The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory Administration, on Wednesday, began a three-day warning strike over unpaid salaries, allowances, and other demands.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, the President of ARD FCTA, Dr George Ebong, said the strike followed the expiration of the three-week ultimatum issued last year.

Recall that the association issued a 21-day ultimatum to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, on December 23, 2024, to meet its demands.

Speaking on behalf of doctors in the territory, Dr Ebong condemned the neglect of hospitals and doctors’ welfare in the nation’s capital.

He stressed that doctors in Abuja had become abandoned projects and called on the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, to intervene to prevent an indefinite shutdown of hospitals.

According to him, the decision to embark on the three-day warning strike was a result of a Congress meeting held by its members on Tuesday.

“The three-day strike is being implemented across all government hospitals in Abuja, including Wuse, Asokoro, Maitama, Kubwa, Zuba, Kwali, Abaji, Nyanya, and all other hospitals in Abuja.”

“We gave the government an ultimatum to meet our demands, and after that, we met with them and held several dialogues. They pleaded for two weeks, but after that elapsed, nothing has been done. Not even the minimum thing. We expected them to pay the six months of unpaid arrears to doctors.”

“Honestly, doctors have been abandoned. Just as the roads are being constructed, the welfare of doctors should be considered by the minister,” he said.

He added that if nothing is done regarding the doctors’ demands after the three-day strike, they would conduct an appraisal.

“If nothing is done, we will go on an indefinite strike. We want the Minister of FCT to solve this problem to prevent an indefinite shutdown of hospitals in Abuja,” he stated.

He mentioned that promises made regarding the accoutrements allowance had not been fulfilled.

“This allowance, meant for the tools we use daily to serve Nigerians, has also been delayed indefinitely. Management assured us this money would be paid, but to date, nothing has been done. These broken promises make it harder for us to trust the system.”

“Imagine passing a promotion exam years ago, in our case, 2-5 years ago, taking on the responsibilities of your new role, but still being paid for your old position. This is our reality. Doctors who have earned the title of ‘consultant’ are still treated as senior registrars, with no formal recognition or financial benefits. It is a slap in the face to our hard work and commitment.”

“Since 2021, there has been an increase in our hazard allowance — an increase approved due to the high risks we face daily. From COVID-19 to Lassa fever, we work on the front lines, often at great personal risk. Yet, here in the FCT, we are still owed 13 months of arrears,” he emphasised.

The minister of communications, innovations, and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, has said the recent increase in tariffs by mobile network operators (MNOs) was a sequel to the global inflation and rising cost of operation.

Tijani said this while briefing journalists after a closed-door budget defence session on Tuesday with the National Assembly joint committee on information, communication, and technology.

According to him, telcos have struggled with high operating costs and global inflationary pressures for several years.

The minister said the government was committed to ensuring the sustainability of the telecommunication sector and the protection of Nigerians’ interests.

“The hike in price is based on inflation globally. This is a sector that has not increased prices for a long time; what the government has been doing is managing the situation. They have been crying out for a long time that they are struggling with the cost of diesel. This is not a problem that is unique to Nigerians.

“We will ensure that MNOs can continue to deliver the best quality services to the people. The NCC is doing a lot of tracking now to ensure that the quality of the services people will get is of good quality,” he noted.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is enmeshed in another internal scandal as an officer in charge of Kaduna Zonal Office’s exhibit room allegedly absconded with over $30,000 and other valuable exhibits.

Earlier in January, the country’s flagship anti-corruption agency said it had detained 10 officers in Lagos over theft of operational items they could not account for.

Although the commission did not disclose the specific items stolen by the officials, DAILY NIGERIAN findings revealed that they stole gold bars worth over N1billion as well as over $180,000 and about GBP 140,000.

In the latest scandal, DAILY NIGERIAN exclusively gathered that a member of staff of the commission, simply identified as Polycarp, vanished into a thin air when he failed to account for “over $30,000”.

Insiders who preferred anonymity told this newspaper that the zonal director, Benedict Ubi, a couple of weeks ago ordered for an audit of the directorate’s exhibit room, following the internal heist that occurred in Lagos.

According to the sources, when Mr Polycarp received the directive that the exhibit room would be audited, he took an excuse to ease himself and fled.

“Immediately after the order for the audit was given, he took an excuse to ease himself. Efforts were made to contact him but all his telephone lines were switched off.

“This is only what the preliminary audit on foreign currency shows. There are chances that more could be uncovered after a thorough audit of the exhibit room,” said a source familiar with the development.

This newspaper learnt that the commission had launched a manhunt to trace the fleeing officer’s whereabouts.

In 2019, an official of the commission was indicted for receiving $20,000 as bribe from a business man at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos state.

Despite his confession to the crime, he was reinstated by the then acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu. The matter was not made public.

In 2021, the anti-graft agency dismissed an officer after DAILY NIGERIAN published a leaked audio in which he was heard helping suspects on how their accounts could be unfrozen and charges dropped against them.

The then spokesman for EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, described the officer as “a corrupt fifth columnist with scant regard for the values of the commission,” adding that his action was contemptuous of the Standard Operating Procedure of the EFCC.

“Without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation, snippets of the audio recording clearly showed an abysmally compromised ‘officer’ dropping names to ingratiate his benefactor, a relative of a crime suspect.

“By the alleged action, the said officer is no more than a corrupt fifth columnist with scant regard for the values of the commission.”

On January 6, the commission announced the dismissal of 27 officers from its workforce for various offences bordering on fraudulent activities and misconduct.

Although the anti-graft agency made it appear recent, credible sources however said it was the total number of members of staff sacked for fraud since the establishment of EFCC in 2003.

Attempts by our correspondent to get the reaction of the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, were unsuccessful as he neither picked calls nor responded to an SMS sent to his known mobile number.

The chief executive officer of Globacom, Ahmad Farroukh, has stepped down just one month after assuming the role.

Farroukh, a seasoned telecoms executive with extensive experience across Africa and the Middle East, was appointed in December 2024.

His selection was seen as a strategic move to leverage his expertise to drive Globacom’s expansion and innovation in an increasingly competitive market.

Industry analysts suggest the resignation could be linked to internal corporate dynamics or strategic disagreements, though no official confirmation has been made.

Farroukh’s extensive career includes leadership roles at MTN and other telecom giants, where he successfully led key market initiatives.

Globacom, founded by billionaire businessman Mike Adenuga, remains a dominant player in Nigeria’s telecom sector with millions of subscribers. The company is expected to address the leadership transition in the coming weeks.

The Donald Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals, ending a decades-old policy in the United States.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary, Benjamine Huffman, announced the end of two directives in a statement, giving agents more authority over whether they can carry out enforcement and eliminating a legal pathway for migrants seeking to come to the United States.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the statement read.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement set a policy in 2011 preventing agents from making arrests in sensitive locations.

The Joe Biden administration put out similar guidance.

Immigrant advocates have shared concerns over stripping that policy, arguing that doing so would stoke fear in immigrant communities and keep children from going to school or people from seeking care at hospitals.

The second directive included the phaseout of parole programs that allowed certain migrants to temporarily live and work in the United States.

Republicans have repeatedly said the Biden administration abused the parole program by extending it to multiple nationalities.

The statement didn’t clarify which programs will be phased out, but said the program will be returned to a “case-by-case basis.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration abused the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country. This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration. This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis,” the statement says.

“Oh, dear God! I can’t imagine why they would do that,” said Carmen, an immigrant from Mexico, after hearing that the Trump administration had rescinded the policy against arrests in “sensitive locations.”

She plans to take her two grandchildren, ages 6 and 4, to their school Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area unless she hears from school officials it is not safe.

COMMANDANT of the Amotekun Corps in Osun State, Mr Adekunle Omoyele, yesterday, said the corps would not jettison the potency of ‘African science’ in tackling banditry in the state.

Fielding questions from newsmen in Osogbo, Mr Omoyele said the founders of Amotekun deliberately embraced African science as part of the method with which the corps would combat crime and criminals.

He said the corps, under his command, retained the ideology but advocated that they should be allowed to carry sophisticated weapons which bandits and armed robbers wield as well.

He urged stakeholders in the security sector to pave the way for Amotekun personnel to carry sophisticated weapons to match that being carried by criminals to ensure a balance of force.

Omoyele said: “People that established Amotekun believed that we need some forces, especially African science that can withstand similar forces that would be wielded by the enemies, when you see most of these bandits or when you can arrest or conquer them, you will see a lot of charms on them. They even recite incantations. So, we are not abandoning the use of spiritual forces, it is part of our system and we are always combat-ready, weapon-wise and spiritually.

“When I came on board we had the challenges of personnel and logistics which kept us very far behind our colleagues in Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo states. But with the approval of Governor Adeleke, we will commence recruitment of 1000 personnel while our logistics will also be ready.

“Apart from these, we are also in possession of a world-class emergency centre which when refurbished would help us to monitor crime activities across major cities in the state. We are battle-ready and would not allow criminals to have any level of freedom in our state.”

The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed five terrorism-related charges against a self-styled activist Muhammad Mahdi Shehu before a Federal High Court in Kaduna.

According to PRNigeria, the move followed Mahdi’s rearrest by security operatives last week at his clinic in Unguwar Dosa, Kaduna.

A Kaduna State High Court had granted Mahdi Shehu bail in the sum of N3 million two weeks ago, with the condition that he provides two reputable clerics as sureties.

Shehu’s initial arrest stemmed from allegations of disseminating misleading videos that went viral on social media. On January 2, 2025, a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kaduna had previously ordered his detention due to a social media post perceived as a threat to national security.

The latest case before the Federal High Court in Kaduna was filed after the DSS submitted an ex parte motion to detain Shehu for 60 days to facilitate its investigation. The motion was submitted in accordance with Section 66 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

In granting the order, Justice Rilwan Aikawa authorised the DSS to hold Mahdi for 60 days to allow for the completion of its investigative processes.

The charges against Shehu include: False Publication to Cause Public Alarm, contrary to Section 59(1) of the Criminal Code Act; Dissemination of Terrorism-Related False Information, against Section 26(2)(a) and (b) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022; Intentional Dissemination of False Information, contrary to Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention, etc.) Act, 2024 (as amended); False Allegation of Treasonable Act, in violation of Section 41 of the Criminal Code Act, and Use of Social Media to Support False Allegations of National Security Threat, contrary to Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act.

According to PRNigeria, the DSS recently apprehended Mahdi after he shared doctored videos that falsely claimed that the Nigerian government had permitted France to establish a military base in Northern Nigeria. He now faces charges that include conspiracy, aiding and abetting terrorism, and inciting public disorder.

President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, announced that Nigeria has successfully prosecuted over 100 terrorist financiers in the past two years as part of its ongoing fight against financial crimes and terrorism financing.

This effort aims to disrupt the financial networks supporting terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, ultimately safeguarding communities and fostering a secure environment for development.

The announcement was made by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. George Akume, who represented Tinubu at the National Anti-Money Laundering, Combating Terrorism Financing and Counter Proliferation Financing Compliance Summit held in Abuja.

He said: “By taking away the funds, resources and material support behind Boko Haram and ISWAP, we are denying them the ability to inflict terror on our communities and citizens.

“We have made progress to tackle the threats of terrorism and other violent crimes through the gallant action of our frontline troops and our security agencies.

“Through the efforts of the office of the national security adviser and the attorney-general of the federation, we have prosecuted and convicted over 100 terrorist financiers in the last two years.
“It is an approach that we are utilising as a fundamental component of our national strategies to combat serious criminal offences.”

Hafsat Bakari, Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, who also spoke at the summit, highlighted the importance of collaboration among various stakeholders, including political leaders, financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and international partners.

“The fight against financial crimes is not one that any single entity can win alone. It requires the collective strength and commitment of our political leaders, regulators, financial institutions, law enforcement and security agencies, and international partners,” Bakari stressed.

A 23-year-old Turkish OnlyFans model, Ezra Vandan, also known as Azranur AV, has been arrested in Istanbul for her controversial plan to sleep with 100 men in 24 hours.

Authorities deemed her actions as “obscene” and “damaging” to the country’s moral values, reports Daily Mail.

Vandan publicly announced her intentions on January 14, 2025, via social media, declaring her goal to break a Turkish and then a world record.

She shared a provocative photo of herself wearing red lingerie, captioned: “My goal is to break a Turkish record first, then a world record! I’m starting with 100 men in 24 hours.”

Her statement quickly caught the attention of the Istanbul Security Branch Directorate’s Morality Bureau. Following an investigation, Vandan was arrested at a hospital in Atasehir, where she was awaiting a cosmetic surgery procedure.

Footage of the arrest shows Vandan being escorted by two female officers with her wrists bound behind her back. She was taken into custody wearing a crop top and jeans.

Adding to the controversy, Vandan reportedly shared a half-naked image of herself, allegedly taken by a police officer during her arrest. She claimed, “I had the photo taken by one of the officers, he didn’t object much.”

Vandan was charged with obscenity, resisting an officer and slander. The Istanbul 6th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ruled that her actions were provocative and harmful to society’s moral values, justifying prison time.

Her husband, Pedram Vandan, 25, was also briefly detained but later released.

The model has defended her actions, claiming her posts do not harm anyone and that she should have the freedom to express herself. “I do not deserve to be judged,” she stated.

 

Vandan’s announcement followed recent reports of British adult performer Bonnie Blue claiming to have set a world record by engaging with over 1,000 men in 12 hours

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the 2025 economic indices indicate a positive outlook, with the nation’s GDP expected to accelerate to 4.17 percent for faster economic growth.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Muhammad Abdullahi, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, CBN, revealed this on Tuesday during the 11th edition of the National Economic Outlook: Implications for Businesses in 2025.

The hybrid event, convened in Lagos, was organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Centre for Financial Studies in collaboration with B. Adedipe Associates Ltd.

Abdullahi said the nation’s 2025 economic projections remained optimistic with fiscal and monetary reforms already paying off, resulting in the GDP anticipated rise from 3.36 percent recorded in 2024.

According to him, the growth is anchored on sustained implementation of government reforms, stable crude oil prices, and improvements in domestic oil production.

Abdullahi also stated that stability in the exchange rate would play a crucial role in maintaining the positive trajectory, with the inflation rate projected to decline due to the impact of economic reforms.

“Achieving the targeted inflation rate of 15 percent in 2025 will require effective collaboration between monetary and fiscal authorities, alongside private sector participation for a stable economic environment,” he said.

The keynote speaker said that the apex bank would prioritise price stability and strengthen the financial sector to support SMEs and critical sectors for businesses to thrive.

Abdullahi noted that the nation’s evolving policy landscape presented both challenges and opportunities for businesses to thrive.

“The government is making deliberate strides to diversify its revenue streams and reduce dependence on the volatile oil sector.

“Through ongoing tax reforms aimed at broadening the tax base and improving collection efficiency, the government is working to establish a more sustainable fiscal environment.

“While these reforms may present challenges in the short term, they are essential for building a more resilient and diversified economy in the long run.

“As businesses, it is crucial to adapt to these changes, understanding that they will ultimately strengthen the economic foundation for future growth.

“As we move forward on this path of exploration and collaboration, we must remain focused on the vast opportunities before us.

“Nigeria’s abundant resources, coupled with the current administration’s commitment to economic reform, offer a fertile ground for innovation, investment, and sustainable growth,” Abdullahi said.

Similarly, Prof. Pius Olanrewaju, President/Chairman of the Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said 2024 presented both challenges and opportunities.

He noted that the GDP signalled gradual recovery amidst global and domestic pressures.

“As we move into 2025, we are presented with both the opportunity and responsibility to critically examine the economic landscape.

“This forum will help us identify the risks, harness the opportunities, and strategise for the future,” Olarenwaju noted.

He commended the collaboration of experts at the annual event, which included Dr Kabir Katata, Director, Research, Policy and International Relations, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Dr Henrietta Onwuegbuzie of the Lagos Business School.

Others were Akinsola Akeredolu-Ale, CEO, Lagos Commodities and Fixtures Exchange; Mr Akeem Lawal, Managing Director Interswitch (Pure pay); and Chinwe Uzoho, Regional Managing Director, West and Central Africa Network International