These are the top five Nigerian stories that drove conversation today.
The Presidency on Saturday reacted to the call by former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), that Nigerians should defend themselves as killings in the country continue.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba, Shehu in a statement said such call could threaten national security.
The statement read, “The Presidency wishes to appeal to prominent Nigerians, who have national influence, to use their influence wisely and not continue to engage in public declarations that are likely to inflame emotional passions and threaten National Security.
“The Presidency is very worried that criminal gangs will feel justified in defying legal governing and democratic institutions, and authority of legitimately elected democratic government if unrestrained pronouncements are made.”
Former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh said the Federal Government is secretly trying to convict him of corruption.
Metuh’s name was among those released by the government to be among those who allegedly looted the treasury in 2015.
In a statement he personally signed in Abuja on Saturday titled “My Reply To The Media Trial,” Metuh said the statement by Mohammed had shown that he was facing two criminals trials on the same charge.
He said, “By this publication, the Federal Government has breached our constitution by seeking to burden me with two criminal trials on the same charge, one before Justice Okon Abang and the other before the media.
“The charge against me is that I received the sum of N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser to carry out duties assigned to me as the then National Publicity Secretary of the PDP by then President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) asked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to “confess its sins” like Senator Ibrahim Mantu.
Mantu, a former deputy senate president, confessed helping the PDP rig elections by “bribing” officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a statement on Saturday, Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the APC, asked the PDP to toe that line instead of “indulging in name-calling”.
The APC calls on the opposition PDP to follow the example of one its leaders and former deputy senate president, Senator Ibrahim Mantu and confess to their sins against the country instead of indulging in name-calling,” the statement read.
Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye has said the All Progressives Congress may soon die.
Speaking with BBC Hausa on Friday, Melaye said there are problems that need to be addressed within his party.
“I’m not afraid of anyone. Let the truth be told. Everybody is sabotaging one another. Something should be done, otherwise, the funeral trumpet may be blown on APC,” Melaye said.
“Everybody is sabotaging one another. Something should be done, otherwise, the funeral trumpet may be blown on APC. I am not afraid to tell the truth on anybody, whether on Buhari, Saraki, or even my father. I have to speak against injustice. APC and PDP patronise the same market.”
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has described as one-sided, the list of alleged looters released by the federal government on Friday.
The list released by Lai Mohammed, minister of information, has names of only members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a statement on Saturday, Malachy Ugwummadu, CDHR president, said disclosing the identity of the alleged looters does not show the federal government is serious with the war against corruption.
“If the federal government was serious about total anti-corruption war, it should also look inwards and name ex-PDP chieftains who are now in the All Progressives Congress (APC),” Ugwummadu said.
And now, stories from around the world…
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has returned to her hometown in Pakistan for the first time since she was shot there by the Taliban.
Ms Yousafzai, who now lives in the UK, was shot in the head for campaigning for female education in 2012.
Her family’s home region of Swat was once a militant stronghold, and she was attacked on a school bus there at 15.
It had been unclear if the 20 year old would visit the area because of security concerns.
On Thursday, it was announced that Ms Yousafzai had returned to Pakistan for the first time since she was attacked.
The Israeli military has warned it could take action against “terrorist targets” inside the Gaza Strip.
Brig Gen Ronen Manelis told journalists that Hamas – the militant group that controls Gaza – was using Palestinian protests as a cover for launching attacks on Israel.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said Israel bears “full responsibility” for bloodshed on Friday.
Sixteen Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers at the Gaza border.
The Trump administration has said it wants to start collecting the social media history of nearly everyone seeking a visa to enter the US.
The proposal, which comes from the state department, would require most visa applicants to give details of their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
They would have to disclose all social media identities used in the past five years.
About 14.7 million people a year would be affected by the proposals.
President Donald Trump’s unexpected announcement on Thursday that the US would “be coming out of Syria like very soon” is raising concerns among some national security officials who warn that withdrawing now would not only undermine American credibility in the region but prompt a significant escalation to an already devastating conflict.
While Trump has often touted the gains made against ISIS since taking office, his latest comments caught much of his own administration off-guard — including defense officials who have warned that now is not the time to withdraw from Syria.
“We’re knocking the hell out of ISIS. We’ll be coming out of Syria like very soon,” Trump told supporters outside of Cleveland during a speech that was meant to focus on infrastructure.” Let the other people take care of it now.”
President Donald Trump is continuing his attack against Amazon, accusing the company of scamming the US Postal Service.
“While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning.
“The Failing N.Y. Times reports that ‘the size of the company’s lobbying staff has ballooned,’ and that……does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a ‘lobbyist’ and should so REGISTER,” the President wrote.
“If the P.O. ‘increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.'”
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