Rep: We Have Idea Where Abducted Dapachi Girls Are And Other Newspaper Headlines Today

Security agents searching for the 110 abducted Dapchi schoolgirls got a clue yesterday. According to The Nation, a member of the House of Representatives said the girls were still within Yobe State. The Rep Goni Bukar, representing Busari/Yunusari/ Gaidam Federal Constituency, said the girls are in Bulabulin, Yunusari Local Government. However the Vanguard and New Telegraph reports that The Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, said yesterday that the Federal Government must spare no effort to immediately rescue all the abducted Dapchi school girls and others in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents.

Still on Security Daily Sun reveals that the Defence Headquarters has confirmed the killing of two officers by Boko Haram terrorists. The soldiers, Lt-Col. A.E. Mamudu, a commanding officer of the Nigerian Army Strike Force Group, and a young naval officer, were both killed by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in Sambisa Forest while on patrol in Operation Deep Punch 2.  However, the ongoing war against Boko Haram and the crackdown on remnants of the group in Borno State had another major breakthrough as Nigerian troops killed five members of the terror group.

N’Assembly Rejigs Nation’s Audit Structure In Anti- Corruption Fight heads the Guardian saying the National Assembly yesterday passed the Federal Audit Services Bill, which grants autonomy to the auditor general of the federation. The “landmark achievement in the fight against corruption,” according to Senate President Bukola Saraki, would give the office of the auditor general unfettered access to the books of agencies and parastatals. The Daily Independent and Nigerian Tribune however revealed that the Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly on Thursday told the leadership of the National Assembly that they were convinced based on their interactions with Nigerians that what the people desired most was devolution of power and not just cosmetic constitution reviews.

The Punch goes to the economy of the country disclosing that the Federal Government on Thursday said it would name, shame and prosecute tax evaders who fail to take advantage of the amnesty provided by the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme to regularise their tax profiles. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said this at a VAIDS stakeholders’ symposium held in Kaduna State.

Finally Business Day discusses “Why Nigerians Has Little To Cheer Despite Rise In Capital Importation”. According to the newspaper It is hot money that is bringing dollars into Nigeria, not the more economy-friendly Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and that should worry fiscal authorities. Propelled by a 304 percent surge in portfolio inflows to $7.3 billion compared to the previous year ($1.8 billion), total capital imported into Africa’s largest economy more than doubled to a 3-year high of $12.2 billion last year from $5.1 billion in 2016, data agency, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.