Author: TheLagosianMagazine

By Peter Omopo  Lagos | July 20, 2025 — The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 60-year-old drug kingpin, Okpara Paul Chigozie, who had been on the agency’s wanted list since 2019, in a sweeping nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking and distribution. In a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the agency disclosed that Chigozie was apprehended on July 13 at his hideout on Michael Ojo Street, Isheri, in the Ojo area of Lagos, following the interception of his drug consignment earlier that day. The operation began when NDLEA officers stopped a white Toyota…

By Sola Ojewusi  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal, widely known as Saudi Arabia’s ‘Sleeping Prince,’ has passed away after spending nearly two decades in a coma. He was 36. The young royal slipped into a coma in 2005 following a severe brain haemorrhage sustained during a car accident while studying at a military college in London. Since then, he had remained in a non-responsive state, receiving continuous medical care at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. Despite multiple consultations with medical specialists from around the world and unrelenting efforts by his family, Prince Al-Waleed never…

By Sola Ojewusi Lilongwe, Malawi — In the quiet corners of Malawian society where love and kinship are held sacred, a chilling story has torn through the hearts of many — a tale that redefines betrayal, envy, and the cold-hearted cruelty that can sometimes lurk behind the faces of those we call family. Twenty-six-year-old Agnes Chukwuma was known to her friends and neighbours as a determined young woman — radiant, hard-working, and relentless in her quest to make an honest living. A Nigerian by origin but Malawian by residence, she balanced her main job with a growing side hustle in…

By Peter Omopo  Ketu, Lagos | July 19, 2025 — The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) on Saturday cleared an illegal dumpsite located behind 68, Oduntan Street in the Ketu area of Lagos State, as part of its ongoing efforts to enforce environmental sanitation laws and safeguard public health. The cleanup operation, led by LAWMA’s enforcement team, was carried out following concerns over the environmental hazards posed by the unauthorized waste disposal in the area. Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed the development in a post on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, @tokunbo_wahab.…

By Peter Omopo  Kano | July 19, 2025 Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, has clarified his absence during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent condolence visit to Kano, attributing it to a previously scheduled personal engagement in London. In a statement issued on Saturday by his former Chief of Staff, Malam Muhammad Garba, Ganduje dispelled speculations suggesting illness or deliberate exclusion from the presidential visit, which took place on Friday, July 18, 2025. “Dr. Ganduje had travelled to London for a personal engagement that had been planned well before the President’s visit was scheduled,”…

By Peter Omopo  July 19, 2025 – Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State The International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR) has announced its intention to sue the Ogun State Government and the family of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, over what it described as a breach of traditional burial protocols following the monarch’s recent funeral. In a statement released on Saturday in Ibadan and jointly signed by the ICIR President, Fayemi Fakayode; Public Relations Officer, Ayanladun Fajemisin; and legal representative, Ifasola Opeodu, the group expressed strong disapproval over the monarch’s burial, which was conducted according to Islamic rites. Oba…

By Peter Omopo  Akure, July 19, 2025 — Femi Oladele, the landlord and prime suspect in the gruesome abduction and murder of two undergraduates of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, has died under mysterious circumstances while in police custody. Oladele, who was arrested for allegedly masterminding the kidnap and murder of 25-year-old Abah John Friday and his 19-year-old girlfriend, Okah Andrel Eloho, reportedly fell ill while in detention and was admitted to a hospital, where he died on Friday, July 18, during treatment. Confirming the development, the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, SP Olayinka Ayanlade, said Oladele had been…

By Peter Omopo  Abuja, July 19, 2025 — Nigeria’s newly acquired Airbus A330-200 presidential aircraft has returned to the country after undergoing extensive repainting and minor interior upgrades in South Africa. The twin-engine jet, which cost the Federal Government $100 million (₦150 billion), was spotted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Wednesday. Photographs shared by aviation-tracking account @Abuja_Aviation on Instagram showed the aircraft, bearing the tail number 5N-FGA, parked at the Presidential Wing of the airport. The jet now sports Nigeria’s national colours — a predominantly white fuselage with green-white-green stripes — and the Nigerian Air Force…

By Peter Omopo  Ijebu Ode, July 19, 2025 — Traditional worshippers in Ogun State have accused the state government of undermining long-established customs by allegedly using coercive tactics to prevent the performance of traditional burial rites for the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona. The traditionalists, led by the Coordinator of the Traditional Worshippers Association of Ogun State, Chief Ifasola Opeodu, expressed their outrage over what they described as government overreach, particularly the deployment of security personnel to enforce the Obas and Chiefs Law of 2021, which allows monarchs to be buried according to their religious beliefs. The…

By Peter Omopo  Abuja, July 19, 2025 — The Federal Government has maintained that Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), must stand trial on terrorism-related charges. At a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday, the government’s lead counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, urged the court to dismiss Kanu’s no-case submission, insisting that sufficient evidence had been presented to warrant a full trial. Kanu is facing a seven-count charge bordering on terrorism, brought against him by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation. The charges stem from a series of broadcasts…