These are the stories you should be monitoring today.

The governor of Taraba, Darius Ishaku Thursday, said he supports a recent statement made by a former chief of staff, Theophilus Danjuma, which accuses the Nigerian Army of colluding with armed bandits.

Ishaku disclosed this when he hosted the probe panel set up by the chief of staff, Tukur Buratai, to investigate the allegation made against the armed forces by Danjuma.

“We in Taraba are full behind what Danjuma said on self defence.

“As an ex-army general with a high reputation, I think that call deserves to be looked into and not to be criticised because he spoke the minds of everyone in Taraba and indeed all Nigerians.”

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The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Thursday ordered the immediate demobilisation of a group, Parliamentary Support Group, in the Senate.

The group was formed in March when the amendment of the Electoral Act split the members of the Red Chambers.

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The Nigerian Police, Kaduna Command, has summoned Senator Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central) in an ongoing investigation on a homicide.

The Police Commissioner, Austin Iwar has written to the senator asking him to appear on April 30 at the Command Headquarters in Kaduna for questioning.

“This is in connection with a case of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide transferred to this office by 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, alongside with exhibit audio CD in which your name was mentioned by the principal suspect,” Iwar said in a letter to Sani.

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The Federal High Court has rejected an ex parte application filed by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) to stop his suspension by the Senate.

The defendants in the suit are the Senate, Senate President Bukola Saraki, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

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Yoruba pressure groups, Agbekoya farmers, Oodua People’s Congress, Afenifere, others have said elections will not hold in Osun and Ekiti unless the South- West was recognised as a region.

In a communique signed by 109-year-old Agbekoya chieftain, Ayalu Olalere, the group threatened that it would mobilise Yoruba people to pull out of the 1914 amalgamation that gave birth to Nigerians as a nation.

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And… stories from around the world.

The gang rape and murder of an eight-years old girl in India has sparked outrage across the country.

The body of Asifa Bano, who belonged to a Muslim nomadic tribe, was found in a forest on January 17 near Kathua city of Indian-administered Kashmir.

People are angered by the fact that a brutal crime has become a religious flashpoint.

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Russia has warned the US that launching air strikes in response to a suspected chemical attack in Syria could spark a war between the two countries.

“The immediate priority is to avert the danger of war”, Moscow’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Thursday.

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China’s Xi Jinping has attended a massive naval display in the disputed South China Sea.

Xi, speaking from an undisclosed location, said the need for a strong navy had “never been more pressing”.

More than 10,000 naval officers, 76 fighter jets and a flotilla of 48 ships and submarines took part in the drill.

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President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to arrest an international criminal court prosecutor if she conducts activities in his country, arguing it was no longer an ICC member so the court had no right to do any investigating.

Duterte has hit out at what he calls an international effort to paint him as a “ruthless and heartless violator of human rights,” and has withdrawn the Philippines from the ICC’s Rome statute a month ago and promised to crack down on drugs, in which thousands have been killed.

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UK Prime Minister, Theresa May and US President Donald Trump have agreed during a late-night phone call that Syria’s suspected use of chemical weapons cannot go unchallenged.

They will also continue “working closely together in the international response”.

The pair have also agreed that the Assad regime must be deterred from future use of chemical weapons.