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Aug. 8, 2013 - FILE photo of Nigerian soldiers on an armored personnel carrier during Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Hundreds of people are dying in military detention as Nigeria's security forces crack down on an Islamic uprising in the northeast, Amnesty International said. (AP) 74 Islamist militants are dead after Nigerian troops attacked several Boko Haram camps. Military officials tell Reuters that Nigerian soldiers hit the insurgent camps using both planes and ground forces Thursday, in an on going campaign to thwart terrorist activity in the region. The assault was on camps in the remote villages of Galangi and Lawanti in northeast Borno state, where militants have a stronghold. ``The operation, which involved ground and aerial assault supported by the Nigerian Air Force led to the destruction of the identified terrorist camps, killing 74 terrorists while others fle...

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday, tentatively fixed November 7 for judgment in the trial of Kabiru Sokoto, the alleged mastermind of the 2011 Christmas day bombing in St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State. The trial judge, Justice Ademola Adeniyi, fixed the date after the defence counsel, S. Okoh, adopted his written address. Okoh had submitted that all the charges leveled against the accused were not based on evidence and as such should be discountenanced. He further argued that the accused is standing trial as alleged by the prosecution that he had knowledge of the Madalla  bombing but he (accused) had denied it, adding that before a person will be guilty under Section 7 (1) of  the Terrorism  Prevention Act, the actual knowledge must be proved. Okoh also argued that  Boko Haram was not an illegal body until around April this year when the Federal Government proscribed and labelled it so. He submitted that up till t...

Nigeria and the United States of America, on Thursday, rounded off their regional security cooperation working group meeting in Abuja. The meeting was co-chaired  by the Permanent Secretary, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Martin  Uhomoibhi and  the United States’ Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador Wendy Sherman. The Nigerian delegation included officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of the National Security Adviser, Ministry of Defence, Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria Police, Department of State Security, National Intelligence Agency, Borno State government and Civil Society Organisations while the United States delegation included officials from the Department of State, Department of Defence, the United States Agency for International Development, and the White House. During the meeting, both countries acknowledged that terrorism posed a threat to Nigeria’s national development and regional stability,...

Boko Haram members | credits: File copy A key member of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, Momogu Bama,  has been killed by  the Joint Task Force in Borno State. He met his death the same day with his  father,   Alhaji Abatcha Flatari, described as one of the spiritual leaders of the sect  in an operation  between the sect members and the JTF operatives in Bama. Momogu,  the second-in-command to the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau,  had a  N25m  bounty put on his head by security agencies for information that could lead to his arrest. The Director of Defence Information, Brig.- Gen Chris Olukolade, who confirmed his killing, described him as a vicious Boko Haram leader who took delight in personally slaughtering  the sect’s victims. He added that  Momogu  was the expert  in charge of  mounting  anti-aircraft weapons for  the sect and coordinating  members  in Yobe and A...

The Islamic Terrorist group, Boko Haram has suffered a major loss as Momodu Bama, who is said to be the second in-command to the group’s leader Abubakar Shekau, was killed in a faceoff while the troops were in pursuit of the terrorists who have been unleashing mayhem in Borno and Yobe communities. According to a press statement signed by the Director Defence Information Brigadier General Chris Olukolade,other terrorists arrested by the troops in an encounter that took place around the Bama corridor confirmed that it was indeed the second in-command to the Boko Haram leader. Momodu Bama has been personally leading the attacks against troops and innocent citizens in the communities of Yobe and Adamawa. Bama known to be a specialist in manning the anti-aircraft guns of the group was a vicious and heartless fellow, with a penchant for personally slaughtering and executing his victims.  Momodu Bama has been a most wanted terrorist with a bounty of N25million already placed on hi...

DESPITE a hitch-free Eid-el-Fitr Sallah celebration and a colourful Durbar in Borno State, the military Joint Task Force (JTF) and members of Borno Vigilance Youths Group (BVYG) have arrested 11 Boko Haram terror suspects on the state.   The arrests were made in three separate areas of Maiduguri metropolis, including the Shehu’s palace, in the early hours of Friday.   The two suspects arrested at the Shehu’s palace had just returned from Gambouru Ngala in Shehuri ward of the metropolis where they went to celebrate the Sallah festivity with other members of the Islamist sect before they were nabbed by the youths.   Speaking on the arrest of eight suspects at the Motor Park, Isa Ibrahim of Vigilance Youths said: “We picked up these three Boko Haram suspects, who had just returned from Gombe to launch attacks on military and civilian targets in Maiduguri during and after the Sallah. After interrogating the suspects, one of them led the youths to Kofa Biyu area an...

President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of a Presidential Committee to "constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country." Announcing the setting up of the committee, a statement by Dr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity stated that the committee's terms of reference will include: -Developing a framework for the granting of amnesty -Setting up of a framework through which disarmament could take place within a 60-day time frame -Development of a comprehensive victims' support programme -Development of mechanisms to address the underlying causes of insurgencies that will help to prevent future occurrences. The committee is made up of the following Nigerians: Committee on dialogue and peaceful resolution of security challenges in the north 1.Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, Minister of Special Duties - Chairman 2....

An armed gang has raided a northern Nigerian village and killed 48 people in an apparent reprisal attack targeting a local vigilante group, a state official said Wednesday. The attack saw gunmen move house to house as well as take positions atop a hill and open fire, the official said. Houses were also burnt, but it was not clear how many. “There was an attack by armed bandits early Tuesday on Kizara village where 48 residents were killed in apparent targeted killings by cattle rustlers that have been terrorising the state for some time now,” said Ibrahim Birnin-Magaji, commissioner for information in Zamfara state, where the remote village is located. Resident fill up a mass grave in Zamfara state on June 18, 2013 after a group of bandits attacked the village of Kizara, killing 48 people AFP Dozens of gunmen arrived in the village before dawn on motorbikes, he said “Some of them climbed up the hill overlooking the village and opened fire indiscriminately,” he said. “They...

Seven students and two teachers of the Government Day Secondary School Damaturu, Yobe State, were on Sunday night killed by men suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect. The insurgents were also reported to have attacked a military checkpoint around the pilgrims area. Two of the insurgents were, however, killed by the military, while three security personnel were critically wounded during the attack, spokesman of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), Lazarus Eli, said. He said three of the attackers were captured with various weapons, including one AK47 riffle, one RPG bomb, 48 rounds of 7.62 (special) ammunition. The insurgents, according to eyewitnesses, gained entrance into the school and launched attack on the students at about 9.30 p.m. in their hostel. Mohammed Idi, who had gunshot wounds, told our correspondent at the Accident and Emergency Ward of the General Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital that he was shot by one of the insurgents after he came out of the ho...

The leader of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram claims in a video obtained by AFP on Tuesday that Nigerian soldiers have retreated during an ongoing military offensive and insurgents have sustained little damage. The video marks the first public comments from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau since the start of a sweeping offensive by the Nigerian army on May 15 and also includes a call for foreign Islamists to join the fight in Nigeria. A video grab made on March 21, 2013 from a video distributed to reporters by purported intermediaries of the Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, shows the suspected leader of the Nigerian Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Imam Abu Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Abubakar Ash Shekawi, also known as Abubakar Shekau, at an undisclosed location in Nigeria. AFP

President Goodluck Jonathan President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said the excesses of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, must be curbed, not minding what it would cost the government. “The excesses of Boko Haram must stop. That is the decision of this present government now. It must stop, whatever it will cost the government, it must stop,” he said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in an interview with journalists on the sideline of the 21st ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Africa Union. The President boasted that the government had the wherewithal to confront the reign of terror being unleashed by the sect members and that their actions were already being confronted with his recent declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika, has accused his men of collaborating with members of the Boko Haram sects by exposing top secrets of their operations to the insurgents. The army boss said this in Abuja at a seminar on personnel management and development organized by the Army Transformation and Innovation Center. Ihejirika said that soldiers who have been collaborating with Boko Haram insurgents had hindered military operations, even causing the death of his men. The COAS boss warned soldiers to stop such acts, and vowed to deal with those found guilty of the offence decisively. He added that he had advised Commanders to take it easy while dismissing soldiers, but maintained that if a soldier’s misconduct was in terms of disloyalty, then the Army would have no choice than to dismiss and jail such officer. General Ihejirika revealed that, as part of its readiness to tackle security challenges in the country, the Army was training more than 1000 amphibious s...