Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Monday morning

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. At least 28 people have been killed in a renewed wave of attacks across three local government areas of Plateau State despite a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the state government on September 21 to restore peace and prevent further loss of life. The latest attack, which occurred on Sunday, happened less than two weeks after gunmen attacked herders around the Kassa community in Barkin Ladi, killing five people and injuring one.

2. There is a fracture within the All Progressives Congress in Zamfara State, as seven serving members of the State House of Assembly have resigned their membership of the party. This follows the public defection of scores of APC members, led by Hajiya Hadiza Liman, from the party to the Nigeria Democratic Congress on Friday, alleging unfair treatment by APC leaders in the state.

3. Three people have been killed following a clash between vigilantes and youths in the Kpakungu area of Minna, the Niger State capital, the police have confirmed. The incident occurred on Saturday night when a group of vigilantes reportedly mobilised to the area to arrest suspected hoodlums, resulting in the shooting of a man identified as Aliyu.

4. Vice-President Kashim Shettima has appealed to Nigerians to be “generous” towards President Bola Tinubu. Speaking in Lagos after meeting with Tinubu, who recently returned to Nigeria following his annual vacation, Shettima said the President had taken difficult and far-reaching decisions to prevent the country’s economy from collapsing.

5. Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded a full account of the N11.2 trillion that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recorded as owed to it by the Federation for advances and costs that include protecting Nigeria’s oil and gas assets. He said Nigerians deserve to know how much of this enormous claim went towards guarding pipelines, who received the money and what protection it bought.

6. Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have reduced their ransom demand from N50 million to N5 million per victim, bringing the total demand down from N1 billion to N100 million. The development came as the victims’ parents disclosed that the abducted graduates were being beaten by their captors, heightening fears over their safety.

7. The West African Examinations Council on Sunday officially announced the appointment of 56-year-old Suleiman Kum as the Head of the Nigeria National Office. Before his appointment, Kum was Deputy Registrar in the HNO’s office and served as Senior Deputy Registrar, Test Administration, WAEC, until the end of August.

8. President Bola Tinubu has said the Nigerian Army has operationalised new formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun states to strengthen security and improve responses to threats against vulnerable communities. The President disclosed this in a statement shared on his social media handles on Sunday, noting that the new formations would bring troops closer to communities and enhance their ability to respond swiftly to security threats.

9. The Bauchi State Police Command has commenced an investigation into the suspected murder of Jemimah Dutse, a former All Progressives Congress women leader in Bauchi South. This was disclosed in a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Nafiu Habib, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Sani-Omolori Aliyu, on Sunday.

10. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted consignments of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, and codeine-based cough syrup worth more than N5 billion at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos State and the Onne Port in Rivers State. The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the seizures followed months of intelligence gathering and tracking of the consignments from their ports of origin.