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Oyo school attack: Kidnapped teachers, students will return home soon – Makinde
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, allayed the fears of abducted teachers’ and students’ family members, assuring that his administration was making serious efforts to secure their release.
Makinde gave this assurance while receiving the state Deputy Governor, Bayo Lawal, alongside other Muslim faithful at his private residence in Ikolaba, Ibadan, the state capital, during the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
Makinde said, ‘The challenges that we have, especially in Oyo with our school children being kidnapped, we are working round the clock to ensure that the children are reunited with their families.
‘So, I also use this opportunity to say to those that are in despair right now, that God Almighty will meet them at their point of need’.
He expressed sympathy with families affected by the incident and prayed for divine intervention for those going through difficult moments.
The PUNCH reports that scores of teachers and students were abducted during coordinated attacks on Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, in Oriire Local Government Area of the state, penultimate Friday around 9:30 a.m.
The governor called for unity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians as the country gradually moves towards another political season, saying that political differences should not divide the people.
He said Oyo remained a liberal and tolerant state where religion and ethnicity could not easily be used as tools of division, urging residents to place the interest of the state and the country above political sentiments.
He stated, ‘Well, let me use this opportunity to wish our Muslim brothers and sisters, and indeed everyone in Oyo and Nigeria, happy Eid celebration and I wish all of us many, many more of it in the land of the living.
‘This is because we are moving towards a political season and for us in Oyo we are very liberal and tolerant people. So, it’s difficult to use ethnicity or religion to divide us’.
The governor stressed that political offices were temporary, while the collective interest of the state and the nation must remain paramount.
He said, ‘Even as we move towards this political season, government will come and go but our state and our country remain. Even when we disagree with ourselves, it’s a temporary thing.
‘In another seven or eight months, president-elect would have emerged, governors-elect would have emerged. And whoever emerges, we will have to work together in the interest of our state and our country with such individuals and set of people’.
Earlier, the state Deputy Governor, Lawal, who led a delegation of Muslim faithfuls to the governor’s private residence to pay the traditional Eid-el-Kabir homage and celebrate with him, added that the visit was in keeping with the spirit of the Eid celebration, which promotes peace, unity, sacrifice and togetherness among the people.
He also commended the governor for sustaining religious harmony and inclusive governance in Oyo State, noting that the administration had continued to treat all residents fairly irrespective of religious or ethnic differences.
Meanwhile, Muslim faithful gathered in large numbers at the Agodi Eid praying ground to observe the Eid-el-Kabir prayers, joining in supplications for peace, unity, and improved security across Oyo State and Nigeria.
The special prayer session, which commenced at about 9 a.m., was led by the Chief Imam of Ibadanland, AbdulGaniyy Agbotomokekere, who offered prayers seeking Allah’s mercy for the nation, stability in governance, and protection for citizens amid ongoing security concerns.
The congregation also prayed fervently for the safe return of victims abducted in Ahoro Esiele in Oriire Local Government Area of the state, urging security agencies and relevant authorities to intensify rescue efforts and restore calm to affected communities.
Pope Leo XIV has warned against the potential risks of artificial intelligence, urging governments and societies to ensure that rapid technological advancement does not come at the expense of human dignity and values.
The Pope issued the warning during his four-day visit to France, where he addressed French government and Catholic officials at the Élysée Palace in Paris after meeting President Emmanuel Macron.
Pope Leo cautioned against “losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines,” stressing the need to keep human beings and their dignity at the centre of technological development.
His remarks come amid growing global debate over the impact of artificial intelligence on society, employment, education and human relationships.
The Pope’s visit to France is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people, with more than 500,000 expected to attend Mass in Paris on Saturday.
French authorities have stepped up security around the Champs-Élysées and other parts of the capital ahead of the major events. An altar has also been erected at the Place de la Concorde for the Mass.
Pope Leo arrived at Orly Airport on Friday, where he was received by Macron. He is expected to travel through Paris in the popemobile, with large crowds anticipated along his route to Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Macron is not expected to attend the Pope’s Masses because of France’s strict separation of church and state. His wife, Brigitte Macron, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu are, however, expected to attend Saturday’s service.
Other senior French political figures, including Marine Le Pen, Édouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal and Bruno Retailleau, are also expected to be present.
Officials at the Élysée Palace have dismissed reports of tensions between the French presidency and the Vatican over the Pope’s visit.
French officials said the government had offered Pope Leo several ceremonial engagements traditionally arranged for visiting heads of state. However, he reportedly declined Macron’s proposal to meet artisans involved in the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral, citing a busy schedule.
After visiting Notre-Dame on Friday, the Pope is expected to meet about 80,000 young people at the Stade de France in northern Paris.
On Sunday, around 150,000 people are expected to attend Mass at the Catholic sanctuary of Lourdes in the Pyrenees.
Pope Leo will conclude his visit on Monday in Metz, northeastern France, where he is expected to honour Robert Schuman, one of the founding figures of the European Union and a Catholic currently being considered for beatification.
. As Agency presses 22-count charges over UK-bound drug haul
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday 25th September 2026 arraigned Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as KC Luxury, and two other accomplices, Boniface Freeman Ochoche Sule and Ikechukwu Ekugo Patriarch, before Hon. Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on a 22-count charge bordering on cocaine trafficking, illegal export of narcotics and money laundering.
The defendants, who were accused of conspiring between 28th July and 1st August 2026 to export 184.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in five consignments through a Lagos-based courier logistics firm to London, United Kingdom, pleaded not guilty to all counts when the charges were read to them.
Count one of the charge sheet, marked FHC/LAG/CR/755/2026, accuses Afolabi, alongside Boniface and Ikechukwu, of conspiring with Atandare Oladipupo Oluwarotimi and Latifat Yusuf, already arrested in London in connection with the same case, to export the narcotic drug using consignments bearing Airway Bill Numbers 2079998314, 8224082370, 2079973571, 7181131742 and 2211893902, under the shipper’s name Yemi Ejide.
Other counts detail how Boniface procured Ikechukwu to facilitate the export while Afolabi is accused of procuring a staff member of BOT Express Logistics on Lagos Island to process the illicit consignment, and of unlawfully possessing the cocaine ahead of export.
The charge sheet further links Afolabi to the payment of ₦13.2 million from a Mallamawa Ventures Zenith Bank account to BOT Express Logistics as consideration for the shipment.
On the financial trail, no fewer than sixteen counts bordering on money laundering, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022, accuse Afolabi of funnelling several billions of naira through a web of companies and personal accounts, including Mallamawa Ventures, Fateey Man Multi-Purpose Nig. Ltd, Patonifa Ltd, Ade-Lak Resources, Holmestas Global Services Limited, La Capital Enterprises and others, with the funds used, among other things, to acquire motor vehicles and various landed properties, in a bid to conceal the true origin of the proceeds of the illicit trade. He is also alleged to have failed to declare his assets to the Agency as required by law.
After the not-guilty plea was entered and their bail application argued, the NDLEA prosecutor Abu Ibrahim who opposed the bail application prayed the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending trial, citing the gravity of the offences. Justice Faji thereafter ordered that the defendants be remanded in the Agency’s facility, and adjourned the matter till 4th October 2026 for ruling on the application.
Afolabi, (a.k.a. KayCee Luxury, KayCee Lux, KC, Mr. Luxury, Yemi Ejide) who paraded himself online as a luxury goods dealer and lifestyle influencer, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on the night of 13th August 2026 as he attempted to flee Nigeria on a business-class flight to Paris from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, following the interception of the 184.5kg cocaine consignment estimated to be worth about N39 billion. A subsequent search on him and his Banana Island apartment led to the recovery of exotic vehicles, foreign currency and jewellery believed to be proceeds of the illicit trade.
Count one of the charge reads: “That you: 1. Afolabi Kazeem Michael a.k.a. KayCee Luxury, KC, Yemi Ejide, 2. Boniface Freeman Ochoche Sule and 3. Ikechukwu Ekugo Patriarch, Male,
Adults, on or about the period between the 28t July 2026 and 1s day of August
2026 conspired with the duo of Atandare Oladipupo Oluwarotimi and Latifat
Yusuf (both of whom have been arrested in London, the United Kingdom in
respect of this case) to export 184.5 Kilograms of Cocaine, a Narcotic Drug
contained in five (5) consignments with Airway Bill Numbers 2079998314,
8224082370, 2079973571, 7181131742, 2211893902 with shipper’s name as
‘Yemi Ejide’ and you thereby committed an act which is an offence against and
punishable under section 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
This is Chukuku, along Kuje – Gwagwalada road, Kuje Area Council of the FCT.
Wike don reach here.
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