205 Boko Haram suspects convicted in Nigeria

A Nigerian high court convicted 205 Boko Haram suspects for their involvement with the insurgent group, according to a Justice Ministry statement on Monday.

The suspects were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to 60 years, the ministry said.
"Most of them were convicted for professing to belong to the terrorist group, concealing information about the group which they knew or believe to be of material assistance that could lead to the arrest, prosecution or conviction of Boko Haram members," the justice ministry statement said.

Since last week, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram members have appeared before a court at the Kainji military base in Niger, a central Nigerian state.

It also freed 526 suspects, including minors, for lack of evidence and ordered they be sent to their state governments for "proper rehabilitation." 

Seventy-three cases were adjourned for another hearing.

Among those released was a young girl from Nigeria's Borno State with a 3-month-old baby. She was arrested in 2014 while escaping Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram enclave.

The court on Friday imposed a second 15-year sentence on Haruna Yahaya, who was involved in the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014.

CNN

Video - Nigeria's military claim Boko Haram is defeated

Nigeria's military has spent the past two years claiming Boko Haram is defeated.The claims were repeated even as the army is constantly battling Boko Haram. And the insurgents staged numerous suicide attacks on civilian targets.

Video - Armed men have killed 18 people over cattle dispute in Nigeria

In Nigeria, authorities are still tracking the situation in the North-west of the country. Recent clashes between local hunters and cattle rustlers saw at least 18 people killed in Zamfara State.

Nigerian military ordered to capture Boka Haram leader "dead or alive"

Nigeria's army chief Tukur Buratai has ordered troops to capture the leader of terror group Boko Haram, alive or dead.

Buratai said on Sunday it has come to the end of the military operation aimed at clearing remnants of Boko Haram from their stronghold in the northeast region, except the capturing of Abubakar Shekau, who is both the spiritual head and supreme commander of the terror group.

"We must move across to wherever this criminal, Shekau, is and catch him red-handed. I want you to get him," the army chief charged the troops in Camp Zairo, previously the largest camp of Boko Haram in the northern state of Borno.

Last year, Buratai gave troops a 40-day ultimatum to capture Shekau but they failed in the bid.

Last Thursday, the army offered a bounty of 8,310 U.S. dollars on Shekau's head.

The military said it had chased the terrorist leader out of Camp Zairo since December 2016.

The Nigerian army said it has "reliable information" that Shekau now disguises as a woman in his attempt to escape from the theater of operation by troops.

Boko Haram has been trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, killing some 20,000 people and forcing displacement of millions of others.

Xinhua

Amokachi wants his twin sons to play for Nigeria

Former Super Eagles striker, Daniel Amokachi who declared himself Super Eagles number one fan still has that patriotic zeal running in his veins like in the days he played for Nigeria.

The USA ’94, France ’98 and Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup star has said he would want to see his twin sons follow the path he has threaded, by playing for Nigeria, instead of Tunisia, the country of their mother. Amokachi, fondly called Da Bull in his active days said, “Definitely, that would be my dream, their mother’s dream, even their dream because their heart is with Nigeria.”

He informed that the boys had turned down the opportunity to be capped by Tunisia, but remains hopeful that call will come up for them to play for Nigeria. “They are doing pretty well in Besiktas, they are with the U23 team, we are trying to see if they can play the professional angle of it because, in Turkey, they leave the foreign slot for professionals. 

Right now, however, they are working very hard and we hope that soon, they will get the opportunity to play in a place where they can give a good account of themselves,” Amokachi said. He prayed that Super Eagles players who are World Cup bound should remain injury free in order to find themselves in good form before the tournament. 

“Qualifying for the World Cup is one thing but the World Cup proper is a different ball game. The most important thing is that our players should be healthy and have enough playing time in their respective clubs because that will definitely tell when it comes to the World Cup. “I have confidence that this team can take us to the next level, like the quarter-final or even win the World Cup”.

Vanguard