Nigerian govt charges Sowore, Facebook, X with cybercrimes over anti-Tinubu posts

 

The Nigerian government has charged Sahara Reporters publisher and activist Omoyele Sowore alongside Facebook and X owners with cybercrimes over Mr Sowore’s recent posts describing President Bola Tinubu as a criminal.

The trio were charged jointly with five counts of cybercrimes at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.

It came about a week after the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s secret police, threatened both X Incorp and Meta (Facebook) Incorp to delete Mr Sowore’s posts and deactivate his account or face the consequences.

SSS, which has a history of arresting and instigating the prosecution of Mr Sowore over his public views, also warned the activist to delete his latest social media posts calling Mr Tinubu a criminal.

Mr Sowore wrote to both X Incorp and Meta Incorp to defend his post, informing them that the call by the SSS was the latest in a series of harassments, rights violations, mistreatments he has received from the government over his public views and civic actions.

He also replied to the SSS, insisting he would not delete the posts.

Mr Sowore shared copies of the charges via his social media accounts on Tuesday.

He wrote, “The State Security Service, alias @OfficialDSSNG today filed a 5-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against ‘X’ (formerly Twitter Facebook, and myself. They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have somehow committed a set of “novel” offences they invented and spread across five counts.

“It’s hard to believe there’s anyone sensible left in these offices that should be making Nigeria work. Regardless, I will be present whenever this case is assigned for trial. #RevolutionNow.”

By Yakubu Mohammed, Premium Times

Starlink hits capacity in Nigeria’s largest cities, raising questions about Musk’s Africa ambitions

 

Elon Musk’s Starlink has stopped accepting new orders in some of Nigeria’s busiest urban hubs after its satellite internet network hit capacity, putting a spotlight on the challenges of scaling in Africa’s largest market.

In some locations in Nigeria's commercial nerve center such as Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Ikeja and Surulere, as well as the nation's capital Abuja, Starlink’s website now displays “Sold Out” notices.

Prospective customers are pushed onto a waitlist and asked to pay a deposit before they can be notified when slots reopen.

A subscription attempt at a popular estate in Lagos’s Maryland area returned the message: “Starlink service is currently at capacity in your area. The good news is you can place a deposit now to reserve a spot on the waitlist and will be notified once service becomes available again.”

"Please note that we cannot provide an estimated timeframe for service availability, but our teams are working as quickly as possible to add more capacity to the constellation so we can continue to expand coverage for more customers around the world."


A network under strain?

A Starlink engineer told TechCabal that the company occasionally halts new activations to safeguard service quality for existing users.

Adding capacity typically requires either fresh satellite launches or regulatory approval to expand coverage.

However, this isn’t the first disruption. Starlink froze all new orders across Nigeria in late 2024, citing bandwidth shortages and pending approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), especially over pricing changes. Service only resumed mid-2025 after upgrades and regulatory clearance.

The company’s rising costs haven’t helped. Starlink’s monthly fee has climbed from about ₦38,000 ($25) at launch to ₦56,000 ($37) this year, a jump the company attributes to naira devaluation and compliance costs.

The hikes triggered customer backlash and slowed growth.

NCC data shows Starlink lost more than 6,000 active users in Q1 2025, dropping from 65,564 in Q4 2024 to 59,509. It was the first quarterly decline since launch, as some Nigerians abandoned the service for cheaper alternatives or dropped internet subscriptions altogether.

Musk’s Africa expansion faces real-world challenges

The network crunch in Nigeria raises questions about Elon Musk’s broader ambition to expand Starlink into every African market.

While the billionaire entrepreneur has pitched Starlink as a solution to poor connectivity across the continent, Nigeria’s experience highlights the logistical and regulatory hurdles of scaling in fast-growing but economically strained markets.

If capacity is already overstretched in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and one of Starlink’s early adopters, analysts say rolling out service continent-wide will require not only more satellites and ground stations but also stronger engagement with regulators to manage pricing, infrastructure demands, and bandwidth allocation.

In July, Starlink expanded into Chad, becoming its 24th African market. Still, Musk’s goal of blanket coverage across the continent remains distant, with Nigeria emerging as both a key testing ground and a cautionary tale


Global strains visible too

Starlink’s challenges are not confined to Africa. On Monday, the satellite network experienced a brief outage in the United States, with more than 43,000 users reporting problems at its peak, according to tracking site Downdetector.com.

The disruption, later resolved, highlighted the pressures facing the service even in mature markets.

Reuters reports that Starlink’s website initially displayed a notice confirming the outage, saying its team was investigating, before removing the message once connectivity was restored.

The episode underscores a growing reality for Musk’s satellite internet venture: from Nigeria’s congested urban hubs to American suburbs, scaling a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to meet surging demand is proving more difficult than the company’s global ambitions might suggest.

By Soloman Ekanem, Business Insider Africa

Nigerian chef breaks world record for largest jollof rice dish

 

Nigerian chef Hilda Baci has broken the world record for cooking the largest ever pot of jollof rice in Lagos last week.

Guinness World Records (GWR) confirmed the achievement on social media, saying Ms Baci's concoction of the popular West African dish weighed in at a staggering 8,780kg.

After nine hours of cooking, the effort was almost thrown into jeopardy after the giant pot used to make the dish broke as it was being hoisted onto a crane to be weighed - thankfully, none of the rice was spilled.

Ms Baci celebrated the triumph by thanking her team and supporters: "This moment isn't just mine... it belongs to all of us."

Despite the massive pot buckling twice during its weigh-in, a member of Baci's team told the BBC last week they were collecting evidence from different cameras to send to GWR so it could be officially recognised.

Baci paid tribute to the "tireless team" that made the achievement possible and shared a video of her reacting to the news on social media.

"This Guinness World Record was built on unity, love, and collective strength," she wrote.

"We made history together, for Nigeria, for Africa, and for everyone who believes in the power of food to bring us closer - this win is yours too."

Baci's recipe for the crowning jollof dish included 4,000kg of rice, 500 cartons of tomato paste, 600kg of onions and 168kg of goat meat - all poured into a custom-made pot that can hold 23,000 litres.

Last week, thousands of people had gathered to watch Baci's latest world record bid - in 2023 she held the title for the longest cooking marathon at nearly four days.

Their support was well rewarded as the mammoth dish later divided into individual portions and distributed to the huge crowd and passersby.

The chef previously told BBC Pidgin that it took her a year to plan how she would tackle the mammoth challenge.

"We [Nigerians] are the giant of Africa, and jollof is a food that everybody knows Africans for," she said.

"It would make sense if we had the biggest pot of jollof rice, it would be nice for the country."

She was assisted by 10 other chefs in red uniforms wielding long wooden spoons to stir the food.

Manufacturing the giant steel vessel to hold her dish took a team of 300 people two months to make but one of its legs gave way at the crucial time.

Jollof rice is a staple in several West African countries, featuring rice simmered in a tomato sauce, often paired with meat or seafood.

Baci won a competition for her version of jollof rice in 2021, and then became a national sensation in 2023 when she claimed the world cooking marathon record - an exhausting 93 hours and 11 minutes.

However, she was later surpassed by Irish chef Alan Fisher. The current record-holder is Evette Quoibia from Australia, with 140 hours and 11 minutes, according to GWR.

Yang Tian and Faith Oshoko, BBC

Related story: Video - Nigerians claim to have the best Jollof rice in west Africa

Air Peace pilots tested positive for alcohol, cannabis after the Port Harcourt runway incident

Nigerian accident investigators said two Air Peace pilots tested positive for alcohol and cannabis after a runway excursion involving one of the airline’s jets in Port Harcourt in July.

In a preliminary report released Friday, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) said toxicology tests confirmed the presence of intoxicants in the captain and first officer who flew the Boeing 737 with 103 people on board.

A cabin crew member also tested positive for cannabis.

The aircraft, on a domestic flight from Lagos, landed long on Runway 21 at Port Harcourt International Airport after what investigators described as an unstabilised final approach.

The plane touched down 2,264 metres from the runway threshold and came to a halt more than 200 metres into the overrun area.

“All passengers and crew disembarked safely, and no injuries were reported,” the bureau said.

The NSIB noted, “Initial toxicological tests conducted on the flight crew revealed positive results for certain substances, including indicators of alcohol consumption. A cabin crew member also tested positive for THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis. These results are being reviewed under the human performance and safety management components of the investigation.”

It added that “Toxicological screening conducted post-incident revealed that Captain and first officer tested positive for Ethyl Glucuronide, indicating recent alcohol consumption.”

Runway excursions are one of the most frequent safety risks in commercial aviation, often caused by poor visibility, pilot error or technical faults.

The NSIB said the toxicology results suggested human performance was a critical factor in this case.

Following the findings, the agency recommended that Air Peace strengthen its crew resource management training and tighten checks on pilot fitness before dispatch.

Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest airline, operates domestic and international flights across Africa and to destinations such as London, Saudi Arabia, Dakar, Freetown, Monrovia and Ghana.

The company has yet to comment on the bureau’s report.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) considers intoxication by flight crew a serious breach of global safety standards.

Several airlines worldwide have faced scandals in recent years after pilots were caught under the influence, underscoring the risks to passenger safety.

The NSIB said its investigation is still ongoing.

Premium Times

Mikel Obi Slams NFF Over Nigeria's World Cup Struggles

 

Former Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has voiced his frustration at Nigeria’s uncertain path to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, insisting the responsibility lies squarely with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

Speaking passionately, the ex-Chelsea midfielder said Nigeria’s repeated failures on the biggest stage cannot be excused.

“If Nigeria doesn’t qualify for the World Cup, the entire NFF board has to go. It’s unacceptable,” Mikel declared. “We didn’t qualify for Qatar, the last World Cup, and now it looks like again we are not going to make it. Honestly, I have nothing to say about it. It is just horrible.”

Mikel was quick to defend the players, stressing that while they bear some responsibility, they should not be made the scapegoats.

“Do you blame the players? No, I don’t blame the players. Yes, the players have to take responsibility for the situation, but are you gonna blame the players alone? No,” he explained.

The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner also highlighted a deeper problem that he believes undermines African football as a whole.

“Again, we talk about it so many times, and that’s why you have people disrespect the African continent and football. It’s the same issues, the same excuses, and nothing changes.”

Mikel’s comments come as pressure mounts on the Super Eagles, who face a crucial run of games to secure a place in the 2026 World Cup. With Nigeria missing out on the 2022 edition in Qatar, the stakes have never been higher.

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