News
Vatican shares first picture of Pope Francis since hospitalization

The Vatican on Monday, has released the first photograph of Pope Francis since his hospitalization over a month ago.
The picture showed him co-celebrating Mass in a chapel at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
The 88-year-old pope, who has been battling double pneumonia, appeared in a wheelchair wearing a purple stole, symbolizing the Lenten season.
Despite his health challenges, Francis has continued to engage in church activities and has expressed gratitude for prayers from the faithful.
The photo is said to have been taken Sunday, when Francis was co-celebrating Mass.
The Catholic Pontiff was celebrating Mass in the chapel of the hospital suite where he has been battling a health crisis.
In the photo, Pope Francis appears slightly slumped in his wheelchair.
He was adorned in white robes and a purple stole before an altar at the Rome hospital where he has been a patient since Feb. 14.
The shot is not head on — perhaps because it remains frowned upon in the Holy See to capture clear images of an ailing pope.
Reports say that the photo shared by the Vatican on Sunday, the first of Francis since his hospitalization, is said to have been taken earlier in the day.
It was taken at a time Francis was co-celebrating Mass in the chapel of his hospital suite where he has been battling the worst health crisis of his papacy.
There is no one else present in the photo and there are no signs of tubes or an oxygen mask.
The pope is positioned on the opposite side of where a priest might stand to say Mass.
The identity of the photographer who took the image was not disclosed.
It was a consolation prize of sorts.
Anticipation had run high Sunday that Francis might make his first public appearance since his admission to Rome’s Gemelli hospital a month ago.
A group of refugee and underprivileged children had turned out earlier in the day to say prayers and read aloud letters to the pope.
From an interior courtyard, near a statue of Pope John Paul II, they sent up chants in Italian of “torna da noi!” – “return to us!”
Eyes were peeled on the windows above, but the pope never showed.
Francis is said to be recovering.
The latest health update from the Vatican on Sunday night called his condition “stable,” noting that he continued sessions of respiratory and motor therapy.
He had no visitors and spent the day praying, resting and doing a “little work.”
In a written version of his Angelus prayer, typically read aloud by the pope on Sundays, Francis acknowledged the extent of his health troubles.
Though the Pope has not read the Angelus since his hospital admission.
Francis said,
“I am sharing these thoughts with you while I am facing a period of trial and I join with so many brothers and sisters who are sick: fragile, at this time, like me.
“Our bodies are weak but, even like this, nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves, being for each other, in faith, shining signs of hope.”
He added, “I thank you all for your prayers, and I thank those who assist me with such dedication.
I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to Gemelli as a sign of closeness.
Thank you, dearest children! The Pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you.”
Despite intense pressure from the media, the Vatican had refrained from distributing or allowing photographs of the ailing pope.
Instead, it has issued surprisingly detailed reports on his health and described several meetings between the pope and senior clerics.
It also issued report on his meeting, early in his stay with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The absence of images has made Francis the target of rampant fake photos and false claims across social media.
Some posts even claimed that Francis might be dead.
It remained unclear the extent to which the image released Sunday would quell that furor.
Francis on March 6 issued a short recorded message from his hospital suite to the faithful who have been praying for his health nightly in St. Peter’s Square.
In the 26-second message, the pope’s words were halting, as if he was gasping for breath.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who had part of one lung removed in his youth, has for weeks been on nightly treatments of “noninvasive mechanical ventilation.”
This treatment involve an exterior mask that covers the mouth and nose and is one step short of a breathing tube.
In a medical update Saturday, the Vatican said his condition was improving to the point where doctors have gradually begun reducing ventilation.
Though Francis remains on high-flow oxygen as he undergoes respiratory and physical therapy.
Doctors last Monday removed what had been a “guarded prognosis” on Francis’s health.
They sad his respiratory infection no longer posed a direct threat to his life.
However, they have warned that his age and frailty have left his overall medical condition “complicated.”
No target date has been announced for his hospital release.
During his health crisis, the Vatican has sought to portray a pope who, even from his hospital bed, has remained at work.
The Vatican had taken several significant steps and furthering a slow-moving process of church reform.
On Saturday, the Vatican announced that Francis, on March 11, had given approval to a timeline.
The approval was for furthering the recommendations of two historic church summits, or synods, in 2023 and 2024.
The synods resulted in calls for greater participation of the laity in decision-making.
It has also increased transparency and accountability by church leadership.
Ten study groups were also created, including one charged with evaluating the role of women in the church.
This role included their possible ordination as deacons — a step that Francis has been reluctant to take even as he has permitted dialogue on the topic.
The new timeline authorized by Francis calls for publication in May of new guidelines that dioceses across the globe will be asked to embrace.
The schedule calls for a three-year “implementation” process ahead of a new major “ecclesial assembly” in Vatican City in 2028.
News
Oral sex by couple is not sin — Apostle Johnson Suleman

The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has said oral sex between a husband and wife is not sinful.
He made the comment during a question-and-answer session at a church service.
Though, it is unclear when the service took place, but a video of his remarks surfaced on YouTube on 22 August 2025.
During the session, a woman, believed to be in her 50s asked, “Daddy, Sir, is oral sex a sin?” Mr Suleman, popularly called “Daddy” by members of the congregation, chuckled before responding.
“Should I answer from the Bible?” he asked, as the audience urged him to speak. “Anything you do with your wife indoors is not a sin. So long as she’s your wife and both of you agree to do it, (it is not a sin),” he said.
Some congregants murmured at his response, but Mr Suleman continued: “I can show you (from the Bible). When the Bible was talking about the wife of your youth, it was talking about ‘go within thy walls, let thy hands pass through her cisterns.’ What do you think the Bible was saying? So long as it is not fetish, a ritual, it is not diabolic, (it is not a sin).”
He also dismissed claims that oral sex is inappropriate because the mouth is used to pray.
“Don’t you use the same mouth to gossip? Don’t you use the same mouth to tell lies?” he asked in Pidgin English.
Anticipating backlash, the preacher said he was unfazed. “Save your home, save your home,” he told worshippers, urging couples not to deny their spouse’s request for sex.
While Mr Suleman insisted the practice is permissible in marriage, health specialists have long cautioned against it.
Oral sex — also known as orogenital sex — involves using the mouth, lips or tongue to stimulate a partner’s genitals or anus.
Adegboyega Fawole, a gynaecologist at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, warned in 2017 that it could expose people to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections in the mouth, raising the risk of HPV-related oral cancers.
The virus is also linked to cervical cancer, genital warts and anal cancer.
Similarly, Bamidele Mutiu, a consultant microbiologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, explained in a 2021 interview that organisms causing sexually transmitted diseases survive in genital secretions and are not destroyed by saliva.
News
‘I’m Under Attack Over My Race and Ethnicity’ – Kemi Badenoch Cries Out

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has revealed the scale of racism and hostility she has faced since becoming the first black woman to lead the Tories.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Badenoch admitted she did not expect the level of personal attacks she has endured online and within political circle.
“There’s a certain cadre of people who clearly can’t cope with the fact that I won this and I’m doing it,” she said.
“The level of personal attacks from anonymous people is hysterical.
Not just from MPs only two or three out of 120 but also online.
People used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome. I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome: ‘How could she possibly have done this?’.”
The 44-year-old politician, who was born in Wimbledon and raised in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16, said much of the abuse has focused on her race and identity.
“On social media, there’s a lot of ethno-nationalism creeping up,” she noted.
“There are tropes around, ‘well, she couldn’t possibly have done this all by herself.’”
Badenoch rarely speaks at length about her race, often stressing that she sees Britain as a country where minorities thrive. She has previously argued that “Britain is not a racist country” and faced criticism for saying that white working-class boys struggle more than ethnic minorities on many social indicators.
“I always try to think of every possible explanation before I go to race and racism,” she told the paper.
“That is a healthy way to run a society. There will always be people who throw mud and hope it sticks.”
The Tory leader now faces a critical moment as she prepares for her first party conference speech.
With the Conservatives polling at just 17%, she is under pressure to unite her party and fend off speculation of a leadership challenge from her shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick.
On rumours Jenrick could soon replace her, Badenoch dismissed the claims as “wishful thinking.”
“There will always be sore losers—our candidate didn’t win, and so on,” she said.
“When I hear those things, I can tell those people are not focused on the country at all. Many of them think this is a game. But the lives of people in this country aren’t a game.”
News
UNIUYO VC turns FG loan into extortion racket
...NELFund beneficiaries forced to pay higher fees, extra ₦50,000 illegal charges

The University of Uyo, a federal government-owned university in Akwa Ibom State, has become the first campus where the Federal Government’s new loan scheme for indigent students is being twisted into a money-making scam.
At the centre of the storm is Vice Chancellor Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, accused by staff, students, and academics of sabotaging the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) and weaponizing poverty for profit.
How the Loan Works
Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policy, each beneficiary should receive ₦284,100:
₦44,100, for institutional fees, and ₦240,000, for upkeep
The design is simple: government pays so that poor students won’t drop out.
How Uniuyo Twists It
Inside Uniuyo, the VC has allegedly flipped the scheme on its head. Beneficiaries are being told to pay fees first pending when the Federal Government will release the money (loan). Refunds, staff say, could take “months or years—if they ever come at all.”
To make matters worse, NELFund students are being charged higher fees than their classmates. Documents and testimonies show that final year students in the Faculty of Arts are made to pay an extra ₦20,000 ‘development levy’ and ₦30,000 ‘professional accreditation fee’ imposed only on NELFund beneficiaries. That’s a shocking ₦50,000 illegal surcharge—punishing the very students government is trying to help.
Staff Blow the Whistle
A Registry officer said bluntly:
“The Federal Government created NELFund to ease students’ burden. But the VC has turned it upside down. He is using it to raise money.”
A top Bursary official added:
“Prof. Ndaeyo knows refunds hardly work here. He wants students to pay first, knowing many will never get their money back. This is deliberate monetization of education.”
“Cruel Irony”
Lecturers are furious. A senior academic in the Faculty of Arts called it a cruel irony:
“Poor students are paying more than the rich. This is wickedness. It shows the VC loves money more than humanity.”
Others point to a disturbing pattern under Ndaeyo—skyrocketing acceptance fees, inflated transcript costs, and endless hidden charges.
“Every policy he introduces is about extracting money. NELFund is just the latest victim,” said a professor in Engineering.
Students Cry Out
For students, the betrayal cuts deepest.
“If I had money, why would I apply for a loan?” asked a Political Science student. “They are using our suffering to make money for themselves. This is exploitation.”
Bigger Question
Why would a Vice Chancellor sabotage a Federal Government program meant to help the poor? Insiders say it’s either an obsession with internally generated revenue—or plain greed.
Either way, the consequences are devastating: poor students are being pushed out while Uniuyo’s coffers grow fat.
Time for Action
As one Education professor warned:
“We cannot allow one man’s greed to mortgage the future of our children. Universities should be centres of hope, not dens of extortion.”
With ₦284,100 per student at stake, attention now shifts to the Ministry of Education and the Presidency. Will they act to protect indigent students—or let Uniuyo’s Vice Chancellor turn a national lifeline into an extortion racket?
News
JUST IN: Benue Assembly Speaker Resigns

The Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Aondona Dajoh, has resigned from his position, citing the “best interest of the state” as the reason for his decision.
Dajoh’s resignation was conveyed in a letter he personally signed, dated August 24, 2025, and made available to Channels Television.
In the letter, titled “Resignation As The Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly,” the Gboko West representative wrote:
“I write to resign my position as the Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, effective today, August 24, 2025.
This is done in good faith and in the best interest of the state. I want to appreciate my dear colleagues for the opportunity they gave me to be the first among equals.
I pledge to remain committed to my duties as a legislator and representative of Gboko West State Constituency.”
Dajoh’s resignation comes just days after the House suspended four members — Alfred Berger (Makurdi North), Terna Shimawua (Kian), Cyril Ekong (Obi), and James Umoru (Apa) — for six months.
The lawmakers had allegedly spearheaded an attempt to impeach the Speaker in a late-night move.
The Majority Leader, Saater Tiseer, who raised a motion of urgent importance, accused the four of attempting to destabilise the Assembly with a “needless crisis.”
The motion was unanimously adopted, and Dajoh subsequently directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the suspended members out of the chambers.
Following Berger’s suspension, Dajoh also appointed Audu Elias as the new spokesperson of the House.
Meanwhile, Governor Hyacinth Alia has distanced himself from the political tension in the Assembly.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, the governor said he had no role in the alleged impeachment plot.
“The governor, Hyacinth Alia, is not aware of and has no involvement whatsoever in any purported attempt to remove the Speaker or in any activities currently taking place in the Benue State House of Assembly,” the statement read.
It added that Governor Alia maintained a cordial working relationship with the Dajoh-led Assembly and remained committed to supporting the legislature in carrying out its duties.
The resignation also follows a turbulent week in the Assembly. Just a day earlier, the House screened and confirmed six commissioner nominees but rejected two, including a law professor, Timothy Ornguga.
Ornguga’s nomination was struck out after four petitions were submitted against him, alleging misconduct during his years as a lecturer, as well as concerns about his qualifications.
Lawmakers, led by Tarka representative Manger Manger, queried his credentials, including the absence of a primary school certificate.
Alongside Ornguga, nominee James Dwen was also rejected after failing to adequately defend himself against allegations contained in petitions.
The House asked Governor Alia to submit replacements for both nominees.
Dajoh’s resignation is expected to reshape the leadership dynamics of the Assembly, which has been rocked in recent weeks by internal divisions, impeachment plots, and controversial legislative battles.
While he has stepped down from the top seat, Dajoh assured his constituents that he will remain fully committed to his legislative responsibilities.
His exit as Speaker raises questions about whether the recent suspension of lawmakers and rejection of commissioner nominees may have deepened divisions within the Benue political space.
News
Six villagers die in boat accident while running from bandits

A devastating tragedy unfolded in Garin Faji, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, where at least six villagers lost their lives and three others remain missing after a canoe capsized during an early morning escape from suspected bandits.
The incident occurred on Thursday, August 21, marking the second fatal boat mishap in less than a week.
Just six days earlier, four people drowned in a similar accident in nearby Goronyo Local Government Area.
Eyewitness accounts painted a grim picture of desperation as terrified residents attempted to flee advancing attackers.
Many villagers, who had been spending nights in the bush to evade raids, were returning home when panic struck.
“Out of fear, people no longer sleep in their homes. That morning, they were returning when the canoe capsized”, a local source who doesn’t want to be quoted said.
Another resident explained that the chaos intensified when villagers spotted the approaching bandits, leading to an overcrowded rush onto the canoe, which capsized midway.
“They rushed into the canoe, but it couldn’t carry them all”, the resident recounted.
Hon. Aminu Boza, a member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly representing Sabon Birni, confirmed the tragic incident, describing how insecurity has emptied out entire communities.
“Some communities are now completely deserted. Most men spend the night in the bush and only return home in the morning,” Boza said.
He acknowledged the state government’s efforts to address the crisis, including deploying Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), which have helped foil attacks and arrest suspects.
“Just two days ago, security personnel foiled an attack and arrested four suspected bandits. But the area still requires more security presence”, he added.
The Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) also confirmed the accident, revealing that 19 people were rescued from the water, while search efforts to locate the missing individuals are ongoing.
A senior SEMA official noted that the agency, alongside the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the Red Cross, visited the community to assess the situation and support grieving families.
A comprehensive joint report on the incident is expected soon.
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