NEWS

Opral Benson, the Iya Oge of Lagos who was earlier reported missing by her family, has been found in Liberia. A family source confirmed the development on Tuesday evening, noting that the 90-year-old socialite may be dealing with age-related health issues. The source suggested she could be experiencing symptoms linked to old age. Benson’s family had raised concern on Sunday after she was unaccounted for for more than 48 hours. In a public alert, they disclosed that she was last seen on January 13, 2026, and had failed to return home, prompting an urgent appeal for public assistance. Despite efforts to contact the family using the phone number shared in the notice, calls and messages were unanswered at the time of reporting. Born on February 7, 1935, Opral Benson is an American-...

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, carried out an unannounced visit to the Nigerian Immigration Service passport office in Gwagwalada, Abuja, on Tuesday. During his visit, Tunji-Ojo criticised delays in passport processing and warned applicants not to make extra payments. The minister inspected operations at the VIP and Children section of the passport office and engaged both officials and applicants, questioning why applicants were still waiting long after the office was expected to commence operations. During the visit, Tunji-Ojo got feedback from applicants and cautioned them against paying money outside official fees, insisting that Nigerians had already paid fully for passport services. “I don’t want to hear that you are collecting money for diesel or paper. ...

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday announced that rehabilitation works on a 20-kilometre stretch of the Lekki–Epe Expressway will commence on Sunday and run for about 64 days, with traffic management to be carried out in phases across key intersections. The state Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, during a tour of the corridor, said traffic control during the rehabilitation would focus on specific intersections rather than shutting down the entire corridor at once. According to Vanguard, he explained that the first phase, tagged Intersection One, would run from Chevron to Igbo-Efon, with work to be carried out on the Lagos-bound carriageway using a structured eight-intersection phased approach. “To facilitate construction while maintaining vehicular movemen...

A disturbing video circulating on social media captures the frightening moment students of a tertiary institution in Edo State struggled to escape after a fire broke out in their residence. The incident occurred on Monday, January 19, at a building located behind Farnet Campus 2 in Auchi, Edo State. The footage shows students jumping from a second-floor balcony as flames engulfed their room. In the video, a male student is seen leaping from the balcony, while others, trapped inside the building, were assisted by a ladder placed by fellow students to help them climb down to safety. The dramatic escape has since sparked widespread reactions online. https://twitter.com/i/status/2013649518424662048

The family of Opral Benson, the Iya Oge of Lagos, has declared her missing.  Entertainment center In a notice released on Sunday, the family revealed Benson,90, was last seen on January 13, 2026 and has not returned home since then. Describing the situation as time-sensitive, the family appealed to the public for any information that could help locate her. “The family reports that Mama Opral Benson has been missing since Tuesday, January 13, 2026. She has not returned home and her current whereabouts are unknown,” the notice reads." "Anyone who has seen her, or has any information, no matter how small, is urged to contact us immediately.  “Call 08037039214. Alternatively, please report to the nearest police station. This is time-sensitive. Please sh...

The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced the commencement of the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards ahead of the February 21 Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory. INEC disclosed this in a statement posted on its official X handle on Tuesday, urging eligible voters in the FCT to take advantage of the exercise to collect their PVCs. According to the commission, PVC collection will take place at voters’ respective Registration Areas (wards) from January 22 to January 26, between 9 am and 3 pm daily. INEC added that eligible voters who are unable to collect their PVCs at their wards within the stipulated period would be able to do so thereafter at the INEC Area Council offices across the FCT. It said, “Dear #FCT Resident, as we prepare f...

Goods valued at several millions of naira were destroyed in a fire that engulfed a storey commercial building on Somoye Osundairo Street, within the Computer Village area of Ikeja, Lagos State, in the early hours of Tuesday. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, said the incident occurred at about 1:55 am, triggering the immediate activation of the state’s emergency response mechanism from its Command and Control Centre in Alausa. In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, the agency disclosed that its response team arrived at the scene to find a raging fire at a one-storey commercial structure occupied by dealers in computers and related accessories. “Upon arrival of the LASEMA Response Team at the incident scene, it was observed that a fire outbreak had occurred in...

The Lagos State House of Assembly has backed the state’s executive in the ongoing demolition of structures and shanties erected along shorelines and under high-tension cables across the state. The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, Mr Stephen Ogundipe, said this in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday. The state government, through the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, has embarked on the demolition of illegal structures, especially in the Oworonsoki and Makoko areas in the state. Makoko residents had on Thursday protested at the Assembly complex over the demolition of their structures, urging Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to stop further demolition. Ogundipe, representing Oshodi-Isolo Constituency-01, said the exercise was a necessary step...

China's population has fallen for the fourth year in a row despite efforts by the government to persuade couples to have more children. Official figures released on Monday revealed that the world's second-most populous nation shrank in 2025, with the total population to 1.404billion, around three million fewer people than the year before. A decade after ending China’s longtime one-child policy, the country’s authorities have been pushing a range of ideas and policies to try to encourage more births,  tactics that range from cash subsidies to taxing condoms to eliminating a tax on matchmakers and day care centers. 'China's one-child policy will be remembered as one of the costliest lessons of misguided public policymaking,' the Brookings Institution said in a 2016 report short...

Adeniyi Kayode, the 46-year-old driver involved in the f@tal accident that k!lled Anthony Joshua’s friends, appeared today, Jan. 20, at the Sagamu Magistrate Court in Ogun State where his trial is set to begin. Kayode was charged with four counts, including dangerous driving causing de@th, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care and attention, and driving without a valid national driver’s license.  The court granted Kayode bail in the sum of ₦5,000,000 with two sureties, and the case was adjourned to today, January 20, 2026, for trial. The accident, which occurred on December 29, 2025, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, was reportedly caused by excessive speed and wrongful overtaking Professional boxer Anthony Joshua survived the accident but it claimed t...