Chibok
Rivals say Boko Haram chief dead as jihadists battle for control
When Nigeria’s military claimed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had been badly wounded in an air strike 2016, the jihadist chief soon appeared in a video to deny another of the many reports of his impending death. Over the weekend, it was an audio from a rival jihadist group finally claiming Shekau had died, detonating explosives to kill himself rather than surrender after a raid on his forest stronghold by his Islamic State-allied enemies. The Boko Haram warlord’s death marks a major shift in Nigeria’s conflict, potentially allowing ISIS jihadists to consolidate and further challenge an already stretched army in their long war. In the audio obtained by AFP, a voice apparently of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander Abu Musab Al-Barnawi confirmed Shekau killed himself whi...
ISWAP confirms Boko Haram leader’s death
TIME The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) militant group said in an audio recording heard by Reuters on Sunday that Abubakar Shekau, leader of rival Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, was dead. Shekau died around May 18 after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle, a person purporting to be ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said on the audio recording. “Abubakar Shekau, God has judged him by sending him to heaven,” he can be heard saying. Two people familiar with al-Barnawi told Reuters the voice on the recording was that of the ISWAP leader. A Nigerian intelligence report shared by a government official and Boko Haram researchers have also said Shekau is dead. Last month, Nigeria’s military said it was investigating She...
President Buhari mourns Senator Al-Hassan’s demise
File Photo President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he is deeply saddened by the death of Hajiya Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, “Mama Taraba’’, who was Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development during his first term in office. The Nigerian Mission in Cairo, Egypt, announced the passing of the former minister and Senator. Buhari in a statement issued by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said: “The demise of the notable politician, Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan has left many saddened. “Both in office and out of office, her concern for the education of the girl child, especially those of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, who were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists, shone through. “Her death is a huge loss not only to the female gender activist community but to the country as a whole. Our...
NANS asks Nigerian government to declare abductors of students terrorists
Following the gale of abductions of school children in the Northern part of the country, the National Association of Nigerian Student (NANS), has advised the federal government to list bandits perpetrating such horrendous crime as terrorists. Newsmen averred that the abduction of over 300 schoolgirls from Government Girls Junior Secondary School, Jangebe, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State in the early hours of Friday, was an indictment and clear indication of the failure of the nation’s security apparatuses. Again, NANS advised the government to convey a National Security Summit towards galvanizing the best brains in providing ideas and innovation to combating the country’s multi-faceted security challenges. In a statement in Ado-Ekiti, on Sunday, NANS National President, Com. Su...
Governor Masari: Kidnapped Katsina schoolboys moved to Zamfara
Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, says the schoolboys kidnapped last week have been moved by their captors to a forest in neighbouring Zamfara State. Gunmen invaded the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, on Friday, December 11, 2020, with over 300 students unaccounted a week later. In an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, Masari said most of the abducted students are believed to be in the forest in Zamfara. “Right now the security forces have surrounded all these places where the children are thought to be,” he said. Masari had said earlier this week that the government has already commenced negotiations with the kidnappers. He reiterated on Wednesday that this was to ensure the students are returned unhurt. He also disclosed that 400 students ar...
CAN: Nigeria almost becoming a failed nation
File Photo The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the abduction of 333 students of Government Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State. CAN also said that the worsening security situation across the country shows that Nigeria is “almost becoming a failed nation.” The group’s statement by Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant (Media and Communications) to the CAN President, described the incident as another tragic chapter in the history of the country. Newsmen reported how 333 schoolboys of the school were abducted on Friday by the gunmen. A terrorist group, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the raid. The federal government said security operatives have already located where the abducted students were taken to and they “would soon be rescued”. CAN expressed its sadne...
Families of kidnapped Katsina schoolboys fear time running out
Families of more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys worried they may be brainwashed or held for years as security forces combed a vast forest on Wednesday for armed captors possibly from the jihadist Boko Haram movement. According to an unverified audio clip, the Islamist group – whose name means “Western education is forbidden” – was responsible for last week’s raid on an all-boys school in the town of Kankara in northwestern Katsina state. Parents fear time may be running out: Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters. “They will radicalise our children if the government does not act fast to help us rescue them,” said trader Shuaibu Kankara, crying as he spoke from home. His 13-year-old son Annas was among those abducted from the Government Science school on...
Zamfara shuts down 10 schools to prevent abduction of students like in Katsina
The Zamfara government has ordered that 10 schools across the state be shut down over fears students could be abducted by bandits. The decision comes on the heels of last week’s attack on Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State that has left at least 333 students unaccounted for and believed to be in custody of the kidnappers. Zamfara’s Commissioner for Education, Ibrahim Abdullahi, announced at a media briefing on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 that the affected schools are those that share borders with Katsina, Kaduna, and Sokoto, all similarly troubled by the activities of bandits. “We will not want what happened in Katsina to happen in Zamfara State,” he said. The affected schools are GSS, Tsafe; GSS, Magaji; GASS, Zurmi; GGSS, Moriki; GDSS, Nasarawa Mailayi; GDSS, Gu...
Senators decry executive’s disregard for resolutions on insecurity
Federal lawmakers, on Tuesday, deplored the federal government’s continued disregard for Senate’s resolutions on the issue of national security. The Senators spoke while contributing to a motion on the recent kidnapping of students at the Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. The Red Chamber had twice called for the replacement of the service chiefs. The lawmakers, in their various contributions to the motion, expressed deep frustration over the recurring issues of killings and kidnappings across the country and the inability of the security agencies to address the challenges. They insisted that the service chiefs had overstayed and should allow other officers with fresh ideas to take over. Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger) said, “Every day, people are dying and nothing ...
Senate summons minister, service chiefs over Kankara kidnapping
The Senate, on Tuesday, invited the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd.), service chiefs and heads of other security agencies to brief it on measure being taken to rescue the abducted students of Government Science School, Kankara Katsina State. This followed a motion by Senator Bello Mandiya (APC, Katsina South), who noted that the abduction is coming on the heels of yet to be resolved abduction of 270 girls at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in 2014, and abduction of about 100 school girls at Government Girls Science and Technical School, Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018. He expressed concern that like the other incidents of school children abduction that took place in Chibok and Dapchi, if no immediate action was taken to rescue Kankara School boys, their fate...
ActionAid urges Nigerian government to address issues causing agitations
Following the organisation’s 42nd meeting held virtually as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said it has deemed it fit as citizens of the nation and as active agents of change to make comments, observations and recommendations on the state of the nation. The post ActionAid urges Nigerian government to address issues causing agitations appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
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Amnesty worried about frequent school abductions in Nigeria
Human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, says it is concerned that frequent abductions in Nigerian schools is a danger to the education of millions of children. Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, said on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 that attacks on schools and abductions of children are war crimes that should not be tolerated. Her comments were made in the wake of the abduction of 27 students of the Government Science College, Kagara in Niger State on Wednesday during an attack that left one student shot to death. Three staff members and 12 members of their families were also abducted at the school located in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger. Ojigho sounded a note of warning that Nigerian authorities must act immediately to prevent attacks on schools, and prote...