• Tinubu’s election as president in 2023 will solidify my accomplishments – Buhari
• Nigeria’s Flamingos qualify for first-ever World Cup semi-final
• Seven feared dead as gunmen attack Apostle Suleman in Edo
• Floods kill 50 in Adamawa
• Officials recover 36 bodies after attack in Nigeria’s north

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

Tinubu’s election as president in 2023 will solidify my accomplishments – Buhari 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja, pledged to be at the forefront of electing the former Lagos State governor as his successor, adding that it would go a long way in consolidating the achievements of his administration.

He said Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the party speaks volumes because he has the capacity, visionary leadership and a track record to do more.

The President said despite the unfavourable circumstances of global economic downturns, the COVID-19 pandemic, and very low international oil prices resulting in low revenue, the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government has ”managed to make Nigeria stable,” laying a solid foundation for progressive growth.

The President said in the seven years journey as a government, the party has every reason to be proud of its achievements amid the inherited systemic corruption and local challenges of insecurity.

Buhari made the assertions at the unveiling of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and the Action Plan of the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He explained that it would be disastrous to allow a situation that will lead to the reversal of the progress Nigeria has made.

The President also noted that he joyfully accept the position of the chairman of the Tinubu/Shettima campaign council.

He boasted that the party’s candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is too well known for his capacity and can-do spirit. He stands tall in his track records as a democrat, a champion of the rule of law, a man at home in every part of our country, and a truly visionary leader. All you need to do is think of Lagos in 1999 and 2022!

”I, therefore, want to assure all party members and supporters of our government that I will be at the forefront of this campaign,” he stated.

Nigeria’s Flamingos qualify for first-ever World Cup semi-final

In a nail-biting penalty shootout, Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, defeated the United States to go to the U-17 Women’s World Cup semi-finals for the first time in India.

After the full time score was tied at 1-1, the young Nigerian ladies won on a 4-3 penalty shootout.

Since the competition was originally held in 2008, the Flamingos had regularly failed to go past the final eight, but with the tough victory, Bankole Olowookere’s team broke the curse to advance to the tournament’s final four.

Omamuzo Edafe’s penalty-kick conversion gave the Flamingos the lead in the 27th minute, but an Amelia Villarreal shot that was deflected inside the box gave the Americans the equalizer in the 40th.

The USA will relentlessly press the Flamingos in the second half. The USA camped in a few different spots during the Flamingos’ onslaught.

There would be no extra time after the game’s 1-1 draw since they would instead shoot penalties.

The winner of the other quarterfinal contest between Tanzania and Columbia will play the Flamingos.

Seven feared dead as gunmen attack Apostle Suleman in Edo

Apostle Johnson Suleman of the Omega Fire Ministries, a fiery pastor, was returning from a foreign mission when seven people, including three policemen and four domestic staff members, were killed late on Friday near Auchi at the Water Tank Junction on the Warake-Auchi Road.

According to reports, the incident occurred at around 5 o’clock when an anonymous group of shooters opened fire on Apostle Johnson Suleman’s homecoming convoy from a Toyota Avalon and an ash-colored Sienna without license plates, according to eyewitnesses.

According to eyewitnesses, the two vehicles halted all other traffic, manoeuvred to meet Suleman’s convoy, and then opened fired on him in what appeared to be an assassination attempt.

Suleman’s automobile, which was leading the convoy and usually carried his children, was reportedly attacked by the alleged assassins;  but fortunately his children joined him in a different car.

While confirming the incident, Sam Amune, the Ministry’s legal advisor, said, “I believe it to be an assassination attempt because the assailants, who were in an Avalon and a Sienna vehicle, stopped other vehicles to get to Apostle Suleman’s convoy and they did not take anybody, the people just stopped and watched the drama unfold.”

Just the day before yesterday, he completed a program in Tanzania. He then took a flight to Lagos before continuing on to Benin, where his family joined him. Normally, his children travel in a different car, but on this occasion, they accompanied their father while other domestic employees drove in their car. 

Pastor Suleman avoided death, but the three orderlies who always followed right behind him and in the next car were not so lucky.

Floods kill 50 in Adamawa

At least 50 people were murdered and 71 others were injured by recent floods in 11 communities in Adamawa.

Malam Suleiman Mohammed, the executive secretary of the Adamawa Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), made this announcement on Friday in Yola while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He attributed the flooding to the water being released from the nearby Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.

Mohammed added that 172,000 farmlands and food crops worth millions of naira were devastated by the storm.

“Some of the affected local government areas are Numan, Shelleng, Yola South, Yola North, Demsa, Mayo Belwa and Michika,’’ he said.

He added that the agency had provided clothes, foodstuffs, drugs, mosquito nets, blankets and buckets for victims to assuage their suffering.

“The items were donated by the state government, the Federal Government and by other donors,’’ he said.

Mohammed also said that ADSEMA would collaborate with the National Emergency Management Agency to move affected communities to safer areas.

“We will continue to sensitise the communities about the dangers of living in flood-prone areas,’’ he said

Officials recover 36 bodies after attack in Nigeria’s north

Officials said Friday that at least 36 people were killed when gunmen attacked a town in the north-central part of Nigeria. This has led to calls for the government to provide local guards with licenses to possess high-tech weapons.

In the most recent case of deadly violence in the unstable northern area of West Africa, gunmen reportedly arrived in sizable numbers in the rural Gbeji hamlet of Benue state on Wednesday and started shooting at locals.

According to Terver Akase, a spokesman for the Benue state government, two police officers were among those slain in the attack that left many others injured.

The incident’s specifics remained hazy on Friday. Akase attributed the attack to ranchers, while local media said that it was retaliation for an earlier attack that targeted herders in the neighborhood.

Officials from Benue paid a visit to Gbeji on Friday and met with the families of the victims, pleading with the federal government to grant licenses for high-tech weapons to the state’s local security force so they can protect citizens.

“The security agencies are stretched too thin. As a result, our people must protect themselves, said Gov. Ortom’s representative, according to a government statement.

Gabriel Suswam, a senator from the affected area, said that the government “had failed badly” to protect people and property.

These assaults are common in Nigeria’s middle belt and central areas, where herdsmen and local populations have been engaged in fatal battles for years despite government and security measures. In a similar incident that happened in another area of Benue a month ago, at least 14 persons were slain.

The majority of the herders are young Fulani pastoralists who have been involved in a protracted confrontation with host communities for access to scarce water and land.

Due to Nigeria’s extreme religious division, attacks between Muslim and Christian communities occasionally take a religious turn, and officials frequently fail to make any arrests public.