1. Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have reduced their ransom demand from N50m to N5m per victim, bringing the total demand down from N1bn to N100m.
The development came as the victims’ parents disclosed that the abducted graduates were being beaten by their captors, heightening fears over their safety and prompting renewed calls for urgent government intervention.
2. The Independent National Electoral Commission will on Tuesday hold a national stakeholders’ meeting and World Press Conference to mark 100 days to the 2027 general elections, with the commission expected to provide updates on its preparations for the polls. The event will focus on key areas including the voters’ register, candidate nominations, logistics and measures being put in place to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process, the commission said in a statement obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday
3. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has fired back at former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, challenging him to account for major projects and expenditures incurred during his administration.
Wike, who spoke on Saturday during an interactive session with leaders and stakeholders of Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, was reacting to Amaechi’s appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday evening.
4. Vice-President Kashim Shettima has appealed to Nigerians to be “generous” towards President Bola Tinubu. Speaking in Lagos after meeting with Tinubu, who recently returned to Nigeria following his annual vacation, Shettima said the President had taken difficult and far-reaching decisions to prevent the country’s economy from collapsing.
5. Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded a full account of the N11.2 trillion that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recorded as owed to it by the Federation for advances and costs that include protecting Nigeria’s oil and gas assets. He said Nigerians deserve to know how much of this enormous claim went towards guarding pipelines, who received the money and what protection it bought.
6. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday projected his administration’s security interventions as strengthening Nigeria’s military response capacity. He said new Army formations, improved troop welfare, and expanded military infrastructure were putting the Armed Forces in a better position to protect vulnerable communities.
7. The Bauchi State Police Command has commenced an investigation into the suspected murder of Jemimah Dutse, a former All Progressives Congress women leader in Bauchi South. This was disclosed in a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Nafiu Habib, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Sani-Omolori Aliyu, on Sunday.
8. President Bola Tinubu has said the Nigerian Army has operationalised new formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun states to strengthen security and improve responses to threats against vulnerable communities. The President disclosed this in a statement shared on his social media handles on Sunday, noting that the new formations would bring troops closer to communities and enhance their ability to respond swiftly to security threats.
9. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted consignments of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, and codeine-based cough syrup worth more than N5 billion at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos State and the Onne Port in Rivers State. The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the seizures followed months of intelligence gathering and tracking of the consignments from their ports of origin.
10. The West African Examinations Council on Sunday officially announced the appointment of 56-year-old Suleiman Kum as the Head of the Nigeria National Office. Before his appointment, Kum was Deputy Registrar in the HNO’s office and served as Senior Deputy Registrar, Test Administration, WAEC, until the end of August
