Nigerian Newspapers: 10 Things You Need to Know on Sunday Morning

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

1. The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, has tendered his resignation. Abubakar, who was appointed to the position seven years ago by former President Muhammadu Buhari, tendered his resignation after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, on Saturday.

2. Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State has commenced the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage approved by the Federal Government. The governor has commenced the payment of the new minimum wage for state employees, effective August 2024, with a promise that local government workers will receive the increased salary in September.

3. The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the last governorship election in Kogi State, Murtala Ajaka, on Saturday condemned the attack on him by suspected hoodlums on Friday as he was leaving the High Court. In a statement, Ajaka urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other relevant security agencies to investigate the brutal attack on him and his supporters by one Bashiru Gegu and his hoodlums.

4. The Imo State Police have arrested five members of a suspected kidnap syndicate responsible for terrorizing residents of Obinze, Avu and its environs, and for the abduction of a 26-year-old woman from her home in Obinze in Owerri West Local Government Area.

5. Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, has debunked a media report that he is allegedly planning to ditch the All Progressives Congress, APC. Ododo spoke through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Kingsley Femi Fanwo, in a statement in Lokoja. The Commissioner was reacting to a viral photo of the governor with colleagues elected under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

6. The police said no ransom was paid to secure the release of the 20 medical students abducted in Benue. A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said: “Contrary to some tweets and unconfirmed stories that some money was paid, not a kobo was paid to release them. They were actually rescued tactically and professionally.”

7. In a crackdown on public indecency, the Lagos State Government has arrested six persons for openly urinating on the railway track in front of the Nigeria Army Shopping Complex, Arena, Oshodi. This was disclosed in a statement shared with X.com by the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Saturday.

8. Operatives of the Nasarawa State Police Command on Friday arrested a woman, Hauwa Sani, for concealing 124 rounds of anti-craft ammunition in a gallon of palm oil along with a two-year-old child in the state. The Public Relations Officer of the command, Ramhan Nansel, disclosed this in a statement posted on X.com on Saturday.

9. Operatives of the Sokoto State Police Command have arrested some suspects in connection with the protest in Sabon Birni, headquarters of Sabon Birni LGA, over the death of the kidnapped District Head, Isa Muhammad Bawa. The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Command, ASP Isah Mohammed, disclosed this in a statement in Sokoto.

10. Igbo elders under the auspices of the United Igbo Elders Council, UNIEC, have demanded the unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and all political prisoners. They also demanded an immediate end to all unlawful, masked, night and secret arrests, detentions and extrajudicial killings in the country.