1. Outrage has greeted the alleged renovation of a police post located at the Abuloma Okuro Junction by members of a secret cult group identified as the DNKI (Vikings).

It was gathered that the cultists reportedly unveiled the renovated police post on Thursday during a ceremony attended by some police officers.

During the inauguration, leaders of the cult groups in the area were seen in a viral video inspecting the completed job, which was mainly repainting the walls and fixing dilapidated furniture

2. Twelve days after a Nigerian Air Force aircraft plunged into the waters of Igbokoda, Ondo State, fishermen and boat operators are counting their losses, with many struggling to feed their families as their incomes dry up.
The Chairman of the Ilaje Fishermen Association, Igbokoda, Festus Ikuomola, told Saturday PUNCH that about 1,500 members of the association had been affected by the October 5 crash, which involved an aircraft carrying 25 people.

3. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has described former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as political gamblers, accusing them of pursuing personal interests rather than a clear national development agenda. Addressing traditional rulers, political leaders and other groups in Rivers State, Wike urged residents to be cautious of politicians seeking public office, saying they should assess candidates’ records against their promises.

4. The Delta State Police Command said it had arrested 95 suspected cultists and recovered five firearms during coordinated operations across four local government areas of the state. The arrests were made in Asaba, Ika South, Ughelli South and Okpe local government areas on Thursday, October 15, 2026. The command’s spokesperson, Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, adding that the operations were carried out by personnel of the Department of Operations, the Rapid Response Squad and the Command Anti-Cultism Unit.

5. The Department of State Services, DSS, has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, the fugitive son of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team. The agency has also handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The development comes after the EFCC declared Faisal wanted. Security sources revealed that he, having been on the run since 2020, was trailed and apprehended by DSS operatives in the Karsana area of Abuja.

6. Tension erupted at Ogolonto Bus Stop along Ikorodu Road in Lagos State on Friday after an angry mob set a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus ablaze following a fatal accident involving a motorcyclist. The mob also attacked the BRT driver before police officers and officials of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps intervened and rescued him. Amodu Shakiru, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, confirmed the incident.

7. Operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, the military and the police have arrested five suspected members of a criminal gang allegedly responsible for the abduction of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members in Imo State on Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day. Five other suspected gang members, however, escaped with gunshot injuries, prompting a massive manhunt for them.

8. Troops of the Joint Task Force North West, Operation Fansan Yamma, have neutralised two terrorists and recovered four AK-47 rifles and eight motorcycles during clearance operations in Sokoto State. The operations, conducted on Thursday, October 15, 2026, also led to the recovery of ammunition, communication equipment and other items from the terrorists.

9. Disqualified candidates and their parties are putting up a fight following last week’s publication of the final list of contestants for next year’s elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The parties and the affected candidates have already flooded INEC with petitions and demands for restitution. The commission confirmed yesterday that it has commenced work on the complain

10. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has destroyed seized fake and substandard products valued at N2.6 billion in Rivers State. The products, which included medicines, tomatoes, cookies and chemicals, were intercepted and seized by the Nigeria Customs Service at the Onne Port between 2025 and 2026.

…Advocates trust, transparency, skills transfer, sustainable partnerships

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Abuja Investments Company Limited (AICL), Her Excellency, Ambassador Maureen Tamuno, has called for stronger partnerships between Africa and its diaspora to accelerate investment, facilitate skills transfer, create jobs and promote sustainable economic development across the continent.

Tamuno made the call on Thursday while delivering the keynote address at the seventh Diaspora Africa Conference, held at the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre, Abuja, under the theme, “Homecoming: Bridging the Divide from Diaspora to Africa’s Future.”

She said homecoming should go beyond reconnecting with ancestral roots to building lasting relationships through productive investments, knowledge exchange, enterprise development and initiatives capable of improving livelihoods.

Drawing on her experience as Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to Jamaica, with concurrent accreditation to Haiti, Belize and the Dominican Republic, Tamuno stressed that diaspora engagement should extend beyond financial remittances to include professional expertise, international networks, entrepreneurship and technology transfer.

She identified trust, capital, skills, identity and policy as five critical bridges required to strengthen collaboration between Africans at home and abroad.

According to her, transparency, accountability and reliable institutions are essential to attracting diaspora investments. She urged governments to make investment information accessible, digitise public systems and ensure that transactions are transparent and independently verifiable.

“Patriotism should inspire an investment; it must never replace due diligence. Shared ancestry does not guarantee financial return,” she said, advocating structured investments backed by clear agreements, proper documentation and effective accountability mechanisms.

The AICL chief executive highlighted investment opportunities across the company’s portfolio, including real estate, markets, public infrastructure, transportation, entertainment and the creative economy. She invited diaspora entrepreneurs, investors and institutions to explore mutually beneficial partnerships with AICL to unlock opportunities within the Federal Capital Territory.

She also advocated a shift from the traditional emphasis on remittances for consumption towards structured investments that generate financial returns while delivering social and economic benefits.

Tamuno called for stronger collaboration in professional training, research, technology and enterprise development, noting that diaspora professionals could contribute through mentoring, knowledge exchange and partnerships without necessarily relocating permanently to Nigeria.

She further stressed the importance of including women, young people and persons with disabilities in investment opportunities, leadership, technical training and enterprise ownership, saying Africa’s development must provide inclusive opportunities for all.

To translate the conference’s resolutions into measurable outcomes, Tamuno proposed a Homecoming Partnership Compact to track progress over the next 12 months. The proposed framework would monitor partnerships established, enterprises supported, people trained and jobs sustained.

She said the success of diaspora engagement should be measured not by announcements and promises alone, but by functioning businesses, responsible investments and tangible improvements in people’s lives.

Tamuno urged Africans at home and abroad to embrace shared responsibility in building a prosperous continent, stressing that trust, mutual respect and sustained collaboration were essential to creating an Africa that future generations would be proud to call home.

“Let this seventh edition mark a movement from recognition to relationship, from relationship to responsibility, and from responsibility to results.We cannot undo the journeys that divided us. But we can choose the partnerships that shape our future.” she added.

The vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has defended the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, following the “bogus statistics” allegation by Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

Shettima, while speaking during the inauguration of the APC’s presidential campaign council, said, “I respect Peter Obi. But he has gone beyond his mastery of philosophy to make a bogus claim about winning the 2023 presidential election without adducing a shred of evidence to buttress his assertion,” Shettima said on Wednesday.

He described Obi as “the master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions”, juxtaposing the adoption of foreign policies without peculiarities with trying to fit a garment designed for a smaller body on a much larger physique.

But Kwankwaso has come out to defend Obi, saying although Obi, like everyone else, makes mistakes, Shettima was wrong to make the remark.

Kwankwaso spoke on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television, where he was asked to respond to the vice-president’s criticism of Obi’s statistics and economic proposals.

“What else would you expect him to say?” Kwankwaso queried.

“You see, I always listen to him (Obi). Like all others, I take time to check the statistics. As far as I’m concerned, most of the figures he was reeling out were correct.

“And the only thing is, because as human beings, we are bound to make mistakes or slip of tongue, as they call it. But for him to come and make that statement, I don’t think he was correct.”

He praised Obi’s “proficiency” in development statistics, describing it as a positive for a presidential candidate.

“So I am happy that our presidential candidate is somebody who is conversant with the statistics not only in this country but all over the world, in Europe, in Asia, everywhere. And I think that is a good thing,” Kwankwaso added.