The Nigerian Army said it had killed five suspected Boko Haram members and destroyed a bomb making factory in Rigasa area of Kaduna.
The spokesman of the 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Col Sani Kukasheka said in a statement in Kaduna that the early morning raid was carried out in conjuntion with other security agencies.
He said two other suspects were injured during the operation.
Kukasheka said various arms and explosive devices were recovered during the operation in a house located off Makarfi Road in Rigasa.
He listed the items recovered to include five Mark four Riffles, three Pump Action Rifles, 20 Rolls of Detonating Cords, 21 Nine Volt Batteries, two Remote Switches, one Testing Metre, five Assorted Daggers and Jack knives as well as other Improvised Explosive Device (IED) materials.
“On approaching the factory, some suspected terrorists opened fire and also threw already primed IED at the troops.
“The exchange of fire that ensued resulted in the death of five terrorists, while two that sustained various degrees of injuries are being treated.
“In line with our resolve to deter terrorists, the building housing the factory was demolished.â€
The spokesman attributed the success of the operation to the support of “well meaning citizens†who volunteered information to security agencies.
He commended their courage and assured that security agencies in the state would remain committed to the fight against terrorism.
Kukasheka said such raids were meant to secure the lives and property of law abiding citizens and restore peace to the state.
He reiterated the need for all residents to support security agencies with vital information on suspicious activities of people around them.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Gunmen have attacked a church in northern Nigeria, killing at least five people, including the pastor, and setting the building on fire, residents and police have said.
The attack took place on Christmas eve on Monday in the village of Peri, near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe state. “A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight and went straight to the church… they opened fire on them […] They then set fire to the church,” said Usman Mansir, a resident of the village.
A senior police official in Yobe confirmed the details to the AFP news agency, but declined to be named.
Yobe police chief Sanusi Rufa’i said the attack was “a security issue” and refused to comment further.
It was not clear who was behind the attack, but fighters belonging to the Boko Haram group, which seeks to impose strict religious law on Nigeria, have carried out several attacks in Yobe, which borders Maiduguri state, where the group is based.
While Yobe’s population is overwhelmingly Muslim, the commercial hub of Potiskum has a significant Christian minority. Peri is just two kilometres outside the city. Source: Agencies
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Gunmen have attacked a church in northern Nigeria, killing at least five people, including the pastor, and setting the building on fire, residents and police have said.
The attack took place on Christmas eve on Monday in the village of Peri, near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe state. “A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight and went straight to the church… they opened fire on them […] They then set fire to the church,” said Usman Mansir, a resident of the village.
A senior police official in Yobe confirmed the details to the AFP news agency, but declined to be named.
Yobe police chief Sanusi Rufa’i said the attack was “a security issue” and refused to comment further.
It was not clear who was behind the attack, but fighters belonging to the Boko Haram group, which seeks to impose strict religious law on Nigeria, have carried out several attacks in Yobe, which borders Maiduguri state, where the group is based.
While Yobe’s population is overwhelmingly Muslim, the commercial hub of Potiskum has a significant Christian minority. Peri is just two kilometres outside the city. Source: Agencies
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Ben Agande & Ndahi Marama
MAIDUGURI— Leadership of Jama’atul Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also called Boko Haram, has named the former Head of State and presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), among six prominent northerners, to mediate between the group and the Federal Government.
The Federal Government in a statement by Dr. Reuben Abati, Presidential Spokesman, Thursday, welcomed the move.
Boko Haram, however, said that for the group to observe ceasefire, the Federal Government must heed its demand by arresting and prosecuting the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
Governor Ibrahim Shettima of Borno State also, Thursday, said security agencies should be allowed to do their job on those they suspect are sponsors or sympathisers of the Boko Haram sect.
Shettima told state house correspondents after a meeting of the National Economic Council that the security challenge in the country required the efforts of all Nigerians to overcome.
Meanwhile, spokesman of the group, Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, who doubles as the Second-in-Command (Amir) to their leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau, made the group’s intention known in a tele-conference with journalists in Maiduguri, Thursday.
Mediators Abdulazeez said other people, who could mediate with the government if its conditions were met, include Dr. Shettima Ali Monguno, former Yobe State governor, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Ambassador Gaji Galtimari and Hajia Aisha Wakil and her husband, Alkali Wakil.
Dialogue venue He insisted, however, that such dialogue must not take place in Nigeria, but Saudi Arabia. According to him, the choice of Saudi Arabia was informed by the insincerity of the Nigeria government for dialogue and its betrayal in the past.
Abdulazeez insisted that for the group to ceasefire completely, the government must not only apprehend, but prosecute Senator Modu Sheriff according to the laws of the land as well as compensate members of the group and rebuild their places of worship destroyed during 2009 uprising, which led to the alleged murder of their leader, Mohammed Yusuf.
Conditions for ceasefire The Boko Haram spokesman further stressed that, all their members, who were arrested and are under the custody of security agencies must be released immediately, just as their wives and children who were displaced following the crises should be rehabilitated into the society to allow room for the much talked about dialogue with the Federal Government.
Commenting on the series of recent killings and destruction of property in Maiduguri, Abu Abdulazeez dissociated Boko Haram from the action, saying such attacks were not only politically-motivated, but carried out by those seeking power in the Borno Emirate council or in government.
He stressed that recent killings and destructions in Maiduguri were against the ideology of the sect, which he said was fighting the cause of Allah.
Abdulazeez also said the burning of old and newly-constructed primary schools witnessed across the state were not carried out by the sect, insisting that they were perpetrated by aggrieved politicians who were denied contracts by the state government.
Last February, the group had also nominated Monguno, Bukar Ibrahim, Aisha Wakil and Jinadu Idris as part of a team to mediate between it and the Federal Government, but the negotiation never got off.
Buhari reacts Thursday, was, however, the first time the group would be proposing Gen. Buhari as part of a mediation team between it and the Federal Government.
Buhari, who returned to Kaduna from Daura, Katsina State, yesterday evening, said he was yet to be formally contacted on the development.
Buba Galadima, an associate of the former Head of State speaking on behalf of the General said: “His first reaction is that he has not heard about this news and nobody has contacted him.
“He said he wouldn’t want to say anything on this matter that has not yet been authenticated, but he remains prayerful that peace and tranquility will return to this country.”
Sheriff’s words Meanwhile, Sheriff, who spoke in Abuja on the issue of the involvement of politicians with Boko Haram, said: “I think it is within the realm and the responsibility of the security agencies to unearth the truth.
“I am more of a developmental politician and I am more interested in addressing the core issues that make our society vulnerable to the antics of religious bigots and all sorts of misfits that are indoctrinating our young ones to these things.
“I don’t want to dabble into the realm of the security agencies neither do I want to respond to allegations and accusations from any quarter.
“But it is the responsibility of security agencies to unearth those behind Boko Haram.” A veteran journalist Dele Giwa said an evil done by man to man will be rewarded if not now then later, if not by man then certainly by God. But the day of evil over good is only temporary.
“I think the problem at hand goes beyond politics. The underlying factor is poverty. The most important thing is how we can resolve this problem and restore harmony, peace and how to eradicate endemic poverty which is the underlying factor of the whole crisis.
“I want to solicit for the media not to dwell on sensationalism but proper conflict resolution and move our society forward. Its pains me if a single person is killed by Boko Haram, when innocent souls are lost.
“Its sheer hooliganism. Its sheer madness for anybody to burn a place of worship. These are the issue agitating my mind and I don’t want to dwell on politics for now.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A suicide car bomber rammed into a church in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna Sunday, killing at least seven people and triggering reprisal attacks that killed another three. More than 100 people were wounded.
The bomber drove a jeep into St. Rita's church in Kaduna's Malali district during Sunday morning prayers causing a large explosion. Rescuers rushed the casualties to hospitals.
Witnesses said angry Christian youths armed with machetes and sticks roamed the streets after the bombing, beating three Muslims to death in the religiously-mixed city.
There has been no claim of the responsibility for the church blast.
Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has attacked several churches with bombs and guns in the past year. The group claimed responsibility for three church bombings in Kaduna state in June.
Those attacks killed at least 50 people and increased sectarian tensions in Kaduna, which is located on a dividing line between Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north and mostly Christian south.
Nigerian authorities blame Boko Haram for the killings of more than 1,500 people including police and government officials since 2009. The militants appear to be fighting for a strict form of Islamic law to be applied across northern Nigeria.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Lt Col Sagir Musa told the BBC the multiple attacks targeted locations used by the joint military task force in the city, the Islamists’ base.He said three militants had died but denied reports that at least 10 people, including soldiers, were killed.
Witnesses say a primary school and a radio tower were set ablaze. Last month the group, which wants to impose Sharia across Nigeria, attacked mobile phone masts across the north of the country – accusing mobile phone companies of helping security agencies to monitor its members. Earlier in October witnesses said soldiers shot dead up to 30 civilians after a bomb attack on an army patrol in Maiduguri – accusations the army denied.
City residents say the latest trouble began on Monday afternoon when gunmen robbed a market.There are also reports that a gunman shot dead a traffic warden in the city close to a military checkpoint.Explosions then began to be heard at around 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT) – some residents say there were up to 15 blasts, the last one the loudest which shook the city.
Reports said soldiers sealed off nearly every street in the city centre when the attacks began and continued after dark. Some residents were unable to get home overnight. Lt Col Musa said no civilians were killed or injured.”There are no casualties, except that a soldier is wounded and that three terrorists were killed and four of them were arrested,” he told the BBC’s Newsday programme. The BBC’s Abdullahi Kaura in northern Nigeria says journalists face difficulties confirming casualties when covering such attacks as the authorities always try to downplay the situation.
In the incident earlier this month, soldiers in Maiduguri reportedly opened fire on a busy street after a bomb attack killed an army officer.Shops and homes were also torched, witnesses said.The army denied killing civilians although correspondents say it offered contradictory explanations about what had happened. Attacks in central and northern Nigeria blamed on Boko Haram have killed1,400 people since 2010.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Bloody Sunday again in Maiduguri, there has been an explosion accompanied by sounds of gunshots on Bama Road of Lagos Street in Maiduguri. That was same street were an explosion killed some soldiers about a week ago purportedly leading to retaliatory attacks on civilians and houses by security operatives, which finally led to the death of about 30 people.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The desire of every young undergraduate in Nigeria is to put on the uniform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and be addressed as a ‘corper’. It’s so sad how Chizoba met her death in a place that is like her home after serving in far north and surviving all the terror attacks where she served her fatherland. It’s so heart-breaking and I pray they get the murderers, These wicked suckers kill their fellow beings and make feast on them because they don’t see other humans as object, the leap between shooting guns and killing people is easy to make.
Continue reading to get the story
Fate was very cruel to 24-year-old Augusta Chizoba Ndukwu of Umufu-Amaimo, Ikeduru Local Government area of Imo State. She was gruesomely murdered by unknown persons at Upper Iweka area of the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State. It was quite sad that Augusta, who had survived a series of hostilities and bombings by the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, in Adamawa State, where she observed her one-year mandatory national youth service, would painfully meet her untimely death in a place she felt was her home.
Her voice was filled with joy when she spoke to her relatives in Owerri on phone, telling them that she had finally come home. She told them that she was at the luxurious park in Upper Iweka, informing them also that she would join them in Owerri the next morning. But she never lived to see the faces of her loved ones, as she was gruesomely murdered by unknown persons that fateful night. Daily Sun gathered that the deceased, a graduate of Banking and Finance from the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State, was found lying in the pool of her own blood at the notorious fly-over at Upper Iweka on September 12.
According to a family member and the Vice Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ) Imo State Council, Chief Chris Akaraonye, Chizoba left Yola, the capital of Adamawa State on September 11 where she was having her NYSC primary assignment. She was travelling to Onitsha en route Owerri but could not get to her final destination that time because it was already late.
Chief Akaraonye further said the deceased, who had boarded a luxurious bus belonging to a popular transport company (names withheld), called her relatives to inform them that she could not make it again to Owerri. She also informed them that she had decided to pass the night at the company’s motor park together with other passengers. However, according to him, the following day, the family of the deceased, including her fiancé, waited in anxiety for the arrival of Chizoba in Owerri but to no avail. They then started trying her mobile line, but it had been switched off.
“At first, we thought she had a low battery. But after waiting for almost the whole day, we realized it was not usual and we decided to make moves to know why somebody that spoke to us at 10 pm last night could not be reached on phone or could not get to Owerri. In the course of our doubts and fears, we started going through different police stations and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) formations along the Onitsha-Owerri Road to ascertain if she was involved in a motor accident.
It was when we came to Onitsha that we found her corpse at the Onitsha General Mortuary with gunshot wounds to her chest.” In the next morning, early passersby were shocked to their marrow when they beheld the gory sight of a lady lying in the pool of her own blood at the Upper Iweka axis with two travelling bags filled with children clothing and popcorn. One of the eyewitnesses who pleaded anonymity said that the deceased was a victim of ritual killers.
She confirmed that she was found lying at the Upper Iweka flyover with gunshot wounds on her chest and two travelling bags containing children clothes and popcorn beside her corpse. Though the police swiftly said the deceased could be the victim of an armed robbery attack, they also revealed that the bags were planted by the assailants to divert police investigations, stressing that the police had commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding the murder.
The Campaign for Democracy (CD), South East Zone has reacted to the incident, describing it as a sin against God and humanity. The group called for proper investigations into the matter with a view to unravelling the circumstances surrounding the senseless killing of the deceased. The Chairman, South East Zone, Dede Uzor. A. Uzor condemned the act while calling on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubarka to personally detail a crack team of investigative police officers to look into the death of the corps member. Dede Uzor further questioned the omission of the deceased’s name in the passengers’ manifest and the alleged role that the transport company played when they returned the bags of the deceased to Yola without contacting the police.
Also speaking on the incident, Chairman of Ndigbo Unity Forum, Mr. Augustine Chukwudum condemned the act, describing it as the most wicked act and cruelty ever meted out to any corps member in the history of the state. Mr. Chukwudum also said his group would mobilize to make sure that criminal elements are sacked from the commercial city. He said the presence of such criminals was hindering the development of commerce and industry in the city.
However, policemen attached to the Central Police Station, CPS, Onitsha led by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Mr. Abdul Yusuf said they have arrested three persons in connection with the death of the corps member, adding that they were still working to unravel the circumstances surrounding the murder of the deceased. The police said, though, that it could be possible that the girl was murdered at the park by some criminals who then took her body to the Upper Iweka where they kept two bags containing clothes belonging to a boy of six years just to divert police investigations.
According to the police, the deceased was not a victim of ritual killing. It was further gathered that the driver of the luxury bus that brought the deceased from Yola to Onitsha on that fateful night, the manager of the transport company and one other person whose identities were not yet known as at press time have been arrested by the police.
They were picked up to allegedly help give insight to the death of the corps member as well as explain how and why the management of the company swiftly returned the bags of the deceased to Yola without informing the police. When contacted, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ralph Uzoigwe confirmed that three persons have been arrested by the police to help them in the course of investigations.
He appealed to the general public to help the police with more information that could lead to the arrest of the real killers of the corps member.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Mixed reactions ranging from commendation to criticism, yesterday, trailed Sunday’s joint declaration of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida on the state of insecurity in the country.
While regional groups, including the Arewa Consultative Forum and Afenifere welcomed the intervention of the two elderstatesmen, the intervention received thumbs down from Ohanaeze which flayed the duo for failing to take heed during their separate stewardships of the country.
The Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, in its reaction dismissed the intervention as nothing new even as it affirmed that its national leader, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, himself a former Head of State, would not team up with the former rulers in their campaign.
The CPC spokesman, Engr. Rotimi Fashekin told Vanguard yesterday that Buhari had already categorized the Boko Haram insurgency as a variant of three forms with the political variant, allegedly embedded within the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Former President Obasanjo and former military President Ibrahim Babangida had in an unprecedented joint statement on Sunday appealed for peace in the country and suggested a strategic engagement with community stakeholders towards resolving the crisis.
Dialogue is the answer — ACF
Welcoming the joint plea of the former rulers, the ACF spokesman, Anthony Sani said: “What we have said is that there is no where in the world where force has ever worked on terrorism. We gave examples of Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and we have given example of Somalia and we came back home and said Yar’Adua used force in 2009.
“It was against that experience that we said let us try talking to them and we have been very consistent on that. We don’t want to give it a northern or religious colouration.
We support their idea — Afenifere
Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoronti while welcoming the intervention said: “It is a bit late as we had expected it before now. We were all waiting for that because they had to speak. I had once said the leaders who were supposed to speak have not done so because the Boko Haram is a menace and we cannot just look on and watch. I am sure that people will respect their views and halt these dastardly things.”
They are hypocritical — Ohanaeze
Ohanaeze Ndigbo on its part described the effort of the two former leaders as largely hypocritical, saying that the dialogue they are canvassing was never allowed during their respective tenures.
Engr. Ralph Ndigwe, National Publicity Secretary of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation told Vanguard: “There is nothing special about Obasanjo and Babangida calling for national dialogue or constructive engagement.
“When Obasanjo was in government for eight years, people were clamouring for national conference. Odi people reacted, they went and finished the whole village, ransacked every where and killed everybody because they killed one soldier. Today, he is out of government and talking about dialogue. Babangida did the same thing.
“Babangida and Obasanjo are senior members of the Council of States let them go to the Council of State and ask the council to call for dialogue; they don’t have to continue to deceive us through all these paper talks”.
The CPC also demurred, saying that there was nothing new in the joint statement from the two former leaders.
It said: “These people have not said anything new, except we want to be economical with the truth. Quite a number of people have said it in the past “
Insisting that the situation demands a political solution, he said the CPC national leader would not join the refrain of the two men, saying that Buhari was a marked man by his critics who would twist anything he says to suit their political tunes.
“The unfortunate thing is that there are many people who are waiting to hear what Gen. Buhari says and use it for cheap political points and that is why the man has often refrained from making statements because he knows that we are not dealing with sincere people but we are dealing with very dishonest people, the party said.”
“Buhari is not like one of the normal Nigerian people that are ready to lie through their teeth. Buhari has never believed that getting political power is a do-or-die affair. He behaves in true service to the Nigerian people.”
Affirming that Buhari would not join the chorus of the two former leaders, he said:
“You don’t need to expect a statement from him because he has said Boko Haram is in three parts, Boko Haram is in three variants and one of the variants is the political variant which the Jonathan government represents.
He also said there is the original Boko Haram formed by Yusuf and that original Boko Haram is disgruntled and is seeking its pound of flesh from the Nigerian state for killing its leader extra-judicially and then you have the criminal Boko Haram that is involved in all sorts of criminal activities.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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