshot wounds or accident victims, without waiting for police clearance or upfront payment, means there is a deeply entrenched culture that needs to be uprooted.

However, the laws notwithstanding, hospitals have continued to refuse patients urgent care over police clearance or upfront payment. For decades, law enforcement has harassed hospitals and law-abiding citizens who have offered emergency assistance or reported crimes or made distress calls on behalf of accident or crime victims. Rushing an injured person to a hospital may as well see you being harassed by law enforcement as a possible perpetrator of a crime. This doesn’t only disincentivise rendering urgent assistance but imposes a habit of wanting to avoid police drama by walking away or hesitating when urgent intervention is required.

With hospitals, the privileging of profit over saving lives, and the fear of police harassment is a violation of the Hippocratic Oath that guides medical conduct. And as we have seen with Somtochukwu’s death, the law notwithstanding, this deeply entrenched culture still persists.

It is this culture that is referred to when Nigerians talk about Nigeria not happening to you. The normalisation of this culture of unjustifiable neglect and lack of empathy or the prioritisation of profit over the sanctity of human life is the bane of our country. And it is not only the hospitals that favour payment over saving lives. Even the police have done this far too often. I have reported before how an accident victim on the Abuja-Keffi express road was allowed to bleed out by the police, who instead of getting him immediately to a hospital, preferred to wait over the offending car that amputated the young boy, to make some quick bucks off the driver.

Or how often have we witnessed or heard tales of police officers refusing to convey victims to emergency medical care because the police vehicles ‘no get fuel,’ and how the car miraculously starts moving once bribes are offered.

So, while people in countries like the US or even the relatively low-crime countries of Scandinavia may be shot in their homes, because people will always have reasons to unleash violence on each other, or suffer accidents, they are almost always assured of emergency help and care. The fact that we cannot say the same about Nigeria is the biggest tragedy of our 65 years of independence, as epitomised today by Somtochukwu’s death.

While there is nothing that can be done to bring her back, to undo the damage that this culture has done to her and her family, and thousands of Nigerian families, there is something that could be done for millions of others, who inevitably will be needing urgent interventions to save their lives. Her death could be a turning point, from which the negligence of both law enforcement and the hospital, if any is detected by the investigation, is properly sanctioned as an example for others. If any parties are found culpable, through negligent conduct or clear violations of the law and the demands of their sworn duties, they should be indicted and penalised as stipulated by the law.

At the same time, we must retrain both security and medical personnel on prioritising human lives ahead of payment or the myth of some police procedural, and commend private citizens who offer emergency assistance instead of harassing them. We must be deliberate about eliminating this detrimental culture that we have imbibed. Until we do, may Nigeria never happen to us.

A tipper truck driver reportedly crashed near Gosa village along the Airport Road, Abuja, while attempting to evade arrest by Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) personnel.

A witness, Benjamin Moses, said the incident happened on Monday around 2:12 pm.

The tipper, which was conveying laterite, was driving against traffic (one-way) near the entrance of Fourth Royal Estate, close to Gosa Market.

Moses explained that FRSC personnel in a Hilux patrol van attempted to stop and arrest the driver for the traffic offence. ”Upon noticing the FRSC officers pursuing him, the tipper driver allegedly increased his speed and suddenly rammed into a pothole, causing the vehicle to overturn in the middle of the road,” the witness narrated.

According to Moses, the driver and his assistant narrowly escaped unhurt and immediately fled the scene, abandoning the overturned tipper.

Our reporter, who stopped at the scene, observed another truck attempting to lift the fallen tipper with the help of some motorists.

An FRSC official, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the incident and blamed the driver for driving against traffic.

He reiterated that the driver increased his speed upon seeing the patrol van, which led to the crash.

‘Actually, the tipper driver was plying through one-way, which he knows is a traffic offence,’ the official said. ‘Out of fear upon sighting the FRSC coming, he now accelerated further which led to the driver to run into a big pothole.’

The official confirmed that there were no casualties in the incident, adding that the truck, which had caused an obstruction, was later towed from the road.

For years, Mondays in the Southeast have been reduced to ghost towns. Streets lie empty, shops remain shut, schools are locked, and the hum of economic life is silenced. The so-called ‘sit-at-home’ order has crippled business, strangled education, and eroded confidence in government’s ability to guarantee normal life.

Yet, in public, leaders insist there is no sit-at-home. Governors say citizens are free to go about their businesses, but their own actions tell a different story. They avoid scheduling important events on Mondays, quietly conceding to the very fear they deny.

Even at the highest level of power, this contradiction is glaring. When late President Muhammadu Buhari visited Imo State in September 2022, it was on a Tuesday, not a Monday. The calculation was obvious: avoid the optics of empty streets and deserted markets that define Southeast Mondays.

By avoiding Monday, the President has, knowingly, reinforced the silent admission that sit-at-home is still real. Leaders dodge Mondays because they fear the photographs of ghostly roads, thin crowds, and absent fanfare. But what they avoid is precisely what true leadership should confront.

Imagine if President Tinubu had chosen Monday. Imagine the symbolism of a President landing in Owerri on a Monday morning, cutting ribbons in front of cheering crowds, walking confidently on streets that have for years been surrendered to silence. That single act could have gone beyond just cutting ribbons to cutting through fears that has for long griped our people, given ordinary citizens the courage to step out, to open their shops, to send their children to school, and to reclaim their Mondays. It would have been remembered as the turning point that broke the psychological chains of fear.

Instead, another opportunity has been lost. Another Monday has been conceded to emptiness. Another chance to restore dignity and courage to a people has slipped away.

Leadership is not only about commissioning flyovers, decorating cities or digital learning centers. It is also about building confidence in the hearts of citizens. If Tinubu truly wants to be remembered as a friend of ndi Igbo, he must move beyond staged ceremonies and confront the deeper realities that keep the Southeast shackled.

The empty streets our leaders avoid are not just empty, they are symbols of a shutdown. And history will not be kind to those who had the power to end it but chose convenience instead.

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has expressed dismay over the inhuman treatment of Nigerian girls in India, calling for an immediate probe into the situation by authorities.

A statement by the spokesman of the organisation, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, on Tuesday, said NiDCOM ‘received with deep distress and utter dismay reports alleging the rape, assault, and forced administration of unknown substances on Nigerian girls held in deportation camps in New Delhi, India.’

According to disturbing accounts and videos shared by some of the victims, these young women are subjected to inhumane treatment and grave violations of their dignity and fundamental human rights.

The alleged acts of sexual violence, physical abuse, and intimidation are both heartbreaking and unacceptable.

Balogun said Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of NiDCOM, strongly condemned these reported abuses in the strongest possible terms, insisting that ‘Nigerian citizens, wherever they are in the world, must not be treated as less than human, nor should their vulnerability be exploited under the guise of immigration procedures.’

‘We are further alarmed by claims that corrupt practices involving middlemen and certain groups are worsening the plight of our citizens through exploitation and extortion. If verified, such actions not only endanger lives but also undermine justice and due process.’

While reassuring the victims and their families that these disturbing reports will not be ignored, NiDCOM said it was already engaging with the Nigerian High Commission in India, relevant Indian authorities, and international human rights organisations to ascertain the veracity of these claims and ensure that immediate and urgent steps are taken to protect the victims, provide them with medical and psychological support, and bring perpetrators to justice.

‘We call on the Government of India to urgently investigate these allegations, close down any channels of exploitation, and ensure the safety and dignity of Nigerians within its borders,’ the statement said.

At least four people have been killed and nine others abducted following renewed bandit attacks on communities in Magama Local Government Area of Niger State, including Ibeto town.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told our correspondent that four residents were killed, eleven sustained injuries, while nine others were kidnapped during the latest raid.

Among those abducted is Barrister Isyaku Muhammad Danjuma, who was reportedly kidnapped just hours after posting on Facebook to alert residents about the movement of bandits from Uccu towards Ibeto with a large herd of stolen cattle.

Sources believe his abduction may have been facilitated by informants who revealed his location to the attackers.

Residents said the heavily armed bandits, who spent the night in Ibeto, went from house to house, shooting sporadically and abducting people.

Many farmers have since fled their homes as the assaults spread across other communities in Magama LGA.

The assailants also rustled dozens of cattle belonging to locals between Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon. In a video shared with our correspondent, the bandits were seen herding a large number of cattle out of Ibeto town.

Efforts to reach the Niger State Police Command spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, were unsuccessful as he neither took calls nor responded to messages sent to his phone.

The President and Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Directors (CiOD) Nigeria, Otunda Adetunji Oyebanji, has called on Nigerians to embrace responsibility, unity, and ethical leadership as the country marks its 65th independence anniversary.

Oyebanji, in his independence message, said the anniversary should not only be about counting years but should serve as a turning point for national renewal.

He urged leaders and citizens alike to ‘choose governance over impunity, accountability over corruption, and unity over division.’

Highlighting Nigeria’s progress over the years, he noted that the country has earned global recognition in arts, sports, technology, and entertainment, with young entrepreneurs and diaspora communities making significant contributions to its development.

The CiOD president commended the current administration for reform initiatives since 2023, including the removal of petroleum subsidies, efforts to unify the foreign exchange market, electricity sector reforms, and other interventions aimed at repositioning the economy.

He, however, warned that despite positive GDP growth, many Nigerians have yet to feel the impact due to inflation, rising living costs, insecurity, and infrastructure gaps.

These challenges, he said, can only be overcome through deliberate action rooted in transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership.

Reaffirming the commitment of the institute to national development, Oyebanji said the CiOD will continue to promote good governance and corporate leadership ideals in both public and private sectors.

‘Our institute remains a partner in the Nigerian project, working alongside government, the private sector, and civil society to build a nation worthy of its potential,’ he stated.

Oyebanji congratulated Nigerians on the independence celebration and urged all citizens to rise to the challenge of positioning the country on a path to greatness.

‘Let us not only celebrate independence; let us live it every day, in our values, in our choices, and in our leadership,’ he said.

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly exploring a move for Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde, whose future at the Santiago Bernabéu has come under fresh scrutiny.

According to reports from Fichajes, Spurs have identified the Uruguay international as a potential transfer target as they look to bolster their midfield options.

Valverde, who has made over 300 career appearances for the Spanish giants, is said to be facing an uncertain situation in Madrid, with sections of the Spanish media critical of his recent performances.

Thomas Frank’s side are understood to be among the clubs monitoring the situation closely, viewing the 26-year-old as a high-profile reinforcement who could bring energy, versatility, and experience to the North London club.