The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has confirmed that one of its helicopters made a precautionary landing in Benue State after providing close air support to ground troops during an operation against suspected kidnappers.   The helicopter landed on farmland in the Utur Tse-Igboji community of Makurdi, according to eyewitnesses. NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Ehimen Ejodame, said the operation targeted suspected kidnappers in Ogbadigbo Local Government Area, near the Enugu-Benue boundary. According to Ejodame, the operation disrupted the activities of the criminal elements and supported the advance of ground troops. He said the pilot later exercised his professional discretion to make a precautionary landing about 10 nautical miles from the airfield while returning to base. “This is in accordance with established operational and safety procedures following combat missions,” Ejodame said. The NAF said the helicopter has since returned to base. The incident comes two days after a NAF aircraft crashed in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State. The ATR-42 aircraft, with tail number NGR 931, was carrying 25 passengers and seven crew members when it plunged into a swamp opposite a naval base in the early hours of Monday. The NAF said no survivors had been found following the crash, which prompted President Bola Tinubu to declare three days of national mourning for the personnel who died.

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has acknowledged that the administration’s economic reforms pushed more Nigerians into poverty, while insisting that the country has recorded significant progress since the reforms began.   Bwala made the remarks on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, as reported by TheCable. He said the increase in poverty was partly a consequence of the economic adjustments introduced by the Tinubu administration, arguing that major reforms typically come with short-term hardship. “Please let it be clear even to the opposition, the reason why you have this number of poor people and some of these doomsday analytics that people are giving is because we undertook a reform,” Bwala said. “There is no part of the world where you start a reform like that there will not be discomfort.” Bwala acknowledged that more Nigerians had fallen into poverty since the reforms began but maintained that the situation had improved over time. “More people went down to poverty, acknowledged, but since when the reform started to today, we have made marked progress which is what we have spent the last three years talking to Nigerians about,” he said. He added that while a significant number of Nigerians remain poor, the government’s progress should not be overlooked. “So, you cannot discount that even though there are quite a number of our population that are poor which we admit, but we have made progress so far.” 2027 presidential election Speaking on the 2027 presidential election, Bwala predicted that Tinubu would perform better than he did in the 2023 election. Tinubu defeated the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, by 1.81 million votes in 2023 and won by a margin of 2.69 million votes over Labour Party candidate Peter Obi. Bwala claimed that Tinubu’s expected victory in 2027 would be significantly wider. He said, “the margin of gap that President Bola Tinubu will give each and everyone of these candidates will be so much that you won’t believe it.” The comments come amid continued debate over the impact of the Federal Government’s economic reforms, particularly their effect on household incomes and living costs.

A senior lecturer at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Dr Matthew Uwuigbe, has died after reportedly collapsing in a hotel room following an encounter with a 21-year-old sex worker in Ekpoma, Edo State.   The incident occurred on Sunday at a hotel in the Mosco area of Esan West Local Government Area. According to PUNCH, Uwuigbe had checked into the hotel with the woman, identified as Angela Defa Jacob, and reportedly collapsed shortly after the encounter. The Edo State Police Command confirmed the incident on Wednesday, saying three people had been arrested in connection with the lecturer’s death. Police spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, said the command received a report on October 5, 2026, at about 8pm that Uwuigbe had lodged at a hotel and engaged the services of the woman. She said the lecturer subsequently sent the woman to buy water for him, but she found him lying dead in the room when she returned. Ikoedem said the hotel owner, manager and the woman were in police custody as investigations continued to determine the circumstances surrounding the death. The deceased’s remains were deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital mortuary. Meanwhile, the university’s Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, confirmed that Uwuigbe was a staff member of the institution but stressed that the incident occurred outside the university campus. He said the woman involved was not a student of the university and described the incident as a private matter.

Oil prices rose while global stocks declined on Wednesday as renewed attacks in the Strait of Hormuz heightened fears over Middle East oil supplies.   The increase came after UK Maritime Trade Operations reported nine attacks so far this month, equal to half the number recorded across the waterway and the Gulf in September. Brent crude climbed 0.7 per cent to $101.23 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose 0.5 per cent to $89.88. The move followed a recent decline that had pushed Brent below $100 and WTI below $90 as exports from the Middle East, excluding Iran, recovered towards pre-war levels. However, concerns over the safety of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz reversed some of that easing. Reports indicated that Iran had increased attacks on tankers passing through the strategic waterway. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global energy route, making any disruption there a major concern for oil markets and the wider global economy. “Reports of increased flows across the region have offered some downside pressure on crude, but this has been offset by varying reports around the scale of attacks on vessels moving through the Strait,” Chris Weston of Pepperstone said, according to AFP. “For now, the market remains highly sensitive to headlines and geopolitical risk.” Stocks retreat Asian and European stocks also came under pressure as investors assessed the renewed geopolitical risks. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6 per cent. London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.5 per cent, with markets in Paris and Frankfurt also declining. The falls came a day after US markets reached fresh records, driven largely by renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence stocks. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 gained as investors increased their exposure to technology companies, with Nvidia’s market value approaching $5.7 trillion. Investors were also encouraged by reports that SpaceX was considering raising $40 billion to purchase Nvidia chips, according to the Financial Times. Meanwhile, concerns over inflation remain as the Middle East crisis continues to put pressure on energy prices. India’s central bank raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years, citing inflationary pressures. The latest developments have added to uncertainty in global markets as traders monitor the security of key oil routes and the wider Middle East conflict.