The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Wednesday said it will begin screening for over 500 exceptional candidates below 16 years of age seeking admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session between September 22 and 26.
The exercise will be conducted by a special technical committee set up by JAMB, according to resolutions reached during a virtual meeting of members on Wednesday.
Speaking during the meeting, Registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, said three venues have been selected for the screening: Lagos, Abuja, and Owerri.
He said Lagos will host 397 candidates, Owerri 136, and Abuja 66.
Oloyede, who noted that out of 41,027 underage candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), more than 40,000 did not scale the first hurdle, explained that the screening is to ensure that only exceptional and well-prepared underage candidates gain admission.
“People have been doing it in other parts of the world. We are not reinventing the wheel,” he said.
During the meeting, a subcommittee led by Prof. Taoheed Adedoja presented its report on the planned assessment, stating that candidates will face subject-specific tests followed by a brief oral interview.
The committee also resolved to request the result details from the West African Examination Council to verify the eligibility of some shortlisted candidates before they appear for interviews.
Participants in the virtual meeting included heads of tertiary institutions, government agencies, civil society representatives, members of the Nigerian Academy of Education, and the principal of Federal Government Gifted Academy, Suleja.
Recall that out of the 1.955 million candidates who sat for this year’s UTME nationwide, 599 scored above 300 but fell below the minimum admission age of 16, prompting the creation of the screening committee.
The policy aligns with the Ministry of Education’s directive setting 16 as the minimum entry age for tertiary institutions.
The initiative is designed to ensure that candidates admitted are mentally and psychologically prepared for the demands of higher education.
Four universities, the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; University of Jos; and Osun State University, have already informed JAMB that they will not admit underage candidates under any circumstances.
JAMB says the policy will balance academic excellence with cognitive maturity, prevent age falsification, and protect young candidates from undue parental pressure.
The Board is targeting only candidates who score at least 320 in UTME (80%), achieve a minimum of 80% in post-UTME, and secure at least 80% (24/30 points) in a single WAEC or NECO sitting. (Punch)
Tottenham Hotspur, on Wednesday night, lost the 2025 UEFA Super Cup in dramatic fashion, losing Paris Saint-Germain 4–3 on penalties after a pulsating 2–2 draw at the Stadio Friuli.
Thomas Frank’s side appeared to be cruising toward victory when goals from Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero put them 2–0 ahead, only for PSG to mount a stunning late comeback through Lee Kang-in and Gonçalo Ramos.
Spurs struck first just before halftime, Van de Ven reacting quickest amid a goalmouth scramble to fire past debutant PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.
Romero then doubled the advantage early in the second half, towering above the defence to nod home following a poorly handled cross.
PSG looked beaten until the closing minutes, when Lee Kang-in’s precise 85th-minute finish breathed life into Luis Enrique’s side.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Ramos pounced inside the box to level, sparking wild celebrations among the Parisian fans.
Under UEFA rules, the match skipped extra time and went straight to penalties.
Tottenham kept their composure, with Solanke, Bentancur and Dembélé finding the net, while goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made the decisive save to deny Mathys Tel. (Punch)
Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, began their 2025 AfroBasket campaign impressively, defeating Madagascar 77–59 to claim their first victory in their opening Group B match.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports the team thrilled fans at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Luanda, Angola, with an all-round excellent display.
D’Tigers overcame an early scare to secure the win against Southern African side Madagascar.
They led the first quarter 18–14 but lost the second 23–20.
The match was tight at 38–37 midway through when Madagascar mounted a comeback attempt.
The third quarter proved decisive, as Nigeria stretched to a 55–46 lead. By the buzzer, they had extended it to an 18-point victory, 77–59.
Basketball Africa League 2025 winner with Al Ahli Tripoli, Caleb Agada, scored the most points for the 2015 AfroBasket champions.
Agada amassed 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals, recording a game-high efficiency rating of 25.
This was the second AfroBasket meeting between Nigeria and Madagascar since 2011. Then, too, D’Tigers triumphed, with Agada again scoring a game-high 22 points.
Stan Okoye (13 points), captain Ike Nwamu (12) and Kaodirichi Akobundu (10) also played key roles in Nigeria’s success.
Sitraka Raharimanantoanina’s 20 points were crucial for Madagascar but could not prevent Nigeria’s dominant third-quarter performance.
Other Malagasy players in double figures were Kiady Razanamahenina (13 points) and Mathias M’madi (11 points). (Punch)
An Ikeja Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ogba, Lagos, on Wednesday discharged Comfort Emmanson, the passenger accused of unruly behaviour and assault aboard an Ibom Air flight.
Presiding Magistrate Olanrewaju Salami struck out the five-count charge against Emmanson after the police formally withdrew the case.
The charges had alleged that Emmanson disrupted the peace on board the flight, assaulted a crew member, and conducted herself in a manner capable of breaching public order. She had pleaded not guilty at her arraignment.
However, during today’s proceedings, Police Prosecutor Oluwabunmi Adeitan informed the court that the complainant and the airline were no longer interested in pursuing the matter.
She applied for the withdrawal of the case, citing instructions from the police authorities.
Following the application, Magistrate Salami granted the request and ordered Emmanson’s discharge. (Vanguard)
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that Gaza ceasefire efforts are now focused on a comprehensive deal to release all the remaining hostages at once.
The plan previously being pushed was for an initial 60-day truce and partial release of living hostages.
Hamas says a delegation of its leaders is in Cairo for “preliminary talks” with Egyptian officials.
Reports say that mediators see a window of opportunity in the coming weeks to try to push a deal through.
After indirect talks between Israel and Hamas broke down last month, Israel announced a controversial plan to widen its military offensive and conquer all the Gaza Strip – including the areas where most of its two million Palestinian residents have sought refuge.
However, Israeli media do not expect the new operation to begin until October – allowing time for military preparations, including a mass call-up of reservists.
Meanwhile, intense Israeli strikes have continued in Gaza, and the Hamas-run health ministry said at least 123 Palestinians have been killed in the past day.
Witnesses say that Israel has stepped up its attacks on Gaza City in particular with air strikes destroying homes.
Footage shows large explosions caused by the strikes and demolitions in the Zaytoun area, to the east of Gaza City.
Early on Wednesday, al-Shifa Hospital said seven members of one family, five of them children, were killed when tents were targeted in Tel al-Hawa, in the south of the city. Al-Ahli Hospital said 10 people were killed in a strike on a house in the Zaytoun area, to the city’s east.
The Israeli army said it had begun new operations in Zaytoun.
Israeli military chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir also “approved the main framework for the IDF’s operational plan in the Gaza Strip”, a statement released by the army said.
In an interview with the i24News Israeli TV Channel shown on Tuesday, Netanyahu was asked if a partial ceasefire was still possible.
“I think it’s behind us,” he replied. “We tried, we made all kinds of attempts, we went through a lot, but it turned out that they were just misleading us.”
“I want all of them,” he said of the hostages.”The release of all the hostages, both alive and dead – that’s the stage we’re at.”
Palestinian armed groups still hold 50 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war. Israel believes that around 20 of them are still alive.
Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure to secure their release as well as over his plans to expand the war.
Last week, unnamed Arab officials were quoted as saying that regional mediators, Egypt and Qatar, were preparing a new framework for a deal that would involve releasing all remaining hostages at the same time in return for an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
However, this will be difficult to do in a short time frame as Israel is demanding that Hamas give up control of Gaza as well as its weapons.
This is likely to be why, at a news conference on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told journalists that Cairo was still “making great efforts” with Qatar and the US – the other mediators – to revive the earlier phased plan.
“The main goal is to return to the original proposal – a 60-day ceasefire – along with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian prisoners, and the flow of humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza without obstacles or conditions,” Abdelatty said.
The Israeli prime minister says Israel’s goals have not changed. He says that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas surrenders.
Netanyahu has said that, ultimately, Israel must keep open-ended security control over Gaza. (BBC)
The Police Command in Ogun says it has arrested Kadir Owolabi, a motorcycle rider, who was allegedly in possession of three human skulls.
CSP Omolola Odutola, the command’s spokesperson, disclosed this in a statement in Abeokuta on Tuesday.
Odutola said that a search of his luggage by mobile police officers led to the shocking discovery of three human skulls.
She said that the routine stop and search operation was conducted by operatives from 71 PMF, Awa Ijebu, at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, on the Ijebu Ode-Ibadan Expressway at Refugees Camp Junction, Oru Ijebu.
“During the exercise, officers intercepted Kadir Owolabi, who was riding a motorcycle. A search on his luggage led to the shocking discovery of three human skulls.
“Preliminary investigation subsequently led to the arrest of another suspect, Jamiu Yisa, aged 53, behind Ijebu Ode Local Government Secretariat,” she said.
Odutola said that the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, had directed the State Criminal Investigation Department to take over the case for discreet investigations.
The spokesperson added that the command reiterated its commitment to decisive action against crime.
She urged residents to cooperate with the police while assuring members of the public of trust, confidentiality, and identity protection. (Punch)
The Federal Government has announced plans to engage Fuji star, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as KWAM 1, as an ambassador for proper airport security protocol, after the recent controversy over his conduct at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in a statement outlining resolutions to recent cases of unruly behaviour at Nigerian airports. Keyamo said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority had agreed to reduce KWAM 1’s flight ban to one month and would work with the musician to promote awareness on acceptable conduct within the aviation space. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria will lead the engagement process.
“The NCAA is to reduce his flight ban to a one-month period. FAAN will also work with the music star with a view to engaging him as an ambassador for proper airport security protocol going forward. ”Having publicly demonstrated penitence, the NCAA is also to withdraw its criminal complaints against KWAM 1 earlier lodged with the police,” the statement read. The minister added that the decision followed appeals from well-meaning individuals, as well as KWAM 1’s public show of penitence over the August 5 incident in which he allegedly obstructed a ValueJet aircraft’s movement. Keyamo also revealed that the NCAA would withdraw its criminal complaints against the artiste. The development comes days after the musician apologised to the public, insisting the flask he carried on the day of the incident contained water for medical reasons and not alcohol, as was alleged by security personnel.
“The NCAA is to reduce his flight ban to a one-month period. FAAN will also work with the music star with a view to engaging him as an ambassador for proper airport security protocol going forward.
The minister emphasised that the clemency was granted on “compassionate grounds” , warning that the government remained committed to enforcing safety and security laws in the aviation sector. On August 5, KWAM 1 was involved in a confrontation with airline staff and security officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while attempting to board a ValueJet flight to Lagos. He was accused of carrying a prohibited flask believed to contain alcohol, spilling its contents on personnel, and later walking onto the aircraft’s tarmac, allegedly blocking the plane from taxiing. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority described the act as a breach of aviation safety regulations and initially placed him on a six-month no-fly list while filing a criminal complaint with the police. (Punch)
Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died two months after being shot at a campaign rally, his family said Monday, as the attack rekindled fears of a return to the nation’s violent past.
The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital, Bogota, by a suspected 15-year-old hitman.
Despite signs of progress in recent weeks, his doctors on Saturday announced he had suffered a new brain hemorrhage.
“To break up a family is the most horrific act of violence that can be committed,” his widow, Maria Claudia Tarazona, said at his wake Monday, where she thanked her husband’s medical team for their efforts.
She attended the state ceremony at Congress in Bogota, where Uribe’s body will remain for public viewing until Wednesday.
Authorities have arrested six suspects linked to the attack, including the alleged shooter, who was captured at the scene by Uribe’s bodyguards.
Following a nationwide manhunt, police announced the arrest of an alleged mastermind behind the attack, Elder Jose Arteaga Hernandez, alias “El Costeno.”
Police have also pointed to a dissident wing of the defunct FARC guerrilla group as being behind the assassination.
The attack on Uribe, a leading candidate ahead of the 2026 presidential election, has reopened old wounds in a country wracked by violence.
His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in a botched 1991 police operation to free her from cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel.
Four presidential candidates were assassinated during the worst phase of violence in the 1980s and 1990s under Escobar, who terrorized citizens of Bogota, Medellin, and elsewhere with a campaign of bombings.
Writing on X, left-wing President Gustavo Petro, of whom Uribe was a fierce critic, said the government’s role was to “repudiate crime… regardless of ideology” and assured the safety of Colombians was his top priority.
“Today is a sad day for the country,” Vice President Francia Marquez said on social media
“Violence cannot continue to mark our destiny. Democracy is not built with bullets or blood; it is built with respect, with dialogue.”
Uribe had fiercely criticized Petro’s strategy of “total peace,” based on engaging all of Colombia’s remaining armed groups, including drug traffickers, in dialogue.
He announced in October that he would seek to succeed the term-limited Petro in the May 2026 election.
Uribe was elected to Bogota’s city council at age 26, later becoming its youngest-ever chairperson and then the mayor’s right-hand man.
In 2019, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Bogota, but three years later, he was elected a senator — receiving the most votes of any candidate in the country.
He took a seat with the conservative Democratic Center party, founded by former president Alvaro Uribe, no relation.
“Evil destroys everything, they killed hope. May Miguel’s struggle be a light that illuminates Colombia’s rightful path,” former president Uribe wrote on X.
In recent months, Petro, a former left-wing guerrilla, has been accused of dialing up the political temperature by labelling his right-wing opponents “Nazis.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a frequent critic of the leftist Petro government, demanded justice following the announcement of Uribe’s death.
“The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible,” Rubio said.
Uribe leaves behind a young son and three teenage daughters of his wife, whom he had taken in as his own. (Punch)
The death of the prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, prompted condemnation from around the world, as hundreds of mourners carried their bodies through the streets of Gaza City.
Sharif, one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable faces in Gaza, was killed while inside a tent for journalists outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night. Seven people were killed in the attack, including the Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and the camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.
On Monday, the Guardian visited the site where the journalists were killed. Wadi Abu al-Saud, a Palestinian journalist who was near the tent when the Israeli strike occurred on Sunday, said the attack happened at 11.22pm, just after he had finished filming his latest news bulletin.
“I entered the tent opposite theirs, raised my phone to make a call, and then the explosion occurred, Saud said. “A piece of shrapnel hit my phone. I looked back and saw people burning in flames. I tried to extinguish them. Anas and the others had died instantly from the strike.”
In two videos of the aftermath of the strike, Saud can be seen carrying the bodies of those killed. “From now on, I will not continue the coverage,” he said. “I will return to my life as a citizen. The truth has died and the coverage has ended.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted carrying out the attack, claiming Sharif was the leader of a Hamas cell responsible for rocket attacks against Israel – an allegation that Al Jazeera and Sharif had previously dismissed as baseless.
It was the first time during the war that Israel’s military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike.
Pro-Israel advocates on social media hailed the killing of Sharif and posted photos handed out by the IDF of photos the journalist took with the former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, taken before Hamas’s attack on 7 October.
Sara Qudah, the Middle East and north Africa director at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said: “Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom.”
In July, Sharif told CPJ that he lived with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment”.
In July, Sharif told CPJ that he lived with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment”.
Reporters Without Borders condemned the “acknowledged murder by the Israeli army” of Sharif in Gaza and called on the international community to intervene.
Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said: “We are gravely concerned by the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza. Reporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law and journalists must be able to report independently without fear, and Israel must ensure journalists can carry out their work safely.”
The UN human rights office condemned the targeting of the journalists’ tent, saying it was “in grave breach of international humanitarian law”.
Al Jazeera said the attack was “a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza” and called Sharif “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists”.
People gathered at Sheikh Radwan cemetery in the heart of the Gaza Strip to mourn the journalists, whose bodies lay wrapped in white sheets at al-Shifa hospital before their burial. Friends, colleagues and relatives embraced and consoled one another.
The area where the attack took place was crowded with media workers on Monday, some speaking to cameras or mobile phones, others taking photos.
Islam al-Za’anoun, a news correspondent for Palestine TV and several Arab channels who participated in the funeral, said Sunday’s attack was “a turning point in the world of journalism”.
She said: “Despite all the threats he received and the Israeli media’s incitement against him, al-Sharif continued reporting. Now one question haunts me: Who will be next on the list? Will it be me?”
Bilal Abu Khalifa, a presenter at Al Jazeera, said he had met Sharif four days ago. “He told me he was in danger,” Abu Khalifa said. “I asked him not to go out or appear publicly too often. He gave me a very simple answer: Bilal, I will not leave Gaza except to the sky! I will not leave Gaza even if I am killed. I know I am on the assassination list, but I will continue to expose the crimes of the Israeli army against my people and show the world, and everyone who stands by them, the truth.”
In a final message, which Al Jazeera said had been written on 6 April and which was posted to Sharif’s X account after his death, the reporter said he had “lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification.”
He continued: “Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.”
After the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, Israel barred international journalists from entering Gaza – one of the rare moments when international reporters have been denied access to an active war zone. Since then, the task of documenting the war has fallen heavily on Palestinian journalists, often at the cost of their lives – themselves caught in its devastation, displaced multiple times, their homes reduced to rubble, friends and relatives killed, and at times queueing for food at perilous distribution points.
According to Gaza’s government media office, 238 journalists have been killed by Israel since the war started. CPJ said at least 186 journalists had been killed in the Gaza conflict. Israel denies deliberately targeting journalists.
In a report released this year, the Watson School of International and Public Affairs’ costs of war project said more journalists had been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam war, the wars in Yugoslavia and the US war in Afghanistan combined. (Guardian)
Female passenger, Comfort Emmanson, who assaulted Ibom Air’s crew and clashed with airport security at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos has been charged to court.
Mr Tunde Moshood, Spokesperson to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, disclosed this on X.
Moshood also said she has been remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos.
He stated: “The more reason the flying public should be more careful, the unruly passenger on Uyo-Lagos bound Ibom Air, Miss Comfort Emmanson has been charged to court and she’s now cooling off in Kirikiri.”
Vanguard reports that Emmanson, on an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos assaulted the airline’s crew and clashed with airport security at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Sunday.
Confirming the development, the airline said shortly before take-off from Uyo, Emmanson was instructed to switch off her mobile phone, but she refused.
According to the airline, she refused to comply until the pilot-in-command made an announcement, after which a fellow passenger seated beside her took the phone and switched it off.
The statement reads: “This action prompted a verbal tirade from Emmanson. The situation was eventually calmed, and the flight departed as scheduled.
“Upon arrival in Lagos, Emmanson waited for all other passengers to disembark and then proceeded to confront the purser who had earlier instructed her. She walked up to the unsuspecting purser, stepped on her, forcibly tore off her wig, removed her glasses and threw them to the floor, and used her footwear to assault her. She slapped her several times, and when the other cabin crew member tried to intervene, she slapped her too. She then attempted to forcibly remove a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon, an act that could have damaged and grounded the aircraft.
Moshood also said she has been remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos.
He stated: “The more reason the flying public should be more careful, the unruly passenger on Uyo-Lagos bound Ibom Air, Miss Comfort Emmanson has been charged to court and she’s now cooling off in Kirikiri.”
Vanguard reports that Emmanson, on an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos assaulted the airline’s crew and clashed with airport security at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Sunday.
Confirming the development, the airline said shortly before take-off from Uyo, Emmanson was instructed to switch off her mobile phone, but she refused.
According to the airline, she refused to comply until the pilot-in-command made an announcement, after which a fellow passenger seated beside her took the phone and switched it off.
The statement reads: “This action prompted a verbal tirade from Emmanson. The situation was eventually calmed, and the flight departed as scheduled.
“Upon arrival in Lagos, Emmanson waited for all other passengers to disembark and then proceeded to confront the purser who had earlier instructed her. She walked up to the unsuspecting purser, stepped on her, forcibly tore off her wig, removed her glasses and threw them to the floor, and used her footwear to assault her. She slapped her several times, and when the other cabin crew member tried to intervene, she slapped her too. She then attempted to forcibly remove a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon, an act that could have damaged and grounded the aircraft.
“By this time, the Pilot-in-Command had alerted airport security. Before security could arrive, the purser, as seen in the viral video on the internet, prevented the passenger from leaving the aircraft until security arrived. The arrival of Ibom Air Security personnel did not deter the passenger, as she attacked them as well, lashing out violently at both Ibom Air and FAAN security. She was then restrained and removed from the aircraft by force. Even after disembarking, she continued to assault both Ibom Air and FAAN security staff and even slapped the ground supervisor.
“The passenger was removed from the ramp and taken into custody by FAAN security and handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
“Ibom Air has since submitted a report on the incident to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and placed a travel restriction on Emmanson, who will no longer be permitted to fly on any of our aircraft.” (Vanguard)
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