News

SERAP, NGE make case for press freedom

Published

3 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Preport

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) have called on the Federal Government and state governors to ensure press freedom and protection of journalists.

This is contained in a statement jointly signed and issued by Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP Deputy Director and Onuoha Ukeh, General Secretary, NGE, in Abuja.

They also called on the need to urgently bring to an end the escalating insecurity in the country.

The groups said, “As the international community marks World Press Freedom Day tomorrow, (SERAP) and Nigeria Guild of Editors are calling on the government of President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s state governors and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory to ensure press freedom, protection of journalists and urgently bring an end to the escalating insecurity and widespread human rights violations across several parts of northern Nigeria, including in Benue State, Plateau State, Borno State, Sokoto State, and Kwara State.

“We note that protecting journalists and safeguarding information integrity are central drivers of peace, security, and democratic stability.”

According to them, any credible peace, recovery, or security strategy must integrate information integrity and support for free, independent, and pluralistic media alongside humanitarian, institutional, and economic responses.

“The erosion of independent journalism and civic information ecosystems directly contributes to governance breakdown. When journalism is weakened through intimidation, repression, or impunity for attacks against media professionals, corruption thrives, accountability declines, and misinformation expands,” they said.

They said that in such environments, information violence often preceded physical violence, further deepening insecurity and undermining public trust in state institutions.

The group added that strengthening media freedom, protecting journalists and ensuring access to reliable information were essential components of any sustainable response to insecurity in Nigeria.

According to the groups, the measures are critical not only for documenting violations but also for preventing them, ensuring accountability, and supporting early warning mechanisms in conflict-affected communities.

They stated, “We reiterate that efforts to address insecurity and human rights violations in Nigeria must include concrete commitments to protect journalists.

“We also strengthen media institutions, and safeguard the free flow of credible information as an indispensable foundation for accountability, peace, and democratic resilience.”

The group noted that that the UNESCO theme for the 2026 World Press Freedom Day Conference was entitled “Shaping a Future of Peace.”

They said this underscored the centrality of a free, independent, and viable media ecosystem to peace, security, and sustainable development.

They stated, “The conference highlights that protecting journalists and safeguarding information integrity are not peripheral concerns, but core drivers of peace and security.

“We are seriously concerned about the scale and persistence of killings, abductions, sexual violence, forced displacement, and destruction of property and the deepening governance and accountability crisis.

“We are concerned that thousands of people have been unlawfully killed and millions displaced in several parts of northern Nigeria, alongside ongoing patterns of attacks on rural communities, abductions, and grave abuses against women and children.

“These trends reflect systemic failures to prevent foreseeable harm, protect communities, identify and prosecute the perpetrators and their sponsors, and ensure access to justice and effective remedies to victims.

“These grave human rights violations and failures constitute serious breaches of Nigeria’s obligations under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.”

The groups said the humanitarian consequences remained severe as communities were destroyed, livelihoods lost, and victims left without effective remedies.

They added, “The persistence of impunity continues to erode public trust and weaken democratic governance.”

(NAN)

Related Topics:case freedom NGE press SERAP

Up Next

John Terry roasts Arteta after Thiago Silva wins league at 41

Don't Miss

Troops killed several terrorists in nationwide operations, nabbed suspects: Army

Click to comment

Business

How NDLEA intercepts Chinese grandma with 31.0Kg of drug consignment at Lagos airport

Published

55 minutes ago

May 24, 2026

Preport

913e4fc6 b1d0 4a7b a200 9a35b8a8d82e.jpeg

BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—-A 63-year-old Chinese grandma Ting Hung Kiong has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) following her attempt to smuggle large consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis into Nigeria.

The female Chinese national who naturalised in Malaysia was arrested on Sunday 17th May 2026 upon her arrival in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai, UAE, aboard an Emirates Airline flight. She was intercepted by NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

Investigation revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria via the UAE with two large travel boxes containing the synthetic cannabis consignment weighing 31.0 kilograms.

During an interview, the 63-year-old suspect who claims she works as a caregiver in Malaysia stated that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria.

She further disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand, before she was handed the illicit consignment at the Thailand airport to deliver in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, another major shipment of illicit drug consignment has been recovered at the import shed of the Lagos airport. Following close monitoring of the consignment by NDLEA operatives since its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, the 29 large cartons containing One Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ten (1,825,710) tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, worth Two Billion, One Hundred and Ninety Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-Two Thousand Naira (N2,190,852,000) were eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Customs Service on Friday 22nd May 2026.

In another successful interdiction operation, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu on Wednesday 20th May intercepted a suspect Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. When placed under observation, the suspect excreted a total of 185.36 grams of cocaine.

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide was on Wednesday 21st May arrested by NDLEA operatives while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan Malpensa, Italy.

A search conducted on his luggage led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg; Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg. The opioids were concealed using foil paper and hidden inside a carton, in a suitcase, obviously to evade detection.

In yet another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) concealed in bicycle luggage carrier heading to Netherlands; 66 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden in soap container going to the United States and 18 tablets of tramadol 225mg concealed in body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.

In Edo state, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided Igwe community in Owan East LGA where a total of 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and cannabis seeds weighing 9kg were recovered.

While a suspect Isah Sani, 30, was nabbed with 196,000 pills of exol-5 on Wednesday 20th May along Zaria/Kano road, Kano state, NDLEA officers at Seme border, Badagry area of Lagos recovered 59kg skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry on Tuesday 19th May.

Another operational success was recorded in Ekiti state where NDLEA operatives on Saturday 23rd May raided a warehouse located at N/56, Ikoyi community, Ikole-Ekiti and recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk, while 54-year-old suspect Ogundana Adebayo Julius was arrested in connection with the seizure.

With the same zeal, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.

These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Command Day School, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo state; Girls Secondary School, Amenyi, Anambra; Matazu Model Primary School, Matazu LGA, Katsina; C&S Primary School, Majidun, Ikorodu, Lagos; Alufo High School, Apugo, Enugu; Aramoko District Commercial Secondary School, Aramoko Ekiti; and Government Girls Secondary School, Kurna, Kano state, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme, and Kano Commands as well as those of DOGI for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) noted their drug supply reduction efforts balanced with WADA sensitization activities while he charged them and their compatriots across the country to continue to raise the operational bar.

The post How NDLEA intercepts Chinese grandma with 31.0Kg of drug consignment at Lagos airport appeared first on Business Today NG.

News

Xreal, Google’s smartglasses partner, thinks it has finally mastered this notoriously tricky industry

Published

56 minutes ago

May 24, 2026

Preport

The smart glasses industry has long been a tortured dream of Silicon Valley. The premise is appealing enough: What if, to enjoy the benefits of mobile computing, people didn’t have to stare at their phones all day long and could, instead, simply wear a lightweight computing device on their face? Science fiction fans (a demographic that is strong in the tech industry) can see this vision perfectly.

However, the industry has — for much of the last decade — resembled a financial black hole into which gargantuan investments have been sunk and from which little to no profit has ever emerged.

“Everybody’s losing money,” said Chi Xu, the founder and CEO of the smart glasses company Xreal, which is a longtime partner of Google. I met Xu at Google’s I/O conference in Mountain View last week, where he was promoting Xreal’s Project Aura. That’s its latest effort to create a set of functional XR glasses that people actually want to use.

“That’s because it’s very hard, what we’re doing,” he said.

For much of the industry’s existence, the problems of smart glasses have seemed somewhat obvious: bulky, uncomfortable, and socially awkward form factor, paired with negligibly beneficial software. Now, however, industry insiders — including Xu — feel like their business has turned a corner and may be reaching an inflection point.

That supposed inflection point has something to do with Meta, whose 2023 partnership with Ray-Ban launched one of the first lines of models that has actually managed to sell a lot of units. (It’s worth noting, however, that the division responsible for the glasses, Reality Labs, still operates at a massive loss.)

Now, as form factors shrink and software improves, Xu feels that Xreal can finally become a leader in the space. “You need all the key pieces ready — you need the hardware ready, the operating system needs to be ready, and then you need a great user interface,” Xu said.

Xreal’s newest model Aura is wired smart glasses that have OLED displays embedded within them, meaning that you can watch high-resolution videos within the frames themselves. Somewhat awkwardly, Aura comes tethered to a “puck” — essentially a phone-shaped mini-computer that powers the experience behind the glasses. When using it, you can ostensibly just slip it into your pocket.

But in exchange for the awkwardness of the puck, the user gets a wider variety of fun experiences with the glasses, including an immersive Google Maps app, VR YouTube videos, and a “painting app” that lets you — via the powers of hand tracking — create holographic imagery that only you can see. There are also reportedly games, playable (again) via hand tracking, and basic web surfing functionality.

“Whether you are following a floating recipe while cooking, setting up a private workspace at a coffee shop or on a flight, or watching a movie on a virtual big screen at home, the experience is seamless,” the company promises.

Xu also says that he imagines the device being used not just by the casual consumer but by professionals as well. “It’s not just about watching the NBA game in a hologram type of format, you could also go to a coffee shop and do some work,” he said.

Currently, the glasses are only available for developers, but the plan is for them to launch commercially later this year. Xreal is also working on an IPO that is expected to take place before 2026 is over, although Xu declined to say much about it.

In the meantime, the company is working on that whole turning-a-profit thing. Xu notes that his company has been raising its gross margin while lowering its costs for marketing and sales. “Next year is the year when we could actually break even,” he says.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.