10 things you need to know from Nigerian Newspapers this Saturday morning 20th August, 2022

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. Halimatu Atta, a 90-year-old woman, who was abducted from the Kaduna-bound train in March, has regained freedom. She was released alongside her daughter and two other victims, according to a Kaduna‎-based Publisher, Tukur Mamu, who negotiated the release of some of the victims.

2. Gunmen on Thursday night shot dead a lawyer identified as Barrister Benedict Azza, close to his residence in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital. The attack came barely a week after the state government announced a ban on the operation of motorbikes in parts of the Gusau metropolis.

The state’s NBA chairman, Barrister Junaidu Abubakar, confirmed this in a statement yesterday.

3. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has revoked licences of the African Independent Television (AIT), Silverbird Television (STV), and 50 other broadcast stations. Addressing the press in Abuja on Friday, Director General of the Commission, Malam Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, said the 52 affected stations had been owing since 2015.

4. Kidnapped Nasarawa State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mohammed Yakubu Lawal, has regained his freedom, after spending five days in a terrorists’ den. It was, however, not certain whether the N100 million ransom earlier demanded by the bandits was paid before his release.

5. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, Friday opened discussions for peace and reconciliation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. The committee set up for that purpose consists of members drawn from both the Atiku and Wike’s strategic teams.

6. Ten people have been confirmed dead and scores displaced by flood in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State. Executive Secretary of the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), Dr. Suleiman Muhammad, confirmed the casualty figures in an interview on Friday.

7. An Iyaganku Family Court sitting in Ibadan ordered the remand of three teenagers and a 12-year-old in a juvenile home on Friday for allegedly raping an 18-year-old person with a disability. Prosecution counsel, Insp Folake Ewe, told the court that two of the four accused are siblings aged 15 years and 12 years.

8. President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the deployment and re-deployment of nine Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service. Mr Mohammed Ahmed, Deputy Director of Communications, office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), made this known in a circular issued on Friday in Abuja.

9. Fresh facts have emerged on why the Academic Staff Union of Universities rejected the proposal by the Federal Government. The zonal coordinator, Port Harcourt zone, Stanley Ogoun, in a statement yesterday, said the FG has promised to increase the salaries of professors by N60,000 while others may have N30,000.

10. The Ogun State Police Command has warned that a yet-to-be-identified serial killer is on the prowl in the Remo axis of Remo-North local government area of the state. The state police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this on Friday in a statement.