Here is the summary of events in the past week from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. In a single day, Owukpa, a community in Ogbadibo LGA of Benue State had to bury at least five persons who fell to a strange disease believed to be Yellow Fever. 17 persons had earlier been reported dead in the same community as the figure has now risen to 22 deaths in less than a month. Various reports have claimed that the community currently live in fear as many are on admission across ill-equipped hospitals in the local government headquarters.
2. Wife of Olugbenga Ale, Chief of Staff to Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, was on Friday kidnapped. She was abducted around Owena. The location is inward Akure, after Joseph Ayo Babalola University. Akeredolu has visited Ale to show solidarity. Security agencies have equally swung into action. She was subsequently recovered by a team of local hunters and amotekun vigilante.
3. A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Friday released Senator Ali Ndume on bail. The Borno South lawmaker spent five days in Kuje Correctional Centre over his inability to present a former Chairman of the Pension Reformed Task Team (PRTT) Abdulrasheed Maina who he stood for as surety. Justice Okon Abang in his ruling said the court exercised its discretionary powers based on Ndume’s good conduct.
4. A member of the House of Representatives, Victor Mela, has been sentenced to one month in prison. A Magistrate Court in Wuse, Zone 6, gave the judgement on Friday. Mela of Billiri/Balanga Federal Constituency was given an option of fine. On November 10, he was found guilty of lying under oath in his CD001 INEC form submitted ahead of the 2019 general.
5. Notorious armed bandits operating in Zamfara State have killed no fewer than three persons in three communities of Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Report claims that the armed bandits first stormed Magami village with many motorcycles, killing one person while several villagers escaped into the forests. They, however, proceeded to the two communities to kill two more people.
6. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said former president, Goodluck Jonathan, is working for the current government. The party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, also slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for not being a worthy opposition. According to him, Jonathan has been working for the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, because he is a ‘progressive’ statesman.
7. A police officer was reportedly killed on Thursday, as gunmen abducted a Chinese expatriate in Ekiti State. The incident, according to the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Command, ASP Sunday Abutu, occurred around 4.30pm along new Ado-Iyin road. The abductee was one of the engineers handling the dualisation of Ado-Iyin road awarded to a Chinese Company by Governor Kayode Fayemi. Apart from the police officer, Abutu said one other person was shot at the scene of the incident, but had not been confirmed dead at the time of the report.
8. The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, on Friday, said he was having very bad experiences in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While alleging that there is bad blood in the party, the governor confessed he was having problems with other PDP governors. He said the extent of bad blood in the PDP was one of the reasons Umahi defected to the APC. Matawalle made the claims in a statement by his media aide, Zailani Bappa.
9. The ground troops of the Operation Thunder Strike (OPTS) on Friday night foiled an attempted kidnap of citizens plying the Kaduna-Abuja road by armed bandits. The Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, in a statement said the Kaduna State Government received operational feedback that the armed bandits attempted to operate at the Kasarami axis of the road situated in Chikun local government area at around 7:38 pm. He said the troops on aggressive patrols engaged the armed bandits who dispersed in disarray while the troops pursued them off the road.
10. Nine persons have been arrested over the killing of the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nasarawa State, Phillip Shekwo. The State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, made this known on Friday, while hosting members of the Trade Union Congress in Lafia. He noted that the arrest was as a result of intensified combing of the routes followed by the perpetrators.