Here are the major news headlines on Nigerian newspapers today, Monday 1 March 2021:
1. There was controversy yesterday over the reported release of Zamfara schoolgirls who were abducted on Friday. Earlier on Sunday, the abducted schoolgirls were said to have been released but the state Commissioner for Information and Culture, Suleiman Tunau Anka, later disclosed that the students were still with their abductors.
2. Seven kidnapped victims were yesterday rescued by a local vigilante in Akunu Akoko in Akoko North East Local Government Area of Ondo State. This is even as a member of the kidnap gang was reportedly killed by the vigilante group.
3. Motorists and commuters in Abuja and Lagos woke up to a rude shock on Sunday morning to find most filling stations shut, with a few others operating. Vehicles were seen on long queues waiting to buy petrol.
4. Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, yesterday announced that Nigeria’s allocation of four million doses of the COVAX vaccine which is at no cost to the country will arrive in the morning of Tuesday. The Chairman of PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha made the disclosure on Sunday night.
5. The DSS on Sunday said that the arrest of Mallam Salihu Tanko-Yakassai, the Media Aide to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State followed issues beyond the expression of opinion in social media. The Public Relations Officer of the Service, Dr Peter Afunanya, stated this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
6. The Kaduna State Government said on Sunday that bandits killed seven persons in different parts of the state. Mr Samuel Aruwan, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, confirmed the incident in a press statement on Sunday in the State.
7. NNPC has advised motorists to stop panic buying of petrol, saying it has no plan to increase the ex-depot price in March. The Corporation disclosed this in a statement by its spokesman, Dr Kennie Obateru, in Abuja on Sunday.
8. Alhaji Tijjani Tumsah, a former Interim National Secretary of the APC, yesterday urged security agencies to deplore all the required resources to put an end to kidnapping of innocent children for ransom. Tumsah, in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, expressed shock and sadness over the Friday abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Jangebe, Zamfara.
8. President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that Friday’s abduction of students from the Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State, will be the last to happen. The president’s statement was relayed on Sunday, through the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, who led a high powered delegation to sympathise with the people and government of Zamfara State.
9. Chelsea missed a chance to regain their place in the Premier League’s top four as they dominated Manchester United but the encounter ended in a 0-0 draw at the Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
10. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has announced 240 fresh cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in 13 States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The new figure brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 155,657.
