Television Nigerian

Officially, the Abuja–Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) reopened on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, after weeks of rigorous safety checks, inspections, and employee training conducted by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

After leaving Idu Station in Abuja and making a stop at Kubwa to collect passengers, the first train made it to Rigasa Station in Kaduna. On the same day, a return trip was planned, signifying that passenger train operations on the line had fully resumed.

The NRC’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Callistus Unyimadu, issued a statement on behalf of the management confirming this.

NRC’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Dr. Kayode Opeifa, accompanied workers and passengers on the first journey.

His purpose in being there was to observe the resume ride firsthand and contribute to the restoration of public trust in the service.

When Dr. Opeifa spoke to reporters after arriving in Rigasa, he was pleased and praised God Almighty for His favor during the company’s recuperation.

He emphasized the vital role that a contemporary railway network plays in promoting national growth and unity, pointing out that the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has made significant investments in rail infrastructure throughout the nation.

The NRC chief reaffirmed his resolve to turn the Corporation around by giving priority to finishing up ongoing projects, optimizing the nation’s rail assets, restoring all serviceable rolling stock, growing services, enhancing customer satisfaction, and modernizing operations and efficiency, especially along the AKTS corridor.

He revealed that a specialized Customer Service Department has been set up to enhance service delivery and quickly handle passenger problems.

Regarding safety, Dr. Opeifa gave passengers and employees the company’s steadfast dedication to safety and well-being.

To protect all parties involved, he said, covert but efficient security measures have been implemented in addition to the obvious presence of police and military personnel in stations and along the route.

Dr. Opeifa made it clear that he is committed to making the NRC a premier, passenger-friendly service provider that can propel socioeconomic development by establishing safe, effective, and modern rail transportation networks across the country.

The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has brought President Bola Tinubu before it in relation to the contentious August 30, 2025, local government elections in Rivers State.

Attorney Clifford Nnanta Chuku is requesting that the court, in an action filed on September 11, 2025 (No. FHC/PH/CS/173/2025), declare the Emergency Powers Regulation, which Tinubu enacted to govern the elections, unconstitutional and annul the votes.

Chuku claimed that the rule compromised democracy and violated the constitution by suspending portions of the Rivers State electoral legislation and the Electoral Act 2022.

Chuku claimed the President had overreached himself by suspending certain provisions of the statute in preparation for the Rivers elections, which was illegal.

Tinubu is named as a defendant in the lawsuit together with the Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).

The court is primarily concerned with whether the regulation unlawfully curtailed the Rivers people’s democratic rights and if RSIEC’s election notice complied with the necessary legal deadlines.

Chuku wants the rule to be overturned, the August 30 elections nullified, and RSIEC forced to hold new elections in complete accordance with the Electoral Act.

The hearing has been scheduled for October 21, 2025 by the Federal High Court.

Legal experts think the case may influence the president’s future authority in election-related affairs.

Following President Bola Tinubu’s independence day remarks that compared the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to Boko Haram, three human rights and self-determination advocacy groups located in the United States have harshly denounced Tinubu.

On behalf of Rising Sun, Advocates for Victims of Injustice and Discrimination (AVID) President Dr. Sylvester Onye and Ambassadors for Self-Determination jointly released a statement on Thursday, calling the President’s remarks “reckless, prejudicial, and sub judice.”

Tinubu’s comparison of IPOB to Boko Haram, the groups said, was inappropriate, particularly as Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the group’s leader, is still on trial at the Federal High Court and IPOB’s legal appeal is still pending before the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“It is extremely regrettable that a sitting president would make such a divisive and untrue statement while legal proceedings are still in progress,” the organizations stated.

“This statement not only violates the law, but it also clearly aims to taint the fairness of the proceedings and sway the verdict.”

According to the organizations, the president ought to concentrate on tackling Nigeria’s broader security issues instead.

President Tinubu should focus his attention on deadly armed organizations that continue to uproot communities and claim lives throughout Nigeria, the statement said, rather than obsessing about IPOB, a nonviolent self-determination movement.

Furthermore, they insisted that Nnamdi Kanu’s continuing arrest would not lessen his clout with his followers.

“We urge President Tinubu to remember that intimidation would not silence Mazi Nnamdi Kanu or make him less popular. “On the contrary, each day he is held only serves to increase his prominence,” the organizations said.

In order to make sure that democratic values are maintained, the advocacy organizations encouraged the US Congress and the US Department of State to carefully examine Nigeria’s government.

Additionally, they urged the world community to denounce President Tinubu’s “reckless and prejudicial utterances” against IPOB.

Citing earlier court decisions in support of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the organization called for his unconditional release and the accountability of Nigerian leaders for what they claim is “ethnic persecution under the guise of national security.”

According to the statement, the government’s present position might backfire.

“All that President Tinubu has managed to demonstrate is that the more he cracks down on IPOB and imprisons Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the more powerful and well-liked both parties grow.

According to the groups, “the light of truth cannot be extinguished by prison walls, courtroom manipulations, or propaganda.”

Following a series of synchronized offensives across many theaters of action, Nigerian Army troops have killed numerous terrorists, captured 25 suspects, and rescued 16 hostages.

NAN was informed by a reliable source at Army Headquarters that the operations also resulted in the recovery of motorbikes, various illegal narcotics, explosives, ammunition, guns, and petroleum products.

He claimed the military in the northeast delivered severe blows to ISWAP/JAS members in the Madagali LGA of Adamawa and the Kolori and Karumi towns in the Konduga Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno.

The source claims that a major logistics provider was stopped in Mafa LGA with 23 gasoline cans hidden in a bag.

While a suspected terrorist in Garkida admitted to his role in earlier attacks in Damboa, soldiers in Mubi North stopped the smuggling of fertilizer and gasoline.

He stated that 150 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, four magazines, and one M70AB2 rifle were among the recovered materials.

According to the military source in the North West, the soldiers of 1 Brigade stopped many terrorist attacks in the Zamfara LGAs of Maradun, Tsafe, and Anka.

“Several motorcycles were seized and six kidnapped victims were rescued,” he added.

He claims that after careful intelligence, a well-known kidnap kingpin was apprehended in Mayir Village in Sanga LGA of Kaduna State.

A violent extremist was neutralized by Operation Whirl Stroke troops in Katsina-Ala LGA of Benue in the North Central, according to the source, while ten passengers who had been kidnapped were rescued along the Kyado–Wukari route.

Soldiers in Kwara rescued three kidnapped people in Eruku town and retrieved a motorcycle, he added.

He said that two suspects, including the consignee, were taken into custody by the troops when they stopped a car carrying drugs in Nasarawa State.

He stated that in the South East, the troops apprehended two cultists at Mgbidi in Imo and found a motorcycle, phones, and a weapon.

In Orumba North LGA of Anambra, he said, soldiers stopped IPOB/ESN activities. After setting off three improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the criminals fled.

According to the source, security officers in the South South seized 27 cartridges and two locally manufactured double-barrelled guns.

Troops detained 19 drug dealers in Delta and Bayelsa states in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, or NDLEA. They also seized cannabis, tramadol, pentazocine, diazepam, and Canadian loud.

Over 1,200 liters of crude oil and illegally processed Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) were also recovered by military in Rivers and Bayelsa, and four suspected kidnappers were taken into custody in Oshimili North LGA of Delta.

Troops found one M70AB2 rifle, four magazines, 150 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, two double-barrelled weapons, 27 cartridges, one pistol, multiple motorcycles, sizable loads of fertilizer and gasoline, IEDs, cell phones, and other illegal substances during the operations, he claimed.

The Nigerian Army’s determination to maintain pressure on terrorists, kidnappers, and criminal organizations across the country was reaffirmed by the source.

A transparent, stable, and investor-friendly petroleum industry is what Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to.

The commitment was made by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), who spoke as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s keynote speaker at the Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa.

Nigeria is, he claimed, “open for business” and aggressively pursuing policies that give priority to long-term growth, efficiency, and investment in the oil industry.

This meeting is more than simply a conference, he said, adding that it is a call to action. He emphasized that Nigeria is prepared to lead African reform and development in addition to taking part in the global energy market.

In a statement, Senator Lokpobiri—signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Nneamaka Okafor—described the ambitious policy initiatives put in place during President Tinubu’s administration, especially the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which offers investors a transparent and predictable fiscal and regulatory environment.

The PIA has established a fair contractual framework, enhanced regulatory supervision, host community interaction, and license transparency, he said.

“The structural, financial, regulatory, and legal changes we are implementing are what set Nigeria apart today,” the Minister stated.

The upstream industry in Nigeria is exhibiting signs of a robust revival. Launched in October 2024, the “Project One Million Barrels” effort has increased daily crude oil output to 1.7 to 1.83 million barrels per day, with a remarkable 300,00 barrels per day rise in July 2025 alone. In addition, there are already 50 operating drilling rigs by July 2025, up from 31 in January, which is a definite indication that changes are generating value in the industry.

In particular, the Minister said that the recent asset sales by International Oil Companies (IOCs) had opened up more than $5.5 billion in FIDs in a matter of months.

“These are transfers of confidence, capability, and ownership instead of just assets,” he said. As a result of the divestitures, the country’s production has already increased by almost 200,000 barrels per day.

Senator Lokpobiri emphasized the importance of infrastructure, industrial development, and localized value chains in order to help Africa retain more value from its petroleum resources.

He referred to Africa’s annual expenditure of more than $120 billion on hydrocarbons—mostly from imports—as a lost chance for economic change.

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Given that Africa possesses around $4 trillion in domestic wealth, including pension and insurance funds, he argued for increased intra-African cooperation and funding. He stated, “The question is not whether there are funds available, but rather how we can direct them into profitable investments on our continent.”

Regarding the global energy discussion, the Minister advocated for equity and balance.

He emphasized that the story should change to focus on a varied energy mix rather than the depletion of any resource. He emphasized that “the availability, affordability, and accessibility of all forms of energy should be the focus.”

While developing a diverse and sustainable energy basis, he made it clear that Nigeria, like other countries, will continue to use its oil resources wisely.

Nigeria is a major energy player in Africa, according to Senator Lokpobiri.

According to him, “We are providing opportunities at scale, reform with consistency, incentives with clarity, local participation with respect, and a modernizing vision with purpose.”

He made a direct call to international investors: “Come to Nigeria. Participate in the revolution of energy.

Nigeria’s open-door policy, aggressive reforms, and lofty goals are setting the continent’s energy destiny on a daring course.

Chief Engineer is the Chairman of the Local Government Traditional Council and the supreme ruler of Kwande. Since the Nigerian Army killed mourners in Jato-Aka, Timothy Ahile (Ter Kwande) has called for the army to leave Kwande Local Government Area immediately.

A day after attending the funeral of the late Ortar Zaki Hanave Laha, the monarch, clearly shaken, traveled to Turan to see Jato-Aka on October 1.

Reports of multiple students and other mourners being shot dead on their way back from the deceased’s home in Nzaav coincided with his visit.

Speaking during the visit, Ter Kwande and Kwande LGA Vice Chairman Hon. The chairman of the council was represented by Mrs. Rita Sundah Iortsor, and Comr. The deaths were harshly denounced by the Kwande United People Organization’s (KWUPO) National President, Aloko Nachi.

He condemned what he called the military’ “brutal and unprofessional behavior” in the region.

Asserting that police should take the place of the military, the king said, “I have reported this ugly development to both Tor Tiv and Tor Kwande.”

“We need the Nigerian Army to leave, as they have betrayed us over the years.”

From his perspective, Comr. Nachi promised that in order to bring the victims justice, KWUPO would take legal action against the Army and the offending soldiers.

“The association will support the wounded who are receiving treatment in hospitals,” he continued. In reaction to the incident, Governor Hyacinth Alia had pledged to travel to Turan, Nachi also disclosed.

Hon. While authorities seek remedy, residents should maintain their composure, Mrs. Iortsor said in an emotional speech. She called what the soldiers were doing “brutal and unjust,” and she promised that the troops in Jato-Aka would be pulled out.

The leaders also urged the populace to keep the peace and order while they awaited the results of the legal and security procedures.