Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. President Bola Tinubu has returned to Nigeria after his visit to France. He was received at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by 9pm on Monday night by some top government functionaries.
2. The United States of America has been asked to re-designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, CPC, and subsequently place her on the US watchlist over the rising spate of killings by bandits and herdsmen. The call was made by a delegation of American Veterans of Igbo Descent, AVID, and Rising Sun & Ambassadors for Self Defense; during its recent visit to the Capitol Hill, Washington DC, where it met with some US congress members to lobby for the release of the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
3. Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has launched a scathing response to comments made by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), questioning his credentials and contributions to the legal profession. In a press statement released on Monday, Olayinka challenged Falana to disclose the number of major legal cases he had personally won and to justify his elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), describing him as an “arrangee and errand lawyer.”
4. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has dismissed the claims that the defunct digital asset trading platform, CBEX, was registered with its Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML. In a post on its official handle on X on Monday, EFCC said the Commission is not a clearing house or regulatory authority of online businesses.
5. Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis, has died at the age of 88, the Vatican announced. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, disclosed that the the Pope died at 7.35 am in his residence on Easter Monday.
6. Christians under the aegis of Church Denominational Leaders Forum in Plateau State, on Monday, protested along the streets of Jos to the government house in Rayfield, Plateau State capital, over the recent resurgence of killings in the state. The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “The Ground Cries Blood,”; “Every Human Life Matters,”; “We Deserve to Live,”; and “No More Silence, Peace Now”.
7. The Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria has appealed to the federal government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to introduce policies that will cushion the effects of the current economic hardship among Nigerians. The conference made this declaration via a statement signed by its Chairman, Edward Ogundoyin.
8. The Gombe State Police Command reported that five people died and eight others were injured when a truck transporting grains coming along Yola Road to Gombe lost control due to brake failure while approaching a gathering of Christian faithful on a procession to celebrate the Easter in Billiri town. Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Buhari Abdullahi, in a statement disclosed on Monday, indicating that the vehicle veered off the road and tragically ran into the crowd, including some Muslim residents who were observing from the roadside.
9. Bandits operating in the north eastern part of the country have reportedly imposed a N60 million levy on twelve communities in Zamfara State. This was made known in a post on X by Bakatsine, a conflict and crisis journalist in northwest Nigeria.
10. The All Progressives Congress, APC, National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, has described a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Buba Galadima, as a failed politician with no base. Ganduje, who was reacting to Galadima's remark that he has no political values, said in a statement signed by his media aide, Oliver Okpara, that Galadima has no moral standing to question his political relevance.
