• Sanwo-Olu approves four days off work for Lagos workers to obtain PVCs
• Kaduna Train Attack: Families of 41 victims protest at Transport Ministry
• Police issue a warning to hoodlums ahead of today’s NLC solidarity demonstration
• BBNaija S7: Biggie introduces Tail of House title
• Apapa Customs impounds container load of tramadol worth N6bn

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

Sanwo-Olu approves four days off work for Lagos workers to obtain PVCs

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, approved four work-free days for state workers on Monday, in order for them to obtain their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, ahead of the July 31 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The directive was announced in a statement by Mr. Hekeem Muri-Okunola, Head of Service.

Muri-Okunola stated that the work-free days start on July 26 and last until Friday, July 29, before the INEC-imposed registration deadline for potential voters expires.

The memo, titled “Collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVC),” instructed the accounting officers to monitor compliance as well as for employees to carry their PVC with them while reporting for duty.

The designated dates, according to the Head of Service, are Tuesday 26- Grade Levels concerned are 01, 03, 07, and 15.

For Wednesday, July 27, the Grade Levels affected are 02, 04, 08, and 13. Thursday, July 28, Grade Levels 05, 09, 12, and 17 while Friday, July 29, is dedicated to Grade Levels 06, 10, 14, and 16.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Lagos State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, had earlier, disclosed that statistics showed that the state currently had about seven million registered voters.

However, he said that the CVR was still underway and that the commission was still capturing additional applicants before the deadline of July 31.

Kaduna Train Attack: Families of 41 victims protest at Transport Ministry

Families of the remaining 41 people still in captivity yesterday halted activities at the Ministry of Transportation in protest over the lack of prompt action to save their loved ones, who have been held captive for exactly 120 days after terrorists bombed the AK-9 train carrying hundreds of passengers from Abuja to Kaduna and kidnapped them.

Family members of the victims surrounded the Federal Ministry of Transportation’s Abuja headquarters as early as 8 am, barring employees, including top management personnel, from entering their offices.

They put mats at the entrance gate and dared any ministry staff to go over the barricade; they stayed true to their word for more than four hours.

The Transportation Ministry revealed that negotiations had taken place amid the demonstration and that efforts were being made with security organizations to rescue the victims.

A few hours after the demonstration, the terrorists freed four more captives, including Gladys Brumen, Oluwatoyin Ojo, Hassan Lawal, and Pastor Ayodeji Oyewumi, bringing the total number of those held captive to 38.

Police issue a warning to hoodlums ahead of today’s NLC solidarity demonstration

In reaction to the statewide demonstration called by the Nigeria Labour Congress in support of the on-strike Academic Staff Union of Universities taking place on Tuesday, the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps will deploy personnel to crucial infrastructure and institutions today.

The Nigeria Labour Congress gave workers in state capitals and Abuja instructions on Monday to join the demonstration as security agencies moved to deploy their men and officers.

The Commissioners of Police in Ebonyi and Gombe and the police spokespersons in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Plateau, Ogun, Osun, and Gombe confirmed that their men would be at the rally grounds.

Also, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence spokesperson, Shola Odumosu, said armed and unarmed personnel would be on the ground to protect the protesters and Nigerians.

He said, “We understand that at times like this, thugs would want to take advantage and launch their attacks. Among those we will be deploying apart from the armed and unarmed personnel are men from our intelligence department.”

The Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi State, Garba Aliyu, said his men would deal decisively with “perpetrators of actions not in conformity with the law’’ during the rally.

Speaking on the security arrangements for the protest, the Gombe State Commissioner of Police, Ishola Babaita, pledged to provide protection for union leaders and other participants during the rally.

The spokesman for the state Police Command, Alabo Alfred, also said that officers and men of the command had been deployed in the strategic locations, including the protest venue, to prevent a breakdown of law and order during the protest.

BBNaija S7: Biggie introduces Tail of House title

Big Brother Naija season 7 has seen the introduction of a new title known as “Tail of House”.

The Tail of House game was introduced prior to the games, which brought together Level 1 and Level 2 roommates for the first time.

Biggie stated that the housemate who performed the poorest during the competition would be named “Tail of House.”

Since the beginning of the program, no participant has ever before received such a title.

Biggie also mentioned the position had unique privileges and obligations which we are yet to discover.

After being the first to flunk out in the games, Bella was announced as the first Tail of House.

Eloswag also became the first Head of House of the season after winning the games.

Apapa Customs impounds container load of tramadol worth N6bn

The seizure of a container load of tramadol smuggled from Pakistan with a street value of roughly N6 billion was reported by the Nigeria Customs Service’s Apapa Command.

Comptroller Yusuf Ibrahim Malanta, Customs Area Controller of Apapa Customs, revealed this over the weekend. He said the drugs were securely covered with towels but were found thanks to the officers’ sharp eyes and the use of a system he named “Forensic Manifest Management System.”

According to Malanta, the offensive items handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, by Customs include “1x20ft container No. PCIU 0183241 laden with eighty-one (81) cartons of 250mg and sixty-nine (69) cartons of 225mg of tramadol tablets (each carton contains 72 rolls, each roll contains 10 packs, each pack contains 10 sachets, and each sachet contains 10 tablets) totaling 150 cartons of tramadol tablets.”

While receiving the container, Mr. Ameh Inalegwu, Apapa Commander of NDLEA, said that the Chairman of NDLEA, Brig Gen Buba Marwa (Rtd), has expressed great pride in the Apapa Customs boss.