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JUST IN: Tension in Osun as controversial LG election holds amid security threats

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There is tension in Osun State following Governor Ademola Adeleke’s insistence to conduct the controversial Local Government election despite security threats and stiff resistance from opposition parties.

Stakeholders, particularly opposition parties and security agencies, have raised concerns over the security situation in the state, predicting unrest.

The concerns followed previous events where members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, clashed, resulting in the death of at least six party members on Monday.

The crisis escalated when the previously sacked local government chairmen and councillors moved to return to council offices after a court judgement.

The APC members had moved to enforce the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, delivered on February 10, 2025, which overturned their sack by the verdict of the Osogbo Federal High Court on November 25, 2022.

Recall that a judgment by Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of an Osogbo Federal High Court, delivered on November 25, 2022, had sacked the chairmen and councillors elected in the poll conducted by the immediate past Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.

However, the Court of Appeal nullified the judgment on February 10 this year, leading to chaos across all the Local Government Areas in the state.

Despite resistance from the PDP members, the reinstated Chairmen insisted that the planned election must be cancelled until their tenure elapsed in October 2025.

AGF warns Governor Adeleke against disobeying Appeal Court ruling

Wading into the crisis on Thursday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi urged Governor Adeleke to respect the Appeal Court judgement, stating that the tenure of the chairmen and the councillors has been restored.

The AGF accused Governor Adeleke of attempting to override the judiciary and warned that proceeding with the election would constitute a serious violation of the Nigerian constitution.

According to him, such elections will “not only be invalid since the term of office of the elected officials just restored by the judgment of the Court of Appeal will still be running until October 2025, but it will also amount to an egregious breach of the Constitution which Governor Adeleke has sworn to uphold”.

Court orders conduct of polls SaturdayDespite the legal advice from the AGF, an Osun State High Court in Ilesa on Friday ordered the State Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, to conduct elections for the LG chairmen and councillors in all the 30 council areas on Saturday (today).

Justice A. Aderigbigbe, who gave the judgement, stated that there is vacancy in the 30 local government areas of the state as earlier held in a judgement by the Federal High Court.

The court also directed and compelled all the security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, DSS, Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, among others, to provide adequate security, during and after the election.

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Military Troops Battle ISWAP Attack in Maiduguri

The affected areas include Dala, Bulamari and Ajilari Cross, where residents reported intense gunfire coming from the outskirts of the Borno State capital.

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Residents in parts of Maiduguri were thrown into panic late Monday night after heavy gunfire was heard across sections of the city.

Witnesses say the sound of gunshots triggered fear and confusion, forcing many residents to flee their homes in search of safety.

The affected areas include Dala, Bulamari and Ajilari Cross, where residents reported intense gunfire coming from the outskirts of the Borno State capital.

Security sources say suspected fighters linked to Boko Haram or ISWAP launched an attack on the outskirts of Maiduguri, prompting a swift response from Nigerian troops.

Nigerian Air Force fighter jets were also deployed and are currently engaging the assailants as efforts continue to repel the attack.

Authorities are yet to release an official statement on the incident, while residents remain on edge as security forces work to contain the situation

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Insecurity: Nigeria’s Internally Displaced Persons Hit 3.726m

According to the report, Zamfara is hosting 276,887 IDPs in 9 camps as of March 2026, while , Benue State hosts over 500,000 internally displaced persons, making it one of the worst-hit states.

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Data compiled by the International Organisation for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix, showed that there are 3,725,593 internally displaced persons, IDPs, now scattered across about 3,900 camps and settlements nationwide.

According to the report, Zamfara is hosting 276,887 IDPs in 9 camps as of March 2026, while , Benue State hosts over 500,000 internally displaced persons, making it one of the worst-hit states.

In Taraba State, about 90,000 displaced persons are currently sheltered in eight camps located in Peva and Kufai Ahmadu in Chanchanji Ward of Takum LGA.

The report said that the crisis has largely been driven by insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, farmer–herder conflicts in the North-Central, and communal clashes in parts of the South.

It further said that Nigeria’s 3.726 million displaced population is larger than the population of at least 63 countries whose populations are under 3.7 million, according to United Nations population estimates.

Among countries with fewer than 3.7 million people are Uruguay (3.4m), Jamaica (2.8m), Qatar (2.7m), Namibia (2.6m) and Botswana (2.6m).

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Atiku’s Media Aide, Ifeanyi Izeze is Dead

The media office said that further details about Izeze’s burial would be made public by his family.

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Atiku Media Office has announced the death of Ifeanyi Izeze, a member of the media team of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

In the statement , Izeze a prominent and pioneer member of the ex-VP’s media team died on Sunday.

“Ifeanyi Izeze joined the media team of the then Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2006, from Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot-Abasi as the Office Manager.

He brought to bear on the work of the media team at that critical stage of Atiku’s political career, his wealth of experience in the media, Niger Delta and Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Izeze trained as a geologist at the University of Port Harcourt up to postgraduate level, but carved a niche in journalism where he reported and wrote extensively on oil and gas industry in Nigeria for many years in the defunct Sunray, Anchor, and NewAge newspapers among others, before he joined ALSCON.

In the Atiku Media Office, Ifeanyi was a senior member of the team and its pioneer Office Manager who helped shape the campaign policies of the Atiku Presidential Campaigns in the Niger Delta, particularly in the oil and gas sectors,” the statement further reads.

Atiku Media Office described the deceased as a man with a prodigious sense of humour and a born-again Christian of the Christ Embassy.

The media office said that further details about Izeze’s burial would be made public by his family.

He left behind children, grandchildren and an elder and only surviving brother, Pastor Emeka Izeze of the Guardian Newspapers fame

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