Welcome to the PUNCH newspaper roundup of headlines for this Saturday morning. Developments in security, politics, health, and crime dominate today’s news.
Leading the headlines is the unveiling of the terrorist leader behind Tuesday’s massacre in Woro, a remote community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, which reportedly left an estimated 176 residents dead. Abubakar Saidu, popularly known as Sadiku, is a terrorist commander whose violent trail spans more than a decade across northern Nigeria.
In politics, the rejection of mandatory electronic transmission of election results, alongside concerns over the ongoing Electoral Amendment Bill, has continued to generate debate between members of the National Assembly and Nigerians.
Meanwhile, a United States congressional hearing on global religious freedom has criticised the Federal Government’s reported $9 million lobbying contract in Washington, with lawmakers warning that the deal appeared aimed at downplaying serious human rights and religious freedom violations.
Here are the quick reads you need this morning:
Sadiku: Unmasking terrorist leader behind Kwara massacre
Tuesday’s massacre in Woro, a remote community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, which left an estimated 176 residents dead, was not a random act of violence.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH show that the attack was the result of a calculated expansion of a jihadist front that the country’s security architecture failed to halt despite prior warnings.
At the centre of the bloodshed is Abubakar Saidu, popularly known as Sadiku, a terrorist commander whose violent trail spans more than a decade and the northern region of the country. For years, Sadiku remained a shadowy figure within the insurgency landscape
Read the full story here.
US Congress panel slams FG’s $9m lobbying deal
A United States congressional hearing on global religious freedom has criticised the Federal Government’s reported $9m lobbying contract in Washington, with lawmakers warning that the deal appeared to be aimed at downplaying serious human rights and religious freedom violations.
The concerns were raised on Wednesday during a joint hearing of the House Subcommittee on Africa and the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, titled ‘Defending Religious Freedom Around the World.’
The session, monitored by Saturday PUNCH, featured testimony from former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, and former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Dr Stephen Schneck.
Read the full story here.
Inside Burkina Faso, Ghana criminal networks where desperate Nigerian migrants disappear
Across several African countries, a growing criminal syndicate is preying on desperate green pasture seekers, luring them to Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, among others, with promises of employment and a better life.
Instead, many of these agile young Nigerians are stripped of their freedom, crammed into flats and coerced into cross-border internet fraud, while the girls are pushed into prostitution.
In this investigation, our correspondent exposes the shadowy trans-border job fraudsters and human traffickers, revealing how promises of opportunity are systematically turned into tools of exploitation.
Read the full story here.
85% of senators support e-transmission, Kingibe debunks legislative blockade claims
Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory and a member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, has addressed concerns over the ongoing Electoral Amendment Bill, assuring Nigerians that key reforms, including electronic transmission of results, remain intact.
The clarification comes after major opposition parties condemned the Senate’s rejection of a proposed amendment to Clause 70(3) of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results compulsory.
In a statement on X (Formerly Twitter) on Friday, Kingibe said the National Assembly undertook an intensive and inclusive process in 2024 and 2025 to reform Nigeria’s electoral framework. The process involved public hearings, policy retreats, and consultations with INEC and civil society organisations.
Read the full story here.
Venom and vacuum: How Nigeria’s antivenom shortage turns snakebites into death sentences
Snakebite can turn a quiet night or routine farm visit into a brutal race against time. From rural Gombe to Abuja, victims often survive the venom only to face a deadlier threat: empty hospital shelves.
In a country rife with venomous snakes, antivenom has become an elusive commodity, making survival an unequal gamble. This report by our correspondent exposes a health system where treatment for a tropical disease is unavailable, remains scarce and is unevenly distributed.
Read the full story here.
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