The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said Nigeria’s rail line will cover the South Western part of the country, cut-across nine states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Amaechi said the rail line will span one thousand four hundred and two kilometres.

The former Governor of Rivers state was speaking at the Forum of China-Africa Transportation Convention in Beijing, China.

He disclosed that Nigeria is also partnering other private sector investors, foreign and domestic, including the consortium led by the United States General Electric.

The Minister of Transportation, Amaechi said the successful realization of these projects and their operations will result in attainment of high level of intermodal transport system

The National Economic Council has approved a ten-year National Livestock Plan for Nigeria.

The NEC chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Livestock plan will cost about one hundred and seventy-nine billion naira.

The National Executive Council which has the thirty-six Governors of the Federation as its members agreed that ninety-four ranches should be created in ten states as part of measures to end herdsmen-farmers clashes.

NEC agreed that about seventy billion naira of the budget will disbursed between now and the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first four-year tenure next year.

The project is expected to take off in Benue and Nasarawa states any time from now.

 Nigeria’s power generation has increased to three thousand, eight hundred and seventy six point nine megawatts a report says.

This increase is attributed to the repair of a ruptured gas pipeline recently fixed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

The ruptured pipeline supplies gas to most thermal electricity generating plants in the country.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria in a statement disclosed that there was significant improvement in gas supply to the power generating plants following the restoration of the ruptured pipeline, adding that gas was gradually building up in most generating stations.

The General Manager, Public Affairs of TCN, Ndidi Mbah, stated that as soon as the gas build up was completed, the affected generating stations would resume normal power generation to the grid.

Six men parading as personnel of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, F-SARS have been apprehended in Port Harcourt.

The men who operate with police-coloured Jeep were arrested in the early hours of today with two pump action guns and other weapons.

The arrested suspects include Tony Raphel, Ifeanyi Okoye, Chigozie Onuigbo, Emeka Nwaiwu, Clark Sunday, and Chinedu Isaiah.

The suspects who have been transferred to the State CID are said to always operate in police-like attire of black jeans and T-Shirts and police jeep with revolving lights.

A senior Police Officer who revealed the development to our correspondent said the suspects have confessed to numerous kidnappings and robberies in Rivers State and its environs.

Special Assistant to President Mohammadu Buhari on Justice Reforms, Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu said talks are in advanced stage to repatriate three hundred and twenty-two million dollars looted by former Head of State, Sani Abacha.

Ibekaku-Nwagwu who is also the National Coordinator of the Open Government Partnership, Nigeria said under an MOU with Switzerland, the money when returned, would be paid directly into the accounts of the poorest Nigerians through their various accounts for two years.

She told newsmen in Abuja that the process of disbursement would be done through identification numbers to be made available on the website being developed by the National Social Investment office and the World Bank.

The United States have withdrawn from the United Nations Human Rights Council accusing it of a chronic bias against Israel.

U.S. envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, who announced this in Washington, slammed Russia, China, Cuba and Egypt for thwarting U.S. efforts to reform the council.

Haley also criticized countries which shared U.S. values and encouraged Washington to remain but were unwilling to seriously challenge the status quo.

The U.S. is half-way through a three-year term on the main U.N. rights body and the Trump administration had long threatened to quit if the forty seven-member Geneva-based body was not overhauled.

Commanders of the Islamic State Militants have been sneaking jihadists into Nigeria from Syria to train them for possible attacks.

The report by The Sun of London has been described as a terror exchange programme.

The report said insiders feared that strong links and regular flights between Lagos and London could export evil and terror to British streets despite Britain’s counter-terror efforts” in Nigeria.

It further stated that the strong links between Nigeria and the UK would make it easier for ISIS to send its killers to attack the UK and bring more death and destruction.

The report quoted a senior Nigerian Air Force Commander Group Captain Isaac Subi, as confirming the report, saying the Islamic militants  come and train their fighters in Nigerian and some of Nigerian insurgents too are granted access to the ISIS training in Yemen and Syria.

He said they go to acquire those skills and come back and teach others.

Group Captain Subi, who has been fighting terrorism in Africa since 1999, reportedly made the comment at one training mission in Kaduna, where British forces have been training Nigerian troops.

There are one hundred and fifty British troops currently on counter-terror training with Nigerian forces in an attempt to stem the bloody tide and prevent ISIS from taking hold of West Africa.

They have so far trained thirty five thousand Nigerian soldiers.

Britain’s Defence Adviser in Nigeria, Brigadier Charles Calder, said if the tide is left unchecked it could present a threat to both UK interests and conceivably the UK mainland.

He added that sending small, hand-picked teams out to military training hubs across Nigeria was the best way to prevent terrorism.

The absence of Justice Silvanus Oriji of an Abuja Federal High Court has stalled the trial of former Inspector-General of Police Sunday Ehindero, and a former police commissioner, John Obaniyi.

The duo is answering to a five count charge bordering on fraud and conspiracy brought against them by the Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

Prosecuting Counsel O.G. Iwuagwu had told the court that the defendants are being tried for alleged sixteen point four million naira fraud.

Iwuagwu told the court that the defendants committed the alleged offence between May 2006 and November 2006, when they allegedly conspired and used their positions to place five hundred million naira in two fixed deposit accounts.

He told the court that the money was part of the five hundred point nine million naira donated by the Bayelsa Government to the Nigeria Police Force for the purchase of arms and ammunition.

The prosecutor alleged that the said five hundred million naira placed in fixed deposits yielded sixteen point four million naira interest, a charge the defendants had denied.

At the resumed hearing today, the matter could not be heard due to the absence of the Judge and the case was adjourned to June 26, for continuation of hearing.

The United States President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on an additional two hundred billion dollars of Chinese goods in a growing trade row.

Trump said the ten percent tariffs would come into effect if China "refuses to change its practices.

The move would be a major escalation of the dispute which has led world stock markets have suffered sharp falls as a result.

China responded by accusing the US of "blackmail", raising fears of a full-blown trade war.

Trump insists that China has been unfairly benefiting from a trade imbalance with the US for years.

Not less than one thousand five hundred Nigerians are serving jail terms for various offences in Italy.

This is according to the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria Stefanou Pontesilli who described the number as a big number, adding that the Italian authorities sometimes send them back to Nigeria once they finished their terms because they have not behaved well.

Pontesilli however denied reports that Italy sometimes send Nigerian migrants from Italy to Libya.

He noted that some Nigerians are stuck in Libya because they were never able to cross over to Italy, adding that all those who went to Italy were not sent back.

Pontesilli also added that the Italian Government is doing a lot to repatriate them through chattered flights.

The envoy said that the relationship between Italy and Nigeria remained stronger.