Happy morning! Today’s Nigerian newspaper summary is as follows:
1. As election campaigns heat up, certain political parties have implemented specialized security measures to safeguard their officials and followers. The Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party said Wednesday that they had taken extra safety measures because they can’t just rely on police protection.
2. The trial of ASP Drambi Vandi, who is accused of killing Lagos-based lawyer Mrs. Omobolanle Raheem on Christmas Day, will get underway in a Lagos State High Court on Monday (today). Vandi, who worked at the Ajiwe Police Station in Ajah, Lagos State, is said to have killed Raheem while she and her family were coming back from a trip.
3. The Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has said that there is no chance of the military seizing control in Nigeria and that democracy is here to stay. In response to inquiries from reporters on Sunday at the National Arcade in Abuja, during the wreath-laying event that served as the culmination of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration, the CDS made this statement.
4. According to Citadel Global Community Church Presiding Overseer Pastor Tunde Bakare, effective politicians never ask people to respond to questions that are posed to them. Bakare observed that a new Nigeria is set to emerge in his state-of-the-nation address on Sunday.
5. Around three in the morning on Sunday, bandits broke into Rev. Fr. Isaac Achi’s home and killed him. According to reports, the attackers chose to set fire to the priest’s residence after discovering they couldn’t reach him due to enhanced protection.
6. On Sunday, gunmen who were allegedly bandits invaded the New Life for All Church in the Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State and abducted around 25 worshipers. Rev. Ishaya Jurau, Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s Senior Special Assistant on Christian Affairs, confirmed the news.
7. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, office in Imo State was attacked by unidentified gunmen wreaking havoc in Southeast Africa, resulting in one fatality. It was learned that the 20 or so shooters drove a blue Lexus and an ash-colored Highlander, two SUVs, to carry out their operations.
8. The governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his persistent efforts to put an end to the Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, and other terrorist organizations that are wreaking havoc across the nation. After the wreath-laying ceremony for the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration at Isaac Boro Park yesterday, he gave a speech at Government House in Port Harcourt.
9. NDEA agents broke up a tramadol cartel and seized millions of opioid pills and bottles worth more than N5 billion from a warehouse in the Amuwo Odofin neighborhood of Lagos State. The director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday that the agency had arrested two people who were thought to be drug kingpins.
10. A fire destroyed the AA RANO fuel station, which was situated along the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway. The fire incident occurred while a gasoline truck was dropping off the product at the station, according to DSP Josephine Adeh, a spokesman for the Federal Capital Territory’s FCT police command, who verified the occurrence on Sunday evening.
