News
BREAKING: Femi Falana, Others Announce Date for Nationwide Protest Over Insecurity, Hunger
A nationwide protest has been scheduled for June 12 against worsening national insecurity, severe economic hardship, and a sharp drop in living standards across the federation.
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has partnered with 16 civil society organizations to lead the mass mobilization.
The coalition—comprising trade unions, youth groups, social movements, and faith-based organizations—noted that the demonstration is timed to coincide with Nigeria’s annual Democracy Day.
Recall that the date was designated by the federal government to honor Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election.
According to the organizers, widespread administrative failures leave ordinary citizens with nothing to celebrate on this anniversary.
A joint statement signed by Falana in his capacity as National Chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), alongside Hassan Taiwo Soweto of the Lagos State #EndBadGovernance Movement and Yinka Folarin, National President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), expressed deep concern over the expansion of insecurity in the country.
The leaders observed that entire communities are currently subjected to continuous trauma from unpunished banditry, terrorism, and mass abductions.
“Innocent Nigerians are being killed, abducted, displaced and traumatized while government responses have remained largely inadequate and ineffective. We express solidarity with families of victims of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping across the country. We demand immediate and concrete action to secure the release of all Nigerians held captive by criminal groups in Oyo, Borno, Katsina, Kwara, Ekiti, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and other states where citizens have been abducted. The Nigerian people deserve a pro-people government that places protection of lives and property at the core of governance.”
The organizers criticized official security narratives, arguing that promises of safety have been consistently contradicted by the realities faced by rural farmers, commuters, and schoolchildren.
The declaration attributed the country’s severe economic crisis directly to the neoliberal policies introduced under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The statement detailed the negative impacts of currency devaluation, electricity tariff increases, and the removal of the petroleum subsidy, noting that these measures have triggered historic food inflation and crippled small businesses despite increased statutory allocations to state governments.
Characterizing the upcoming June 12 demonstration as the initial stage of a prolonged series of public actions, the leaders urged widespread citizen participation. They called on workers, market women, unemployed youth, students, and professionals to coordinate grassroots mobilization efforts within their respective neighborhoods and workplaces to demand an immediate policy reversal.
“This protest is about the lives of our children and teachers in captivity. It is about the collective survival of ordinary Nigerians. The coalition therefore calls on civil society organizations and progressive groups to unite and mobilize the collective power of Nigerians to demand the release of all captives and oppose anti-people policies of the Tinubu administration that continue to increase poverty. The time has come for Nigerians to speak with one voice and demand security, dignity and a decent standard of living. Enough of the killings. Enough of the kidnappings. Enough of the hunger. Enough of the suffering.”
Many people are feared to have lost their lives as a military aircraft with tail number NGR 931, en route Lagos from Benin, crashed in the Igbokoda axis of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday.
The Ondo State Police Command Spokesperson, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, who confirmed the incident to journalists in Akure, noted that details surrounding the incident are still emerging, as efforts to establish the full circumstances continue.
Jimoh said: “The Command urges members of the public, particularly residents of Igbokoda and adjoining communities, to remain calm and refrain from circulating unverified information.”
He stated further that the public will be duly informed as soon as further credible information is available.
Also, a statement by the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, said that all efforts to raise the aircraft on radio proved abortive.
According to him, the wreckage has been located, and search and rescue operations are ongoing.
Preliminary information suggests that there were 25 passengers and 7 crew members on board.
“Whilst the control and regulation of military aircraft are completely outside the authority of the Ministry of Aviation, and Civil Aviation Authority, I have just spoken to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke and pledged our total cooperation and assistance in the search and rescue efforts ongoing”, Keyamo added.
The identity of the helicopter and the persons on board are yet to be ascertained as of the time of this report.
The Olubosin of Ifetedo in Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State, Oba Akinola Oyetade Akinrera (Latiiri I), has reportedly joined his ancestors.
Oba Akinrera, the fourth Olubosin of Ifetedo Kingdom, reportedly died on Friday, although the palace has yet to issue an official statement confirming his death.
The monarch ascended the throne in 2018 and was widely regarded by indigenes as a highly respected traditional ruler.
Before his emergence as monarch, Oba Akinrera, a lawyer and public servant, had worked in different capacities, including as a teacher, police officer and staff member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He joined the Nigeria Police Force in 1988 and served until 1992, when he joined the NNPC in Lagos.
Born into the Ifetedo community, the late monarch attended CAC Primary School, Ipetumodu, before proceeding to Ifetedo Grammar School for his secondary education.
He later attended the Oyo State College of Education, which subsequently became the Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, and is now the University of Ilesa.
In 1993, he proceeded to Lagos State University, Ojo, where he obtained a Diploma in Law. He subsequently gained admission to the University of Lagos in 1997 to study Law and graduated in 2004.
Following his reported death, tributes have continued to pour in from indigenes and residents of Ifetedo, with social media platforms awash with condolence messages mourning the monarch.
Many of the messages described Oba Akinrera as a respected traditional ruler whose reign contributed to the development and unity of Ifetedo Kingdom.
As of the time of filing this report, the palace had not officially announced the monarch’s death or released details regarding his burial arrangements.
The Imo State Police Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, has revealed that security operatives have identified the location where 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in the state are being held.
This comes two days after gunmen abducted prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The victims were travelling in two buses when the attackers struck along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday.
Naija News reports that Bosso, while giving an update on the search-and-rescue operation in a media interview on Saturday, said security operatives have delayed moving into the camp over fears that it is planted with improvised explosive devices.
Bosso said the police used drones on Friday to locate the suspected camp after security operatives trailed the abductors into the bush, but the security agencies were being cautious because intelligence indicated that the camp had been mined with IEDs.
According to him, the security agencies were preparing to move into the area with heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, in an effort to rescue the victims safely.
He said, “Any moment, we’ll still move into the bush. Yesterday, we were in the bush, we trailed them up to a particular location.
“But at that point in time, we couldn’t move in to where the coordinate showed us where they are because we ran drones yesterday. And the drone actually showed us exactly their location.
“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the IED is the camp is mined with IEDs.
“We are moving in there with high, you know, high-velocity vehicles, that is, bulldozers, we’re moving in with bulldozers and APCs to see how we’re going to rescue these victims unhurt.”
BLACK MONDAY: Top Nigerian Military Officers, Others Feared Die in Plane Crashes
Nigerian Gov Gives 8 Top Appointment, Others
Tragedy as Prominent Nigerian Pastor Collapses, Dies During Sermon at Funeral
FULL LIST: Top 10 “Tokunbo” Cars You Can Get For ₦3m–₦5m
Former Super Eagles Star Loses Life Savings, Duped By A Pastor of ₦1.2 Billion
