Author: News Room

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has added 177 new members to the Deep Blue Maritime Security Unit as the country intensifies efforts to dominate West African shipping, writes FELIX OLOYEDE It felt like a scene from an American movie when fresh graduates of the Deep Blue Maritime Security Unit demonstrated a rescue mission involving a pirate attack vessel at Navy Town, Ojo, Lagos, on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. Visitors at the ceremony were in awe as three boats from the Deep Blue Maritime Security Unit surrounded the attacked ship. A helicopter even dropped special squad members onto the…

One hundred and fifty physical and health education teachers, alongside games masters from public primary schools across Lagos State, are participating in a two-day capacity-building programme organised by the Nigeria School Sport Federation and the Nigeria Olympic Committee, with support from Olympic Solidarity and in partnership with the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board. The programme, which commenced on Wednesday at the LASUBEB Multipurpose Hall in Maryland, is designed to introduce participants to the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Values Education Programme. Sessions are being facilitated by IOC-certified trainers led by Professor Clement Fasan, with Lagos serving as the fifth stop…

You can save on a big set of outdoor security cameras ahead of Prime Day. Amazon has a five-pack of Blink cameras with a video doorbell included that’s marked down to $166.99. The bundle includes a Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+, five Blink Outdoor 2K+ cameras, and a Blink Sync Module Core. The doorbell is typically $70, and each camera generally retails between $80 and $100, so you’re saving at least $200 by grabbing them all in the set.The video doorbell captures video in 1920 x 1920 with a 140- degree field of view, and can last for months on three…

The 2026 FIFA World Cup could mark a breakout moment for prediction markets, with Coinbase emerging as one of the biggest winners, according to a new research report from Bernstein.Published Thursday, the Bernstein analysts estimate the expanded tournament will generate more than $3 billion in incremental sports betting handle and $5 billion to $10 billion in additional consumer prediction market volume, as 104 matches transform what is typically the slowest period for online sports betting.FIFA expects the month-long tournament to attract roughly 6 billion viewers worldwide, up from an estimated 5 billion during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Matches…

Buzz Lightyear and Woody might be fictional best friends, but the real-life bond between Toy Story actors Tim Allen and Tom Hanks stretches to infinity and beyond. “We completely, whether surface or subsurface, completely connected as two individuals,” Allen, 72, exclusively tells Us Weekly in his cover story of the costars’ connection. “Almost like we’re related.” Allen — who has voiced toy spaceman Buzz alongside Hanks’ cowboy Woody since 1995’s Toy Story — reveals that their relationship, like the toys they play, has evolved over the years. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. Monica Schipper/Getty Images for CinemaCon The Home Improvement…

A bill seeking to establish state police passed the second reading in the Senate on Wednesday. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the passage of the bill during Wednesday’s plenary after a majority of senators supported it through a voice vote. After the passage, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, for further legislative scrutiny, including the conduct of public hearings to gauge public opinion on the proposed state police system. The bill, sponsored by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, seeks to devolve policing powers to subnational governments…

Nigeria has unveiled a new National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (NSP) 2026–2030, outlining a transition from donor-supported interventions to a domestically financed and government-led response to HIV/AIDS. The plan, presented on Thursday in Abuja, comes amid declining external funding and growing calls for Nigeria to assume greater ownership of its health system, particularly in sustaining long-term HIV interventions. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Temitope Ilori, said Nigeria’s HIV response had reached a critical point that requires a strategic reset in line with emerging realities. Ms Ilori said…

Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has written to Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, expressing his readiness to deploy personnel of his private security outfit to public schools across the state amid growing concerns over insecurity. The move comes 24 days after the abduction of pupils and teachers during coordinated attacks on schools in Oriire Local Government Area of the state. In a letter dated June 9, 2026, and obtained by The PUNCH in Ibadan on Thursday, Igboho, through his security outfit, Iru Ekun Private Security Limited, requested details of public schools and their locations across…

The Katsina State Police Command says it arrested 225 suspects linked to various crimes, including kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling and arms trafficking, in May 2026. The Command’s spokesperson, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, disclosed this on Thursday while presenting the command’s operational scorecard for the month. According to him, the command, under the leadership of Commissioner of Police Ali Umar Fage, intensified intelligence-led operations, joint patrols and inter-agency collaboration to combat criminal activities across the state. “Our approach remains proactive, and the results reflect measurable progress in restoring public safety across the state,” Sadiq said. He revealed that among those arrested were…

The Federal Government on Wednesday intensified efforts to transform Nigeria from a major exporter of raw shea nuts into a leading producer of high-value shea products, unveiling plans alongside industry stakeholders to deepen local processing and secure a larger share of the global market. Despite accounting for more than 40 per cent of global shea nut production, Nigeria currently captures less than six per cent of the global shea butter market, a disparity the Nigeria Commodity Exchange says reflects years of exporting raw commodities with little value addition. Data presented at the NCX Shea Programme Stakeholders’ Forum in Abuja showed…