Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers of Sunday 20th August 2023
1. Burkina Faso and Niger have met to discuss a joint defence strategy in response to the announcement by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS military intervention in the coup. The military staff of the three countries met in the Nigerien capital Niamey to decide on “concrete measures” in case ECOWAS chooses to “escalate a war,” according to local media reports on Saturday.
2. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has denied reports of appointing music star, Afeez Adeshina Fashola, known as Naira Marley as its ambassador. Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy at NDLEA, clarified this Saturday in a statement.
3. A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has arrived in Niger Republic for talks with the military officers who seized power and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. A plane carrying the delegation landed in Niger’s capital, Niamey, on Saturday, a day after the ECOWAS military chiefs said they were ready to intervene to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum.
4. The Multinational Joint Tasks Force (MNJTF) fighting insurgency in the Lake Chad region on Saturday, said it has continued to record mass surrender of insurgents. This was disclosed in a statement released by the spokesman of the task force, Lt.-Col. Abubakar Abdullahi.
5. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Monday, August 21, 2023, the newly appointed ministers have commenced their documentation exercise. The documentation, which commenced on Saturday in Abuja at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, will end Sunday, August 20, from 10 am to 4pm daily.
6. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas says the House is taking measures to nip in the bud the recent spate of attacks in some parts of the country. Mr Musa Krishi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
7. Former President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed anguish over the death of several soldiers killed in an ambush and a subsequent helicopter crash in Niger State. Buhari, in a tweet via his Twitter handle on Saturday, also expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to President Bola Tinubu, the Armed Forces of the Federation and the families of the deceased.
8. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) says it has resolved to investigate the allegations of sexual assault against the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Prof. Cyril Ndifon. The NBA National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb Lawal, in a statement on Saturday, said the decision was reached by its National Executive Committee (NEC) at a recent monthly meeting.
9. The Taraba State command of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, has confirmed that there was an attack on its station in Lau local government council of the state. The attack which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, was said to have taken place in its station located in Mararaba Kunini in the aforementioned local government council.
10. A former Senior Special Assistant to the President (Office of the First Lady), Ike Neliaku, has said refineries across the country are not working because some persons deliberately frustrated it for selfish gains. Ike in a chat with DAILY POST on Saturday, described the state of the nation’s refineries as a shame, alleging that despite so much money stolen, the refineries are yet to work.
