The newspapers on Monday, April 10, focus on the hope for better electricity supply in the country among other issues.
This Day reports on the assurances to Nigerians by the minister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Fashola that power generation would ramp up to 4,000 megawatts within the next six days.
Fashola made the assurance on Sunday, April 9, when he spoke on Arise Television, a sister broadcast arm of This Day newspapers.
The minister said: "In six days’ time, we will restore generation to 4,000MW,” promising: “By the time you have the hydro station back during the raining season, you will get more.”
Fashola also clarified that the N701 billion power intervention fund recently announced by the federal government would be spread over the next three years to give comfort to the operators, explained that the outages were due to low water levels at the nation’s hydro power stations. As a result, he said, power generation had gone down to 3,400MW.
READ ALSO: Prepare for real war, Russia, Iran warn Trump of retaliation over Syria
“For the first time in a long time, this is the peak of very hot weather where the waters in the hydro plants are down,” he said.
In another news story, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that his government never plotted to kill former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd ) as claimed by Bamaiyi in his book.
Obasanjo said this on Sunday, April 9, while playing host to members of the Correspondents Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ogun Chapter, at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta, The Punch reports
The former president explained that his administration only asked Bamaiyi to answer to those that he was alleged to have killed, saying that the decision was legitimate.
READ ALSO: Obasanjo reveals why EFCC lost 4 cases in 96 hours
On the front page of the Nation, there is presently disagreement between governors in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) over a controversial payment of $138 million (about N42.2b at the official N306 to $1).
According to the report, some governors are unhappy the NGF wants to pay 2% of the $6.9billion refund to consultants.
It quoted an unnamed governor as saying that the Forum’s chairman Abdulaziz Yari, the governor of Zamfara state, conveyed the agreement to the amount to some consultants in a July 29, 2016 letter to the Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun.
The front-page of the Vanguard reports on the deadly Sunday, April 9, attack by suspected kidnappers in the Yewa, Isawo community in Ikorodu area of Lagos was , which left six persons, including an army captain, four policemen, a landlord and a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) dead.
The newspaper stated that the kidnappers numbering over 20, stormed the area at about 1am in 10 speed boats.
It stated that while some of them positioned themselves strategically around the creeks, others marched into an estate in the community where they broke into buildings and abducted occupants.
The armed kidnappers reportedly fired sporadically, warning their victims to co-operate or be killed.
The newspaper learned that no fewer than 18 persons – 14 men and three women were abducted. Among them were four landlords.
However, while taking them to their operational speed boats in the creeks, security operatives comprising policemen from Owutu division and a Joint Military patrol codenamed Operation Awatse, who were contacted by fear-stricken residents, arrived the area.
According to reports, when the security agents arrived, the kidnappers were already heading towards the creeks with those abducted.
They chased them into the creeks but unknown to them, the kidnappers had laid ambush for them.
After the kidnappers opened fire on the security officials, four policemen, an army captain, a landlord and a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) were left dead.
The police have said they are on the trail of the kidnappers.
In the video below, NAIJ.com visits the Bariga market in Lagos to find out the prices of goods.
