1. Boko Haram terrorists who abducted pupils and teachers from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have been trapped inside the Oyo National Park, 36 days after the May 15 attacks, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

It was gathered that the terrorists, who are members of Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad, which is the formal name of Boko Haram, have intensified efforts to frustrate the rescue operation by planting Improvised Explosive Devices and frequently changing locations within the forest

2. The Indigenous People of Biafra on Friday threatened disciplinary action against members it accused of undermining the authority of its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, amid efforts to resolve a growing leadership dispute within the organisation. In a statement issued by its Spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the group warned that any member or faction acting contrary to Kanu’s directives or the organisation’s Code of Conduct would face sanctions.

3. The Federal Government is considering a new initiative that would allow journalists to accompany military personnel during selected operations. This was said to be in a bid to improve security reporting and give the public greater insight into the realities of counterinsurgency and other internal security efforts. The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, disclosed the plan at an event in Abuja.

4. The Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory Command, CP Ahmed Sanusi, has directed all 17 Divisional Police Officers under the Metro Area Command to end robbery and related criminal activities within the city centre within two weeks. Sanusi gave the directive on Friday during a meeting with the DPOs convened to review the prevailing security situation and strengthen operational strategies across the command.

5. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday granted a six-month tenure extension to the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, who disclosed this in a statement, said the 6 – month extension is the final for Adeniyi.

6. A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two women linked to slain terrorist kingpin, Kachallah Ibrahim Battujo, to 20 years imprisonment each for terrorism-related offences. The convicts, Safiya Salihu and Halima Abdullahi, are the mother and sister, respectively, of Battujo, who was killed by Nigerian security forces on June 10, 2026, during an operation near Iluke in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

7. The military has announced that troops operating across multiple theatres of operation nationwide in the past one week neutralised 15 terrorists, arrested 28 suspects and rescued 25 kidnapped victims in coordinated counter-terrorism and anti-crime operations. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja, disclosed this on Friday while giving an update on ongoing military operations across the country.

8. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate and permanent reinforcement of security at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Plateau State, following a recent bandit attack on the institution’s perimeter that claimed the lives of two soldiers and a police officer. The President conveyed the directive through Vice President Kashim Shettima during a visit to participants of the Senior Executive Course, SEC, 48 at the institute on Friday.

9. The All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC),Peoples Democratic  Party (PDP)  and 12 other parties are expectant of a massive turnout today in the Ekiti State off-cycle governorship election in what observers see as a dress rehearsal  for  next year’s polls. Over one million voters are registered   to participate in the election across the 177 wards and 2,445 polling units in  the state to  elect their governor  for  the next four years

10. A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has convicted and sentenced a woman, Raya Haruna, to ten years imprisonment for transporting arms and ammunition to bandits operating in some part of Northern Nigeria.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Simon Amobeda, delivered the judgment on Friday after finding the defendant guilty on a three-count charges bordering on the unlawful transportation of firearms and the provision of logistical support to criminal elements

A federal high court in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT) has sentenced two relatives of Kachallah Ibrahim Battujo,  bandit leader killed by security forces, to 20 years imprisonment each for aiding terrorism and concealing information about his activities.

Justice Hauwa Yilwa, presiding judge, handed down the sentences on Friday after the defendants, Safiya Salihu and Halima Abdullahi, pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges filed against them by the office of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF).

The Department of State Services (DSS) arrested the women following investigations into the activities of Battujo, who was killed by security forces on June 10 during an operation in a forest near Iluke in Kabba/Bunu LGA of Kogi state.

The convicts are Battujo’s mother and sister.

During the proceedings, Rotimi Oyedepo, director of public prosecutions of the federation, applied to withdraw two of the five counts against the defendants.

The charges alleged that the women received N490,300 from Battujo despite knowing the money was linked to terrorism.

The duo were also accused of accepting sponsorship from him for the hajj pilgrimage using funds suspected to be proceeds of terrorist activities.

The prosecution asked the court to strike out the counts and convict the defendants on the remaining charges to which they had pleaded guilty.

One of the charges stated that the women aided and abetted the activities of Battujo by passing information to him through telephone conversations.

The court also found them guilty of concealing information that could have assisted security agencies in apprehending the bandit leader.

According to the prosecution, one of the women failed to report knowledge of Battujo’s activities to law enforcement authorities, while the other withheld information after visiting his forest camp and seeing him in possession of firearms.

Justice Yilwa sentenced each defendant to 20 years imprisonment on the counts to which they pleaded guilty.

The judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently and directed that the convicts undergo rehabilitation after serving their prison terms.

Battujo was among the bandit leaders operating across parts of north-west and north-central Nigeria before he was killed in a military operation earlier this month.

The Central Bank of Nigeria Nigeria (CBN) has said that banks and their customers lost a combined N134.48bn to fraud between 2020 and 2025 amid a significant expansion in digital payments and financial technology adoption across the country.

This was according to a data contained in the CBN’s Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028 document.

The document, according to a report by The PUNCH, showed that attempted fraud across the banking and payments ecosystem amounted to N187.79bn during the six-year period, while actual losses stood at N134.48bn.

The losses were recorded across multiple payment channels, including over-the-counter transactions, Automated Teller Machines, cheques, e-commerce platforms, Internet banking, mobile banking, Point of Sale terminals, web channels and other electronic payment platforms, highlighting the growing challenge of safeguarding Nigeria’s increasingly digital financial system.

An analysis of the data showed that fraud losses increased steadily from N11.61bn in 2020 to N12.77bn in 2021 and N14.32bn in 2022. The figure rose further to N17.67bn in 2023 before surging dramatically to N52.26bn in 2024, the highest annual loss recorded within the six-year period.

The 2024 figure alone accounted for nearly 39 per cent of the total N134.48bn lost between 2020 and 2025, showing the scale of the fraud challenge faced by banks, payment service providers and customers.

Similarly, attempted fraud climbed from N13.26bn in 2020 to N14.48bn in 2021, N16.41bn in 2022 and N19.72bn in 2023 before jumping to N86.36bn in 2024. However, both attempted fraud and actual losses declined in 2025, falling to N37.57bn and N25.85bn, respectively. The report attributed the sharp rise in fraud losses in 2024 largely to a major internal fraud case involving N30bn.

According to the document, “Fraud amounts in Internet Banking, Mobile, and POS channels declined, yet overall losses rose by 196 per cent, primarily due to a major internal case involving N30bn. Web fraud incidents also increased by 169 per cent.”

The apex bank noted that the trend demonstrated how a single large-scale fraud incident could significantly distort industry-wide loss figures despite improvements in several digital payment channels.

Before the 2024 spike, the report showed that fraud patterns had evolved across different payment platforms.

In 2021, web-based fraud declined by 43 per cent, but losses still increased because of a 276 per cent rise in Point of Sale fraud incidents. In 2022, fraud losses rose by 12 per cent, driven largely by major fraud incidents affecting corporate accounts, while ATM fraud surged by more than 2,000 per cent despite declines in mobile, POS and web channels.

The report further revealed that fraud losses in 2023 increased by 23 per cent, largely due to an explosion in e-commerce-related fraud cases. “Fraud losses rose by 23 per cent, largely due to a spike in e-Commerce incidents, which escalated by 1,961 per cent. Mobile, POS, and Web channels recorded moderate increases,” the CBN stated.

Despite the persistent fraud threat, the regulator said the industry recorded a notable improvement in 2025 following stricter controls and enhanced collaboration among stakeholders.

The document stated, “In 2025, electronic payment fraud declined by 51 per cent, demonstrating the success of stricter regulations, increased industry cooperation, enhanced prevention strategies, and improved monitoring.”

It added that the Central Bank of Nigeria, working alongside industry stakeholders, had strengthened oversight and introduced collaborative safeguards aimed at reducing vulnerabilities across payment platforms.

The findings come as Nigeria experiences an unprecedented shift towards electronic payments, with instant transfers, mobile banking, fintech applications and digital wallets becoming central to daily commercial activities.

In the foreword to the Payments System Vision 2028 document, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said Nigeria’s payments ecosystem had evolved into one of the most dynamic and innovative in the world over the past decade, driven by real-time payments, digital adoption and fintech-led transformation.

Cardoso said the country had recorded significant growth in electronic payments and digital financial services under the previous Payments System Vision 2025 framework but stressed that the next phase would require stronger resilience and coordination as the system continued to expand.

The CBN acknowledged that while digitalisation has improved financial inclusion and lowered transaction costs, it has also created new risks that require stronger cybersecurity measures, consumer protection mechanisms and fraud-monitoring systems.

Under the new Payments System Vision 2028, the regulator plans to prioritise security, trust, innovation, interoperability, inclusion and collaboration as guiding principles for the next stage of payments system development. The framework also seeks to strengthen regulatory oversight, improve cyber resilience and deploy emerging technologies to combat increasingly sophisticated fraud threats.