NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS: 10 THINGS TO KNOW ON THURSDAY MORNING

Image Credit: Punch Newspaper

Hello and good morning! This is today's Nigerian newspaper summary:

1. On Wednesday, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai warned that bandits could use the transition period to launch bloody attacks across the country. As a result, he recommended that security operations against bandits be expanded in the remaining days of the current administration and beyond.

2. According to the Presidency, President Muhammadu Buhari personally took steps to address the deteriorating situation in Benue State, despite Governor Samuel Ortom's actions, who "in many cases" either "roundly ignored them or placed an outright obstruction." Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, stated this in a statement on Wednesday.

3. The ad hoc Committee of the House of Representatives investigating the alleged loss of over $2.4 billion in revenue from the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in 2015 has expressed disappointment that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, are not cooperating with the committee. This was in response to Malami's failure to honor their invites.

4. The Federal Government has requested that the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Isah Jere, retire. The Federal Government asked the NIS commander to transfer over to the most senior official in the Service in a letter from the Civil Defence, Prisons, Fire, and Immigration Services Board dated April 17, 2023.

5. The President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has urged the police to investigate the controversies surrounding the Adamawa State supplementary governorship election, in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri, was re-elected. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, also advised disgruntled candidates who were defeated in the election to pursue legal remedies.

6. Striking aviation unions vowed on Wednesday to shut down all airports after seven days as they marched to the international wing of Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA). Security personnel also took over the demonstration site where unions converged on Monday, the first day of their two-day warning strike, by barricading access roads.

7. To commemorate this year's Eldil-Fitr celebration, the Federal Government has declared Friday, April 21, and Monday, April 24, 2023, as public holidays. According to a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Shuiab Belgore, the announcement was made on behalf of the government by Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

8. On Wednesday, two construction workers were killed when a perimeter fence surrounding a construction site in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja collapsed. The event occurred on Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent in the nation's capital's Wuse 2 neighborhood.

9. Gbenga Ogunfadeke, 45, has been arrested for allegedly chaining and locking his two children in solitary confinement, resulting in their deaths. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Amotekun Corps State Commander David Akinremi confirmed the suspect's detention.

10. During a deadly gunfight, Imo State Police Command reported its operatives injured numerous members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and its paramilitary arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). Several people were injured in the shootout, which occurred at a camp in the Ubah Agwa/Izombe tropical rain forest in Oguta Local Area.