Bangladesh’s highest court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence on a top Islamic preacher, triggering angry protests by both his Islamist supporters and secular opponents and clashes with police.

In an unprecedented move, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday personally defended the decision of the federal government to allow schools re-open on September 22, saying saying there was no longer any case of Ebola Virus disease in the country to warrant extension of the holiday.

Prophet TB Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nation (SCOAN) is under mounting pressure on Wednesday to co-operate with the authorities after a fatal building collapse in Lagos that claimed at least 67 lives.

The EU said Wednesday that controversial Ukraine laws offering pro-Russian rebels an amnesty and special status in the conflict-torn east of the country were important steps toward a peaceful solution.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye has said the Federal Government will investigate the alleged human rights violation by the Armed Forces in the ongoing efforts at curbing insurgency in the north eastern part of the country.

Reacting to a PBS programme which aired a video footage showing purported abuse by Nigerian military, the Ambassador said the Federal Government abhors such acts, saying, it is a behaviour that is contrary to everything the government stands for and the basic tenets of military discipline.

LAGOS — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday said it arrested two suspected fraudsters who allegedly defrauded a foreign investor of $7.99 million through a non-existent oil deal .

LOCATED in the heart of Ikotun Egbe, a popular suburb in Lagos, this building stands out not only in the area but the entire Africa. Its architectural design and finishing is such that would leave the masters of architecture marvelling.

IBADAN – The Oyo State Police Command has arraigned a 30-year-old man, Monsuru Tiamiyu, for allegedly raping a teenager in Ibadan.

WATCHING the Scotland debate:On Thursday September 18, 2014, Scottish group in the United Kingdom will be forming single files to the ballot box, to cast one-person one-vote in an historic referendum.

THE Senate, yesterday, canvassed tougher and full scale measures to end the Boko Haram insurgency. It said that the sect has declared war on Nigeria.

Death toll in last Friday’s collapsed five-storey building used as guest house by the Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, in Ikotun area of Lagos, hits 63 yesterday with the recovery of additional 14 corpses, even as relations of victims were barred from entering the Isolo General Hospital wards to ascertain whether their loved ones were on admission. The relations were asked by health workers to obtain clearance from SCON before they could be allowed in.

Former Kokodiagbene youth leader and the Director, Brakins Resources, Mr Kennedy Brake, has called on all Nigerian youths to imbibe the culture of what he terms “employability development.”

As the new resumption date by the Federal Government for the nation’s public and private schools continues to generate controversy, the National Association Proprietors of Private Schools, NAPS, in Bauchi State has thrown its weight behind the new resumption date, saying schools should adopt preventive measures against the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, instead keeping students at home.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, yesterday said it will arrest and prosecute a Nigerian Professor of Ophthalmology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, for what it described as unverified cure claim for Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, using native vegetable, Ewedu.

The Federal Government yesterday opened diplomatic discussions with South African authorities on the seizure of $9.3m illegally imported by two Nigerians and an Israeli citizen to purchase arms on behalf of Nigerian security services. The Nigerian government insisted that the deal was legal.