Unidentified gunmen allegedly attacked one Adeyemi Ajani Akinrinade while he was returning to Eruwa from Ibadan on Tuesday August 12, 2025.
According to Akinrinade, who recently contested the Obaship stool of Eruwa, Oyo State, the incident happened at nightfall when the assailants took over the road and fired sporadic shots in a bid to stop his car.
He said the life-threatening attack by unknown armed individuals happened while he was driving back to Eruwa from Ibadan in a black Ford truck with registration number RUW 784 AA.
” At approximately 7pm while I was approaching a lonely section of the Ibadan-Eruwa road, I suddenly heard sporadic gunfire from multiple directions accompanied by loud shouts of ”stop, stop and come down”.
”The sound of the bullets striking nearby surfaces and aggressive tone of he voices made it immediately clear that I was being ambushed.
”I was forced to stop my vehicle and before I could make any attempt to escape, the armed men surrounded me, their faces hidden under masks. One of them pointed directly at me and said in a cold voice ”we warned you before, if e ever see you again, you are dead.
”Without further words, they poured flammable substance on my vehicle and set it ablaze. Within seconds, flames engulfed the truck, casting a terrifying glow over the road. I retreated into the roadside bush for safety, from where I watched my vehicle burn while the attackers vanished into the darkness.”
The incident was reported to the Eruwa Police Area Command.
Experts have called on the government and other stakeholders to pay attention to the needs of the People with Disabilities (PWD), Refugees and Displaced Persons (RDPs) and other vulnerable individuals and include them in the policy process.
The experts, including the academics, researchers, legal practitioners and the media, gave the charge in Ibadan, Oyo State Capital, at a workshop organised by the Partnership for African Social Governance Research, supported by the MasterCard Foundation.
The event was attended by representatives of government Youth agencies, youth organisations, academics, Legal experts on RDPs, civil society organisations, researchers, persons with disabilities, Social Workers, the media, young entrepreneurs, among others.
The workshop heralded the policy-oriented project titled African Youth Pathways to Resilience and Systems Change (AYPReS), currently going on in 10 African countries, including Nigeria.
The Keynote speaker, Professor Bukola Akinbola of the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, charged the government to focus attention on empowering people with disabilities, refugees, and unemployed youths by promoting equal access to opportunities for resilience in and independence for these people.
Professor Akinbola, who advocated career guidance with broad opportunities for youths with disabilities, also charged the media to report the vulnerable groups as people with resilience and not as dependents who are restricted to certain jobs.
“Resilience and systems change in Africa require inclusion of youths with disabilities. They should be represented in education, healthcare, and employment decisions. Regardless of disability, no youth should be left behind in shaping Africa’s future”
Speaking at the workshop, the Head of Professional Development and Training Programme at PASGR, Dr Pauline Ngimwa, noted that the main purpose of the Policy-inclined project is to understand the perceptions of the marginalised youths in order to suggest policies and interventions to ameliorate the problems facing them.
Dr Ngimwa added that, “AYPReS project focuses on voices and agency (lived experiences) of all young women and men, including the marginalized groups of People with Disabilities, Refugees and Displaced Persons, unemployed youths, their perspectives of dignified and fulfilling work, resilience drivers, as well as what systems change would look like, build a critical mass of young researchers researching youth employment.”
Earlier in his address, the AYPReS project Principal Investigator in Nigeria, Dr Babatunde Ojebuyi, emphasised the need to get the perspectives of the youth to the issues that affect them before policies are made in that direction.
Dr Ojebuyi, who is a senior lecturer in the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, said the project focuses attention on the marginalised groups to help them get their voice heard by the relevant stakeholders.
“This workshop is an inception programme in Nigeria to hear the voices of the youth, especially the marginalised ones. We are targeting persons with disabilities, those in the IDPs and other areas.
“We want to hear their voices in a way that will bring policy change. We can’t describe for them; we need to hear from them. It is to bring about the Nigerian content into it because this programme is going on in ten African countries,” Ojebuyi stated.
Former National Assistant Secretary of People with Disabilities, Mr Yusuf Olatunji, stressed the need for the stakeholders who empower people with disabilities to do beyond giving mobility devices such as wheelchair and crutches by establishing empowering people with disabilities to do more than give them wheelchairs and crutches.
Mr Olatunji charged relevant authorities to give people with disabilities access and participation in matters that affect them so as to achieve the global campaign of inclusion.
Another participant, Mariam Saka, expressed frustration that youth in the informal sector go through in seeking support for their business, calling on the government to pay attention to the youth in the informal sector, who get frustrated by a lack of funding to improve their businesses.
Nigeria First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Friday, met with religious leaders and traditional rulers in Lagos State during the first day of her three-day official visit to the state.
The interactive meeting, held at the Lagos State Governor’s residence in Marina, afforded the First Lady to interact with opinion leaders at the grassroots on the impacts of her Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) in Lagos and other states of the federation.
The event was also attended by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and federal lawmakers in the State, Lagos cabinet officials and members of Governance Advisory Council (GAC) of the party.
A statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Gboyega Akosile, said the governor led members of the State’s entourage to welcome the wife of the President to the State House. Senator Tinubu was accompanied by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima and wife of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mrs. Salamatu Gbajabiamila.
The statement read in part: ”The traditional rulers were led by chairman of Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs, Oba of Lagos, Alayeluwa Rilwanu Akiolu, who was represented by his vice and Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi.
”The forum served as a feedback platform for the First Lady to gauge the impacts of the RHI flagship programmes at the grassroots and intimate the gathering about ongoing interventions her Office had been doing in Lagos.
The statement noted that Sen. Tinubu gave an elaborate explanation about a series of programmes and interventions being implemented by her Office in Lagos, noting that the First Lady Office, through RHI, had distributed 100,000 education materials to pupils across Lagos schools, including N1 million scholarship and laptops.
”Lagos, the First Lady pointed out, also got 140 scholarships through the Federal Ministry of Education Bursaries programme of 2024, adding that the State had benefited from RHI school renovation projects.
”Sen. Tinubu said her Office had strengthened various groups of women to advance smart agriculture, noting that RHI had empowered 20 women in Lagos with N500,000 and training to participate in food sovereignty programmes to enhance agricultural output.
”She said the RHI Economic Empowerment programme has supported 1,000 women in petty trade per state to recapitalise their existing businesses, noting that N50,000 extra grant might be little to people who have some level of comfort but means a lot to an average woman frying bean cakes at the street corner.
” From August 2024 that we launched the programme, thousands of women have benefited from this grant programme in Lagos.
“We are supporting this grant programme with distribution of equipment and tools to women whose businesses require deep freezers, industrial grinding machines, and industrial ovens. This project was launched in February 2025 and we have been taking the initiative to two regions to improve the lives of the beneficiaries. In Lagos, we are here to also provide the materials to support our women.”
The statement further noted that Oba Shotobi, who spoke on behalf of the attendees, applauded the First Lady’s interventions, pledging more support and commitment to the Renewed Hope Initiative.
”The traditional ruler, however, urged the wife of the President to use her influence to create a statutory framework that would enable the country’s political leadership to harness the power of traditional institutions for national development.”
The statement disclosed that ”Sanwo-Olu, in his opening remarks, said the traditional and religious leaders were critical stakeholders in grassroots governance, noting that the opinion leaders were the closest contacts to the citizens.
According to the statement, the Governor said Sen. Tinubu had brought hope to the vulnerable and the elderly through the Renewed Hope Initiative, stressing that the First Lady conceived the project with the goal to lift citizens, regardless of their political, economic and ethnic backgrounds.
“Over the last two years, the First Lady has birthed new initiatives and ideas to drive Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu across communities in the country, leveraging the influence of her office to bring the desired results. The Renewed Hope Initiative is next to none in the volume of interventions and impacts. Through RHI, Sen. Tinubu has activated a lot of programmes to meet the needs of the vulnerable people at the grassroots.
“The impacts are being felt across the geopolitical regions of our country. These positive impacts have energised a new era of grassroots engagement and empowerment; many lives have been touched across the nooks and crannies of the country. All of these have been done without any financial contribution from the government’s purse,” Sanwo-Olu noted.
The former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Iyiola Omisore, has joined the 2026 Osun gubernatorial race with a statewide consultation of party stakeholders ahead of the primary election.
Omisore commenced mobilisation of the grassroots members from the Ijesa North and South Federal Constituencies, reiterating his commitment to due prosperous state which will not rely on Federal allocation to survive.
He sought for the support of the grassroots urging the party faithful and political leaders to back his ambition to emerge as the flagbearer of APC during the primary by November or December 2025.
Omisore, an ex-deputy governor of Osun State under former Governor Bisi Akande, said he was interested in consensus-building and his final decision would be shaped by grassroots engagement and stakeholder alignment.
”This is not about ambition alone; it is about collective reasoning and strategy. Osun needs common sense now more than ever. We cannot afford to field a candidate who merely participates—we must present a candidate who can win,” he said.
Earlier, a former Commissioner for Education, Folorunso Bamisayemi stated that Senator Omisore played a decisive role as APC National Secretary which averted internal crisis and ensured the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the party’s 2023 presidential candidate.
“Senator Omisore is based in Ife town, which is one of the four largest voting blocs in Osun. He sustained financial and strategic support for the APC, including backing of reinstated local government officials across Osun State.”
Similarly, Chairman of Ilesa East Council, Hon. Olanrewaju Balogun,described the Omisore’s ambition as a unity agenda.
Governor Biodun Oyebanji, has inaugurated a seven-man Agriculture Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (AGRIC-MEAL) Team to boost food security and agricultural development in the state.
The team members include the Special Adviser/Director-General, Office of Transformation and Service Delivery, Dr. John Ekundayo (Coordinator), Olusola Salami (Secretary); Prof. Segun Ajibola; Solomon Ekundayo; Adebiyi Adebayo Ojo; Adetunji Aribasoye, and Toba Fatula.
Speaking at the inauguration of the team in Ado-Ekiti, Oyebanji said the initiative represents a major step in his administration’s utmost commitment to boosting agricultural productivity and food sufficiency in the state.
The governor represented by his Chief of Staff, Niyi Adebayo said that the team, led by Ekundayo will track agricultural programmes and interventions, provide credible data, and evaluate result with a focus on evidence-based outcomes.
Oyebanji highlighted the team’s role in enhancing efficiency, driving innovation, and ensuring that agricultural programmes deliver measurable and sustainable results as well as amplify the voices of farmers and other stakeholders.
The governor tasked members of the team to provide credible data, offer practical recommendations and evaluate results with a focus on evidence-based outcomes for the sustainability of food security and economic development.
Ekundayo expressed appreciation to Governor Oyebanji for the confidence reposed in him to serve as the leader of the team.
He described the appointment as a call to service and purposeful action as well as a challenge to strengthen agriculture, which according to him remains a core part of the state’s economy and source of livelihood for Ekiti people.
The Special Adviser pledged the team’s commitment to monitoring, evaluating and depicting accountability, in order to reform and remodel policies accordingly for agriculture to thrive in Ekiti.
He assured said the Team would work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, civil society groups, development partners, and the farming communities in order to bolster food security and make Ekiti the food basket of the nation.
Community-Based youth groups in Kwara South have decried the spate of attacks by bandits in the district, urging the state government to impose a 12-hour curfew on the affected communities.
The groups, including the Igbomina Youth Assembly (IYAss), Kwara South Youth Development Organization (KWAYORG), Kwara South Consultative Youth Forum (KSCYE) and all Kwara South community-based youth associations described the attacks as worrisome.
Bandits recently launched bloody attacks on Oreke, Babanla, Ganmu-Alheri, Bankole, Shagbe, Ologomo communities in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson of the groups, who is also the President of IYAss, Ajibola Olugbenga, during an interaction with reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, demanded ” the immediate and heavy deployment of military forces into Kwara South to restore order, dislodge bandits, and secure our communities.
“This must include a full military base in the affected axis, not just occasional patrols; emergency security operations to be treated as a matter of national urgency, with military surveillance, air support, and combing of forests where terrorists are hiding: provision of modern arms and logistics to community hunters and vigilantes who remain the first fine of defense for our people, and “declaration of a 12-hour curfew (6:00 pm-6:00 am) in the most affected communities to allow military operations to flush out these criminals,” he said.
Olugbenga also demanded ” the creation of a joint security task force with federal, state, and local involvement, alongside youth representatives, to ensure coordinated response and accountability and swift federal intervention programmes to rehabilitate displaced persons, rebuild destroyed communities, and prevent further mass migration.”
He added that the attacks had made farming activities difficult in the Kwara South axis.
Men of the Lagos Police Command have recovered a car loaded with cannabis sativa and other prohibited items in the Ojo area of the state.
Spokesperson of the command, Benjamin Hundeyin, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) made this known in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
According to Hundeyin, the incident occurred, when operatives attached to the Ojo Division stopped an ash-coloured Toyota Sienna bus during a routine operation.
Hundeyin said the driver suddenly fled the scene with the vehicle’s key, abandoning the vehicle after he was asked to present a means of identification and vehicle documents.
A search conducted on the vehicle led to the discovery of two bags of substances suspected to be cannabis, an Army jungle hat, and two ATM cards.
The vehicle and recovered exhibits have since been transferred to Special Squad 2 of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, for further investigation.
Commissioner of Police, CP Olohundare Jimoh, commended the alertness of the operatives involved, while assuring residents that efforts were underway to apprehend the fleeing suspect.
Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun 1 Command, have seized contraband with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1,401,531,923.95, within 48 days in various parts of the state, the Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Godwin Otunla has said.
Otunla made the disclosure during a press briefing held at the Idiroko customs area command, Ipokia Local Government on Thursday.
He ascribed the feat to the resilience of his men and the intelligence driven operations as well as the gallantry displayed by officers of the command.
The items, according to Otunla include: 4,424 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 105 bags of cannabis sativa, and 105 units of used tyres.
Others are: 21 bales and three sacks of used clothing, three vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce, and 6,400 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
Otunla said: “The seizures with a DPV of N1,401,531,923.95 represent a significant economic loss to the smugglers, but a huge gain to our national economy and security.
“In addition, the command also generated a total revenue of N45,054,191:00 in July, which is higher than the N35,327,852:00 recorded in the corresponding month in 2024.
“However, this represent a commendable increase of 27.47 per cent, and this remarkable growth is a reflection of our enhanced compliance drive, improved monitoring of the border activities, and robust stakeholders engagement.” he said.
“The synergy with other security agencies is not only in compliance with the government directive, but also reinforces our collective determination to safeguard public health, ensure national security, and protect the future of our youths from the devastating effects of hard drugs,” Otunla said.
The seized drug, according to Otunla would be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Idiroko Special Command, for further investigation.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest has described the orchestrated efforts by some politicians to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 as mere distractions and comedy shows aimed at derailing the ongoing Nigerian Project codenamed the Renewed Hope Agenda.
It will be recalled that, recently, some politicians made public their readiness to forge a common front in their desire to dislodge the APC government at the centre in a manner similar to how the same APC sent the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government led by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan away from power in 2015 after winning that year’s presidential election in what was said be an unprecedented political development.
In a statement issued at the weekend and made available to journalists by the Publicity Secretary in the Southwest, Mr. Ayobami Afolabi, APC said the current crop of anti-Tinubu crusaders have nothing to offer Nigeria and Nigerians as they are failed politicians who lack ideas on how to add value having contributed to the augean stables which the present administration is cleansing.
Former First Lady of Ondo State, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has thrown her weight behind the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, on his call for Nigerians to learn self-defence and combat skills.
In a post on her X account (Twitter), Mrs. Akeredolu emphasized the importance of self-defence training in today’s society.
“I stand with the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, on his call for Nigerians to learn self-defence and combat skills,” she said.
Akeredolu noted that her organization, BEMORE Empowered Girls Foundation, had introduced taekwondo training at their annual summer boot camp years ago, recognizing the need for self-defence skills.
“At BEMORE Empowered Girls Foundation, we saw this need years ago. Rising cases of rape & gender-based violence pushed us to introduce taekwondo training at our annual BEMORE Summer Bootcamp. Our girls have gained not just physical strength, but confidence, courage, and resilience,” she added.
Akeredolu urged the government and stakeholders to institutionalize self-defence training nationwide, starting with schools and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
“I urge government & stakeholders to institutionalize self-defence training nationwide, starting with schools and NYSC. A safer Nigeria begins with an empowered citizenry,” she emphasized.
The call for self-defence training comes amid rising concerns about security in Nigeria. Many Nigerians have been advocating for measures to improve safety and security, and the CDS’s call is seen as a step in the right direction.
