Blog

Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has confirmed the arrest and prosecution of a woman accused of assaulting her 15-year-old daughter in the Ipaja area of Lagos.

The development follows public outrage over a viral video that surfaced on Wednesday, showing the alleged incident at a residence on Tashoro Street near Ipaja.

In the footage, the woman was seen restraining the teenager while holding a knife after reportedly beating her within a residential compound, sparking widespread concern online.

Providing an update via its official X handle on Thursday, the agency said the case was brought to its attention through the viral clip, prompting an immediate response in line with established child protection protocols.

According to the statement, the victim was promptly rescued by the Child Protection Unit of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development and has since been placed in a shelter, where she is receiving care and psychosocial support.

The agency added that the suspect was apprehended by operatives of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps and subsequently handed over to the police at Ipaja Division.

“The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency was alerted to a distressing viral video depicting the alleged assault of a 15-year-old girl by her biological mother in the Ipaja area of Lagos State on Wednesday, 29th April 2026. The Agency immediately activated the State’s response protocol upon receipt of the report.

“The survivor was swiftly rescued by the Child Protection Unit of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development and has been placed in a shelter, where she is currently receiving appropriate care and support services.”

The case was later transferred to the Family Support Unit of the Ipaja Division of the Lagos State Police Command for further investigation.

LSDVA disclosed that the matter was subsequently filed before Court 23 of the Samuel Ilori Magistrate Court in Ogba, where the suspect was arraigned on Thursday.

Following the court proceedings, the defendant was remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“Following diligent investigation, the case was charged to court on my Thursday, 30th April 2026, and heard at Court 23, Samuel Ilori Magistrate Court, Ogba, Lagos, even as the defendant has been remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre pending the outcome of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ advice.

“We commend the swift collaboration of concerned Lagosians and mandated reporters in ensuring the safety of the survivor and the progression of the case through due legal process.”

The agency praised members of the public who reported the incident, noting that their prompt action played a vital role in ensuring the child’s safety and advancing the legal process.

It reiterated the Lagos State Government’s zero-tolerance in policy on child abuse and assured that all offenders would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.

Residents were also encouraged to continue reporting cases of domestic and sexual violence through designated helplines and official channels.

Lagos woman remanded for allegedly assaulting teenage daughter with knife

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has expressed strong confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s chances in the 2027 general elections, declaring that the outcome is already settled in the president’s favour.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, Okpebholo said Tinubu’s performance in office and policy decisions have positioned him for re-election.

“President Tinubu has made a landmark for this country and this election is already as good as won,” the governor said. “His work, his policies, are speaking for him.”

The governor further to insisted that Tinubu’s victory was inevitable, dismissing the strength of opposition figures and growing political alignments against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Tinubu must win. Tell me, who is going to be better than Tinubu?” he queried

Okpebholo also alleged that opposition elements are fueling insecurity across the country to undermine the federal government ahead of the elections.

“It’s the opposition that are using these people,” he claimed. “They want Nigerians to say the president is not doing well.”

He described the claim as “a fact,” insisting that insecurity is being politically motivated.
Defending Tinubu’s popularity, the governor pointed to the defection of several governors to the APC as evidence of widespread support.

“If the president is not doing well, I don’t think all those governors will move to APC,” he said. “He’s the most popular person right now in Nigeria.”

Okpebholo reiterated his earlier promise to deliver millions of votes for Tinubu from Edo State, despite skepticism over the state’s voting strength.

“You were on the streets – you saw the people. They are the votes,” he said. “Everybody is coming out to vote for Asiwaju.”

He attributed the APC’s poor performance in Edo during the 2023 presidential election to what he described as a lack of governance by the previous administration.

“Peter Obi defeated last time because the governor then was not working,” he said. “Now we have a working government.”
On concerns about a united opposition front, Okpebholo downplayed its impact, maintaining that such alliances would ultimately fail.

“There will always be opposition,” he said. “The Bible says they must gather, but they will scatter.”

The governor also defended Tinubu’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy, describing it as a bold decision no previous leader had taken.

“There are so many tough decisions taken by this president that no man has been able to take,” he said. “Let’s talk about subsidy removal—who had the courage to do that?”

Okpebholo insisted that Tinubu’s record in office would ultimately determine the outcome of the election.

“His work is speaking for him,” he said. “That is what will translate to votes.”

Tinubu Will Win, Election Already Decided,Says Okpebholo is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, on Thursday, formally presented Engr. Mustafa Gubio as the All Progressives Congress, APC, consensus governorship candidate to Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Governor Zulum described Gubio’s emergence as the product of wide-range consultations among party stakeholders across the state, reflecting a strong unified position within the Borno APC.

“We commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his strategic leadership, unwavering support, and guidance to both the Borno State Government and the APC,” Zulum said.

He added: “I wish to express my profound gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the leadership he is providing in the country and for the enormous support to Borno State as well as the APC, which has been unprecedented. The President has been instrumental in the emergence of Gubio as the consensus candidate.”

Dignitaries in attendance included, former Governor Senator Ali Modu Sheriff (represented by Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan), Deputy Governor Hon. Umar Usman Kadafur, APC Deputy National Chairman, Hon. Ali Bukar Dalori

Others were Senators Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Mohammed Ali Ndume, and Kaka Shehu Lawan SAN, Speaker, Borno State House of Assembly, Hon. Abdulkarim Lawan and Hon. Abdulkadir Rahis and Hon. Mukhtar Betara Aliyu.

Borno guber: Gov Zulum presents APC consensus candidate, Mustafa Gubio to VP Shettima

Monday Okpebholo, Governor of Edo State, has explained why the people of the state will vote for President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Okpebholo said Edo people would vote for Tinubu because of the money he’s releasing to state governors.

He disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today where he explained how the state would give Tinubu 2.5 million votes in 2027.

The governor assured that the people of the state would come out en-masse to vote for Tinubu to make up for the figure.

He said: “I will get the 2.5 million votes from Edo State, it’s already on the streets, everybody is coming to vote for Asiwaju on that day.”

The governor also disclosed that former presidential candidate, Peter Obi defeated Tinubu during the 2023 election in the state due to former governor Godwin Obaseki’s failure.

“Peter Obi defeated Tinubu last time because the then governor (Obaseki) was not working, he was in the PDP and people want to voice out that this governor is not working and anybody coming we are going to do it the other way around,” he said.

Asked if the people of Edo State will vote for Tinubu because of Okpebholo, the governor responded: “Because of the work we are doing, because of the money Tinubu is releasing to us to work for him and that is what you are seeing on the street.

“It has never happened in Edo State like this before.”

2027: ‘Money Tinubu gives govs will make Edo people vote him’ – Okpebholo

The United States on Thursday announced the imposition of sanctions on Joseph Kabila, a former President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in self-imposed exile since 2023.

The U.S. government indicated that 54-year-old Kabila assists armed groups destabilizing the eastern DRC. He was linked to the designated Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement (M23).

The Treasury Department said M23 and its political-military arm, the Congo River Alliance (AFC), have been wreaking havoc, causing the deaths of thousands of civilians and mass displacement.

Kabila, who backs a candidate opposed to the current leader, is accused of funding the AFC to regain influence over the government and encouraging DRC troops to defect and join the AFC forces.

According to a State Department readout, financial and political support from individuals, including Kabila, enabled militant organizations to be the “principal drivers of violence and instability in the region.”

Washington expressed its solidarity with the Congolese people and urged regional leaders to reject those who perpetuate violence, vowing to hold accountable anyone who obstructs peace efforts.

The Trump Administration reiterated its resolve to ensure all parties uphold their commitments under the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity and the Doha Framework.

Kabila, DRC’s fourth president from 2001 to 2019, took office after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. In 2025, a Kinshasa military court convicted him of treason and war crimes.

Reacting to the sanction, DRC Deputy Prime Minister Jacquemain Shabani called Kabila “the instigator, the initiator, the architect of the destabilization of Congo,” and among those making peace elusive.

Last week, representatives from the DR Congo, Rwanda, the U.S., Qatar, and Togo (African Union mediator), and the African Union Commission met to assess implementation of the Peace Agreement.

The fifth meeting of the Joint Oversight Committee, held in Washington, DC., saw a presentation by DRC and Rwanda on ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions and advance progress on the ground.

Qatar also gave an update on the mediation between the DRC and AFC/M23. The parties affirmed a shared dedication to sustain the momentum in the peace process and build on the headway achieved so far.

US sanctions DR Congo ex-President Joseph Kabila for aiding rebels

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a travel restriction prohibiting its citizens from visiting Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, citing heightened tensions across the Middle East.

The directive, disclosed on Thursday and reported by the state news agency Emirates News Agency, comes amid ongoing instability linked to the regional conflict triggered by a US-Israeli military action and subsequent retaliatory developments.

According to the ministry, the decision was taken in response to prevailing security concerns in the affected countries.

“In light of current regional developments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MoFA, announces a travel ban on UAE nationals travelling to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Lebanese Republic, and the Republic of Iraq,” the statement read.

The ministry also urged Emirati citizens currently in the listed countries to leave without delay.

It called on “all UAE nationals currently in these countries to expedite their immediate return” to the UAE.

The advisory follows a series of escalations in the region, including missile attacks targeting civilians and energy infrastructure in the Gulf area, before a fragile ceasefire was declared.

UAE imposes travel ban on citizens to Iran, Lebanon, Iraq

Abia State government has faulted the threat by forum of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Chairmen in the State to mobilize lawyers for a demonstration if the ongoing strike by judiciary workers in the State is not resolved.

NBA Chairmen had alleged that their plans to meet with Governor Alex Otti and the State’s Attorney-general and Commissioner for Justice, Ikechukwu Uwanna, SAN, about resolving the judiciary workers’ strike were snubbed by the State government, among other claims.

But reacting to the development, Abia State Government said it had made substantial progress in resolving the JUSUN strike, noting that most of the disputed issues with the judiciary union’s leadership in the State had been settled.

The Director General, Strategic Communication Bureau, of the Abia state government, Onyebuchi Ememanka and the Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, stated this on Thursday in Umuahia.

The government said that the NBA was not working with the current information about the progress of negotiations.

“One of the cardinal issues that led to this strike was the issue of Leave Allowance.

“Our position as a government was that all workers who earn consolidated salaries have a component of leave built into their salaries and in the course of these negotiations, it was discovered by JUSUN themselves that our position had been correct all along”, he said.

On the issue of financial autonomy being demanded by JUSUN members, Ememanka said that there is substantial compliance to financial autonomy in the State, as according to him, the Chief Judge who is the head of that arm of government, determines how funds will be apportioned.

The State government explained that employment, promotion, payment and retirement of judiciary workers are not carried out by the executive arm of Abia State as there is Abia State Judiciary Service Commission.

Ememanka also denied the NBA Chairmen’s allegation that Governor Otti and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uwanna, snubbed a courtesy visit they had requested.

 

JUSUN strike: Abia govt faults NBA threat to embark on demonstration

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reinstated Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), reversing its earlier decision to delist the party’s leadership.

The electoral body updated its official portals on Thursday to reflect the restoration shortly after the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the protracted leadership dispute.

The apex court had nullified the Court of Appeal’s directive maintaining the status quo ante bellum in the ADC crisis, describing the order as “unnecessary in the first place.”

INEC had relied on the appellate court ruling to delist the Mark-led leadership on April 1, a move that sparked widespread reactions within the party and intensified calls for the resignation of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan.

However, it remained unclear as of press time whether the commission had formally recognised the ADC’s April 14 national convention and state congresses conducted during the period when the party leadership was delisted.

INEC Reverses Position, Restores Mark, Aregbesola As ADC Leaders is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Confusion has enveloped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following a Supreme Court judgment that nullified the party’s two rival leadership factions, triggering fresh claims and counterclaims over who is in charge.

The apex court, in a landmark ruling on Thursday, invalidated both the Kabiru Turaki-led and Abdulrahman Mohammed-led factions, citing breaches of subsisting court orders in the conduct of their respective conventions.

The judgment has left the opposition party without a clearly defined national leadership, with key figures advancing divergent interpretations of the verdict.

On one hand, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a central figure in the Abdulrahman Mohammed faction, insisted that the ruling effectively validated his group’s position.

“The Supreme Court has validated our convention and set aside all claims to any parallel structure. What this means is that the PDP has come to stay as one united party,” Wike said.

However, the Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Adolphus Wabara, offered a sharply different interpretation, declaring that the BoT had assumed interim leadership of the party to avert a vacuum.

“It is with the utmost sense of duty and responsibility that the BoT of the PDP assumes leadership of our great party today… pursuant to the empowering provisions of the Constitution of the PDP,” Wabara said.

He explained that the court’s decision invalidated the November 2025 national convention held in Ibadan, which produced the Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee, as well as subsequent actions taken by the rival faction.

“The implication of today’s judgment, is that all actions taken, including the appointment of Abdulrahman Mohammed as Acting National Chairman and the conduct and outcome of the March 29, 2026 Convention in Abuja are illegal, null and void,” he added.

Wabara further argued that, with both factions dissolved, the responsibility for stabilising the party now rests with the BoT as the second highest organ under the party’s constitution.

“Against this backdrop, the BoT hereby immediately assumes responsibility… to foster genuine reconciliation, salvage, stabilise and return the party to good political health,” he stated.

He disclosed that an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) would be convened soon to establish an interim National Working Committee.

The crisis stems from prolonged internal disputes that saw parallel conventions and competing leadership structures emerge within the PDP, deepening divisions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

While Wike maintained that the Supreme Court did not pronounce the suspension of key officials in his faction, Wabara insisted that the verdict upheld earlier decisions removing them from office, thereby nullifying their actions.

The conflicting interpretations underscore the uncertainty now facing the PDP, as stakeholders await further clarity on the party’s leadership and direction in the aftermath of the apex court’s ruling.

Conflicting Signals As Wike, Wabara Lay Claim To PDP Leadership is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has approved the recall of engineers previously redeployed across its business units, following what management described as a conditional pardon after internal disciplinary actions linked to operational disruptions.

In an internal communication to staff, the company said the decision followed an extensive review process and numerous appeals from respected individuals, stakeholders, and the engineers. The refinery noted that while earlier actions were taken to protect operations and uphold organisational standards, it has now opted to offer a second opportunity to the staff.

Under the directive, according to a memo signed by the Group Vice President, Oil & Gas, Devakumar Edwin, all affected personnel will be invited for a meeting and subsequently reassigned to resume duties at the refinery. The recall also covers those who did not take up earlier redeployment options offered by the company.

Management emphasised that the move reflects both a commitment to fairness and a belief in second chances, while reiterating that discipline, professionalism and adherence to corporate values remain non-negotiable.

“This decision was not an easy one. It reflects not only our belief in second chances but also serves as a clear reminder that loyalty, professionalism and adherence to organisational standards are non‑negotiable,” it said. “Effective immediately, all engineers previously redeployed to other business units, will be invited for a meeting and, subsequently, will be provided with an opportunity to render their services at our Petroleum Refinery. This would include those who did not avail the opportunity provided earlier for redeployment”.

The company, however, issued a firm warning that any recurrence of misconduct would attract immediate and decisive sanctions, underscoring its zero-tolerance stance on actions capable of undermining operations.

Dangote Refinery added that it expects the returning engineers to demonstrate renewed dedication as it continues efforts to strengthen operational efficiency and maintain its position as a key player in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

“We welcome our colleagues back, with the expectation of renewed dedication, and we look forward to working together to strengthen our operations and deliver excellence in the oil and gas sector,” it added.

Recall that the Dangote Group, in October 2025, redeployed some refinery engineers to other companies within the Group as part of measures to stabilise operations at the time.

Dangote Refinery Recalls Redeployed Engineers is first published on The Whistler Newspaper