The soldier, identified as Lance Corporal Akenleye Femi, and his wife were found dead in their apartment at Block 15, Room 24, Corporals and Below Quarters, inside Wawa Cantonment.

Confirming the incident in a statement, the Acting Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 22 Armoured Brigade, Captain Stephen Nwankwo, said the matter was already under investigation.

According to him, preliminary findings indicated that the soldier was on duty within the cantonment before seeking permission from his superior officer to attend to personal issues, only to later be found dead alongside his wife.

Nwankwo said, “The 22 Armoured Brigade, Nigerian Army, is aware of the news in respect of its personnel, Lance Corporal Akenleye Femi, serving at 221 Battalion, Wawa Cantonment, who is suspected of having killed his wife and committed suicide.

“The tragic incident that occurred on October 11, 2025, at Wawa Cantonment, Niger State, has caused a tense atmosphere, leaving the barracks residents in shock as to the circumstances that could have led to such an unfortunate incident.”

He added that the remains of the deceased couple had been preserved, while an in-depth investigation had commenced to unravel the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

“The Nigerian Army deeply regrets this incident and commiserates with the family, colleagues, and friends of the deceased over the painful loss,” Nwankwo stated.

He quoted the Commander, 22 Armoured Brigade, Brigadier General Ezra Barkins, as assuring the public that the investigation would be thorough and the outcome made public.

“The Commander 22 Armoured Brigade, Brigadier General Ezra Barkins, assures the general public that the circumstances that led to the sad incident will be thoroughly investigated, and the outcome relayed to the general public accordingly,” the statement added.

“The Nigerian Army anticipates maximum understanding and cooperation of the public as always, assuring that the outcome of the investigation will not only be made public but further scrutinised, and measures put in place to avoid future occurrences.”

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In a press statement issued by NSEMA’s Director General, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, the victims’ remains were recovered and interred in a coordinated operation involving the agency, local authorities, and volunteers.

Eighty victims were buried in a mass grave at the premises of the Dikko Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), while five were handed over to their families for private burial within the community. Another individual succumbed to injuries at the healthcare facility.

The mass burial, conducted from 5 p.m. to midnight, was carried out by volunteers and emergency responders who worked tirelessly under challenging circumstances to honor the deceased.

NSEMA also reported that the number of injured has risen to 55, with one fatality recorded during treatment at the PHC. Efforts are ongoing to provide medical care to the injured and support to grieving families.

Government Response

Governor Umaru Bago of Niger State visited the site of the explosion and expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives. He directed that vehicles from the Maje axis should no longer pass through the Dikko Bridge, instead urging drivers to use the underpass and make U-turns appropriately.

The Governor tasked the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander to deploy personnel in the area to enforce the directive and appealed to transport unions for cooperation.

He condemned the recklessness of some drivers and described the incident as “pathetic,” while thanking God the tragedy did not spread to nearby communities.

Governor Bago called on the Federal Government to expedite the completion of the Minna-Suleja Road, citing its delay as a contributing factor to recurring accidents. He also commended NSEMA, the fire service, and other emergency agencies for their swift response and assistance during the evacuation and recovery efforts.

To aid the treatment of the injured, the Governor announced the redeployment of doctors from Minna hospitals to Suleja General Hospital, where many of the victims are receiving care.

The post Niger Tanker Explosion Claims 86 Lives, Mass Burial Held for 80 Victims first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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According to a statement released by Abubakar Dakani, Press Secretary to the Chairman of Mokwa Local Government, the boat was carrying over 300 passengers when it capsised at the notorious Gbajibo River in Mokwa Local Government Area yesterday evening.

Dakani disclosed that the ill-fated boat was en route from Mundi to Gbajibo for the Annual Maulud celebration when the disaster occurred.

The Chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Abdullahi Muregi, acknowledged the recovery of about 60 bodies and confirmed that 10 survivors have been found so far. Rescue operations, involving the State Emergency Management Agency and local volunteers, are ongoing in a bid to recover the missing passengers.

This incident brings painful memories of a similar boat tragedy in September 2023, when a boat carrying over 50 passengers capsized, killing 24 people who were traveling to their farms for harvest.

Authorities have expressed concerns about the recurring boat accidents in the region, calling for urgent measures to improve safety on the waterways.

The post Tragedy Strikes as 60 Bodies Recovered in Niger Boat Accident first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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Tragedy struck in Kakaki village, Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State, as two siblings lost their lives following the collapse of a mine where they were reportedly working.

The incident, which occurred on Saturday, claimed the lives of Zubairu Ibrahim, 20, and Sadiq Ibrahim, 25, in a devastating turn of events that has left the community in mourning.

The brothers, who had not informed their parents of their plans, left home on the fateful day to join others in search of solid minerals at the mine site.

Their absence was first noticed when they did not return for dinner and evening prayers. Initially, their father, Zubairu Ibrahim, believed they were with friends, but later learned that they had gone to the mining site to dig for gold.

A frantic search was initiated by community members, led by their distraught father.

Hours later, the search party discovered the lifeless bodies of the siblings buried under the collapsed soil at the mine site. The loss has thrown the family and the entire village into deep sorrow.

This incident comes months after a similar tragedy occurred in Shiroro, Niger State, where several miners also lost their lives in a mine collapse. The recurrence of such incidents has raised concerns over the safety of informal mining activities in the region.

The Ministry of Mines and Solid Mineral Resources, through its spokesperson, Mrs. Maureen Dibie, confirmed the incident on Tuesday.

In a statement, Dibie revealed that a delegation from the ministry, led by the Permanent Secretary, Yunusa Nahauni, visited the bereaved family on Sunday to offer condolences and conduct a fact-finding mission.

The team included directors from the ministry, representatives from the Miners Association, and the Caretaker Chairman of the State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Mines Workers.

During the visit, the father of the deceased expressed his profound grief over the loss of his two sons, lamenting the harsh reality of life after their untimely death.

Speaking on behalf of the ministry, Nahauni expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy, stressing that the incident could have been avoided if the community had adhered to the Governor’s directive, which had suspended all mining activities in the state. He reiterated the need for strict compliance with safety regulations to prevent such occurrences in the future.

The post Two Siblings Die in Niger State Mine Collapse first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Two Siblings Die in Niger State Mine Collapse appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The Federal Government on Monday said it has confirmed the first case of Anthrax in Nigeria, disclosing that the disease was detected in a farm in Niger State.

The spores of anthrax can persist for decades in a contaminated environment.

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Niger State Government said it will close the Minna-Bida Road for six hours on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, to allow for the repair of a failed section of the road.

A statement by the Special Adviser to Governor Mohammed Umar Bago on Digital Communication, Abdullbergy Ebbo, explained that the road will be closed to allow engineers to carry out maintenance work.

“Please be informed that the Niger State Government will be closing the Minna-Bida Road on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, for six hours (from 12 pm to 6 pm) to allow engineers to carry out proactive maintenance work.

“The good public may recall that the collapsing of multiple cell culvert on this road, at chainage 62km from Minna has become a yearly affair for about 10 years now, causing a lot of hardship to motorists using the road, which in most cases has led to the closing of the road for about 1 week or more for emergency repair to be carried out.

“It is in light of the above that the Niger State Government is taking a proactive measure this year to prevent a reoccurrence of the now annual collapse of this culvert during the rainy season.

“While the work is being carried out during the designated hours, motorists are invited to either wait for the repairs to be completed or use alternative routes.

“The Niger State Government regrets whatever inconvenience this may cause”, the statement read.

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At least 200 students of an Islamiyya school situated at Tegina in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have been abducted.

One person, as learnt, was, also shot dead while another lays critically injured after gunmen carried out the kidnap operation at about 4:30pm on Sunday.

A resident of the area,  Zayyad Mohammed, who confirmed the incident to Channels Television via telephone, explained that the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya school where the incident took place, was built by a retired Immigration Officer.

Though, details of the attack are still sketchy, however, sources said the Islamiyya school is not the usual Sangaya boarding Islamic school, but a conventional one where parents send their children on a daily basis for the purpose of acquiring Islamic education.

The police were yet to make any comments regarding the development.

The post Just In: 200 Islamiyya students abducted in Niger first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 24-year-old undergraduate student of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Abel Godwin Idio for selling hard drugs.

The anti-narcotics agency, in a series of tweet on Monday, said the suspect, a 400-level student allegedly sold “two strong variants of cannabis, Arizona and loud, concealed in textbooks.”

The NDLEA Commander in Niger State, Haruna Kwetishe, explained that the undergraduate was arrested in Gidan Kwano within the vicinity of the university.

“Abel uses the inner pages of his textbooks to conceal the drugs within the campus to sell,” adding that he was quizzed on Friday.

Two other traffickers – Yahaya Joshua and Yahaya Audu – were also apprehended the previous day along Mokwa-Jebba road with 32kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa.

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The post FUTMINNA undergraduate arrested for selling drugs on campus appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Niger state government has declared that it is not sure of when the boarding schools that were shut down will reopen as a result of the insecurity ravaging the state.

The state Commissioner for Education, Hon Hannatu Jibrin, stated this during the reunion and handing over of the kidnapped Kagara students to their families on Sunday.

The Commissioner explained that the government is meeting with parents, teachers and other stakeholders to come up with a template for the reopening of the schools.

In her words, “The security challenge facing this state is huge and we have to ensure things are put in proper place before we will think of reopening the school. I can’t say when they will go back to school or when it will be reopened but we will ensure that the SS3 students are kept in touch with, to see how we will manage them so that they won’t miss anything and still write the final examination. Schools and students are delicate, but we are talking to the parents and other stakeholders to come up with a template for the reopening of the school”.

Speaking further, the commissioner encouraged the students not to be discouraged by their experience stressing that they should go back to the society as better people and identify a path to see how they can get out of the trauma caused by their abduction.

Also commenting , the Director-General of the Child’s Right Agency in the state, Hajia Mariam Kolo, who has been at the forefront of counselling of the students to get them out of the trauma described what they went through as indeed a harrowing experience.

Mariam, however said she was happy with the students’ response to  their counselling.

She also stated that the agency has done its best and that there would be a follow up on the students adding that the feedback from them will determine what steps would be taken next.

The post Insecurity: ‘We ‘re not sure of when schools will reopen’- Niger govt. first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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“This is an extraordinary achievement demonstrating that it is possible to significantly reduce lead exposures among highly exposed informal miners with simple safer mining practices,” said Perry Gottesfeld, Executive Director of Occupational Knowledge International (OK International) whose organization partnered with Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in this effort.

“These results exceeded expectations and are comparable to what large scale lead-industries strive to achieve with millions of dollars in investment over multiple years,” Gottesfeld added.

The organizations involved demonstrated that working cooperatively with miners and the community could result in significant health improvements with a relatively small investment that would not impact the long-term economics of these mining operations. In addition to training thousands of miners, they worked to put in place hand washing stations, change areas, and separate eating areas to reduce exposures.

The safer mining project took place in the Shikira community in Niger State. A bore well was installed to provide wet spray misting to lower airborne lead levels at the ore processing site serving this community. The group reported earlier this year that that these control measures reduced airborne lead exposures by 95%.

Blood lead levels are considered the best measure of exposure. The organization tracked quarterly blood lead levels of a representative group of 58 miners over 19 months.  The study also found that women miners had higher lead levels and experienced lower reductions than men (23% vs. 36%). The study “Declining blood lead levels among small-scale miners participating in a safer mining pilot programme in Nigeria” was published in the British Medical Journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Philip Aruna, Head of Mission in Nigeria for Doctors Without Borders said “We showed that by working cooperatively with the entire community we can bring significant reductions in lead exposures.”

Gottesfeld noted that, “Following our extensive outreach and training, the miners were motivated to take measures to reduce hazardous lead exposures and invested their own time and money to implement these protective measures.”

Lead causes severe neurological deficits and death among children in these communities, but even at low exposure levels is responsible for 674,000 deaths each year primarily due to cardiovascular disease. Investments in safer mining to reduce lead exposures would have a significant return on investment compared to the costs of treating severe lead poisoning in these communities.

There are an estimated 40 million informal small-scale miners working in at least 70 countries around the world.  In addition to artisanal gold mining, informal lead mining accounts for an increasing share of the global lead supply.

Karla Bil, with Doctors Without Borders and an author of the study said that “Our pilot project demonstrated that safer mining practices are feasible, cost effective and can greatly improve health outcomes in mining communities impacted by severe lead poisoning.”

She added that “there is an immediate need for the Nigerian government to invest in safer mining practices throughout impacted communities in Northern Nigeria to apply these measures to improve health and reduce childhood lead poisoning.”

In addition to introducing wet methods, OK International focused on training miners to reduce community exposures by implementing simple measures including handwashing, showering, setting up separate eating areas, and changing out of work clothing before going home at the end of the day. The overall cost for capital improvements for this community was approximately $5,000.

The post Lead Poisoning reduced with Safer Mining Practices in Nigeria first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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