SENATE ADJOURNS EMERGENCY PLENARY ON STATE POLICE OVER REP’S DEATH.

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 SENATE ADJOURNS EMERGENCY PLENARY ON STATE POLICE OVER REP’S DEATH. The Senate today suspended consideration of the highly anticipated State Police Bill and all other legislative business at its emergency plenary session to honour the memory of Hon. Yaya Tongo, a member of the House of Representatives, whose death cast a sombre mood over the National Assembly. The upper chamber had reconvened from recess amid expectations that lawmakers would accelerate action on the proposed constitutional amendment seeking to establish state police across the federation, a measure widely seen as a major step in the ongoing effort to reform Nigeria’s security architecture. However, proceedings were cut short after Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the death of Tongo, who represented the Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency of Gombe State in the House of Representatives. Hon. Tongo passed away at Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja on June 12, 2026, following a brief illness. His death triggered a...

SIX BODIES PULLED FROM ILLEGAL SOUTH AFRICAN GOLDMINE. (PHOTO)


 Six bodies pulled from illegal South African goldmine


Six bodies have been recovered over the past two days from an abandoned mine in the town of Stilfontein in South Africa, where hundreds of clandestine miners are still underground, a community leader told AFP.


"Six bodies were retrieved in two days, four today and two yesterday," said Johannes Qankase, a spokesperson for the nearby township of Khuma, where most of the miners live.


The abandoned gold mines some 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of the economic capital Johannesburg have been encircled over the past four weeks by police seeking to dislodge "zama zamas" ("those who try" in the Zulu language) who are working there illegally.


It is unclear exactly how many miners are still underground. A local man said he was told there were around 4,000, though police said the figure was probably in the hundreds.


Difficult conditions


Authorities have been limiting water and food provisions in an attempt to make them leave the mine.


Thousands of "zama zamas", many from neighbouring Mozambique and Lesotho, endure difficult conditions to work and live in mineral-rich South Africa.


Some locals associate their presence with a rise in criminality, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called them a "menace" to the country's economy and security.

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