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‘I’m a guardian for the many other homeless people’ — Man who has lived under Obalende bridge for 30 years

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Having lived for exactly half his life under a bridge in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos, Liya’u Sa’adu sees himself as the “guardian” for the many other homeless people who have joined him there.

 

More than 60 men now live in the tightly knit outdoor community – with the busy and noisy Obalende Bridge over them – as renting even a shack has proved unaffordable for them.

Mr Sa’adu advises the newcomers – often young people from far-away towns and villages – on how to be streetwise in fast-paced Lagos, where it is easy to fall into crime and drugs.

“I am 60 and there are young people who came here a few months ago or a few years ago. I see it as my responsibility to guide them,” he tells the BBC.

Liya’u Sa’adu

“It is so easy to lose track here in Lagos, especially for young people because there is no family to watch their steps.”

Like most of those who live under the bridge, he speaks Hausa, the most widely spoken language in the north of Nigeria.
He arrived here from the small town of Zurmi in north-western Zamfara state in 1994 – but all those he made friends with then have either died or have moved back to their hometowns or villages.

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Tukur Garba, who began living under the bridge five years ago, says Mr Sa’adu’s advice has been invaluable and he commands huge respect from those who arrive to try their luck in Nigeria’s economic hub.

The 31-year-old hails down from the far northern state of Katsina, about 1,000km (621 miles) away.
“He is like our elder brother because he has been here for so long. We do need words of wisdom from him because it is easy to get in trouble in Lagos,” he says.

Young men who have turned the bridge into their home look up to Liya’u Sa’adu
The area has now been dubbed “Karkashin Gada”, which in the Hausa language means “Under the Bridge”.

“The people who come here know someone who is already staying here or have a contact who told them about Karkashin Gada,” Mr Sa’adu says.

“When I came here, there were less than 10 people.”

Adamu Sahara, who has lived in an apartment close to Karkashin Gada for more than 30 years, says that homelessness is increasing in Lagos.

“Insecurity [including an insurgency by jihadist groups] and the failing economy has made a lot of people to flee northern Nigeria,” Mr Sahara says.

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“Nigerian leaders have to be aware of what is happening so they can fix the problem because no human being is supposed to sleep under a bridge.”

Karkashin Gada’s longest resident has no plans to return to Zamfara as economic opportunities there remain bleak with kidnapping and banditry on the rise.

This has forced many people to abandon their businesses and farms as they risk being taken hostage by gangs demanding ransom payments.


To make life as comfortable as possible, Mr Sa’adu has acquired a mattress, some bedding, a wooden cabinet and a mosquito net.
He has put the mattress on top of the cabinet, and that is where he sleeps.

 

Mr Sa’adu is among the better-off as some of the other men who live there have no furniture, and share sleeping mats which they roll out on the floor.

Thankfully the risk of theft is minimal as some “residents” of Karkashin Gada are usually around, either working or enjoying their time off.

They all use a nearby public bath and toilet at a cost of 100 naira ($0.06; £0.05) a visit.

Cooking – or lighting fires, even in winter – rarely happens in Karkashin Gada as most of its inhabitants buy food from vendors who sell dishes popular with northerners.

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“This is one of the places in Lagos where you see a large number of people from northern Nigeria so I sell fura [millet flour mixed with fermented milk] here and I am happy to say a lot of people do buy,” food vendor Aisha Hadi said.

During his three decades in Lagos, Mr Sa’adu has progressed from being a shoe-shiner to being a scrap-metal seller – picking up metal from the streets and workshops for a business that sells it on for recycling.

It earns him an average of 5,000 naira ($3; £2) a day, above the extreme poverty threshold of $1.90 a day but barely enough for him to survive.

“Don’t forget I have to also send money to my family back in Zamfara every week, so it is a continuous struggle,” Mr Sa’adu says.

 

Metal scavenger Liyau Sa’adu
Sitting under the bridge, Liya’u Sa’adu breaks up metal that he has collected before he sells it. It is unclear how many people sleep on Lagos’ streets, but non-governmental organisations say they are up to half-a-million.

In the last few months, the Karkashin Gada community has come under heavy pressure from the Lagos state environmental task force. Its officers carry out occasional raids as they say people are living there illegally.

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NDLEA arrests two France-bound Nigerians with 200 cocaine wraps

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested two Nigerians based in Europe with ingested 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46Kg while attempting to travel from Abuja to Paris, France.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the suspects, identified as Aliocus Odife and Sam Blackborn, were arrested on Wednesday, October 28, during the outward clearance of an Air France flight, AF 832, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Babafemi said the suspects, who had returned to Nigeria for holidays, were arrested after body scans confirmed that they had ingested illicit substances.

He said Odife, who lives in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday but was arrested while attempting to return to Europe.

Odife was said to have confessed to ingesting 110 wraps of cocaine, which he subsequently excreted under observation. The drugs weighed 1.901kg.

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The statement partly read,  “Two Europe-based Nigerian ‘businessmen’ who flew home on holiday and attempted to return to Paris, France with their bellies loaded with cocaine have been arrested by operatives of the  NDLEA at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

“The duo, Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were intercepted on Wednesday, 28th October 2026, during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF 832 from Abuja to Paris. Both men have excreted a total of 200 wraps of the Class A drug weighing 3.460 kilogrammes.

“Odife, who claims to live in France where he works in a factory, had arrived in Nigeria for a short holiday on 21st October.

“He was, however, arrested by NDLEA operatives on his return flight a few days later, when he was subjected to a body scan, which confirmed the presence of foreign objects in his stomach.

“Under interview, he admitted to having ingested 110 pellets of cocaine. He was placed under observation during which he excreted all 110 wraps, which tested positive for cocaine with a total weight of 1.901 kilogrammes.”

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Babafemi added that his co-traveller, Blackborn, also tested positive during a body scan and confessed to swallowing 90 wraps of cocaine.

According to the agency, he excreted all the wraps under observation, with the substances weighing 1.559kg.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway arrested a woman, Aisha Isah, with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition

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Relief as suspected Ebola cases in Adamawa tested negative

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said that there are currently no laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola  in Adamawa.

The NCDC had on Saturday said that there were two suspected cases of Ebola in the north-east state, adding that the individuals had been isolated while contact identification was ongoing.

But in a statement on Sunday, the director-general of NCDC, Jide Idris,
said samples collected from the two individuals, who had symptoms suggestive of Ebola, tested negative after two rounds of testing.

“The report was received by the Adamawa State Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) in the early hours of 30 October 2026, following the identification of two individuals presenting with symptoms suggestive of Ebola, requiring further investigation,” the statement reads.

“Hence the alert that was released early this evening. The individuals have been isolated, and appropriate public health measures have been initiated.

“Samples were collected for laboratory testing to establish the cause of the illness. Fortunately, the samples turned out negative for EBV after two rounds of testing.”

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Idris commended the Adamawa health commissioner and his team for their “proactive approach”, adding that the NCDC was working closely with the state government to investigate the report of suspected Ebola cases.

“Currently, there is no laboratory-confirmed Ebola case in Adamawa state,” he said.

“The index case previously confirmed in the Federal Capital Territory remains the only confirmed case reported in Nigeria to date.”

He urged the public to remain calm and avoid sharing unverified information or speculating about the situation.

“The public is encouraged to obtain information from official government and public health communication channels,” he said.

Idris described Ebola as a serious infectious disease that requires prompt identification, appropriate clinical management and effective infection prevention and control measures.

“Anyone experiencing symptoms such as fever, severe weakness, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding, particularly following relevant exposure, should seek immediate medical attention and inform healthcare workers of any relevant travel or contact history,” he said.

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“Individuals should avoid self-medication and follow the advice of healthcare professionals.”

Nigeriaconfirmed its first Ebola case in more than a decade on October 20, after a 42-year-old Swiss woman tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain in Abuja.

The patient, who had travelled from Uganda to Nigeria, was subsequently isolated and treated by Nigerian health workers.

On Monday, the federal governmentevacuated the patient to Switzerland aboard a medical plane.

Her husband, who was identified as a close contact, was also evacuated to Switzerland.

Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, said the patient was clinically much improved, stable, conscious and communicating, with her laboratory test results approaching baseline levels.

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Good morning! Nigerian Newspapers Headlines: 2027: S’West ADC leaders revolt against Atiku

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1. Many leaders of the African Democratic Congress in the South-West have expressed dissatisfaction with what they described as the marginalisation of the party’s structure in the region by the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The ADC leaders, including some state chairmen and governorship candidates, alleged that Atiku had been conducting his political activities in the region through his friends and allies, while leaving the party structure sidelined as presidential campaign activities prepared to gather momentum.

2. A United States federal court has rejected an attempt to obtain discovery from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and DCI Group in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

3. The Zamfara State Commissioner of Police, CP Muhammad Bello, has confirmed the “rescue of three of the six Islamic clerics kidnapped on September 12 while travelling to Talata Mafara, Zamfara State.” Bello gave the confirmation in an interview with select reporters in Gusau. He said the rescue followed a multi-agency collaboration and seamless synergy between the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, the Department of State Services, DSS, and police operatives.

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4. The Grand Patron of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, have set a target of at least 1.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election. According to a statement, the target was announced on Saturday in Osogbo during the inauguration of the movement’s state and local government structures.

5. Nigerians lose no less than N75bn annually to visa application expenses across foreign missions, with rejected Schengen visa applications alone accounting for an estimated €11.5m, equivalent to about N19bn in 2025.
This is according to a visa-cost analysis report obtained by Sunday PUNCH from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

6. With one accord, the governors of Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, and Anambra States yesterday urged the people of the Southeast to avoid political distractions, and vote massively for President Bola Tinubu in next year’s presidential election. Governors Peter Mbah, Hope Uzodimma, Francis Nwifuru and Charles Soludo, said it was necessary for the zone to support Tinubu’s re-election bid to enable him consolidate the gains of his administration’s economic reforms

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7. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said Nigeria’s security challenges predate the administration of President Bola Tinubu, noting that terrorism, insurgency and banditry had been entrenched in the country before 2023 when Tinubu assumed office. He said the country’s security problems were rooted in years of porous borders, illegal arms proliferation, youth unemployment and the spread of extremist ideologies.

8. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike has directed supporters of President Bola Tinubu to deliver their polling unit in the forthcoming 2027 general elections. Addressing the supporters, Wike framed the upcoming general elections as a critical opportunity for residents of the nation’s capital to rectify past electoral missteps and unite under a strategic development banner.

9. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has removed the name of the Kano State governorship candidate of the National Democratic Congress, NDC, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, from its updated list of candidates for the 2027 general elections. A check on the commission’s website shows that the names of Gwarzo and his deputy were conspicuously missing from the updated list.

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10. Four young men have been arrested by the Bauchi State Police Command for allegedly abducting and gang-raping a 12-year-old girl in Sakwa District, Zaki Local Government Area of the state. The suspects were arrested following a complaint by the victim’s 50-year-old father, who reported the incident at the Sakwa Divisional Police Headquarters on Thursday.

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