Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Six pupils, three teachers, and the driver of a private school bus in Ekiti State were kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen. The kidnapping came shortly after two monarchs were killed by gunmen along Ipao-Oke Ako Road. The kidnappers demanded N30 million as ransom to release the five pupils and other victims. The joint operation team of Ekiti State Police Command, Amotekun, OPC, Civil Defence, and Local Hunters arrested five suspected kidnappers during interrogation. The suspects were found with two motorcycles, one cutlass, one jack knife or dagger, and four phones. Tensions were brewing in the communities of the two monarchs killed by the gunmen, with a source suggesting that people might be forced to arm themselves against herdsmen in the state. Governor Biodun Oyebanji urged Ekiti residents not to despair over the kidnapping, and President Bola Tinubu ordered security agencies to rescue the abducted individuals. The Ekiti and Ondo Police commands have launched a joint rescue operation.

The Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, in a landmark decision, yesterday, dismissed the petitions of the Labour Party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, and their candidates against the election of President Bola Tinubu. The five-man panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, dismissed the petition of Mr Peter Obi of LP seeking to nullify Tinubu’s election. It also dismissed APM’s petition seeking to disqualify the president over the invalid nomination of his running mate, Senate Kashim Shettima. The PEPC, dismissed the allegation of the Labour Party, LP, and its candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, that the 2023 presidential election was rigged in favour of President Bola Tinubu. The court, in its preliminary ruling that was delivered by Justice Abba Mohammed, held that Obi and the LP did not by way of credible evidence, establish their allegation that the February 25 election was characterized by manifest corrupt practices.