The Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development, Monday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack his service chiefs, accusing the military of deploying massive strength during the #EndSARS protests in parts of the country, thereby leaving the zone at the mercy of Boko Haram, an Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists. According to the elders, scores of civilians were killed as a result of the strategic and operational blunders, which they argued, was avoidable, had greater tact been adopted. In a statement signed by the chairman, Engr. Zana Goni, the North East elders said pro-active intelligence would have revealed this lapse to the military high command, had the service chiefs not been lethargic in their responsibilities. Consequently, the elders, for the um...
The Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed compounds, housing Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists at Kaza on the Gulumba Gana – Kumshe axis of Borno. The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said that scores of terrorists were killed in the attack. Enenche said the air raid was in continuation of the sustained offensive against insurgents in the North East. He said that the air strike was executed on Tuesday, following credible intelligence and confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions indicating a resurgence of terrorists’ activities in the settlement. According to him, the identified locations within the settlement were therefore attacked ...
The incessant power tussle, ethnic tension and failure to actualise the establishment of a caliphate in the Sahel in the top echelon of Boko Haram/Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist groups are forcing their members to lay down their arms, the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has said. In a statement Friday, the MNJTF said 47 terrorists recently surrendered to its troops in the Lake Chad and surrounding areas. Timothy Antigha, the Chief of Military Public Information, MNJTF N’Djamena – said in the statement that the terrorists surrendered with their families in Sector 1 of the MNJTF. He said a member of the group, who admitted to have participated in various attacks on Banki, Fotokol, Gambarou Ngala, New Marte, Chikun Gudu, among others, had expressed frustration w...
Jihadists shot dead 10 Nigerian soldiers in two incidents in the country’s restive northeast on Monday, security sources said. The assailants gunned down eight troops in an attack on a military convoy near Kumulla village, roughly 40km southwest of regional capital Maiduguri, two sources told AFP. Both sources spoke on anonymity because they were not authorised to pass on information to the media. Hours later, two soldiers were killed in a separate “firefight” after a military patrol encountered a group of insurgents in Kolore village, around 50km west of Maiduguri, the sources said. The latest losses for the Nigerian military come after at least 35 troops were killed last week in an attack by fighters loyal to the so-called Islamist State group near Kumulla. Jihadists have waged a decade-...
The Defence Headquarters says the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji has eliminated scores of bandits in an air attack on their camp in part of Kwiambana Forest in Zamfara State on July 10. The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Enenche said the attack followed a discovery that a group of structures hidden under the dense forest vegetation served as hideouts for suspected Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) elements and fighters under the notorious armed bandit kingpin, Dogo Gede. According to him, the Air Component, therefore, dispatched a force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships to attack the location. “The attack aircraft took turns in engaging the target ca...
Gunmen, believed to be either Boko Haram or ISWAP, on Saturday, attacked three communities in Borno State, killing five herdsmen and stealing 480 cows, a government official has said. Sources said the insurgents, who were all armed with assault rifles, attacked three villages – Moduri, Kelewa and Ngudori in Magumeri Local Government Area around 6.30 pm on Saturday. Magumeri is one of the local government areas that share conventional boundaries with Gubio and Monguno where ISWAP staged coordinated repeated attacks that claimed the lives of over 120 persons. The local government is listed among the unsafe communities of Borno State by both the state government and the United Nations. A local vigilante operative, Bunu Malam, confirmed the attack, saying “it was yet another sad day for our pe...
Five rebels and two soldiers were killed early Tuesday when jihadists crossing from Nigeria attacked a military position in northern Cameroon, sources said. The overnight attack took place at Soueram, a village close to the Nigerian border in Cameroon’s Far North region, an army colonel and a local official told AFP. “Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed” in the assault, while five jihadists died in the counter-attack, the colonel said. He attributed the attack to Islamic State West Africa Province, a splinter group of Nigeria’s Boko Haram, which has led a bloody 11-year campaign against perceived western influence. An army vehicle was destroyed and the jihadists made off with a piece of heavy weaponry, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A local leader, who also asked not to be i...