TheCable

The Nation reports that the United States has pledged support for Niger President Mohamed Bazoum as soldiers claimed to have toppled his government. The newspaper says troops of Operations Safe Haven (OPSH) have arrested 10 suspected bandits and two other kidnappers, gunrunners in Plateau.

Daily Trust reports that the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said at least 1,200 Nigerians have died while trying to migrate through the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea in 2023. The newspaper says bandits, on Wednesday, abducted at least 23 women and 10 construction workers in a forest near Damaga community in Maradun LGA and Talata Mafara LGA, Zamfara.

ThisDay says a federal high court in Abuja struck out an application filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) seeking to detain Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for another 14 days. The newspaper says the coalition of north-central All Progressives Congress (APC) youth leaders and support groups have endorsed Abdullahi Ganduje, the former governor of Kano, for the position of the national chairman of the party.

Punch says the World Bank Group has advised Nigeria to reduce the government’s borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria if it wants to reduce the inflationary pressure on the economy. The newspaper says the United Nations (UN) has halted its humanitarian operations in the Republic of Niger due to the ongoing coup d’état.

Guardian reports the arrest of 30 suspected drug lords by operatives of Edo command of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The newspaper says the DSS has kept mum over the alleged arrest of Hadi Sirika, the former aviation minister.