Key updates: Ekiti church kidnap, SA xenophobia, cooking gas price drop

Ten key updates from Nigerian newspapers on Sunday morning include: Ekiti State Police confirmed one worshipper died in the April 28 kidnapping at Christ Apostolic Church in Eda-Oniyo, Ilejemeje LGA, while 14 others were rescued; two Nigerians, Emeka Iroegbu and Musa Joe, were killed in separate xenophobic attacks in South Africa on June 28, as announced by the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg; Delta Police arrested a 22‑year‑old who staged his own kidnapping to extort ₦25 million from his family, rescued a two‑week‑old baby from suspected traffickers, and detained two people spreading false police‑crash links in Ughelli; President Bola Tinubu renewed his call for interfaith dialogue during a meeting with Archbishop Paul Gallagher in Abuja; Ogun Police said they apprehended 89 motorists for number‑plate violations, foiled armed robbery attempts and recovered stolen motorcycles; Kogi State, working with the army and security agencies, recovered about 1,000 rustled livestock from remnants of bandit Kachalla Ibrahim Battijo’s network and other cattle‑rustling syndicates; President Tinubu flagged off a ₦137 billion rehabilitation of the Bama‑Banki and Dikwa‑Gamboru‑Ngala roads in Borno to boost trade, agriculture and security; the Ooni of Ife denied granting a chieftaincy title to comedian Baba Ijesha; Amnesty International urged Nigeria to probe alleged extrajudicial killings and other rights abuses by state forces, the Ebube Agu militia and unknown gunmen in the South‑East; and cooking gas prices in Abuja have fallen from ₦1,700/kg to between ₦1,450 and ₦1,500/kg after weeks of increases.

SOURCE: https://dailypost.ng/2026/07/05/nigerian-newspapers-10-things-you-need-to-know-sunday-morning-133/