These are the stories you should be monitoring today.

President Muhammadu Buhari vowed that the abduction of schoolgirls and the kind of attack on Rann in which humanitarian workers were killed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents would not be allowed to recur.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo represented the President at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja venue of the eighth edition of the National Security Seminar 2018 organised by the Alumni Association of the NDC in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the NDC which had the theme “Fighting Tomorrows’ Warfare Today.”

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Not relenting on the “Stomach Infrastructure Programme“, the Ayodele Fayose administration has promised to give N10,000 to women in Ekiti at this year’s Women’s Day celebration.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Dr. Modupe Alade said beneficiaries would get the cash in the first phase of the administration’s Women Empowerment Programme.

Speaking yesterday on the state television programme, Day Break Nigeria, Mrs. Alade stressed that “N200 million had been made available by the state government for the empowerment”.

The SSG said the 10,000 beneficiaries would get credit alert not later than Friday.

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The State Security Service (SSS) has released Tony Ezimakor, a Daily Independent journalist who was detained last Wednesday after honouring an invitation.

Okere was released around 10:30 pm to his lawyer, according to Sahara Reporters who broke the news Tuesday night.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said a recent statement made by President Buhari during a visit to Taraba, where he compared the number of deaths through killings in affected states, was ill-thought.

It also said the president’s planned visits to states affected by bloodletting and violence was an after-thought and not altruistic.

“The party is however not surprised by President Buhari’s comments as well as the failure to visit the victims to directly assure them as the APC-controlled Federal Government had always exhibited thoughtless disdain towards the feelings and well being of the masses,” the party said in a statement on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, as it expressed disbelief at the president’s dismissal of public criticism over his delay in visiting the troubled areas.

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A House of Representatives panel has summoned the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, and former Minister of Finance, Okonjo Iweala, over alleged fraud.

The panel also summoned the head of civil service of the federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, the central bank governor, Godwin Emiefele, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission and all members of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms.

Others are the former Head of Civil Service, Steve Orosanye, and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, Abubakar Malami.

They were invited over allegations of diversion of pension funds by the presidential task force on pension reforms from 2010.

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And stories from around the world…

US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn has quit, the latest in a series of high-profile departures from the Trump administration.

Cohn, who heads the National Economic Council, had reportedly threatened to leave after Trump’s incendiary comments following the deadly race riot in Charlottesville, Virginia.

But his decision to quit on Tuesday comes after Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a move he and the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, have reportedly vehemently opposed.

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The US has determined North Korea used a banned chemical weapon to assassinate the half brother of leader Kim Jong-un in Malaysia last year, with the claim coming just hours after Pyongyang signalled it was willing to give up its nuclear weapons.

Kim Jong-nam was killed with the chemical warfare agent VX at the Kuala Lumpur airport last year, violating the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act.

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The second person found unconscious in Salisbury alongside the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is his 33-year-old daughter.

Yulia Skripal was discovered on a bench next to her father and is in a critical condition in hospital. She lives in Russia but was visiting the UK, the BBC reports, adding that relatives had not heard from her for two days.

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Conspiracy theorists were arrested at the site of the Sutherland Springs church mass shooting after harassing families and survivors with death threats and taunts about their deceased loved ones, residents said.

Robert Ussery, 54, was charged with making a “terroristic threat” on Monday after he showed up to the First Baptist church in Texas and and allegedly threatened to “hang” the pastor, who lost his 14-year-old daughter when a gunman killed 26 people in November.

Ussery shouted profanities at the pastor, Frank Pomeroy, and demanded proof that his daughter had died and that the shooting was real, according to witnesses. Jodie Mann, a woman who showed up with Ussery, was also arrested for trespassing.

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Real Madrid eased into the Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-1 win at 10-man Paris Saint-Germain.

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s 12th goal in the competition and Casemiro‘s late strike ensured Zinedine Zidane‘s side progressed 5-2 on aggregate in the French capital on Tuesday evening.

Leading 3-1 from the first leg, Real never looked in danger against the sedate hosts despite Edinson Cavani‘s fortunate second-half equaliser.

Liverpool also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time in nine years with a goalless draw with Porto at Anfield on Tuesday.

They had won 5-0 at the Estadio do Dragao.