SR SahelReporters

By Aviashima Toom, Abuja  The Nigerian Navy says it recovered more than 2.25 million litres of petroleum products, rescued 24 kidnapped persons and arrested over 70 suspects during operations against crude oil theft and other maritime crimes between July and September 2026. The Navy disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, by the Director Naval Information, Nigerian Navy, Navy Capt, Abiodun Folorunsho in Abuja highlighting its operational achievements under Operation DELTA SENTINEL in the third quarter of the year. According to the statement, the recovered products comprised 1,555,983 litres of suspected stolen crude oil, 595,470 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), 85,690 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and 15,774 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK). The Navy also seized four vessels and five boats, while destroying 14 other boats allegedly used in crude oil theft and related criminal activities. It further deactivated more than 88 illegal refining sites,...

By Aviashima Toom, Abuja Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai (retd.), has called for the establishment of a dedicated Media Liaison Officer system across security agencies, alongside an integrated intelligence fusion centre and dedicated funding for non-kinetic military operations. Buratai said the measures would strengthen intelligence sharing, combat disinformation, improve public confidence in security institutions and enhance Nigeria’s response to emerging security threats. He made the recommendations on Monday at the 2026 Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DECAN) Conference and Awards Ceremony in Abuja. The conference, themed “Beyond Kinetic Warfare: Harnessing Technology and Intelligence-Led Operations for Nigeria’s National Security,” examined strategies for strengthening national security through technological innovation, intelligence-driven operations and effective communication. Buratai stressed that security agencies needed a ...

By Aviashima Toom The Cameroon Biodiversity Journalists Association has congratulated the newly elected president of the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria, expressing readiness to strengthen cross-border collaboration between environmental journalists in Nigeria and Cameroon to address climate change, biodiversity loss and other shared environmental challenges. In a congratulatory letter dated October 10, 2026, and signed by Robert Abunaw, a founding journalist of CTV and climate action strategist, the association called for joint environmental reporting, data sharing and professional training to improve climate action and protect vulnerable communities across the two countries. Abunaw said Nigeria and Cameroon, which share rainforests, rivers and climate-related risks, needed a common approach to addressing environmental challenges affecting communities on both sides of their borders. He noted that environmental threats, including flooding, deforest...

By Aviashima Toom The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has identified the disruption of illicit cross-border arms trafficking as critical to ensuring peaceful, free and fair general elections in Nigeria in 2027. Disu stated this on Monday in Abuja while declaring open a five-day Small Arms and Light Weapons Identification and Tracing (SALW-IT) Simulation Programme involving security personnel and experts from 12 African countries. The programme, scheduled for October 12 to 16, 2026, brings together participants from Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Mali, Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, Benin and the Republic of the Congo. According to the IGP, the initiative is designed to strengthen participants' capacity to identify, mark, register and trace small arms, light weapons and ammunition through technical instruction and practical exercises at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre. He warned that the prolife...

By Aviashima Toom The exchange between Rufai Oseni, co-host of Arise Television’s The Morning Show, and Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), has reignited debate about journalistic standards, professional responsibility and press freedom in Nigeria. Speaking during a panel session in Lagos marking Kike Abati’s 20th anniversary in the media industry, Dabiri-Erewa reportedly expressed concern about declining journalistic standards, emphasising the need for journalists to be responsible and accountable. Her concerns raise an important question: Has journalism lost its professional values, or has the changing media landscape simply transformed how journalists perform their duties? There is little doubt that journalism has evolved significantly. Unlike the era when traditional broadcasting organisations dominated news production, today’s media environment includes private television stations, online newspapers, independent publishers ...

By Aviashima Toom, Abuja  The Armed Forces of Nigeria have neutralised 25 Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists during an attempted attack on Kukawa town in Borno State, rescued abducted victims across several states and neutralised a senior ISWAP commander in Ondo State. The military also rescued 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State, alongside a woman reportedly kidnapped while on her way to the market. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja, disclosed these developments in a statement on ongoing military operations across the country between October 2 and 8, 2026. According to the statement, troops of Operation Hadin Kai, supported by the Air Component, repelled an attempted ISWAP infiltration of Kukawa town on the night of October 6. The engagement lasted several hours and continued into the morning of October 7, resulting in the neutralisation o...

By Aviashima Toom, Abuja  The Cross River State Police Command has arrested a 29-year-old man, Abashi John, over the alleged abduction of an 11-year-old boy who was later found with a head injury in Edor Community, Ikom Local Government Area of the state. In a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eitokpah Sunday Akata, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police said the incident was reported on October 5, 2026, at about 10 p.m. at Edor Police Outpost by the boy’s father, 57-year-old Raphael Eyo. According to the report, Eyo alleged that the suspect had taken his son under the pretext of helping him get home safely, but the child could not be accounted for afterwards. The police said that when the suspect was contacted, he allegedly claimed to have dropped the boy in front of his father’s residence. However, the following day, Eyo and some community members reportedly visited the suspect’s residence, where the boy was found in the suspect’s room with...