Founder of the famous Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Lagos, Chief Mrs Leila Euphemia Apinke Fowler, died on Saturday at age 91.

Her death was confirmed on Sunday in a statement by the school, which she established in 1991 in honour of her late daughter.

“It’s with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our beloved founder, Chief (Mrs.) Leila Fowler, on Saturday, September 6, 2025.

​“Chief (Mrs.) Fowler was a true pioneer, an erudite lawyer, and a visionary educationalist who founded Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in 1991.

“Her life was a testament to the power of empowering young women through education.

“Her guidance and motherly warmth built not just a school, but a community dedicated to excellence,” the statement partly read.

The distinguished Yeye Mofin of Lagos was born on March 23, 1933, in Lagos. Chief Mrs. Fowler (née Moore) lived a life defined by resilience, service, and groundbreaking achievements across multiple fields.

She received her early education at CMS Girls’ School, Lagos, before proceeding to Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha, where she obtained her Senior Cambridge Certificate in 1951.

Her career began in teaching, but she later pursued nursing in London at the prestigious St Thomas’ Hospital. Driven by ambition and determination, she transitioned to law, studying at Middle Temple, where she was called to the Bar in 1962. She returned to Nigeria the following year and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1963.

Long before she founded Vivian Fowler Memorial College, Leila Fowler practiced law both with established chambers and through her own firm, specialising in insurance law and consultancy. Her dedication to public service was evident in her role as a councillor in the Lagos City Council between 1978 and 1980. She was also deeply involved with the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian Red Cross, and the Corona Schools Trust Council.

In 1991, she founded the Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in honour of her late daughter. The institution has since grown into one of Nigeria’s foremost all-girls schools, renowned for its culture of academic excellence and commitment to raising future leaders.

In recognition of her immense contributions to education and society, she was honoured with the prestigious chieftaincy title of Yeye Mofin of Lagos by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan II.

Celebrated as a “silent achiever,” Chief Fowler left an enduring legacy that spanned nursing, law, politics, and education, inspiring generations through her work and values.

A 65-year-old former bank teller at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Kathryn Sullivan, has been fired by the bank, only for her to discover that the chatbot she had spent weeks training was the reason she lost her job.

According to The Sun, Sullivan, who served the bank for 25 years, was made redundant in July.

Sullivan said she was completely unaware that her work was preparing a chatbot to replace her before being made redundant in July, ending a long career with the bank.“I was completely shell-shocked, alongside my colleague,” she said. “We just feel like we were nothing, we were a number.”

Ms Sullivan, who had supported technologies aimed at improving customer service, said she was blindsided by the decision.

Her final duties involved scripting and testing chatbot responses for CBA’s Bumblebee AI, and she would step in whenever the bot failed to answer customer queries.

“Inadvertently, I was training a chatbot that took my job,” she said.

She added that while she sees a purpose for AI in the workplace, safeguards are necessary, “While I embrace the use of AI and I can see a purpose for it in the workplace and outside, I believe there needs to be some sort of regulation to prevent copyright (infringements) … or replacing humans.”

Following the redundancies, CBA – which reported a $10.25 billion profit in the past financial year – initially failed to respond to Ms Sullivan for more than a week.

“They ghosted me for eight business days before they answered any of my questions,” she said.

The bank later admitted the AI rollout had been a mistake after customer calls surged, showing the technology could not fully replace staff.

A federal court in Manhattan declined to throw out a case that found President Donald Trump owes $83.3 million over comments he made disputing the veracity of sexual assault claims by writer E. Jean Carroll.

The Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which generally looks at technical issues in a case instead of the underlying merits, said in the decision issued on Sept. 8 that presidential immunity does not protect Trump, and a lower court did not err in how it handled the case.

The decision is the latest in a years-long legal battle after Carroll said in 2019 that Trump sexually assaulted her at a New York City department store in 1996, and Trump fired back with allegations that she was making up the story to sell her book.  

The ruling means Trump remains on the hook for nearly $90 million in damages against Caroll – $83.3 million for damaging Caroll’s reputation when he denied her claim, and $5 million for defamation and sexual abuse. His appeals of both sums of money failed this year.

Lawyers for Carroll and Trump did not immediately provide comment for this story.

In his appeal of the $83.3 million sum that the court shot down on Sept. 8, Trump argued that a 2024 Supreme Court decision granting presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution also applied in this case.

The court said the argument did not apply because Trump failed to bring up the issue earlier in the court process. Trump also challenged procedural issues with the trial, but the appeals court was unpersuaded.

Trump first denied Carroll’s accusation in June 2019, during his first term as president, telling a reporter in a lengthy exchange on the White House lawn that Carroll was “not my type” and that she concocted the story to sell her memoir “What Do We Need Men For?” Caroll sued him months later, winning the $83.3 million judgment.

Trump repeated the denial in a 2022 social media post, when he was not president and the first case was ongoing. Caroll then sued Trump again under a special window of time that New York granted to sexual abuse survivors, and in 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse against Carroll. This resulted in the $5 million verdict.

USAToday

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has instituted a legal action at the National Industrial Court, Abuja, to challenge what it describes as the “unjust and undue delay” in the conversion and promotion of legal practitioners serving in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to the specialist cadre, as mandated by law.

The suit, filed on Thursday, September 3, 2025, through the NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), seeks to enforce compliance with Section 18 (9) and (11) of the Nigeria Police Force Establishment Act 2020 and Force Order 137 of the Ratified Force Order 2013.

For years, lawyers enlisted in the Police Force — whether called to the Bar before enlistment or while in service with the permission of the Police — have remained in general duty roles and denied conversion to the specialist cadre in law. This denial has also deprived them of the accelerated promotion due under the law, particularly the automatic upgrade from junior ranks such as Corporal, Sergeant, or Inspector to the substantive rank of Superintendent of Police (SP).

SPIDEL noted that, this practice stands in sharp contrast to the treatment of other professionals within the Force, such as doctors, engineers, accountants, and aviation experts, who enjoy seamless conversion and promotion into specialist cadres.

“Lawyers in the Police Force continue to suffer the indignity of wearing very junior ranks while appearing in all strata of courts, prosecuting and defending cases for the Police, and performing other legal duties,” the Association said, describing the practice as discriminatory, demeaning, and an affront to the dignity of the legal profession.

The NBA noted that past administrations of the Association had made efforts to resolve the issue amicably, but with no progress achieved. “Having exhausted administrative remedies, we can no longer in good conscience condone this injustice,” it declared.

In the suit, filed as NICN/ABJ/264/2025: Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v. Police Service Commission & 5 Ors, the NBA is seeking several reliefs, including:

“An order of court compelling the Defendants to forthwith upgrade all junior police officers who are lawyers to the substantive rank of Superintendent of Police and who before now were used/deployed as legal officers for the Defendants.”

Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN, Chairman of SPIDEL, commended the Section’s Public Interest Litigation Committee led by Mr. Olukunle Ogheneovo Edun, SAN, for spearheading the action.

As the matter awaits assignment to a judge, the NBA has urged all parties to respect the judicial process, desist from harassing lawyers in the Police Force, and allow the courts to determine the dispute.

Read the full statement below 

UNJUST AND UNDUE DELAY IN THE CONVERSION AND PROMOTION OF LEGAL PRACTITIONERS IN THE EMPLOY OF THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE TO SPECIALIST CADRE: THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION INSTITUTES ACTION TO COMPEL COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 18 (9) AND (11) OF THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE ESTABLISHMENT ACT 2020 AND FORCE ORDER 137 OF THE RATIFIED FORCE ORDER 2013.

A core mandate of the Nigerian Bar Association is the promotion of the welfare of its members, the imperative to ensure that the welfare and interest of members is adequately catered for necessitated the establishment of several fora under the NBA including the Police Lawyers Forum which comprises all persons called to the Nigerian Bar enlisted as officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force.

While some persons joined the Nigerian Police Force as qualified lawyers, some became lawyers with the permission of the Nigeria Police Force while they were already enlisted into and serving in the Nigeria Police Force, in which case upon being called to the Nigerian Bar, the law requires that they ought to have been automatically converted from general duty services to specialist cadre in the field of law in accordance with the provisions of Section 18 (9) and (11) of the Nigeria Police Force (Establishment) Act 2020 and the Force Order 137 of the Ratified Force Order 2013 issued under the hand of the Inspector General of Police.

With conversion to specialist duty, the officers would be entitled to promotion from the junior ranks of Inspector, Sergeant, Corporal, etc, to Superintendent of Police (SP).

However, despite the subsistence of the relevant legislation and Force Order, legal practitioners enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force have been, for many years, unjustly denied conversion from general duty services to specialist cadre and consequently, lawyers in the Police Force continued to wear junior ranks for many years even while appearing in all strata of courts of law prosecuting and defending cases for the Nigeria Police Force and performing other legal functions.

The situation is more concerning because professionals in other disciplines such as medicine, engineering, accountancy, aviation and others enjoy accelerated and regular conversion from general duty services to the specialist cadre. The rationale for the discrimination against lawyers in the police remains unfathomable.

Despite efforts made by past NBA administrations to resolve this issue using amicable means, no progress has been achieved. Yet, members of the legal profession in the Nigeria Police Force continue to bear the shame of wearing very junior and demeaning ranks and being subjected to general and common duties while at the same time being used by the same Police authorities to perform legal duties contrary to the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct, having not been employed from the onset as legal officers. This to say the least, is an assault on the dignity and nobility of the legal profession, reeks of double standards and can no longer in good conscience be condoned, moving forward.

Having exhausted available means to ensure an administrative reversal of this injustice against lawyers in the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Bar Association through its Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) on Thursday the 3rd day of September 2025 instituted an action before the National Industrial Court, Abuja in Suit No: NICN/ABJ/264/2025 between: The Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v. Police Service Commission & 5 Ors praying the court for several crucial reliefs including:

“An order of court compelling the Defendants to forthwith upgrade all junior police officers who are lawyers to the substantive rank of (Superintendent of Police) and who before now were used/deployed as legal officers for the Defendants.”

We wish to specially acknowledge the Section’s Public Interest Litigation Committee chaired by Mr. Olukunle Ogheneovo Edun, SAN whose proactive efforts were responsible for the accomplishment of this task.

As we await the assignment of the suit to a Judge, we urge all parties to the suit to respect the judicial process, stop the harrassment of lawyers in the Police Force and await the decision of the court in good faith.

Prof Paul Ananaba, SAN

Chairman,

NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law

• New US Visa policy mandates interviews for applicants in their country of residence

The United States Mission in Nigeria has announced a new directive requiring visa applicants to disclose all social media usernames and handles used within the past five years as part of the visa application process.

The Mission, in a post on its official X handle on Monday, said the directive aligns with the US Department of State’s effort to strengthen national security through enhanced screening measures.

According to the Embassy, applicants must provide a comprehensive list of their social media profiles on the DS-160 visa application form. It warned that failure to do so could result in visa denial and possible ineligibility for future applications.

“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years on the DS-160 visa application form,” the Mission said.

It added: “Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit. Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.”

The update brings to six the key requirements for US visa applicants in Nigeria.

Six Requirements for US Visa Applicants in Nigeria:

Social Media Disclosure: Applicants must list all social media usernames and handles used in the past five years on the DS-160 form.
Matching DS-160 Confirmation Number: The DS-160 barcode number (starting with “AA00”) must match the one used to book the appointment, otherwise entry to the Consular Section will be denied.
Correct Appointment Location: Applicants must attend interviews at the location (Abuja or Lagos) chosen during submission of the DS-160 form.
Double-Check DS-160 Form: At least two weeks before the interview, applicants should ensure the DS-160 barcode matches the appointment confirmation. Old forms from previous applications are not valid.
Fixing Barcode Errors: If the barcode number is wrong, applicants should log into their AVITS account at least 10 days before the interview and create a support ticket for correction.
Rescheduling if Rejected: Applicants turned away due to mismatched barcodes must correct the error and rebook their appointment. Expired visa fees will require repayment before rescheduling.

The US Department of State has also announced a major policy change for non-immigrant visa applicants, requiring them to schedule their interviews “at the US Embassy or Consulate in their country of nationality or residence.”

The new guidance, effective immediately, was published on September 6, 2025, on the State Department’s official visa portal.

The update supersedes all previous instructions on designated visa processing locations.

The Department noted: “Nationals of countries where the U.S. government is not conducting routine nonimmigrant visa operations must apply at the designated embassy or consulate, unless their residence is elsewhere.”

The list of designated locations covers nationals from conflict-affected or diplomatically restricted states such as Afghanistan (Islamabad), Belarus (Vilnius, Warsaw), Cuba (Georgetown), Iran (Dubai), Russia (Astana, Warsaw), Venezuela (Bogota), and Yemen (Riyadh).

Applicants are also warned of three critical changes:

Residence Requirement: “Applicants must be able to demonstrate residence in the country where they are applying, if the place of application is based on their residency.”

Fees: “Applicants who schedule nonimmigrant interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate outside of their country of nationality or residence might find that it will be more difficult to qualify for the visa. Fees paid for such applications will not be refunded and cannot be transferred.”

Appointment Availability: “Applicants applying outside their country of nationality or residence should expect to wait significantly longer for an appointment.”

Existing appointments, however, “will generally not be cancelled,” and the Department emphasised that the new rules do not apply to diplomatic, NATO, or UN-related visas.

According to the Saturday release, exceptions may still be granted for “humanitarian or medical emergencies or foreign policy reasons.”

The Department urged applicants to check their local embassy or consulate websites for details on requirements and wait times.

This sweeping adjustment, officials noted, is part of efforts to streamline nonimmigrant visa adjudications while managing global backlogs and security considerations.

It was reported that the US State Department’s new directive extends explicitly to non-immigrant visas, ending a long-standing practice among nationals of travelling to neighbouring countries to secure interview appointments.

In Nigeria, for example, for years, when slots in Abuja or Lagos were unavailable, applicants often turned to consulates in Cameroon, Namibia, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Canada, or even the Dominican Republic to fast-track their chances.

Under the updated policy, Nigerians—and all other nationals—must apply strictly in their country of residence or nationality.

This shift will significantly alter how applicants navigate the already challenging process, especially given long wait times in Nigeria.

A French court on Friday sentenced a Saudi navy officer to 10 years in prison for the 2021 rape of a woman in France.

Meshari Al Shamrani was tried in absentia. He had been released under judicial supervision during the investigation, but failed to check in with the police in January.

Al Shamrani, who was 24 at the time of the rape, attended an engineering school in the western French city of Brest.

He was known as being “gifted and disciplined” at the school, which he attended as part of a Saudi-French cooperation agreement, according to chief prosecutor Elsa Guyonvarch.

But in his personal life, he discovered “a freedom, a moral permissiveness that was unknown to him”, the prosecutor said, adding that this “culture shock” helped to explain his behaviour without justifying it.

Al Shamrani, who got married in Saudi Arabia in 2020, also had a girlfriend in Brest, where he regularly threw parties involving copious amounts of alcohol, the court heard.

After one such evening, a 22-year-old woman stayed over because she had no means of getting home, and woke up to find Al Shamrani penetrating her.

She fought him off, got away, and alerted the police.

“He completely omitted to seek her consent,” said the prosecutor, who had asked for eight years of prison for the accused.

DNA and gynaecological testing backed the woman’s version of events that night that she told the court still haunted her years later.

“I was devastated, I cried all the time and didn’t want to go out,” she said.

Al Shamrani, who at first denied the accusation but then admitted what had happened, told police that he had assumed the woman “wanted to make love because she took her trousers off”.

France has issued a European arrest warrant for the officer, without success so far.

AFP

The Military High Command in Nigeria has spurned the ruling of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria that nullified a rule in the armed forces that mandates personnel to serve for a minimum of 15 years before resigning.

They maintain that since the law that established the military – the Armed Forces Act, is yet to be rewritten or repealed, any personnel that enlists must abide by what is contained in the document, reports Weekend Trust.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Markus Kangye, who stated this in reaction to the court ruling, said there were different categories of personnel in the force.

In his ruling, Justice Emmanuel Subilim of the NICN Abuja declared the rule as “unconstitutional and oppressive.”

The judge held that every employee, including members of the Nigerian armed forces, has the constitutional right to resign at any time, adding that the force cannot force servicemen into “modern-day slavery in the name of national service.”

But reacting, Kangye, a Major-General, explained that the military will still and continue to go by what is contained in the Armed Forces Act unless the terms and conditions of service, Armed Forces of Nigeria, are rewritten.

The senior military officer said, “The Armed Forces of Nigeria, the military, has a document which refers to us as conditions and terms of service. In that document, everything regarding the disengagement and otherwise of military personnel are spelled out.

“And also, there are different entry methods or categories into the military. For soldiers, they go to the… For officers, they go to, as regular cadets, regular combatant cadets, they go to the Nigerian Defence Academy.

“And we also have other ways through which officers can be commissioned, granted presidential commission. We call it short service. That is open to graduates. And we also have direct short service. That is open to professionals.

“When I mean professionals, we are talking of doctors, accountants, lawyers. They can go for direct short service. For short service, they go as combatant officers, but as graduates.

“Well, those who have finished secondary school go to the Nigerian Defence Academy as cadets. So there are different terms and conditions for the services of all these categories of officers and also soldiers.

“So, whichever condition catches up with you, you take it like that, you go. Unless the terms and conditions of service, Armed Forces of Nigeria is rewritten, we will still go by what is contained in that document. That is for that.”