Top news items in major Nigerian media outlets

The following are highlights of leading Nigerian media outlets on Saturday.

-- President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday congratulated Antonio Guterres on his appointment by the United Nations General Assembly as the next UN Secretary General from January 1, 2017.

In a statement, he expressed the belief that Guterres' wealth of experience as a former Prime Minister of Portugal, head of the UN Refugee Agency for several years eminently prepared and qualified him for the new position. (Daily Trust)

-- President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed optimism on the release of some of the kidnapped Chibok girls, after 21 of them were freed by Boko Haram, following more than two years of captivity.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in Berlin, President Buhari said negotiations will continue until all the girls secure their freedom. (Vanguard)

-- The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate late Friday claimed it carried out another attack that destroyed an oil facility in the southeastern state of Delta.

The militants said the attack signaled the beginning of an operation aimed at forcing international oil firms and the Nigerian troops in that part of the country. (The Guardian) Endit