Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know this Monday morning

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

1. No fewer than 18 persons were feared dead in an accident involving a Ford Explorer SUV and a Mazda bus at Alapako area on Lagos /Ibadan Expressway on Sunday.

The accident, which happened around 6:30 pm at the diversion end in Alapako on the Lagos /Ibadan Expressway, officials said, was caused by wrongful overtaking on the part of the Mazda bus, which led to a head on collision with the SUV.

2. Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has ordered the arrest of bandits responsible for the death of three persons, two adults and a minor in Ugboha, Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State, weekend.

The governor condemned the unwarranted killings by the bandits under the guise of herdsmen, in contravention of government’s directive that cattle should not move in Edo State at night.

3. Defence Minister, Mansur Dan-Ali, has given hopes that the 110 abducted students of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, might be released by Boko Haram in the next two week.

The minister claimed intelligence reports at his disposal indicated that the girls would soon be released, reinforcing President Muhammadu Buhari’s earlier disclosure that the Federal Government would rather negotiate the release of both Dapchi and Chibok school girls to ensure their safety.

4. The Nigerian Army said its troops killed four armed militiamen in Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

Brigadier-General Texas Chukwu, Director, Army Public Relations, said nine militiamen were also arrested when troops of 33 Artillery Brigade of Operation Lafiya Dole, on March 17, were attacked by the militia at Burra Junction in Ningi.

5. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has said it will release no fewer than 1.3 million results of candidates that sat for the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination on Monday (today) after they had gone through security checks and found to be without malpractice.

The JAMB Head of Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the UTME results of Computer-Based Test centres where the CCTV showed malpractices had been cancelled.

6. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, yesterday explained why President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to speak on his political future.

In Adesina’s view, the President cannot speak on his intention to run or not to run with the election still about one year away as he knows the consequences of doing so.

7. A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Godsday Orubebe, has urged the party to embrace urgent reforms to prevent its demise.

He lamented that the PDP “is still lost in depression and suffering from a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)”, adding that the platform had crossed the bridge from “pride to shame.”

8. Troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested 18 herdsmen in the Kwata Sule, Mbayer, Yandev and Kaambee areas of Benue State, who were caught grazing their cows on farmlands, an act which is against the state’s anti-open grazing law.

The troops attached to the 707 Special Forces Brigade, Makurdi, while on patrol on Saturday in the area, nabbed six herdsmen in Kwata Sule, while 12 others were arrested in Mbayer, Yandev and Kaambee areas for “destructive activities.

9. The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria on Sunday said the arbitrary arrest and persecution of its members by the police and the Takum Council Chairman, Shiban Tikari, was inimical to peace.

The North-East Zonal Chairman of the association, Alhaji Mafindi Danburam claimed some Miyetti Allah members had on March 14, went to the Bantaje Cattle Market to sell their cows and while on their way back, 52 of them were arrested by the police under the alleged instructions of Tikari and were later transferred to the state police command in Jalingo.

10. The national organising secretary of the All Progressives Party, APC, Osita Izunaso, senators Ifeanyi Araraume and Benjamin Uwajiumogu yesterday, stormed out midway into meeting of the party’s leadership in Imo State.

Governor Rochas Okorocha boycotted the meeting, which held at Concorde Hotel in Owerri, behind closed door and lasted for about two hours and 30 minutes.

Source Dailypost