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Maj.-Gen. Oyinlola Assumes Command as GOC 3 Division, Vows to End Plateau’s Cycle of Violence

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Maj.-Gen. Eyitayo Oyinlola has officially assumed duty as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division of the Nigerian Army and Commander of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH).

Oyinlola took over from Maj.-Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, who has been posted to the National Defence College, Abuja. The handing-over ceremony took place on Thursday, beginning at the 3 Division Headquarters, Maxwell Khobe Cantonment in Rukuba Barracks, and later concluding at the Headquarters of Operation Safe Haven in Jos, Plateau State. Oyinlola expressed gratitude to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, for entrusting him with the role.

“I am honored to take up this responsibility and pledge to sustain the achievements of my predecessor while working tirelessly to ensure lasting peace in Plateau and other areas under our jurisdiction,” Oyinlola stated.

He assured officers and soldiers of his commitment to collaboration, stressing that peace and stability in the region are paramount. Oyinlola also emphasized the need to break the cycle of violence in Plateau State, stating, “Life is not meant to be chaotic. We must double our efforts to eradicate criminality and ensure that communities can coexist peacefully.”

In his remarks, the outgoing GOC, Maj.-Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, commended the officers and troops for their dedication and support during his tenure. He urged them to extend the same level of cooperation to Oyinlola.

Abubakar described the security situation in Plateau as complex, requiring both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches. “The security dynamics here are unique. Mediating in conflicts between communities, particularly herders and farmers, has been a critical part of our operations. I am confident that Maj.-Gen. Oyinlola has the expertise to handle these challenges effectively,” Abubakar noted.

While thanking the Chief of Army Staff for his support, he further lauded the troops for their efforts in maintaining a crisis-free yuletide season during his tenure and charged them to remain resolute in their duties. Abubakar also thanked the government and people of Plateau for their cooperation and urged them to support his successor.

Speaking at the OPSH Headquarters in Jos during the handover ceremony, Oyinlola reaffirmed his determination to achieve total peace in Plateau and other operational areas. “The cycle of violence must end. It is unacceptable for communities to continue living in fear. We will intensify efforts to restore normalcy,” he said.

He emphasized discipline as a core value and promised to prioritize the welfare of troops to ensure optimal performance. “Discipline will be encouraged, and indiscipline will be appropriately sanctioned. Together, we can bring lasting peace to Plateau State,” Oyinlola added.

The ceremony marked a new chapter for the 3 Division and OPSH, with high expectations for the continuation of efforts to restore peace and stability in the region.

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New leaders, new fund: Sequoia has raised $7B to expand its AI bets

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Few venture firms have bet more aggressively on AI than Sequoia Capital, and it isn’t slowing down.

The Silicon Valley stalwart has raised roughly $7 billion for a new fund, according to Bloomberg. Sequoia declined TechCrunch’s request for comment. The money will go toward what the firm calls its “expansion strategy” — essentially its late-stage investing arm, focused on the U.S. and Europe — and it’s nearly double Sequoia’s last comparable fund, a $3.4 billion vehicle raised in 2022.

That growth in fund size reflects something bigger: late-stage investing has taken on an entirely new meaning in the AI era. Companies can now scale at a speed and cost that would have been unimaginable a decade ago, and the firms backing them have to keep pace.

The money signals where Sequoia sees the future: deeply embedded in AI, from the giants building the underlying technology to the startups putting it to work. The firm has backed two of the most prominent players in the AI race — OpenAI originally and, more recently, Anthropic — both of which are reportedly eyeing public listings in 2026. The development that could mean a significant payday for the firm.

Sequoia isn’t only swinging for the foundational AI heavyweights, however. It has also placed bets on other buzzy startups, including Physical Intelligence, the Bay Area robotics startup, and Factory, which builds AI agents for enterprise engineering teams.

The fundraise is also the first major capital raise under Sequoia’s new leadership, with Alfred Lin and Pat Grady now serving as co-stewards of the 54-year-old firm.

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Factory hits $1.5B valuation to build AI coding for enterprises

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More than three years after the emergence of generative AI, AI-assisted coding remains by far the most popular and lucrative use case for the technology.

Although multiple companies — including Anthropic, maker of Claude Code, as well as Cursor and Cognition — are already vying for dominance, investors believe there is room for at least one more player.

On Wednesday, Factory, a startup developing AI agents for enterprise engineering teams, announced it had raised $150 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, and Blackstone. Keith Rabois, a managing director at Khosla Ventures, joined the startup’s board.

Factory founder Matan Grinberg told the Wall Street Journal that the company’s key differentiator is its ability to switch between different foundation models, such as Anthropic’s Claude or Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. However, startups like Cursor also don’t rely on a single model to generate code.

Factory’s customers include engineering teams at Morgan Stanley, Ernst & Young, and Palo Alto Networks.

The startup was founded in 2023 after Grinberg, then a PhD student at UC Berkeley, cold-emailed Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire. The two bonded over mutual academic interest. (Maguire’s PhD from Caltech is in the same area of physics Grinberg was studying.)

Maguire convinced Grinberg to drop out and launch Factory, with Sequoia backing the startup at the seed stage.

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