The 75 pupils of Government Day Secondary School, Kaya, in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State who were abducted on September 1, 2021, have regained their freedom after about two weeks in captivity. The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) broke the news on its verified Facebook, wherein it was revealed in the post that gunmen abducted more than 70 students in the country’s northwest state of Zamfara. It is not yet clear if any ransom was paid before the pupils were released, as details of the release remain sketchy. Zamfara State Police spokesman, Mohammed Shehu, had said in a statement that a large group of attackers stormed the Government Day Secondary School in the remote village of Kaya that Wednesday morning, seizing the pupils. He had given the number of seized children as 73. “The abduction followed the invasion of the school by large numbers of armed bandits,” he had stated.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, said the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is inflicting more injuries on Igbo people with its sit-at-home order declared every Monday. The former governor of Enugu State, who represents Enugu East Senatorial District, said in a statement that the order was a betrayal of South East interest and has grounded the South East economy. In a statement released on Sunday, Nnamani took stock of the implications and socio-economic consequences of the sit-at-home in the South-east zone and called for an immediate stop to it. “Most of our people live on the daily income. Think of the market women who depend on daily earnings to feed their families. Think of students writing examinations being denied access to the venues.

The Executive Governor of Zamfara State, His Excellency Bello Matawalle, has informed that the state government is no longer interested in dialoguing with bandits since they have rejected the olive branch earlier extended to them. The Governor who spoke in Gusau, the state capital, stated that instead of dialogue, security forces would sustain efforts to flush them out.

The Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede has retired after serving for 36 years. Babandede was appointed as Comptroller General on May 15th, 2016.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Professor Yusuf Aminu Ahmed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Chairman of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC). This was disclosed on Friday in a signed statement by the Director, Information, Office of the Secretary Government of the Federation (OSGF), Mr. Willie Bassey.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi as Director General (DG) of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).