News
Osun Monarch and Pastor plead guilty of $4.2m Covid-19 Scam in US

Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, and a Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi, have pleaded guilty to charges of COVID-19 relief fraud amounting to $4.2 million in the United States.
According to court records, Oluwasanmi used companies including Dayspring Transportation Limited, Dayspring Holding Incorporated, and Dayspring Property Incorporated to illegally obtain and divert funds intended for businesses struggling during the pandemic. The two men were charged with 13 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.
Oluwasanmi, represented by his counsel Henry Hilow, pleaded guilty on April 10 to three counts of the indictment, admitting to using fraud proceeds to purchase a commercial property in South Euclid, Ohio, and transferring funds into a brokerage account. Oloyede submitted his guilty plea on April 21, and both are set to be sentenced on July 2.
Oba Oloyede, a U.S.-based accountant and information systems expert before his enthronement in 2019, frequently travelled between Nigeria and the U.S. for engagements. His extended absence from Ipetumodu had already raised concerns among indigenes, particularly after he demolished the community’s palace with a promise to rebuild it, only to be arrested in the U.S.
Investigations revealed that between April 2020 and February 2022, Oloyede and Oluwasanmi submitted falsified applications for the Paycheck Protection Programme and Economic Injury Disaster Loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, using fake tax and wage documents to secure the funds. The act was designed to support small businesses and nonprofits impacted by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
Court documents further alleged that Oloyede used companies such as Available Tax Services Incorporated, Available Financial Corporation, and Available Transportation Company to perpetrate the fraud. Oluwasanmi similarly exploited his own companies to secure millions of dollars for personal use, breaching U.S. federal laws.
News
I’ll never go to Arise TV until he’s removed – Igbokwe on clash between Minister Umahi, Rufai

A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Joe Igbokwe has vowed to steer clear of Arise Television until one of the TV’s presenters and show host, Rufai Oseni, is sacked.
Igbokwe’s remark followed a drama that ensued between the Minister of Works, David Umahi and Rufai during an interview on The Morning Show on Monday.
According to a trending video, the minister, who was furious over some questions that were put out to him by Rufai regarding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, asked the show host to keep quiet.
Umahi claimed he is a professor in the field of engineering and has vast knowledge regarding the federal government projects.
But Rufai became inquisitive and demanded to know the year the minister became a professor.
Reacting to the drama, Igbokwe in a Facebook post, said until Rufai is sacked, he will not appear on the TV station, stating that the station has “become a TV Station of anything goes.
“I will never go there again until Rufai Oseni is removed.
“The Animal Science graduate is making a mockery of Journalism. Televion Station is not a place for mediocres and noise makers”, the APC chieftain posted.
News
Alleged Christian genocide: US Rep asks Trump to tag Nigeria ‘Country of Particular Concern’

A lawmaker representing West Virginia’s Second District in the United States House of Congress, Rep Riley M. Moore, has written to President Donald Trump, asking the US government to immediately designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concerns, CPC.
The letter dated October 6, 2025, and addressed to Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, US Department of State in Washington DC, was sighted by Ekwutosblog on Tuesday.
In the letter, the lawmaker urged the US government to immediately halt sales of arms and all associated technical support to Nigeria until the “Nigerian government demonstrates that it is sufficiently committed to ending the reign of persecution and slaughter”.
Moore claimed that from January to September 2025 alone, no fewer than 7,000 Christians have been gruesomely murdered by “Muslim extremist groups”.
He alleged that at least 250 Catholic Priests have been attacked or killed across the country since 2015, stressing that “between Boko Haram uprising in 2009 and 2025, 19,100 churches in Nigeria have been attacked or destroyed”.
Ekwutosblog reports that President Trump had during his first tenure designated Nigeria as a CPC but his successor, former President Joe Biden reversed the designation.
US Senator Ted Cruz, television host Bill Maher, and political commentator Van Jones had also alleged that Nigeria is witnessing a “Christian genocide”.
During a recent podcast appearance with American talk show host Bill Maher, Senator Cruz alleged that Christians were being systematically targeted and killed in Nigeria, describing the situation as “genocide”.
But the Federal Government had since dismissed the report, stating that the deteriorating security situation in the country does not target a particular religion.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, in a recent statement, described the allegations as false, misleading and capable of inciting division.
According to him, the foreign commentators were “orchestrating wild allegations about unproven ongoing genocide” in Nigeria and urged Nigerians and the international community to reject attempts to “robe the country with a garment that is not hers”.
Business
Subject: A cashier at a Kingsway store.

Location: Lagos, Nigeria.
Date: Circa January 1962.
Photographer/Source: Pix/Michael Ochs Archives.
Significance: The image captures the era of Kingsway Stores, which symbolized modern and cosmopolitan life in West Africa in the early 1960s.
About Kingsway Stores
Origins: The chain began as Lever’s Stores in 1922, evolving through Opobo Stores Ltd before becoming Kingsway Stores Ltd in 1947.
Expansion: The first store in Nigeria opened in Lagos in 1948, followed by others in cities like Freetown, Accra, Ibadan, and Port Harcourt.
Impact: Kingsway Stores represented a modern, western-style shopping experience, with departments for various goods, and were a popular shopping destination for Nigerians.
-
Politics12 months ago
Mexico’s new president causes concern just weeks before the US elections
-
Business12 months ago
US court acquits Air Peace boss, slams Mayfield $4000 fine
-
Trending12 months ago
NYA demands release of ‘abducted’ Imo chairman, preaches good governance
-
Entertainment12 months ago
Bobrisky falls ill in police custody, rushed to hospital
-
Entertainment12 months ago
Bobrisky transferred from Immigration to FCID, spends night behind bars
-
Politics12 months ago
Russia bans imports of agro-products from Kazakhstan after refusal to join BRICS
-
Politics12 months ago
Putin invites 20 world leaders
-
Education1 year ago
GOVERNOR FUBARA APPOINTS COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR KEN SARO-WIWA POLYTECHNIC BORI