Here are the stories that drove the conversation today:
President Muhammadu Buhari had an emergency meeting today with Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara at the President’s, Office, State House, Abuja.
Discussions at the meeting centered on the President’s trip to the United States, the 2018 budget, invasion of the National Assembly, the refusal of the Inspector General of the Police, Ibrahim Idris, to appear before the Senate as well as the issue of Senator Dino Melaye who is being prosecuted by the police for arms possession but not in the proper frame of mind to undergo trial.
Suspected kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, a.k.a. Evans, today broke down in tears before the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere, where he was arraigned on two fresh charges of kidnapping.
Evans declined coming down from the prison van (Black Maria) in protest that he has been under maltreatment, isolation from visitors, poor feeding and that as a result, he can’t see far.
Justice Akintoye in reaction directed the prison officials to ensure that Evans and his co-defendants were treated like other inmates, noting that they were still presumed innocent.
The Nigerian Army troops of 22 Brigade deployed in Operation Lafiya Dole in conjunction with allies of Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) on Monday rescued over 1,000 hostages from the Boko Haram terrorists.
The hostages who are majorly women, children as well as some young men who were forced to become Boko Haram fighters, were rescued from Malamkari, Amchaka, Walasa and Gora villages of Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.
The rescued persons are currently being treated and attended to in a military medical facility, according to Army Spokesman.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday said Nigeria spent 36.3 billion dollars on the importation of petroleum products between 2013 and 2017.
The amount represents 13.5 per cent of all imports made by the country out of a total foreign exchange of imports in the country which stood at 119.41 billion dollars.
Nigeria’s representative at the CAF Confederation Cup, Enyimba International FC of Aba brightened their Group C campaign on Sunday at the U.J. Esuene stadium with an emphatic 2-0 defeat of Mali’s Djoliba in Calabar.
The People’s Elephant will be away to CARA Brazzaville in Group C of the CAF Confederations Cup on May 16 while Djoliba will host Willamsville of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, same day.
And stories from around the world:
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released from detention after he was arrested amid widespread protests against President Vladimir Putin.
He was detained in Moscow while he was attending a demonstration against Putin organised by him in advance of the president’s inauguration for a fourth term on Monday.
The Islamist militant group al Shabaab has killed nine Kenyan soldiers in Somalia, Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, said on Monday.
A military source is quoted to have said the soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in Dobley on Sunday afternoon.
The soldiers are part of the AU force AMISOM, a peacekeeping troops defending Somalia’s government against al Shabaab.
Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, said Monday that his country would stay in the nuclear deal even if the United States pulls out, on the condition that the other parties remain.
He said on Sunday that the United States would regret “like never before” pulling out of the deal, but has remained vague on how exactly Iran would respond. He added that Iran has “thought of all the scenarios and have taken appropriate measures.
“The United States will be the principal loser in this affair,” said Rouhani.
Tunisia achieved a milestone over the weekend as its citizens filed out to vote at its first free municipal elections Sunday.
The municipal polls had been delayed four times due to logistic, administrative and political deadlocks
Lebanon on Sunday also held its first parliamentary election in nearly a decade.
Official reports indicated low voter turnout in most of the country’s districts withsome estimates at about 30 percent.
