Across the thirty-six states of Nigeria, these are the five biggest stories you shouldn’t miss out on:

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Matawale: ‘We’re working with repentant bandits’

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has said that the students abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, will be released soon – The Cable reports

In an earlier report, about 317 schoolgirls were kidnapped from their hostels last Friday, but seven of them also reportedly escaped.

“We are using the leaders of the repentant bandits to rescue the schoolgirls from the kidnappers. Very soon, we are going to witness the release of the abductees,” the governor said.

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COVID: FG set to receive vaccines tomorrow

The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to receive the first set of vaccines after moving the first expectation of the vaccine from January ending to late February and then March – The Guardian reports

According to the publication, the federal government says it will take delivery of 3.92 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine tomorrow, March 2.

Speaking on the development, the Minister of Health,  Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said: “We are fully prepared to receive and deliver the vaccine to eligible Nigerians as we have commenced the training of health workers and ensured that cold chain facilities are ready at all levels. We have a robust cold chain system that can store all types of COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with the required temperature. We are therefore confident we will have a very effective rollout of the vaccine, starting with our critical healthcare workers, who are in the frontline in providing the care we all need.”

SSS confirms sack of Ganduje’s aide

The State Security Service (SSS) has confirmed the arrest of Salihu Tanko, a former media aide to Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano Governor – Premium Times reports

Tanko was arrested some few hours after he called on President Muhammadu Buhari to check Nigeria’s worsening insecurity or resign. He was also sacked by Governor Ganduje.

Peter Afunnaya, the SSS spokesperson, in a short statement late Saturday in Abuja said Mr Tanko is in their custody, undergoing investigation.

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Stock investors lose N1.37tn in one month

Nigerian stock market investors recorded a total loss of N1.37tn in February as market capitalisation tumbled below N21tn amid profit-taking – The Punch reports

According to reports, investors had gained over N1.13tn in January as the market capitalisation closed at N22.19tn from N21.06tn at the start of the month. However, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed at 39,799.89 basis points in February from 42,412.66bps at the end of January.

The market capitalisation of equities tumbled to N20.82tn on Friday from N22.19tn at the end of January.

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Man arrested with N1bn worth of cocaine

Officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Sokoto have reportedly arrested a 36-year-old suspected trans-border drug trafficker identified as Nkem Timothy, alias Auwalu Audu with 62 wraps of substance suspected to be cocaine – Sahara Reporters reports

According to the reports, Timothy was caught while trying to cross over to Algeria through Niger Republic with drugs which have an estimated street value of about N1 billion.