• Jonathan rejects APC presidential form, says it’s an insult
• Broadcaster arraigned for sharing Chrisland student sex tape
• Police arrest man for raping and blackmailing 16-year-old girl
• ASUU extends strike by three months, students protest,
• Fuel queues persist in Abuja, black marketers sell for 300 naira per litre

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:

Jonathan rejects APC presidential form, says it’s an insult

In a statement issued on his behalf, hours after news of the purchase went viral, former President Goodluck Jonathan rejected the APC nomination and expression of interest forms that a certain Fulani group bought for him.

“The Attention of the Office of former President Goodluck Jonathan has been drawn to the purported purchase of the Presidential Nomination and Expression of Interest form, of the All Progressives Congress APC, in his name, by a group named “FULANI GROUP “

“We wish to inform the General Public, particularly Nigerians, that Dr Goodluck Jonathan has no knowledge whatsoever of the personalities behind the purported purchase of the form, in his name, not have any relationship with the association.

“It should be noted, that at the moment, Dr Goodluck Jonathan is not a member of the APC and therefore could not have accepted such a gesture, from those behind the move.

“While we appreciate the overwhelming request by a cross-section of Nigerians, for Dr Jonathan to make himself available for the 2023 Presidential election, we wish to state, that he has not in any way, committed himself to this request, even though some of them, considered patriotic.

“Buying a presidential aspiration form in the name Dr Jonathan without his consent, knowing the position he had held in this country, is considered an insult to his person. The general public is therefore advised to disregard it.”

Broadcaster arraigned for sharing Chrisland student sex tape

Broadcaster, Uche Igwe, 40, who allegedly shared on Twitter, a video of a 10-year-of Chrisland Schools student, who was intimate with her mates, was on Monday brought before a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

Igwe is facing a two-count charge of cyberstalking and breach of peace. He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Prosecution counsel attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department Panti, Augustine Nwabuisi, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on April 18, on Twitter.

The alleged offences contravene Section 24 (1) (a) (b) (i) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act of 2015, and Section 168 (d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 24 (1) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act of 2015 provides for 10 years’ imprisonment for cyberstalking.

Breach of peace is punishable with three months jail term under Section 168 (d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2015.

Police arrest man for raping and blackmailing a 16-year-old girl

The police of Ogun have arrested Ebenezer Adeshina, 25, for raping and blackmailing a 16-year-old girl.

The suspect was arrested following a report at Owode Egbado Division by the victim, who said she met the suspect on Facebook in 2021.

The girl told the police that she had been chatting with the suspect before her phone got spoilt and that the suspect called her with a promise to pay for the phone’s repair.

According to her, the suspect asked her to come to his house to collect ₦3,000 to repair the phone.

At his residence, she said he offered her a drugged drink which she took and became unconscious and that he raped her and took her nude picture.

A police report reads in part: “After having sex with her in the state of unconsciousness, the suspect took her nude pictures and started threatening to upload them on social media if she didn’t pay him the sum of ₦50,000.”

ASUU extends strike by three months, students protest

ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, had in a statement, after a meeting of its National Executive Council at the University of Abuja on Monday, announced the extension of the strike for another three months with a view to giving the Federal Government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues between them.

The Federal Government, through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, stated that the government would resume talks with the lecturers this week, but the union insisted that it was yet to get any official communication as regards the meeting.

In reaction, students from various tertiary institutions in Edo Monday, barricaded the gate of the Benin Airport, along Airport Road, in protest against the three-month extension to the prolonged strike by ASUU.

The protesting students from the University of Benin; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; and Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, were also at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo Council, to register their grievances.

Also, students of the University of Lagos, Akoka, staged a protest against the ongoing ASUU strike.

Meanwhile, the President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NAN), Sunday Asefon, in a statement titled ‘ASUU strike extension: The silence of the government and the ruling class; the nation must feel the heat’ called on students across the country to occupy all federal roads for a minimum of three hours on Tuesday.

He said, “The National Action is tagged ‘Operation Test Run’. It shall be held in all the 36 states of the federation. Federal roads across the 36 states shall be occupied for a minimum of three hours. The operation shall be a precursor to a total shutdown that will be decided during our senate meeting/pre-convention on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Our decision from the pre-convention shall be binding.

“Our proposal to congress on May 14 shall be the total blockage of the airport roads across the country and total disruption of political party primaries, blockage of the National Assembly until they are committed to passing legislation banning public office holders from sending their children to universities abroad.”

Fuel queues persist in Abuja, black marketers sell for ₦300/litre

Fuel queues persisted in the Federal Capital Territory Monday, as black marketers had a field day, selling a litre of PMS at ₦300.

In Kubwa, a litre of fuel went as high as ₦320, rising to ₦400 in Asokoro and other prime parts of Abuja, Punch reports.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that the sudden appearance of fuel queues in parts of Abuja is because of increased purchases that characterise post-holiday periods.

In a statement, the spokesman for NNPC, Garba Deen Muhammad, said Monday, that the company had sufficient fuel supplies to satisfy the demands of Abuja residents for over six weeks.

He assured all residents of the FCT and Nigerians that NNPC had ample local supplies and national stock in excess of 2.5 billion litres, with the sufficiency of more than 43 days.