Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Sunday, 6th June, 2021

Good morning Nigeria, welcome to Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today Sunday, 6th June 2021.

1. Twitter Ban Violators Will Be Prosecuted – Malami

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, on Saturday, directed immediate prosecution of offenders of the federal government ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria.

Recall that the minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Friday announced the suspension of Twitter operations in the country.

The microblogging platform was suspended after deleting the tweet of President Muhammadu Buhari on civil war.
To circumvent the ban, many Nigerians had opted for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

Malami on Saturday directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to commence in earnest the process of prosecuting violators of the de-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.

2. Boko Haram: How ‘Corrupt And Disobedient’ Shekau Was Killed – ISWAP

The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) has confirmed the death of the dreaded former leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau.

Naija News reports that ISWAP confirmed Shekau’s death in a message from Abu Mus’ab Habeeb Bin Muhammad Bin Yusuf al-Barnawi, born Habib Yusuf, leader of the terrorists.

According to HumAngle, ISWAP confirmed that Shekau blew himself up after refusing to surrender following the invasion of his hideout on May 19, 2021.

Al-Barnawi, in an address on Friday, described Shekau as “the leader of disobedience and corruption.”

He claimed that Boko Haram members rejoiced over Shekau’s death.

3. Twitter Ban: ‘Anonymous’ Hackers Vow To Take Down FG Websites

Anonymous Hackers, a group of unknown individuals, have vowed to take down websites belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria and its agencies.

Naija News reports that this is in reaction to President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to suspend the use of Twitter in Nigeria indefinitely.

While threatening to take down the websites of the Ministry of Information and Culture, the group said this was its own way of protesting the indefinite ban of Twitter.

In a statement on Saturday morning, Anonymous said, “As you might know, Twitter is banned in Nigeria, indefinitely. I’m letting you know that very very soon, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Culture and Information website and database will be hacked.”

4. Officially, Twitter Nigeria Is Down

The ban on the operations of the microblogging site, Twitter in Nigeria has finally been effected.

This platform reports that the Nigerian government had directed telecom operators in Nigeria to deactivate Twitter by 12 midnight on Friday.

However, Naija News can authoritatively report that the order has now been carried out by telcos. Checks between the hours of 3a.m and 4a.m revealed that tweets were not loading across all devices.

An attempt to refresh tweets returned the message “Tweets aren’t loading right now. Try again” on mobile, while on desktop, it was “This site can’t be reached”.

5. ISWAP, Boko Haram Battle For Control Of Northeast Nigeria

In the Lake Chad region, two rival jihadist groups share large swathes of the territory. But the clear rise that ISWAP, a branch of the Islamic State group in West Africa, is taking, marks a major turning point in this twelve-year-old conflict.

Its rivalry with the Islamist sect of Boko Haram has intensified for several years and weakened both groups. But ISWAP, which had already become the dominant group, appears to have gained clear and extensive control over the region.

Two weeks ago, this branch of ISIS launched an operation on Boko Haram lands, in the Sambisa forest, and its fighters surrounded the house of their leader Abubakar Shekau.

6. NDDC: Tompolo ‘Reluctantly’ Makes U-turn After Meeting Akpabio

Former Niger-Delta Militant warlord, Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo), has confirmed meeting with stakeholders of the Niger Delta and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

Recall that Tompolo had in a statement last Sunday noted that the current scenario in which a sole administrator controls the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is no longer acceptable to the stakeholders.

He called on President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the National Assembly and all others concerned to ensure a substantive board is set up within seven days or he will embark on destructive activities that will target crude oil exploration and exploitation activities in the Niger Delta region.

Following his ultimatum, Akpabio on Friday met with Tompolo, at his Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom country home in Delta State.

7. Nnamdi Kanu Recruited Us To Train Over 4,000 ESN Members – Ex-soldiers

The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has been accused of recruiting three soldiers dismissed from the Nigerian Army to train over 4,000 Eastern Security Network (ESN) members.

The dismissed soldiers, Linus Owalo, Godswill Steven, and Chinasa Orji, made the accusation after their arrest by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Force.

According to the suspects, they decided to train the ESN members after the IPOB leader made them mouth-watering, including overseas training.

The suspects also claimed that Kanu promised to make them military generals “when” the State of Biafra was achieved.

8. Buhari’s Civil War Analogy Tragically Untimely – Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has described the statement of President Muhammadu Buhari to treat young dissidents as wrongly targeted and tragically untimely.

Naija News reports that Buhari had condemned the series of attacks on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) facilities, police stations, and other public infrastructure in the South East.

Buhari had said: “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”

But in a statement on Friday titled, “To shock and awe’’, Soyinka said Buhari’s language and body language was different at the time innocent citizens and farm destruction including mass displacement were the order of the day in Benue State.

9. Bandits Kill More Than 66 Persons In Kebbi State, Others Flee

Bandits have killed no fewer than sixty-six persons in eight villages of Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

The state police command spokesperson, DSP Nafiu Abubakar who confirmed the development, added that operatives have been deployed to the affected areas to restore calm.

He added that the police were still counting the number of the dead bodies hence an exact figure on the number of casualties can’t be confirmed yet.

However, Naija News gathered that some residents and those close to the villages already attacked have abandoned their residencies and fleeing to safe areas, particularly, Riba town.

10. 2023: Arewa Group Backs Tinubu, Amaechi, Fashola, Okorocha, Others [Full List]

As preparation for the 2023 general election kicks off, the northern group called Arewa Mandate Initiative has stated that it will back a southern candidate to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

Naija News reports that there has been a widespread clamour for the presidency to return to the south in 2023 with Igbos asking political parties to micro-zone their tickets to the southeast.

Recall that Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, who is eyeing the presidency in 2023, had recently kicked against the zoning of the presidential tickets of parties.

But in a statement titled ‘The North Is Ready For Power Shift To The South In 2023’, the Arewa group said it is committed to the idea of rotating the Presidency between the North and South.

The group also listed 11 candidates it will be willing to support should any of them declare interest in taking over from Buhari.

That’s the top Nigerian newspaper headlines for today. Read more Nigerian news on Naija News. See you again tomorrow.