1. The Founder of the Sotitobire Praising Chapel, Prophet Babatunde Alfa, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty by a High Court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital over the mysterious disappearance of a child from his church.
The presiding Judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola, ruled that the Prosecution Counsel proved beyond reasonable doubt as regards the evidence brought before the court and found Prophet Alfa guilty on a two-count charge of conspiracy as well as aiding and abetting kidnapping.
2. The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Frank Abumere Okiye and six other members of the Edo Assembly, on Tuesday formally defected from the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on the floor of the house.
Okiye, who announced the defection at plenary session, added that he had received letters from the six members including himself, expressing their desires to decamp to the ruling party in the state so as to identify with the developmental strides of Governor Godwin Obaseki to move Edo State forward.
3. European Union governments will support the Nigerian and South Korean candidates to lead the World Trade Organization as the race enters its final month.
EU member-country envoys agreed on Monday in Brussels to endorse Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister, and Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s trade chief, in their bids to become WTO director-general, according to an official familiar with the matter.
4. The trial of Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, which was scheduled to commence this month, has been suspended as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
This was contained in the orders of Otis Wright, a district judge in California and released on September 23, saying trial will now continue on May 4, 2021.
5. Suspected bandits have killed an officer attached to the Katsina State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, IgbereTV reports.
Garba Nasiru, who was an Assistant Superitendent of Customs, was killed at a checkpoint in Dan Arau village along the Katsina/Jibiya Highway on Friday, October 2.
6. All the candidates for the 2020 Ondo governorship election, on Tuesday, signed a peace accord to ensure a violence-free poll, however, there was mild drama at the end of the event, as Akeredolu refused to shake hands with his deputy, Ajayi.
Those present were the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu of All Progressives Congress (APC), Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) candidate and deputy governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi, along with the candidates of other parties.
7. Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday, admitted that millions of Nigerians are living below the poverty line.
Osinbajo lamented that the COVID-19 pandemic had further worsened the unemployment and poverty rate in the country.
8. Sule Lamido, a former Governor of Jigawa State, and a former presidential aspirant says he cannot pray for the success of the President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressives Congress, APC government.
The former Governor said this when he appeared on BBC Hausa, insisting that at 60, the country has recorded a number of successes despite many setbacks.
9. United States President, Donald Trump was caught on camera on Monday struggling for breath after he left the hospital.
In a viral video, Trump, who left the hospital after spending just three days in the Walter Reed Medical Center following COVID-19 diagnosis, appeared to be struggling to breathe and looking like he was in pain as he stood at the balcony.
10. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has lifted the sanctions imposed on Mali following the August 18, 2020, military coup.
However, on Tuesday, ECOWAS in a statement said its decision was based on Mali’s “notable advances towards constitutional normalisation”.
