Terrorists
NAF chief: Terrorists’ll be brought to their knees
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, has said the Nigerian military will win the war on insecurity in the North-East and other parts of the country. Amao said this when he received the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, at the Nigerian Airforce Headquarters in Abuja. This was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by Gabriel Odu for NIDCOM Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit. According to the statement, “Air Marshal Oladayo Amao believes that with the professional competence of the air servicemen and women, and well-boosted morale, the terrorists and their kind will be brought to their knees. “CAS said the NAF is willing to collaborate with Nigerian Professionals in diaspora in relevant fields as it is imperative to tap into the enormo...
OPC berates ex-COAS for equating group with Boko Haram
The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) yesterday berated a former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, for comparing the group with the terrorist organisation, Boko Haram. In a statement, the group’s newly-elected President, Mr. Wasiu Afolabi, said the former army chief displayed a dangerous level of mischief, prejudice and narrow-mindedness by equating what it termed a pro-democracy group like the OPC with a world-acclaimed terrorist organisation. Afolabi maintained that the comments by Dambazzau were an attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it, insisting that the move will not work. “We shall not succumb to this cheap attempt at blackmail and negative profiling. OPC is not, has never been and will never be a terrorist organisation. Nobody should link us or lik...
Nigerian Army seeks media support to end insurgency
The Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Faruk Yahaya, has called on the media to support the ongoing operation to rout Boko Haram terrorists out of the country. The theatre commander made the call at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri on Saturday during a luncheon organised in honour of the media practitioners in Borno State. Gen Yahaya expressed appreciation to the media, describing practitioners as critical stakeholders in the fight against the terrorists. He added that the media as an important component could enhance operations when effectively harnessed and deployed. The theatre commander charged the media to be reliable partners by effectively deploying its skills and competence in the support of the operations in the North-east. “Media should make effort to deny the crimi...
Sheikh Khalid: Politicians, religious leaders behind Nigeria’s insecurity
Renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid, on Thursday, alleged that some influential people, including religious leaders and politicians, were the real sponsors of insecurity in some parts of the country. He stated this in Abuja during the public presentation of a book titled, ‘The Infinite Light, The Pride of Humanity,’ authored by Sheikh Fathullah Gulen a spiritual leader of Hizmet. Khalid claimed that bandits, who were predominantly youths of northern extraction, had been terrorising innocent citizens because they were getting engaged by some prominent politicians and religious leaders working towards the Balkanisation of the nation. So, he urged the government to address the issues of education and unemployment as a solution to the security challenge. The Muslim scholar sa...
Mozambique army claims militants killed in battle
Mozambique’s military said on Sunday a “significant” number of militants had been killed during a battle over a key northern town and gas hub captured by the Islamic State (ISIS) last month. Palma was seized by the jihadists during coordinated attacks on 24 March, in what was seen as the biggest escalation of the insurgency ravaging the north of the African nation since 2017. The true death toll is not yet known, but thousands were displaced from the town of some 75 000 and the French energy giant Total suspended operations at its multibillion-dollar plant. On Sunday, the army escorted officials and journalists through the ravaged town, claiming a “significant” number of militants had been killed, and that they had now secured the surrounding area. Commander Chongo Vidigal, leading the mil...
Nigerian army urges journalists to protect national interests
The Commander, Sector 2, Operation Lafiya Dole, Adamu Nura, has appealed to journalists to prioritise Nigeria’s national interest in their reporting. Nura made the appeal, on Friday, while hosting members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), who paid him a courtesy visit in Damaturu. “National interest is more important than any other interests, including public interest; because when you protect national interest, public interest will automatically be covered,” he said. He, therefore, enjoined journalists to always cooperate with security agencies, to protect the national interest in their reporting “and avoid giving any form of publicity to terrorists”. “Security is everybody’s business, without security nothing can be achieved,” he said. He added that the sector was ready to build...
ECWA: Terrorists tactically taking over Northern Nigeria
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has raised the alarm, saying terrorist groups are tactically expanding their activities and making incursions into other parts of the North. Addressing a press conference in Jos on Wednesday on the insecurity ravaging the country, ECWA President, Dr. Stephen Panya, said “Boko Haram and ISWAP have destroyed tens of thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and many Christians and Christian communities have been deliberately targeted and destroyed. “It is clear that these terrorist groups are gradually but tactically expanding their activities and making incursions into other parts of the north and even beyond, and the apparent lack of unity in the fight against these terrorist groups, and the inability of government to deal...
IPOB: We’ll not spare killer herdsmen in South-East, South-South
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Wednesday accused Nigerian Security agencies of aiding and abating murderous herdsmen to kill Biafran people of Ebonyi and Enugu States IPOB while reacting to the alleged killing of herdsmen in Ebonyi State, through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said they in IPOB and ESN are chasing Fulani terrorists, herdsmen, in the whole of South East and South-South and we will spare terrorists when they get them. IPOB statement read in part, “It is now clear and open to the public how Nigeria security agencies are aiding and abetting murderous Fulani terrorists herdsmen to kill our Biafran people in Ebonyi and Enugu States. “Nigeria security agencies are giving them cover to attack the villagers in these two states because Nigeria Army and ...
US accuses Nigeria of significant human rights abuses
US Embassy in South Africa The United States has accusesd Nigeria of significant human rights abuses in its latest ‘’Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020’’, released Wednesday by the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. In the report titled ‘’’Nigeria 2020 Human Rights Report, Executive Summary’’, the US accused Nigeria of ‘’significant’’ human rights abuses, which include: unlawful and arbitrary killings by both government and non-state actors; forced disappearances by the government, terrorists, and criminal groups; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government and terrorist groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. The 102-page report also accused the federal government of ‘’arbitrary d...
Governor Makinde: Nigeria’s redemption will begin from Oyo
Governor of Oyo State, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that God will redeem Nigeria from its current challenges of insecurity, ethnic and religious tension starting from Oyo State. The governor, who dwelt on the uniqueness of figure seven, said that God will use the seventh election in the Fourth Republic coming up in 2023 to get Nigeria to perfection. According to him, the fact that Oyo State currently produced the Seventh President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), as well as the Worldwide President of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) is a sign that God loves Oyo State and would redeem the country starting from Oyo. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor also challenged Nige...
Group urges service chiefs to fish out criminal elements
Following the activities of armed bandits in the country, group has charged the new service chiefs to address the current Insecurity situation in the North East, particularly Maiduguri, which they noted,was the epicenter of insecurity in the country. By way of appeal the group urge the new security heads adopt a new strategy, hit the ground running by relocating to the theatre of the war against terrorists for at least six months in the first instance and not national tour. In a statement, Wednesday, the experts operating under the aegis of Coalition of Concerned Nigeria Security Experts noted that two months after the current security chiefs assumed office, insecurity was assuming a new dimension. In the statement by its National Coordinator, Prof. Otedola Adekunle and National Secretary,...
Sheikh Gumi: Nigerians’ll regret it if Isa Pantami is removed
Renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, says Nigerians will regret it if embattled Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, is removed from office. Gumi, who recently met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and recommended special courts to try bandits and kidnappers, also said the country needed more people like Pantami in government. The controversial cleric spoke on Monday in an interview with Roots TV monitored by newsmen. He said, “All his (Pantami’s) actions, one hundred percent, shows he is not a terrorist. Those who are terrorists are after his life. The minister should continue. His presence there is fighting the terrorist ideology. “Show me one person he has killed. He has not killed anybody. He has not ordered the killing of anybody. The man is stabi...