By: Lamara Garba

The Jigawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board has secured a strategic partnership with a Makkah-based humanitarian foundation to provide free eye care services to pilgrims from the state currently performing the 2026 Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The initiative will offer a wide range of eye care interventions, including cataract surgeries, comprehensive eye examinations, and the supply of prescribed medications, all at no cost to beneficiaries.

The programme is designed to improve the health and welfare of Jigawa pilgrims, particularly elderly worshippers and those suffering from vision-related ailments, enabling them to carry out their religious obligations with greater ease and comfort while in the Holy Land.

Speaking on the development, the Director-General of the Jigawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Ahmad Umar Labbo, said the collaboration underscores the board’s commitment to prioritising the well-being of pilgrims throughout their spiritual journey.

According to him, the board remains focused on introducing impactful programmes and welfare initiatives that directly enhance the Hajj experience of pilgrims, both before their departure from Nigeria and during their stay in Saudi Arabia.

He explained that the free eye care programme would provide timely medical support to pilgrims with existing eye conditions, helping them overcome health challenges that could hinder the performance of Hajj rites.

Alhaji Labbo further noted that the partnership reflects the board’s determination to strengthen healthcare support services for pilgrims and ensure that they receive the necessary medical attention whenever the need arises.

The initiative has received widespread commendation from Jigawa pilgrims, many of whom described it as a welcome intervention capable of addressing common eye health problems among worshippers, especially the elderly.

Observers have also hailed the programme as a significant step towards improving pilgrims’ welfare, describing it as another milestone in the Jigawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board’s efforts to place the health, comfort and overall well-being of pilgrims at the centre of its operations in the Holy Land.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Oyo State House of Assembly has rejected suggestions and calls that the state government should negotiate with the bandits who abducted teachers and students during the coordinated attack at Ahoro-Esinele in Oriire Local Government Area of the state on Friday, May 15, 2026.

It, however, called for intensified rescue operations to secure the release of victims abducted during the attack.

This resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by the lawmaker representing Oriire State Constituency, Johnson Ogundele, during plenary shortly after the House resumed from the Eid-el-Kabir recess.

Presenting the motion, Ogundele recounted the May 15 attack on Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota communities, where bandits invaded during school hours, killing a teacher, a student and an Okada rider, while abducting dozens of students, pupils and teachers.

The lawmaker expressed concern over recurring attacks in Oriire LGA, noting that the area had witnessed increasing bandit activities since January, including an attack on the National Park Service office at Oloka village, where five forest guards were killed.

He called on Governor Seyi Makinde, to intensify security response, deploy more operatives, and personally engage with affected communities, while urging the establishment of a permanent military base within vulnerable areas and forest corridors.

The Assembly also directed the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and SUBEB to carry out immediate security audits of schools located near forests and border settlements across the state.

Lawmakers further urged the government to install solar-powered security lighting, perimeter fencing and CCTV cameras in vulnerable schools, and to develop a comprehensive Safe School Emergency Response Protocol for both public and private institutions.

They unanimously rejected proposals that the state government should negotiate with the bandits responsible for the abduction.

Seconding the motion, Majority Leader Sanjo Adedoyin (Ogbomoso South) renewed calls for the establishment of state police, arguing that current security arrangements were overstretched and ineffective in difficult terrains.

Other lawmakers, including Olubisi Oluranti (Ogbomoso North), Gbenga Oyekola (Atiba), and Gabriel Babajide (Ibadan North II), called for increased deployment of security personnel, better protection of forest reserves, and broader reforms of Nigeria’s security architecture.

They also raised concerns over increasing kidnapping incidents extending into urban areas and the need to strengthen the Amotekun Corps with better equipment and logistics.

The House subsequently adopted several resolutions, including a call on the federal government to establish a permanent military base in Oriire LGA and strengthen intelligence-driven operations in the area.

Speaker Adebo Ogundoyin, while ruling on the debate, firmly dismissed any suggestion of negotiation with kidnappers, warning that such an approach would embolden criminal elements and worsen insecurity.

He urged continued collaboration with security agencies to ensure the safe rescue of all abducted victims, while reaffirming the Assembly’s commitment to supporting stronger security measures across the state.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday adjourned a suit filed by Nafiu-Bala Gombe against Sen. David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), until June 8 for hearing.

Justice Peter Lifu adjourned the case after Gombe’s lawyer, Robert Emukpoeruo, SAN, applied for an adjournment following the absence of counsel to parties seeking to join the suit in court.

When the case was called, only the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and parties seeking joinder were not represented in court.

Although it was confirmed from the court record that INEC was duly served with hearing notice, parties seeking to join were not served.

Counsel to ADC, Shaibu Aruwa, SAN, called the attention of the court to the history of the suit in relation to parties applying for joinder.

He said the former trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, had taken judicial notice of them in the previous proceedings.

Aruwa, therefore, urged the court to accord the parties seeking joinder the same respect to come and say why they needed to be joined in the interest of fair hearing.

Besides, he said issues had already been joined with the parties seeking to join the case, and that the plaintiff was in the know.

Responding, Emukpoeruo gave a titbit about the Supreme Court judgement which ordered for an accelerated hearing of the case, in line with the earlier Appeal Court judgement.

The lawyer, who applied that all pending processes be filed and served, sought an adjournment to give the parties seeking to join the leverage for fair hearing.

ADC’s counsel, Aruwa; Suleiman Usman, SAN, who appeared for Sen. David Mark; Realwan Okpanachi, who represented Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and P. I. Oyewole, lawyer to Chief Ralp Nwosu, did not oppose the application for adjournment.

The defence counsel however informed the court that the attitude of the plaintiff, in applying for the reassignment of the case when the matter was before Justice Nwite, had allegedly frustrated the order of accelerated hearing of the apex court.

But Justice Lifu, who said that nobody has the right to choose which court his case should be determined, said based on the directive of the chief judge who assigned the case to him and the Supreme Court decision for accelerated hearing, he was bound to do justice to the matter.

The judge said the court would take the full responsibility for inability to effect service of the hearing notices on the parties seeking to join the suit.

He subsequently adjourned the matter until June 8 for hearing.

Justice Lifu, who ordered accelerated hearing of the case, directed the bailiff of the court to serve all the parties seeking to be joined in the suit within 24 hours of the order.

“In the circumstances of this case and overall interest of justice and order of the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court, this case is hereby given accelerated hearing,” he said.

He ordered all the parties to file and serve all their processes before the next adjourned date.

The aggrieved former National Deputy Chairman of ADC, Nafiu Bala, had filed the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025.

The plaintiff, in the suit, is seeking an order restraining Mark, the embattled National Chairman of ADC; Aregbesola, the National Secretary, and members of their interim National Working Committee (NWC) from parading themselves as the party’s leaders.

He had argued that the emergence of Mark, Aregbesola and other NWC members as party’s leaders breached the provisions of the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.

Gombe had sued ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Ralph Nwosu as 1st to 5th defendants respectively in the suit.

Nwosu was the former ADC National Chairman who stepped down for David Mark leadership of the party.

The former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as ADC presidential candidate on May 27 after defeating two other aspirants, including Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, at the party’s national convention.

Also, Dumebi Kachikwu, in a national convention conducted by another faction of ADC, emerged the presidential candidate of the party for the 2027 general election.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the party was adopted by factional members of the party as sole presidential candidate on May 24.