The Defence Headquarters on Monday said Nigerian troops, in collaboration with the United States Africa Command, killed more than 20 Islamic State West Africa Province fighters during fresh coordinated air strikes in the North-East.

The DHQ said the operation was carried out in the general area of Metele following intelligence reports on the convergence and movement of terrorist elements within the region.

In a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba, the military said the strikes formed part of sustained operations aimed at dismantling terrorist networks and denying insurgents safe haven in the country.

“The Defence Headquarters, in close coordination with United States Africa Command, wish to update the general public on the continuation of coordinated operations against ISIS militants across the North East Nigeria, with additional air strike operations successfully executed in the general area of Metele.

“Following observed convergence and migration of terrorist elements, multiple air strikes were conducted resulting in the elimination of more than 20 ISIS/ISWAP fighters,” the statement partly read.

The military said the ongoing operations were designed to disrupt terrorist activities, remove fighters from the battlefield and prevent insurgents from regrouping.

“The Armed Forces of Nigeria will continue to aggressively defend the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the nation,” the statement added.

Uba stressed that terrorists threatening citizens and national stability would be located and defeated, saying that there would be no safe haven for all terrorists anywhere in Nigeria.

“Terrorists who threaten our citizens, communities and national stability will be located and defeated. There will be no safe haven for all terrorists anywhere in Nigeria,” he said.

This is coming after the announcements by United States President Donald Trump and President Bola Tinubu confirming the killing of ISIS kingpin, Al-Minuki during a joint counterterrorism operation conducted by Nigerian and US forces.

Trump described the slain militant as the most active terrorist in the world and claimed he was the second in command of ISIS globally,” adding that the terrorist leader believed he could evade capture in Africa.

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A pedestrian has lost his life after being knocked down by a Toyota Coaster bus at Imowo, along the Imowo-Ibadan Road inward Ijebu Ode in Ogun State.

PUNCH Metro gathered on Monday from the spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, that the fatal accident occurred at about 4:45 pm on Sunday and caused serious traffic congestion along the route due to the obstruction caused by the bus.

He noted that TRACE operatives and police officers from the Obalende Division were immediately deployed to the scene to manage traffic and rescue operations.

According to him, the accident happened when the pedestrian allegedly failed to check the other side of the road before attempting to cross.

The agency noted that there was a diversion to a single lane outward Ijebu Ode due to ongoing road rehabilitation works along the axis.

The statement read, “According to eyewitness account, the pedestrian forgot to check the other side of the road before crossing the road. There is diversion to one lane due to ongoing road rehabilitation on the axis.”

Akinbiyi added that no other injuries were recorded in the incident aside from the death of the male pedestrian.

He further disclosed that its operatives controlled vehicular movement around the scene to ease traffic congestion and prevent secondary accidents.

“TRACE operatives assisted in carrying the presumed dead into the OGSAS ambulance, while the body was subsequently conveyed to the General Hospital mortuary, Ijebu Ode,” the statement added.

The TRACE Head of Media stressed further that the accidented Toyota Coaster bus was later evacuated from the road and moved to the Police Area Command, Igbeba, for further investigation.

The agency confirmed that normal vehicular movement had been restored after the evacuation exercise.

PUNCH Metro reported earlier that an auto crash along the Third Mainland Bridge left a policeman riding on a motorcycle, dead after being hit by a Lexus car.

The driver of the car was said to have surrendered himself to the police following the incident.

The Federal Government, through its Bureau of Public Procurement, on Sunday barred government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies from processing upward revisions of contract sums without first obtaining a Bureau certificate.

This was as it issued other sweeping guidelines that centralised the review of all contract variations and scope modifications under its authority. According to a statement signed by its Head of Press and Public Relations, Zira Nagga, the Bureau said the reform is designed to close one of the most persistent channels for cost inflation and corruption in Nigeria’s public procurement system.

The guidelines, issued pursuant to Sections 5(a) and (o) of the Public Procurement Act 2007, give effect to a Federal Executive Council-approved policy conveyed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in December 2025.

The statement is titled ‘Contract Variations: BPP Releases Guidelines.’

The new guidelines replace an earlier 2013 framework that required Presidential approval only for variations above 15 per cent of the initial contract sum or N1bn.

Under the new framework, every request for a variation order, fluctuation claim, or scope modification, regardless of size, must first be submitted to the BPP for review and certification before proceeding to the relevant approving authority.

Nagga noted that a BPP Certificate of No Objection, valid for six months, is now a mandatory precondition for any further action. Variations processed without it will attract sanctions under the Public Procurement Act 2007, including suspension of responsible officers and debarment of contractors, the statement said.

It also quoted the Bureau’s Director-General, Adebowale Adedokun, as saying, “Variations must not become a backdoor for cost inflation and scope creep.

“These guidelines ensure that every adjustment to a public contract is necessary, justified, and delivers value to Nigerians. The BPP will apply these rules rigorously and fairly across all MDAs.”

Accordingly, the guidelines draw a firm line between permissible and impermissible grounds for variation. Acceptable grounds include unforeseen site conditions, material errors in design or bills of quantities, statutory changes after contract execution, significant price escalation due to macroeconomic shocks or force majeure, and value engineering improvements that reduce cost without altering scope.

Variations arising from inadequate planning, avoidable design flaws, or the addition of new components not contemplated in the original contract scope will be rejected outright, Nagga noted.

Such additions, the guidelines stated, must be procured as entirely separate contracts, a provision aimed at blocking the practice of using variations to effectively award new projects under the cover of an existing contract.

On fluctuation claims, adjustments for changes in the cost of labour, materials, and exchange rates, the guidelines introduced new deterrents against deliberate project delays.

It stated that, going forward, contractors found to have intentionally slowed down execution in order to generate larger fluctuation claims will be denied those claims and may be debarred if the claims are found to be bogus or overstated.

The revised approving authority thresholds are now tied to the augmentation sum, the amount of the increase, rather than the total revised contract cost. Works variations of N10bn and above will require Federal Executive Council approval.

It stated, “Those between N5bn and N10bn go to the Ministerial Tenders Board; those between N75m and N5bn to the Parastatal Tenders Board; and anything below N75m for works, or N50m for goods and services, can be approved at the Accounting Officer level.”

Similar thresholds apply to goods and services procurement. To address the upstream cause of many avoidable variations, the guidelines mandated the use of approved final designs for all procurements from the outset.

It also stated that the use of preliminary or flawed designs that subsequently generate unnecessary variations will attract regulatory sanctions, a provision targeting the entrenched practice of commencing projects with incomplete engineering designs.

On transparency, the BPP said all MDAs are required to publish details of every approved variation, including the contractor’s name, original contract sum, augmentation amount, revised contract sum, and grounds for the increase, on their websites and the BPP portal within 30 days of Tenders Board approval.

The BPP said it will also periodically submit council notes to the Federal Executive Council on reviewed and approved variations across government. The guidelines take immediate effect and apply to all ongoing projects regardless of when the original contract was awarded.

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