These are the top five stories you should be monitoring today.

As reported by Channels Television, one of the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls who secured freedom on Wednesday has narrated how five of them died of heart attack and stress caused by the trauma of the abduction while in custody of Boko Haram insurgents.

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The Federal Government has applied to the Federal High Court, Abuja, for an order of temporary forfeiture of about 22 properties allegedly owned by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu in Abuja, London, the United States and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

In the ex-parte application filed on yesterday by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP), Ekweremadu is accused of breaching the Code of Conduct for public officers by allegedly failing to declare about 22 properties in his last assets declaration form.

The application filed pursuant to Sections 330 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act; 8 of the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provisions) Act and Section 44 (2)(k) of the Constitution, seeks mainly an order for interim forfeiture of the properties to the Federal Government.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Federal Government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of ‘scripting’ the abduction of the schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Wednesday, the party called on the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the incident, which it said was a scripted drama by the APC in the bid to seek re-election in 2019.

Nigerians are all aware that both the abduction and return of the schoolgirls were dramatically preceded by questionable withdrawal of troops and all security @HQNigerianArmy apparati at checkpoints and flashpoints in the Dapchi area. @APCNigeria

— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) March 21, 2018

We therefore call on the @UN and the International Criminal Court to declare this evil by the @APCNigeria Federal Government a war crime against humanity and immediately commence investigation on the matter. We demand the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in this saga. pic.twitter.com/kvIEw2NQwd

— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) March 21, 2018

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There are 708,666 workers on the integrated payroll of the Federal Government, according to figures given by the Ministry of Finance.

The figure excludes workers in the judiciary and the National Assembly and also the armed forces.

But it includes, 316,158 workers in 469 ministries and agencies of government, 291,685 workers in 42 police commands and another 100, 822 workers in the para-military agencies, such as Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Prison Service and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

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The parents of abducted Dapchi schoolgirls released on Wednesay by Boko Haram said the terrorists took their time to preach sermons to them before leaving the community, Premium Times reports.

They said no soldier or security operative was present in the community to confront the insurgents for the almost one hour they spent in the community.

“They brought the girls and then they were telling the general public that they should not go back to Western education schools; that what they did was not terrorism but rather the propagation of Islamic knowledge,” said one of the victim’s brother.

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And stories from around the world…

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that the social media giant “made mistakes” that led to millions of Facebook users having their data exploited by a political consultancy.

In a statement, Zuckerberg said a “breach of trust” had occurred.

In a later interview with CNN he said he was “really sorry“, and pledged to take action against “rogue apps“.

He added that he was “happy” to testify before Congress “if it’s the right thing to do“.

In his statement posted on Facebook, he promised to make it far harder for apps to “harvest” user information.

“We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” Mr Zuckerberg said.

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British politician and journalist, Boris Johnson has likened the way President Vladimir Putin is promoting the World Cup in Russia to Adolf Hitler‘s notorious use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Johnson said that he would have an “urgent conversation” with Russia about the safety of fans at the tournament.

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The president of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has offered his resignation after secret video recordings entangled him in a new corruption scandal on the eve of an impeachment vote.

It was unclear Congress would accept his resignation or proceed with a vote on Thursday to force him from office.

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Britain will encourage European leaders to expel Russian intelligence agents from their own countries in a bid to dismantle the Kremlin’s networks across Europe, warning that the west faces a long-term threat from Vladimir Putin.

Theresa May will ask European leaders to examine Britain’s response to the use of a nerve agent against a Russian double agent and his daughter in Salisbury and step up their own measures when they meet in Brussels on Thursday.

May will brief leaders over dinner at the European council summit, where she will stress a pattern of aggressive Russian behaviour.

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US President Donald Trump was reportedly angered after it leaked that he had been directly instructed by his national security advisers in briefing materials not to congratulate Putin on his recent election victory during their call Tuesday morning, CNN reports.

The Washington Post first reported Tuesday that Trump congratulated Putin despite warnings from multiple national security advisers and briefing materials that said “DO NOT CONGRATULATE.”