L ionel Messi has retired from international football. The 39-year-old confirmed the decision on Monday in an Instagram statement , ending a 21-year career with Argentina that saw him become the nation’s most-capped player and all-time top scorer with 125 goals in 207 games. Messi led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in 2022, and to Copa America titles in 2021 and 2024. He also captained the team to victory in the 2022 Finalissima. This summer he took Argentina to another World Cup final, where they lost 1-0 to Spain in extra time on July 19. In his statement, Messi said the choice was painful but necessary. A post he first wrote on July 21, two days after the final, was updated after the death of his father, Jorge, on August 8.  “Today, after what happened with my dad, I am even more convinced than before,” Messi wrote. “I always gave it my all for this jersey. Time is running short, chapters come to a close, and this is one that hurts me deeply. I’ve given everything I had. ...

H uman rights activist and 2027 presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has welcomed the Department of State Services’ decision to pause his alleged cybercrime trial, but says that is not enough. The DSS had instructed its lawyer to seek an adjournment of the case until after the 2027 elections, to avoid interfering with Sowore’s participation in the polls. Reacting in a statement, Sowore described the development as proof that resistance works. He said the agency had been “forced to eat humble pie” over a prosecution he called unlawful and futile from the beginning. “We have fought too many of these battles to be intimidated now and we have prevailed again and again,” he said. “From the brutal days of military dictatorship, through the dark years of Buhari, and now under the Tinubu regime, we have remained standing, resisting, organising, and fighting.” Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Sowore added, “A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent,” stressing that oppression grows only w...

  F or the family of the truck driver abducted in Yewa North last week, Monday brought the news they had been praying for. He is home safe. Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command rescued the driver and killed two suspected kidnappers during a raid on their hideout. The driver was taken around 11:10pm on August 25, 2026, near Ajibawo in Ibese. After the distress call came in, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit went to work. Acting on solid information, they tracked the gang to a hideout along the Papalanto-Ilaro Road. What happened next was tense. As police moved in, the suspects opened fire. Officers returned fire. When the shooting stopped, two of the kidnappers were dead. Others escaped with gunshot injuries. Police said teams are already searching for them. Inside the hideout, officers recovered two AK-47 rifles, 25 rounds of 5.6mm ammunition, two mobile phones and N2 million believed to be proceeds from crime. The truck driver was also found and freed without harm. ASP Oluborode Ope...