Author: Press Room

A fire outbreak in the early hours of Wednesday gutted several shops in a storey building beside the Ikotun Roundabout area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro learnt that the shops comprise electronics worth millions of naira. The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, however, confirmed the incident in a statement by its Controller General, Margret Adeseye, on Thursday. She stated that the agency received the distress call at about 12:22 a.m., while firefighters arrived at the scene at about 12:32 a.m. The statement partly read, “It is a fire involving a storey building shopping complex consisting of 24 shops of…

From the historic enactment of a range of comprehensive tax laws that have now become controversial and enmeshed in a credibility crisis, to Aliko Dangote’s emergence as the face of Nigeria’s energy security and industrialisation via his yeoman’s revolution of the oil sector, Nigeria in 2025 witnessed a potpourri of paradigm shifts. But besides these shifts, the unending flow of tears and blood in the land, and ransom payment by relatives of victims of kidnappings, banditry, insurgency and sundry violent crimes made the year something akin to annus horribilis. Yet, as the precursor to an election year, Year 2026 would…

Senate President Godswill Akpabio In a dramatic New Year gesture, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has withdrawn all defamation lawsuits he had filed against several individuals, including Natasha Akpoti, signalling a move toward forgiveness and reconciliation as 2026 begins. The announcement came yesterday at Sacred Heart Parish, Uyo, where Akpabio attended the New Year Mass. The Senate President revealed that he had initiated nearly nine lawsuits over alleged slander and defamation, but a sermon by the Parish Priest, Very Rev Father Donatus Udoette, prompted him to reconsider. “I had almost nine cases in court against some individuals who defamed me, who lied against me,…

Agency  The National Emergency Management Agency has urged flood-affected communities to adopt improved environmental practices and disaster risk reduction, describing it as a new national response paradigm. NEMA Director-General, Zubaida Umar, made the call on Wednesday while distributing relief materials to victims in Ogoja and Yala Local Government Areas, Cross River. Represented by Victor Akpakpan, Head of Relief and Rehabilitation at the Uyo Operations Office, Umar said prevention and preparedness must guide community responses to recurring climate-related disasters. She said, “Responsible waste disposal, drainage maintenance and early warnings will reduce losses and save lives when floods strike our communities.” Umar…

Residents of Gashua, the headquarters of Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State, have continued to express concern over the persistent deaths linked to Chronic Kidney Disease, a situation that has devastated families and raised serious public health questions across the community. The residents lamented that the disease, which has plagued Gashua and surrounding communities for decades, continues to claim lives despite repeated appeals to authorities for intervention. As a result, many have described CKD as a “silent killer” that often goes undetected until it reaches an advanced stage. Speaking with Arewa PUNCH, Hamza Muhammad Tasi’u, a resident of Gashua,…

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has approved the appointment of five special advisers, including two former commissioners who served under his administration. This comes barely 72 hours after the governor carried out a minor cabinet reshuffle with the redeployment of the Commissioner for Sports, Barr. Christopher Green, to the Ministry of Justice as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. The latest appointments were contained in a Government Special Announcement released in Port Harcourt on Thursday by the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr Honour Sirawoo. Among the new special advisers are Prof.…

The Commissioner of Police, Ports Authority Police, Western Command, Mrs Toyin Agbaminoja, has charged Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) and Heads of Departments (HODs) to remain vigilant and proactive in sustaining a high level of alertness across all port formations.   She said the directive was aimed at preventing criminal activities, protecting critical national assets and ensuring the safety of port users, personnel and the general public.   Agbaminoja gave the charge during the command’s final management conference of the year, convened to review operational activities, strengthen leadership coordination and prepare the command for effective policing as the year draws to a close. …

A fresh wave of whale activity is breathing life into the Solana ecosystem, and it could mark the beginning of a major turnaround.Backing a bullish Solana price prediction, a group of deep-pocketed wallets has quietly accumulated over $15.9 million worth of Solana-based DeFi tokens, even as prices continue to slide. Whales/institutions have been accumulating #Solana #DeFi tokens recently.Over the past 2 days, three wallets withdrew $15.9M worth of #DeFi tokens from exchanges, including:7.39B $PUMP($13.77M)8.02M $CLOUD($621K)9.06M $KMNO($539K)1.33M $JTO($521K)3.05M $DRIFT($479K)… pic.twitter.com/aOCl6CBkiw— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 31, 2025 According to Lookonchain, three wallets have been buying into five Solana ecosystem tokens: $PUMP, $CLOUD, $KMNO,…

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Federal Government to recommit itself to the protection of lives and property, insisting that 2026 must mark a decisive shift towards people-centred governance. In a New Year’s message to Nigerians, the party stated that the country was entering 2026 amid deep-seated challenges that continue to threaten livelihoods, security, and democratic stability, noting that insecurity, economic hardship, and uncertainty have become the lived reality for millions of citizens. The opposition party urged the government to act without delay, warning that the New Year must not become “another chapter of broken promises”, but a…

TThe minority caucus of the House of Representatives, on Thursday, called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently address worsening insecurity, corruption and rising inflation, warning that the hardships faced by Nigerians in recent years demand more decisive government action. The caucus made the call in a New Year message issued on Thursday and signed by the Minority Leader, Mr Kingsley Chinda, alongside three other principal officers. The lawmakers lamented the socio-economic pressures Nigerians faced in 2025 and challenged the Federal Government to intensify its efforts in 2026 to alleviate the suffering. Nigeria, they noted, continued to grapple with widespread insecurity…