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Majority Leader of Youth Parliament Calls for Outlawing Under-18 Marriage

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Majority Leader of Youth Parliament Calls for Outlawing Under-18 Marriage

By: Michael Mike

The Majority Leader of the Nigerian Youth Parliament, Hon. Ridwan Barade has called for the outlaw and criminalization of marriage of male or female under the age of 18.

Speaking at a National Roundtable Dialogue with High-Level Policy Makers in commemoration of of the Day of the African Child 2025 organised by the African Youth and Adolescent Network on Population and Development (AfriYAN) Nigeria and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Abuja, Barade said: “A child who is not yet done with education, who doesn’t even have the intellect of herself, is already in a house giving birth to children, which is very wrong, and if we don’t change that narrative, then we won’t be able to move forward as a country.”

He added that: “The normal age for an adult is 18, so I believe if we can have a rule that you can’t marry before 18, then I believe we’re going to have what we’re looking for,” stressing that “the government should make a rule that no parent should give their child out before 18.”

He noted that if we can be able to penalise people that are doing such things, then we’re going to be great country.

He revealed his readiness to work with other members of the Nigerian and other stakeholders to prepare the legal framework for outlawing marriage of minors, people below 18 years.

On her part, the Nigeria National Coordinator of AfriYAN, Adek Bassey has called for the involvement of more youth in governance. She said: “We should be on the roundtable where decisions are taken.”

She also advocated for transparency of programme initiated for youth by government, noting that as at now there are dearth of programmes for youth in the country.

She added that governments in the country should embark on programmes centered around youth and release funds to build youth in the country.

Bassey while commending UN and its agencies for funding programmes meant to advance the course of youth in Nigeria, said the youth will be happy when the major funds for them are from Nigerian government.

She said: “So that when we see a call from our own pool of funds from the government, all of us will be excited that this funding, we are funded by the Nigerian government. No, we are always funded by UNFPA, we are always funded by UN Women’s Agency. We want to be funded by our own Nigerian pool fund for young people, you know, let it be that accessible.

“Put your criteria for us to meet, which we are definitely going to meet and we have track records of our work. So that is what we want to see. Every year, annual call from the government, youth apply for this fund and get to do programmes and you have a tracking system to see that this funding is actually being used for this issue.”

Majority Leader of Youth Parliament Calls for Outlawing Under-18 Marriage

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National News

CCDI, Swiss Embassy Commission Refurbished Toilets and Libraries in Abuja Schools

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CCDI, Swiss Embassy Commission Refurbished Toilets and Libraries in Abuja Schools

By: Michael Mike

In a significant step towards improving hygiene and learning conditions in public schools, Create That Change Development Initiative (CCDI), in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland, has commissioned newly refurbished facilities at two schools in Gwagwalada, Abuja.

The projects, unveiled at LEA Pilot Science Primary School and LEA Phase III Primary School, include a reconstructed 12-stall toilet block and two fully refurbished libraries.

They mark the first phase of CCDI’s Public-School Revival Initiative (PSRI), an intervention designed to restore dignity, enhance sanitation, and provide inclusive learning spaces for Nigerian children.

Speaking at the commissioning, the Executive Director of CCDI, Mrs. Sharon Ayeni, described access to clean toilets as a fundamental right rather than a privilege.

“Access to clean toilets is a basic right, not a luxury. We are grateful to our partners at the Swiss Embassy for supporting this project. Together, we are uplifting schools that need it most and investing in the brighter futures of children,” Ayeni said.

She explained that the project was inspired by CCDI’s earlier outreach programme, Start Smart September, where pupils at the schools identified toilet and library facilities as their most urgent needs.

According to her, one of the schools’ toilet blocks had been abandoned for nearly two decades, earning the nickname “haunted house” among pupils.

The Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland, Mr. Sayer Rouhani, who represented the Swiss Embassy, joined CCDI to officially commission the facilities.

For the Headteacher of LEA Primary School Phase III, Mr. Abdel Liza Njibri, the intervention was nothing short of a rescue.

“For more than 10 years, this school did not have a functional toilet. It is God that sent CCDI and the Swiss Embassy to us. They gave us a 12-stall toilet, refurbished our library, connected water, and even sponsored some of our less privileged pupils by paying their school fees and providing books and bags. We are sincerely grateful,” he said.

Also reflecting on the project, Ms. Oluwamu Mirayo Ame, a CCDI volunteer who was once a pupil of the school, said the initiative was deeply personal.

“Over 20 years ago, when I was in this school, the toilet was an eyesore that we all believed was haunted. Returning here and seeing it transformed into a clean, safe facility is a dream come true. Now children, especially girls, will not have to leave school during the day to relieve themselves,” she said.

The initiative aligns with Nigeria’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) agenda, which seeks to improve child health, learning outcomes, and dignity in underserved communities.

It also builds on CCDI’s earlier efforts in July 2025, when the organisation delivered two eight-stall toilet facilities to LEA Primary School, Kabusa, and LEA Nomadic Primary School, Apo Dutse.

Create That Change Development Initiative (CCDI) is a Nigerian registered non-governmental organisation committed to transforming the lives of children through interventions in education, health, and community development.

CCDI, Swiss Embassy Commission Refurbished Toilets and Libraries in Abuja Schools

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Drug kingpin, 5 others in NDLEA custody for smuggling drugs into bags of 3 Nigerians facing charges in Saudi Arabia

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Drug kingpin, 5 others in NDLEA custody for smuggling drugs into bags of 3 Nigerians facing charges in Saudi Arabia

By: Michael Mike

A 55-year-old drug kingpin Mohammed Abubakar, alias Bello Karama and five members of a syndicate operating at Kano international airport have been taken into custody by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) following the discovery that they are behind the shipment of illicit substances for which three innocent Nigerians who went on lesser hajj pilgrimage to the holy land were being detained in Jeddah for alleged drug trafficking.

This was disclosed at a press conference addressed by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi along with the Director of Assets and Financial Investigation, Dr. Abdul Ibrahim and Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Theresa Asuquo, in Abuja on Monday.

The NDLEA while explaining how the syndicate implicated three unsuspecting pilgrims in drug trafficking allegations in Saudi, said following receipt of complaints by its Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) from three Nigerian families over the detention of their family members in Saudi Arabia after the completion of their lesser hajj pilgrimage on an allegation of trafficking in illicit substances into Saudi Arabia, an investigation was launched to unravel what happened.

The agency said the three Nigerians detained in Saudi Arabia: Mrs. Maryam Abdullahi; Mrs. Abdullahi Aminu; and Mr. Abdulhamid Saddiq boarded an Ethiopian Airline flight ET940 which departed Kano on 6th August 2025 to Jeddah enroute Addis-Ababa were unfortunate to be tagged with six additional bags not belonging to them, three of which were found to contain illicit drugs.

The agency said: “Mrs. Maryam Hussain Abdullahi while embarking on this flight, only checked in one luggage weighing 9 kilograms on the 6th day of August, 2025 which incidentally did not arrive with her to her destination. Her husband was only informed of the arrival of their luggage on 16th August, a day before the date of their departure from Jeddah which was to be on the 17th day of August, 2025. Following this allegation, she was detained in Jeddah and is still in detention till date. The case of the other two persons followed the same pattern and were reported to the Agency shortly after Maryam Hussain’s complaint.”

The agency revealed its swift investigation revealed that “the bags containing illicit drug substances intercepted in Saudi Arabia were checked in against the complainants’ names by members of a criminal syndicate operating in Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport without the knowledge of the three complainants.

“All the bags were traced to one Ali Abubakar Mohammed (aka Bello Karama), the leader of the syndicate who checked them into the Ethiopian Airline on the 6th day of August 2025, the same day the three complainants travelled on board the same airline from Kano enroute Addis-Ababa to Jeddah. It is interesting to note that the said Ali Abubakar Mohammed who also travelled to Jeddah on the same date boarded Egypt Air rather than Ethiopian Airline where he checked in his contaminated bags.

“The bags were tagged and checked in by members of staff of Skyway Aviation Handling Company who are also members of the criminal syndicate, to the names of the three complainants secretly and without their knowledge or consent. The bags illegally tagged against the complainants’ names are the ones intercepted in Saudi Arabia and found to contain the illicit drug substances.

“For the above reasons, the three complainants were arrested and detained for crimes they had no knowledge of. In the light of the forgoing, and the evidence gathered by the agency in the course of our investigation, it is clear that Mrs. Maryam Abdullahi and two others who are being detained in Saudi are victims of circumstance, implicated by the activities of a criminal syndicate operating at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.”

The agency revealed that six members of the syndicate are already in its custody with four already charged to court awaiting arraignment including Ali Mohammed (aka Bello Karama); Abdulbasit Adamu, Murtala Olalekan and Celestina Yayock, adding that: “They have all made confessional statements. While Ali had admitted bringing in seven luggage, Celestina confessed checking in two of them for a fee of N100,000 and another suspect Jazuli Kabir who checked in two other bags admitted collecting N100,000 for the dirty job, while Ali travelled with the other three bags on Egypt Air. We have the receipts for the transfer of N200,000 from Ali to Celestina who in turn transferred N100,000 to Jazuli.”

The agency said based on the outcome of its investigations it is spearheading a dialogue with the authority of the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) in Saudi Arabia to see that the three innocent Nigerians are exonerated.

“As a result, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency is presently on his way to attend an International Drug Conference which will be attended by a delegation from the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC), who he intends to meet one on one, to present our findings and seek the cooperation of our Saudi counterparts in ensuring that Mrs. Maryam Hussain Abdullahi, and the two others who remain stranded in the Kingdom, get the justice they deserve. If required, the CCEO is also prepared to travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia personally to pursue this matter to its conclusion”, Babafemi stated, while assuring that Nigeria will never abandon its citizens, especially when the facts clearly show that they are victims of criminal conspiracies.

The agency however assured the public of its commitment to fight the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country adding that “while there are no sacred cows in our enforcement duties which can be attested to by the number of high-profile arrests, seizures, convictions and forfeitures recorded, it will not support the innocent being punished for crimes they did not commit.”

“While investigations continue, the CCEO will like to appreciate the Hon. Min of Aviation and Aerospace Development, the Managing Director of FAAN, the AVSEC and the DSS for their collaboration on this case and for the interim measures that have been approved in MAKIA to prevent a reoccurrence of this type of situation”, Babafemi said.

Drug kingpin, 5 others in NDLEA custody for smuggling drugs into bags of 3 Nigerians facing charges in Saudi Arabia

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Military

CDS: African Defence Chiefs’ Summit will produce homegrown solutions to insecurity

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CDS: African Defence Chiefs’ Summit will produce homegrown solutions to insecurity

By: Zagazola Makama

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, says the forthcoming African Chiefs of Defence Staff Summit is designed to unite African militaries and provide indigenous solutions to the continent’s security challenges.

Musa disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Saturday.

He said the summit would be the first time African defence leaders would sit together, as brothers, to openly discuss Africa’s problems and chart practical ways forward without relying on external prescriptions.

“For too long we have been seeking solutions from outside, and that has prolonged our issues. The reality is that our challenges are within us, and it is only within us that we will create the solutions,” Musa said.

According to him, the success recorded in West Africa through engagements among ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence informed the decision to scale up the initiative across the continent.

He noted that the operationalisation of the African Standby Force, which has faced delays due to challenges of doctrine, strategy and funding, would receive fresh impetus during the summit.

“This meeting gives us the opportunity to look at it holistically and get the buy-in of all Africans,” he added.

The CDS stressed that terrorism, insurgency and violent extremism were common threats across the regions, and only collective action could address them effectively.

He further emphasised the need for a “whole-of-society” approach, noting that insecurity was worsened by unproductive populations and widespread illiteracy that made youths vulnerable to extremist ideologies.

“We must go back to the African culture of brotherliness, of a community raising a child, of not allowing anything to harm your neighbour. That is the kind of solution we must revive,” Musa said.

On the level of participation, the CDS disclosed that about 90 per cent of invited countries had confirmed attendance, describing the response as overwhelmingly positive.

He said the summit would also feature dignitaries from within and outside the continent, including senior UN officials, retired service chiefs and security experts.

“The end state is a better Africa, a more secure Africa, and an Africa where we project and work for our own development. Nobody can love you more than yourself,” he said.

CDS: African Defence Chiefs’ Summit will produce homegrown solutions to insecurity

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