Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Sunday morning

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

1. Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, is ahead of other candidates in the Presidential election of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA. Results released as of 7:30pm on Saturday showed that Badejo-Okusanya polled 10,554 votes of the 22,863 ballots cast as of the time.

2. Three siblings travelling from Abuja to Benue State with the corpse of their late mother have been reportedly abducted by suspected gunmen in Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State. The victims were said to have been intercepted around rural communities along the Ogobia–Otukpo Road, between Omutele and Ankpechi villages in Oglewu District, where armed invaders reportedly attacked a few days earlier.

3. The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to “abandon his neoliberal economic policies that has ruined the lives of almost the entire country or simply quit”. It said Nigerians cannot continue to continue on this same path. ADC, in a statement, on Saturday, said it is deeply concerned by recent reports by the World Bank indicating that 139 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line.

4. The Presidency has suggested that Nigeria’s lingering security crisis may have been influenced by external forces, citing international claims and developments it said indicate that foreign interests could be playing a role in the country’s terrorism challenge. Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, made the assertion while speaking on The Link Up Podcast, a panel discussion hosted by EchoRoom and published on Friday.

5. The 47-year old woman accused of flogging 12-year-old student to death in a school in Adazi-Ani, Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State has turned herself to the Police. Police spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga, who disclosed this on Saturday, said the suspect, Mrs. Dim Ebere voluntarily presented herself at the Neni Police Station.

6. Christian organisations have opposed the proposed amendment to the Federal Road Safety Corps Bill, which seeks to criminalise preaching in commercial vehicles. The Christian bodies, including the Christian Council of Nigeria and the Organisation of African Instituted Churches, warned that the proposed legislation could infringe on Nigerians’ constitutional rights and worsen the plight of vulnerable citizens.

7. The Niger State Police Command says it has arrested a fake pastor and his alleged accomplice over the abduction of a four-week-old baby in Minna. The command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday in Minna.

8. The High Court of Anambra State, Ogidi Judicial Division, presided over by Justice U.I Ndigwe, has convicted and sentenced two men, Elochukwu Belonwu and Chukwuebuka Ofokwu, to death by hanging for conspiracy, rape and the murder of a 17-year-old girl, Jennifer Anene. In the charge sheet, Suit No. HID/23C/2021, obtained by our correspondent on Saturday, the two defendants were tried on a three-count charge, and the prosecution had proved the three counts against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

9. Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested three staff members of the state Ministry of Labour, Empowerment and Productivity over the alleged theft of government equipment valued at about N500 million. The suspects were alleged to have conspired to steal several government-owned assets, including a 110 KVA Perkins generator, a forklift, lathe machines, electric filling machines and other equipment kept in the ministry’s store.

10. The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Anambra Sector Command, has confirmed the death of three persons while four others sustained injuries in a lone road crash along the Nnobi–Agulu–Awka Road. The Sector Commander, Mrs Bridget Asekhauno, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Awka.