The Brief: Commissioner kidnapped, airlines worry, 10m kids out of school

At 1 am on Monday, armed men stormed the home of a man in Tafa council area of Niger State and abducted him. By daybreak, security agencies started combing bushes in search of him. He is the information commissioner of Niger. Airlines are picking up the pieces of business in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown which grounded flights and operations. Now they also have to worry about rising cost of jet fuel. Anywhere from 10 million to 13 million children who are supposed to be in school do not attend school in Nigeria. The numbers are

Niger information commissioner kidnapped

Niger state Commissioner for information, Alhaji Muhammed Sanni Idris, has been kidnapped. Daily Trust gathered that he was abducted from his home town Baban Tunga in Tafa local government area of the state, in the early hours of Monday.

Secretary to the Government of Niger state, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, confirmed the abduction, saying it happened around 1am .

Gunmen kill man, demand N50m ransom for wife, daughter

Gunmen on Friday evening attacked a family travelling along Ewu–Ayetoro Ekiti Road in Ekiti State, killing a man and abducting his wife and daughter. It was gathered that the victims were in the state for a burial ceremony in Ewu Ekiti and were attacked while driving along the road.

A source said gunshots fired by the attackers made the driver of the vehicle lose control. One of the occupants was hit with a stray bullet and died on the spot, he said.

Secondus knows fate today
Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will today decide the fate of the party’s national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus. Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, would chair the meeting scheduled to hold in Abuja.The meeting is billed to discuss the internal crisis that led to the resignation of seven deputy national officers of the party a few days ago and to review the circumstances leading to calls for Secondus’ resignation.

Rising fuel cost worry airlines

Airline operators are concerned over the rising price of aviation fuel otherwise called Jet A1 as it reaches N315 per litre at some airports.

Aviation industry experts fear this could trigger a further rise in air fares. Presently, a one-hour ticket sells for between N45,000 and N60,000 especially on less busy routes.

Korea offers $13m to boost e-govt project

The Republic of Korea has signed a new project agreement worth US$13 million with the federal government to further boost e-government expansion in Nigeria.

The Asian country had earlier supported e-government project between 2013 and 2019, during which over a thousand government officials were trained by Korea on digital governance.

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Podcast: What to do about 10m out-of-school children

A UK based education charity has announced that it is partnering with the Nigerian government to get more than 10 million out of school children enrolled in formal education.

Could this be a solution to the problem? According to UNICEF one in five of the world’s out of school children is in Nigeria. Listen to and download the Daily Nigeria podcast here.

ADP rejects IBB call for two-party system

The Action Democratic Party (ADP) has kicked against the suggestion by a former Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), that Nigeria should run a two-party system.

Addressing newsmen at the weekend in Kaduna, the ADP National Chairman and the party’s presidential aspirant in the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Sani Yabagi, said two-party system is not good for Nigeria.

Bayelsa clubs win 2021 Aiteo Cup

It was a double victory for Bayelsa State yesterday as the two state owned professional football clubs, Bayelsa United and Bayelsa Queens emerged winners of this year’s Aiteo Cup.

In the opening match of the double header at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium Benin, Bayelsa Queens thumped FC Robo Queens of Lagos 4-2 to win the 2021 Women’s Aiteo Cup.