Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. The Nigeria Police Monday soft-pedaled on its alleged onslaught against Senate President, Bukola Saraki over its ongoing probe into the Offa Bank robbery in Kwara. The force that earlier directed the Senate President to appear in person to defend himself changed its approach and asked Saraki to send a letter, stating what he knows about his indictment.
2. Relatively, the IG of police, Ibrahim Idris on Monday refused to respond to journalists when he was approached on the face-off between the police and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. The IGP who met with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo behind closed door alongside the Director General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami failed to address the press when he was approached after the meeting.
3. The Medium Security Prison located at Tunga area of Minna metropolis was attacked by gunmen on Sunday night. DSP Rabiu M. Shuaibu, PRO, Nigerian Prison Service, Niger command, confirmed said the incident was perpetrated by armed criminals, who attacked the prison and gained access after exchange of fire with armed prison officials. The Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazau has also disclosed after an on-the-spot assessment of the prison that 30 inmates who escaped from the Medium Security Prison on Sunday night have been recaptured.
4. The Amnesty International on Monday threw a poser on Twitter, demanding to know sponsors of protests against them. The human rights body and the Nigerian government have been at loggerheads, especially over reports of military and paramilitary activities. On Monday via its handle, AI posted photos of those it said were caught sharing money doled out to them after a demonstration at its office.
5. Kano and Katsina States have the highest new police officers in the Police recruitment exercise. In a list of applicants just released by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), only 5, 233 were shortlisted. Oyo is third with 225, and at 42, the federal capital territory (FCT) has the least number of candidates. In a regional breakdown, north-west has the highest with 1, 300 candidates followed by south-west with 921 candidates. North-central has 823 candidates while south-south has 779 and north-east has 759. South-east has the lowest, with 651 candidates.
6. Super Eagles midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi has been named among the top seven most valuable African players ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. A study by the CIES Football Observatory shows that the Leicester City star is rated number six in Africa and 79th position in the world with a €62.7 million price tag. According to CIES, Liverpool ace, Mohamed Salah is the most valuable African player in the top five European Leagues and ranked fifth overall, followed by Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is valued at €95.6 million and Senegal star Sadio Mane (€91.6m).
7. The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole on Monday called on the police and all other government agencies to enforce the ban on flavoured tobacco products, including Shisha. Adewole said this at a press conference in Abuja on Monday to mark the 2018 world No-Tobacco Day. The minister stressed that most of the flavoured tobacco taken were targeted at the youths and were as dangerous as cigarettes.
8. The chairman of the Northern Elders Council, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has said that Northern elders have not endorsed any of the presidential aspirants of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for 2019. The NEC Chairman noted that Nigerians had made mistakes in the past by voting for personalities and not for the quality of programmes offered ranging from Obasanjo to President Buhari who did nothing to move Nigeria forward. He said that endorsement of the northern elders would be based on their manifestos.
9. The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, John Oyegun, has refuted insinuations that he was intimidated into refusing to seek another term as Chairman. Oyegun said his decision not to seek reelection was influenced by his personal consideration and not due to the fact that he was intimidated. He made the clarification while addressing journalists in Abuja.
10. The New Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, has reacted to the indictment and invitation of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, by the Nigeria police. The nPDP led by Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, said in Abuja on Monday that they had since discovered that the Presidency was not sincere in its discussion with the group but was actively negotiating with them in bad faith. Baraje in a statement pointed out that it was wrong for the Presidency to embark on series of provocative actions with key members of the nPDP while negotiations were ongoing.
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