By: Abudu Olalekan A routine family trip to Walmart ended with immigration agents taking Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo into custody while her six-year-old daughter sat in the car. That was on July 11, outside a store near Fort Bliss, Texas. Villafranca-Trejo has since been deported to Honduras, leaving her husband, Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez,…
By: Abudu Olalekan It was supposed to be a panel discussion. Lawyers, policy talk, a bit of intellectual back and forth. Instead, Port Harcourt got a shouting match. The Nigerian Bar Association’s annual conference in Rivers State turned into something closer to a campaign rally gone wrong on Monday, as three men chasing the same…
By: Abudu Olalekan Ijebuland has been without a king since July 2025. That’s a long time for a throne that mattered so much, to so many, for 65 straight years. Now the matter has landed in court. The Fusengbuwa Ruling House in Ijebu-Ode has sued Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and five…
By: Abudu Olalekan Somewhere out there, a stranger clicks a link on Telegram. The page looks clean. Says it’s raising money for orphans, or maybe school fees for displaced kids up North. He donates $100. Feels good about it too. That money, according to Nigeria’s Financial Intelligence Unit, may well end up buying fuel for…
By: Abudu Olalekan A routine family trip to Walmart ended with immigration agents taking Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo into custody while her six-year-old daughter sat in the car. That was on July 11, outside a store near Fort Bliss, Texas. Villafranca-Trejo has since been deported to Honduras, leaving her husband, Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez,…
By: Abudu Olalekan It was supposed to be a panel discussion. Lawyers, policy talk, a bit of intellectual back and forth. Instead, Port Harcourt got a shouting match. The Nigerian Bar Association’s annual conference in Rivers State turned into something closer to a campaign rally gone wrong on Monday, as three men chasing the same…
By: Abudu Olalekan Ijebuland has been without a king since July 2025. That’s a long time for a throne that mattered so much, to so many, for 65 straight years. Now the matter has landed in court. The Fusengbuwa Ruling House in Ijebu-Ode has sued Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Awujale kingmakers and five…
By: Abudu Olalekan Somewhere out there, a stranger clicks a link on Telegram. The page looks clean. Says it’s raising money for orphans, or maybe school fees for displaced kids up North. He donates $100. Feels good about it too. That money, according to Nigeria’s Financial Intelligence Unit, may well end up buying fuel for…
By: Abudu Olalekan Veteran Nollywood actor and filmmaker Taiwo Hassan, better known as Ogogo, has reportedly died after a battle with stage-four cancer. His daughter, Kira Hassan, announced the news during an emotional Instagram Live session on Sunday. “My daddy is dead. I can’t believe it,” she said. Entertainment platform Emiralty Africa also shared a…
By: Abudu Olalekan At a church event in Lagos yesterday, former Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola told Nigerians that faith must not be a reason for them to turn against each other. The senior lawyer called for religious tolerance and mutual respect, saying religion should unite people rather than divide them. A statement released on…
