News
Dr. Pedro Obaseki to Sue Over Benin Abduction and Assault
Prominent Nigerian film scholar and cultural activist Dr. Pedro Agbonifo Obaseki has announced his decision to pursue legal action following a violent public abduction, assault, stripping, and unlawful detention he suffered in Benin City on Sunday, December 28, 2025.
In a strongly worded press statement released today, Dr. Obaseki described the incident as a “brutal public abduction” in which armed individuals forcibly took him, violently assaulted him, stripped him naked, threatened his life, and paraded him through major roads in broad daylight while recording and livestreaming the ordeal to deliberately humiliate him and instil fear in the public.
He was subsequently detained for several hours despite sustaining injuries, with no formal allegation or lawful charge disclosed. Dr. Obaseki stated that the perpetrators claimed to be acting on the instructions of the Oba of Benin or the Oba’s Palace.
However, he noted that the Benin Traditional Council has categorically denied any involvement, authorisation, or prior knowledge of the acts in a widely publicised formal letter, a position he has accepted and welcomed as part of the official record.
After extensive consultations with his family, clan, senior legal advisers, and respected elders, Dr. Obaseki said he has chosen to seek justice through lawful and constitutional means—not out of malice or political motives, but to ensure accountability, deterrence, and the protection of human dignity.
He emphasised that remaining silent in the face of such grave violations would amount to complicity and expose other citizens to similar abuses.
Dr. Obaseki has engaged leading human rights lawyer Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, as lead counsel to pursue appropriate civil and criminal proceedings against the individual perpetrators and any persons found to have aided, facilitated, or enabled the offences through due process.
In light of the severity of the incident and its broader public interest implications, he has also formally notified and is engaging international human rights bodies and partners to ensure independent oversight, transparency, and monitoring of the investigative and judicial processes.
“This action is taken not only to restore the dignity of an innocent citizen and protect his family, but also to deter future occurrences and to affirm that no individual or group may abduct, brutalise, or publicly dehumanise another outside the law,” Dr. Obaseki stated.
Out of respect for ongoing investigations and judicial proceedings, he said no further factual or evidentiary commentary would be made at this time.
News
JUST IN: Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrives Lagos
The evacuation comes amid growing concerns over the safety of Nigerians residing in South Africa following reports of violence and attacks on foreign-owned businesses and communities.
Nigerians evacuated from South Africa have arrived this morning safely in Lagos.
The evacuation comes amid growing concerns over the safety of Nigerians residing in South Africa following reports of violence and attacks on foreign-owned businesses and communities.
The evacuees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at about 10:15 a.m. on Thursday aboard an Air Peace aircraft.
The return flight is part of a coordinated evacuation effort by the Federal Government in response to renewed attacks targeting foreign nationals in South Africa.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, was expected to receive the returnees upon arrival at the airport.
The Federal Government had earlier assured that it would continue to engage South African authorities to ensure the protection of Nigerians and prevent further escalation of tensions.
News
NLC President Joe Ajaero wins Arthur Svensson International award for worker’s rights
Speaking at the award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, yesterday , Ajaero said that the honour was not a personal achievement but recognition of the struggles of workers across Nigeria.
•Joe Ajaero
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has been honoured as the 2026 laureate of the Arthur Svensson International Award for his courage and commitment to defending workers’ rights.
The award is presented to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strategic acumen and an unwavering commitment to defending workers’ rights and trade union freedoms worldwide.
Speaking at the award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, yesterday , Ajaero said that the honour was not a personal achievement but recognition of the struggles of workers across Nigeria.
“I stand before you today not as a man, but as a symbol, a true symbol of millions of Nigerian workers who wake up every morning not just to the smell of tear gas, the sound of sirens, and the cold silence of a state that preys on its own people but who go to work hungry and come back hungrier more emasculated than before they left for work,” he said.
News
Commotion In National Assembly Over Fire Outbreak
It took the swift intervention of senator Asuquo Ekpenyong from Cross River South and Senator Salihu Mustapha to quench the fire building up in the kitchen compartment of the Senate hearing room 107.
Image: National Assembly, Abuja
A fire outbreak in the Senate wing of the National Assembly was quickly put out on Wednesday; stopping it from spreading any further.
It took the swift intervention of senator Asuquo Ekpenyong from Cross River South and Senator Salihu Mustapha to quench the fire building up in the kitchen compartment of the Senate hearing room 107.
The Senate Committee on Niger -Delta Development Commission, NDCC chaired by Senator Ekpenyong had just concluded the screening exercise of Dr. Zainab Marwa as the member representing, Northeast on the board of the commission when smoke from the fire rapidly covered the scene of incident.
It was subsequently gathered that the fire emanated from a micro-wave left on in the kitchen.
In the brief commotion; Senator Ekpenyong’s swift intervention ensured that the fire was quickly put out.SOT
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