NIGERIA deployed both air and ground troops to neighbouring Benin Republic on Sunday after President Patrice Talon’s government urgently requested military support to suppress an attempted coup, the Nigerian presidency and senior defence officials confirmed. News Point Nigeria reports that the intervention followed a dramatic early-morning broadcast on Benin’s state television, where a group of mutinous soldiers calling themselves the Military Committee for Refoundation (CMR) announced the dissolution of government, suspension of the constitution, and closure of the country’s borders. They further proclaimed that President Talon had been removed from office and declared Lieutenant-Colonel Tigri Pascal as head of a…
Author: Sadiq Abdullateef
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THE Federal Government has reportedly secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State. News Point Nigeria reports that Bandits on 21 November 2025, attacked the school in the remote community of Papiri. Arriving around 2:00 a.m. on motorbikes, the gunmen stormed the school dormitories over a three-hour period, abducting 315 people 303 students and 12 teachers. Security forces and community hunters were deployed to comb nearby forests for the abductees. In the immediate aftermath, 50 pupils escaped within the first day and were reunited…
IN a political season already thick with debate, President Bola Tinubu’s latest ambassadorial nominations have opened a new front of national conversation, one that stretches from the halls of the presidency to the opposition war parlours, from media news rooms to the streets where citizens trade opinions with equal parts passion and suspicion. This week, the president sent 32 names to the Senate for confirmation as ambassadors, a list notable for its blend of political heavyweights, former public office holders and prominent technocrats. Among those nominated are former INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu; ex-minister Femi Fani-Kayode; former presidential aide Reno Omokri;…
CALLS in US for Nigeria to abolish Sharia law and disband Hisbah commissions have sparked fresh concern across northern states such as Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Zamfara, and others, where these institutions have operated for decades as core elements of religious order, identity, and local governance. For many in the region, the push by some United States lawmakers to pressure President Bola Tinubu into ending Sharia-based legal systems feels like an attempt to override the constitutional freedoms that allow states to adopt legal frameworks reflecting their cultural and religious values. Northern leaders argue that dismantling Hisbah and outlawing Sharia would not…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence. This was disclosed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy in a statement sent to News Point Nigeria on Tuesday. Onanuga said in a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday over health issue. General Musa, 58, is a distinguished soldier who served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. H He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering…
AFTER months of tension and two failed attempts, the Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday finally arraigned SaharaReporters publisher and rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of cybercrime linked to his social media criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. News Point Nigeria recalls that in August, the DSS openly faulted a series of posts by Sowore on X (formerly Twitter), in which he described President Tinubu as a “criminal.” The agency instructed him to take down the posts, an order the activist refused to obey leading to the initiation of legal proceedings.…
MINISTER of Defence, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, has resigned from office with immediate effect, citing health reasons, according to an official statement released by the Presidency late on Monday. News Point Nigeria reports that Badaru, a former two-term governor of Jigawa State, tendered his resignation in a letter dated December 1 addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The letter, according to the State House, conveyed his decision to step down to focus on what was described as “recurring medical concerns.” President Tinubu has accepted the resignation and formally thanked Badaru for his service to the nation. The president praised the…
SOUTH Africa, Eswatini, and Zambia were to begin on Monday administering a breakthrough new HIV-prevention injection in the drug’s first public rollouts in Africa, which has the world’s highest HIV burden. Lenacapavir, taken twice a year, has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9 percent, making it functionally akin to a powerful vaccine. In South Africa, where one in five adults lives with HIV, a Wits University research unit oversaw the rollout as part of an initiative funded by Unitaid, the United Nations health agency. “The first individuals have begun using lenacapavir for HIV…
FORMER Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has strongly refuted allegations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that he duplicated the recovery of a tranche of late Gen. Sani Abacha’s looted funds amounting to $310 million—later accrued to $322.5 million with interest. In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria by his media aide, Mohammed Doka, Malami dismissed the claims as “baseless, illogical, and devoid of factual foundation,” insisting that the EFCC’s narrative collapses under scrutiny. The EFCC reportedly alleges that Malami duplicated a recovery process that had been concluded by Swiss lawyer,…
FRESH controversy has erupted over the nature of U.S.–Nigeria security cooperation following new claims that American surveillance aircraft have begun flying reconnaissance missions inside Nigerian airspace, just days after reports alleged that the United States is preparing for unmanned drone strikes against terrorist targets in the country. News Point Nigeria reports that the latest claims were made by Brant Philip, a senior Sahel conflict observer who tracks insurgents groups across West and Central Africa. In a series of posts on X, Philip alleged that a manned U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft flew multiple missions this weekend over Islamic…
THE Presidency has fired back at former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his recent criticism of the Federal Government’s handling of insecurity, accusing him of hypocrisy and reminding him that the Boko Haram insurgency began under his administration. In a issued sighted by News Point Nigeria on X, Sunday and titled “Between Tinubu’s Capability and the Ignobility of Pseudo Statesmanship,” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, condemned Obasanjo and other opposition figures for what he termed “ignoble attempts” to discredit the current administration’s security efforts. Dare’s remarks followed comments made by Obasanjo during an…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation, expanding Nigeria’s proposed diplomatic roster just days after submitting an initial batch of three names. News Point Nigeria reports that the President’s latest request was conveyed in two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio. In the correspondence, Tinubu urged the Senate to “consider and confirm expeditiously” 15 career diplomats and 17 non-career nominees who will represent Nigeria in key embassies and missions across the world. The combined list features 10 women, with four among the career diplomats and…
FOR years, as News Point Nigeria has repeatedly reported, the wail of sirens and the flash of police escorts slicing through gridlocked Nigerian roads stood as a loud reminder of VIP privilege. Anyone with enough influence or money could stroll into a police command, fill out a form, make the required payments, and walk away with their own armed entourage. From politicians to entertainers and even individuals of questionable repute, the Nigeria Police Force had become a status accessory. But on November 23, that long-running ease came to a sudden and historic stop. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued a directive…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commisson (EFCC) has summoned the immediate past Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. News Point Nigeria reports that the agency’s invite was contained in a letter dated November 24. It fixed Friday, November 28, for the interview. “The Commission is investigating a case which the need to obtain certain information from you becomes imperative,” the letter, signed by Sunday Atiba Ofen-Imu, on behalf of the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, read. Friday’s meeting will be held at the EFCC Headquarters Institution and Research District, Jabi in Abuja, the nation’s capital. “In view of the above,…
PROMINENT Nigerians, including politicians, business leaders, and party executives, are now turning to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for personal protection following the withdrawal of over 11,566 police officers from VIP security duties nationwide. News Point Nigeria reports that the mass recall ordered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marks one of the most extensive security reforms in years, aimed at redirecting overstretched police manpower to frontline communities battling rising insecurity, including recent kidnapping waves in Kwara, Kebbi, Niger, and parts of the North-West. Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, clarified that the…
THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has been indicted for widespread financial, procurement, and project execution breaches amounting to ₦2.69 billion, according to the newly released Auditor-General’s Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in MDAs for 2022. News Point Nigeria reports that the comprehensive audit, which reviewed spending patterns, contract processes, and asset management practices across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) flagged the Police Force Headquarters for abandoned projects, irregular contract awards, questionable payments, and disbursement of funds for unexecuted works. One of the most damning findings involved 14 projects valued at ₦1,938,299,452.00, all listed as ongoing in the…
FORMER President, Goodluck Jonathan is among hundreds of foreign election observers currently stranded in Guinea Bissau following a dramatic military takeover that unfolded just hours before official presidential election results were expected to be announced. Jonathan, who arrived in the West African nation as head of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Observation Mission, has been unable to leave the country after the military seized power, shut down borders, and imposed a nationwide curfew. News Point Nigeria gathered that shortly after the coup announcement, panic-gripped observers and diplomats raced to the Osvaldo Vieira International Airport in an attempt to…
FEDERAL Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday suspended the Mandate Secretary for Education, Danlami Hayyo, after a controversial memo ordering the shutdown of government schools in Abuja circulated widely without approval from the minister. News Point Nigeria reports that the memo, signed by Aishatu Sani Alhassan, Director of School Services directed all public senior secondary schools in the FCT to close “on or before Friday, November 28, 2025,” citing unspecified security concerns. Principals were instructed to end academic activities immediately and dismiss students “in an orderly and safe manner.” The directive triggered anxiety among parents, teachers and students…
THE Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is facing serious scrutiny after the Auditor-General of the Federation reported that the agency spent N118.75 million in 2022 without providing mandatory supporting documents, raising fresh concerns about transparency, accountability, and adherence to public finance regulations. The revelations were contained in an 808-page federal audit report covering January to December 2022 obtained by News Point Nigeria, submitted to the National Assembly in September. The report flagged multiple irregularities within the CAC, ranging from undocumented expenditures to unaccounted-for government vehicles and improper legal payments. News Point Nigeria reports that part of the undocumented N118.75 million was…
THE Military High Command has opened an internal investigation into allegations that troops were redeployed shortly before bandits abducted 25 female students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State. The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) announced the probe on Sunday following heightened public concern over the circumstances leading to the attack, which occurred days after intelligence warnings reportedly flagged the school as a possible target. In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Michael Onoja, the DHQ said the review would scrutinize troop deployment patterns, operational decisions, and intelligence handling…