The Nigerian military rescued 241 women and children in a raid on two camps controlled by the Boko Haram terrorist group, the country's military said Wednesday.
The Tuesday operation unfolded in the villages of Jangurori and Bulatori, the statement said.
The operations also netted the arrests of 43 militants belonging to the Islamist group, including a local leader, Bulama Modu, who the Nigerian military says was acting as the "emir" of the village of Bulakuri.
The raids destroyed both camps, army spokesman Col. Sani Usman told Punch, a Nigerian newspaper. The military also confiscated weapons, some of which were buried by militants who appeared to be abandoning their posts during the raid, he told the paper.
"Apart from arms and ammunitions, bows and arrows recovered from Bulama Modu, the kingpin, he confirmed that the terrorists also gave him a horse to enhance his deadly pursuits," Usman told Punch.
Troops also arrested a suspected militant in Wudla village who provided the names of terrorists who helped stage an attack in northern Cameroon this month, Usman said. They hailed from Dara Jamel, where the insurgents operate a bomb factory, he told Punch.
CNN
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Nigeria bans vehicles in Borno state
Nigeria has banned all cars, public transport, horses, donkeys and camels in Borno state to prevent an attack by militant group Boko Haram over the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
The ban came into effect on Wednesday evening and lasts until Friday.
Borno is where the Boko Haram insurgency began and on Sunday at least 54 people died in a triple bombing in the state capital Maiduguri.
Some 17,000 people are said to have been killed in the six-year insurgency.
Attacks by the Islamist group have intensified since Muhammadu Buhari became president in May, after winning elections.
The Nigerian military has previously banned all horses and donkeys in Borno, following a wave of attacks by Boko Haram fighters using such animals.
Military spokesman Col Tukur Gusau added that "all vehicular movements into and out of Maiduguri town will also be restricted" until further notice.
The security forces have in recent months reclaimed territory captured by Boko Haram fighters.
The army has also freed a number of people kidnapped by the militant group and this week announced that 241 women and children had been rescued near the border with Cameroon.
BBC
The ban came into effect on Wednesday evening and lasts until Friday.
Borno is where the Boko Haram insurgency began and on Sunday at least 54 people died in a triple bombing in the state capital Maiduguri.
Some 17,000 people are said to have been killed in the six-year insurgency.
Attacks by the Islamist group have intensified since Muhammadu Buhari became president in May, after winning elections.
The Nigerian military has previously banned all horses and donkeys in Borno, following a wave of attacks by Boko Haram fighters using such animals.
Military spokesman Col Tukur Gusau added that "all vehicular movements into and out of Maiduguri town will also be restricted" until further notice.
The security forces have in recent months reclaimed territory captured by Boko Haram fighters.
The army has also freed a number of people kidnapped by the militant group and this week announced that 241 women and children had been rescued near the border with Cameroon.
BBC
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Nigeria military dismisses Boko Haram leader
The Nigerian military said it was not considering the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, or any other particular person in the terror group to be relevant in the ongoing onslaught against insurgency in the North East.
“Shekau or any of his cohorts would not deter the spate of the military operations to rid the country of criminals hiding under strange religious ideology to kill innocent Nigerians,” the military said in a statement Tuesday.
The statement came days after the release of an audio clip online dismissing recent gains by the military in the war against the insurgents. The speaker claimed to be Shekau, whom the Nigerian military claimed it killed months ago.
The military said it viewed the new audio as “irrelevant and fruitless”.
“The Armed Forces is using this medium to appeal to the good citizens of Nigeria not to lose sleep over the concocted audio rhetoric of the waning terrorist sect which is a usual antic of a drowning person struggling to hold on to anything to remain afloat,” the statement signed by spokesperson for the armed forces, Rabe Abubakar, a Colonel.
“The Armed Forces wishes to reiterate that it is a well-known fact that the terrorists have been seriously decimated and the tremendous effort and achievement recorded in the recent time by combined forces of the Nigerian Army and the Air Force is commendable.
“The Armed Forces did not lie about the successes recorded so far in its counterinsurgency operations and for avoidance of doubt, the liberated communities in the North East, which were hitherto under the throes of Boko Haram terrorists, are free for interested person or body to explore.
“The military does re-state that in the recent time a number of Boko Haram members have been surrendering and denouncing radicalization. Our candid advice to Shekau or his ghost; cohorts or impersonators is to toll the line of their fellow comrades and surrender now as no more hidden place for him or his criminal gang to operate freely any longer.
“It is also necessary to tell those that are still masquerading as leadership of Boko Haram in whatsoever guise to quickly come to term with the fact that era of cheap propaganda is over and in no distance time Nigerians and the whole world will know who is saying the truth.
“Therefore, while urging Nigerians and the nation’s well-wishers to disregard the audio clip purportedly released by Shekau in its entirely, the Armed Forces is calling on peace-loving people of our dear nation to go about their normal businesses as the military is working round the clock to rid the country of this devilish and anti-human group.
“Our compatriots too are called upon to report any suspicious person or object to law enforcement agencies for prompt action. It is in doing this that we would jointly restore the dignity of our dear country from the claw of terrorists,” the statement said.
Premium Times
“Shekau or any of his cohorts would not deter the spate of the military operations to rid the country of criminals hiding under strange religious ideology to kill innocent Nigerians,” the military said in a statement Tuesday.
The statement came days after the release of an audio clip online dismissing recent gains by the military in the war against the insurgents. The speaker claimed to be Shekau, whom the Nigerian military claimed it killed months ago.
The military said it viewed the new audio as “irrelevant and fruitless”.
“The Armed Forces is using this medium to appeal to the good citizens of Nigeria not to lose sleep over the concocted audio rhetoric of the waning terrorist sect which is a usual antic of a drowning person struggling to hold on to anything to remain afloat,” the statement signed by spokesperson for the armed forces, Rabe Abubakar, a Colonel.
“The Armed Forces wishes to reiterate that it is a well-known fact that the terrorists have been seriously decimated and the tremendous effort and achievement recorded in the recent time by combined forces of the Nigerian Army and the Air Force is commendable.
“The Armed Forces did not lie about the successes recorded so far in its counterinsurgency operations and for avoidance of doubt, the liberated communities in the North East, which were hitherto under the throes of Boko Haram terrorists, are free for interested person or body to explore.
“The military does re-state that in the recent time a number of Boko Haram members have been surrendering and denouncing radicalization. Our candid advice to Shekau or his ghost; cohorts or impersonators is to toll the line of their fellow comrades and surrender now as no more hidden place for him or his criminal gang to operate freely any longer.
“It is also necessary to tell those that are still masquerading as leadership of Boko Haram in whatsoever guise to quickly come to term with the fact that era of cheap propaganda is over and in no distance time Nigerians and the whole world will know who is saying the truth.
“Therefore, while urging Nigerians and the nation’s well-wishers to disregard the audio clip purportedly released by Shekau in its entirely, the Armed Forces is calling on peace-loving people of our dear nation to go about their normal businesses as the military is working round the clock to rid the country of this devilish and anti-human group.
“Our compatriots too are called upon to report any suspicious person or object to law enforcement agencies for prompt action. It is in doing this that we would jointly restore the dignity of our dear country from the claw of terrorists,” the statement said.
Premium Times
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Video - $700 million missing from Nigeria sovering wealth fund
A row has broken out among Nigerian officials over the whereabouts of 700 million dollars allegedly stolen from the country's sovereign wealth fund. Set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan's administration in 2012, the account was designed to hold excess revenue accrued when oil prices are high.
Related story: Former Nigeria Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi comments on audit that proves missing $18.5 billion
Video - Senate President of Nigeria Bukola Saraki on trial for corruption charges
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, pleaded “not guilty” on Tuesday to multiple charges of fraud brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau.
He was thereafter granted bail on self recognition.
He faces a 13-count charge bordering on corruption and alleged false declaration of assets.
Mr. Saraki arrived the tribunal Tuesday morning after failing to appear on Friday and Monday.
As the case opened, Mr. Saraki’s lawyers argued that the matter was not a criminal case, and challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal.
The prosecution opposed the argument. The tribunal ruled that the matter was criminal and directed Mr. Saraki to go ahead with his plea.
“I hold that the trial before the tribunal is purely criminal,” said the chairman of the tribunal.
On jurisdiction, the prosecution counsel argued that according to section 2 of the Administration of Justice Act, 2015, the matter could be heard alongside any preliminary objection regarding the tribunal’s jurisdiction.
The new law was signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in March 2015, as part of a major reform of Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
The Act is expected to speed up corruption cases before the courts, by dealing with issues of preliminary objections, adjournments, and jurisdiction.
The law says such objections must be addressed by the courts concurrently with the corruption charge, unlike the past when interlocutory injunctions could go to the Supreme Court and return, before the main trial begins.
Asked to take his plea, Mr. Saraki said, “I believe that I am here as the Senate president to indicate my respect for the tribunal. I am puzzled why I am being compelled”.
He pleaded not guilty.
On the various assets he acquired, which the Code of Conduct Bureau said his earnings did not qualify him to acquire, Mr. Saraki said he got them through his investment in rice farming.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge concerning his failure to declare his assets when he was Kwara State governor.
He also denied making false declaration of assets.
He pleaded not guilty on the charge regarding his alleged use of foreign bank accounts while serving as a public officer in Nigeria.
Mr. Saraki arrived the tribunal premises at 9:32 a.m., accompanied by “about 50 senators and some members of the House of Representatives”, his spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, told PREMIUM TIMES.
Some of the senators in court, according to a PREMIUM TIMES reporter at the trial, are Theodore Orji, Sam Egwu, Ike Ekweremadu, Shaba Lafiaji, Aliyu Wamakko, Rafiu Ibrahim, Tayo Alasoadura, Hamma Misau, Samuel Anyanwu, Sabi Aliyu Abdullahi, among others.
This newspaper learnt that the Senate President and his supporters first converged on the National Assembly early on Tuesday morning from where they took off in a convoy of buses for the tribunal.
One of the senators, who asked not to be named, said he and his colleagues decided to provide cover for the senate president to prevent him from being arrested or humiliated by the police.
A supporter of the Senate President, now also inside the courtroom, told PREMIUM TIMES, “We are already seated. No shaking. The plan is to humiliate the man, not minding if they break the law or violate the procedure.
“We have nothing to fear. After Saraki has exercised his fundamental human rights in relevant courts, we are here to to show the lies contained in the charges.”
Mr. Saraki had on Monday released a statement, saying he was now ready to attend his trial, days after he battled frantically to use the courts to halt the trial.
The matter was adjourned to 21st, 22nd and 23rd October for hearing.
Premium Times
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