Pope Francis is to leave hospital today and return to his residence in the Vatican, where he is to spend “at least two months” recovering, one of his doctors announced.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14, when he was admitted with breathing problems, and he subsequently battled pneumonia in both lungs.

The Vatican said earlier that the pope on Sunday intended to wave and offer a blessing from Gemelli hospital.

The doctor, Sergio Alfieri, said on Saturday that “tomorrow, the pope will leave (the hospital) and return to Saint Martha’s House” in the Vatican, where Pope Francis has his residential suite.

There, the head of the Catholic Church will have to observe “a long convalescence…. of at least two months,” Alfieri told reporters.

Another doctor at the hospital, Luca Carbone, said the elderly pope’s health “is improving” and “we hope that he will soon be able to resume his normal activities”.

Alfieri said: “Further progress will take place at his home, because a hospital — even if this seems strange — is the worst place to recover because it’s where one can contract more infections.”

– Resignation talk dismissed –
The fragile state of the pope’s health had spurred speculation that he could step down, as his predecessor, Benedict XVI, did.

The current hospitalisation, the longest in Francis’s papacy, has raised questions over who might lead the busy schedule of religious events leading up to Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar.

The pope has missed the Angelus prayers — normally recited by the pontiff every Sunday — for five straight weeks, for the first time since his election in March 2013.

The Vatican said earlier Saturday that the pope’s appearance on Sunday would follow the Angelus prayers.

Previously, on Wednesday, the Vatican had said that Francis had suspended his use of an oxygen mask.

For most of the pope’s hospital stay, including critical stages, the Vatican was publishing daily bulletins on the health of Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man.

On Monday, Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told reporters that he had noted an improvement in Francis’ health during a visit.

But asked whether the conversation had turned to the pope’s resignation, he replied: “No, no, no, absolutely not.”

Catholics and others worldwide have been praying for his speedy recovery. Many have been leaving flowers, candles and notes for Francis outside the Gemelli hospital.

The communal clash between Ilobu and Ifon of Osun State has escalated to neighbouring community, Erin-Osun, leading to the displacement of more residents of the towns.

Governor Ademola Adeleke has, however, imposed a 24-hour curfew on the communities whose indigenes have been unleashing violence on one another as a result of boundary disputes.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that the warring Ilobu and Ifon communities continued the violent attacks on Saturday, and moved to Erin-Osun where houses were reportedly torched.

Our correspondent who visited Okinni, the next community to Ilobu along Osogbo/Ogbomoso Road, observed large number of displaced people, who had set a camp near the road.

Many residents of Ifon and Ilobu had been moving out of the communities since Friday.

However, following spread of the crises to Erin Osun in the early hours of Saturday, more residents fleeing from the mayhem had moved to Gaa in Ido Osun and Okinni, to escape being caught in the crossfire.

Many of the displaced persons, it was also learnt, moved into accommodations provided by their relatives in Osogbo, the state capital, with several others reportedly seeking refuge in mosques and churches.

During the visit, Sunday PUNCH also observed that some were conveying many northerners residing in the troubled communities to Kano State.

One of the passengers, Lawal Yusuf, who was living in Ilobu, told our correspondent that hoodlums attacked the Ilobu market where his stalls was located and destroyed his goods.

“Hoodlums attacked the market where we are selling goods in Ilobu and destroyed many things. We are going back to Kano. We pray that the situation will be brought under control soonest. We hope to come back whenever peace returns here. If not we are not coming back here,” he said.

Counting loses of the community as a result of the unrest, the Ilobu-Asake Development Union, in a statement signed by its President, Olufemi Salako, said beside those killed, over 100,000 persons had been displaced while property destroyed worth over N2bn.

Salako, while calling on the Federal Governments to assist in protecting the community, also sought the assistance of the National Emergency Management Agency for the affected individuals and businesses.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson to Osun Governor, Olawale Rasheed, while commenting on measures to prevent further escalation, said Adeleke had declared 24-hour curfew in the affected communities.

He said, “Governor Ademola Adeleke has stepped up conflict de-escalation moves on Ifon-Ilobu conflict, imposing a 24-hour curfew, mobilising joint security task force and hosting a peace deal between the two warring communities.

“Meanwhile, we seek to bring to the attention of the public that old videos of communal conflicts in some parts of Osun state are being circulated by opposition elements to spread false pictures of insecurity in Osun state.

“While the ongoing conflict is regrettable and while all hands are on deck to stop the violence, we inform the public to take note of the activities of fake news merchants who are digging up old videos to discredit the state government. The videos being circulated of violence in other towns and villages in Osun are fake news and should be disregarded by the members of the public.”

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted $193,000 in undeclared foreign currency concealed in a yoghurt carton at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

According to the statement by the service on Friday, the seizure, which occurred on Thursday, followed a targeted baggage inspection based on “credible intelligence”.

The suspect, Kamilu Sarina, aged 40, arrived in Nigeria aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 951 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“Around the early hours of today, we received an intelligence report, which proved very helpful. This afternoon, one Kamilu Abdullahi Sarina, who boarded Ethiopian Airlines from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was found concealing a total sum of $193,000 inside a carton of yoghurt,” said Olumide Adebisi, a Comptroller at the customs area controller for the Federal Capital Territory Command.

The suspect failed to declare the funds, in violation of the Anti-Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, which require travellers in possession of over $10,000 to declare such sums to customs upon entry or exit.

“The law clearly states that if a person has funds above $10,000, they must declare it to Customs. Failure to do so could result in the forfeiture of the money, a prison sentence of up to two years, or both,” Mr Adebisi said.

He explained that the concealment was uncovered during baggage scanning.

“When Mr. Kamilu Abdullahi Sarina’s luggage was scanned, we detected an unusual density. We allowed him to proceed but closely monitored his baggage. Upon further inspection, we discovered that the density was irregular, so we instructed him to return. In his presence, we checked the package and found the undeclared money hidden inside the yoghurt carton.”

The intercepted currency has been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation and prosecution.

“As required by law, we are handing over the forfeited money to the EFCC for further necessary action,” he said.

Reiterating the Customs’ commitment to financial regulation enforcement, Mr Adebisi warned travellers against attempting to bypass currency declaration rules.

“All travellers must comply with Nigeria’s financial regulations, particularly the legal requirement to declare any cash or negotiable instruments exceeding the approved threshold when travelling in or out of the country,” he said.

“The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022 and the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1995 provide clear guidelines on currency declaration. Non-compliance with these regulations violates Nigerian law and attracts severe penalties,” he added.

Mr Adebisi also commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, for “creating an enabling working environment” that has improved operational efficiency within the Command.