NEWS

Kyiv said on Thursday that it had received from Russia 1,000 remains of people that Moscow said were Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting the Kremlin’s army. The exchange of prisoners of war and the remains of killed soldiers is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022. “Today, repatriation measures took place, under which 1,000 bodies of the deceased, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian defenders, were returned to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky confirmed an exchange had taken place, writing on Telegram that the Russian side had received the remains of 38 killed Russian soldiers Med...

The House of Representatives on Thursday commenced debate on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2026 Appropriation Bill, approving the proposed ₦58.18 trillion budget for second reading. The budget is built around macroeconomic stability, improved security, and increased capital spending. Tagged “The Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” the 2026 fiscal plan was presented to the National Assembly on December 19, 2025, and was described by lawmakers as a major step in Nigeria’s economic restructuring. Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, House Leader Rep. Julius Ihonvbere said the Tinubu administration inherited weakened institutions and noted that while reforms would be challenging, they were unavoidable. “Development that is not susta...

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has presented 12 newly acquired ambulances to hospitals across the territory in a bid to strengthen emergency healthcare services in Abuja. The handover ceremony, held on Thursday in Abuja, highlighted the FCT Administration’s commitment to improving healthcare delivery, especially in emergency and life-threatening situations. Speaking at the event, Wike said the procurement of the ambulances forms part of the administration’s wider investment in critical sectors such as road infrastructure, education and healthcare. He stressed that effective emergency response depends largely on good road networks. According to him, without functional roads, emergency vehicles risk becoming ineffective when patients require urgent...

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. has suggested  that President Donald Trump's rhetoric toward her and the Somali community contributed to the attack on her at a town hall on Tuesday. Omar said Wednesday that the man at the town hall “was specifically upset that Trump’s order to deport Somalis was not yielding enough deportations of Somalis, so he wanted to come get the person he thought was protecting the Somalis.” “What the facts have shown since I’ve gotten into elected office is that every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket,” Omar said at a news conference in Minneapolis. “I do believe that the facts of the situation are that I wouldn’t be where I am at today, ha...

Texas state police officers on Wednesday, Jan. 28, used tear gas to disperse a demonstration outside a US immigration detention facility where protesters gathered to demand the release of a 5-year-old Ecuadoran boy among others picked up in the Trump administration’s immigration clampdown. Scores of protesters gathered at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley on Wednesday, carrying signs accusing the federal agents of terrorizing communities. “We want Kristi Noem impeached. We want the US Senate to defund ICE, to not give it any more money. And we need people to pay attention to the midterm elections this year,” local elected official Christina Morales told AFP. Texas state law enforcement responded to the protest in riot gear, deploying tear gas cannisters, in...

The Enugu State Police Command has uncovered a suspected transnational human trafficking scheme for prostitution, leading to the arrest of a 50-year-old female suspect, Ibekwe Nkiru, and the rescue of a 20-year-old female victim (name withheld).  The arrest and rescue were effected on 16th January 2026 by operatives attached to the Igbo-Eze South Police Division, following swift action on credible intelligence. Preliminary investigations by the police indicate that the victim, a native of Abia State, was allegedly deceived into resigning from her job in Aba with the promise of a more lucrative employment opportunity in Senegal, which later turned out to be prostitution-related. On the same date, at about 7pm, the suspect, who operates from Amorji-Nike, Enugu, allegedly took the ...

The Edo State Government has finalised plans to train 800 youths in digital skills to prepare them for future challenges. The state Commissioner for Education, Dr Paddy Iyamu, disclosed this in Benin on Wednesday at the flag-off of a six-month Advanced Job Ready Tech Skills Training, organised by the Edo State Government in collaboration with Google and DeepTech Ready. The commissioner urged students to take advantage of the opportunity, saying it would enhance their tech skills and make them globally relevant. He said, “We are going to be certifying about 800 of our students in tech skills so that we can give them opportunities in the international space. “We are going to be doing a serious drive in terms of computer-based test centres, putting students together to learn s...

https://1be917e37f046c2de3a970546ff6cf86.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-45/html/container.html Ahead of the 2027 general election, the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has asked President Bola Tinubu to immediately remove the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Josiah Amupitan. MURIC declared that Amupitan’s removal is necessary in order to protect the credibility of the forthcoming elections. The group made the demand on Thursday in a statement signed by its Kano State chapter chairman, Malam Hassan Sani Indabawa. MURIC in the statement alleged that Amupitan’s past activities warranted the call for his removal, resignation or prosection. MURIC alleged that Amupitan wrote a hate-filled legal brief to the United States on alleged Ch...

Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has challenged Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s assertion that there are no issues with the new tax law passed by the Senate. Naija News reports that Akpabio, during Wednesday’s plenary session, claimed the law was not tampered with, countering public concerns about discrepancies. However, Ndume told Arise Television’s Prime Time programme that the law is fundamentally flawed. He highlighted that at least two versions of the Gazette exist for the new tax law and stated that he was among those who identified differences between what the Senate passed and what President Bola Tinubu signed. Ndume said Akpabio should have established a committee to investigate the discrepancies instead of dismissing them. He explained, “We informed th...

Three police officers have been k!lled, while two others sustained injuries, in an ambush by bandits in Katsina State. The officers k!lled were Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Abubakar Ibrahim, Inspector Umar Ahmad, and Sergeant Khailani Kabir. Those injured are Corporal Abdul’aziz Sani and Corporal Daniel Japhet. It was gathered that the incident occurred on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at about 12.44pm, when the police team was on a routine anti-crime patrol along Guga village in Bakori Local Government Area of the state. Security sources said the attack occurred as the officers moved to repel an assault by hoodlums in the area, who reportedly opened fire upon the team’s arrival. Confirming the incident in a statement on Wednesday, January 28, the Police Public Relatio...