Headline
Constitution Amendment: PFN Warns NASS Against Islamisation Of Nigeria

Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, has warned the National Assembly against what it called “the islamisation of Nigeria through the backdoor.”
The PFN chairman, Enugu State Chapter, Bishop Giddy Madu, who gave this warning in a statement issued to pressmen in Enugu, said the PFN was aware of a move to smuggle in some amendments into the constitution.
The PFN said: “The attention of Nigerians is called to the dangerous proposals in the Senate and House of Representatives to alter sections 262(1) and 277(1) which provide respectively that, ‘The Sharia Court of Appeal shall, in addition to such other jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by an Act of the National Assembly, exercise such appellate and supervisory jurisdiction in civil proceedings involving questions of Islamic personal law.”
It said this was an amendment to the existing provision that: “The Sharia Court of Appeal of a state shall, in addition to such other jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by the law of the state, exercise such appellate and supervisory jurisdiction in civil proceedings involving questions of Islamic personal law which the court is competent to decide in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.”
According to the Christian group, “The above provisions only permit Islamic Personal Law in civil proceedings. This is clearly defined in Sections 262(1) and (2) and 277(1) and (2). All references under these provisions are to ‘Islamic personal law.
“The proposed amendments elevate Islamic law to the status of ‘a general law. Once the word ‘personal’ is removed from Sections 262 and 277 of the Constitution, it opens the door for ‘the wholesale’ importation of Sharia Law, including Sharia Criminal Law into the FCT or any part of the federation.
“The proposed amendment will give the Sharia Court of Appeal unlimited jurisdiction to entertain all kinds of matters, both civil and criminal, using Islamic Law. It will interfere with the jurisdictions of both the Federal High Court and the State High Courts.”
PFN said the secularity of the Nigerian state as enshrined in the Constitution was sacrosanct and should not be tampered with.
“We vehemently reject the proposed amendment of Sections 266 and 267 of the Constitution, which spelt out the secularity of the nation and freedom of worship. It will lead to a situation where non-Muslims would be tried for Sharia offences.
“Such an amendment will make for an unhealthy breach of the human rights of the people, as the freedom of association of non-Muslims cannot be guaranteed under such circumstances.
“The PFN Enugu State is, therefore, calling on the National Assembly to reject in its entirety the proposed amendment of the sections above to avoid plunging Nigeria into an avoidable crisis.”
(VANGUARD)
Headline
Mosquitoes Discovered In Iceland For First Time

Mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland in a first for the island nation, which has long been one of the world’s mosquito-free places, a researcher told AFP Monday.
Three Culiseta annulata mosquitoes, two females and one male, were sighted around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the capital Reykjavik, according to Matthias Alfredsson, an entomologist at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland.
“They were all collected from wine ropes… aimed at attracting moths,” the researcher said in an email, referring to a method of adding sugar to heated wine and dipping ropes or strips of fabric into the solution, which are then hung outside to entice the sweet-toothed insects.
READ ALSO:Govt Kicks As Controversial Influencer Tagged Lagos Smelly, Mosquito-infested City
Along with Antarctica, Iceland has long been one of the few places on earth without a mosquito population.
“It is the first record of mosquitoes occurring in the natural environment in Iceland. A single Aedes nigripes specimen (arctic mosquito species) was collected many years ago from an airplane at Keflavik airport,” Alfredsson said, adding that “unfortunately, that specimen is lost”.
Their presence could “indicate a recent introduction to the country, possibly via ships or containers”, he said, but further monitoring in spring would be necessary to determine their further spread.
READ ALSO:Teenager Becomes Nigeria’s ‘Vice President For A Day’
Rising temperatures, longer summers, and milder winters, all brought on by climate change, create a more favourable environment for mosquitoes to thrive.
But Alfredsson did not believe that a warmer climate explained the discovery.
The species “appears to be well adapted to colder climates”, which “allows them to withstand long, harsh winters when temperatures drop below freezing”, he said.
He added that its “diverse breeding habitats… further enhances its ability to persist in Iceland’s challenging environment”.
AFP
Headline
Trump Urged Ukraine To Give Up Land In Peace Deal Talks — Official

United State President Donald Trump pressured Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to give up the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace during “tense” talks last Friday in Washington, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
The source added that the talks with Trump were “not easy”, and that diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war felt like they were being “dragged out” and “going in circles”.
Zelensky met Trump at the White House last week, hoping to capitalise on the US leader’s growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to accept a ceasefire.
READ ALSO:Burkina Rejects US Deportees, Calls Trump’s Proposal Indecent
But he instead left empty-handed after Trump — who spoke with Putin the day before — denied his request for long-range Tomahawk missiles and pressured him into making a deal.
When asked if Trump urged Zelensky to pull out of land Ukraine still controlled — one of Putin’s key demands — the Ukrainian official told AFP: “Yes, that’s true.”
Following his meeting with Zelensky, Trump said on social media that their talks were “very interesting and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing and make a DEAL!”
READ ALSO:White House Slams Trump’s Nobel Prize Snub
Trump promised to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion within “24 hours” of his inauguration in January, but has failed to extract any concessions from Putin.
His position on the war has repeatedly shifted following his conversations with both Putin and Zelensky.
AFP
Headline
Voters In Turkish Cyprus Reject Erdogan-backed Leader In Presidential Election

The breakaway territory of northern Cyprus has voted overwhelmingly to replace its outgoing leader, who had the backing of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, election officials said Sunday.
Almost 63 per cent of voters in the territory, whose claim to statehood is recognised only by Turkey, backed former prime minister Tufan Erhurman as next president at the expense of Turkey’s pick, Ersin Tatar, who polled 35 per cent.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Turkish invasion following a coup in Nicosia backed by Greece’s then-military junta eventually led to the creation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983.
READ ALSO:US Imports Eggs From Korea, Turkey To Help Ease Prices
The internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union, controls the island’s majority Greek Cypriot south.
While Tatar has toed the Turkish line of two separate states on Cyprus, Erhurman has indicated he favours a federal state that would include both sides of the island.
Erhurman said there were no losers in the election and that “the Turkish Cypriot people have won together”.
READ ALSO:Turkey Deports 103 Nigerians
“I will exercise my responsibilities, notably in terms of foreign policy, in consultation with the Republic of Turkey,” he said, trying to soothe concerns from Ankara that he may try to break away.
Erdogan congratulated Erhurman in a post on social media, adding that Turkey would “continue to defend the rights and sovereign interests” of the breakaway territory.
The last major round of peace talks to negotiate a settlement to the island’s divided status collapsed in Switzerland in 2017.
The leaders of both sides met in July at the UN headquarters in New York for talks that were hailed as “constructive” by UN chief Antonio Guterres.
AFP
- News4 days ago
Brigadier-General, Other Officers Detained Over Alleged Coup Plot To Overthrow President Tinubu
- Politics5 days ago
Why Wike Is Always Attacking Peter Obi — Obidient Movement
- News4 days ago
Clemency: CSOs Carpet Presidency Over Comment On Ken Saro-Wiwa
- News5 days ago
Drama As Kwara Housewife Faints In Court After Husband Insists On Divorce
- News4 days ago
PSC Promotes Over 400 Officers, Appoints New DIG For North-East
- Sports4 days ago
Edo Sports Commission Boss Charges New Armwrestling Board To Prioritize Accessibility, Sponsorship
- News4 days ago
PHOTOS: Obi Meets Commonwealth Chief In London, Urges Youth Empowerment
- Metro4 days ago
‘My Wife Accused Me Of Dating Other Women, Poured Dry Pepper On Me, My Friends’
- News5 days ago
How To Spot Fraudulent Online Vendors
- Headline4 days ago
Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times