Today's National Newspaper Headlines/News - 5/5/2015

Good Morning!

PUNCH

***Jonathan Holds Private Meeting With Adeboye, Oyedepo

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met separately with two leading pastors in the countries based in Ogun State.

Jonathan met with the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye at RCC Ibadan Expressway, and the Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo in Ota.

The two meetings were said to have been described as “private” and hence were not opened to journalists.

After the closed-door meetings with the two clergymen, Jonathan who was accompanied on the trip by a few aides, returned to Abuja immediately.

It would however be recalled that Adeboye and Oyedepo were mentioned to be part of a team that attempted to broker peace between Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo before the 2015 general elections.

The two pastors were said to have in January led the President to Obasanjo’s mansion on Presidential Hilltop Estate, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital for a reconciliatory meeting.

Media reports had it then that Adeboye and Oyedepo were at the meeting at the instance of the former President as one of conditions given by Obasanjo before any meeting with Jonathan could take place.

It was learnt that the men of God were called to be witnesses of what would transpire between Jonathan and Obasanjo during the meeting after the terms of the outcome of previous discussions between the two were allegedly not implemented by the President.

***Chibok Girls Sold Off, Married By Boko Haram Chiefs, Says Rescued Woman

Will the Chibok girls ever return home? The question yesterday became more pertinent when one of the women rescued from the Sambisa Forest told Reuters at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Yola, Adamawa State that finding them could be difficult.

Aisha Abbas, a 45-year-old mother of two, said the girls might have been sold off or married to top sect members as promised by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.

According to Reuters, none of the women interviewed saw any of the Chibok girls, but Abbas said fighters who travelled from a camp in Sambisa where they were held to source food described the situation.

“They said the Chibok girls were married off this year. Some sold to slavery, then others (militants) each married two or four of the girls,” Mrs. Abbas said.

Mrs Abbas was taken from Dikwa, Borno State in April (The nation).

****100 killed In Plateau, Taraba

No fewer than 100 people, including a pastor and three soldiers, were killed at the weekend and Monday in Plateau and Taraba states.

Seventy of the deaths were recorded in Karim Lamido and Takum local government areas of Taraba State and 30 in two villages at the Barkin Ladi LGA   of Plateau State.

It was learnt that suspected Fulani herdsmen   invaded Vat and Zakupang , killing Pastor Luka Gwom of the Church of Christ in Nation and others in the early hours of Monday.

Spokesman for the Special Task Force,   Ikedichi Iweha, told Punch correspondent in Jos that the herdsmen took the action following the theft of about 400 of their cows.   More than 300   of the stolen cows, according to him, were later found and returned to their owners.

The latest Plateau incident came as the Taroh people in Wase condemned the invasion of three of their communities by soldiers on reprisal on Saturday.

The soldiers were said to have arrived Kadarko, Kurmi and Wadata   in about 40 vehicles   following reports of alleged killing of six of their colleagues at Angwan Nanmi in Karin Lamido LGA.

The soldiers were said to be on a routine patrol of the area when they were ambushed and killed.

Meanwhile, a group known as the Concerned Taraba Tiv Youth Frontier,   has condemned the killings   in Takum and its environs.

It called on both parties to lay down their arms and embrace peace in the interest of   unity and development of the council and the state.

****PDP NWC Blames Campaign Team For Jonathan’s Defeat … Says Hate Statements Cost Party Votes In The North

The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has said the hate campaign against Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress by the President Goodluck Jonathan campaign team played a huge part in PDP’s woeful outing at the last general elections.

It also accused the   team of shutting out its members from Jonathan’s electioneering after receiving about N500m out of the N7bn generated from the sale of forms to the aspirants.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh,   told journalists at a news conference in Abuja on Monday, that apart from the N500m, the Jerry Gana -led fund raising campaign committee generated about N21bn which it spent without involving the NWC members.

He said that the belief by the Jonathan campaign team that it could denigrate   a respected statesman like Buhari, who is reverred in the North, instead of dwelling on issues, cost the party a lot of votes in that part of the country.

****Man Blames Jonathan For Pregnant Daughter’s Murder

The father of a 26-year-old pregnant woman, who was murdered in the Arepo area of Ogun State last week, has blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the incident.

Mr. Babafemi Ojo, whose daughter Damilola Fajana, was killed on April 28, said this in a statement on Monday.

Ojo explained that his daughter was killed by a stray bullet during a gun battle between the members of the Odua Peoples Congress and pipeline vandals.

He said it was unfortunate that Jonathan could hire the services of the OPC and award the group a huge contract just because he wanted to win an election.

The bereaved father wondered why men who were not trained professionals were allowed to secure government facilities in residential areas.

He said, “The unconstitutional empowerment of ethnic militias has resulted in the deaths of many innocent Nigerians, particularly in Arepo area of Ogun State.

“My daughter was killed in a crossfire while driving back home after a hard day’s job. Damilola was a 26 year old pregnant lawyer. She was a graduate of the University of Ado Ekiti.

“President Jonathan is linked to her death by the reason of his patronage of people who have no basic training in arms and weaponry —in the business of pipeline protection, a very dangerous security enterprise which is supposed to fall under the purview of trained Nigerian security agencies.”

*Chime faces impeachment three weeks to end of tenure

*Corruption: Court orders extradition of ex-Mint boss to UK

*Money laundering: Fani-Kayode learns fate June 18

*Rice: Reps summon Adesina over import duty evasion

*Kashamu sues NDLEA, EFCC, others over extradition plot

Ekiti crisis: Fayose sacks Perm Sec

*PDP is dead in Imo, says Ararume

*Hoodlums strip lawmaker-elect in Osun

*Speakership: Gbajabiamila woos state caucuses

*Rivers, protesters disagree over unpaid salaries

*Aliyu sacks political appointees

*Fashola urges low-key handover ceremony

*Only regulars can save Keshi – Adepoju

*Khan wants Mayweather fight

*Petrol subsidy hits record high amid controversy

*Tinubu qualifies to be Yoruba leader – Fasanmi

VANGUARD

*Real estate experts canvass for housing subsidy, liberal access to land

*Senate President: APC must avoid pitfall

*Ogun APC senatorial candidate drags Kashamu to tribunal

*Federal Task Force officers protest unpaid wages in Lagos

*Bizman docked over alleged N1.3m theft

*Impunity, sycophancy led to PDP's loss, says Ndoma-Egba

*We've paid March salaries, set to clear April -Rivers GOV

*Police arraign bullion van driver for manslaughter in Ogun

*Kogi West: Dino's deed can't stand - Adeyemi

*Chicken pox virus can cause HIV

THISDAY

*CBN to Push for Amendment of Foreign Exchange Act

*Man Begins Trek from Abuja to Bayelsa for Jonathan

*Crisis Hits Enugu Assembly as Faction Serves Chime Impeachment Notice

*Dangote Cement to Start Production in Tanzania in August

*NNPC to Resume Oil Exploration in Chad Basin

*FG, Oil Marketers Move to End Fuel Scarcity

*Fayose's Impeachment: Court to Hear PDP Lawmakers' Suit on May 21

*Globacom in Fresh Deal to Buy Ivorian Telecoms Company for $600m

*Buhari Cannot Afford to Neglect South-south, South-east, Says Uduaghan

*Don't Remove Subsidy on Petrol, NANS Tells FG

THE NATION

*Press freedom day: Let journalism thrive

*Hope rises as eight ships laden with fuel arrive at Lagos ports

*Fed Govt, oil marketers fail to agree on subsidy balance

*Alleged money laundering: Fani-Kayode knows fate June 18

*Witnesses testify as Rivers commission begins sitting

*Oyo tribunal to hear 36 petitions

*Defeated senators, Reps move property from National Assembly

THE GUARDIAN

*Fani-Kayode knows fate on June 18 in money laundering case

*Reps threaten Adesina over alleged rice import duty waiver

*Group asks S'African govt to stop xenophobic attacks

*Uduaghan urges in-coming govt not to neglect South-South, South-East

*Gunmen abduct Niger deputy gov's brother, cleric in Kogi

*Friends, associates remember Oyerinde, want killers found

*Nigeria not prepared for another Ebola outbreak

*NAFDAC boss issues deadline on authentication of antibiotics