The Big Story
Oyo Teachers Begin Indefinite Strike as Abducted Pupils Enter Third Week in Captivity
The Nigeria Union of Teachers ordered all Oyo public school teachers home from June 1 until all seven abducted teachers and 39 pupils are safely released. Civil society protests erupted in Ibadan as the crisis enters its third week with no releases. Tinubu has approved 1,000 forest guards and a tactical unit — but a presidential aide warned that no detailed rescue updates will be shared because kidnappers are monitoring social media. [Channels TV] [Pulse]
What Else Is Happening
▪ Babachir Lawal quits ADC alleging Atiku's primary win was rigged — Atiku dismisses claim.
The former SGF resigned from the ADC alleging the presidential primary was manipulated in Atiku's favour. Atiku dismissed the claim as lacking evidence, sharpening the internal dispute that threatens opposition cohesion ahead of 2027. [Punch] [Vanguard]
▪ Hoodlums attack Soludo's Chief of Staff convoy in Anambra — two police officers killed.
Armed attackers ambushed the convoy of Anambra Governor Soludo's Chief of Staff, killing two police officers. The CP ordered an immediate manhunt for the perpetrators. [Vanguard]
▪ US announces $3.5m programme to track religious freedom violations in Nigeria.
The US announced a multi-year grant to support civil society documentation of religious-freedom abuses in at least four conflict-affected Middle Belt states, framing Nigeria's sectarian violence as requiring international monitoring. [Pulse]
▪ 15 Chinese nationals arraigned for illegal lithium mining in Nasarawa — third case in a month.
The Federal High Court arraigned 15 Chinese nationals and nine Nigerians over alleged illegal mining on a licensed lithium site in Kokona LGA — the third major case involving Chinese defendants in the sector in a month. [Pulse]
Market Watch
FX Naira strengthened to NGN1,366.80/USD on June 1 — gaining NGN6.45 from May 29's NGN1,373.25 in a notable single-session move. The currency remains well above its NGN1,475 end-2025 baseline. [CBN]
Equities NGX ASI fell 1.13% to 247,560.66 on June 1 from May 29's 250,385.47 as investors locked in gains and adopted a cautious tone toward richly valued stocks — shedding NGN1.81trn in market value. [NGX Group] [Vanguard]
Macro Oil prices jumped as Iran suspended peace talks — a risk-on signal that matters directly to Nigeria's fiscal arithmetic. Every dollar of oil price upside eases the NGN7.88trn Q3 2025 oil revenue shortfall that continues to pressure the federal budget. [Punch]
Quick Hits
→ The NLC rejected proposals for a NGN100,000 national minimum wage, with its spokesperson arguing that — given inflation, higher fuel and electricity tariffs and naira weakness — NGN1m monthly is a more realistic figure for workers to maintain a basic living standard. [Pulse]
→ OPay surpassed 45 million users and one million merchants, with monthly active transacting users rising from 25.1m in 2024 to 39.3m by end-2025 and gross transaction value jumping from $166.2bn to $358bn equivalent. [Nairametrics]
→ Troops rescued 23 kidnapped passengers in Kogi State, continuing the pattern of hybrid military-civilian security responses to highway banditry across Nigeria's North-Central corridor. [Punch]
On a Lighter Note
Tems made Spotify's 2026 Songs of Summer predictions list — her collaboration "Raindance" with Dave placing her alongside Drake and Ariana Grande on the platform's 30-track seasonal spotlight. Another global stage. Another Nigerian on it. [Pulse]
Why It Matters
  The NUT strike is the most consequential Oyo escalation yet — schools shutting down is education disruption at scale across an entire state. Babachir's ADC exit confirms the opposition's primary process is fracturing before the campaign begins. The Anambra convoy attack shows insecurity now touches senior government officials in the South-East. And NLC's NGN1m demand versus the government's NGN100,000 figure captures the entire reform-era cost-of-living tension in one number.
Elsewhere Today
On this day in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey in the first coronation ever televised. What many Nigerians may not know: from independence in 1960 until 1963, she was officially the Queen of Nigeria — Nigeria's head of state as a constitutional monarchy, sharing the crown with Australia, Canada and the UK. The monarchy was abolished on 1 October 1963. She reigned over Nigeria for just over three years. [Wikipedia] [Wikipedia]
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