17 abducted victims released in Zamfara

By: Zagazola Makama

At least 17 abducted victims, including 14 females and three males, who were kidnapped in Katsina State earlier in the year have been released in Zamfara state.

Zagazola report that the victims were among those abducted on June 19, 2025, at Birdigau village in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State.

According to the sources , the victims regained their freedom on Oct. 3, 2025, at about 8:30 a.m.

Upon receipt of the information, police operatives visited the scene, after which the victims were conveyed to the Ahmed Sani Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, Gusau, for medical examination under tight security.

The Chairman of Gusau Local Government, Hon. Abubakar Imam, supervised their evacuation and medical assessment.

Sources added that the victims would be handed over to their relatives in Katsina State after completion of medical checks.
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Fake news factories fueling religious tension in Northern Nigeria — No faith spared

By; Zagazola Makama

A dangerous campaign of fake news and deceptive online propaganda is threatening Nigeria’s fragile peace, security, and unity.

The campaign, largely driven by faceless actors from Nigeria and foreign-based platforms, deliberately promotes false narratives portraying Nigeria’s security crisis as a religious war between Muslims and Christians.

In reality, both Muslims and Christians have suffered devastating losses from terrorism, banditry, and communal violence across the North and other parts of the country.

Over the years, extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP have attacked mosques, churches, markets, schools, and military formations killing thousands of innocent Nigerians without discrimination.
Rural bandits in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, and Niger States have also targeted farming communities, where the victims have overwhelmingly been Muslim.

In the North-Central states of Plateau, Benue, Taraba, and parts of Southern Kaduna, both Muslim and Christian communities have endured repeated cycles of reprisal killings, with no group left untouched.

Despite these facts, foreign-based organisations and online platforms continue to publish distorted reports and manipulated images, branding every incident in Northern Nigeria as an “attack on Christians.”

In several cases, images from Muslim funeral prayers were misrepresented as photographs of Christian victims, fuelling anger and suspicion among faith communities.

Some of the fake reports also cite unverified statistics, claiming that “2,000 churches are destroyed daily” or that “3,000 Christians are killed daily.” These figures are not only false but mathematically impossible designed purely to inflame emotions and attract international condemnation against Nigeria.

These claims are “a deliberate campaign of psychological warfare” aimed at dividing Nigerians along religious lines and damaging the country’s image abroad.

The motive ⁰is to destabilise the nation by creating mistrust, promoting religious extremism, and pressuring foreign governments to impose sanctions based on fabricated data.

These actors have double standards, while they amplify unverified claims about Nigeria, they have remained silent on global revelations, such as those made by the U.S. President Donald Trump, alleging that certain international agencies indirectly funded Islamist extremist groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP through aid channels.

Nigeria’s government and civil society have been urged to rise to the challenge by countering false narratives, strengthening media literacy, and ensuring that verified information dominates the digital space.

This is no longer about careless reporting, it is a war on truth, unity, and the sovereignty of the Nigerian state.

We called on Nigerians, regardless of faith or ethnicity, to unite in defense of the country’s image and resist efforts to plunge the nation into a religious crisis built entirely on misinformation.

Fake news factories fueling religious tension in Northern Nigeria — No faith spared

NEAZDP flags off mosquito fumigation in Yobe

By: Yahaya Wakili

In a bid to combat malaria in 9 local government areas of Yobe state. The North East Arid Zone Development Programme (NEAZDP) has flagged off a large-scale mosquito fumigation campaign in Gashua, the headquarters of Bade local government, aimed at curbing the increasing cases of malaria across the communities in the state.

Dr. Mulima Idi Mato, the Programme Manager of the North East Arid Zone Development Programme (NEAZDP), described the exercises as part of the program’s ongoing commitment to public health and rural development.

According to Dr. Mato, mosquitoes remain one of the leading causes of morbidity in the state, adding that fumigation, combined with proper hygiene and environmental management, will significantly reduce health risks.

He commended Governor Dr. Mai Mala Buni’s administration for its sustained support of NEAZDP’s integrated rural development program.

Speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Bade local government area, Hon. Ibrahim Baba Gana, the Vice Chairman of the council commended NEAZDP for the proactive initiative, while urging the residents to cooperate with health workers and embrace clean hygiene practices to ensure sustainable malaria prevention.

The stakeholders at the event pledged their support for the program and noted that the initiative will not only protect households from malaria but also enhance productivity by reducing the burden of sickness in the rural communities.

The fumigation campaign begins in Bade and will be extended to Bursari, Geidam, Jakusko, Nguru, Machina, Yusufari, and Yunusari local government areas, and the exercises will target mosquito breeding sites, public facilities, and residential areas to reduce the menace of malaria in the affected communities.

The fumigation campaign will be monitored across all the participating local government areas to ensure effectiveness, while the health education campaigns will run simultaneously to sensitize residents on the importance of sanitation, using mosquito nets, and environmental cleanliness.

NEAZDP flags off mosquito fumigation in Yobe