Welcome to today’s roundup of Nigerian newspaper headlines, accompanied by our advocacy-focused calls for government action on pressing issues that impact citizens.
1. The Guardian: Senate Slams Life Sentence on Child Defilement, to Toughen Laws on Rape
We begin with The Guardian today, which reports that the Senate has approved life imprisonment for anyone convicted of defiling a minor, a dramatic escalation from the present five-year jail term under the nation’s criminal code.
The Senate resolution followed consideration of the Criminal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to impose stiffer punishments for sexual offences and related crimes.
Our Take: Now that the Senate has done its part, once assented to, the law must be backed by real enforcement that makes offenders think twice, not by police reports that go missing or court cases that stretch till judgement day. Also, while we are at it, states still dragging their feet on domesticating the Child’s Rights Act should join the 21st century already. Protecting children should not depend on your postcode, otherwise, we will just have another ‘historic’ law sitting pretty in the gazette while perpetrators roam free
2. Daily Trust: Women, Children Killed in Another Niger Tank Explosion
Daily Trust reports that at least 24 people including children and women died yesterday in a petrol tanker explosion at Essa village, Agaie-Bida road in Katcha local government area of Niger State.
Sources said the petrol laden tanker fell around 11am on Tuesday due to the deplorable state of the road at Essa, about 4km from Badeggi town and that people then gathered there and started scooping fuel.
Our Take: Minister David Umahi, your ministry needs to fix the Agaie–Bida road and others like it before they claim more lives. Also, the Niger State government and emergency agencies should stop reacting after tragedies and start educating communities on the deadly risk of scooping fuel. Finally, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) must take real responsibility, go beyond radio jingles and get into villages with sustained awareness campaigns.
3. Vanguard: Abuja protest: Court remands Kanu’s lawyer, brother, 10 others in prison
Vanguard reports that a day after the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest, an Abuja Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting at Kuje remanded Aloy Ejimakor, a member of the legal team representing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, in Kuje prison.
Ejimakor was remanded alongside Kanu’s younger brother, Emmanuel (otherwise known as Fineboy), and 10 others arrested while protesting for the unconditional release of the embattled IPOB leader.
Our Take: The Inspector-General of Police, the Minister of Justice, and the Chief Judge of the FCT should ensure the release of Aloy Ejimakor, Emmanuel Kanu, and others detained for exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly, not freedom on paper. Nigeria cannot claim to be a democracy while turning protest grounds into waiting rooms for Kuje Prison, unless, of course, ‘rule of law’ has now become another Nigerian phrase for ‘do as we say, not as the law says’.
