Today’s Headlines: Tinubu Holds Talks With Akpabio at Villa; Ex-Fulham Goalkeeper Vaughan Dies at 62

President Bola Tinubu held a closed-door meeting with Senate President Godswill Akpabio at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The meeting lasted about an hour, but its purpose and the issues discussed were not disclosed.

The meeting came two days before the All Progressives Congress (APC) was scheduled to launch its presidential campaign in Kaduna ahead of the January 2027 election. Akpabio is the campaign council’s Deputy Director-General for the South, while preparations for the nationwide campaign were said to be complete.

Former Fulham goalkeeper John Vaughan has died at the age of 62, prompting tributes from clubs he represented during his playing and coaching career. He played for Fulham between 1986 and 1988, making 44 league appearances and winning the club’s Supporters’ Player of the Year award.

Vaughan later joined Cambridge United, where he made 231 appearances and helped the club achieve successive promotions between 1989 and 1991. He also played for Charlton Athletic, Preston North End and Lincoln City before becoming a goalkeeping coach at several clubs, including Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town. At the time of his death, he was working as an academy coach at Sheffield United.

The World Health Organisation warned that Africa was facing a complex Ebola outbreak after Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of the Bundibugyo strain, linked to an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The infected woman, a Ugandan national and wife of a diplomat, arrived in Abuja on October 3 after travelling from Uganda through Addis Ababa. Health authorities said she was receiving treatment at a private hospital, while the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention described the outbreak as a serious threat.

The outbreak had also affected Kenya, while the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded thousands of cases and more than 4,000 deaths, according to health authorities. The Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccine or specific treatment. The WHO expressed support for Nigeria’s response, noting the country’s successful containment of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, which resulted in 19 infections and seven deaths.

Jos Electricity Distribution Plc accused a group of about 50 youths of invading its office along Otukpo Road in Makurdi, Benue State, assaulting staff and abducting 10 personnel over a dispute involving a transformer connection. The company’s spokesperson, Saratu Dauda, said the youths also took four vehicles and technical equipment during the incident on Wednesday, with the staff and properties released at about 5:45 pm after the transformer was forcibly reconnected.

Dauda said several employees sustained serious injuries and alleged that a similar incident occurred in September when staff were held hostage at the Benue State Government House over a suspected meter bypass. She said the latest attack had been reported to security agencies, while the company called for dialogue to resolve the dispute. Benue State officials said they would respond after receiving further details.

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