Some medical science students of the University of Calabar on Wednesday protested alleged cancellation of their admissions by the university authority.

Some of the protesting students told newsmen that the university management ordered them to change their programmes after they had completed a full academic session.

One of them, Blessing Okon, said that she was duly admitted and registered to study nursing, but was being forced to change to another programme of study.

“I have paid my fees and completed my first year in the programme. I am supposed to be in year two.

“This issue started after our examination. We started seeing ‘change of programme’ notices on our portals.

Also speaking, Emmanuel Ekanem, a student of Medicine and Surgery, said that no fewer than 800 students were affected in the department.

Ekanem said that the university was asking them to change their programmes even after scoring the approved Cumulative Grade Point Average.

Effiong Bassey, a parent described the university’s decision as ‘unfair and heartbreaking’

Bassey said that the alleged cancellation of admission had caused severe emotional stress among parents and students.

He urged the university to reverse the decision in the interest of fairness and justice, saying that students should not be punished over the university’s administrative errors”

In his reaction, the university’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Effiong Eyo, said that some of the protesting students were not officially admitted to study medicine or nursing in the university.

He said that some of the students secured admission through illegal windows and were not listed on the JAMB admission portal.

By Laide Akinboade, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command’s Scorpion Squad, have arrested 14 suspected kidnappers and rescued twenty-three (23) victims, all foreign nationals, from captivity.

This was contained in a statement by Josephine Adeh, Police Public Relations Officer, FCT Command, Abuja.

The statement reads, “The intelligence-led operation took place at about 8:00 p.

“The operation followed a report indicating that several foreign nationals had been lured into Nigeria under the pretext of lucrative job offers.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the syndicate is coordinated by one Abubakar Jigiba, a transnational criminal kingpin with known residences in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria. His younger brother, Sougule Zoubere, handles the recruitment, kidnapping, and smuggling of victims from Mali into Nigeria, where they are detained pending ransom payments. The group demanded four million CFA (₦10,000,000) for each victim.

“Further investigations revealed that the victims were trafficked into the country through illegal border routes in a journey lasting about three days. They were subsequently confined in two fortified two-bedroom apartments under inhumane conditions. Acting on actionable digital and reconstructive intelligence, the Scorpion Squad traced the hideout to the above address where a total number of twenty-three (23) victims, comprising fourteen (14) males, eight (8) females, and one (1) child, all unhurt, except one who sustained a minor ear injury and has been taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, for medical attention.

“The following suspects were arrested in connection with the crime: Bubakari Cisse (40), Karamogo Dembele (25), Musa Kamsoko (23), Amadou Traore (25), Sareba Traore (24), Zoumana Diara (23), Umar Koulibaly (26), Alasgara Sagara (20), Berthe Saidu (23), Abdullahi Napo (32), Isah Goita (26), Lorita Traore (22), Mohammed Siaaibe (23), and Haruna Dembele (37). Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the principal suspect, Abubakar Jigiba, his brother Sougule Zoubere, who are currently at large.

“The Commissioner of Police, FCT, Miller Dantawaye, commended the Scorpion Squad for the swift operation, and called on members of the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the command via its emergency numbers: 08032003913, 08028940883 CRU: 08107314192”.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, has disclosed that over $50 billion worth of crypto currency transactions flowed through Nigeria between July 2023 and June 2024, underscoring the sophistication and risk tolerance of investors that the traditional market has yet to capture.

Agama in a lead paper titled Evaluating the Nigerian Capital Market Master plan 2015-2025 presented at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, however raised concern over the alarmingly low participation of Nigerians in the traditional capital market, revealing that fewer than four percent of the country’s adult population are active investors.

He described the low participation rate as a major impediment to economic growth and capital formation.

He noted that while fewer than three million Nigerians invest in the capital market, more than 60 million engage daily in gambling activities, spending an estimated $5.5 million every day.

“This reveals a paradox, an appetite for risk clearly exists, but not the trust or access to channel that energy into productive investment.”

Agama also lamented that Nigeria’s market capitalization-to-GDP ratio stands at about 30 percent, far below South Africa’s 320 percent, Malaysia’s 123 percent, and India’s 92 percent, a disparity he said highlights the urgent need to deepen financial inclusion and rebuild investor confidence.

Recalling the vision of the ten-year CMMP launched in 2015, the SEC boss said it was designed to reposition Nigeria’s capital market as the engine of economic transformation by mobilizing long-term finance for infrastructure and enterprise development.

“Today, as we stand at the sunset of that ten-year plan, our task is not ceremonial; it is reflective and diagnostic. We must ask: what did we achieve, where did we fall short, and what lessons must anchor our next decade of reforms?” he stated.

Agama disclosed that less than half of the 108 initiatives under the CMMP were fully achieved, blaming limited alignment with national development plans, inadequate tracking metrics, and weak stakeholder ownership for the shortfall.

Despite progress in areas such as Green Bonds, Sukuk, fintech integration, and non-interest finance, he said market liquidity remains concentrated in a few large-cap stocks like Airtel Africa, Dangote Cement, and MTN Nigeria.

Agama, who listed six key challenges for the next phase of reforms, pointed at low retail participation, market concentration, falling foreign inflows, underutilized pension assets, untapped diaspora capital, and a widening infrastructure financing gap.

“Nigeria’s $150 billion annual infrastructure deficit far exceeds the market’s contribution, with only N1.5 trillion approved in PPP bonds. This shows a misalignment between financial innovation and national priorities,” he observed.

The DG called for a “reimagined SEC” that serves as both regulator and enabler of private-sector-driven growth, and added the next decade must focus on trust-building, transparency, and inclusion.

“Vision without execution is inertia — and reform without measurement is aspiration without accountability,” he declared.