30 hostages rescued by Nigerian Army and 14 terrorists killed

The Nigerian Army said its troops attached to Operation Lafiya Dole under the army’s 202 Battalion, 21 Brigade in conjunction with the Mobile Strike Team, MST, killed 14 terrorists and rescued 30 hostages on Saturday.

The operation ended with the rescue of the hostages from Boko Haram terrorist’s enclaves in Abusuriwa, Newchina, Bonzon, Usmanari, Goyayeri, Shitimari, Gashimari, Awaram amongst other villages in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Director Army Public Relations, Sani Usman, it said the operation led to the capture of one suspected terrorist, while many fled.

“The troops whose continuous resolve in routing out the remnants of the suspected terrorists hibernating within the Brigade’s Area of Responsibility ensured that their superior fire power made the terrorists to flee in disarray leading to the capture of one suspected terrorist while 8 of the Boko Haram terrorists were neutralised.”

“In addition, the troops also rescued three men, 12 women as well as 15 children, among whom were an aged man and a woman held captive by the Boko Haram terrorists”, he said.

“The suspected terrorist has been handed over to the relevant authorities for further interrogation, while the rescued civilian captives are being attended to”, he added.

Mr. Usman, a brigadier general, said the troops were also able to recover four AK-47 rifles, three magazines, seven dane guns and machetes, amongst other items.

The statement also noted that in similar operation, troops of 152 Battalion of the Brigade ambushed some fleeing terrorists and killed five of them, while troops of 151 Battalion also deployed at the Forward Operations Base, Darel Jamel, killed a terrorist in an ambush.

Premium Times

Shell accused of abuses in Nigeria

Oil giant Shell should be investigated for alleged complicity in" horrific crimes" committed by the military in Nigeria in the 1990s, Amnesty International has said.

Shell encouraged a crackdown, which led to killings and the burning of villages in the oil-producing Ogoniland region, the rights group added.

The Anglo-Dutch oil firm said the allegations were "without merit".

The region was hit by protests over oil pollution and poverty in the 1990s.

It led to a massive crackdown by Nigeria's then-military regime.

Nine activists, including writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed in 1995, causing global outrage.

In a statement, Shell Nigeria said it had always denied involvement in the executions.

"We were shocked and saddened when we heard the news of the executions. Shell appealed to the Nigerian government to grant clemency. To our deep regret, that appeal, and the appeals made by many others within and outside Nigeria, went unheard," it said.

Amnesty said it had studied thousands of internal documents of the company and witness statements which pointed to the need for the UK, the Netherlands and Nigeria to launch an investigation into the firm's alleged complicity in human rights abuses in Ogoniland.

"The evidence we have reviewed shows that Shell repeatedly encouraged the Nigerian military to deal with community protests, even when it knew the horrors this would lead to - unlawful killings, rape, torture [and] the burning of villages," the rights group said in a statement.

"In the midst of this brutal crackdown Shell even provided the military with material support, including transport, and in at least one instance paid a military commander notorious for human rights violations. That it has never answered for this is an outrage," it added.

In its response, Shell Nigeria said Amnesty's allegations were false.

The firm did not collude with the authorities to suppress unrest and in no way encouraged any act of violence in Nigeria, it said.

"We believe that the evidence will show clearly that Shell was not responsible for these tragic events," the firm added.

Shell is the oldest multinational energy company in Nigeria, and is involved in joint ventures with the government.

Its investment and those of other firms have long been dogged by controversy.

In 2015, Shell agreed a $84m (£55m) settlement with residents of the Bodo community in Ogoniland for two massive oil spills in 2008 and 2009.

In 2011, a UN report said the Ogoniland region could take 30 years to recover fully from the damage caused by years of oil spill.

Communities faced a severe health risk, with some families drinking water with high levels of carcinogens, it said.

Communities say the spills have had a devastating effect on farming and fishing, worsening poverty.

BBC

Video - Fela Kuti - The father of Afrobeat

Fela Kuti, born as Olufela Ransome Kuti was a Nigerian music maestro and the pioneer of Afrobeat.

"Faces of Africa" brings you the story of one of Africa's music legends and his influence through music.

Video - Nigerians react to the ousting of President Mugabe in Zimbabwe

The change in leadership in Zimbabwe is sparking strong reaction across the continent. CGTN spoke to a some Nigerians and Ugandans.

Nigeria drops 50th in FIFA rankings

Nigeria’s good run in the last eight weeks of the World Cup 2018 qualifiers and the victory in the Grade-A friendly with Argentina a fortnight ago failed to count in the November rankings released thursday by FIFA.

Instead of upward movement, the Super Eagles who were forced to a one-all draw by Algeria in the last Group B Russia 2018 qualifying game in Constantine and winner of the friendly with the two-time World Cup holders and the world’s number four ranked Albiceleste, slumped nine places to be ranked 50th globally.

Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi yesterday described the ranking system as ridiculous and confusing.
Speaking from his base in Turkey, the former Lazio player said though the team isn’t bothered about it’s current ranking, it has done more than enough to rank better than teams that failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup like African champions Cameroon who are five places above the Eagles.

“Well, I don’t know how this FIFA ranking thing works but it doesn’t matter whatever position we are ranked. The current ranking is not a position of the way things are. it’s just not fair we dropped despite the performances we put up in the qualifiers and even in the friendly match against Argentina,” Onazi told AOIFootball.com from his base in Turkey.

In Africa, Eagles are now ranked 8th after Senegal (23), Tunisia (27), Egypt (31), Congo DR (36), Morocco (40) , Burkina Faso (44) Cameroon (45).

Only Ghana (51st) and Cote d’ Ivoire (61st) are below Nigeria in the Top Ten of the African rankings.

The Lions of Teranga were the heaviest mover in Africa in the November rankings. This was due largely to the home and away defeat of the Bafana Bafana in the rescheduled World Cup qualifier. The 23rd spot is Senegal’s highest-ever position on the global ladder Of the 32 teams that qualified for the Mundial next year, Eagles are better ranked than World Cup hosts Russia (65th) as well as Saudi Arabia (63rd) and Panama (56th).

Nigeria is in Pot 4 of the World Cup draw slated for December 1 in Moscow. FIFA rankings for the month of October were exclusively used for the seedings.

Meanwhile, there was no movement in the top five of the global rankings as Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and Belgium maintained their positions from the October rankings. Spain’s La Roja leap-frogged France and Poland into the sixth place. Switzerland is 8th while Chile is tenth.

This Day