As a fall out of slamming its membership by the tripartite countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republics, the Economic Community Of West Africa, ECOWAS today through its ministers have convene an emergency meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. The ministers are expected to deliberate on the pros and cons of rejecting the membership of ECOWAS by the trio as well as to examine the mass protest that broke out in Senegal, following the postponement of the country’s presidential elections. 

Worried by the rising food prices in the country, the Federal Government has directed the Special Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention to immediately wade in by opening the national food reserve to the Nigerian populace to stem the inflation. Contrary to some claims, the federal government debunked that Nigerians is facing acute food shortage, as government is alleging that saboteurs were capitalising on Naira’s depreciation to escalate the cost of food items across the markets. 

Federal Government on Tuesday, inducted two new T-129 ATAK helicopters and a King Air 360ER Beechcraft into the Order of Battle (ORBAT) of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at the NAF Base, Makurdi, Benue. This was contained in a statement made available to Defence Correspondents in Abuja by Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, Director Public Relations and Information of NAF. He stated that the development was a major boost to the ongoing fight against counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, anti-crude oil theft and anti-kidnapping operations in the country.

To curb insecurity in Abuja, The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), through its Transportation Secretariat, has issued operational licenses to Bolt and Nairaxi, as the exclusive ride-hailing operators authorized to provide on-demand transport and logistics services using mobile applications in FCT. Bolt, a leading transportation mobility company, operates in 500 cities, with over 3 million drivers and 150 million customers. On the other hand, Nairaxi is an indigenous mobility tech company that won an innovator’s competition organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission in February 2023. The granting of operational licenses to Bolt and Nairaxi aims to improve and regulate e-ride-hailing operations while elevating service excellence in the FCT.

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has revealed that fundraising/crowdfunding on social media for ransom payments to kidnappers is an illegal and punishable offense. This revelation was made known on Thursday during a live TV program on Channels by the Force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi Adejobi said such actions demoralize police personnel, stressing that paying a ransom is criminal in Nigeria. Adejobi also condemned the use of social media for crowdfunding, stating that it hampers morale and undermines the system. Adejobi expressed concern, stating that this emerging trend, adding that it could incentivize more Nigerians to engage in kidnapping due to its perceived profitability, potentially fueling the criminal activity more.

Main opposition Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Governors forum has laments the raising insecurity in the nation and has called for action. The governors insisted that the present police structure in the country must be decentralised to give way for the state police to be in place. The PDP state leaders made their position known today in Jos, the capital of Plateau sate when they paid a courtesy call to their colleague, the Plateau state governor, Mutfuwang Caleb.