These are the top five Nigerian stories that drove conversation today.
Boko Haram insurgents killed at least 18 people and wounded scores in attacks overnight on a military camp and villages in Maiduguri, officials said Monday.
Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base in the Cashew Plantation area at the entrance to the city with suicide bombers, mortars and guns, leading to a prolonged battle, a senior military officer in Maiduguri said.
“Eighteen Boko Haram terrorists on foot attacked the military base while seven suicide bombers targeted residents of nearby Bale Shuwar and Alikaranti villages at 8:50 pm (1950 GMT),” said the officer.
Soldiers of Operation Ayem Akpatuma (Cat Race) have allegedly beaten a 27 years old man, Yusufa Haruna, to death at Mbamga in Sarduana local government area of the state.
Father of the deceased, Mr. Haruna Kurkal, told journalists in Jalingo on Monday that trouble started when his late son had a misunderstanding with his girlfriend which resulted in a fight among them.
According to him, the parents of the girl (name withheld) reported the misunderstanding to the village head of the area, Jauro Saleh Abubakar, who asked the Sarkin Hausawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Bangari, to report the issue to soldiers.
A detachment of soldiers have freed Joshua Lidani, senator representing Gombe south, from youth who held him hostage.
Lidani was held hostage on Monday after he visited the headquarters of Balanga local government area of Gombe.
The youth accused the senator of abandoning them since he got elected in 2015 and demanded that he account for his stewardship.
He was then forced to take refuge at the residence of the traditional ruler of Talasse.
Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation, says the list of looters is incomplete without the names of President Muhamadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
In the second list released on Sunday, Fani-Kayode was alleged to have collected N866 million illegally.
Describing the list as “nonsensical and utterly shameful”, Fani-Kayode said the list cannot be complete without the names of Buhari and Osinbajo.
“The fact of the matter is that no looters list is complete without the names of Muhammadu Buhari, Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Ameachi, Tunde Fashola, Bola Tinubu, Lai Mohammed, Adamu Abdullahi, Dambazau, Kayode Fayemi, Babachir Lawal, Maina, Maikanto Baru, Burutai, all APC Governors and other key members of the Buhari administration and the APC,” he said.
Garba Shehu, spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari, has described the amnesty the president granted to Boko Haram members as a “win-win situation.”
While receiving the freed Dapchi schoolgirls on March 23, Buhari had said the federal government was willing to accept the unconditional laying down of arms by repentant insurgents.
Speaking at an interactive session with state house correspondents during the weekend, Shehu said the amnesty would help the insurgents to “be useful to the nation.”
He also said the measure would help the government save cost by channelling funds used in the war against insurgency to other areas.
And now, stories from around the world…
South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died aged 81, her personal assistant says.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was the former wife of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.
The couple – famously pictured hand-in-hand as Mr Mandela walked free from prison after 27 years – were a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for nearly three decades.
Seven people have died amid violent protests involving tens of thousands of protesters from the Dalit (formerly untouchable) community across India.
They have taken to the streets to protest against a Supreme Court order that they say weakens a law designed to protect lower caste communities.
Train services have been affected and some main roads have been blocked in a number of states.
The federal government has asked the court to review its decision.
Facebook’s chief executive has defended his leadership following criticism from his counterpart at Apple.
Mark Zuckerberg said it was “extremely glib” to suggest that because the public did not pay to use Facebook that it did not care about them.
Last week, Apple’s Tim Cook said it was an “invasion of privacy” to traffic in users’ personal lives.
And when asked what he would do if he were Mr Zuckerberg, Mr Cook replied: “I wouldn’t be in that situation.”
President Donald Trump said Monday that “our country is being stolen” due to an influx of illegal immigration, blaming Democrats for weak border protection policies.
“Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws don’t allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!” Trump tweeted.
“Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large ‘Caravans’ of people enter their country,” he said in another tweet. “They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Monday secured a second term in office after winning 97% of the vote.
In a widely expected result, Sisi, who ran against just one other candidate, won more than 21 million votes, according to Egypt’s National Election Authority.
There was 41% turnout of almost 60 million registered voters.
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