TheCable

The Nation reports that the Nigerian army is launching a new initiative to tackle the rising wave of kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal activities across the country. The newspaper says Olumide Akpata, a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), and an aspirant under the Labour Party (LP) for the Edo governorship election, has promised the people good governance and adequate welfare if elected.

Guardian says the federal government says it will deploy N150 billion that would be raised from the Sukuk bond to fund the construction of 53 road projects in the country. The newspaper reports that the governorship election petitions tribunal in Abia has affirmed the victory of Alex Otti of the LP in the March 18 poll.

Independent says as part of plans to resuscitate the Ajaokuta steel factory, Shuaibu Audu, the minister of steel development, said the federal government may use the steel company limited (ASCL) for the proposed Compressed Natu­ral Gas (CNG) project. The newspaper reports that Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, has empowered 762 mission schools with N2 million each.

Punch reports that according to a pandemic recovery survey carried out by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, the University of Maryland, and Meta showed that 73.9 percent of Nigerians were very satisfied with life. The newspaper says Nigeria has dropped to Tier 2 in global counter-trafficking rating — which means Nigeria does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.

Daily Trust says the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has said that 7 million households have been connected to electricity in four years through the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP). The newspaper reports that 12 people have been killed and 139 abducted as robbers, kidnappers lay siege on FCT communities.