News

When Danger Rides Beside You: The Evolving Face of ‘One Chance’ Crime in Abuja”

Published

11 months ago

June 10, 2025

Habib Yakoob

Bad boys are getting more strategic and daring in Abuja these days. The “one chance” phenomenon is being redefined. It’s no longer just about jumping into a vehicle with four suspicious-looking men or women and finding yourself the lone “customer.” These days, even when you’re surrounded by strangers who look like regular passengers, you never can tell, you could still be walking into a trap.

A couple of weeks ago, a colleague of mine was robbed in a small Golf car along the Airport Road on his way to work. When he boarded the vehicle, only the driver and a man pretending to be asleep were inside.

He entered and took a seat. Another man immediately joined him behind, while a young man entered the front seat, bringing the number of people in the vehicle, including the driver, to five. They still needed two more passengers.

The driver drove a short distance, pretending to pick up passengers. Each time someone approached, he either asked if they had change or dismissed them for flimsy reasons. It all seemed normal. Until it wasn’t.

Eventually, he picked one man who claimed to have change. That man entered and sat behind, making four passengers in the back. Another man slipped into the front seat. They are seven now: three at the front and four behind.

A few kilometres down the road, the driver suddenly veered to the shoulder, saying he needed to check the air in his tyres. That was when the man in the front turned to the other passenger beside him and asked for his phone. The passenger looked confused, until he noticed that his once innocent-looking co-passenger was clutching a dagger tightly.

My colleague, who sat behind, was about to raise the alarm when he felt something cold and hard pressed into his ribs: it was a locally made pistol held by the half-asleep man he had met earlier behind the driver. Now fully alert, the man growled, “Oya, your phone, laptop, anything.”

Only his phone and some cash were taken. The driver had parked in a way that somehow shielded the scene from passersby. At the same time, the man who had entered last in the back was now brandishing a small knife at the third passenger, demanding his belongings too.

And that was how four bad guys including the driver strategically positioned at every exit point of the vehicle, robbed my colleague and two other passengers. After collecting their phones and money, the bandits pushed them out of the car, while the man with the gun kept pointing it at them, daring anyone to make a sound. Then they zoomed off.

Till now, I doubt whether my colleague has recovered from the shock. He still isn’t sure how he could have avoided the trap. He has since reported the incident to the police. But as he told me, “Hmm, this country? We just have to be more cautious and prayerful these days!”

News

Just In:President Tinubu Sacks Minister Of Finance

Published

3 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a minor cabinet reshuffle in the membership of the Federal Executive Council.

According to a memo signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, two cabinet members, Mr. Wale Edun and Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa are to leave the cabinet while their replacements have been named.

Edun, until the latest development, was the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy. He has been directed to hand over to Mr. Taiwo Oyedele who is now to take over as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. Oyedele was formerly a Minister of State in the ministry.

Also Mr. Muttaqha Rabe Darma (PhD .) has been named as the ministerial nominee and minister designate for the Housing and Urban Development Ministry.

The memo also directed Dangiwa to hand over to the Minister of State in the ministry.

The memo stated that “all handing over and taking over processes should be completed on or before close of business on Thursday 23rd April, 2026.”

Explaining the President’s decision, Akume said: “These changes are aimed at strengthening cohesion, synergy in governance as well as achieving more impactful delivery on the economy to Nigerians, through the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

He said the President, in approving the cabinet reshuffle, has fully exercised his powers as conferred on him by Sections 147 and 148 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended).

The President thanked the outgoing ministers for their services to the nation while wishing them the best in all their future endeavours.

The President, Akume noted, equally assured all cabinet members that “the process of reinvigoration shall be continuous.”

Signed:

Yomi Odunuga,
Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation

21-04-2026

News

JUST IN: FG Files 13 Count Charges Against Alleged Coup Plotters

Published

10 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Federal Government has filed a 13-count charge before the Federal High Court in Abuja against individuals accused of plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu. Among those named in the suit are a retired major general, a retired naval captain, a serving police inspector, and three other suspects.

According to security sources, the coup was scheduled to be executed on Nigeria’s Independence Day. However, the plot was uncovered after preparations and plans were leaked, leading to its successful disruption.

The development prompted the Federal Government to cancel the Independence Day programme—a move described as highly unusual by political observers.

News

BIKOBA Mourns EX-NFA Chairman, Ibrahim Galadima

Published

12 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

The leadership, and the entire members of Birnin-Kudu Old Boys Association (BIKOBA) mourn the passing of the former president of the Association, and former Chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, who died Saturday, the 18th of April 2026, after a protracted illness.

Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, who died at the age of 78, was the fourth president of BIKOBA, having served two consecutive terms between 1993-1997, and being a member of ’71 class chapter of the Association.

Remarking on the passing of the elderstateman, President of BIKOBA, Alhaji Ja’afar Usman Muhammad (Turakin Gaya), described him as an astute football administrator and one of the most influential figures in Nigerian sports.
He said, after diligently serving BIKOBA as it’s fourth president, late Ibrahim Galadima had also served in various capacities at national and sub-national levels, as one time Commissioner of Information, Kano State while noting that his tenure as Chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation (2002–2006), was full of success stories, culminating to the growth and develpoment of sporting sub sector in Nigeria.

He similarly served with distinction as the Chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission, where he played a vital role in promoting sports at both grassroots and elite levels, said BIKOBA President.

“Being one of the founding fathers of Kano Pillars FC, late Galadima also laid a solid foundation for the club’s growth into a dominant force in Nigerian football, adding that, his legacy, leadership, and passion for the game will continue to be remembered in the history of the club”

The president, on behalf of the executive committee and entire members of BIKOBA, extends heartfelt condolences to the immediate family of the deceased, his friends, the government, the good people of Kano State, as well as the entire Nigerian football community over the irreparable loss.

In a statement signed by National publicity secretary of the association Malam Mahmud Ibrahim Kwari said BIKOBA also prays that Almighty Allah grants late Ibrahim Galadima Aljannatul Firdaus, Ameen.