Aare Adetola EmmanuelKing Celebrates Olubadan Ladoja at 81
The Aare Apesinola of Ibadanland, Sir Aare Adetola EmmanuelKing KOF, has joined the sons and daughters of Ibadanland, Yorubaland, and well-wishers across Nigeria in celebrating His Imperial Majesty, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, FNSE, on the auspicious occasion of his 81st Birthday Anniversary.
In his glowing tribute, Aare EmmanuelKing described the monarch’s life as “a rare blend of divine grace, uncommon wisdom, and unflinching devotion to humanity.” He extolled the Olubadan as a leader whose humility, integrity, and fatherly compassion have defined his personal journey and endeared him to generations.
“Your 81st year is a crown of honor upon a life richly invested in service, truth, and compassion. It is the celebration of decades spent building bridges of peace, fostering unity, and safeguarding the heritage of Ibadanland. Truly, you stand as a towering symbol of Yoruba culture and an enduring inspiration to all who cherish noble values,” he said.
He further noted the divine significance of this milestone, stressing that celebrating the monarch’s 81st birthday within the period of his coronation is a historic convergence of grace and glory. “This rare alignment speaks to God’s favor upon your reign, a powerful confirmation that your life, age, and throne are woven together in destiny for the peace, unity, and prosperity of Ibadanland,” he said.
Aare Adetola Emmanuelking also emphasized that the monarch’s attainment of this octogenarian milestone is both a personal triumph and a collective blessing, reaffirming God’s abiding favor upon the throne and upon the land.
“As you mark this glorious 81st birthday, I pray that the Almighty continues to renew Your Imperial Majesty’s strength like the eagle, fill your reign with joy in abundance, and grant you the grace of long, peaceful years. May Ibadanland and the entire Yorubaland continue to flourish under your wise counsel and royal guidance,” he prayed.
He extended warm felicitations to the monarch, reaffirming his loyalty and prayers for greater glory in the years ahead.
“Happy 81st Birthday, Kabiyesi! May your days be long, peaceful, and eternally blessed. Long live the Olubadan of Ibadanland!”
Singapore said on Thursday it had given Meta until September 30 to clamp down on the growing number of scammers pretending to be government officials or face hefty fines.
Meta’s Facebook is the top platform used by fraudsters to carry out the scams, which have cost victims tens of millions of dollars, according to the city-state’s government.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said the police issued a directive to Meta “to put in place measures to target scam advertisements, accounts, profiles, and/or business pages impersonating key Government Office Holders on Facebook” by September 30.
Failure to comply “without reasonable excuse would render Meta liable on conviction to a fine” of up to Sg$1.0 million (US$776,000), the MHA said.
Non-compliance after the deadline will subject Meta to a further fine of up to Sg$100,000 “for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction”, it said.
There was a rise in scammers on Facebook pretending to be government officials in fake advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages between June 2024 and June 2025, the MHA said.
It said Meta had taken steps to address the risk of impersonation scams globally, including in Singapore, but authorities were concerned that they had continued.
It was the first time the police ordered an online platform to tackle the rising scam problem in the city-state under the Online Criminal Harms Act passed last year.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming said this month that, in the first half of this year, scams involving the impersonation of government officials rose by 200 per cent from the previous year to more than 1,760 cases.
In one notorious example, scammers used deepfakes or images of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong this year to sell fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes.
Losses to impersonation scammers rose by about 90 per cent to Sg$126 million in the first half of 2025, according to Goh.
There was no immediate reaction from Meta, although it said this month that the firm was against ads that deceptively use public figures to try to scam people.
A Paris court on Thursday convicted former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of criminal conspiracy but acquitted him of corruption and accepting illegal campaign financing in his trial into accusations late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi helped fund his victorious 2007 presidential run.
The trial is the latest in a string of legal troubles for the right-wing ex-leader, 70, who denies the charges.
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, has already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest honour.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino said Sarkozy,as a serving minister and party leader at the time, had “allowed his close collaborators and political supporters over whom he had authority and who acted in his name”, to approach the Libyan authorities “in order to obtain or attempt to obtain financial support”.
The court’s ruling however did not follow the conclusion of prosecutors that Sarkozy was the alleged beneficiary of the illegal campaign financing. He was acquitted on a separate charges of embezzlement of Libyan public funds, passive corruption and illegal financing of an electoral campaign.
Sentencing is due to be announced later in the hearing, with prosecutors requesting a seven-year prison term for Sarkozy.
He was present in court for the verdict, accompanied by his model and musician wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
Two former close aides were also convicted. His former right-hand man Claude Gueant was found guilty of passive corruption and falsification while former minister Brice Hortefeux was found guilty of criminal conspiracy.
Eric Woerth, Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign treasurer, was acquitted.
In a dramatic coincidence, the judgement was issued by the Paris court two days after the death on Tuesday in Beirut of Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, a key accuser of Sarkozy in the case.
Takieddine, 75, had claimed several times that he helped deliver up to five million euros ($6 million) in cash from Kadhafi to Sarkozy and the former president’s chief of staff in 2006 and 2007.
He then spectacularly retracted his claims before contradicting his own retraction, prompting the opening of another case against Sarkozy and also Bruni-Sarkozy, on suspicion of pressuring a witness.
Prosecutors argued that Sarkozy and his aides devised a pact with Kadhafi in 2005 to illegally fund Sarkozy’s victorious presidential election bid two years later.
Investigators believe that in return Kadhafi was promised help to restore his international image after Tripoli was blamed by the West for bombing a plane in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland and another over Niger in 1989, killing hundreds of passengers.
Kadhafi was ultimately overthrown and killed by opponents in 2011 during the Arab Spring as NATO military intervention — in which France under Sarkozy played a key role — enforced a no-fly zone.
The prosecution’s case is based on statements from seven former Libyan dignitaries, trips to Libya by Gueant and Hortefeux, financial transfers, and the notebooks of the former Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem, who was found drowned in the Danube river in Vienna in 2012.
Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his mandate and has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling and campaign finance infringements.
He was first convicted for graft and sentenced to a one-year jail term, which he served with an electronic tag for three months before being granted conditional release.
Separately, he received a one-year jail term — six months with another six months suspended — in the so-called “Bygmalion affair” for illegal campaign financing. Sarkozy has gone to France’s top appeals court to appeal that verdict.
He has faced repercussions beyond the courtroom, including losing his Legion of Honour — France’s highest distinction — following the graft conviction.
Legal woes aside, the man who styled himself as the “hyper-president” while in office still enjoys considerable influence and popularity on the right of French politics, and is known to regularly meet with President Emmanuel Macron.
The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a car snatching, diversion of trucks and also recovered stolen items in separate operations across the state.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by the Spokesman for the state police command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, three suspects were arrested during the operation.
Ikenga said the operation was conducted through the enhanced strategic positioning and security patrols emplacement and community/security stakeholders collaboration of the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu.
The statement read in part, “The Anambra State Police Command continues to stabilise the safety and security of the state as police operatives attached to the respective Police Divisional Headquarters, which include Achalla, Okpoko, and Ihiala, record the arrest of three suspects involved in car snatching/diversion of trucks, child-stealing syndicate, and recover stolen items and vehicles in separate operations.
“On September 23, 2025, by 12.38pm, a Joint Team of Police operatives from Achalla Division and members of the Special Vigilante Taskforce of Achalla swiftly arrested two male suspects identified as Chinwendu Ndieli and Uchenna Offodile.
“The Joint Security Team acted on the report of a Mack Truck with Registration No. T 5003 LA, together with an empty container suspected to have been stolen, which was parked near St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Achalla.
“Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed to the crime and revealed how the truck was stolen from a company in Lagos. Meanwhile, the owner has been contacted to come with the necessary documents to reclaim the vehicle.”
According to him, in a similar development, on the evening of the same date, police operatives from Okpoko Division received credible information about an abandoned vehicle along Onitsha–Owerri Road, opposite Tiger Fruit Company.
“Acting promptly, the Divisional Patrol Team, led by the DPO, moved to the scene and discovered a white Toyota Camry Spider with Registration Number Anambra: AWK 91 SR.
“During the search, an additional plate number, Delta: 06A 90 DT, was recovered inside the vehicle. The car has since been recovered to the station for safekeeping, identification and possible collection by the rightful owner.
“Also, on the same evening of September 23, 2025, through the assistance of the youths of Akwa Village, Ihiala arrested one male suspect, Charles Chiemerie Onuigbo, over an alleged case of abduction of three children between the ages of six, three, and two years respectively.
“Preliminary information reveals that Charles and two others who are currently at large conspired and abducted the three children. Further revelations from the mother of the victims stated that while her children were eating in front of their house, she went into the kitchen to get them more food, but returned to find them missing. Also, the arrested suspect is a neighbour who had been harbouring the two fleeing suspects whose identities are yet unknown.
“In view of the above, Charles was attacked and beaten by irate members of the community, sustaining injuries before being rescued by the Police,” he added.
According to him, the case is under investigation and efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspects and rescue the missing children, adding that other parts of the state command have remained calm as counter-terrorism and other crime prevention operations continue.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a Nigerian, Olumide Adebiyi Adediran, wanted in the United States for multiple fraud offences.
According to a statement on the FBI’s website on Wednesday, Adediran faces charges of bank fraud, identity document fraud and credit card fraud in connection with alleged crimes committed in Illinois as far back as 2001.
The 56-year-old, who also goes by several aliases including Kevin Olumide Adediran, Eric O. Williams, Maxo Alexandre, Olumide Adkins, and Edward N. Anderson, is accused of attempting to cash fraudulent checks and using stolen identities of US citizens to open bank and credit accounts.
According to the FBI, Adediran fled the Central District of Illinois in December 2001, shortly before his trial was due to begin.
A federal arrest warrant was subsequently issued on January 2, 2002, for violation of the conditions of release.
The statement read, “Olumide Adebiyi Adediran is wanted for Violation of Conditions of Release. In August of 2001, Adediran allegedly entered a bank in Champaign, Illinois, and attempted to retrieve funds from a deposited fraudulent check.
“He also allegedly used stolen information of United States citizens to open bank and charge accounts. Adediran fled the Central District of Illinois at the end of December 2001, shortly before his trial in the Central District of Illinois was set to begin on federal charges of Bank Fraud, Identification Document Fraud, and Credit Card Fraud.
“On January 2, 2002, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Adediran in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, after he was charged with Violation of Conditions of Release.”
The FBI noted that Adediran has ties to South Florida and remains on its wanted list.
He is described as being 5’11” tall, weighing 200 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
“The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Olumide Adebiyi Adediran,” the agency stated.
The FBI urged anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact its offices in the United States or the nearest American embassy or consulate.
The Kano State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested no fewer than 19 suspected vandals across the state within three days.
The state NSCDC Commandant, Bala Bodinga, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen at the State Headquarters of the command on Wednesday.
He said the suspects were arrested at different locations across the state following intensified operations through intelligence-led patrols and surveillance.
“In the course of the operations, operatives of the Command, through intelligence-led patrols and surveillance, have arrested 19 suspected vandals at different locations across the state, including Madobi, Tudunwada, Gwale, Minjibir and Kumbotso local government areas of Kano State,” Bodinga said.
According to him, the suspects were apprehended while engaging in unlawful acts such as tampering with electrical installations, communication cables, drainage slabs, illegal substances and other public utilities
“The arrests followed credible intelligence and swift response by our area commands and divisional offices across the state,” he said.
Bodinga said exhibits recovered from the suspects include many rolls of aluminium cables worth tens of thousands of naira, 6.1kg armoured cables of transformer, two rolls of suck and die (sukudai) and short spear (Dan bida).
Other items were rubber solution (sholusho), one motorcycle, a broken soldering iron, five shovels and five diggers.
He explained that the suspects have since been profiled, investigated thoroughly, and will be prosecuted in accordance with the law to serve as a deterrent to others.
“These arrests are a clear warning to all those who derive pleasure in sabotaging our commonwealth by destroying critical infrastructure.
“Let me emphasise that vandalism not only results in huge economic losses but also endangers the lives of innocent citizens and hampers development,” he said.
He said the command will continue to strengthen intelligence gathering, intensify patrols, and collaborate with sister security agencies, traditional rulers, and community stakeholders to ensure vandals and economic saboteurs have no hiding place in this state.
He called on members of the public to continue to partner with the Corps by volunteering timely and useful information that will assist in curbing crime and protecting collective assets.
Nigerian singer, Timi Dakolo, has announced plans to assist parents struggling to pay their children’s school fees as schools reopen for the new 2025/2026 academic session.
In a post on his official X handle on Wednesday, Dakolo acknowledged the financial strain many families face at the start of every term.
“I know it’s school fee season, it’s not always easy, I know this first-hand.
“So, let me help lessen that burden a little bit,” he wrote.
The singer directed parents and guardians to send their children’s school bills via Instagram to #TheOyindaOlu, adding that receipts of payments made to schools would be sent back to confirm the support.
“Just DM the school bill to
@TheOyindaOlu
on IG.
“We would DM you the receipt of what we sent to the school,” the artist wrote.
Dakolo’s announcement has drawn wide attention online from fans, with many commending the move at a time when households are grappling with mounting costs.
PUNCH Online had reported that as schools usher in the 2025/2026 academic session, the familiar buzz of children in freshly ironed uniforms returning to class has been met with a different kind of noise, the groans of parents weighed down by skyrocketing school expenses.
For many families, the joy of watching their children return to class has been overshadowed by the crushing weight of rising fees.
From tuition and levies to uniforms and textbooks, the cost of education has never felt heavier, forcing households into painful financial choices.
Dakolo, who is known for family-themed songs and community-driven messages, has previously lent his voice to issues affecting education and welfare.
His latest intervention adds to a growing trend of celebrities offering direct financial relief to fans in times of need.
The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has listed steps to strengthen peace, development, and human rights across the globe.
Speaking at the general debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, he said that to achieve peace and development, Nigeria must have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. This should take place as part of a wider process of institutional reform.
He also stated that the urgent action to promote sovereign debt relief and access to trade and financing, adding that countries that host minerals must benefit from those minerals.
Over the years, Africa, despite being rich in natural and human resources, has remained underrepresented in global decision-making platforms like the United Nations Security Council.
Nigeria, as Africa’s most populous nation and a regional power, has long advocated for permanent representation to correct this imbalance.
He stressed that the digital divide must close, maintaining that A. I must stand for ‘Africa Included’.
“On my first point: the United Nations will recover its relevance only when it reflects the world as it is, not as it was. Nigeria’s journey tells this story with clarity: when the UN was founded, we were a colony of 20 million people, absent from the tables where decisions about our fate were taken; today, we are a sovereign nation of over 236 million, projected to be the third most populous country in the world, with one of the youngest and most dynamic populations on earth.
“A stabilising force in regional security and a consistent partner in global peacekeeping, our case for a permanent seat at the Security Council is a demand for fairness, for representation, and for reform that restores credibility to the very institution upon which the hope of multilateralism rests.
“This is why Nigeria stands firmly behind the UN80 Initiative of the Secretary-General, and the resolution adopted by this Assembly on 18 July 2025, a bold step to reform the wider United Nations system for greater relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness in the face of unprecedented financial strain.
‘We support the drive to rationalise structures and end the duplication of responsibilities and programmes, so that this institution may speak with one voice and act with greater coherence,” he added.
According to him, no country can achieve a peaceful world in isolation, saying that this is the heavy burden of sovereignty.
“Sovereignty is a covenant of shared responsibility, a recognition that our survival is bound to the survival of others. To live up to this charge, we must walk hand in hand with our neighbours and partners.
“We must follow the trails of weapons, of money, and of people. For these forces, too often driven by faceless non-state actors, ignite the fires of conflict across our region.
“Nigeria’s soldiers and civilians carry a proud legacy. They have participated in 51 out of 60 United Nations peacekeeping operations since our independence in 1960. We have stood with our partners in Africa to resolve conflicts, and we continue that commitment today through the Multinational Joint Task Force.
“At home, we confront the scourge of insurgency with resolve. From this long and difficult struggle with violent extremism, one truth stands clear: military tactics may win battles measured in months and years, but in wars that span generations, it is values and ideas that deliver the ultimate victory,” he averred.
President Bola Tinubu has said terrorists despise Nigeria because it chooses tolerance over tyranny, adding that its bitter experience has shown that violence never ends where it begins.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the ongoing 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, delivered the national statement on behalf of the country.
Speaking on global security challenges, Shettima said terrorist groups across regions sought to poison humanity with hate and division.
“We are despised by terrorists because we choose tolerance over tyranny.
“Their ambition is to divide us and to poison our humanity with a toxic rhetoric of hate,” Shettima said.
He explained that Nigeria’s stand against violence was not only because of international law but also due to its own experience with insurgency.
“Our difference is the distance between shadow and light, between despair and hope, between the ruin of anarchy and the promise of order.
“We do not only fight wars, we feed and shelter the innocent victims of war,” the statement read in part.
On the Israel-Palestine crisis, the federal government reiterated its support for a two-state solution as the most dignified path to peace.
“We say without stuttering and without doubt, that a two-state solution remains the most dignified path to lasting peace for the people of Palestine.
“The people of Palestine are not collateral damage in a civilisation searching for order.
“They are human beings, equal in worth, entitled to the same freedoms and dignities that the rest of us take for granted,” Shettima declared.
Turning to domestic reforms, the Vice President stressed that peace required tough economic choices.
“The price of peace is eternal vigilance. We in Nigeria are already familiar with such difficult choices: infrastructure renewal or defence platforms? Schools or tanks?
growth and prosperity,” he said.
According to him, FG has taken necessary steps to restructure the economy and remove distortions such as subsidies and currency controls that had favoured a few at the expense of the majority.
The Vice President added that the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit, held earlier this year in Abuja, had exceeded expectations and shown what innovation could deliver.
Tinubu’s statement further urged the United Nations to re-examine the best use of scarce resources, especially in tackling climate change, which he described as a security issue with direct implications for migration and stability.
PUNCH Online had reported that Shettima is in New York to represent President Bola Tinubu at the session, which runs until September 28.
He is scheduled to deliver Nigeria’s national statement, unveil the country’s new Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, and take part in side events, bilateral meetings, and roundtables.
This year’s 80th session began on September 9, while the high-level General Debate, the main platform for heads of state and government to address the Assembly, started on September 23 and will feature more than 150 leaders.
Princes from three royal families on Iwo, Osun State have appealed to the state government and the Osun Traditional Council to regulate use of social media platforms by monarchs in the state.
The princes, who decried incessant fighting among traditional rulers in Yorubaland on social media, demanded an end to the menace before it causes more disunity within the race.
They disclosed this while reacting to the supremacy battle between Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, and the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, over who occupies the fourth position in the hierarchy of monarchs in the state at a press conference held in Iwo.
Addressing journalists in Iwo on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the royal families, Prince Adedoja Osunwo, said the feud between the two monarchs could have been averted if necessary internal mechanisms were in place for conflict resolution among traditional rulers.
Osunwo noted that the use of social media by the two traditional rulers to defend their position was not necessary since a gazette existed that states the status of various stools.
Speaking in the Yoruba language, Osunwo said, “We want to urge the state government, the state traditional council and other relevant stakeholders in the state to put necessary machinery in motion to regulate social media conduct of our traditional rulers.
“Our mission here today is not to condemn or find fault with any of the royal fathers on the ongoing verbal attack between the Oluwo of Iwo and the Ataoja of Osogbo. The records are there. It has been gazetted for quite a long time that Oluwo of Iwo, when it comes to traditional rulers ranking in Osun State, occupies number four.
“The verbal attack we are witnessing today between the two monarchs is unnecessary if necessary internal mechanisms have been put in place for conflict resolution. If what is going on on social media regarding Oluwo and Ataoja is not curtailed, it will have a bad effect on the unity of the Yorubas. Yoruba unity is of greater importance, particularly at this time when a Yoruba is at the helm of affairs.”
He added, “The manner in which some of our traditional rulers go on social media is not something that should be welcomed. The outburst we have been hearing through social media is not something that we should be happy about.
“The idea of using social media for defence by the two royal fathers in this dispute is unnecessary. We want to appreciate the role played so far by the Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, in his attempt to douse the tension. We also commend the Iwo Board of Trustees for their effort and urged them to find a truce. The need for an internal mechanism for conflict resolution should be embraced by the Osun State traditional council under the leadership of Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi.”
Commenting further, he blamed the disagreement on distortion of historical facts, adding that Oluwo’s throne emanated from Ile-Ife and Oluwo was never a lesser chief.
“We want to place it on record that the throne of Oluwo emanated from Ile-Ife, and there is no contention about that. It has never been in history that Oluwo was ever a community chief ‘Baale’ and has such recognition, due to the throne of Oluwo, which should be given to whoever is occupying that throne.
“The ongoing issue was occasioned by the distortion of historical facts through logical thinking, which we believe should be discouraged. Relying on folktales to justify the position being taken by any traditional ruler on issues should be discarded,” Osunwo added.
The PUNCH reports that Ataoja, during a recent lecture at Osun State University to mark his 15th coronation anniversary, revisited the long-standing controversy over the who occupies the 4th position between him and Oluwo.
He insisted that his stool historically occupies the fourth position in the Council—a status he alleged was wrongly ceded to the Oluwo during the reign of his predecessor, Oba Iyiola Oyewale.
Oba Oyetunji narrated how the confusion began, stressing that he was not fighting any monarch but merely asserting the historical rights of his stool.
But Oluwo fired back through his Chief Press Secretary, Alli Ibraheem, accusing Oba Oyetunji of attempting to distort history.
He urged Ataoja to seek accurate historical knowledge from respected elders of Osogbo rather than distort the hierarchy of Yoruba traditional stools.
