THE National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has sanctioned 49 healthcare facilities (HCFs) and 47 Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs for violating its operational guidelines.
This was revealed in a statement on Sunday, June 30, by NHIA’s spokesperson, Emmanuel Ononokpono.
According to the statement, the key issues recorded in the complaints against HMOs were denial of services, out-of-pocket payment for covered services, non-provision of payment narrations and unavailability of medicines.
For the HMOs, the issues were related to delays or denials of referral authorisation codes, delays in settlement of agreed reconciled payments, refusal to monitor quality assurance in facilities, among others.
The statement highlighted key findings from the NHIA’s 2024 Annual Complaints Report, produced by the Enforcement Department under Acting Director, Enforcement, Abdulhamid Habib Abdullahi.
The NHIA issued the report in compliance with its Act, which mandates it to establish complaint resolution mechanisms for scheme members and healthcare facilities.
“In all, a total of 3507 complaints were handled during the period, out of which 2929 complaints (84 per cent), the majority of which were against HCFs, were resolved.
“A breakdown of the distribution of complaints reveals that 2273 were reports against HCFs and 1232 were against HMOs. Only two reports were recorded against enrollees by providers,” the NHIA stated.
In addition, 35 HMOs received formal warnings, while 12 were directed to refund N748,200 to 15 enrollees.
The NHIA imposed sanctions, including 84 formal warnings to healthcare facilities, refunds of N4,375,500 to 54 enrollees from 39 facilities, suspension of four facilities and delisting of six others.
According to the NHIA, in 2024, all complaints were fully investigated and responded to within the standard response time of 10 to 25 days.
The organisation said it resolved complaints requiring investigation within an average of 15 days, achieving an 84 per cent resolution rate within the set timeline.
It added that for cases not resolved within the timeline, explanations were provided to complainants while the resolution process continued. Complaints were submitted through various channels, including in person, letters, email, telephone, the NHIA call centre, and others.
“The NHIA Complaint and Grievance Management Protocol establishes clear policies and procedures for complaint management and provides that complaints must be responded to in a timely manner. It also provides escalation procedures for complex or serious complaints,” it added.
The Director-General of the NHIA, Kelechi Ohiri, stated that the complaints management process aimed to enhance accountability, rebuild trust, and improve the quality of care, driving higher enrollment.
He emphasised that the organisation would not tolerate substandard service, adding that enrollees deserved the best care.
In Nigeria, HMOs provide health insurance coverage for individuals and groups, acting as intermediaries between policyholders and healthcare providers. The NHIA oversees and regulates HMOs to ensure quality healthcare delivery and compliance with standards.
THE Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, said he had no interest in a coalition focused on grabbing powers without delivering good governance.
Obi stated this during an X Space on Sunday, June 29, hosted by ParallelFacts while fielding questions from participants.
He said he had no agreement to seek the presidency in 2027 on a joint ticket with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He said the issue at hand was not a question of his Obedient Movement rejecting a joint ticket with Abubakar, hinting that they had never discussed tickets in the new coalition.
“In the coalition, and I repeat it, I’m involved in the coalition. We’re not talking about who will have the ticket or not.
“If the coalition is about going to take power, just for power’s sake, count me out of it,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State Governor said his position was that if the coalition could not be about how government could stop the killings in Borno, Zamfara, Benue, and secure Nigerian communities, ensure that people have food on their table, and industries are productive, he should be counted out.
“I want to see Nigeria work. Not that I want to be the President of Nigeria and waste everybody’s time. People have wasted people’s time enough here.
“I want to see the President of Nigeria, not that we didn’t know there’s a crisis in Benue, (I want to see the president) go there and stay overnight and feel their pain. Go there and attend the mass burial of those people and say it will not happen again in our country,” Obi said.
He recalled that when he was governor, people were killed in the North, and he had to shut down the government to attend their burial.
He queried the government’s response to the killing across the country, asking how many people would die before the government says that the country is at war.
He said he could agree to serve for four years as president.
“Let me assure you, my character and integrity are far more important to me. Just like I’m not destined to be president of Nigeria, if I have the opportunity and the agreement is for two years, I will vote for two years.
“In two years, I will be able to bring competency, capacity and compassion into governance. The things that are happening today… will not happen under my watch,” Obi said.
The ICIRreported that Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and other opposition leaders are teaming up to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the coming 2027 general elections.
LACK of trust, poorly equipped primary health centres, long distances to hospitals, and frequent staff shortages, have compelled many women in Niger State’s rural communities to resort to untrained traditional birth attendants during childbirth. The ICIR visited rural communities in the state to expose how broken healthcare systems are pushing women to risky alternatives.
Read a similar report by The ICIR on how government neglect fuels maternal deaths, sexual violence in Plateau community.
It was the middle of the night in Ibeto, a remote community in Niger State, when Fatimah, heavily pregnant and close to delivery, began to groan in pain. She had been visiting her sister’s home for two days when labour struck. By midnight, her cries of distress filled the small compound, and panic spread among the family members.
Her sister and brother-in-law quickly bundled her into a tricycle and rushed her to the nearest hospital, about 30 minutes away. There, the nurses gave them a bed, but nothing more. Fatimah’s pain worsened. She clutched her swollen belly and cried out as contractions tightened around her like a vice. Her sister pleaded with the nurses to take her to the labour room, but they refused.
“They said we must pay N30,000 before they would attend to her,” her sister, Zuwaira Ibrahim recounted, adding: “We only had N5,000; my husband promised to pay the rest in the morning, but they refused. We begged them for one hour while Fatimah writhed in pain.”
Zuwaira Ibrahim
The hospital staff insisted on no payment, no treatment.
Feeling helpless and desperate, they rushed her to a traditional birth attendant. There, in a small, dimly lit room, the birth attendant did what she could. Fatimah gave birth, but the baby was already dead.
Fatimah often sat quietly at her sister’s doorstep, staring into the distance, her hands resting on her belly where life once stirred. She is of one of many women in rural Niger communities who rely on traditional birth attendants during labour due to factors like poor access to primary healthcare, long distances to hospitals, high costs, and deep mistrust of public health facilities.
TBAs in Northern Nigeria
In Northern Nigeria, especially in rural and underserved areas, traditional birth attendants (TBAs) remain a critical part of maternal healthcare. With poor access to functional primary health centres, insecurity, poverty, and crumbling infrastructure, many women continue to rely on TBAs during pregnancy and childbirth.
Often older women respected within their communities, TBAs provide assistance using experience passed down through generations, local herbs, and spiritual care. They step in where the formal health system fails.
Ideally, primary health centres should be the first point of contact for pregnancy care. But in many rural communities, these facilities are either non-existent or barely functional. Some have no staff on duty, lack essential equipment, or operate without electricity or clean water.
TBAs speak
Eighty two -year-old Bayi Yakubu is one of the traditional birth attendants (TBA) mostly patronised by the locals in the Ibeto community.
Bayi Yakubu just helped to deliver a baby when ICIR visited in May, 2025.
She inherited the skill from her mother before marriage. Though initially reluctant, she now finds pride and fulfilment in the work that has become her lifelong calling.
“I didn’t want to be a traditional birth attendant at first. My parents forced me into it, even beating me when I refused. But today, I’m grateful because I’ve helped many women, and I’m proud of what I do,” she said.
When The ICIR visited her home in May, she had just finished delivering a baby in the community.
Bayi uses traditional herbs, such as Janyaro( Guinea corn leaf or sorghum leaf) and Ganyen Maje (Neem leaf), which she boils and gives to women in labour to ease the delivery process or help them recover afterwards. On average, she attends to about ten pregnant women a month.
Beyond delivering babies, Yakubu says her work prioritises privacy and compassion—two things many women say they no longer receive at public hospitals.
“Women prefer us because we keep things private and take care of them better than the hospitals. We understand their pain,” she said.
She acknowledges that some cases are beyond her expertise, especially when complications like obstructed labour require surgical intervention.
“If a woman is suffering too much or I suspect she may need an operation, I send her to the hospital. I don’t take chances,” she explained, adding: “By God’s grace, I’ve never lost a mother or baby under my care.”
Fifty eight-year-old Aisha Mohammadu is one of the trusted figures for expectant mothers in her community, Usalle. A mother of 12 herself, Aisha combines farming with her role as a traditional birth attendant (TBA), which she inherited from her grandmother.
“I learned this work before I got married,” she told The ICIR, seated in the courtyard of her mud home. “I didn’t go to school for it. I was trained by my grandmother, who helped many women before me.”
Aisha assists more than five women each month, relying solely on traditional herbs.
“We don’t charge much, and we also protect their secrets. At the hospital, male doctors sometimes attend to women in labour. Here, it’s always woman to woman.”
Despite having no formal training or access to modern equipment, Aisha insists she has never experienced the loss of a mother or child under her care. But she admits that in difficult cases, she knows her limits.
Traditional Birth Attendant, Aisha Mohammadu
“If labour becomes too risky, I try my traditional medicine. If it doesn’t work, I’ll send the woman to the hospital,” she said.
While TBAs like Aisha and Bayi are deeply rooted in their communities, the maternal health data tells a different story.
The National Demographic Health Survey(2023-2024) revealed that the percentage of live births attended by skilled providers in Nigeria was just 46 per cent, showing that over half of all births in Nigeria are still not assisted by trained health professionals.
Studies have shown that most TBAs engage in trial and error and do not have defined guidelines that determine when they cannot manage a complication, and this may lead to late referral with fatal consequences.
In 2020, a consortium consisting of Africare, an international NGO focused exclusively on Africa, EpiAFRIC, an African health consultancy group, and the Nigeria Health Watch, an NGO with a focus on strengthening the capacity of health sector organisations in Nigeria, carried out an 18-month project called ‘Giving Birth In Nigeria’.
The report focused on shining a light on the high prevalence of maternal deaths in various communities. During the review period, 133 maternal deaths were documented in 18 communities in the six states.
The result showed that out of the 133 maternal deaths, only 17 occurred in a designated health facility, signalling the high density of unaccounted mothers dying during childbirth. About 52 deaths took place at home, and 56 deaths occurred in the homes of TBAs.
Why pregnant women prefer TBAs
Residents of various communities in Niger State who spoke with The ICIR said they choose traditional birth attendants because it’s a more affordable, accessible and familiar alternative.
They also cited infrastructure decay and lack of medical supplies in their neighbouring hospitals. The women said they feel safe in the hands of traditional birth attendants who are always women, unlike neighbouring hospitals where female health workers may not be available.
Suwaiba Alhasan, a 43-year-old mother of eight from Usalle community in Kontagora Local Government Area, said she often finds it difficult to access healthcare during pregnancy.
For Suwaiba, the choice to use a TBA is not just about distance and cost; it is also about dignity and care.
She said many women prefer TBAs because they offer privacy and personal attention. Unlike hospitals, where patients may feel neglected, TBAs attend to women in their homes, sometimes helping with laundry and newborn care after delivery.
“While pregnant, I always worry about how I will manage because the hospital is far from our community. I needed to go for a scan every month, which means I must pay for transportation to travel almost 7 kilometres. Sometimes, we don’t even have money to pay for the scan. Even when we reach the hospital, the nurses and doctors often do not attend to us properly.”
She also noted that TBAs are flexible with payments and are willing to help even when families cannot afford hospital bills.
Suwaiba Alhassan
Despite recognising the risks, women like Suwaiba say they feel more comfortable and respected with TBAs. But she also expressed concern about the limitations TBAs face—many do not have modern medical tools, scanning machines, or sterile equipment.
She explained that the nearest hospital is about seven kilometres away and requires a motorcycle to reach. Even when she gets there, she says the facility is poorly equipped and the staff are sometimes unavailable or inattentive.
The ICIR visited the primary healthcare centre (PHC) in her locality, Tadali PHC, but it was found closed. Residents said there are only two male health workers available to attend to patients, which is why many women do not feel safe going to the hospital. The facility also suffers from a leaking roof, insufficient medical supplies, and poor infrastructure.
In Tungan Maje village, located in Magama Local Government Area of Niger State, 35-year-old Safiya Umar had given birth nine times, but only three of them were born in the hospital. The rest were through traditional birth attendants.
“The last time I visited the hospital was four months ago, when I found out I was pregnant again,” Safiya recalled, adding that she was turned away.
“When I got to the hospital, only male staff were around. I asked for the nurses, but they said the two female staff were not available that day. So I left without receiving treatment and returned the next morning when the nurses were there.”
Safiya Umar
For women in Safiya’s village, access to healthcare is a journey. There is no hospital within the community. The nearest facility is about two hours away and requires transportation by motorcycle. “We cannot walk that far,” she said. “If your husband does not have a motorcycle or money for transport, you may have no choice but to stay home.”
“Even when women manage to reach the hospital, they face additional barriers. The hospital is not good,” Safiya said,adding: “It is not well equipped, there is no electricity, no water, and the doctors and nurses do not treat us well.”
Because of this, many women in her community turn to traditional birth attendants. Safiya says they treat them better.
“For me, I go to the traditional attendants because they treat us with respect and do not demand money from us. Even if you do not have anything, she will still help, and you can pay her later,” Safiya said.
But trust alone cannot replace medical support.
Safiya shared a painful experience involving her husband’s junior wife. One night around 10 p.m., the woman went into labour. In a panic, they rushed her to the hospital at Ibeto ward, only to find the facility closed.
As the labour pains grew worse, Safiya stood by, feeling helpless. With no other option, they took her to a traditional birth attendant around midnight. The attendant did all she could, and the woman eventually gave birth. But by then, the baby had died. The mother, who had been sick for nearly a month, barely survived.
Nigeria is the world’s most dangerous nation in which to give birth. According to the most recent UN estimates for the country, compiled from 2023 figures, one in 100 Nigerian women die in labour or the following days.
The country, alongside other UN member states, in 2001 agreed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which included a call for the number of maternal deaths to be cut by three-quarters by 2015. Later, Nigeria transitioned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which now aim to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. Yet, the country continues to record some of the highest maternal death rates in the world.
According to the 2023–24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), Nigeria continues to face alarming rates of maternal and child mortality. The under-five mortality rate stands at 110 deaths per 1,000 live births, meaning 1 in every 9 children dies before their fifth birthday. The infant mortality rate (death under one year of age) is 63 per 1,000 live births, while neonatal mortality( death within first 28 days of life) is 41 per 1,000 live births. In Niger State, the under-five mortality rate is still high at 49 deaths per 1,000 live births, while neonatal mortality is 22 deaths per 1000 live births.
These figures fall far short of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, which aim to reduce neonatal mortality to at least 12 per 1,000 live births and under-five mortality to as low as 25 per 1,000 live births. Similarly, maternal mortality is still unacceptably high, with Nigeria recording 512 deaths per 100,000 live births, far above the SDG target.
According to the report, lack of access to quality health care, lack of skilled health workers, education and poverty are some of the structural factors that have contributed to maternity and infant mortality rates in Nigeria especially in rural areas, leaving women and children at higher risk of exposure to dangerous delivery practices that contribute to high mortality.
TBA and rural maternal healthcare in Niger
In recent years, Niger State has undertaken various initiatives to improve rural healthcare delivery. The state government allocated about 70 per cent of the 2025 budget to these sectors.
In addition to financial allocations, the state government is implementing various initiatives to improve healthcare delivery. In May 2025, the Niger state government led by Governor Bago commissioned 20 newly constructed level 2 primary healthcare centres across 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs).
However, significant challenges remain in achieving effective healthcare delivery in the state. The ICIRreported that the state’s heavy reliance on federal allocations and the need to improve internally generated revenue are key factors that could affect the successful implementation of these initiatives.
Niger State Governor Muhammed Bago. Photo credit: Niger State Government
The ICIR previously reported that despite interventions such as the Federal Government’s Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), many primary healthcare centres, particularly in rural areas, continue to face serious issues, including inadequate staffing, a shortage of essential drugs, and poor infrastructure.
Cultural and religious norms also hinder access to healthcare. In many communities, women require their husbands’ permission to visit health facilities, leading to delays in seeking medical attention. Such societal constraints undermine the effectiveness of programmes which aim to improve maternal and child healthcare.
The ICIR contacted Fatimah Muhammad, the Public Relations Officer of Niger State Primary Healthcare Development Agency on what the agency is doing to address the gaps in healthcare delivery. She asked this reporter to send his enquiries via email, but no response has been received as of the time of filing this report.
Experts advocate for integration
In an interview with The ICIR, Technical Officer at the Centre for Communication and Reproductive Health Services (CCRHS), Shehu Ahmed Baba, warned against the continued practice of untrained Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) conducting deliveries without medical supervision or access to sterile equipment, saying it poses a significant risk to maternal and neonatal health.
“It is not safe for TBAs to continue conducting deliveries without medical training or access to sterile equipment, as this will further increase cases of MNCH (Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health) complications,” Baba said.
According to him, this, in the long run, will increase the burden on healthcare workers across facilities and also drive up the indices of maternal and neonatal deaths.
He called on the government to strengthen health facilities to meet the required Minimum Service Package (MSP) standards and improve the capacity of healthcare workers for effective service delivery.
He said while TBAs continue to play a vital role in service provision, especially in hard-to-reach communities, their skills must be enhanced through formal training and integration into the broader healthcare system.
“TBAs should be trained to deliver effective services and linked to health facilities for referral services in cases of complications. The Task-Shifting and Task-Sharing (TSTS) policy should be enforced and strengthened,” he added.
On his part, a Health Policy Officer at African Region for Society for Family Health, Yusuf Hassan Wada, pointed out that the safety of deliveries conducted by traditional birth attendants (TBAs) without formal medical training or access to sterile equipment remains a major concern, especially in the context of maternal and new born health.
He explained that despite the Federal Ministry of Health not formally endorsing TBAs, they continue to play a significant role, particularly in rural and underserved areas of Nigeria.
“Evidence consistently shows that maternal and neonatal outcomes improve significantly when deliveries are handled by skilled birth attendants,” he said, adding: “However, in areas where access to health professionals is limited, TBAs have stepped in to fill a critical gap.”
According to him, many TBAs are no longer the “untrained individuals of the past,” as some states have introduced training programmes to build their capacity in basic hygiene, referral systems, and danger sign recognition.
Yusuf Hassan Wada, Health Expert
“For example, trained TBAs are now more likely to refer women to facilities earlier and use protective equipment like gloves during delivery, which reduces the risk of infection,” Wada added.
Still, he warned that “home deliveries often still occur in unsanitary environments, exposing mothers, new-borns, and even the TBAs themselves to infections.”
He said continued efforts were needed to strengthen primary healthcare and regulate TBA practice through structures such as Traditional Medicine Boards.
Asked what the government could do in places like Niger State, where many women depend heavily on TBAs due to failing health systems, Wada described the situation as “a very real and urgent challenge.”
He called for investments in PHC infrastructure and staffing, mobile health outreach, and community-based insurance to lower cost barriers.
Wada also recommended involving the Traditional Medicine Board, noting that in other states, licencing and monitoring TBAs have improved safety and referrals.
“Ultimately, solving this issue requires treating the root causes, not just the symptoms and that begins with strengthening trust, access, and quality in the public health system,” he said.
IN a swift response to criticism that trailed the visit, the Presidency on Sunday clarified that President Bola Tinubu’s ongoing state visit to Saint Lucia is a strategic engagement rather than a vacation.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the presidency described the trip as a landmark diplomatic and cultural mission.
It said the visit is rekindling Nigeria’s ancestral and strategic ties with the Caribbean nation and the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc.
The statement followed the criticism of Tinubu’s latest trip by the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.
Obi, in a statementon his social media handle on Saturday, criticised President Tinubu over his visit to Saint Lucia, describing it as ill-timed and insensitive to the current hardship and insecurity ravaging the country.
“No, Mr President, This is Not the Time for Holidaying,”
“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President, on whose table the buck stops in this country, with all the myriad problems in virtually all areas of governance, would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” Obi tweeted.
He challenged how the President could contemplate a vacation while the country battles severe insecurity, hunger, and the aftermath of natural disasters.
The former governor of Anambra state noted that what he had seen over the past two years had shocked him with the poor governance delivery and apparent focus on politics and elite interests, while the masses suffered.
“With such a gory picture of one’s country, you can imagine my bewilderment when I saw a news release from the Presidency announcing that President Bola Tinubu is departing Nigeria today (Saturday) for a visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean,” Obi added.
But the presidency in the clarification statement issued on Sunday explained that Saint Lucia, like many Caribbean nations, has deep ancestral roots connected to West Africa, especially Nigeria.
It added from the perspective of the Government of Saint Lucia, the visit by the Nigerian leader paves the way for the rekindling of ancestral bonds, igniting a new era of diplomatic, cultural, and economic possibilities between the two nations.
The statement read,” In the mid-19th century, a wave of immigrants from present-day Nigeria arrived in Saint Lucia, bringing cultural and religious practices that persist today.
“Citizens of Saint Lucia are excited that President Tinubu has chosen to visit the island,” the presidency stated.
The Presidency described the visit as a major step within the framework of South-South cooperation and Nigeria’s Four D’s foreign policy strategy- Democracy, Development, Diaspora, and Demography.
The statement highlighted Saint Lucia’s importance as the headquarters of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and gateway to 15 CARICOM member states with a combined GDP of over $130 billion.
It also noted historical ties between Nigeria and Saint Lucia, citing Sir Darnley Alexander, a Saint Lucian-born jurist who served as Nigeria’s Chief Justice from 1975 to 1979, having first arrived in Nigeria in 1957 under Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s government.
The presidency also highlighted the contributions of other Saint Lucians, including Neville Skeete, who helped design the Central Bank of Nigeria headquarters, and Sir Darnley’s son, Michael, a frontline medical officer during the Nigerian civil war.
SECURITY forces have successfully rescued thirteen abducted Benue Links passengers kidnapped at Eke in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.
The victims were rescued in a joint effort led by the police and local vigilantes.
The chairman of the local government, Adah Inalegwu, confirmed the rescue of the victims on Sunday, June 29.
According to Channels Television, Inalegwu said the joint operations led by the police and members of vigilantes in that area mounted pressure, combing the forest.
He said the pressure reportedly led to the rescue of two of the passengers on Saturday.
He added that the youths enlisted help from Kogi State, leading to increased pressure that forced the kidnappers to abandon the remaining 11 victims at Oando village on Sunday around 4 pm.
According to him, Governor of Benue State Hyacinth Alia’s logistical support, combined with enhanced security surveillance and tracking, facilitated the rescue of the victims.
Recall that a fully loaded commercial bus belonging to Benue Links Transport Company was hijacked by hoodlums at Eke, along the Otukpo-Otukpa Road in Okpokwu Local Government Area on Sunday, June 23.
Reports show that the incident occurred around 6:30 pm on Sunday, where the attackers reportedly robbed all the passengers before taking them into the bush.
Meanwhile, a combined team of security agencies was launched in the area to search for the victims.
The Benue State Police Command confirmed the incident but noted that the command is working to rescue the victims and apprehend the abductors.
The recent attack in Benue State has sparked doubts about President Bola Tinubu’s directives to tackle insecurity in the area, with many questioning the government’s ability to keep citizens safe.
Recall that President Tinubu visitedBenue after the killings of over 200 residents and ordered service chiefs and the IGP to arrest those behind the attack.
The ICIR reports that killings in the state have spanned several years, and more than 200 residents have reportedly died in the onslaughts since the beginning of this month.
While some blame cropper-herders’ conflict for the carnage, others label the assailants as foreign terrorists.
Addressing the state’s present and past leaders, as well as other residents during his visit, Tinubu said that if the state accommodated non-indigenes seeking to live and conduct their businesses, there would be less conflict in the land.
Conversely, the Tor Tiv, James Ayatse, a professor who spoke during the visit, dismissed claims that the killings were the products of clashes between herders and farmers.
Ayatse said they were “a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign.
“ON matters of security, the bulk (sic) stops at the President’s table.” Bola Ahmed Tinubu April 2014.
On 26 January 2009, the Mamman Bello Ali died. He was the governor of Yobe State in north-east Nigeria. At around the same time, an anti-terrorism campaign by the government of Nigeria in Yobe State and its neighbour, Borno State, was about to make a murderous transition into a full-blown insurgency. As Governor Mamman Ali made his earthly transition in a Florida hospital, his deputy, Ibrahim Gaidam assumed office on the same day as the new governor of Yobe State. Today, as Minister of Police Affairs in the federal government, Governor Gaidam, whose life in politics has included a stint as a member of the Senate, has high responsibility for policing the country. He is so ineffectual in this role that few Nigerians notice his existence.
Around 9 November 2014, a suicide-bomber dressed as a student detonated himself in the middle of school assembly at the Government Boys Secondary School in Potiskum, Yobe State. The police confirmed that the attack “left 47 people dead, including the suicide bomber. Another 79 were wounded. Dozens of students were injured so severely medics were unable to save them.” It was a tragedy on an unspeakable scale. The blame for the attack fell on Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad, (the Islamist insurgency better known as Boko Haram). Ibrahim Gaidam was still Governor.
The following day, President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign was in full swing as he sought the support of the country for his re-election in 2015 under the banner of the then ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). The All Progressives Congress (APC), then newly formed as an opposition Alliance was quick to take political advantage. It described Jonathan’s campaign launch as “insensitive and callous” and accused him and the PDP of “dancing on the graves of the pupils as well as of all the victims of Boko Haram insurgency.” The APC took the opportunity to recall another mass-casualty bombing incident in Nyanya on the outskirts of Abuja in April 2014 and said that following that incident, “President Jonathan went dancing ‘Azonto’ in Kano less than 48 hours later.”
In the period from 2009 to 2014, when Islamist violence of Boko Haram in north-east Nigeria transitioned into a full-blown insurgency, the PDP was in power. Educational infrastructure bore a major brunt of the attacks by the group which built a brand in murderous violence by campaigning against Western education. The worst-affected states – Borno and Yobe – happened to be outside the orbit of the ruling party. In the half-decade to 2014, the violence accounted for at least 611 teachers reportedly killed and another 19,000 forced to flee. In 2014 alone, the insurgency killed over 6,644 persons in the affected states.
This rise in Boko Haram’s campaign of mass-casualty violence was both new and shocking. The response of the then ruling government appeared slow, ponderous, and mal-adapted. It was also political season. The escalation in the attacks and killings from the Islamist insurgency in north-east Nigeria in 2014 coincided with the run-up to Nigeria’s 2015 general elections.
For the PDP in power at the time, it was a struggle to manage the optics of campaigning in the midst of growing carnage. The APC, then a new opposition formation, relished in its role, making political capital out of the situation. Its forceful critique of the PDP’s management of the Boko Haram insecurity or lack of it was central in ensuring the defeat of the ruling party in the 2015 election.
The popular narrative of Muhammadu Buhari, the APC candidate for the presidency in 2015, as a no-nonsense soldier did more than any other thing in reassuring Nigerians that the party would bring competence to the handling of the crisis of insecurity in the country.
Instead, since then, insecurity in Nigeria has metastasised under the successive presidencies of President Muhammadu Buhari and his successor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The violence, which was mostly confined in the states of the north-east one decade ago, has become hydra-headed under various nomenclatures all over the country.
In its latest Conflict Barometer (2024) report, the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research identified at least 10 sites of active, conflict-related killings in Nigeria, at least five of which fall into the highest classifications of seriousness.
In the north-east, Boko Haram has mutated into a confederacy of mass-murder under different appellations, each seeking supremacy in an Olympiad of mass-casualty violence.
In North-Central Nigeria, the party chose to mis-characterise as “farmer-herder” clashes, a methodical campaign of land-grabbing by people described by the government mostly as “foreigners.”
Under the watch of the APC government, in 2021, the north-west overtook the northeast in mass-casualty atrocities. Unable to manage the situation in the region, the government took to labeling the perpetrators of the atrocities in the north-west as “bandits.”
Unlike the north-east where improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide-bombers were major features of the insurgency, the major items in the violence in the north-west are motor-bikes and Kalashnikovs. Yet, the government cannot account for how these bikes and guns get into the hands of those who use them to habitually liquidate Nigerians on an industrial scale.
Kaduna was central in this shift. Installed in power in 2015 in the APC Tsunami as the new APC Governor of strategically significant Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, was voluble in promoting mass-murder as profitable, incredibly proclaiming on national television how he paid the killers of Nigerians in order to encourage them to stop killing. The casual malevolence of his proferred justification was beyond shocking: “We got a group of people that were going round trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging them to stop the killing.”
Even worse, the mis-management of the insecurity under the government of the APC has smacked of a level of indifference, cynicism, and lack of empathy that the PDP would never have dreamed of. In Benue State last week, all of this was on show. Forced by public opinion finally to re-route himself to visit victims of mass liquidation in Benue State, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu first had children line up in the rain to be splashed with mud by his majestic convoy before the obligatory serenading from uniformed women living in internal displacement from the violence. It was right out of the manual of political narcissism jointly authored by Louis VIX and Marie Antoniette.
While the country burns, the president has curiously eloped to Saint Lucia, a territory of about 179,000 persons described by the Global Organised Crime Index as “a key Caribbean transit hub for cocaine shipments bound mainly for the US, Europe or Canada.” To the Nigerians concerned about the optics of all this, it is as if all he can offer is the middle finger.
The only thing more abysmal than the indifference of the ruling APC government to the current crisis of mass-murder across the country has been the disgraceful abdication by the political opposition. In the midst of all this carnage, little has been heard from them. Instead, opposition politicians have been hyper-active in the political transfer season herding into the APC.
Those who expect the police, armed and security services to shoot the country out of this crisis are unlikely to get their wish. The durability of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis is essentially a crisis of irresponsible political leadership. The security services can only implement a strategy set by the politicians. At the moment, the politicians are fixated on 2027. By then, in many parts of Nigeria, there may be no voters left and many of those in place would have been displaced from their voters cards. But the politicians do not have to care because they do not need voters to get into office. That is the original sin of insecurity in Nigeria.
OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Nigerian ex-international football player, Segun George Hunkarin, along with his businessman partner, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu.
They were arrested over an attempt to smuggle a consignment of cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
This was disclosed in a statement released on Sunday, June 29, by the spokesperson of the agency, Femi Babafemi.
According to the NDLEA, Chinedu, who is a frequent flyer known for conveying clothes from Turkey to Nigeria and foodstuffs from Nigeria to Turkey, was the first to be arrested upon his arrival at the Lagos airport on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.
The agency said a search of his carry-on bag revealed 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams were concealed therein.
“Investigation showed that the suspect was coming from Turkey on an Ethiopian Airlines flight but transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the luggage from another person before heading to Nigeria.
“Further checks revealed that an accomplice, who turned out to be the former professional footballer Segun Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu at the airport car park to collect the consignment from him. Hunkarin, who had stayed for years in Brazil playing for football clubs, was promptly tracked and arrested at the car park,” NDLEA stated.
According to the NDLEA, Hunkarin, in his statement claimed that while playing professional football in Brazil, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia, but had never brought any to Nigeria.
Similarly, the agency said a Europe-based businessman, Amen Okoro Godstime, was also arrested by the agency on Friday, June 27, at the Lagos airport while attempting to traffic 5,000 pills of tramadol 225 mg packaged as known malaria drugs such as Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem to Spain.
He was intercepted at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the airport during the outward clearance of passengers on the Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain through Casablanca.
Okoro, who is in the freight and logistics business between Europe and Nigeria, claimed that on his arrival in Spain, he would take a train to France, where he resides, and from there send the tramadol consignment to Italy for retailing.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) in Enugu, NDLEA said its operatives intercepted a Maputo, Mozambique-based bar attendant, Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, and a search of his luggage led to the discovery of 17 cardboard-sized parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.500 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.050 kilograms.
“The 38-year-old suspect was coming from Johannesburg, South Africa, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Ethiopian Airlines flight when he was interdicted and subjected to a search during which the illicit drugs concealed in bedsheets packed in his bags were discovered.”
NDLEA stated.
The NDLEA said another passenger on board the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, was also intercepted at the Enugu airport by NDLEA operatives when he arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
According to the agency, he was searched, and a liquid soap plastic container marked YPE was discovered in his luggage. The substance was promptly taken for analysis at the NDLEA forensic and chemical laboratory, Enugu, where the substance tested positive for cocaine. The substance, which turned out to be liquid cocaine, weighed 1.250 kg.
The suspect, who is a toy seller in Brinquedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased the substance while shopping for his wedding ceremony in Nigeria.
THE Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has described the killing of over 20 soldiers by terrorists in Niger State as a declaration of war against the Nigerian state.
According to NEF, the killing is strong evidence of a security failure in the North.
The group disclosed this on Saturday, June 28, in a statement by its spokesperson, Abubakar Jiddere.
The statement described the situation as a war zone, citing mass murder, state failure, and the collapse of national authority, with widespread insecurity affecting various states, including Benue, Plateau, Kwara, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, Borno, and Niger.
“This is not just an attack; it is a declaration of war against the Nigerian state, and the state is losing,” NEF stated.
The group condemned the attack, describing it as part of a consistent campaign of terror consuming the northern region.
The soldiers were ambushed and killed in the Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State earlier this week.
NEF cautioned that the government’s inaction is making Nigerians doubt its capacity or willingness to safeguard them.
According to the group, more than 20 uniformed men, defenders of the nation, were slaughtered like animals by a gang of well-armed terrorists who launched a brazen, coordinated ambush that completely overwhelmed the base.
The forum stated that the massacre highlighted the near-total impunity with which terrorist groups operate.
NEF expressed concern over a series of deadly attacks in several states in June 2025.
The forum criticised the government’s inability to respond effectively, stating that the North is under siege with security forces largely absent.
The northern group said it will no longer accept empty condolences without action because Nigerians deserve visible, aggressive, and accountable action now.
The forum cautioned that the government’s ongoing silence and inaction might be perceived by citizens as either complacency or complicity in the crisis.
“The blood of Northern Nigerians is not cheap. Our soldiers are not cannon fodder. Our citizens will not continue to die silently while a complacent government watches from a distance,” the forum added.
The statement warned that if the federal government continues to delay, deflect, or downplay the crisis, Nigerians may conclude that the inaction is intentional or even complicit.
The ICIR reported that the Nigerian Army Headquarters announced that bandits launched a coordinated triple attack on military bases in Niger and Kaduna states on Tuesday, June 24, resulting in the deaths of soldiers.
Scores of bandits were also eliminated by the military during the attacks, according to the army.
The Army revealed the attacks in a statement on its social media handle on Wednesday, June 25.
The Nigerian Defence Academy, in a post said a lieutenant and 20 soldiers died in the Niger state attack.
Just last week, the ICIRreported that the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said Nigerian armed forces eliminated 6,260 terrorists and arrested 14,138 terrorists and other criminals within the past two years across the country.
It added that the troops rescued 5,365 kidnapped victims and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition in various operations within the period.
The troops also killed 103 criminals and apprehended 2,760 others within the period.
THE Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) has rejected decisions by the National Assembly to transfer unclaimed dividends to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for management.
ISAN expressed the worry in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Moses Igbrude, sent to The ICIR late Saturday, June 28.
“We, of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), strongly reject the Unconstitutional Transfer of Unclaimed Dividends to the Central Bank.
“We, unequivocally condemn the recent decision by the National Assembly to pass legislation mandating the transfer of all unclaimed dividends from company registrars to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for management,” ISAN stated.
It described the move as a gross violation of shareholders’ rights, a betrayal of investor trust, and a dangerous precedent threatening the sanctity of private property and capital market integrity.
The ICIR reports that the ISAN concern came following a decision on Friday, June 27, by the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to the CBN.
The decision was taken after a team of CBN, led by Deputy Governor of Operations Directorate, Bala Bello, and the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, appeared before a Joint Committee of PAC and Public Assets on Wednesday, June 25.
During the session, the panel grilled the CBN team on the apex bank’s failure to remit operating surplus funds as well as its management of unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances.
The chairmen of both committees, Bamidele Salam and Ademorin Kuye, were reported to have said a letter had been forwarded to the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, over the matter.
In the letter, the lawmakers recall that the Finance Act 2020 mandates that dividends of all listed companies in Nigeria, which have remained unclaimed for six years or more, as well as balances in accounts dormant for six years in Deposit Money Banks, shall be transferred to an established fund known as the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund.
The fund is to be administered by a governing council comprising the Minister of Finance, the Debt Management Office, and other relevant bodies.
The joint committee faulted CBN’s position that the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 grants it the authority to manage and control dormant account balances.
It directed that CBN furnish it with the total value of unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances on or before June 30.
It also directed the CBN to ensure that all unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances, as defined above, are transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund account within 14 days of receipt of its letter.
In its statement on Saturday, ISA said it opposed the move because it violates ownership rights.
“Unclaimed dividends are not government revenue. They remain the legal property of individual investors and their heirs, regardless of the time elapsed,” the association noted.
It stressed that any attempt to centralise and manage the unclaimed dividends under CBN control is a form of indirect expropriation, stating it undermines market confidence.
“This law will shake investor confidence in Nigeria’s capital markets. Local and international investors need assurance that their returns will be protected, not confiscated under state pretexts,” the association stated.
It also condemns the plan to have a lack of stakeholder consultation.
“The passage of this law without broad consultations with shareholders, registrars, and capital market stakeholders reflects a disturbing disregard for participatory governance and due process,” ISA maintained.
It further expressed worries that there are no clear frameworks for how the CBN intends to manage the unclaimed dividend funds, querying what returns will be offered to rightful owners, or how and when claims will be honoured.
This is a recipe for bureaucratic mismanagement and corruption, ISAN said as it added that the mob is counterproductive to the CBN’s financial inclusion drive.
“Instead of simplifying the claim process for unclaimed dividends, this law adds another layer of opacity and complexity, especially for rural and ageing investors who already face hurdles in reclaiming dividends,” ISAN maintained.
The shareholders’ association demanded an immediate suspension of the implementation.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to assent to this law. If already signed, we demand an immediate suspension pending judicial review.
Hinting that it is mobilising legal resources to challenge this law in court as unconstitutional, unjust, and economically detrimental, ISAN said it proposed reform and not confiscation.
“We propose that efforts should focus on reforming the claims process at the registrar level through technology, public education, and standardisation, not through centralisation and state seizure.
“We call on all shareholders to join us in rejecting this injustice. Your dividends are your right, not a government fallback fund,” it urged.
The association believes that the future of Nigeria’s investment climate must be built on fairness, property protection, and inclusive growth, not arbitrary power grabs.
The ICIRreported recently that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked companies and their registrars who default on paying unclaimed dividends to shareholders to honour the provisions stated in the Finance Act 2020.
In the directive it issued on Tuesday, June 10, the SEC stated that shareholders could now claim up to 12 years of unclaimed dividends.
It said its directive aligns with Section 60 of the Finance Act 2020.
It reads, “The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the fact that paying companies and their Registrars have continued to treat unclaimed dividends of public companies that are older than 12 years as being ‘statute-barred’ without recourse to the provisions of the Finance Act 2020.
“Pending the setting up and operationalisation of the (Unclaimed Fund Trust Fund), UFTF by the Federal Government, under its powers under Sections 3 (4) (e) and 93 of the Investments and Securities Act 2025, the Commission hereby directs public companies and their Registrars to continue to honour all requests by shareholders for the payment of unclaimed dividends as described above, with effect from December 31, 2020.”
The SEC also ordered listed companies and their registrars to immediately effect compliance and submit periodic reports on the same in the manner prescribed in the Commission’s rules and regulations.
It further clarified that the import of the provisions of Section 60 of the Finance Act 2020 is that where dividends declared by a publicly quoted company remain unclaimed for six years or more, such dividends are expected to be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF).
The fund is to be held in trust and managed by the government until the shareholder presents a claim for the unclaimed dividends.
The ICIR can report that over the years, the SEC has failed to curb the escalating issue of unclaimed dividends in the capital market, as the figure keeps rising.
At his first Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting in Lagos, upon assumption of office, the SEC director general, Emomotimi Agama, disclosed that the total unclaimed dividend in Nigeria’s capital market has risen to N215 billion as of March 2024.
THE presidency has refuted reports that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, has resigned his position.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the report in a statement on Saturday, June 28.
“There has been no change in the status of His Excellency, Senator George Akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, currently in Saint Lucia, has not made any new appointments,” Onanuga said.
He described the information circulating about Akume’s replacement as untrue, stating that agents of mischief fabricated it.
“The Presidency advises Nigerians to disregard the fake news,” Onanuga added.
News filtered on Saturday that Akume had resigned as SGF, less than 24 hours after the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, stepped down from his position.
Since the APC is likely to zone the chairmanship to the north-central, and Akume happens to come from that zone, there is speculation that he might be favoured to take over as the party’s national chairman.
On Friday, June 27, the former Kano State Governor Ganduje resigned as APC National Chairman, paving the way for the party’s Deputy National Chairman (North), Ali Bukar Dalori, to take over, The ICIRreported.
Though APC spokesman Felix Morka said Ganduje’s resignation was to enable him to attend to urgent and important personal matters, there are feelers that he resigned due to increasing resistance from within, particularly from those who viewed his appointment as a violation of the party’s internal zoning arrangements.
Dalori, from the North East, will fill the position of Acting National Chairman, pending the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to be summoned immediately to fill the vacancy created by the resignation.
