Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Thursday morning

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

1. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered immediate action by top security agencies to arrest those responsible for the massacre of over 100 people in Yelewata community, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.  The President gave the directive during a high-level stakeholder meeting at the Benue State Government House, Makurdi, on Wednesday.

2. A lady identified as Aldi Johnson has been reportedly strangled inside a hotel in Abuja. A witness simply identified as Ifeanyi said the lady checked into the hotel located at the 3rd Avenue, Gwarimpa on Monday, night with a yet to be identified young man in the area.

3. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested a former Speaker of Plateau House of Assembly, Moses Sule, alongside 14 former lawmakers over allegations of money laundering and abuse of office. EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, disclosed this in a statement, on Wednesday in Abuja.

4. A young man, Suleiman Muntari, has set himself ablaze in broad daylight in Panshekara community in Kano. It was gathered that he was seen wandering along the road, muttering to himself, a sign viewed to be abnormal. Moments later, he poured petrol on his body and lit a match.

5. Trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, resumed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, with the Department of State Services, DSS, alleging that he was responsible for widespread violence in the South-East region of the country.

6. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) had a closed door meeting with the National Security Adviser to the President, Nuhu Ribadu and Minister of Defence, Mohammed Abubakar on Wednesday. The meeting under the leadership of the Forum Chairman, Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, held at the NGF Secretariat in Abuja.

7. Hundreds of Ghanaian investors and community members on Wednesday besieged the Nigerian High Commission in Abuja, demanding redress over what they described as “systematic harassment, intimidation, and violation of our fundamental rights” by the Nigeria Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

8. Barely a week after a Nigerian hairstylist, Ifeoluwa Akinwunmi, was caught in India with drugs worth over N1.8bn, another Nigerian national, identified as Chikuwuma, has been arrested for a similar offence. According to a report by India Today on Tuesday, the suspect was apprehended by operatives of Bengaluru’s Central Crime Branch during a raid, with narcotics valued at approximately Rs 1.2 crore (N214m).

9. A United States of America court has sentenced five Nigerians to over 159 years of combined jail term for defrauding over 100 Americans, companies and government entities to the tune of $17m. This was contained in a statement obtained on the US Department of Justice website on Wednesday and signed by the acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, Ray Combs.

10. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has not registered any new political party. The commission made the clarification in a statement on its X handle on Wednesday. It described the purported report circulated by some online social media platforms on the registration of two new political parties by INEC as fake.