Top news items in major Nigerian media outlets

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

-- The Federal Government in a bid to ease the burden of the current economic recession on the manufacturing sector is planning some form of tax relief for the sector.

The Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun dropped the hint on Wednesday, saying the tax relief is part of measures by the government to reduce the negative impact of the foreign exchange crisis on the sector. (The Punch)

-- Latching on the state of the nation, former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to rise to the challenges posed by the current recession in Nigeria, noting that orders, wishful thinking and blame game would not solve the hapless state of affairs in the country.

Obasanjo also examined the manner the issues of corruption, proposed external loan, and recession among others were being responded to by the Federal Government and commended the government on the anti-graft war but regretted that the government had no comprehensive policy that would address the current state of despair in Nigeria. (Vanguard)

-- A chilling campaign of extrajudicial executions and violence has allegedly resulted in deaths of at least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra protesters in the Southeast.

In a report on Wednesday, Amnesty International said an analysis of 87 videos, 122 photographs and 146 eyewitness testimonies relating to demonstrations and other gatherings between August 2015 and August 2016 consistently showed that the military fired live ammunition with little or no warning to disperse crowds. (The Guardian) Endit