Boko Haram: Reject abortion option for 214 rescued pregnant women, group urges FG

The Director-General, Project for Human Development (PHD), Mr Jerry Okwuosa, on Friday urged the Federal Government to declare the plight of rescued pregnant women a national emergency.

Okwuosa, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said the government should also reject the proposed abortion option.

The PHD director-general was reacting to the abortion option by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Face of arrested alleged Boko Haram fuel & foodstuff supplier

The alleged Boko Haram fuel and food supplier 

Military authorities prosecuting the battle to dislodge the remnants of the Boko Haram terror group from Sambisa forest have arrested the supplier of fuel and diesel to the terrorists for use in the camps.

The arrest  of the suspect whose picture is shown above, according to sources, followed the killing of several of the terrorists who at one point, tried to ambush Nigerian soldiers in the forest but met their waterloo as soldiers who knew the modus operandi of Boko Haram, had prepared for the ambush.

In the footage of the air and ground bombardment of the camps of the terrorists, many of the terrorists in their hundreds were seen jumping into several pick up vans, trucks and motorcycles and fleeing at very top speed even inside the forest.

FG denies Boko Haram’s abduction of 500 children

Nigeria's government has denied that militant Islamist group Boko Haram abducted 500 children from the north-eastern town of Damasak.

I t would be recalled that a former resident said on Tuesday that the militants had taken away about 500 boys when they fled the town earlier this month.

Government spokesman, Mike Omeri said the number was lower, but he could not say exactly how many had been seized.

Regional forces had recaptured Damasak, a trading town, earlier in March.

Again, Boko Haram kidnaps over 400 women, children in Damasak

While the Nigerian military is still basking in the euphoria of defeating the dreaded Boko Haram sect by recapturing most of the towns and cities in their territory few days to the elections, reports reaching The Mega StarNews on Tuesday said the sect  has kidnapped more than 400 women and children from the northern town of Damasak that was freed this month by troops from Niger and Chad.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the figure, but the Islamist group has previously carried out mass kidnappings.

Boko Haram slaughter wives they forcefully married as they engage in showdown with troops

Dozens of Nigerian women who were forced to marry Boko Haram fighters were reportedly slaughtered by their “husbands” before a battle with troops in the northeast town of Bama, multiple witnesses said Thursday.

Five witnesses who recounted the massacres to AFP said the Islamist militants feared they would be killed by advancing soldiers or separated from their wives when they fled the town.

They killed the women to prevent them from subsequently marrying soldiers or other so-called non-believers, they added.

Nigerian troops discover Boko Haram ‘bomb factory’ – DHQ

Nigeria’s military said on Friday that it had uncovered a Boko Haram bomb-making factory in the northeastern town of Buni Yadi after soldiers retook the town from the insurgents.

Islamist fighters captured the town in Yobe state in August last year as the group seized swathes of territory in the crisis-hit northeast.

The military announced that it had wrested back control last Saturday.

APC gives kudos to military for onslaught against Boko Haram

The Presidential Campaign Organisation of All Progressives Congress (APC), has applauded the Armed Forces recent victories in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Director of Media and Publicity of the organisation, Malam Garba Shehu, said the achievement was commendable.

Shehu stated that nobody could pretend to be ignorant of the huge progress that the military had made in the counter-insurgency war in the north eastern part of the country.

Buhari vows to ‘lead from the front’ battle against Boko Haram

Presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday vowed to “lead from the front” in the fight against Boko Haram if elected in the country’s forthcoming election. The former military ruler, who rejected descriptions of him as a “dictator”, also argued against further delays to the election and said a free, fair and peaceful vote would boost democracy in Africa.

The 72-year-old Flag bearer of the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) has been seen as neck-and-neck with President Goodluck Jonathan in the closely fought election campaign. 

Some have predicted that Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could lose power for the first time since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.

We are already winning war against Boko Haram, says Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said the military was gaining the upper hand against Boko Haram, despite two bombings in the country’s north that killed at least 27.

“The President assures all Nigerians, and the people of the northeastern states in particular, that the days of mourning victims of incessant terrorist attacks in the country will soon be over as the tide has now definitely turned against Boko Haram,” his office said in an emailed statement.

EXPOSED: Jonathan, FG to create fake Shekau, name Buhari Boko Haram sponsor

The APC Presidential Campaign Organization (APCPCO) has raised the alarm about reports of a fake Abubakar Shekau (Boko Haram leader) that will be presented before Nigerians by the federal government in order to claim glory for winning the war on terrorism.

In a statement issued by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APCOPC signed by Malam Garba Shehu, APC campaign organisation wondered where the ‘new Shekau’ will come from after government at several times in the past, announced that they had killed the insurgent leader.

Troops raid Sambisa forest, kill scores of Boko Haram- Military

The Defence Headquarters has said a combined operation by personnel of the Nigerian Air Force and the ground troops have resulted in the death of a large number of insurgents at the dreaded Sambisa Forest enclave of the Boko Haram and parts of Gwoza.

The Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in a statement on Thursday that the air strikes which hit targets with precision inflicted a heavy casualty figure on the insurgents.

African presidents create $87m emergency fund to fight Boko Haram

Presidents from the 10-Nation Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) pledged in an extraordinary meeting to create an 87 million dollars emergency fund to fight the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo, who attended the one-day summit in Cameroon, said he and his counterparts from the CEEAC have decided to create an emergency fund 87 million dollars to fight Boko Haram.

Nigeria hits back at Niger, accuses Nigerien soldiers of looting, helping Boko Haram

In a rare public tit-for-tat between the two countries involved in the fight against extremist group, Boko Haram, the Nigerian military has responded with anger after its soldiers were dismissed by the defence authorities of Niger as “cowards.” 

Niger’s Defence Ministry had in an earlier statement said its soldiers, unlike their Nigerian counterparts, do not run away in the face of battle with Boko Haram militants.

“Our soldiers are not like Nigerians. They don’t run,” the statement said.

Maku denies accusing President Jonathan of sponsoring Boko Haram

Former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku on Tuesday in Abuja, denied reports making the rounds in the media that he accused President Jonathan of being the sponsor of Boko Haram.

Maku, who addressed newsmen, said the reports were false and an attempt to discredit Jonathan by using his ardent supporters to make the falsehood look believable.

He said that his campaign organisation had long refuted the publication.

Chad says it killed 200 Boko Haram militants in Nigeria

Chad's army said it had killed more than 200 militants from Boko Haram on Tuesday in a battle in the northeastern Nigerian towns of Gambaru and Ngala, which are near the border with Cameroon.

Chad has deployed 2,500 troops as part of a regional effort to take on the militant group, which has been fighting for five years to create an Islamist emirate in northern Nigeria. An estimated 10,000 people died in the region last year.

Nigerian Army repels Boko Haram’s attack on Biu, seizes anti-aircraft guns

The Nigerian military on Wednesday in Abuja said it had repelled a terrorists’ attack on Biu, Borno.

This is contained in a statement posted on the Defence Headquarters website.

The statement said that two Anti-Aircraft guns were also captured from the terrorists by the troops.

DSS arrests 7 in the fake negotiation with Boko Haram

DSS agents

The Department of State Services (DSS), has vowed that it will serve justice to all those who sponsor or partake in the publication of subversive reports against the country.

Ms Marilyn Ogar, spokeswoman for the service, made the promise when she showed seven suspects to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.

She said the suspects colluded with Steven Davis, an Australian, to negotiate with Boko Haram sect members.

Defend yourselves against Boko Haram, Emir of Kano tells Nigerians

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has urged Nigerians to brace up and defend themselves against the Boko Haram sect which has been mounting a bloody campaign against Nigerians, killing hundreds and overrunning territories.

The royal father made the call while making the closing remarks at the weekly recitation of the Holy Qu’ran as part of prayers for peace in the country, Sanusi urged religious and community leaders to undertake the immediate task of re-infusing courage in their people, particularly the youth, in order to prepare for self defence against Boko Haram attacks.

“These people”, the Emir recounted in Hausa and referring to Boko Haram, “when they attack towns, they kill boys and enslave girls… People must stand resolute. ”

He reminded the congregation of Muslim clerics, who came from various Islamic schools in Kano, of the saying of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that whoever dies in defence of his country, family, life or wealth was a martyr.

“People must not assume that the crisis will not reach their area,” the Emir noted. “If it comes, we are asking God to give us fortitude, but if He wishes to take martyrs from amongst us, we should be ready to give our lives.

“People must not wait for soldiers to protect them. There are even instances where soldiers on ground ran away in the face of attack,” he said.

The Emir asked hunters and experts in the area of security and defence to use their expertise in the quest of seeking the pleasure of God by employing it to end the current crisis.

“God will grant us victory over them,” he said.

Boko Haram: Adamawa people laud vigilantes, hunters

The people of Adamawa on Friday lauded the collaborative efforts of vigilance groups, hunters and the military in combating the Boko Haram insurgency in the State.

The commendation was made by a cross section of people who spoke on the recapture of Mubi by the combined team of military, hunters and the civilian JTF.

The residents said such efforts should be encouraged by communities in the North-East to curtail the activities of the insurgents.

``This is good news and we expect more of such collaboration from communities in the North-East,"  Fati Husara said.

Ahmed Yerima, the Chairman of Hong Local Government, also lauded the collaborative initiative to dislodge the fleeing insurgents from Mubi who entered Hong.

James Ishaku, Rhoda Ezekiel, Shuaibu Musa and Maryam Ibrahim, who are students of tertiary institutions in Mubi, lauded the development and urged government to mobilise youths in the affected areas to form vigilance groups to further assist the military.

Gov. Bala Ngilari of Adamawa had on Thursday announced that the insurgents had been flushed out of Mubi by a combined team of military, hunters and the civilian JTF.

``They were able to go to Mubi and they have flushed out the insurgents who are now fleeing Mubi", Ngilari said.

He urged the people of Adamawa not to panic but to remain vigilant and pass any relevant security information to the authorities.

Presently,  Yola is calm, although people from Hong and Gombi local government areas who saw the fleeing insurgents from Mubi passing through their villages are trooping to the capital city.

Breaking News: Boko Haram captures Chibok, hometown of kidnapped schoolgirls

The plight of people of Chibok in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, from where 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped more than six months ago worsened today as Boko Haram has seized the town, a local pastor and a senator told AFP on Friday.

 “Chibok was taken by Boko Haram. They are in control,” said Enoch Mark, a Christian pastor whose daughter and niece are among the 219 teenagers still being held.

Mark and the senator for southern Borno, Ali Ndume, said the militants attacked at about 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Thursday, destroying communications masts and forcing residents to flee.

Ndume said that he had received calls from fleeing residents saying the town “was now under their (Boko Haram) control”.

“There is no telephone service now in Chibok, which is why it took time before the reports reached me,” he added.

Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the evening of April 14 this year and forced students onto trucks in a mass abduction that caused global outrage.

Fifty-seven managed to escape.

The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, claims to have carried through his promise to marry off the teenagers still being held and said that they had all converted to Islam.

More than six months on, talks aimed at securing their release are at an impasse, despite government claims last month to have brokered a ceasefire deal with the militants and peace talks.

Mark said the attack on the town appeared to come after Boko Haram overran the towns of Hong and Gombi in neighbouring Adamawa state following the group’s ouster from the commercial hub of Mubi.

“They came in and engaged soldiers and vigilantes in a gunfight,” he added.

“Some of us managed to escape. All the telecom towers in the town were destroyed during the attack with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades).

“No one can say what the situation is in the town in terms of destruction to property.”

Nigeria’s government has been heavily criticised for its response to the mass abduction, its failure to free the girls as well as its apparent inability to protect its citizens.

Last Monday, 58 boys were killed when a suspected Boko Haram suicide attacker detonated explosives at a school in Potiskum, Yobe state.