Israelis gathered in silence on Wednesday to mark three years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, while Palestinians in Gaza mourned the destruction and displacement caused by the war that followed.

In Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was overrun by Hamas militants three years ago, residents held a vigil for those killed in the attack.

A trumpet played a solemn bugle call as residents stood in silence and a roll call of those killed was read out.

Zion Regev, a community leader in Kfar Aza, said many residents remained displaced and had yet to return to the community.

“This is the first time we are doing all the things here in the kibbutz,” Regev said of the vigil. “It’s a very emotional day, it’s a very difficult day for our community, three years after October 7th.”

The October 7 attacks were the deadliest day in Israel’s history. Militants led by Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures cited by Reuters.

The attacks triggered Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, where more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to figures cited by Reuters.

The anniversary comes as the conflict remains unresolved despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025 that halted major fighting but has not ended violence or secured the disarmament of Hamas.

In Israel, protesters gathered outside parliament in Jerusalem to demand accountability for the security failures surrounding the October 7 attacks.

Some protesters blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for resisting calls for an independent investigation into how Hamas was able to carry out the assault.

“We need the change and we need hope and we need to know that we have a government that cares about the public and doesn’t work also only for themselves,” protester Shaked Arrad said.

Netanyahu has rejected blame for the security breach and resisted calls for an independent inquiry.

The anniversary is also taking place 20 days before Israel’s scheduled general election, with the war and the government’s handling of the October 7 attack expected to remain major political issues.

In Gaza, Palestinians displaced by the conflict recalled their lives before the war as they continued to live among destroyed buildings and makeshift shelters.

Israel currently controls about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas controls the remaining area, where most of Gaza’s roughly two million residents are living in tents or damaged buildings, according to Reuters.

Umm Mohammad, a mother of five displaced from Gaza City and now living in a tent encampment in Deir Al-Balah, said the conflict had separated her family.

“We were one happy family. The war displaced us. My son left Gaza, the other went to a separate tent, my daughters left with their husbands to other parts of the Strip and we rarely meet,” she said.

On the anniversary, she added: “We recall how happy, despite all problems, we were before the war broke out, destroying everything we loved.”

The latest violence also continued despite the ceasefire. Gaza medics said Israeli strikes on Beit Lahia and Khan Younis killed at least two Palestinians and wounded others on Wednesday.

The Israeli military said it had struck a militant target in Beit Lahia but did not immediately comment on the reported strike in Khan Younis.

Three years after the October 7 attacks, the anniversary has brought renewed mourning in Israel and Gaza, while questions over accountability, security and the future of the conflict remain unresolved.

Reuters

Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of presiding over a collapse in agricultural export earnings while farmers struggle with insecurity and manufacturers confront punishing production costs. He said an administration that promised to build a productive economy has left Nigeria selling crops abroad without capturing enough of the processing jobs and value they can generate at home.

“Tinubu cannot call this reform when the people who grow our food and the businesses that should process it are being squeezed from both sides,” Atiku said.

In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said the trade figures expose the scale of the failure. Nigeria’s agricultural trade swung from a ₦740.27 billion surplus in the first half of 2025 to a ₦56.13 billion deficit in the first half of 2026—a ₦796.40 billion reversal in one year. Agricultural exports fell by 33.3 per cent, far faster than imports, which also declined.

“The excuse that Nigerians simply imported too much will not stand. Tinubu’s government must answer for the collapse in what Nigeria sold to the world. The country is losing export earnings, and the President owes farmers, workers and businesses more than another speech about prosperity.

“What has his administration done to make it safer to farm, cheaper to move produce, easier to keep a processing plant running or more profitable to sell a finished Nigerian product abroad? Farmers cannot cultivate promises. Manufacturers cannot power factories with speeches. Workers cannot feed their families on assurances that prosperity is coming.”

Atiku said Nigeria’s leading agricultural exports still include cashew nuts in shell and cocoa beans, illustrating the value the country could retain by expanding domestic processing.

“We grow the crop. Someone else does more of the processing, builds a business around it and earns the larger return. Then Tinubu speaks of jobs while Nigerian factories struggle to compete. He has made production expensive and called the resulting hardship reform.

“A trade deficit alone does not explain every problem on our farms. But after more than three years in office, the President owns the decisions that have left farmers exposed and producers burdened. He cannot claim credit for every favourable statistic and disown a ₦796.40 billion reversal when the figures turn against him.”

Atiku said his proposed production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria follows the same principle: keep more production, work and value at home. The support would cover qualifying products from Nigerian refineries, including modular refineries. Imported products would not qualify. It would be capped, budgeted and independently audited, with measures to track whether savings reach consumers and businesses.

He said the Tinubu administration’s CNG initiative had failed abysmally as a relief measure: the cost of converting vehicles is beyond the reach of many poor Nigerians, conversion kits are difficult to access, and the buses presented as palliatives remain unavailable to many of the people who need them.

“Local refining is about more than the price at the petrol pump. Aviation fuel affects fares. LPG affects the cost of cooking. Petroleum products and feedstocks affect industries and the people they employ. Nigerians need practical relief they can actually access—not schemes whose costs and shortages put the promised benefits out of reach. The value of our resources must reach Nigerians beyond the refinery gate.

“My administration will begin restoring a transparent production subsidy from Day One. We will back farmers and processors with the same determination. Grow it here. Process it here. Refine it here. Create the jobs here. Make life affordable here.

“Tinubu’s record is becoming painfully clear: Nigeria supplies raw crops and crude oil while Nigerians pay dearly for finished goods. A government that cannot turn our resources into affordable products and decent jobs has failed the people it was elected to serve.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission has commenced the 100-day countdown to the 2027 general elections, with Lagos State recording the highest number of registered voters as the North-West geopolitical zone emerged as the most represented region.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday at a world press conference in Abuja, where he provided an update on the commission’s preparations for the elections scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027.

Amupitan said INEC had completed nine of the 14 critical milestones contained in its revised timetable and schedule of activities for the elections.

He said the commission had translated the statutory timetable into an operational plan covering its headquarters, departments and directorates, 36 state offices, the Federal Capital Territory and offices across the 774 local government areas.

The commission’s briefing came as stakeholders, including the police, European Union and National Assembly, pledged support for the electoral body ahead of the polls.

Security, misinformation and the implementation of recent judicial decisions also featured prominently at the meeting.

Lagos Leads Register

Amupitan said the total number of registered voters ahead of the 2027 elections stood at 103,428,715.

Lagos topped the state-by-state breakdown with 7,488,633 registered voters, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640.

Katsina ranked fourth with 3,876,051 voters, followed by Rivers with 3,736,434, Oyo with 3,588,111, Delta with 3,525,988, Benue with 3,057,225, Ogun with 3,037,981 and Bauchi with 3,012,547.

Ekiti had the lowest number of registered voters at 1,055,708, followed by Bayelsa with 1,200,691.

The Federal Capital Territory recorded 1,732,043 registered voters, while Ondo had 1,733,641 and Gombe 1,768,560.

By geopolitical zones, the North-West led with 25,083,411 registered voters, followed by the South-West with 19,614,274 and North-Central with 16,965,787.

The South-South recorded 15,823,550 voters, while the North-East had 13,965,475 and the South-East 11,976,218.

The North-West therefore had 5,469,137 more registered voters than the South-West.

On the demographic profile of the register, Amupitan said male voters numbered 53,528,218, representing 51.75 per cent, while female voters accounted for 49,900,497, or 48.25 per cent.

Voters aged between 35 and 49 constituted the largest age group, with 43,265,946 voters, representing 41.83 per cent of the register.

They were followed by voters aged 18 to 34, who numbered 29,777,576, representing 28.79 per cent.

Those aged 50 to 69 accounted for 22,982,900 voters, or 22.22 per cent, while voters aged 70 and above numbered 7,402,291, representing 7.16 per cent.

The commission recorded 232,658 persons with disabilities across 10 categories, representing about 0.23 per cent of the total register.

INEC said the voter register would be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, 2026, in line with Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026.