A Nigerian televangelist recently acquitted of multiple rape charges has been rearrested on immigration offences, South African police said on Saturday.

Read Also: How my mother’s lover raped me — 12 year old victim narrates ordeal

Timothy Omotoso was released last month, nine years after he was jailed to be tried on charges of raping and sexually assaulting several young women from his church.

His acquittal drew anger across South Africa after the judge found that, while the pastor’s explanations appeared improbable, state prosecutors had mishandled the case against him.

Immigration authorities and police arrested Omotoso in the town of East London on Saturday morning, “just after church”, police commissioner General Fannie Masemola told journalists.

“He will be facing charges related to violations to the Immigration Act and he will appear in court on Monday,” he said.

The 66-year-old pastor at the Jesus Dominion International (JDI) church based in South Africa was arrested in 2017 on 32 charges, including rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Several young women, some of whom were still in school at the time, testified that they were handpicked by Omotoso, who would pray for forgiveness after each encounter with them.

In April, Eastern Cape High Court judge Irma Schoeman criticised the prosecution’s handling of the case, saying the state had not proved beyond reasonable doubt its case against Omotoso and two assistants, who also faced charges.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of rape and gender-based violence in the world.

Over 42,500 rapes were reported in the 2023-24 financial year, according to police statistics, amounting to more than 116 rapes per day.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has pledged to investigate allegations of financial misconduct involving Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defense, following a petition submitted by the All Progressives Congress Young Leaders Alliance (APC-YLA).

The allegations accuse Matawalle of embezzling over N528 billion during his tenure as Governor of Zamfara State. 

The assurance came during a protest held on Friday at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, where APC-YLA Convener, Mohammed Ireji, and other demonstrators demanded the reopening of the corruption case against Matawalle.

Ireji questioned the delay in probing the former governor, citing previous petitions submitted to the EFCC, including those by the APC Akida Forum on May 3, 2024, and a follow-up on September 30, 2024.

While receiving the petition, the EFCC’s Acting Director of Security, Idowu Adedeji, said, “We have received your petition and we will submit it accordingly.”

The protesters called for immediate action, highlighting the commission’s previous successes in investigating and prosecuting other high-profile figures, including former Minister Betta Edu, former Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, and former Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State.

The allegations against Matawalle include the misappropriation of N290 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), N133 billion from the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC), and an unexplained N105 billion loan taken during his governorship.
Ireji emphasized that these were not mere speculations but backed by concrete facts and figures.

“We are here today to formally request that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reopen the investigation into the corruption allegations against Bello Mohammed Matawalle, the State Minister for Defense. We have gathered facts and figures regarding Bello Matawalle’s alleged embezzlement of billions of Naira,” Ireji said during the protest.

The protest highlighted the growing concerns about selective justice and political interference in the EFCC’s anti-corruption efforts. Ireji challenged the commission

“If all these former governors and ministers were not above the law and the EFCC, who would shield Matawalle from investigation?” he asked.

The APC-YLA lauded the EFCC’s past achievements but urged the commission to demonstrate the same determination in probing Matawalle.
“We have lauded the performance and resilience of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) leadership in its fight against corruption without bias many times,” Ireji noted.

•Identifies alleged stolen child during immunization

•Accused doctor opposes claimants’ request for DNA test, enjoys cover from police

When she was told sometime in April 2021,during her ante-natal registration at Divine Rain Maternity Clinic, that she was carrying a twin pregnancy,32-year old Mrs Eunice Bright Ekwok’s joy knew no bounds.

For,she only paused momentarily to contemplate how she would be able to cope in raising the expectant babies with her husband, Bartholomew Bright Ekwok, who had no stable income job.

Since she has been told her fate,Mrs Ekwok demanded for a copy of the scan result to take home but the doctor,Timothy Zeje blatantly turned it down, He told her the rule in the hospital forbids that, insisted that the result can only be put in her file in the hospital.

She got home and disclosed what she had been told in the hospital by the doctor to her husband. At first,the husband wanted evidence for what he had just heard and so,he asked the wife to present the scan result. When she could not present it and instead told her husband the rule of the hospital, the 34-year old wanted to rush to the private medical facility to meet the doctor for an explanation. But his wife’s insistence that it wasn’t necessary to pursue the scan result made him suspend his action. They later prayed about the doctor’s disclosure and resigned to fate. With this,Mrs Ekwok started preparing herself towards the day she would give birth.

Each time she went for a follow-up check at the hospital, located at Sauka area of Abuja,the expectant twin mother would engage the medical doctor of how she was happy for the news he broke to her earlier about the status of her pregnancy. She had no inclination that she would unknowingly share her twins with the doctor who had been married for years without a child in the union. Ahead of hospital plans,he told Mrs Ekwok that her wife was pregnant and she could have conceived almost the same time with her.

When the pregnancy was due,Mrs Ekwok gave birth in the hospital through a cesarean section,though in an unconscious state. Neither the husband nor any of her relatives was in the labour room during the session,it was only the doctor and the hospital’s nurses.

The middle age woman,narrating the heart-rending experience,said some hours after she regained consciousness,she was only handed one baby instead of two since she was carrying a twin pregnancy. When she requested to see her other child,she was informed by the doctor that the other twin didn’t survive birth.

“I told the doctor that I would like just to see how the dead child look like or his bones but he refused, They told me that my baby is dead and scattered. Okay, where are the pieces and where are the bones? I asked but they couldn’t give me an explanation. Instead, they were saying why would I not be grateful for the one that survived birth and rather be asking for another baby when we were a poor couple and could barely take care of the one we have. We let go the issue at the time,”she said,sobbing.

When Mrs Ekwok went back to the hospital for check on there wound that arose from the cesarean section, she requested to see her file but she was told her File had since been burnt even as she was seeing a heap of patients’ files in one of the offices.

“When I told them I wanted to see where it was burnt and the ashes since they claimed it was just few days they did it, they asked me to go behind the building and when I got there, there was nothing suggesting that they had burnt anything. I returned to ask them why should it be only my file they would burn out of the many others in tne hospital? They couldn’t say anything.

As God would intervene for the couple to see one of their alleged lost twin sons,on one faithful day she had gone to a nearby general hospital for a routine immunization,Mrs Ekwok met her alleged son in someone’s care.

She explained that as she made to return home after being attended to, she saw the wife of the medical doctor of the hospital she gave birth coming into the facility for immunization. When she approached her for greeting,Mrs Ekwok saw that the baby the doctor’s brought was a spitting semblance of her own baby-same dreadlock and everything! She couldn’t identify between her child and the one the doctor’s wife brought in for immunization except how they were dressed.

Shocked, Mrs Ekwok,paused and reflected. She remembered that she had delivered of her child in a hospital owned by the woman’s husband. She also did not forget that she had twin pregnancy but saw only one baby after delivery. Although she was told the other child ‘scattered ‘ during birth. She became curious to know more about the child in the hand of the doctor’s wife.

“That faithful day, I went for immunization at AMAC Hospital at Besan. After they gave my baby the injection, I wanted to go home,so I was trying to put my baby on my back and immediately saw the wife of the doctor where I gave birth coming into the hospital with one of her brothers. They were bringing their children for immunization. When I saw the baby they brought, I was like, what is happening here?

The baby in my hand looked exactly like the one in their hand. I said ‘I’m so confused.’ I didn’t even know what to do again,so I greeted them and she sat down. And since it was a heat period, I asked her to remove the baby’s cap because the heat was too much. She removed the cap,I became confused the more because of the spitting semblance of the child and my baby. They have same leg, same face, same dada (dreadlock, same everything. I said ‘what is going on here’ to myself. I now concluded that my earlier intuition that my twin baby was taken away at birth and not dead as told by the doctor,”she narrated.

But instead of raising alarm alerting people at the immunization facility to her claims that she had found her missing child, Mrs Ekwok took to a Plan B option. She would find out the home of the couple in possession of her ‘twin baby’ and become a regular visitor there.

How would she do it perfectly? She confided in her husband and they hatched a plan. Following this, she went tto the doctor’s home with two of her wrappers (clothes),pretending that things had not been fine with them financially and begged that they buy the material from her as their way of assisting her family. Mrs Ekwok became a regular visitor to the doctor’s house unknown to her host that her guest was on a mission to uncover the truth about their supposed baby.

But this was when peace began to elude the doorstep of the Ekwoks,because in several attempts to find out more about the child’s origin, she and her husband have been taken to police stations and detained,taken to court and sent to prison and even openly tortured and accused of attempting to steal a child.

In all the places they have been taken to,they continued to lay claim to the parenthood of the child, insisting on conduct of a DNA to prove their case but the police allegedly, through the influence of the doctor and his wife,have blatantly turned down their request and instead, been trying to prosecute them in court for theft.

“Insisting that the child who is over two years now is theirs,the couple,called on authorities and the public to intervene so their request for a DNA can be conducted for the child in contention.

Contacted to speak on allegation by Mrs Ekwok, the accused, the doctor refused, explaining that his action was because the case was already being handled by the police, adding that it had been taken to court.

He,however, directed Vanguard to the Force Intelligence Department Abuja for more details.

“The case is already being handled by the police and it has been taken to court. If you have to investigate more about the matter,the best place to go is the Force CID,”he said.

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA,an umbrella body of practicing medical practitioners said even as the allegation was raised over a year ago, it had not been formally brought to its attention.

Spokesperson of the Abuja branch of NMA, Dr Bature Mannir,told Vanguard that he had just heard about it ,asking for time to confirm from the chairmen if such a complaint had been brought to his table. But at the time of filing this report, he was yet to respond.

Think Cross River calls for justice,vows no son of the state ‘ll be hijacked by anybody

Reacting to the development, Think Cross River, an initiative that aims to forster unity,responsibility and collective ownership among Cross Riverians, has called for justice to prevail.

The group vowed to pursue the case to its logical end ,ensuring that the child was reclaimed by his alleged biological parents.
The initiator of Think Cross River, Papa Dom Cklamz Enamhe, told Vanguard that no child of the state’s origin would be allowed to be taken away by anybody under any guise.

Enamhe, who is also the convener of Who is Who platform of Northern Cross River,said:” Mr. Bartholomew Bright-Ekwok is from Cross River State. We just got to know about the story and we have moved in.”

The elder statesman said:”We will not allow any child of Cross River extraction go out. We will not stand and watch anybody intimidate any Cross Riverian. I have briefed the governor and he is on his foot on this. The senators from Cross River State extraction are all on the same case.

“No one child of Cross River extraction will be taken anywhere. We will get back the child. We will have DNA. We will go to court. We will do the right things. We, as a community, have resolved that this matter will be sorted out properly.

“Our child will return to the immediate family and will be back home. Poverty is not a crime. No Nigerian has a right to intimidate anybody because he is richer or because by any means, he is a professional.

“If I come to your hospital to give birth, I didn’t commit a crime. If you say one of the twins was missing or dead, where are the features? And we are taking two years and 11 months and you are still ignoring just a DNA test? We will afford it. We can afford it.
We will go through the processes.”

He promised to sponsor my education

Our mother traveled to Libya, father abandoned us

A 35-year old commercial motorcyclist, Ademola Adepetu, has been arrested for allegedly raping his lover’s 12-year old daughter. The victim who narrated her ordeal before an Akure Magistrate court said that she was locked inside a room and raped severally.

She said that her father had abandoned her and her two younger siblings, aged 7 and 3, while their mother also traveled to Libya in search of greener pastures two years ago.

According to her “Before travelling, my mother rented one-room apartment for us and left us in the care of her younger sister, who later absconded and never returned”. She blamed her parents for negligence, noting that the defendant took advantage of their abandonment.

She said the defendant lured her with promises of sponsoring her education, but ended up assaulting her sexually four times.

Meanwhile, Adepetu, has been arraigned before the court on a one-count charge of unlawful sexual intercourse. Adepetu who pleaded guilty insisted that the girl was 15 years old when he had carnal knowledge of her.

The defendant claimed that a 15-year old girl was old enough to “know a man.”

He also told the court that he married his first wife before the age of 12.

The police prosecutor, Martins Olowofeso, earlier informed the court that the offence was committed in Ondo town. Olowofeso said the mother of the victim, who was a girlfriend to the defendant, travelled to Libya after renting a room for her three children, then aged 10, 5, and 3.

“After the children’s mother left for Libya, the rent for the one-room apartment expired. The defendant then offered to accommodate the children and it was during the period that he began to sexually abuse the girl”, he said.

Olowofeso therefore prayed the court to remand the defendant at the Olokuta prison pending advice from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Ruling, Magistrate Grace Alphonso, ordered that Adepetu be remanded at Olokuta Prison pending DPP’s advice. Alphonso also ordered that the three children, who were abandoned by their mother, should be taken into custody for protection and counselling.

She further ordered that the children’s mother, who is currently abroad and expected to return from Libya, be denied visitation rights upon arrival.

Alphonso therefore adjourned the case to July 24, 2025, for further hearing.

A fresh round of hostilities may have erupted between major oil marketers and the Dangote petroleum refinery as both parties jostle for dominance in Nigeria’s downstream oil sector, Saturday PUNCH reports.

This follows recent revelations by the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who declared that his $20bn refinery is still “fighting for survival” amid what he described as sabotage by entrenched interests and oil sector cabals resisting local refining.

He stated at a recent event that the battle with entrenched oil cabals — one that began even before the refinery commenced full operations — was still ongoing, but expressed confidence that he would ultimately prevail in securing the refinery’s future.

Findings revealed that the business mogul’s remarks were triggered by the continued importation of petrol and the reluctance of major marketers to buy in bulk from the refinery, despite its increased production capacity and improved output of petroleum products.

This comes against the backdrop that marketers of petroleum products utilising scarce foreign exchange brought in a total of 2.57 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, in 70 days between March 1 and May 9, 2025.

Saturday PUNCH analysis using an April 2025 midstream and downstream document and latest tanker vessel movement obtained from Blue Sea Maritime, showed that the marketers, who opted not to patronise Dangote, imported 755.7 million litres of petrol in March at an average of 25.19 million daily.

In April alone, petrol imports surged to approximately 1.47 billion litres, indicating sustained reliance on foreign supply.

Within just the first 10 days of May, an additional 331.33 million litres were brought into the country, underscoring the continued high demand met through importation despite ramped-up local production.

With an average of N948 per litre, importers may have spent N2.42tn on PMS imports. This is in addition to N4.51tn spent on the same purpose between October 2024 and February 2025.

Dangote had, since last year, raised the alarm that some mafias were sabotaging his refinery.

He specifically mentioned that some international oil companies were sabotaging his investment by denying the facility adequate crude supply despite the domestic crude supply obligation.

Dangote had alleged that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority was issuing licences to marketers to import substandard petroleum products into the country.

To fight this, the facility approached a federal high court to stop the regulatory authority from issuing import licences to marketers.

The court is yet to rule on the request.

At a point last year, Dangote said he regretted building the refinery, saying the mafias in the oil and gas sector were stronger than those of drugs.

“In a system where, for 35 years, people are used to counting good money, and all of a sudden, they see that the days of counting that money have come to an end, you don’t expect them to pray for you. Of course, you expect them to fight back.

“And I think that is the process that we’re now really going through. But the truth is that, yes, the country, the sub-region, and also the continent of sub-Saharan Africa, need this refinery. So, you expect them to fight through non-supply of crude, non-purchase of the product, but I think it’s all temporary. We’ll get there,” Dangote stated.

But giving an update at an investor forum in Lagos last week, Dangote said the fight for the survival of his $20bn refinery was still on.

He pointed out that some individuals who “for a very, very long time” have “made a lot of money from” government-subsidised oil imports into Nigeria, were the ones trying to sabotage the 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery situated in Lekki, Lagos.

“We are fighting, and the fight is not yet finished. But I have been fighting all my life, and I am ready and 100 per cent sure I will win at the end of the day,” he stated.

He later clarified that those who were still fighting against the survival of his refinery were major marketers and traders, and not the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited leadership.

However, despite the business mogul’s claims, data suggests that petrol imports have significantly declined in recent months.

Latest NMDPRA data indicates that daily imports of Premium Motor Spirit fell from 44.6 million litres in August 2024 to 14.7 million litres as of April 13, 2025—representing a sharp drop of about 30 million litres or 67 per cent.

This reduction is attributed to improved supply from the Dangote refinery, Port Harcourt refinery and modular refineries.

In a major shift, the NNPCL, once a dominant importer, has also scaled back its foreign purchases, opting instead to source products directly from the refinery.

However, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, in an earlier interview, said there should be no form of discord in the downstream sector over the source of petroleum product purchase.

According to him, Dangote should be allowed to refine its products with the naira-for-crude deal while importers and other traders should be given a level playing field to operate.

Gillis-Harry noted that there should be facts to back up all claims, saying there will be competition in any business, pleading, however, that it should be healthy.

“I just want all players to do their business without any fight,” the PETROAN boss said.

The National Publicity Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, said the fight is just the usual competition in any business, especially when a product is doing better than others in the market.

He said, “Well, this is business. Competition abounds. There is no businessman whom people will not fight if he is doing well, especially when it is only your goods that are being produced, and the others are not being patronised because of the price. So, it is evident that every businessman wants to survive. It’s not an issue. What we can do is encourage him.

“We independent marketers are happy with him for his price slashes, although sometimes it’s against our business strategy and projections. But that is part of the business; it is profit and loss.

“You know the factor of demand and supply matter determines the market. So, if he’s talking about how people want to sabotage him, he has told us that he’s ready to fight the oil cabals, and he is in this business to ensure that Nigerians don’t suffer. So, we encourage him not to lose hope, and we independent marketers support him in all ramifications.”

The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, however, raised the alarm over what it described as an emerging monopoly in the downstream petroleum sector, warning that the dominance of the Dangote refinery could destabilise the market if not carefully managed.

In an interview with TVC on Friday, the Executive Secretary of DAPPMAN, Mr Olufemi Adewole, dismissed allegations of a “cabal” in the sector but admitted the existence of vested interests among private depot owners who had invested billions of naira over the years to keep fuel flowing to Nigerians.

He said, “There is no cabal in the midstream and downstream operations as far as I am concerned, because, going by the English definition of the word cabal, it’s a negative, subversive thing. There is no cabal. But I can tell you that we have vested interests.

“My principals have vested interests in the sector. So, if they have invested over these years, billions of naira, and they have bridged the gap, even before Dangote, they were there when nobody was there to bridge the gap and ensure Nigerians get fuel. Definitely, they should have commensurate returns on their investment. So, on that, I would say there is no cabal, but there are vested interests.”

Speaking further, Adewole stressed that the Dangote Refinery, despite its massive 650,000-barrel capacity, had not been able to meet even the current reduced local consumption needs.

He argued that private depot owners continued to bear the bulk of the fuel distribution burden across the country.

According to him, stopping the importation of fuel at this stage would be “chaotic” and “dangerous,” adding that a phased strategy was more viable once multiple domestic refineries were onstream.

Adewole also expressed deep concern over what he called a “clear and present danger” of monopoly, noting that Dangote’s scale gave it excessive influence over pricing and supply channels.

“You will recall that Dangote recently took the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and a few other marketers to court. This tells you their mindset, and what they were challenging is actually the authority of the regulator, which is enshrined in the PIA, to release import licenses for marketers to import fuel. So, it gives you a picture into their mindset.

“So, the fear of monopoly is real, and we are working with other stakeholders to make sure this is not realised, and we are working with the regulators, encouraging them to do their work so that this is curtailed.”

On direct dealings with the refinery, Adewole said DAPPMAN members were not getting a fair opportunity to purchase products, alleging that the refinery preferred to sell only to selected marketers via gantry supplies, rather than bulk depot loading.

“Dangote Refinery prefers a selective approach. We have depots in Calabar, Port Harcourt and other coastal cities ready to pick in bulk—10,000, 15,000, even 20,000 metric tons—but access to load vessels is restricted.”

He also disclosed that price slashes after cargoes had left the gantry had left many marketers absorbing losses quietly, just to stay afloat.

“We didn’t come out to make noise. But we’ve been bearing the brunt, just to remain sustainable and profitable.”

Addressing the issue of pump pricing, Adewole explained that the cost of petroleum products was built on multiple layers: from crude price to refinery margins, logistics, and retail costs—highlighting the impact of operational inefficiencies and high financing costs on final prices.

“Depot operations are tough. Equipment is ageing, and capital costs are high. To import 20,000 metric tons, a marketer needs an exposure of over N20 billion. Most of this is bank-funded at high interest rates,” he concluded.

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, has denied media reports that the federal government has commenced the extradition process against the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Simon Ekpa.

The AGF was earlier reported to have made the statement during the Stakeholders/Citizen Engagement Forum held on Thursday in Abuja.

But speaking through his spokesperson, Kamarudeen Ogundele, Fagbemi clarified that “the report is untrue and a complete departure from what the AGF said.”

He added, “Ekpa, a leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is currently standing trial in Finland for charges filed against him by the Finnish government.

“To set the record straight, what the AGF said during the question-and-answer session was that the Nigerian government had been engaging with Finnish authorities to ensure that Simon Ekpa is held accountable for his actions.

“He explained that since the crimes committed by Simon Ekpa were cross-border in nature, the Nigerian government eagerly awaits the outcome of the proposed trial in Finland to make an informed decision on the next step to take.

“The AGF appeals to the media to be circumspect and avoid reporting speculations on the sensitive matter,” the statement concluded.

THE WHISTLER had reported that Ekpa’s lawyer, Kaale Gummerus, denied knowledge of any plans to extradite him to Nigeria.

“I do not have any information that Simon Ekpa will be extradited to Nigeria. The case is still pending,” Gummerus told the BBC pidgin.

Gummerus, who recently became Ekpa’s lawyer, had said in April that Ekpa would appear in court in June 2025 for trial.

Ekpa, who parades himself as the “Prime Minister” of the Biafra Republic government in exile, was arrested in Lahti, Finland, in November 2024.

Finnish police accused him of using social media platforms to incite violence against civilians and authorities in Nigeria’s southeast, a region historically tied to the Biafran independence movement.

The Nigerian government had accused Ekpa of coordinating violent acts, including attacks on security operatives and enforcing disruptive “sit-at-home” orders in the southeast.

Ekpa, alongside four others, was detained for allegedly financing such activities.

Detectives from the Ondo State Police Command have apprehended a notorious four-man gang involved in car thefts, which had been terrorizing residents.

The suspects, led by their ringleader, Afolabi Emmanuel, were nabbed by the Tactical Intelligence Squad (TIS) unit of the command after they allegedly stole a 2016 model Toyota Camry from the residence of one Mr Amokun Victor in Oka-Akoko.

The gang, which had been on the wanted list of the police, sold the vehicle through an accomplice in Ogori-Magongo, Kogi State.

Parading the suspects on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Akure, the Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi, said the stolen car with a market value of N12 million, was sold for a paltry N700,000.

“The suspect confessed to scaling the fence of the victim’s compound, breaking into the apartment, carting away valuables and eventually driving off with the vehicle,” Afolabi said.

He explained that further investigation by the police led to the recovery of two more vehicles, including a Toyota Sienna worth N6 million, which had been sold for N4 million.

According to the police chief, the gang was responsible for a string of vehicle thefts across the 18 local government areas of the state.

He said the ringleader, Afolabi, is based in Lagos but frequently in Akungba Akoko, where his father resides, alleging that it was during his visit he identified potential targets before launching the theft operations.

"These suspects have been a menace, instilling fear in residents and dispossessing them of their hard-earned belongings," the CP stated.

"Their arrest is a significant blow to the network of criminals operating across state lines."

While urging vehicle owners to take precautions by installing anti-theft devices such as pedal locks and trackers, Mr Afolabi said the police had intensified efforts to track other fleeing members of the syndicate as investigations continue

Officers of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested 25-year-old Samson Oghenebreme in Lagos for allegedly transporting human organs from Edo State to a native doctor for suspected money ritual purposes.

The command, in a statement by its spokesperson, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “Operatives of Odo-Noforija Division have arrested one Samson Oghenebreme ‘m’ aged 25 in Odomola community, Epe, for being in possession of human organs.

"The arrest, which occurred on April 25, 2025, followed credible information from members of the public about the suspicious movement of the suspect. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect was transporting the organs from Edo State to a native doctor for the purpose of money-making rituals.

 “The recovered human organs have been deposited at the General Hospital, Epe, for preservation, while the case has been transferred to the Edo State Police Command for further investigation and prosecution.

 “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Olohundare Jimoh, commended the swift response of the operatives and the vigilance of the Odomola community. He emphasized the importance of timely information sharing, which played a vital role in the prompt apprehension of the suspect.

 “CP Jimoh urges all residents of Lagos State to remain watchful and report any suspicious activities or individuals to the nearest police station. He assures the public that the Command remains fully committed to ensuring the safety and security of lives and property across the state.”

Chiamaka Favor (alias), a 2-year-old girl, who was trafficked from Abuja to Aba in February 2025, has been rescued by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The victim was rescued by NAPTIP, Abia State Command on May 8, 2025.

According to a statement issued by the agency on Friday, May 9, the suspected trafficker was arrested by DSS Abia and handed over to NAPTIP.

The trafficker is alleged to have worked with three trafficking syndicates from Abuja and sold the child to a buyer for N100,000.

NAPTIP is seeking public assistance to reunite the minor with her biological parents.

“Investigations are ongoing. NAPTIP is calling on the biological parents or any relatives of the child to urgently contact the Agency,” the statement read.

The Vatican announced that the inauguration mass of Pope Leo XIV will take place on Sunday, May 18, in St Peter’s Square.

World leaders are expected to gather for the event, held 10 days after the election of Robert Francis Prevost as the first US head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

The new pontiff will meet with journalists on Monday and with diplomats accredited to the Holy See the following Friday, the Vatican said.

Leo’s first general audience will be on Wednesday May 21 and he will meet with members of the Roman Curia — top Vatican officials — on

May 24