Good morning Nigeria. Welcome to the Editor roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Monday, 15th April 2024.
1. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Sunday, said it has so far recovered N32.7billion and $445,000 from top officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. It also said some banks implicated in the ministry’s scandal are being investigated. It admitted that the Managing Directors of the implicated banks have made useful statements to EFCC investigators.
2. Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Sunday, said that his detractors are having high blood pressure and sleepless nights because former Governor Peter Odili is supporting him. Odili, who governed the state between 1999 and 2007 has not hidden his membership of Fubara’s camp since the beginning of the political crisis in the state.
3. Nigeria is on track to become a global economic powerhouse, according to a groundbreaking new report by Goldman Sachs. The prestigious investment bank forecasts Nigeria’s promotion to the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2075, boasting a staggering Gross Domestic Product, GDP of $13.1 trillion.
4. Former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has called on military authorities to immediately investigate the killing of three innocent civilians by soldiers in Gashu’a, the headquarters of Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State. It was reported on Sunday that soldiers fired indiscriminately into groups of protesters who were approaching their stop-and-search checkpoint near Gashua Bridge to protest the alleged killing of a tricycle operator by the soldiers in Gashu’a.
5. The remaining staff and students of the Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State, who were abducted on September 22, 2023, have regained freedom. Bandits had invaded hostels in Sabon-Gida community of the Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara, abducting over 20 students, mostly ladies.
6. The Nigerian Army says it has launched an investigation into the killing of a hotel manager in Abia, Achimugu James Etubi, who was allegedly tortured to death by its troops. Spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, said any personnel found culpable of wrongdoing will face appropriate legal sanctions in line with the military tradition.
7. Officials of the Edo State State Network and members of the Public Works Volunteers, on Sunday, pulled down the security post in front of the residence of the former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, in the Government Reservation Area, Benin. Shaibu was impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly last Monday over the allegation of leaking official secrets and perjury.
8. The Lagos State Police Command said on Sunday that a total of 1,019 suspected miscreants were arrested in different parts of the state in six days. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
9. Israel pledged that it will “exact a price” from Iran as the country weighs its response to an unprecedented overnight barrage of drone and missile strikes while facing international pressure to de-escalate.
10. Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso said on Sunday that the apex bank will soon introduce a new set of foreign exchange laws and guidelines to address naira depreciation and achieve exchange rate stability.
