Personnel
Three UN peacekeepers wounded in Mali attack
Three United Nations peacekeepers were on Sunday seriously injured in a rocket attack on a military base in the north of the conflict-ridden Sahel state, UN and local officials said. Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for the UN’s MINUSMA mission in Mali, said the attack took place on a base in Tessalit – in the north – which houses Malian soldiers, UN peacekeepers and French troops. Three peacekeepers were “gravely wounded” in the attack, he added. A Tessalit tribal leader, who declined to be named, said that the camp had come under rocket fire, hitting the barracks of peacekeepers from Chad. “The situation is currently calm and under control,” he added. Mali has been battling a brutal jihadist insurgency since 2012, when Islamist fighters first emerged during a rebellion by ethnic Tuareg sep...
Anambra CP charges officers to protect themselves, resist further attacks
The Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Monday Kuryas, has charged the personnel to protect themselves against attacks by hoodlums as well as reclaim police facilities from them. Kurya gave the directive in a lecture held for the police management team, Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers and Heads of Police Tactical Operational Units in the command. This was contained in a statement by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, which was made available to newsmen in Awka on Saturday. The statement noted that Kuryas charged the officers to be undeterred by the attacks by gunmen and resist such attacks on security personnel and infrastructure in the command. “The CP charged the officers to be undeterred by the recent unfortunate incidents of attacks on person...
Ohanaeze warns Nigerian Army to stop mass arrest of Igbo youths
Ohanaeze Ndigbo has raised alarm over the alleged massive arrest of Igbo youths by the Nigerian army and taken to unknown destinations. Ohanaeze said the mass arrest is going on in Ohaji and Oguta Communities of Imo State by military personnel believed to be from 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri. The arrested youths were alleged to be members of Eastern Security Network, ESN, according to the apex Igbo group. Ohanaeze wondered why the army were arresting Igbo youths who bear no arms and allow Fulani herdsmen to move around with AK 47 riffles. They called on the Chief of army staff to immediately stop the mass arrests. The Professor George Obiozor led Ohanaeze in a statement signed by its spokesman, Alex Ogbonnia said: “The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to ongoing massiv...
US: Chad rebels heading towards capital from north
The United States said rebel fighters in Chad appeared to be moving towards the capital N’Djamena and ordered non-essential staff to leave, warning of possible violence. A spokesman for the rebel Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) said its fighters had “liberated” the province of Kanem, some 220 km (136 miles) from the capital N’Djamena, but the government denied this. “The authors of these false statements are not even on the ground, but somewhere in Europe,” the government said in a message posted to Facebook. A day earlier the British government urged its citizens to leave Chad because of information that two rebel convoys on the move, one near the town of Faya, some 770 km (478 miles) northeast of N’Djamena, and another by the town of Mao, the provincial capital of Kanem. On S...
Navy’s newest offshore survey vessel begins homeward voyage to Nigeria
The Nigerian Navy (NN), says its newest offshore survey vessel, NNS LANA, has began her homeward journey to the country. This is contained in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by the Director of Information, Naval Headquarters, Commodore Suleman Dahun. He, however, said the ship will visit ports in Lisbon, Las Palmas, Banjul and Tema-Ghana, before heading to Nigeria on May 17. According to Dahun, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Awwal Gambo, had addressed the ship’s company. The CNS noted that the foremost desire of every littoral state is to have a fleet with the right mix of platforms to meet its operational objectives. Gambo acknowledged that the homebound voyage of NNS LANA was another milestone in the NN’s fleet recapitalisation efforts. He added that the induction of N...
Gunmen kill six, injure many in Plateau village
Fresh attack on Thursday night claimed six lives as gunmen opened fire on some villagers at Wereng village, Riyom local government area of Plateau State, killing six and injuring three villagers. The attack occurred at the time villagers returned from their day’s businesses and were preparing to retire for the night when sporadic gunshots jolted them Before the incident, there were rumours being circulated that the villagers may be attacked any moment but it was unclear if security agencies acted on the information. Wereng has consistently been under attack in over a decade now and all appeals for the dastardly act to end have been rebuffed by the attackers. Although Operation Safe Haven on peace mission in the State did not confirm the incident at the time of this report because the spoke...
Minister: Nigerian government worried about rising unemployment rate
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said the federal government is worried over the rising unemployment rate in the country. Speaking at the 2nd Shakeholders’ Meeting on Expatriate Quota Administration organized by the Citizenship and Business Department of the Ministry of Interior, the Minister said: “Anyone that is not worried about the unemployment rate in the country is not a patriot.” He lamented that the unemployment rate of 33 per cent released by the National Bureau of Statistics was indeed worrisome and a wake up call that something urgently needed to be done to keep Nigerians employed and drastically reduce the unemployment rate. The Minister, who called on all stakeholders at the meeting to ensure quality inputs were brought to the table that will lead to the produ...
Konshisha crisis: Benue governor apologizes to families of slain soldiers
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has apologized to the bereaved families of the 12 soldiers who were ambushed and killed about a week ago by armed bandits at Bonta community in Konshisha Local Government Area, LGA, of the state. The Governor also condoled President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief of Army Staff and the leadership of the armed forces in the country over the murder of the military personnel in the state. Speaking Monday at the funeral of the personnel at the Wurukum Military Cemetery in Makurdi the Governor who condemned the murder and described it as unfortunate promised to collaborate with the military to apprehend the masterminds of the dastardly act. “I condole Mr President who is the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces, the Chief of Army Staff and indeed the leadershi...
Nigeria police deploy SWAT officers to states
The minister of police affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, says the officers of the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team have been deployed to state commands. Mohammed Adamu, former inspector-general of police, had constituted the SWAT team, following the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad in the wake of the October 2020 EndSARS protests. Speaking when he featured on a Channels Television programme on Friday, Dingyadi said the SWAT officers have concluded their training, and have been posted to the states they were drafted from. “They have ended their training, and they have been posted to the state police commands that brought them for training,” he said. “They are there with them and they are performing these functions of the SWAT.” The creation of the new tactical team had receive...
Nasarawa first lady restates commitment to fight violence against women
Nasarawa State First Lady, Hajiya Silifat Abdullahi Sule, has reaffirmed her resolve to fight all forms of violence against women. Silifat Sule, stated this while playing host to a delegation from Adogi who were in her office on Tuesday, on a thank you visitfor sponsoring the medical treatment of an infant, Ruqayya, who was raped last year. Recal that on May 27, 2020, a three-month-old baby, Ruqayya from Adogi, Lafia local government area of Nasarawa state was brutally raped by a 27 year old serial rapist, Ahmadu Yaro. Yaro had since been nabbed by Personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Nasarawa state command. Wife of the governor, who was overjoyed seeing Ruqayya looking healthy and playful after several surgical procedures at Jos University Teaching Hospital (J...
Imo attack: Inmates who voluntarily return to get amnesty – minister
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has urged all escaped inmates from Owerri Custodial Centre on Monday to voluntarily return to custody and be given amnesty against the possible consequences of escaping from lawful custody. The Minister, who disclosed this when he visited the Owerri Custodial Centre on Tuesday, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s stand to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice, adding that additional security would be provided for all custodial centres for the safety of personnel and inmates as well as the security of the facilities. In a statement by the ministry’s director of press, A.B. Lere-Adams, Aregbesola bemoaned the pattern of syndicated attacks on custodial centres in Nigeria, noting that full investigation would commence immediately to unrav...
Troop arrests 23 ‘bandits’ in Plateau
The Operation Safe Haven also known as the Special Task Force (STF) has arrested 17 suspected kidnappers and five Armed robbers for attempted kidnapping and robbery in at Lishin village, in Pengana Chiefdom in Bassa and Lamingo in Jos North Local Government Areas of Plateau State. Commander, Operation Safe Haven, Major General Dominic Onyemulu stated this while parading the suspects at the Command headquarters in Jos and vowed to make his area of operation uncomfortable for kidnappers and other criminal elements. “On the 16 of March, troops of Operation Safe Haven responded to a distress call on an attempted kidnap of one Alh. Gambo Yawurp from his residence at Lishin village in Pengana Chiefdom Bassa LGA. “Troops in collection with vigilante members and locals foiled the attempt kidnappin...
