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Over 3.7 million battling food crisis in northeast Nigeria – ICRC

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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has raised concerns about a deepening food crisis in Nigeria’s northeast, revealing that more than 3.7 million people across the conflict-affected region are currently grappling with food scarcity.

Aliyu Dawobe, who serves as the ICRC’s spokesperson, disclosed this development in a press statement shared on Monday in Abuja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He explained that a significant number of those facing hunger were once self-reliant farmers who lost access to their lands due to the protracted violence in the region.

The statement detailed how the ongoing conflict has displaced thousands of families, hindered access to arable land, and disrupted traditional food supply networks, leaving communities extremely vulnerable.

As the annual lean season takes hold, households are coming under growing pressure, said Diana Japaridze, Head of ICRC’s Maiduguri sub-delegation.

“This is the period when families must begin buying food, but many conflict-affected households simply can’t afford it.

They’re forced to drastically limit their intake,” she said.

She warned that the lack of food is driving a spike in malnutrition, especially among children under five, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.

“In response, the ICRC is supporting malnutrition stabilisation centres and offering community education programmes to help families care for vulnerable children.”

To combat the structural roots of food insecurity, the ICRC has introduced an agricultural support project designed to strengthen resilience and boost local food production. The program spans both rainy and dry seasons.

“The initiative supports both rainy and dry season farming and targets thousands of farming households.

This year alone, more than 21,000 farming households have received seeds adapted to local conditions, along with planting tools to ease labour and improve efficiency,” Japaridze added.

As part of the aid, farmers received varieties of staple and vegetable seeds including rice, maize, tomato, and okra — aimed at enhancing food variety and nutritional quality in meals.

Additionally, training in sustainable agriculture is being provided to ensure that farmers continue to thrive independently even after ICRC’s direct intervention ends.

“At a systemic level, and in collaboration with the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), we recently repaired a vital water source to ensure continuous access for the council’s seed testing and greenhouse facilities,” Japaridze said.

Despite these interventions, she acknowledged that the lean season still poses a significant hardship for many farming families who are unable to meet their food needs.

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Mohbad’s father demands prosecution of daughter in law, auxiliary nurse, others

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Joseph Aloba, father of the late Nigerian singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has urged the Lagos State Government to prosecute his son’s widow, Omowunmi Aloba, alongside others indicted by the Coroner’s Inquest into the artist’s death.

The demand was contained in a petition addressed to the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, and signed by Aloba’s legal counsel, Wahab Shittu SAN.

In the letter, Aloba specifically called for the prosecution of Feyisayo Ogedengbe, the auxiliary nurse who administered an injection to the singer shortly before his death in September 2023.

He also requested that other individuals present in Mohbad’s apartment at the time, particularly those who invited the nurse or failed to seek immediate medical help, to be brought to justice.

The petition referenced the Coroner’s verdict delivered in July 2025 by Magistrate Taofikat Shotobi, who found the nurse’s actions both “unlawful and professionally negligent”, citing her administration of injection without a doctor’s prescription.

Magistrate Shotobi further faulted Mohbad’s wife for opting to treat her husband at home rather than taking him to a medical facility.

Despite these findings, Aloba’s lawyer, Shittu expressed concern that more than two months after the Coroner’s report, the Lagos State Government has yet to initiate criminal proceedings against the indicted parties.

“Our client, as a bereaved father who seeks justice, is deeply troubled by the fact that, despite the clear indictments contained in the Coroner’s verdict, no prosecutorial steps have been taken since July 11, 2025,” the letter read in part.

The lawyer urged the Attorney-General to commence prosecution within 14 days, given the high sensitivity as well as the public interest surrounding the case.

Shittu further requested that if the state declines to act, the Attorney-General should grant his legal team a formal authorization to prosecute the matter on behalf of the state under the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State.

 

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Alleged killing of Christians: Onanuga warns Senator Cruz as US lawmakers move to sanction Nigerian politicians

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Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, has issued a stern warning to Senator Ted Cruz representing the State of Texas in the United States Senate.

Onanuga warned the lawmaker against propagating malicious lies against Nigeria on the issue of Christians being targeted in the country.

The presidential aide was reacting to Senator Cruz’s post on X where he accused officials in Nigeria of ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.

The lawmaker said that his “Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools,” he wrote on X.

The lawmaker added, “It’s time to hold those responsible accountable.”

In a response, Onanuga wrote, “Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in my country.

“The degraded Boko Haram terrorists operating on the fringes of Nigeria’s North east target everyone. They attack farmers, our soldiers. The bandits in the North west kill worshippers in their mosques.

“Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these malicious lies.”

 

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Police yet to receive court order on tinted-glass permits – FPRO

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The Nigeria Police Force has said it is yet to be served with the order of the Federal High Court stopping the enforcement of tinted-glass permits.

Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this on Saturday while reacting to reports that the court had restrained the police from arresting or prosecuting motorists over tinted glasses.

PUNCH Online reports that a Federal High Court had on Friday granted an order in Suit No. FHC/WR/CS/103/2025: John Aikpokpo-Martins v. Inspector-General of Police & Nigeria Police Force, directing the police to suspend enforcement of the permits pending the determination of the substantive case. https://punchng.com/court-suspends-police-tinted-glass-permit-enforcement/

The order asked the police to maintain the status quo, halting any action against motorists until the matter is concluded.

But Hundeyin, on X, said the police had not been formally served.

“While we have not been officially served the court order you’re making reference to, let me, in the meantime, show point number eight (of the same order) since you left that part out and focused only on point number six. Nigerians deserve a complete picture, not a skewed one,” he wrote.

The clarification followed claims by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who had circulated a portion of the ruling restraining the police from enforcing the regulation.

The police had in April 2023 announced the resumption of the permit scheme under the Police Specialised Services Automation Project after suspending it in 2022.

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