News
Security chiefs under fire over mass killings
The security chiefs, according to stakeholders, may have been overwhelmed or treating the problem with kid gloves.
The wave of terrorism has sparked public outrage across the country, especially with continuous killings in Plateau, Benue, Borno, and Katsina states, and the emergence of a new terror group, Mahmuda, aka the Mallam Group, in the North Central.
Mahmuda adds to growing security concerns already worsened by Boko Haram, ISWAP, Lakurawa, and other bandit and militia groups.
The security chiefs include the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla; and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
Also in charge of security matters are the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, and the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
250 killed in two weeks
Within two weeks, about 250 people were reported killed in separate attacks on Plateau, Benue, Borno, Kebbi, Katsina, Abia, and Kwara states.
Reports indicated that at least 113 people were killed in Plateau State by suspected Fulani militants who invaded Zike, Kimakpa, and areas within Bokkos and Bassa local government areas of the state.
In Benue State, attacks by suspected armed herders on communities in the Ukum and Logo LGs of the state claimed 20 lives on April 17, 2025. The death toll later increased to 55 after more bodies were recovered on Sunday, April 19.
The new terror group, Mahmuda, also killed 15 vigilantes and villagers on Wednesday in an attack on Kemaanji, a community in Kaiama LG of Kwara State.
Reports showed that the group had taken control of areas within Babana and Wawa districts of Borgu LG in Niger State.
This is as some soldiers were seen in different videos accusing the authorities of not arming them with enough weapons to confront the terrorists and bandits.
Bello Turji nightmare
Meanwhile, notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, has been reportedly unleashing mayhem on residents.
In September 2024, President Tinubu ordered Matawalle, and the military chiefs to relocate to Sokoto State as part of efforts to rid the state and the North-West of terrorism and arrest Turji.
However, seven months after the presidential directive, the military has yet to apprehend Turji.
The bandit leader has been linked to several mass killings, kidnappings, and attacks on villages in Zamfara, Sokoto, and parts of Katsina.
In February, the Chief of Defence Operations, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, said the military was actively tracking the bandit kingpin and he would soon be neutralised.
But Turji has remained elusive, with his fighters carrying out deadly attacks and collecting levies from some communities in the North-West region.
He is also said to be controlling some villages in the region where his men operate with little resistance, despite the deployment of additional troops and intelligence resources.
A civil society organisation in Kebbi State, the Association for Peace and Good Governance, berated the military for not arresting Turgi.
Speaking in Birnin Kebbi, the Secretary General of the group, Usman Anache, stated that the service chiefs in particular had failed the north and President Bola Tinubu.
“The north has been turned into a killing field with no concrete action taken by the service chiefs,” Anache said.
Calls for security review
Responding to the killings in Plateau, a lawmaker representing Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Daniel Asama, who spoke on Channels Television’s programme, ‘The Morning Brief,’ claimed that security agencies were familiar with the whereabouts of the masterminds of the recent killings in the state.
He said, “The security agencies know where these attacks have been coming from. The people in the community can show them the routes of these attackers.”
Reacting to the rising terror attacks, a former Chief of Defence Training and Planning, General Ishola Williams (retd.), accused the service chiefs of benefiting from the insecurity in the country.
He stated that the security agencies were not showing enough commitment to ending insecurity, noting that there was a need to restructure the security apparatus.
“Early this year, we were clamouring for the review of the security architecture. They said there’s no reason for that. It appears that the service chiefs agree with the President that the military and police are doing well and they don’t want to push for a re-organisation; they don’t want any change.
“We keep repeating the same old story. They are killing soldiers for selling weapons to bandits. Apart from that, hunters and vigilantes are accusing the DSS of covering up for the bandits. Remember that the DSS said communities should defend themselves, because the military and the police cannot defend them anymore. And it’s supposed to be the head of intelligence,” he said.
The retired general called on the Federal Government to sack any service chief who didn’t align with its plans on security.
He said, “The Federal Government should reorganise the security architecture, whether the service chiefs like it or not. And anybody who disagrees with him should be sacked. Service chiefs who do not align should be sacked or they should resign. This is a matter of integrity.
“There is a need to run a special programme for the soldiers and policemen to tell them why they need to find a way to stop all these killings. Also, telling them to stop colluding with these bandits, kidnappers, and so on, because of money.
Open borders, absence of intelligence
A security expert and Chief Security Officer of Beacon Consulting, Dr Kabir Adamu, also slammed the security agencies, noting that they were not being properly coordinated.
He said no meaningful impact would be made in the fight against insecurity if the agencies were not working together.
Adamu said, “Each of them is operating in silos. The founding fathers of our constitution, when they created all of these agencies, the intention was that they would work together towards achieving Section 14(2) of the constitution.
“But today, we are waking up to a situation where those who are supposed to coordinate them are more interested in carrying out operations than their coordination functions. The inability to coordinate the security agencies has created gaps that are being exploited by the criminals.”
Adamu added that the inability to manage Nigerian borders effectively also indicated a lack of cooperation among the security agencies.
He said, “Our borders are still porous because our security agencies don’t cooperate. They don’t work together. The customs and immigration that have responsibility for border security don’t have enough power to man the borders. So, they should have cooperated more with the military, as an example. But we’re not seeing enough of that.
“The security agencies are not doing enough because they are operating in silos, with no coordination. As an example, when was the last time the National Security Council met?”
Similarly, the National President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Debo Adeniran, said the Federal Government had failed to secure the lives and property of its citizens.
“Why do we have the intelligence arms of the Nigerian police, the army, and the rest of them? What information are they gathering? They are supposed to get prior information about the looming attack from the insurgents. They should know that there are ungoverned spaces in Nigeria, and they should ensure that they are secure,” he stated.
According to Adeniran, the service chiefs needed to be given targets, and dismissed if they didn’t meet them.
“There should be targets, and if they don’t meet up, they should be dismissed because they are incompetent, and they are wasting public funds. They should be punished for it. Once they have been given that mandate that either they conquer or they don’t return, that should be a kind of thing to be done.
“This will not be the first time people have been calling for their removal. Their removal does not stop anything. All of them are walking hand in hand. If you remove them, they are still part of the same entity,” he stated.
In his comment, the Chief Executive Officer of Security Watch Africa, Patrick Agbamu, argued that once the government provided the necessary resources, the security chiefs should be held accountable and dismissed if they failed to perform.
“The security operatives are not angels. Providing them with what they need to work with is when they can be questioned or removed. Then the person being brought in will know they have the tools to do their work,” he said.
‘Govs must step in’
However, Lieutenant Colonel Abdulwahab Ademola (retd) said changing the service chiefs might not be effective, noting that there was a need to organise a national security summit.
He explained that since the security forces had proved incapable, governors should explore ways to strengthen community-based defence and empower local communities to protect themselves.
Ademola said, “The governors should ban group motorcycles and anyone found in the forest. After this, any group of motorcycles seen in the forest should just be neutralised.
“Maybe the Federal Government is afraid of ceding power to the states. There is supposed to be state police, and till now, nobody is saying anything about it anymore. Otherwise, what is wrong with the president facing it squarely?”
Ademola condemned the weapons used by the soldiers, adding that with such equipment, there was no clear end in sight to the insecurity.
He stated, “We have gone through this before during Buratai’s long stay, and people were agitating that the service chiefs should be changed. It has become very clear that these institutions are confronted with a culture of sustaining themselves through what has become their mode of existence.”
Speaking on the matter, the President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union, Samuel Tabara, urged the government to be proactive on the security challenges.
The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, did not take his calls or respond to a text message sent to him on the matter as of the time of filing this report.
News
Three Dead as Warri-Itakpe Train Derails in Delta, NRC Confirms
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has confirmed the death of three persons following the derailment of the Warri-Itakpe train in Agbor, Delta State.
The corporation disclosed that four coaches left the rail track during the incident, which occurred on Monday, June 8, 2026.
In a statement, the Managing Director of the NRC, Dr. Kayode Opeifa, said emergency response teams and other relevant authorities were immediately mobilised to the scene to manage the situation and provide assistance to affected passengers.
“The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has confirmed a serious train accident involving the Warri-Itakpe Train Service (WITS) corridor at Agbor, Delta State,” the statement said.
According to Opeifa, rescue and emergency response operations were activated immediately after the accident, and all passengers on board have since been accounted for.
“Sadly, three fatalities have been confirmed at this time,” he stated.
He added that relevant authorities are continuing to assess the full circumstances surrounding the incident, while support is being provided to injured and affected passengers.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and loved ones during this difficult time,” Opeifa said.
The NRC urged members of the public to rely only on verified information and official updates from the corporation as investigations into the cause of the derailment continue.
News
Newlywed Woman Disappears After Discovering Husband Had Two Children
A newly married Nigerian woman who was recently declared missing by her family in Abuja has reportedly left her matrimonial home after discovering that her husband allegedly had two children with different women.
The woman, from Mbabum Community in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State, had been the subject of a public appeal by her family, who sought assistance in locating her after she allegedly left her husband’s residence in Abuja.
According to a statement attributed to a family representative, Hon. Goshi Peter, the woman married Goshi Bem in March 2026 but left her matrimonial home about two weeks ago and had not returned.
However, in an update shared on Saturday, June 6, 2026, a Facebook user, Tyom Alexander, claimed she had spoken with the woman by phone.
According to Alexander, the woman said she left her husband’s home after discovering that he had two children from different women, information she alleged was not disclosed to her before their marriage.
“I have been able to speak with this woman through the phone number provided by the whistleblower,” Alexander wrote.
“She said her husband didn’t tell her that he had children before their marriage. She only discovered this after they relocated to Abuja.
“The first child is five years old, while the second child is two years old, both from different mothers.”
Alexander further claimed that the woman stated she was safe and still in Abuja, and reportedly warned her husband not to bother searching for her.
“According to her, the man should not bother looking for her as she is doing fine in Abuja,” Alexander added.
“If this is true, then the man has disappointed me. I wait to hear the man’s side of the story.”
As of the time of filing this report, the husband’s response to the allegations had not been made public.
News
Consultant Laments Fate Of 200,000 kms Of Nigerian Roads
By Okey Maduforo Awka
The fate of Nigerian roads especially the highways appears to be under threat of this year’s rainy season following fears by professionals that the over 200,000 kilometers of roads may collapse by the end of the year .
Deepening this apprehension is the lack of maintenance of those roads which have yearly carried loafs above it’s capacity occasioned by heavy duty trucks and tankers .
Expressing these fears , Consultant Engineer to the Federal government Patience Aningo noted that if urgent steps are not taken this year’s rainy season would spell doom for motorists and other road users across the country.
“Without consistent enforcement of axle load limits, and steady maintenance of our federal highways there strong indications that the country is at the risk of loosing over 200,000 kilometers of roads ”
“Roads require precision from proper compaction to correct layer thickness”
“By then, what could have been addressed with minor engineering challenges would become a huge cost of maintenance”
“The frustrations lies a deeper issue and the persistent failure of roads that should last far longer is compromised by laxity on the part of the authorities concerned”
“The outcomes are sometimes undermined by weak supervision, inconsistent material quality, and cost”
She observed that poor drainage system has also been the bane of the Federal roads in the country.
“Nigeria has one of the largest road networks in Africa estimated at over 200,000 kilometers yet a
One major factor is inadequate drainage”
“Roads are not just paved surfaces; they are engineered drainage
systems, sealing cracks, and timely patching remains underutilized, despite its proven
underlying soil, and accelerates structural deterioration”
“In a country with intense seasonal rainfall, neglecting drainage is one
of the fastest ways to shorten a road’s lifespan.’
“Regulations must be enforced consistently to protect infrastructure investments”
“Similarly, the Abuja–Kaduna Highway remains a critical but vulnerable route, where
pavement distress and operational challenges continue to highlight the strain placed on key compromise
during construction directly reduces durability and increases long-term costs”
“Drainage must be treated as a core design element, not an afterthought which affects Axle load against
what they were originally designed for”
“Heavy-duty trucks often overloaded introduce stresses that affect the roads ”
“Many Nigerian roads now carry traffic volumes and axle loads far beyond routes in the country
and despite ongoing reconstruction efforts, sections have deteriorated quickly ”
“When water is not properly managed, it penetrates the pavement layers, weakens the
This pattern is evident on major corridors such as the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, one of the busiest in the country “she stated.
News
Enugu Govt Dismisses Viral UNN Attack Alert, Moves to Track Perpetrators
Enugu Govt Dismisses Viral UNN Attack Alert, Moves to Track Perpetrator
The Enugu State Government has dismissed as false and misleading a viral social media post alleging an imminent terrorist attack on the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), assuring students, staff, and residents that there is no credible security threat to the institution.
The government described the post as the handiwork of criminal elements seeking to create panic, fear, and confusion within the university community and across the state.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Malachy Agbo, said the government had taken note of the viral message warning of a possible attack by individuals described as terrorists and jihadists.
According to him, investigations indicate that the alarm is false and part of a deliberate attempt by criminal elements and their collaborators to undermine public confidence in the state’s security efforts.
Agbo recalled that similar false alerts had been circulated in the past concerning locations such as Holy Ghost, Obollo Afor, Opi, Nsukka, Gariki, Awgu, and other parts of the state. He noted that those behind previous misinformation campaigns often operated anonymously and recycled old videos to create the impression of ongoing attacks.
He added that many of the perpetrators of the earlier false alarms were eventually identified and apprehended by security agencies.
The commissioner disclosed that the state government is already working closely with security agencies to track down those responsible for the latest viral post and ensure they face the consequences of their actions.
Reaffirming the administration’s commitment to public safety, Agbo said the government had continued to invest heavily in modern security infrastructure and technology to strengthen security operations across the state.
He stressed that the protection of lives and property remains a top priority of the administration of Peter Mbah, noting that recent investments have significantly improved the capacity and responsiveness of security agencies operating in the state.
The government therefore urged members of the UNN community, residents of Nsukka, and the general public to remain calm and continue their lawful activities without fear, assuring them that adequate measures are in place to guarantee their safety.
It further reiterated its resolve to sustain efforts aimed at maintaining peace and security across Enugu State while taking decisive action against individuals who spread false information capable of causing public panic.
News
METHODIST CHURCH HONOURS MONDAY DIAMOND ANI WITH “APOSTLE OF FAITH” AWARD
The Methodist Church Nigeria has honoured the General Manager of the Enugu State Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA), Hon. Monday Diamond Ani, with the prestigious “Apostle of Faith Award” in recognition of his outstanding humanitarian services and contributions to community development.
The award was presented by the Methodist Diocese of Akegbe, Aninri and Awgu Archdiocese (AAA) under the leadership of Rt. Rev. C. Orji, the Methodist Bishop of AAA Diocese, Enugu.
According to the Church, the honour was bestowed on Hon. Ani in acknowledgment of his selfless commitment to community development, social welfare, and humanitarian service over the years. The Church noted that his contributions have transcended political considerations and have positively impacted countless lives across communities.
His consistent humanitarian interventions have earned him the popular title “Odoziobodo”, meaning “one who builds and restores communities.”
Hon. Ani is widely regarded as a passionate advocate for community service, driven by a desire to improve living standards and promote love, unity, and a sense of
belonging among the people. His dedication reflects Christ’s teaching on the greatest commandment—love for God and love for one’s neighbour—placing service to humanity at the centre of purposeful living.
Due to his unavoidable absence, the award was received on his behalf and later presented to him at his office by Dr. Okechukwu Animba, Vice President (South-East) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).
Responding to the honour, Hon. Ani expressed profound gratitude to Rt. Rev. C. Orji and the entire Methodist Diocese for recognising his humanitarian efforts. He prayed for God’s continued grace and strength to serve humanity and touch more lives through his work.
He also appreciated his principal, the Executive Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, for appointing him to lead the CSDA, an agency charged with driving community interventions and sustainable development across the state.
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