THE Nigerian Medical Association has threatened to file a N1 billion lawsuit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged assault of a senior doctor during a raid by the commission at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
The association said the planned legal action followed what it described as physical, emotional, professional and institutional harm caused by EFCC operatives during the operation carried out at the hospital on Tuesday.
The anti-graft agency had reportedly visited the hospital while investigating a fraud case involving a suspect receiving treatment at the facility. According to the EFCC, its operatives were there to verify a medical report submitted by the suspect and later approached the hospital’s Chief Medical Director after encountering resistance during enquiries.
The commission maintained that its officers withdrew peacefully and did not disrupt activities within the hospital.
However, the NMA gave a different account of the incident.
Addressing journalists in Uyo on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Akwa Ibom NMA, Aniekan Peter, a professor, accused masked EFCC operatives of attacking Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the hospital.
He said, “We observed that Prof Eyo Ekpe was apprehended within the premises of UUTH by masked EFCC operatives who physically assaulted him, beat him to the point of bleeding, handcuffed him alongside other doctors and hospital staff who attempted to intervene.”
The NMA leader also alleged that he was affected during the operation while trying to seek clarification from the officers.
“Professor Peter, Akwa Ibom NMA chairman, was shoved and exposed to teargas when he approached the scene seeking clarification from the operatives,” he said.
The association described hospital premises as a sacred environment that should not be subjected to violent security operations. It further condemned the raid, calling it “barbaric, degrading, inhuman and a gross violation of the sanctity of the hospital environment.”
Reading a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting of the association, the Assistant Secretary of the NMA, Dr Unyime Ndoh, announced that the body had resolved to take legal action against the EFCC.
“We shall institute a legal action against the EFCC with a demand for damages in the sum of N1 billion for the physical, emotional, professional and institutional damages caused,” the communiqué stated.
The statement, endorsed by the NMA chairman in the state and its secretary, Ighorodje Edesiri, added that doctors would withdraw services until their demands were met. The demands include a public apology to the affected doctors as well as the identification and prosecution of officers involved in the operation.
The association also stated that there was no formal invitation extended to Ekpe or the NMA leadership before the raid took place.
In addition, the NMA announced that its members would suspend medical services to EFCC personnel and their relatives pending the resolution of the dispute.
MÉDECINS Sans Frontières (MSF) has said it recorded its highest admissions for child malnutrition in Nigeria in 2025, with more than 440,000 children treated.
The international medical charity disclosed this in its 2025 Nigeria Activity Report released in Abuja on Wednesday, May 13.
It warned that malnutrition, infectious diseases and poor maternal healthcare access continued to deepen humanitarian concerns in many parts of the country.
Malnutrition occurs when the body does not get the right amount of nutrients needed for healthy growth and development. It includes undernutrition, caused by inadequate intake of food or nutrients, and can lead to conditions such as wasting, stunting and severe acute malnutrition, particularly among children.
According to the report, MSF treated 353,989 children for severe acute malnutrition through outpatient programmes and admitted another 90,723 children with acute malnutrition and medical complications into stabilisation centres in facilities it supports across Nigeria.
MSF Country Representative in Nigeria, Ahmed Aldikhari, described the figures as the highest recorded by the organisation in recent years.
“The 2025 data tells a harrowing story: with over 440,000 children put on treatment, it is the year with highest admissions for malnutrition we’ve had in Nigeria in recent years,” Aldikhari said.
“We are seeing a vicious cycle where malnutrition is both a cause and a consequence of diseases such as measles, malaria, and diphtheria among others, and continues to affect vulnerable communities, especially when healthcare is delayed or inaccessible.”
He noted that diseases such as measles, malaria and diphtheria were worsening the nutrition crisis, particularly in communities where healthcare access remained delayed or inaccessible.
MSF linked the growing crisis to conflict, insecurity, displacement, inflation, flooding, drought and rising food prices, which it said had continued to limit families’ access to food and medical care.
The organisation also warned that humanitarian funding cuts were increasing pressure on already overstretched health services.
The report showed that infectious disease outbreaks continued to overwhelm health facilities in several states during the year.
MSF said it treated 341,239 malaria patients, 38,753 children for measles, 6,123 diphtheria patients and 985 meningitis cases across its projects and supported facilities in 2025.
The organisation said recurring outbreaks of cholera, Lassa fever, measles, meningitis, diphtheria and typhoid fever remained common, especially during the rainy season.
“Many of these illnesses are preventable,” Aldikhari said, stressing the need to strengthen vaccination coverage, water and sanitation systems, disease surveillance and access to timely treatment.
The report also highlighted continued concerns over maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria, particularly in rural and conflict-ridden communities where women face barriers including insecurity, transportation difficulties, overstretched hospitals and weak referral systems.
The organisation added that many women arrived at health facilities with severe complications linked to delayed access to care, including obstructed labour, severe bleeding, infections and eclampsia.
“There is an urgent need for stronger investment in primary healthcare, referral systems, staffing, equipment and emergency maternal services, especially in underserved areas,” Aldikhari added.
JOURNALISTS in Kaduna and Plateau states recount harrowing experiences of how past administrations secretly intercepted their phone calls, text and WhatsApp messages using GSM/UMTS Interception Systems to track, arrest, detain and torture them.
Onibiyo Segun recalled with certainty the day he was detained for 24 days at the Kaduna State Maximum Custodial Centre. He had been arrested by the police in Kaduna on November 23, 2018, over allegations of incitement, defamation of character and injurious falsehood against the former Governor in the state, Nasir El-Rufai.
“It started in 2017,” he recalled while hosting a popular road traffic programme on radio called ‘Oga jeje’. “I guess the governor got interested, and some of his boys called me that His Excellency would want to work with me. I turned it down.” He said in November 2018, while making a delivery in Minna, Niger State, he noticed a strange number had called him multiple times. “I answered the call and it was a police inspector,” Segun said.
Onibiyo Segun.
He said the officer asked him to report to the police station but more worrisome was that he described his exact location and insisted he could see him where he was. That was when it dawned on Segun that his phone could be tracked.
The journalist told The ICIR that he later found from a reliable source that the police had been intercepting his calls for two weeks and had called a close relative he was communicating with consistently with the aim of tracking him down.
Reports show that the El-Rufai administration procured several surveillance and communications-interception technologies between 2015 and 2023.
The state budget in 2017 indicated that the government appropriated N193.6 million toprocuregeo-position interceptor and location of GSM, UMTS system to check trends, intercept and locate kidnappers’ calls.
However, The ICIR’s findings revealed that the GSM/UMTS interceptor, a surveillance system used to track the location of mobile phones, intercept calls and SMS, identify SIM cards and devices, had also been used by the government to intercept journalists’ calls, leading to their harassments and unlawful detentions.
Arrest over a digital shadow
According to Segun, the tone of conversation shifted at the police station, when officers quickly surrounded him. “There was this funny character who was cocking his gun. I said you can’t harass me. They brought out some printouts with my picture, my name, and a Facebook post,” he recalled.
He said the post which had contained allegations against then governor El-Rufa had been made from a Facebook account he lost some years back. But the police First Information Report revealed that a government official had reported that the post was inciteful, defamatory, and injurious to the former governor.
“They asked me to submit my phones. People from the Government House came. I think about five of them, including lawyers and from the Justice Department.”
Segun said despite insisting that the Facebook account used to publish the post had long been compromised, he was charged before a magistrate the same day. Although he pleaded not guilty and was denied bail, he was taken to Kaduna State Custodial Centre by evening.
However, his arrest had triggered outrage as activists and pro-democracy groups condemned his detention.
“My lawyer and about six others came to represent me in court. I was handcuffed and taken to court,” he explained, noting that his legal team challenged his bail denial, arguing that the charges were not capital offences. However, while the bail process was going on, he was returned to the prison and locked up until the 12th of December when he made bail and was eventually released on December 15, 2018.
Onibiyo Segun with wife and friends after he was released. PC: PressReader
Segun’s story is not just about one arrest, but a broader pattern of how surveillances were used to pressure, intimidate and arrest journalists during the administration of El-Rufai as documented cases by media rights groups and press freedom organisations show.
Three months in prison because of a story
A former Bureau Chief of Vanguard Newspaper in Kaduna, Luka Binniyat, said he spent 97 days in the Custodial Centre after he wrote a story captioned, “Fulani herdsmen kill five College of Education students” that turned out to be false in December 2016.
“When I finally discovered that the story was not true, I called my editor and told him to ‘Please, drop the story,’ he didn’t drop it,” Binniyat narrated. The journalist said the then Commissioner of Information in Kaduna, Samuel Aruwan, ordered his arrest after which he was detained at the Kaduna Maximum Custodial Centre for over three months. “I was isolated. I spent the first week in prison. I got bail but the magistrate court didn’t acquit me,” he said.
Luka Binniyat at the Kaduna State Prison in August 2017. PC Luka Binniyat
Binniyat said he was re-arrested on November 3, 2020, when he wrote another story about an alleged Christian massacre in Kaura Local Government Area of the state. “By then, Aruwan was the Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs. He issued a statement, saying that it was a clash. I interviewed the senator representing Southern Kaduna Senatorial district, Danjuma Laah, whether what happened was a clash and not genocide. The senator said it was genocide, so I quoted him as saying Aruwan was trying to cover the genocide. Aruwan found that very offensive and ordered my arrest,” he explained.
The journalist said the police had used a device to track him at a time the government had disconnected communication networks across the city. “Apparently, they had a way of tracking phone numbers. They tracked me to the office of Southern Kaduna People’s Union. Six armed men in plainclothes stormed the office, and pointed a gun at the security guard who led them to the office I was in,” he said.
Binniyat confirmed seeing the tracking device in the police station and gave a pictorial description of what looked like GSM/UMTS Interception Systems. “When I went to the office, I saw the tracker. It’s a small device. Flat device, the size of a phone. They were connected with an antenna. At that time, they were tracking somebody. While writing my statement, they were trying to arrest another person. So, it points at coordinates. This is a part of town. If you show a dot there, and then you zoom it, you will see the address, the name of the street, you can zoom it to the exact spot where the phone is, where the person is. It’s slightly bigger than the size of an Android,” he recalled.
He said he was detained at five different police cells, before he was transferred to the correctional centre again where he spent 93 days marking the most terrible experience of his life.
“Even as bad as the prison cells were, the police cells were five times worse. There was a cell that would take like 70, 80 people. You had no place to sit down and stretch your legs. Cockroaches were common. Lice and bed bugs, the cell was stuffy, and then some of the big bosses in the cells will be smoking. People were fainting roughly every three hours and had to be taken out. In fact, one guy died,” he added.
The journalist said his case was taken to Federal High Court 1, Kaduna, and lingered there for years before he was finally acquitted and discharged in January 2026.
About GSM / UMTS interception systems
Photo of GSM Interception System. PC: NX Security System website
According to the websiteof Intercept Monitoring System, Cellular interception systems of GSM (2G), UMTS (3G), LTE (4G) are black server racks often labelled as “Interception Mediation Device (IMD)” or “LI Gateway” that have a suitcase-sized box with a small antenna mounted.
OluGbenga Odeyemi, the Chief Executive Officer of e86, a digital security and software company explained that GSM / UMTS IMSI Catchers, also known as Stingrays, act as ‘fake’ cell towers. “Your phone is designed to connect to the strongest signal; the device tricks your phone into connecting to it instead of the real network, allowing the operator to intercept calls, SMS, and location data.”
He said the Signalling System No. 7 is the protocol used by networks to talk to each other and therefore hackers or agencies can exploit flaws in SS7 to redirect calls or SMS to their equipment, essentially “man-in-the-middle” attacking the global telecom backbone. “This can happen even if you are thousands of miles away from the interceptor,” the cyber security expert said.
The ICIRreported that El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State recently confessed at an interviewon Arise Television that the phone of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu had been tapped, enabling him (El-Rufai) to listen to a conversation in which the NSA allegedly ordered for his arrest.
Speaking on Arise TV on February 13, El-Rufai alleged that security operatives attempted to detain him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at the instance of anti-corruption authorities, describing the move as an abduction attempt. “Nuhu made the call and made the order that I must be in custody,” he said.
When asked how he became aware of the alleged directive, El-Rufai added: “The government thinks that they’re the only ones that listen to calls. Someone tapped his phone.”
He acknowledged that tapping phone calls without court authorisation was illegal but argued that state agencies routinely monitor communications without judicial approval.
The Nigerian Communications Commission while exercising its powers under section 70 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 adopted the ‘Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations, 2019 on January 23, 2019, providing the legal framework for authorised agencies to intercept communications in Nigeria, such as phone calls, emails, and data.
It mandates licensees to install equipment capable of interception to protect national security, public safety, and public order.
However, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in March 2026 SERAP filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice seeking to halt the implementation of the framework, arguing it is unconstitutional and lacks judicial oversight.
The request followed El-Rufai’s allegations, as the organisation insisted that the law is in serious interference with fundamental rights that cannot be authorised through subsidiary regulations or exercised in secrecy without strict safeguards.
Checks by The ICIR showed that the Kaduna State government under El-Rufai had spent at least N4 billion on the procurement of GSM UMTS System and installation of CCTV Cameras for monitoring and surveillance from 2016 to 2019.
In 2016, the government approved N74,931,004.32 on procurement, installation of CCTV cameras for monitoring and surveillance under Kaduna State University (KSU). In the same year, it approved N2,100,000,000 on the procurement of Comprehensive Security and Surveillance Equipment through the office of the Secretary to State Government (SSG). In 2017, it approved N26, 961,066.57 through KSU for the same surveillance gadgets. Besides, it spent N1,568,600, 000.00 in 2017 and N850,000,000 in 2019 through the SSG for the same gadgets.
Similarly, in 2017 and 2018, the state government approved N193,608,945.39 on procurement of Geo-position Interceptor and location of GSM UMTS System to check the trends and intercept/locate kidnappers calls and approved N173,608,945.39 in 2019 for the same purpose.
A report by Spaces for Change (S4C), a civil society organisation in 2024 revealed that Nigeria invested heavily in surveillance and interception technologies with Chinese tech firms Huawei, the dominant Chinese telecom vendor in the country.
It said the Nigerian government allocated approximately $40 million for interception technologies and an estimated $583 million on public surveillance projects, noting that most surveillance technologies used in Nigeria are imported from Israel, China, and the United States. It emphasised the risks posed by dual-use technologies that could be repurposed for oppressive purposes.
The ICIR reported that Paradigm Initiative, a digital rights group documented how at least N127 billion was spent on surveillance/security equipment from 2014 to 2017 with evidence showing that the procurements were made for political purposes to monitor political opponents.
Monitored through WhatsApp
A journalist with Leadership Newspaper, Midat Joseph said his WhatsApp was tapped because he was writing stories about the attacks and killings in the southern part of Kaduna State.
“Somebody within the security architecture informed me that my calls were being monitored by the government at that time, warning that I should be careful of my discussions on the phone,” he said.
Joseph explained that there was an attack in southern Kaduna, and he was added to a WhatsApp group where money was being raised for the affected community.
“There was a suggestion that a protest should be held in Kaduna, Abuja, or Kafanchan to draw the attention of the world. That was why they were trailing me. They were monitoring my conversations,” Joseph recalled.
Midat Joseph. PC: Midat Joseph
The journalist said the police arrested the friend he frequently conversed with and a web designer who designed a website for him.
“Based on the information I got, the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) from Lagos were told that I was into gun running. So, they thought they were coming to arrest a big suspect. They monitored my calls, a friend of mine was tricked and arrested.”
Midat said that he noticed a black, tinted bus trailing his car, days later, when he parked, the vehicle stopped behind him and armed men stepped out.
“I came out of the car, the police came out with guns, one of them said are you Mr. Midat, I said yes. When we got to the metro police station, they brought a sheet of paper with people’s comments and all the comments from that WhatsApp platform. They showed me my name, and asked, are you the one that made this comment, I said yes I made the comment. They said are you willing to write a statement on this? I said yes, so they gave me a paper,” the journalist said.
He recalled how he slept in the police cell that night and how the officers abandoned his case the following morning and left to arrest another suspect in Bauchi State.
“They confirmed that it was the government that ordered for my arrest. Pressure was high the following morning, as journalists across the country, my station and everybody condemned my arrest,” he added.
He said the matter was immediately transferred to the Office of the Commissioner of Police from the Metro Police Station, and consequently to the Police Headquarters. He noted that the police officers who were left behind told the commissioner that he was arrested for gun running.
“I was detained with hardened criminals inside the police cell at SARS Police Station in Kaduna,” he stated.
The journalist however said after appearing in court for over a month, the matter was struck out for lack of proper jurisdiction, stressing that the government and its lawyers never made any appearance.
A publication that led to 162 days in prison
In March 2019, Steven Kefas another journalist in Kaduna said he published an article titled “How the Kajuru Genocide Started,” but it drew the attention of authorities to him.
“In 2018, a rumour started spreading that El- Rufai was trying to balkanise the Adara chiefdom, which is one of the largest chiefdoms in Kaduna State. The then paramount ruler was against it and in October of that year, El Rufai invited him for a meeting. On his way back, the chief was abducted alongside his wife. The wife was released after a ransom was paid but they killed the man.”
Kefas said shortly after the chief’s death, a government gazette formalised the restructuring of the chiefdom, confirming earlier fears.
“I just noticed that my lines were being bogged down from March 2019. I was in Port Harcourt, and I noticed if you wanted to call me, you wouldn’t reach me. When I tried to make a call, I couldn’t. Something strange was happening to my phone.”
He said security operatives invited his friend, a security officer, for questioning adding that the officer was pressured to call him and lure him to a police station. When Kefas arrived, he said he was arrested without warrant.
Steven Kefas on field work during an assessment of Kurmin Wali shortly after the January 18 mass abduction of 177 worshippers. PC: Steven Kefas
The journalist said that what followed was a prolonged legal battle and incarceration, as he spent 162 days in detention, much of it in the Custodial centre. He said prosecutors repeatedly argued in court that he should not be granted bail because even while in detention, he continued to criticise the government, a decision he claimed the judge agreed with.
But after months of routine remands, he said the judge had asked his prosecutors, “Do you have evidence?” Because the litigants could not produce any, Kefas said he was granted bail and by early 2020, the case ended. But his ordeal did not end as he claimed he had received multiple threatening messages and calls from anonymous callers after he amplified a report that allegedly linked security personnel to attackers.
The journalist explained that his lawyer had written to the Commissioner of Police in 2021 seeking protection after the multiple threats. To buttress this, he said one of the threats came through a letter written to a pastor in Kafanchan in which the pastor was asked to convey a message to Kefas. ‘They told him to tell me that they were going to hunt me down, that was in 2021 and by 2022 April I was attacked in my house,” he said.
Former commissioner responds
Former Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna State, Samuel Aruwan whom journalists Binniyat and Kefas alleged was at the centre of their threats, insist that his actions against the two were strictly within legal boundaries and driven by personal safety concerns following what he described as ‘mischievous’ and damaging publications.
When The ICIR contacted him, Aruwan said he had filed a formal complaint to the police over Binniyat’s publication on November 1, 2021, accusing the journalist of publishing allegations amounting to injurious falsehood and also sent a separate letter to the senator quoted in the report the same day.
The former commissioner however distanced his office from direct operational control of surveillance and interception gadgets, when asked about claims that journalists had been tracked using state-supported surveillance tools.
Instead, he said surveillance gadgets acquired to combat kidnapping were handled by federal security agencies. “They were supports that Kaduna State government gave to intelligence agencies,” Aruwan said, adding that decisions on surveillance and threat classification fell within the jurisdiction of security agencies, and not his office.
When The ICIR contacted the Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mansir Hassan, for a response to the allegations, he said that he was not PRO at the time the incidents occurred.
When asked to provide access to the PRO who held the position during that period, Hassan said the officer could not comment because he was no longer with the Kaduna State Police Command.
The reporter further requested that Hassan review the command’s records to clarify the cases, but he declined to comment further.
“We Are Watching You” journalist alleges threat from Plateau SSS
At 7 a.m on September 18, 2020, an independent journalist in Plateau State, Masara Kim, said he published a story on his blog detailing what he claimed as “intelligence about planned coordinated attacks in communities in Jos South LGA.” By noon, Nigeria’s security agencies were already on his trail.
Masara Kim. PC: Masara Kim
“By 9 a.m, I started getting rumours from sources within the system that there was plan to arrest me. So, that morning, I left town immediately. Then, by around 12 p.m., I received a phone call from the DSS, which demanded I appear at its office to answer questions regarding the story. About an hour later, the police also called to invite me.”
Kim said the State Security Service, told him that it was just a friendly invitation, but he was left to wait for hours before the interrogation began. He was asked to reveal his sources and take down the article, but he refused.
“They threatened and told me, ‘you are being watched. We have every detail about you, and we can pick you at anytime, anywhere.’ They showed me a computer and said everything is here and we have everything about you here, if you think that you can hide. They threatened to put me in jail, but I refused to yield. So, they made me take off my belts, wristwatch, clothes. They took mugshots and locked me behind bars. I remember the OC Legal threatening to lock me up forever.”
The journalist said he was detained for two days and yielded to take down the article and publish a retraction. However, he refused to share details of his sources, noting that communities in Jos South were hit by coordinated assaults which killed the traditional leader in Foron.
“By the time I was out, after two days, the police were waiting. So, I was whisked away from the premises of the DSS straight to the police headquarters. I was interrogated by the CP.”
Kim alleged that after his release, the intimidation shifted online, as his devices showed signs of hacking, his communications were monitored and his blogs, masarakimsblog.com and mkreporters.media, were taken down till date.
“I did a couple of cyber security checks on my lines and my devices. I had to change my cell phones and my computers because there were traces of hacking. My two websites were brought down within weeks, and I still don’t have access to them,” he added.
Explaining what may have happened to Kim’s website, the CEO of e86, OluGbenga Odeyemi, who also a software engineer, explained that flooding websites with traffic could cause them to crash, adding that domain seizure can force companies hosting the URL to suspend the sites. He said websites hosts often used national security or copyright claims as pretext.
The ICIR’s checks on the Plateau State budget documents, security reports, and media coverage, shows that the administration of the former governor, Simon Lalong between 2015–2023, funded and procured several electronic surveillances systems amounting to N1 billion mainly through the state security outfit, Operation Rainbow and other agencies. While many items are described generically in budgets rather than by brand names, the records still reveal categories of surveillance technologies.
Although many procurement entries were vaguely described in official budgets, the documents reveal repeated spending on Electronic Security Gadgets at N45 million in 2023 alone under Operation Rainbow titled “Acquisition of Electronic Security Gadgets.”
The Lalong-led administration Secretary to the Government of the State, Danladi Atu, said he will have to gather details from documents and consult with Operation Rainbow before responding to questions when The ICIR contacted him for details on April 11, however, Atu has not responded to calls and messages at the time of filing this report.
Expert insight
The CEO of e86 explained that the difference between lawful and unlawful interception lies in authorisation and accountability adding that lawful interception is a legally sanctioned process where a government or law enforcement agency intercepts communications based on a specific warrant or court order.
Citing the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 and the Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations 2019, Odeyemi said the only authorised agencies that could carry out lawful interception are the Office of the National Security Adviser, the SSS, and the Nigerian Police Force, through a court order.
“Generally, an agency must apply for a warrant from a judge of the Federal High Court. The application must demonstrate that the interception is necessary for national security or to prevent a serious crime. The Cybercrimes Act 2015 as amended criminalises the intentional interception of any communication without “lawful authority.
“Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees the privacy of citizens’ “telephone conversations.” Any surveillance conducted without a specific, time-bound court order is a violation of this constitutional right,” he added.
He urged journalists to use forensic tools, including Mobile Verification Toolkit developed by Amnesty International, to scan their phones for indicators of compromise tied to known spyware.
“When journalists are surveilled, it creates a chilling effect. If a source knows the journalist’s phone is tapped, they will stop sharing sensitive information, effectively killing investigative stories on corruption. Journalists may avoid certain risky topics to protect themselves, which weakens the democratic role of the fourth estate,” he added.
He urged journalists to use Signal or WhatsApp with disappearing messages rather than regular SMS or voice calls.
SSS mum
The ICIR contacted the Deputy Director, Public Relations and Strategic Communications of the Department of the SSS, Favour Dozie on April 21 seeking reactions to allegations made by journalists in Plateau State against the agency but received no response. When contacted again via telephone on May 12, Dozie said she would revert. However, subsequent follow-up calls made by this reporter on May 13 had not been responded to as of the time of filing this report.
OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested the Director-General (DG) of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Mustapha Abdullahi, over alleged money laundering offences.
Reports said sources within the anti-graft agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed on Wednesday that Abdullahi was arrested in Abuja and had since been held by the commission.
The ICIR contacted the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, for confirmation, but he declined calls placed to his line. He also did not respond to WhatsApp and text messages sent to him when filing this report.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Abdullahi as DG and chief executive officer of the commission on October 24, 2023, as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s energy transition and renewable energy drive.
Abdullahi is a mechanical engineer and energy expert. He hails from Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State, although he was born in Kano State in January 1985. Before his appointment as the commission’s DG, he served as senior technical adviser and chief of staff to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology.
He studied Mechanical Engineering at Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology and later obtained a master’s degree from the University of Salford. He also earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester, where his research focused on renewable energy and structural health monitoring in the oil and gas sector. Following his doctorate, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a research associate at the same institution.
A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has convicted and sentenced former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, to 75 years imprisonment over a ₦33.8 billion money laundering case linked to alleged diversion of public funds.
Mamman was found guilty on all 12 counts brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after a prolonged trial that began following his arrest in May 2021, shortly after he left office.
He served as minister of power between 2019 and 2021, during which prosecutors alleged that he conspired with ministry officials and private companies to divert and launder funds tied to major power infrastructure projects, including the Mambilla and Zungeru Hydroelectric schemes.
According to court filings and EFCC statements, the charges against him bordered on conspiracy, money laundering, and the unlawful conversion of funds amounting to ₦33,804,830,503.73.
The EFCC also accused the convict of making large cash payments outside the financial system, including a $655,700 transaction alleged to have violated provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
He was arraigned on July 11, 2024, but pleaded not guilty.
The ICIRreported that earlier proceedings also experienced disruptions, including delays linked to the defendant’s absence and reports of health-related interruptions in court.
Delivering the judgment on his conviction earlier on May 7, the presiding judge, James Omotosho, held that Mamman was guilty on all counts and deferred sentencing after noting that the former minister was not physically present in court during the judgment session.
However, on Wednesday May 13, the court proceeded to sentence him to seven years imprisonment on 10 counts, three years on one count, and two years on another, with the terms ordered to run consecutively.
The judge ruled that the sentence would run without an option of fine, except on count four, which carried a N10 million fine option.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of assets traced to him, including foreign currencies recovered during investigation and four high-value properties in Abuja linked to the convict.
THE Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has declared his intention to contest for the Agege Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives under the All Progressives Congress.
In a statement on Wednesday, May 13, Obasa said he announced his ambition on Tuesday in the presence of party leaders, stakeholders, loyalists, and supporters.
He said the move marked the beginning of “another chapter” in his legislative career after over two decades in the Lagos Assembly.
“After two decades and three years of representing the good people of Agege Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, and serving for over a decade as Speaker, I believe the time has come to begin another chapter in my legislative journey,” he said.
The lawmaker said the decision was driven by a renewed commitment to serve the people on a broader platform while building on the experience and relationships he had developed during his years in public office.
Obasa also thanked the residents of Agege for what he described as their trust and support since he was first elected into the Assembly.
He stressed that the focus of party members should remain the continued growth and development of Agege and Lagos State.
“As we move forward, I urge our party faithful and the good people of Agege to extend the same support to my brother, Hon. Kola Egunjobi, as he aspires to represent Agege Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, as well as Azeez Oladapo Yusuf Ninolowo for Agege Constituency II.
“Our collective focus must remain the continued growth, stability, and development of Agege and Lagos State as a whole. I am confident that with unity, loyalty, and unwavering commitment to the ideals of our party, we will continue to achieve even greater progress together,” he added.
Obasa is one of the longest-serving lawmakers in the Lagos Assembly and one of the most influential figures in Lagos politics under the APC.
The lawmaker began his political career as a councillor in Agege Local Government between 1999 and 2002 before moving to the state legislature in 2003.
He has been representing Agege Constituency I in the Assembly since 2003. He was elected Speaker in 2015 and has retained the portfolio since.
Recall that on January 13, Obasa was suspended by more than two-thirds of the 40-member legislative House over alleged misconduct and sundry offences.
Following his removal, his deputy, Mojisola Meranda, emerged as the first female Speaker of the Assembly.
However, during a welcome rally at his residence in GRA, Ikeja, held on Saturday, January 25, Obasa declared that he remained the speaker despite his replacement by his deputy.
The leadership crisis in the Assembly later shifted in Obasa’s favour after Meranda resigned in March 2025 following interventions by APC leaders in the state, paving the way for his reinstatement as Speaker.
Obasa has also faced allegations of corruption and financial impropriety during his tenure as Speaker, allegations he has consistently denied.
THE MINISTER of Education, Tunji Alausa, has announced the approval of N8 billion for the settlement of outstanding obligations owed to Nigerian students under the now-scrapped Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship scheme.
Alausa disclosed this Tuesday night during an interview on Channels Television. He said the intervention aimed at clearing arrears after months of delays that left several students stranded abroad without stipends.
He said half of the amount had already been released, while the remainder would be approved within weeks.
“We’ve paid four billion of it. We’re disbursing the four billion now. This additional four billion will be approved. I’ve been in constant communication with Minister of Finance. It will be approved in the next two weeks,” he said.
The minister also defended the decision to discontinue the programme, arguing it had been weakened by mismanagement and diversion from its original purpose. He said the scheme was meant to support specialised training abroad but had expanded beyond its intent over time.
Alausa cited questionable approvals, including proposals to sponsor students for unrelated courses abroad.
He also decried cases where beneficiaries allegedly received funds while still enrolled in Nigerian universities, a situation he described as unacceptable.
The BEA scheme, which involved partnerships with countries such as China, Russia, Algeria, Hungary, Morocco, Egypt and Serbia supported hundreds of Nigerian students abroad before its suspension. Government spending on the programme reportedly rose from N3.2 billion in 2022 to N8 billion in 2025.
Meanwhile, the minister dismissed concerns that Nigeria was experiencing exodus of students to foreign universities, insisting that the trend had dropped significantly under the current administration.
He argued that recent investments in Nigeria’s tertiary education system were improving stability and made local institutions more attractive to students.
Responding to data suggesting that Nigeria was among the top countries for outbound student mobility in 2023, the minister described the figures as outdated and not reflective of present realities.
“That’s not Japa. And please, qualify your data. Thank God, you told me it was 2023 figure,” he said.
He explained that the 2023 period coincided with disruptions in the education sector, including instability in academic calendars and weak institutional support. According to him, the situation has improved since then.
CONTROVERSY is currently trailing the reported bombing of scores of civilians in Tumfa village market in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Reports emerged on Tuesday, May 12, that about 100 people were killed by military airstrike on the community, as part of efforts to stamp out insurgents in Nigeria.
Reacting to the claim, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said the operation only targeted armed groups gathered in a known terrorist enclave.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Michael Onoja, the DHQ described reports of mass civilian deaths as misleading, speculative and unverified.
The ICIR reports that a military airstrike on a market in Tumfa community allegedly killed at least 117 people and left several others injured, with residents claiming that both bandits and civilians were among the casualties.
According to a Daily Trust’s report, the bombardment took place on Sunday, the same day a separate Nigerian Air Force operation targeting armed groups hit Guradnayi, a community near Kusasu in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, reportedly killed 13 civilians.
In its statement, the DHQ said the May 10 operation was carried out by troops of Operation FANSAN YAMMA following intelligence reports that suspected terrorist kingpins had gathered there to coordinate attacks on communities across the North-West.
The DHQ said the mission involved an air interdiction strike and noted that it was impossible to immediately determine casualty figures from the air operation. It maintained that a post-strike Battle Damage Assessment confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised.
The DHQ rejected allegations of civilian casualties, arguing that no credible or independently verified evidence had established that civilians were affected during the operation. It insisted that the target location was occupied solely by armed non-state actors posing a direct threat to innocent residents.
However, community leaders and residents who spoke with AFP described how the deadly bombardment allegedly killed traders, food vendors, residents and bandits.
Residents said the market, located deep inside a forested area of Zurmi Local Government Area, had become a stronghold controlled by armed groups where civilians and bandits mixed freely due to the collapse of government authority in surrounding communities.
According to the report, a community leader, Garba Mashema, said the exact number of casualties remained unclear because both residents and armed groups regularly patronised the market.
According to the locals, dozens of injured victims were evacuated to hospitals in Shinkafi, Zurmi and Gusau for treatment.
The incident has since drawn condemnation from Amnesty International, which called for an independent probe into the strike.
The organisation alleged that more than 100 civilians were killed.
The rights group added that survivors described chaotic scenes at the market after the bombardment, with bodies scattered across the ground and injured victims rushed to hospitals in Zurmi, Shinkafi and Gusau.
The Zamfara incident has also revived concerns over previous military airstrikes that reportedly hit civilians in conflict-ridden parts of northern Nigeria.
The ICIRreported that at least six children were killed during a military airstrike in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger on Sunday.
The children were said to be among about 15 civilians killed during the incident in Guradnayi, a village near Kusasu, where some villagers fleeing attacks by armed bandits were said to have taken shelter before the bombardment.
POPULAR Nollywood actor Alexx Ekubo has died at the age of 40 after reportedly battling cancer for several months.
The actor reportedly passed away on Monday, May 11, after spending a long period away from the public due to health challenges.
News of his death became public on Tuesday after some of his colleagues in the movie industry shared emotional tributes on social media. Actress Funke Akindele, actors Bolanle Ninalowo and Godwin Nnadiekwe were among the first to mourn him publicly.
Reacting to the development on her Instagram story, Akindele wrote, “Hmmmmmm. Rest in peace, Alex. I tried to reach out to see you one more time but guess you knew best. May your kind soul, rest in peace, Alex. ‘Ore mi like you fondly called, me, I will always remember and cherish the good times we shared together. Rest in Peace, Alex.”
Ninalowo also paid tribute to the late actor, writing, “Rest on, Alex. May God heal your family and us all.”
In his reaction, Nnadiekwe wrote, “I’m struggling to find the words. This news has truly broken me. Nollywood has lost a rare soul, and I’m lost for words because this wasn’t the plan, Alex Ekubo. To think you already prepared your will, It’s heartbroken, I can’t quite describe. Rest well, my friend.”
As condolences continued to pour in from fans and colleagues, the actor’s family had yet to release an official statement as of the time of filing this report.
Ekubo had been noticeably absent from social media and public events for a long time, sparking concern among many of his followers. His final post on social media was shared in December 2024.
Widely known for his performances in romantic comedies and drama films, Ekubo became one of Nollywood’s most recognised actors over the years. He gained wider fame after featuring in the movie Weekend Getaway and was also first runner-up at the 2010 Mr Nigeria contest.
In 2020, he was listed among the “Most Influential People of African Descent” under 40 by the United Nations, in recognition of his impact in entertainment and social development across Africa.
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved Nigeria’s plan to host the 2026 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards and the 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly.
The approval was granted during the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, after Tinubu met with CAF President Patrice Motsepe, according to a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday.
Consequently, Nigeria will take over from Morocco which has hosted the awards consecutively for the past three years if the bid sails through.
Among those present at the meeting were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President, Amaju Pinnick, and CAF Acting General Secretary, Samson Adamu.
The NFF said the 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly was scheduled to hold in October this year and would attract leading football administrators and officials from Africa.
“The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, has approved Nigeria’s proposed hosting of the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football, as well as this year’s CAF Awards Ceremony,” the statement read.
“The 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly will take place in October this year,” it added.
The gathering is expected to bring together presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions, and top football stakeholders on the continent.
The CAF Awards is regarded as one of the biggest events in African football, recognising outstanding players, coaches, and other personalities who have made significant contributions to the sport.
