1. No fewer than 18 persons are feared dead after gunmen struck on Friday morning in Tilengpan community of Mangu Local Government area of Plateau State. It was reported that 12 individuals were reportedly killed in Mangu villages, with an additional six persons murdered in four Bokkos communities, along with a university student last night.

2. President Bola Tinubu has appointed a new Board for the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC with immediate effect. According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the new board members bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the commission, which plays a vital role in developing and regulating Nigeria’s capital market.

3. President Bola Tinubu on Friday announced the appointment of a new board for the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM with immediate effect. This was contained in a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.

4. The Nigerian Customs Service, Kebbi State Area Command, has intercepted goods, including 212 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice, worth over N126m. The goods according to the Customs Area Comptroller, Iheanacho Ojike, included 10,025 litres of petrol worth over N2m.

5. Two people were killed on Friday while one other was injured in an accident around the Idogo junction on Ilaro-Owode Yewa Road, Ogun State. This is just as the Ogun Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps threatened to begin a clampdown on motorists parking indiscriminately on the roads.

6. Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, has said Governor Usman Ododo did not help his predecessor, Yahaya Bello, beat security operatives who wanted to arrest him. Speaking in an interview with Channels TV, Fanwo, who also worked under Bello, said Ododo is committed to upholding the laws of the country, including respecting its legal processes.

7. The Nigerian Army, on Friday, released Prince Clement Ikolo Ogenerukevwe, the monarch arrested over the killing of 17 military personnel in Okuama, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.

8. The Lagos State government on Friday, demolished illegal houses in Otto Ilogbo extension of Ebute Metta, Lagos, leaving hundreds homeless. It was gathered that four communities were affected by the demolition. They include Ifesowapo, Ifeoluwa, Toluwani and Ilaje Otumara Community Development Association, CDAs, sparking public outrage.

9. Road crashes that occurred on Thursday and Friday at Gaya Junction in Kano State and Tashar Yari in Kaduna State claimed the lives of 18 people, authorities have said. The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Dauda Biu, has now condemned the use of substandard tyres and excessive speeding by drivers on Nigerian roads.

10. The Managing Director of First Bank Plc, Dr Adesola Kazeem Adedotun is to proceed on pre-retirement notice. He conveyed his decision to the Chairman of First Bank Hassan Odukale. He said in the letter that he would have retired from the bank in December but decided to proceed on pre-retirement leave effective April 20.

Owowoh Princess Oluchukwu has become the first-ever Nigerian female officer to graduate from the United Kingdom’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS).

The 24-year-old was one of the 135 officer cadets to graduate during RMAS’ sovereign’s parade in London on Friday.

In 2018, Owowoh joined the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna where she was appointed as a cadet lance corporal in her second year.

Owowoh says she is “committed to representing Nigeria with pride, and to making a positive difference in the world”.

She rose to a cadet sergeant in her fourth year and was appointed company senior under officer Charlie (CSUO C) in her fifth year.

Owowoh held the appointment with two other female counterparts and made history as the first female to assume the position of CSUO in the academy.

In her fourth year, she also completed the academics wing of the commissioning course and achieved first-class honours in biological sciences.

“It is a profound honour to be the first Nigerian female officer to be commissioned from the esteemed Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,” Owowoh said.

“This achievement is not mine alone, but a testament to the unwavering support of my family, mentors, instructors, and countless individuals who believed in me every step of the way.

“As I look ahead to the future, I am committed to representing Nigeria with pride, and to making a positive difference in the world.”

Some of the RMAS Nigerian alumni include Yakubu Gowon, former head of state, and Emmanuel Undiandeye, chief of defence intelligence.

Betta Edu, suspended minister of humanitarian affairs, says she has no link with the N30 billion purportedly recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On January 8, President Bola Tinubu suspended Edu and directed the EFCC “to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transaction” involving her ministry.

The social investment programmes – N-Power programme, conditional cash transfer programme, government enterprise and empowerment programme, and homegrown school feeding programme — were put on hold after the suspension of the minister.

The EFCC has since been investigating the suspended minister and the ministry.

In an update contained in a bulletin titled “EFCC Alert,” the commission said it is also investigating 50 bank accounts, adding that the N30 billion recovered is in the coffers of the federal government.

“We have laws and regulations guiding our investigations. Nigerians will also know that they are already on suspension and this is based on the investigations we have done, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has proved to Nigerians that he is ready to fight corruption,” Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, was quoted as saying in the bulletin.

“Moreover, with respect to this particular case, we have recovered over N30 billion, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government.”

However, in a letter issued on Wednesday, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, lawyer to Edu, said: “Neither N30bn nor any amount whatsoever has been traced to or recovered from our client’s bank accounts nor has any proceed of crime been traced or recovered from her…”

The letter addressed to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in Abuja and London, also threatened to take legal action against the media house if the publication on the matter was not taken down on its website.

“First and foremost, the language used in describing our client’s purported involvement in the alleged corruption case suggests guilt without allowing for the presumption of innocence, which is fundamental in any fair and unbiased reporting,” the letter reads.

“The reckless manner in which the article was crafted, without providing our client with the opportunity to respond to the allegations before its wide publication, is a clear breach of journalistic fairness and due process and demonstrates a complete disregard for journalistic integrity and professionalism.

“This is a blatant attempt to tarnish our client’s reputation and undermine her credibility which she has earned over the course of her distinguished career in both private and public life.

“For the avoidance of doubt, our client has neither been indicted nor found culpable of any act of financial impropriety in relation to her stewardship of the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Ministry in Nigeria.”

The lawyer said the former minister has “suffered immeasurable reputational damage, psychological trauma and anguish as a direct consequence of the publication and dissemination of the article”.

The letter further demanded a retraction of the article and an apology within 48 hours.

Ojukwu said failure to comply with the demands, legal actions would be taken before the appropriate courts.

He said the actions would be “to obtain redress for the injurious falsehood peddled in your article and to seek punitive and exemplary damages in the sum of US$ 50 million against the BBC for the damage and injury suffered by our client”.