Category Nigeria News

Pope Leo XIV and President Bola Tinubu met in Rome’s Vatican on Sunday.

Leo (previously Cardinal Robert Prevost), who is the 267th head of the Roman Catholic Church, was appointed bishop of Rome shortly after the meeting.

The Nigerian President reportedly shook hands with the Pope and had a brief conversation with him before leaving, according to a video that Channels Television obtained.

Following the Sunday inauguration mass, the US pontiff greeted several world leaders in St. Peter’s Square.

US Vice President J. was one of the other world leaders who greeted the Pope. among others, D. V., Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine.

Also read: Pope Leo XIV Issues a Warning At His Inaugural Mass Against Exploitation

The installation mass, which marked the beginning of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, was held in Rome, Italy on Sunday, with Tinubu and other world leaders.

Pope Leo XIV urged people to stop ignoring the environment and marginalizing the poor at the installation mass.

The 69-year-old is unknown to many Catholics despite serving for 20 years as a missionary in Peru. However, he has shown glimpses of the kind of leader he will become.

In conversations with journalists, clergy, and diplomats, he frequently advocated social justice and called for peace in a conflict-filled world.

He also defended the rights of the unborn, citing traditional Catholic values, such as the importance of a “stable union of a man and a woman.”

Leo’s elevation has sparked a lot of enthusiasm in the United States, which includes Marco Rubio, a Catholic, and Vance, who converted to Christianity on Sunday.

Prior to becoming pope, the new pontiff criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for how it handled immigration and attacked Vance, but the account is no longer accessible.

Fisherman’s Ring

Leo XIV won the cardinals’ secret conclave vote that lasted less than 24 hours on May 8 and became the 267th pope.

He succeeds the charismatic but impulsive Francis, succeeding the Church that is still struggling with the effects of the clerical child abuse scandal and trying to adapt to the contemporary world.

However, Sunday is not concerned with modernity.

The ceremony is a grand affair steeped in tradition, despite the fact that no pope has been crowned at an inauguration mass since Paul VI in 1963.

Leo will begin by visiting Saint Peter’s tomb, which is located beneath the basilica’s altar, where he was credited with being one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and the first pope.

The fisherman’s ring, which is forged each time for each pope and he will wear on his finger until he passes away, will then be desecrated, along with the pallium, which is worn over the chasuble, his robe, and his ring.

The pope will accompany other cardinals and clergymen in procession into St. Peter’s Square, where large screens will show the proceedings.

Taiwo Awoniyi, a striker for Nottingham Forest, has broken his silence following an abdominal emergency surgery that left him in an induced coma earlier this month.

The Nigerian international described the 2024/25 season as one of his most difficult years of playing football in an Instagram post from Sunday.

“I have felt the love throughout this season, which has been one of my career’s most challenging.” I’m grateful to be here, to still fight, to still smile, and to be in good spirits, Awoniyi wrote.

He thanked his teammates, coaches, club staff, and the entire Nottingham Forest area for their assistance in recovering from his injuries.

Thank you for your well wishes, my teammates, coaches, staff, and the entire Forest family. The Ilorin-born striker claimed that seeing you all at your hospital visit lifted her spirits more than words can express.

Awoniyi, a Nigerian striker, was hospitalized for abdominal surgery.

Awoniyi also expressed his gratitude to the squad for playing their final two Premier League games, saying, “Wishing the boys the very best in these last two games.” Keep pushing and believing. I’m with you every step of the way, and I’m looking forward to returning to the field with the boys to pursue my passions.

The 27-year-old thanked his country and his fans for their kindness and support.

Thank you for your continued support, my family, friends, and football fans. And he said, “Thank you to everyone who has visited me, prayed for me, and left kind words back home in Nigeria.”

“I can see them,” I sense them. And as I recuperate, I always have them with me. You Reds, get on with it. Still smiling despite fighting. The greatest God ever.

Coma And Emergency Surgery

Awoniyi’s health issue started on May 12 when he injured his abdominal muscles during Nottingham Forest’s 2-2 draw against Leicester City at the City Ground.

The striker initially tried to continue playing after receiving medical attention after colliding with a goalpost while attempting to convert Anthony Elanga’s cross.

The severity of the injury was only revealed by Forest’s medical team the day after. The club confirmed this in a statement via their official X (previously Twitter) handle, which he immediately received for urgent surgery.

“Tawo Awoniyi’s abdominal injury sustained during Sunday’s game against Leicester City has been confirmed by the Club as having undergone urgent surgery. Taiwo receives all of their best wishes from Nottingham Forest. When necessary, the club stated that it would provide additional information.

READ MORE: FA Cup Wins “Special” for Speechless Ezekiel

Later, it became known that Awoniyi had been placed in a medically-induced coma as part of the post-surgery procedure. Nuno Esprito Santo, manager of Nottingham Forest, stated that the team had been severely affected by the situation at a press conference on May 16th.

“We are concerned, but it is positive,” he said. “We are affected by his circumstances.”

European Hopes for Forest

After drawing with Leicester, Forest lost ground in the race for Champions League qualification, which was already a difficult day for them.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis made headlines after confronting manager Nuno about how Awoniyi’s injury was handled when he stormed onto the pitch at full-time.

Even after Nuno had spoken with the medical staff, Marinakis reportedly became angry that the player was kept on the field despite his apparent distress.

Forest are no longer in charge of their Champions League destiny, despite sitting seventh at the top of the table. With only two games left, they are one point ahead of West Ham and Chelsea in the top five.

Four suspected drug traffickers have been detained by the Katsina State Police Command after allegedly supplying them with illegal substances.

The suspects were detained at the Katsina metropolis’ Kofar Guga Garage as they attempted to smuggle some illegal drugs into Maradi, Niger Republic’s neighbor, were being detained.

They are Tajuddeen Umar, 35, Sabuwar Unguwa, Katsina State, Abubakar Suleiman, 25 and Aliyu Idris, 23; Abubakar Sa’idu, 25, all of Kofar Kwaya; and Tajuddeen Umar, 35, all of Sabuwar Unguwa, Katsina State.

The suspects were detained on May 16th, 2025, according to a statement from the Command’s spokesman, Abubakar Sadiq, at around 1400 hrs.

Read more about the boat accident that claimed 27 lives in Kwara.

He claimed that the suspects’ possession included 5, 000 Exol tablets and 400, 30 (430) Tramadol tablets at the time of the search.

He claimed that the suspects admitted to the offence during interrogation and further that they had received the exhibits from a supplier who had been hiding in Abuja, simply identified as Abba, m.

The supplier’s arrest and his arrest are being made more aggressively, according to the Command’s spokesman.

The police chief, CP Bello Shehu, psc, fdc, MNIM, praised the officers’ efforts and reiterated the command’s commitment to tackling all forms of crime and criminality, as well as drug-related crimes.

Ayuba Ashiru, 80, was detained by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over the possession of 2.3 kilogrammes of skunk for retail packaging.

According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, Ashiru was detained on May 14, 2025, by officers acting on credible intelligence in the Sabon Gari LGA, Kaduna State, on May 14, 2025.

Babafemi claimed that the suspect had been detained and charged with drug-dealing and had been convicted and sentenced to a 10-year prison between 2014 and 2024.

He claimed to have spent 46 years operating an illegal drug trade, according to the statement.

In the Niger Truck Accident, there were 16 injuries and seven deaths.

On May 17, the anti-narcotics agency apprehended her 32-year-old daughter Chisom Uchechi and 82-year-old Uloma Uchechi Sunday in Abia state.

In addition to the cash exhibit of 130, 600, and various amounts of methamphetamine, tramadol, and skunk, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from them in Umuaguma Ntigha Uzor village, where the couple’s home was raided.

The statement reads, “The grandma admitted that she and her daughter took over the drug trade after her son, who had started the business, passed away two years ago.”

According to NDLEA, three million pills of tapentadol and carisoprodol royal “worth N2.1 billion in street value were intercepted in one of the containers” in the Port Harcourt ports complex in Onne, Rivers state, according to the agency’s intelligence-based watch-list.

The statement continued, “The seizure occurred on Wednesday, May 14th, during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA officers, Customs Service personnel, and other security personnel.”

“In the same way, NDLEA agents at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos on Tuesday, May 13th, discovered a second watch-listed container that had been identified as having brand-new automotive parts and accessories.

A total of 169,800 bottles of codeine syrup with street value over N1.1 billion were discovered hidden in the shipment during a joint examination with other security agencies.