The panel set up by the federal government to find solutions to the attacks by suspected herdsmen across the country has recommended increased military presence in Benue and other states affected by the attacks.
Punch reports that the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo-led committee which has nine state governors as members, resolved that decisive military force would be deployed to end the attacks.
The Punch newspaper for Monday, January 29
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A source told the newspaper on Sunday, January 28, that the government believed that bandits and mercenaries, and not herdsmen, were responsible for the killings.
"Decisive military force will now be fully engaged to deal with the bandits believed to be behind the killings in parts of the country, especially regarding the crisis often associated with herdsmen.
“The settled view in official circles is that the reported killings and violence recorded are the work of bandits and mercenaries since in many cases the herdsmen are often well-known in the communities where their cattle normally graze," the source said.
In other news, Vanguard reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, January 28, met former president Olusegun Obasanjo on the sidelines of the ongoing African Union summit in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, with the controversy generated by last Tuesday’s statement by the former president on the incumbent not to seek re-election still gripping the polity at home.
Vanguard newspaper for Monday, January 29
The newspaper reports that the president and Obasanjo after shaking hands, had a brief chat that lasted about two minutes, at the opening session of the 30th African Union Summit.
The Nation reports that federal lawmakers are set to confront the executive over the amendment to the Electoral Act.
The Nation newspaper for Monday, January 29
The Senate and the House of Representatives are planning the election INEC schedule which placed the presidential election before the Assembly elections.
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Senate spokesman Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, on Sunday, January 28, said if President Muhammadu Buhari decides to veto the Bill we will know what to do.
Lawmakers want the Assembly elections to come first. The thinking, it seems, is that if Assembly elections come first, the winners may inspire a “bandwagon” effect, which may swing the presidential election.
Meanwhile, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has issued a seven-day ultimatum for the removal of abandoned trucks on the Oshodi-Apapa Road, which leads to the Apapa and Tin-Can Ports or face an industrial action.
The Guardian reports that if the strike occurs, the economy could lose billions of naira daily. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Command, had, in September 2107, disclosed it realised N32.1 billion the previous month, a minimum of N1 billion every day.
The guardian newspaper for Monday, January 29headlines for Monday, January 29
2019 reelection bid: Should President Buhari heed Obasanjo's advice? on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng