Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, said said the protection of the dignity of all persons, extends to persons arrested or destined  on suspicion of drug related offences as well as convicts .

Ojukwu therefore called on the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, the Nigerian Correctional Centre, NCS, the Police and other related agencies and organisations to work together with NHRC to ensure that policies are further reformed and implemented to eradicate torture and other punitive measures in the enforcement of drug laws.

The NHRC boss stated these on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at a dialogue session organized by the Commission to mark the 2025 World Drug Day with the theme- Protecting Dignity, Advocating Justice: A Joint Dialogue on Drug Policy Reforms and Torture Prevention in Nigeria.

The programme is being attended by the NDLEA, the Nigerian Correctional Service and other stakeholders.

Details later…..

A former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has declared that he may soon dump the Peoples Democratic Party if the cricis in the political organization is not resolved on time.

The ex-governor said there’s a possibility that he would dump the party, where he served as a two-term governor and senator for an alternative party.

Suswam’s comment followed PDP’s fresh conflict after Samuel Anyanwu was reinstated as the party’s national publicity secretary.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Wednesday, Suswam said he’s tired of the lingering crisis in the party.

Asked if he plans to leave the PDP, he said, “There’s a possibility that I will.”

He added that he could move to any alternative party, including the Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

“There is a possibility that I will; there are so many alternatives. There is Labour Party, there’s Alliance for Democracy, there’s NNPP by Kwankwaso.”

Asked if he could join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Suswam said he does not rule out the ruling party, saying “APC can be an alternative.”

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has extended the service year of corps member Rita Ushie, popularly known as Raye on Instagram, by two months for publicly criticising President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Raye, who had just one month left in her service, gained national attention in March after posting a viral video on TikTok lamenting Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions and describing the Tinubu-led government as “terrible.” She also alleged that NYSC officials threatened her and demanded she take down the video.

The incident sparked outrage among civil rights groups and Nigerians who condemned the NYSC’s response as an attack on freedom of expression.

Following the backlash, Raye was summoned by the NYSC Local Government Inspector to the Eti-Osa office in Lagos. However, when she arrived with her legal team and activist Omoyele Sowore, the official who issued the summons was reportedly absent. The matter soon faded from public discourse.

But on June 18, she was again summoned—this time to the NYSC orientation camp in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos—to face a disciplinary panel. After repeated delays and without a formal notice, she was eventually informed that her service year had been extended by two months as a sanction.

Jonathan Ugbal, South-South Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, said Raye was deeply upset by the decision. “Her mother called me, saying she was crying on the phone after being told of the extension. She’s not in the right frame of mind to speak right now,” he told.