Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know this Friday morning

Good morning! Here are 10 things you need to know this morning:

1. President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday paid a surprise visit to Borno State , making it the second time since the declaration of emergency rule in the north east . The President who visited thousands of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from Baga, Kukawa, Monguno and other places taking refuge at Teachers Village and other camps in the state told them that the information before him shows that the days of Boko Haram are numbered.

2. Some concerned youths in Bayelsa State, under the auspices of the Bayelsa Youth Vanguard, have warned the Peoples Democratic Party not to allow Patience Jonathan to come with Jonathan during the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential rally holding on February 5. They have threatened to disrupt the rally if the warning is taken lightly.

3. Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Thursday faulted reports at some quarters that claims the had endorsed some politicians as his presidential and governorship candidates ahead of the February elections. Soyinka warned those spreading the rumour to desist from being used as cheap propagandists. He was speaking in Abuja during the peace pact signed by presidential candidates of the February 14th election.

4. Report says bird flu may have hit Lagos and Kano following the announcement by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Thursday that there had been unusual high death rate in two poultry farms and live bird markets in Kano and Lagos state. The Ministry said that blood samples examined by the National Veterinary Research Institute tested positive for H5 Strain of Avian Influenza virus, otherwise known as bird flu.

5. The Amnesty International has claimed on Thursday that witnesses narrated how Boko Haram fighters killed a woman as she was in labour during the Baga invasion by the militants. It said the woman was killed when half of the baby was already out.

6. Military authorities, yesterday, announced that over 78 Boko Haram insurgents were killed during a two-hour gun battle with Boko Haram insurgents when they tried to capture a military base in Biu, Borno State on Wednesday.

7. In INEC’s latest bulletin released in Abuja on Thursday, the Commission announced that it
had dismissed two of its officers for alleged theft of Permanent Voter Cards in its Patani Local Government Area office, Delta State. It named the dismissed officers as Mr. Collins Omofoma (SGL 09 Officer) and Mr. Onome Avbunudiogba (SGL 07 Officer).

8.The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again been hit with another blow of defection as some of its prominent members from Ondo East and West, the home town of Governor Olusegun Mimiko have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Those who defected were led by former chairman of Ondo West, Yinka Adeyosoye.

9. Report says some unknown hoodlums have raped a young woman identified as Miss Grace Ebiloma to death during a vigil at the Uleju Ojo Power House Ministry, Kogi State. It was reported that the lady had gone into a building just opposite the church to rest after the vigil, when the hoodlums struck and raped her to death.

10. A former Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has condemned the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, describing it as clueless. While agitating for a better government, he stressed on the need for Nigerians to put sentiments aside and vote for only those who are capable of leading the country in the right direction. He spoke in Lagos at the 11th edition of the Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture/Symposium.

Culled from DailyPost.