Tinubu creates Armed Forest Guards to reclaim ungoverned areas (Leadership)
President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment and deployment of armed forest guards across the country as part of a bold move to reclaim Nigeriaโs vast forestlands from criminal elements and strengthen national security.
The initiative, unveiled on Wednesday night by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, seeks to drive terrorists, kidnappers, and other criminal gangs out of Nigeriaโs 1,129 forest zones, which have become notorious hideouts in recent years.
Dare, in a statement posted on his verified X handle @SundayDareSD, said the new forest guard corps would be professionally trained and fully armed, with recruitment to be jointly undertaken by federal and state governments. Read more
Naira Abuse: TikToker gets 6 months jail term (Guardian)
A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna has convicted and sentenced a Kaduna-based TikToker, Muhammad Kabir, over Naira abuse and mutilation.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed this on its X account on Thursday.
EFCC disclosed that Kabir was arrested on May 13, in the Tudun Wada area of Kaduna State, for violating the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN Act, which prohibits the abuse and mutilation of the Naira. Read more
Actress Jumoke Georgeโs missing daughter, Adeola, found in Mali (Punch)
Adeola, the 41-year-old daughter of veteran Yoruba actress Jumoke George, has been found in Mali after being declared missing for four years.
Jumoke had earlier revealed the disappearance during an interview on the Talk to B show hosted by actress Abiola Bayo. She stated that Adeola had been living with her grandmother in Ibadan and was last seen after informing the family she was travelling to Lagos.
According to Jumoke, Adeola later made contact, asked for forgiveness, and explained she had travelled out of the country with friends in search of better opportunities. Read more
Customs warns importers, agents against false declaration, evasion of duties (Nation)
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone โAโ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ikeja has warned importers and their clearing agents against making false declarations in their documentation, as the unit has vowed to tighten its noose through intelligence-driven operations against underpaying duties and any form of concealment by any economic saboteur.
The Controller of the Unit, Mohammed Shuaibu, also emphasised the importance of complying with global best practices and established rules of engagement in maritime and shipping operations to prevent the seizure of their goods.
Shuaibu gave the warning during a courtesy visit by the members of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN) to his office in Lagos. Read more
Nigeriaโs inflation rate eases to 23.71% in April (Vanguard)
Nigeriaโs headline inflation rate eased to 23.71 percent in April 2025, reflecting a 0.52 percentage point decline from the 24.23 percent recorded in March.
This was disclosed in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report also showed a decline in the food inflation index, which dropped by 0.53 percentage points to 21.26 percent in April from 21.79 percent in March. The decrease was attributed to the reduction in the prices of staple food items, including maize (corn) flour, wheat grain, dried okro, yam flour, soya beans, rice, bambara beans, and brown beans. Read more
UTME: Obi commends JAMB Registrar, says no room for more glitches (Channels)
Peter Obi has commended the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, for admitting to glitches in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) but said such errors should be avoided in the future.
Oloyede had, in a rare admission while fighting back tears, said some errors affected candidatesโ performance in the examination, which was conducted across the country earlier in the year.
Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, while lauding Oloyede for admitting to the mistakes, said efforts should be made to prevent a similar recurrence. Read more
UTME: CBT centres must be in 774 LGAs โ Reps (Sun)
Following the recent admission made by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) about glitches in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the House of Representatives suggested the establishment of computer-based testing in the nationโs 774 local government areas.
The resolution was made during plenary on Thursday, with the lawmakers adding that the move would prevent future occurrences.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Mohammed Dandutse, while addressing the House, said the absence of CBT centres nationwide is concerning. Read more
Celebrities defy new red carpet dress code at Cannes Film Festival (CNN)
The red carpet has officially been rolled out across the Promenade de Croisette, welcoming stars to the French Riviera for the annual Cannes Film Festival.
Now in its 78th year, the event is a jewel in the calendar of both lofty cinephiles and polished fashionistas. Over 12 days, actors, directors, producers, influencers and the like will descend onto the carpeted steps โ not just to promote their latest feature film at the high temple of world cinema, but also to turn a look.
This year, the fashion stakes were upped before the festival even opened its doors โ after a change in the official dress code just hours before kick-off. Nudity has been explicitly banned (presumably also prohibiting the current celebrity favorite โnakedโ dress trend that has dominated the red carpet in recent years); as has โvoluminous outfitsโ with large trains for the sake of traffic control. Read more
David Attenborough’s โOceanโ makes record-breaking waves at UK & Irish box office (FilmNews)
Ocean with David Attenborough has stormed the UK and Irish box office, earning an unprecedented ยฃ573,551 on its opening weekendโmaking it the highest-grossing nature documentary debut of all time in the region and the biggest documentary opening of the decade.
Released on May 8 to coincide with Sir David Attenboroughโs 99th birthday, the film was shown in a record-breaking 580 cinemas across the UK and Irelandโthe widest documentary release ever for the territory. The premiere, held on May 6 in London, was graced by both Attenborough and King Charles III.
Directed by Toby Nowlan, Keith Scholey and Colin Butfield, Ocean takes audiences on a stunning, immersive journey beneath the waves, highlighting the oceans as the Earthโs most vital ecosystem. Narrated by Attenborough, the film combines sweeping underwater cinematography with urgent ecological messagingโshowcasing coral reefs, kelp forests, and open ocean life while spotlighting environmental threats such as bottom trawling and coral bleaching. Read more
London teacher died after collapsing while putting on trainers (Standard)
A teacher fell, banged his head and died as he was putting his trainers on to go to work, an inquest heard.
Patrick Guthrieโs sister Patricia received two voicemails from his school alerting her that he hadnโt attended classes for two days.
And when she went to her home address, where the English and film studies teacher had been staying, she found him dead in the living room. Read more
Triviumโs Matt Heafy explains why Bullet For My Valentine pulled out of co-headline tour early (NME)
Triviumโs Matt Heafy has shed light on why Bullet For My Valentine abruptly pulled out of their co-headline tour.
The two bands were on the road together to celebrate the joint 20th anniversaries of their respective albums โThe Poisonโ and โAscendancyโ. As they were about to conclude the North American leg of their tour, before jetting off to Australia and South America, a number of shows were unexpectedly scrapped, with BFMV set to leave once the North American leg is done.
Details around the cancellations were unclear, although Trivium bassist Paolo Gregoletto soon said in a livestream that BFMV frontman Matt Tuck had pulled out of the tour early as he โdidnโt want to do itโ. Read more
Peter Sullivan weeps as UK court overturns murder conviction after 38 years (AlJazeera)
A man who spent nearly four decades in a British prison for the killing of a barmaid said he was not angry or bitter as his murder conviction was overturned and he was released after being exonerated by DNA evidence.
Peter Sullivan, 68, was freed after the court in London determined on Tuesday that new evidence found on the victimโs body showed that he โwas not the defendantโ of the murder.
โThis is an unprecedented and historic moment. Our client Peter Sullivan is the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK,โ his lawyer told reporters outside the court on Tuesday following the decision issued by an appeals court. Read more
Cyril Ramaphosa to meet with Donald Trump in US next week (AfricaNews)
It is difficult to hide: relations between South Africa and the United States are strained and have been so for months.
Since Donald Trump took office again as president of the United States, the two countries have repeatedly clashed over the US plan to resettle white South African farmers, which Donald Trump claims face “racial discrimination” in South Africa.
And in March, Washington expelled the South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool over critical comments he had made on the subject of the Trump administration..Read more
Galatasaray: Osimhen eyes league success after Turkish Cup win (Sun)
Victor Osimhen has stated that Galatasaray must now seek to complete the double after winning the Turkish Cup for the 19th time.
Okan Burukโs team defeated Trabzonspor 3-0 in the Turkish Cup final at the Gaziantep Stadium on Wednesday night.
Osimhen was Galatasarayโs hero, scoring twice during the match.
The Yellow and Reds are also on course to win a third consecutive Turkish Super Lig title. Read more
Gauff overpowers Andreeva to reach Italian Open semi-finals (Nation)
World number three Coco Gauff quelled the challenge of seventh seed Mirra Andreeva with a 6-4 7-6(5) victory to reach the Italian Open semi-finals for a second successive year.
Gauff, who will take on either world number one Aryna Sabalenka or eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the last four, has dropped just one set in her five matches at the tournament so far.
โAt the end, my defence, it was tough. We were both tight in the tiebreaker, it was whoever could make the last ball,โ said Gauff, who has reached the semi-finals in Rome three times in her career. Read more
U-20 AFCON: South Africa Canโt Stop Us, Flying Eagles Goalkeeper Boasts (Leadership)
Flying Eagles goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt is optimistic the team will beat South Africa in their semi-final clash at the 2025 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.
Nigeria and South Africa will meet in a heavyweight encounter at the Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia on Thursday.
The Flying Eagles defeated holders Senegal 3-1 on penalties to get to this stage of the competition. The Amajita beat Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 in a fiercely contested quarter-final fixture. Read more
Alcaraz sets up Italian Open semi clash with Musetti (Channels)
Carlos Alcaraz set up a semi-final meeting with Lorenzo Musetti at the Italian Open on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jack Draper in the last eight, while womenโs world number one Aryna Sabalenka was knocked out.
Madrid Open winner Sabalenka was sent packing in the quarter-finals by Chinese eighth-seed Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 6-3.
Third seed Alcaraz, meanwhile, produced what he called one of his best displays of the season to book a last four date with the man he beat in Monte Carlo last month. Read more
Motorsportโs world governing body dials back driver cursing penalties after major outcry (CNN)
The FIA, motorsportโs world governing body, announced on Wednesday a major dialing back of the penalties issued to drivers for cursing after a groundswell of opposition towards the new regulations.
In rules introduced by the FIA ahead of the season, F1 drivers could be penalized โ with monetary fines or loss of championship points โ for cursing in press conferences.Fines started at โฌ40,000 ($41,600) for a driverโs first offense, with it doubling for a second breach of the rules as well as a suspended one-month ban. A third offense would potentially bring about a โฌ120,000 ($125,000) fine, a one-month ban and the loss of championship points. Read more