Speaking at an emergency press conference in Minna, Saidu Salihu, Secretary of the Coalition of Shiroro Associations, called for urgently returning military forces to Allawa and surrounding communities to protect residents and allow displaced farmers to resume their livelihoods.

Salihu stated that the withdrawal of soldiers three months ago led to a surge in terrorist and bandit activities, forcing residents to collaborate with these groups for survival.

“The terrorists are growing stronger, and without military intervention, the communities are at risk of becoming a terrorist stronghold,” Salihu warned.

He called on the Niger State government to strengthen its cooperation with security agencies and equip local vigilante groups to defend the vulnerable areas. He, however, urged federal and state governments to compensate displaced persons who have lost homes, property, and their means of income.

President of the Lakpma Youth Forum, Babangida Kudodo, lamented the lack of action from both state and federal governments despite numerous reports of the deteriorating security situation.

He disclosed that some informants who were arrested and later released have become threats to the communities, further exacerbating the problem.

Further compounding the crisis, Abdullah Suleiman Erena warned that the Lakpma axis, comprising eight political wards, is at risk of becoming a stronghold for various terrorist groups, including Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Ansaru.

He described the situation as a “developing terrorist ecosystem,” and criticized the press and government for underestimating the severity of the issue.

He also pointed out the risk to the Federal Capital Territory due to its proximity to Shiroro LGA, stressing the urgency of dislodging the terrorists and restoring security to the region.

In his remarks, Sani Abubakar Yusuf Kokki criticized the Niger State government for failing to pressure the federal government to address the escalating security situation.

“The state government needs to do more than just lament,” he stated, stressing that the larger population cannot be abandoned in the face of these growing threats.

The Labour Party (LP) has sacked the national chairman of the party, Comrade Julius Abure, and members of the National Executive Committee (NEC). The party set up a 29-member caretaker committee, with the former finance minister, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, as chairman and Hon. Darlington Nwokocha as secretary.

The decision was the outcome of the “duly constituted” NEC and expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted in Umuahia by the governor of Abia State, Mr. Alex Otti, the party’s only governor.

The meeting, chaired by the presidential candidate of LP in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, was well-attended by prominent party members, including all LP federal and state lawmakers.

Abure and his allies were not at the meeting.

The stakeholders insisted that Abure’s tenure had expired in June, hence, he no longer had any legitimacy to continue in the capacity of national chairman.

A five-point communique read by the LP 2023 deputy governorship candidate in Plateau State, Hon. Edward Pwajok, said the membership of the committee reflected “various interests and tendencies” in the party.

The critical interests include the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Senate, House of Representatives, Houses of Assembly, and the governorship candidates of LP in 2023.

According to the communique, the caretaker committee “should immediately ensure” that the congresses of the whole party were conducted at ward, local government, state and national levels “as soon as possible”.

The caretaker committee would preside over the affairs of LP in the next three months within which new leaders would emerge from ward to national levels after the party congresses.

The stakeholders enjoined “all party members to support the caretaker committee to carry out its mandate”.

Obi commended Otti for his efforts to reposition the party by ensuring that the meeting held as planned.

He said, “We consulted and discussed” before agreeing on the need to convene the expanded stakeholders’ meeting in order to resolve the troubling issues affecting LP.

The former Anambra State governor told his party members that they already knew “my own position” in the crisis rocking the party.

Obi said because of the position he had taken, “I have been called all sorts of names. Some said I’m not serious; some said I’m weak and should not present myself again as presidential candidate.”

He stated that unsavoury utterances from people will not change his position.

Obi added, “But I want due process to be followed. Whatever we are going to do in future, I want everybody to be free to participate in it. In going forward, let everybody learn to sacrifice for the party.”

The LP national leader spoke in a conciliatory tone. He said the meeting was not meant to suspend or sack party members, hence, “nobody would be secluded after this meeting”.

Usman said the caretaker committee had been saddled with “a big responsibility”.

But she assured the party stakeholders and elders that the committee would work to put LP back to its proper footing.

Christiana Idowu, a student at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), has been killed by her abductor after being kidnapped in Lagos. Christiana, undergoing industrial training at the University of Lagos, was abducted between Ikorodu and Yaba.

The Student Union Government (SUG) president of FUNAAB, Ibrahim Adeyemi, confirmed the tragic news, stating, “The Union can confirm that she was reportedly killed by her abductor. We will be addressing the matter soon.”

Christiana’s abductors initially demanded ₦3 million ransom. However, following negotiations, the family managed to send ₦350,000 to the kidnappers, but Christiana was not released.

A family source said “We paid the ransom, yet they refused to set her free.”

Intelligence operatives traced the suspect through banking details linked to the ransom payment in a significant breakthrough. The investigation uncovered that the abductor withdrew ₦100,000 from a masked betting account before authorities froze the account.

Further investigations revealed that Christiana’s abductor had a connection with her, as both had interacted on social media. The police tracked the suspect’s mobile activities, eventually leading them to his family’s residence in Ikorodu, Lagos. The abductors demanded a sum of N3m as a ransom before they could release the student.

Christiana had left her home in the Itaoluwo area of Ikorodu heading to the University of Lagos in the Yaba area of the state where she was observing her industrial training before she was abducted by the kidnappers.

A source disclosed “They are communicating with the family through her WhatsApp, and they demanded N3m. We appealed to them, and it was reduced to N1m, then N500,000, and later, they asked that we pay N350,000.

On the 23rd of August, family complied. Immediately after that, the abductor stopped communicating with the parents. Meanwhile, on the 22nd of August, some amount was sent to the GTB account of Christiannah and the amount was then withdrawn into the wema bank account belonging to the main suspect

By the 29th, intelligence operatives had confirmation from the bank that the BVN linked to the masked Betting account allegedly belonged to the account owner who also operates the Wema Bank account

Further investigation revealed that he was able to withdraw the sum of 100,000 from the betting account before agents got the betting company to lock the account. Armed with this information, operatives began an investigation into the suspect whom they observed to have a mutual relationship with Christiannah Idowu, especially judging by Instagram posts as they both commented on each other’s pages. It was discovered the same account number used to launder some amount directly from Christiannah’s account has been posted on Twitter once to “beg for a giveaway free money

With all this information at hand, the operatives began to track down his cell phone activities and text messages. The cell phone tracking led them to his parent’s house, somewhere in IKORODU.

Operatives then got confirmation of his presence in the building through active tracking of his mobile device. Immediately, gallant personnel of the Nigerian Army 174bn swooped in on the suspect to conduct an arrest.

After the arrest, damning evidence was seen with the suspect and including the victim’s blue ITEL A56 with IMEI:35230. Also, in his phone are details of the money moved and also details confirming he owns the Betting account that was locked. It was registered with his phone number.

On his phone, they found an interaction between his email and the email address that has been interacting with the family of the deceased. After reviewing the evidence, the suspect was then taken into custody to enable the operatives to conduct further investigations. Upon reviewing this evidence, the suspect was successfully taken into custody for necessary action.

On September 3, the suspect reportedly confessed to the father and the soldiers that he killed the girl and buried her in their house. There is also a new story awaiting further confirmation that in 2018, the suspect’s ex-girlfriend was killed in the same manner. Also in 2020, the suspect’s biological sister met the same fate, and the same thing happened to Christiannah in 2024.

The horrifying incident has ignited widespread outrage across Nigeria, especially on social media. Many Nigerians have taken to Twitter to demand justice for Christiana, with the hashtag #JusticeForChristianah trending.