These are the top five Nigerian stories that drove conversation today.
The Senate has confirmed the appointment of three members of the board of Niger Delta Development Commission.
They are Chuka Ama Nwauwa (Imo State), Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa (Ondo State) and Nwogu N. Nwogu (Abia State).
The confirmation was based on the recommendation by the Committee on Niger Delta, whose report on the nominees was considered at the plenary on Thursday.
The Senate has suspended Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for 90 days over his comment that the amendment to the Electoral Act 2010 to reorder the sequence of polls in a general election was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions had investigated Omo-Agege’s comment based on a petition by Senator Dino Melaye.
The report by the committee, which was considered at the plenary on Thursday, had found the lawmaker guilty despite his apology to the chamber and recommended that he be suspended for 181 legislative days (one year).
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, however, pleaded that the duration of the suspension be reduced to 90 days (six months), which was unanimously granted.
The house of representatives committee on emergency and disaster management has summoned Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo over the “illegal” suspension of directors at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The committee, investigating the alleged violation of public trust at the agency, summoned the vice-president during its sitting on Thursday.
The directors are said to have been suspended by the agency’s governing council — chaired by Osinbajo — without due process.
Also summoned are Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) — investigating the directors and Oyo-Ita, head of civil service.
US soldiers, not less than 12, have trained Nigerian troops on a six-week advice-and-assist mission in Jaji, Kaduna State, Pentagon has said.
The US department of defence said Nigerian army’s 26th infantry battalion might be the next to deploy to north-east to confront Boko Haram.
The department, while documenting some accounts of the US soldiers during the training, said it was important to prepare the Nigerian troops for the threats they faced from the terrorists.
Saul Rodriguez, the most experienced of the 12 US soldiers, said: “Even in triple-digit heat and with AK-47 automatic rifles in hand, it’s easy to forget these soldiers are likely headed into imminent danger.
“My job is to train you as much as I can. Your job is to fight the bad guys out of your country.”
Uche Secondus, chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says emerging signs shows that 2019 election might be rigged.
Speaking when he played host to a delegation of European Union led by Ketil Karlsen, head of the organisation in Nigeria, on Thursday, the opposition leader alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is conniving with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to truncate the nation’s democracy.
He then appealed to EU and other international partners to put pressure on the government and INEC for a free, fair and credible election.
“What we see is marshal system of framing up opposition leaders and trying to intimidate them. They are not ready to observe the rule of law and there is no democracy without rule of law,” he said.
And now, stories from around the world…
France’s President Emmanuel Macron says he has “proof” that the Syrian government attacked the town of Douma with chemical weapons last weekend.
He said he would decide “in due course” whether to respond with air strikes.
Western states are thought to be preparing for missile strikes in response to the alleged attack.
In Russia, Syria’s main military ally, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged against “any steps which could lead to an escalation of tensions”.
The UK has conducted a “major offensive cyber-campaign” against the Islamic State group, the director of the intelligence agency GCHQ has revealed.
The operation hindered the group’s ability to co-ordinate attacks and suppressed its propaganda, former MI5 agent Jeremy Fleming said.
It is the first time the UK has systematically degraded an adversary’s online efforts in a military campaign.
Mr Fleming made the remarks in his first public speech as GCHQ director.
Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will return to boxing on 9 June against an unnamed opponent in Manchester – his first fight since 2015.
Fury, 29, has not fought since claiming the IBF, WBA and WBO world titles from Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.
Fury was suspended in 2016 amid “anti-doping and medical issues” and accepted a backdated two-year ban in December.
“I can’t wait to get in there and prove I am the best even after all this time out,” Fury said.
Two US Navy destroyers armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles are in position and ready to be called into action, among other assets including jets and submarines should President Donald Trump make good on his threat to order a military strike on targets in Syria.
Trump caught most of his aides and the Pentagon off-guard on Wednesday by declaring on Twitter that “nice and new and ‘smart'” missiles would soon be fired toward Syria — an announcement that came before an agreement had been reached between key US allies, multiple American and Western officials said.
Top military officials were at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to discuss options for Syria, according to senior aides, and a decision on how to respond to the weekend’s chemical attack had not yet been made when Trump took to Twitter, people familiar with the discussions said.
At least 30 people have died and 893 are ill in a cholera outbreak in Malawi, the health ministry said Thursday.
The disease outbreak which began last November in Karonga, northern Malawi has spread to 13 districts in the country, a spokesman for the ministry, Joshua Kalongo told CNN.
The drinking of contaminated water and poor food hygiene practices in affected areas have been blamed for the cholera outbreak, the ministry said.
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