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Experts cautioned that choking is a dangerous sexual act that can result in stroke, convulsions, and even paralysis, even though pornography has successfully made it a ‘sexual norm’ and a ‘safe’ activity.

They said that although choking during s3x has been effectively established as a ‘sexual norm’ and a ‘safe’ practice by pornography, it is still a dangerous sexual behaviour that can cause paralysis, convulsions, and stroke.

These risks are frequently increased in people who already have medical issues, making awareness and caution essential.

A study, published in the journal the Archives of Sexual Behaviour this week, found that more than half of adults aged 35 and under reported being strangled by a partner during sex.

Sexual strangulation involves applying pressure to the neck and restricting blood flow or breathing to ‘enhance’ a sexual experience. It often incorporates the dominant/submissive sexual dynamic and the use of hands, arms, feet, and binding agents like belts and ropes.

Although choking is distinct and strictly refers to the partial obstruction of the trachea, it is commonly used in sex play and porn.

But experts are warning that it is truly dangerous, no matter how gentle couples may think they’re being, and regardless of whether both partners like it in the moment.

Dr Debby Herbenick, a public health professor at Indiana University, in a recent presentation, warned, ‘There is no zero-risk way of engaging in choking. Though deaths from consensual choking are rare, they do happen.’

According to specialists, the neck is ‘alarmingly fragile,’ and limiting blood flow to the brain, even for a short time, can result in irreversible harm.

Even the ‘relatively low’ amount of force it takes to open a can of soda, when applied to someone’s throat, is enough to cause unconsciousness and risk brain injury.

Sexual strangulation can cause immediate symptoms such as neck bruising or swelling, alterations in eyesight, lightheadedness or vertigo, and difficulty swallowing.

While loss of consciousness can occur in seconds, death or paralysis is possible within minutes of strangulation.

Researchers at Bangor University and doctors at North Wales Brain Injury Service maintain that this loss of consciousness is-at the least-an indication that the person has suffered a mild brain injury.

It may take days, weeks, or even years for additional effects of sexual strangulation to become apparent. A change in voice, incontinence, seizures, memory, attention, and decision-making problems, sadness, anxiety, and miscarriage are some examples of these.

There is also growing evidence that, much like the cumulative harm of repetitive head injuries, hypoxic/anoxic brain injuries from sexual choking can accumulate and lead to long-term cognitive problems.

The co-author of the study, Heather Douglas from Melbourne University Law School, declared the risks associated with brain injury increase with each subsequent strangulation.

‘So it’s a little bit like a head injury in that these injuries can accumulate. Miscarriage can also result from strangulation and can occur a week or months down the track. Strangulation can lead to a stroke. There can also be an incremental reduction in memory,’ said Douglas.

Global credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has cautioned that Nigerian banks could face renewed profitability pressures following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recent decision to cut the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 27 percent from 27.5 percent.

The CBN said the 50-basis-point reduction was aimed at sustaining disinflation, encouraging credit expansion, and stimulating economic recovery. However, Moody’s warned that the move could squeeze banks’ net interest margins (NIMs) – a key measure of profitability – unless lending volumes increase significantly to offset declining yields.

‘We expect the lower policy rate to drive a decline in yields on loans and government securities that will outpace the related decrease in the cost of deposits,’ Moody’s stated. ‘Deposit costs typically adjust more slowly than lending rates,’ he added.

According to the rating agency, the narrowing of margins could erode banks’ earnings capacity in the near term, particularly in an environment of moderating inflation, volatile foreign exchange markets, and weak consumer demand.

Moody’s noted that net interest income-the difference between what banks earn on loans and investments versus what they pay on deposits-accounted for 62 percent of Nigerian banks’ operating income in 2024. A reduction in interest margins could therefore weigh heavily on overall profitability.

While the CBN’s simultaneous move to lower the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) may offer some liquidity relief, the ratings agency believes the benefit will be ‘only partial’ and insufficient to fully offset the earnings impact of lower policy rates.

The report added that Nigerian banks are already navigating tight operating conditions, including high funding costs, rising credit risks, and an evolving regulatory environment linked to the ongoing recapitalisation exercise.

Moody’s advised that banks must diversify income sources and strengthen non-interest revenue streams-such as fees, commissions, and digital services-to cushion the effects of compressed interest margins.

Analysts also expect larger Tier-1 lenders, with stronger balance sheets and wider customer bases, to weather the impact more effectively than smaller banks that rely heavily on interest income.

The CBN’s latest policy move aligns Nigeria with global monetary easing trends, as several central banks across emerging markets adopt lower rates to stimulate growth. However, Moody’s cautioned that the long-term effect on the banking industry would depend on how effectively lenders adapt to thinner margins while sustaining asset quality and capital adequacy.

For now, the focus shifts to how Nigerian banks recalibrate their strategies in response to a lower interest rate environment-balancing growth ambitions with the need to safeguard profitability.

The Imo State Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has announced that it will soon commence a statewide monitoring of illegal private schools in the state.

The exercise is targeted at identifying and closing illegal private schools, as well as operating with expired approval letters.

The Ministry warned that the operation would be thorough and uncompromising.

This is contained in a statement issued in Owerri weekend by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. B. T. O. Ikegwuoha.

He threatened to arrest proprietors whose schools had earlier been shut down for various infractions, including those marked in red who later reopened without official authorization

He described such actions as clear acts of defiance and illegality.

The Ministry further stated that it would not be liable for any consequences arising from the enforcement exercise, urging proprietors to regularize their operations immediately.

He said, ‘to be forewarned is to be forearmed. This is the final warning.’

A section of the eight-storey Podium Block of the Rivers State Secretariat Complex was on Monday engulfed in flames.

The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the incident occurred at the close of work.

Some civil servants who work in the block, when contacted for comments, said they had already left the office and were unaware of the incident.

Details of the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage remain sketchy as of the time of filing this report.

However, officials of the recently rehabilitated State Fire Service were on the ground battling the fire at the time of this report.

Information gathered indicated that the fire started on the fourth floor of the building, which houses the Ministries of Information and Communications, Environment, and others.

The Podium Block is one of the five high-rise buildings that make up the complex.

The structures were constructed during the military administration of Alfred Diete-Spiff.

Nigeria’s drive to transform its agriculture and food systems received a major boost on Monday as key stakeholders from government, development partners, and civil society convened at the Community of Practice Meeting and National Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration Summit held in Abuja.

Declaring the meeting open, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to aligning national agricultural priorities with the African Union’s (AU) new Kampala Declaration (2026-2036), the continent’s next 10-year framework to advance agrifood system transformation and food security.

Kyari noted that the Kampala Declaration builds upon the Malabo Declaration (2014-2025) and the Maputo Commitments (2003-2013), stressing that it provides a roadmap for African nations to achieve resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems.

‘We must move beyond business-as-usual approaches and embrace bold reforms that make our food systems more productive and equitable,’ he said.

The Minister explained that Nigeria had made remarkable progress in implementing the Malabo Declaration, as shown by the African Union’s Biennial Review, which assessed the country’s performance in agricultural growth and investment.

He revealed that the Federal Government has launched several initiatives to strengthen the agricultural value chain, including the establishment of an Agricultural Sector Working Group to harmonise policies and promote accountability among stakeholders.

Highlighting specific government interventions, Kyari disclosed that 2,000 tractors and implements have been provided to enhance mechanisation, while Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) have been launched in Kaduna, Cross River, and Ogun States, with more to follow. He said the project, valued at $538.05 million, is expected to attract up to $1 billion in investments by 2027.

The Minister also revealed plans for the Nigeria Postharvest Systems Transformation Program (NiPHaST), designed to address the country’s N3.5 trillion annual postharvest losses. The programme, he said, will boost farmers’ incomes, create jobs for women and youth, and improve national food sovereignty.

‘The synergy between the Federal and State Governments is indispensable for achieving sustainable food security. Through effective coordination and shared responsibilities, we can streamline policies, mobilise resources, and implement impactful interventions,’ Kyari emphasised.

In her goodwill message, Suwaiba Muhammad Dankabo, Deputy Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, lauded the collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, GIZ, and other partners in organising the summit.

She said the Kampala Declaration offers Africa a renewed opportunity to realign agricultural goals and tackle pressing challenges such as low productivity, climate shocks, and gender inequality.

Dankabo shared findings from ActionAid’s Non-State Actors Biennial Review Value Addition Toolkit (NSAs VABKIT), which revealed gaps affecting smallholder women farmers.

‘Access to government and bank credit remains below 23%, agricultural insurance at just 4.77%, and access to processing facilities at 18%,’ she noted, urging greater investment in women-led agribusinesses, extension services, and postharvest infrastructure.

She also highlighted the launch of ActionAid’s Pots and Pans Campaign on October 1, 2025, aimed at raising awareness about hunger and poverty among Nigeria’s 133 million citizens living in multidimensional poverty.

The campaign encourages citizens to protest hunger by symbolically banging empty pots and pans in public spaces using hashtags such as #MyHungerStory, #PotsAndPansAction, and #EndHungerNow.

Delivering his goodwill message, Hussein Gadain, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Representative in Nigeria and to ECOWAS, commended the government for its leadership in promoting agricultural transformation through CAADP.

He said FAO remains a steadfast partner, providing technical assistance and policy support to align Nigeria’s agricultural agenda with continental goals.

‘At the regional level, FAO supported the AU in developing the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan, and continues to help member states align national priorities with the continental framework,’ Gadain said.

He disclosed that FAO has supported Nigeria in the Biennial Review processes of 2023 and 2025, the drafting of the National Agrifood Systems Investment Plan (NASIP), and the 50×2030 Initiative, which aims to close agricultural data gaps through collaboration with the World Bank and the National Bureau of Statistics.

Looking ahead, Gadain reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to helping Nigeria develop a 10-year roadmap for the Kampala Declaration’s implementation, emphasising inclusivity, climate resilience, and local ownership.

‘As we move forward, let us build a future where agriculture is not only a source of food and income, but a driver of resilience, equity, and prosperity,’ he added.

Chairman of the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Olori (Dr.) Vicky Haastrup, has endorsed ‘Leading in a Storm’, the latest book by former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

Olori Haastrup, who is also the Olori of Ijesaland and wife of the Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland, His Imperial Majesty Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, described the work as an indispensable guide for leaders navigating crises.

She made the endorsement on Monday, calling the book a ‘potent compass for leadership in times of uncertainty, instability, and disruption.’

‘In times of crisis, we do not need more rhetoric – we need clarity, resilience, humility, and steadiness of mind. ‘Leading in a Storm’ offers those virtues in disciplined form,’ she said.

The book, which examines how leaders can survive and thrive in turbulent conditions, presents interconnected principles, including situational intelligence, calm confidence, sense-making, flexibility, and effective communication.

Drawing on examples from Nigeria and Africa, Peterside highlights the tools required to lead institutions and communities when normal systems are shaken.

Olori Haastrup’s endorsement is seen as particularly significant. As the Chairman of STOAN, she plays a key role in Nigeria’s maritime and port operations, an industry often tested by global shocks and local challenges.

By aligning with the author’s message, she underscored the book’s practical value beyond theory, stressing its importance for both corporate and national leadership.

The public presentation of ‘Leading in a Storm’ will take place in Lagos on Thursday, October 16, 2025. The event will also feature the launch of another book by Peterside, ‘Beneath the Surface’, a collection of essays reflecting on Nigeria’s challenges and opportunities.

A farmer resident in Obagaji, Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State has lost five children in a boat mishap.

Natives in the area who simply gave his name as Ameh said that the farmer had on Sunday gone to his farm alongside his six children to harvest.

‘Unfortunately, on their way back home, the small boat they were in with heavy loads capsized in the river,’ Ameh said.

While speaking to newsmen through telephone on Monday, Ameh said that rescue team made up of local divers was immediately raised but regretted that five of the children lost their lives.

He added that the incident has thrown the Obagaji community into mourning.

Confirming the incident, Chairman of the local government, Melvin James said that seven people were on board the canoe when it capsized and five children died in the boat mishap.

According to him, ‘The man and six of his children had gone to the farm to harvest crops but on their way back home, the canoe conveying them capsized and they were drowned.

‘Though, the canoe was overloaded which might have caused the mishap, but the father and one of the children survived.

The council boss said that the wife was not in the canoe when the incident happened.

While describing the incident as unfortunate, James extended his condolences to the family.

Meanwhile, the State Command Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Udeme Edet could not be reached for comment as at the time of filing this report.

The Federal Government has inaugurated Africa’s largest integrated vaccination campaign, targeting over 16 million children in a bold step towards ending vaccine-preventable diseases threatening millions of children.

Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, flagged off the National Measles-Rubella Vaccine Introduction Integrated Campaign, which she described as ‘a bold step towards protecting the lives and future of our children.’

In her remarks at the event, the First Lady highlighted the devastating consequences of measles, including blindness, disability and death, and warned that rubella, though often silent, can cause severe birth defects if contracted during pregnancy.

She urged parents, community leaders, and religious and traditional rulers to work together to ensure no child is left unvaccinated.

‘We are here today to flag off a solution, a pathway to hope, and a promise of progress.

‘With this vaccine, our children will be protected against two deadly diseases and enjoy a lifetime of safety and protection.

‘These vaccines are safe, effective and free. They are one of the greatest gifts of modern medicine. They save lives, prevent disease, and give our children the chance to grow, learn and thrive,’ she stated.

She pledged to sustain advocacy through the wives of state governors, women’s groups, and community leaders.

Remi Tinubu commended the Ministry of Health under Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and development partners, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Gavi and the Gates Foundation, for their support.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the event, rallied state governors and First Ladies to drive the campaign at the grassroots.

Recalling Nigeria’s polio eradication success, he said: ‘When we defeated polio, it wasn’t by coercion. It was by convincing people to do the right thing.’

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, described the campaign as the largest integrated immunisation initiative in Africa, pledging $103 million in support.

Tarcile Mballa, Gavi’s Senior Programme Manager for Nigeria, hailed it as ‘a historic milestone and a demonstration of Nigeria’s leadership in public health,’ noting the alliance’s investment of over $2.6 billion in Nigeria’s immunisation efforts over two decades.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reaffirmed its commitment to Nigeria’s vaccination goals.

The Deputy Director for Immunisation and Disease Control, Yusuf Yusufari, commended Nigeria’s resilience, citing the rise in routine immunisation coverage from 33 per cent in 2016 to over 60 per cent today and the country’s 2020 wild poliovirus-free certification.

He, however, warned that over two million Nigerian children remain ‘zero-dose’, completely unvaccinated, the second-highest figure globally, fuelling measles outbreaks and circulating variant poliovirus type 2.

He urged urgent action to close this gap through innovation and community outreach.

The 2025 campaign targets 16 million children aged 0-14 across the 36 states and the FCT.

In 21 states, children will receive both measles-rubella and polio vaccines in a single visit, while four states will also benefit from mosquito nets, deworming tablets, and treatment for neglected tropical diseases.

Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Olatunji Alausa, described the drive as both a health and education investment.

Represented by Deputy Director Peter Ojonuba, he said, ‘A healthy child is a teachable child.’

He pledged that schools would be mobilised as hubs for vaccine awareness and delivery, warning administrators against obstructing vaccinators.

Earlier, NPHCDA Executive Director, Dr Muyi Aina, called the initiative ‘the mother of all campaigns,’ noting over 10,000 measles cases and 76 related deaths recorded this year.

He urged parents to present their children at health centres for free vaccination from October 6 and called on the media to amplify health messages.

The launch was attended by traditional and religious leaders, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi; development partners; and senior government officials.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has declared that the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, is of critical importance to Nigeria and must be supported at all costs to ucceed.

Reacting to the recent skirmish between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and management of refinery, Shettima said it was unnecessary for members of PENGASSAN to hold the nation to ransom over what he described as ‘a minor labour dispute’.

Shettima spoke on Monday at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) held in Abuja.

Recall that on September 28, PENGASSAN commenced a nationwide strike over the dismissal of Nigerian workers by Dangote refinery.

The strike was however suspended after Dangote Group, the parent company of the refinery, agreed to redeploy the sacked workers.

Faulting the association’s move, the vice-president said Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, is not an individual but an institution.

He added Dangote is ‘a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament’.

‘And how we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us. If he had invested $10 billion in Microsoft, in Amazon, in Google, probably he might be worth $70 to $80 billion by now. But he opted to invest in his country and we owe it to future generations to jealously protect, promote, preserve, and project the interests of this great Nigeria,’ Shettima said.

‘I wish to call for caution, retrospection and a deeper sense of patriotism from both the labour and the organised private sector in defining and improving the relationship between labour and industry in the interest of maintaining our steadily improving economic fortunes.

‘It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute. Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN and Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us.’

Speaking further, the vice-president emphasised that he was not acting out of partisanship, but as a ‘patriot in search of solutions to our national challenges’.

He emphasised that in the interest of improving the nation’s fortunes, the government was tasking the NESG with taking more than a passing interest in the matter.

‘The government will expect priority recommendations from the NESG in addressing this issue even as the government is also taking steps to protect big industry and ensuring industrial harmony for the good of the nation. This is a refinery, Your Excellencies, Your Royal Highnesses, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,’ Shettima said.

The vice-president reiterated that the refinery project was financed through a mix of equity investments, debt financing, and loans obtained from both local and foreign banks.

Consequently, he said the refinery has to function to salvage the debt and ‘we cannot hold the whole nation to ransom for some issues that we can amicably settle across the table’.

Shettima said his stance ‘reflects the true position of President Bola Tinubu’ and ‘the Nigerian people’.

On October 2, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, on projected revenue losses due to the suspended strike by the PENGASSAN, resulting from deferred production, missed liftings, and reduced gas sale.

Earlier on Monday, Bayo Ojulari, group chief executive officer (GCEO), NNPC, said the recent rise in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, was also linked to the recent strike by PENGASSAN.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has strongly condemned the recent comments made by Senator Adams Oshiomhole on national television, describing them as a ‘reprehensible assault on the fundamental rights of Nigerian workers’ and ‘a gross distortion of established labour laws.’

In a hard-hitting statement jointly signed by NUPENG’s National President, Comrade Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, the union expressed ‘profound dismay’ that a former labour leader could now be ‘a vocal advocate for corporate oppression,’ campaigning against the very rights he once fought to protect.

‘We witness with utter disappointment a former labour leader now transformed into a vocal advocate for corporate oppression, actively campaigning against the very rights he once championed,’ the statement read. ‘His attempts to rationalize the victimization of workers for exercising their fundamental rights of association and peaceful action are not only nauseating but represent a flagrant misrepresentation of Nigerian Labour Law and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions.’

NUPENG equivocally labelled Senator Oshiomhole a betrayer of labour movement ideas, describing his latest remarks as ‘the prattle of an apostate, intoxicated by the opium of power and dollarized into betraying the cause of the downtrodden Nigerian workers.’

The union said it was ironic that the man once regarded as the voice of Nigerian workers had now become an advocate for the ‘unconscionable capitalists’ opposed to unionization in their enterprises.

Citing sections of the 1999 Constitution and relevant labour laws, NUPENG reaffirmed that ‘every person in Nigeria: citizens and foreigners alike has the right to freedom of association and assembly,’ and that ‘no employer has the right to interfere with an employee’s freedom to join or form a union.’

The union recalled that Section 9(6) of the Labour Act expressly forbids any contract that attempts to exclude a worker from trade union membership, while ILO Conventions 87 and 98, both ratified by Nigeria, guarantee workers’ rights to form and join unions without interference.

The oil and gas workers’ body dismissed as ‘absurd and archaic’ Oshiomhole’s suggestion of a ‘moratorium on unionization,’ calling it ‘a regression to an unknown phase in human history that has no place in a modern democratic society.’ The union challenged him to ‘state to the whole world the section of the Labour Act or Trade Unions Act where such a slavish provision exists.’

Reacting to Oshiomhole’s criticism of the ongoing Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) strike, NUPENG described his position as ‘an act of profound historical revisionism and political amnesia.’ The union emphasized that PENGASSAN’s solidarity action with its members at the Dangote Refinery, where over 800 engineers were reportedly sacked for unionizing, ‘is a protected legal action under Section 31 of the Trade Unions Act.’

‘The principle that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ is the foundational ethic of trade unionism globally,’ NUPENG asserted. ‘For some Undistinguished Senators to now find this principle inconvenient only reveals a trading of once avowed class consciousness for a place among the oppressors.’

The union further expressed dismay that Oshiomhole, who once served several times in the Governing Council of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and in the Committee on Application of Standards that reviews global violations of workers’ rights, could ‘demonstrate such monumental ignorance of trade unionism.’

Referring to a past comment allegedly made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, NUPENG recalled the description of Oshiomhole as ‘a comrade in the morning and a politician by night,’ suggesting that the statement now rings truer than ever. The union accused the former labour leader of ‘rewriting history to suit his current reactionary advocacy’ and questioned his moral standing to lecture anyone on integrity or strategy.

In a dramatic conclusion, NUPENG declared Senator Oshiomhole persona non grata among Nigerian oil and gas workers for what it described as ‘the Undistinguished denunciation of the PENGASSAN strike against the unjustifiable sack of 800 engineers.’ The statement said the declaration means that ‘henceforth, we will not participate in or lend legitimacy to any event featuring Senator Oshiomhole,’ while urging the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and ‘conscionable civil society organisations’ to take note.

‘Oshiomhole’s denunciation and insensitivity to the plight of 800 engineers and his resistance to unionism in the petroleum and gas sector is a dangerous toxin designed to weaken the resolve of the working class and strengthen the class enemy,’ NUPENG warned. ‘We will continue to deploy every legal and industrial instrument available to us, in full compliance with Nigerian law and global labour standards, to secure justice.’

Declaring that Oshiomhole’s position on the PENGASSAN strike ‘qualifies him as the Judas Iscariot of Nigerian trade unionism,’ the union concluded with its enduring slogan: ‘Solidarity Forever! Our solidarity remains constant, for the union makes us strong.’