Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers
1. No fewer than 73 persons recently killed in Logo and Guma LGAs of Benue State were on Thursday given mass burial in Makurdi, the State capital.
They lost their lives in separate attacks carried out by the herdsmen between 1 and 2 of January, 2018.
2. Political leaders in Benue State have responded aggressively to the killings of their citizens by Fulani herdsmen.
The leaders and elders averred that if the carnage was left to continue against the people, they have no choice than to raise armies to protect people of the state.
3. Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has vowed not to repeal the anti-grazing law.
He lamented that if the federal government had acted on the reports he gave it concerning the threats of attacks by the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, the killings would have been averted.
4. Southern and Middle Belt leaders on Thursday in Enugu called for immediate declaration of rampaging Fulani herdsmen as terrorists.
The call came at a summit tagged “Handshake Across the Niger’, where demand for the immediate restructuring of Nigeria’s current political structure also dominated discourse.
5. Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, effected a major cabinet shake-up on Thursday.
According to a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tunji Bello, the three affected cabinet members are Mrs Adebimpe Akinsola, Mr Femi Odubiyi and Mr Anifowoshe Abiola.
6. Ohanaeze Ndigbo has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the issue of incessant killings of Nigerians by herdsmen across the country.
The Anambra State chairman of the organisation, Chief Damian Okeke Ogene, who made the call in Awka, said the people of the South-East States could not afford to have their people massacred in cold blood.
7. A Fulani socio-cultural organisation, the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) has said that the conflicts between farmers and herders in Benue State and other states was the Fulani way of fighting back over prolonged neglect and injustice.
It said the country had relegated the Fulani herdsmen to the background and were never allowed to exercise any right in the country like other citizens.
8. Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong said yesterday that he warned his Benue State counterpart Samuel Ortom when he was planning the anti-Open Grazing law.
He felt Ortom should have exploited other ways to deal with the herders situation before enforcing the law.
9. The naira Thursday appreciated to N360.43 per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, even as the nation’s external reserves recorded $664 million increase in the first ten days of the year.
The appreciation was prompted by 48 per cent increase in the volume of dollars traded, which rose to $433.13 million from $292.42 million traded on Wednesday.
10. A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has issued the Department of State Services 48 hours ultimatum to release the 10 Cameroonian separatists in its custody.
Falana threatened to approach the court in demand for the enforcement of their fundamental human rights if the DSS failed to act.
Comentários