Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. Tension heightened yesterday in Igoba community in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State following the killing of a security guard identified as ‘Mr Sunday’ by gunmen. The unidentified attackers, who also set a filling station ablaze, shot and killed the security guard who was manning the Titolu Venture filling station in the community.
2. Another Catholic priest identified as Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Silas was abducted in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State in the early hours of Monday. Fr. Silas, who is in charge of St. Charles Catholic Church, Zambina in Kauru LGA, was reported missing after he failed to appear for morning mass.
3. Hoodlums have burnt down the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State. It was gathered that the incident occurred at the weekend when the arsonists stormed the office situated at the council’s headquarters in Ogurute and set it on fire.
4. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has again disagreed with the Federal Government’s stance on the killings at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, saying it was too quick to link the incident to the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP).
5. The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani has announced the State’s deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, as his running mate for the 2023 governorship election. Hadiza had in March declined the offer to run for the Senate when it was first made to her by Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
6. Rev. Fr Luigi Brena, an Italian, who was abducted along Ogunwenyi, Usen community in Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State, has been rescued. The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Police Command, Jennifer Iwegbu, confirmed this in a statement on Monday, saying three of the suspected kidnappers were shot dead.
7. The Federal Government has issued a circular for the appointment of a new and substantive Accountant-General of the Federation. The position, according to the circular, is for those who have attained the position of substantive director on Level 17 salary grade level on or before 1st January, 2020.
8. The Federal Government on Monday condemned the call by five United States Republican Senators asking for the re-designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern because of alleged persecution of Christians. The Senators, who made the call in a letter to the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had also alleged violation of the freedom of Nigerian Christians’ rights to practise their religion.
9. The Peter Obi Support Network has called for the immediate discontinuation of the negotiations and alliance between the Labour Party and the New Nigerian Peoples Party. The group said the NNPP’s presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwanso’s continuous association with the Peter Obi candidacy will be a liability rather than an asset.
10. Justice H.O. Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court sitting at Ikeja, on Monday, sentenced an Islamic cleric, Isah Mustapha, to life imprisonment for defiling an eight-year-old girl in the State. The victim, in her testimony, said the convict had carnal knowledge of her in his house in 2017 when her mother sent her on an errand.
