Enemies
PANDEF cautions Nigerian government over Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho, others
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has cautioned the Federal Government over some of its recent actions, warning that the government should consider the consequences of treating with contempt, the 16-Point Agenda it presented to President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2016. The group also condemned the midnight raid on the house of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho and cautioned the Government’s plan to identify the sponsors of the rearrested leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. The socio-cultural organization said the action of the government has caused the Niger Delta youths to declare a vote of no-confidence on PANDEF because it was the leaders of the region that requested them to stay action when they took a decision to cri...
IMN: Sheikh El-Zakzaky is not an enemy of Nigeria
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) says that its leader, Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, is not an enemy of Nigeria. The Islamic group also says that the message of El-Zakzaky differs from the struggle by leader, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and the secessionist, Sunday Igboho. The Coordinator, Resource Forum of IMN, Prof. Abdullahi Danladi, gave the clarification on Saturday, following the recent social media pictures of El-Zakzaky, Kanu and Igboho displayed side-by-side. “Recently, the social media went awash with the pictures of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky framed on both sides with the pictures of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho. “Beneath the pictures is the caption: ‘Buhari is respecting Federal Character in the fight against the enemies of Nigeria’ was posted. “First, Shei...
Ethiopia says army can re-enter seized Tigray capital Mekelle in weeks
The Ethiopian army could re-enter the seized Tigray regional capital of Mekelle within weeks if needed, a spokesman for a government task force said on Wednesday, adding that government-allied Eritrean forces had withdrawn from the region. It was the first public statement by a federal government official since Mekelle was taken by Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces this week in a major turn of events after eight months of conflict in which thousands of people have been killed. read more People in Mekelle, where communications were down on Wednesday, said on Monday incoming Tigrayan fighters had been greeted with cheers. There were similar scenes in the northern town of Shire on Wednesday, where Eritrean forces had pulled out and Tigrayan forces had entered, residents said. Peo...
Police dispel report of armed Fulani invasion of Ekiti market
The Ekiti State Police Command has dispelled reports that armed Fulani bandits had stormed Ado Ekiti, the state capital. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo, said it is important to allay the fear that engulfed residents of the town when the news made the rounds on Wednesday. A report had trended online on Wednesday that a truck loaded with Hausa-Fulani men, all armed with AK-47 rifles and other weapons, had arrived at the Shasha market, along Ikere Road in Ado Ekiti. Mobayo, in a statement signed by the Command’s spokesman, ASP Sunday Abutu, and made available to reporters on Wednesday night, explained that the report was concocted by purveyors of fake news, and should be disregarded by residents of the town. The statement, entitled “No Armed Hausa/Fulani Invaded Shasha Marke...
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...
Kwara governor: Let’s fight terrorism, poverty, not ourselves
Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara has called on Nigerians to unite in the fight against terrorism, banditry and mass poverty. AbdulRazaq made the appeal at the closing ceremony of 2 Division Inter-Brigade Corporals and Below Competition 2021, at the Sobi Barack Ilorin on Friday. The governor described these challenges as “our common enemies” and urged citizens to stop seeing one another as enemies. According to him, these are elements bent on terrorising the people and tearing the nation apart. He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his patience and support for the security agencies to discharge their duties as well as commitment to national peace and security. “The security agencies, particularly the military will continue to symbolise the unity of the people and the strength of t...
President Buhari seeks international support for peaceful transition in Chad
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday called on the international community to support a peaceful transition from military to democratic government in Chad. He made this known at a summit put together to discuss recent developments in Chad after the death of President Idris Deby last April. At the summit, Mr Buhari called on: “development partners and countries particularly France, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Russia; the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union, as well as other friendly and partner nations to support the transition framework put in place by Chad’s Transition Military Council led by General Mahamat Idris Deby.” ‘‘The need to support the Chadian government to effectively carry out its planned 18-month transition is sacrosanc...
Nigeria’s president under fire over surging violence
With his country ensnared in mounting jihadist violence, bandit attacks and kidnappings, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is under fire from allies and enemies alike for appearing incapable of tackling the security crisis. April saw an almost daily toll of bloody assaults and abductions in Africa’s most populous nation. In the past week alone, at least 240 people have been killed and more than four dozen kidnapped, according to tallies by local media. The fatalities included 19 Fulani herders gunned down in southeastern Anambra state; five students in the northwest who were shot to death days after gunmen snatched them from their campus; 31 troops, slain in a jihadist ambush in the Lake Chad region; and nine police killed by cattle thieves in northwestern Kebbi state. Senators, local go...
NULGE to occupy homes of lawmakers supporting bill to scrap LGAs
File Photo The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) is planning a protest to occupy the country homes of all federal lawmakers in support of a bill calling for the scrapping of local government councils. The union says all in support of the bill are enemies of Nigeria and democracy, and were insensitive to the plight and governance needs of Nigerians in rural areas. NULGE president Ambali Olatunji spoke in reaction to the bill before the House of Representatives seeking to abolish the third tier of government. The bill is being sponsored by a House of Representatives member, Bob Solomon, PDP-Rivers. Olatunji said if the bill was not killed immediately, the workers would in the next few days stage a protest at the National Assembly, after which they would storm the country ho...
Ogun governor: Our council chairmen will be elected, not selected
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has assured the people of the state that the forthcoming local government election will be free and fair. He added that the next council chairmen would not be appointed, but elected by the people. Prince Abiodun who made this known in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital while welcoming new members into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), urged the new members to continue to work hard towards the continued development of the party and the state. “Very soon, the time table for the election will be released, we will not appoint chairmen for you at all, the Chairmanship will not be by appointment, it will be by election, everyone should continue to work hard,” he said. Abiodun while noting that his administration would continue to adopt the bottom...
Senate president condemns attacks on correctional facilities
President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan has decried recent attacks on Police formations and Correctional facilities in Imo. A statement by Mr Ola Awoniyi, the senate presidents Special Assistant on Media, said Lawan described those responsible for the attacks as enemies of the people and country. Lawan stated this in Owerri on Friday while inaugurating a road project completed by Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo. He said that the aim of the attackers was probably to cause a distraction for the Imo government or even the Federal Government. The road which was named after a former Senate President, Late Chief Evan Enwerem, was one of the infrastructural projects inaugurated to mark Uzodinma’s one year in office. Lawan advised the people to take ownership of the projects, utilise them well and protect t...
Saudi Arabia executes three soldiers for ‘cooperating with enemy’
Saudi Arabia has executed three soldiers convicted of “high treason” and “cooperating with the enemy”, with a statement from the kingdom’s defence ministry saying the trio was sentenced to death by a specialist court after a fair trial. The state-run Saudi Press Agency identified the men as soldiers working in the defence ministry. It did not elaborate on how the men aided the kingdom’s enemies. The ministry did not name the “enemy” either but the executions on Saturday were carried out in the southern province bordering Yemen where Saudi Arabia has been at war for more than six years against the Iran-backed Houthi fighters. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing global scrutiny over its human rights record since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the kingdom’s Istanbul co...
