Nigeria News Forum

Barely 48 hours after three suicide bombers attacked the University of Maiduguri, another bomber on Saturday detonated his explosive outside the perimeter fencing of the school. The Borno State police commissioner, Damian Chukwu, said the incident happened at about 10 a.m. He said the bomber hid near the the university’s Children Secondary School, and detonated the bomb, killing himself, when he sighted a security man coming in his direction. There was no other casualty in the incident, he said. The incident, the third in less than two weeks, has however heightened tension in the campus, as students and staffers alike expressed worries over the frequent attacks there. The university lies on the outskirts of Maiduguri, on the route to Bama. Aside from the brick perimeter fence on the front side of the university, there is no major barrier at the back of the University, which seems to allow insurgents easy access into the campus. Last week, one of the five Boko Haram commanders swa...

Two soldiers have been killed in a suicide attack at a military checkpoint in Konduga, Borno State, the police said today. The female suicide bomber, according to a statement by the spokesman of the police in Borno state, Victor Isuku, detonated the explosive strapped on her at a military checkpoint just in front of an Internally Displaced Persons camp. Isuku said that the information received from Police in Konduga has it that on Wednesday, 17/5/17, at about 7:30 pm, a female suicide bomber detonated explosive strapped to her body at Mashimari by military checkpoint behind internally displaced persons camp at Konduga. The police spokesman said the woman was lost in the attack which claimed two soldiers. He said the scene of the crime was visited by team of EOD of the police. Isuku said normalcy has been restored even as the situation continued to be monitored.

The Department of State Services has said some members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect were making plans to join the army. It, however, added that two members of the sect, who were specialists in the making of Improvised Explosive Devise, were arrested before their desire to join the army was fulfilled. The spokesperson for the DSS, Mr. Tony Opuiyo, who stated this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said the suspects were arrested in Kano. He said, “In response to the regrouping of Boko Haram elements in Kano State, the DSS in concert with the military, carried out coordinated operations in the state which led to the apprehension of two high profile members of the sect. “They are Ibrahim Abubakar and Idris Audu (a.k.a. AYA). Audu is an IED specialist who was being groomed to penetrate security agencies in the country.  “Audu had already perfected plans to seek for recruitment into the next recruitment scheme of the Nigeria Army, before his arrest.”  He attribute...

A socio-political organisation, Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism, on Thursday in Abuja called on the Federal Government to shun any form of negotiation with the Boko Haram sect. The organisation also commended the military for wiping out the Boko Haram sect from the North-East. “Any attempt to negotiate with terror groups in the country will rather serve as open invitation from other miscreants to hold the nation’s peace to ransom in anticipation of financial and other selfish aggrandisement as suggested for Boko Haram”, CATE said. The Secretary-General of CATE, Daniel Obaje, made the demand when he led a protest march to the Ministries of Defence and Information and the Nigerian Army Headquarters. He advised the government not to allow any group or sect to hold the nation to ransom through unreasonable demands.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, expressed his administration’s resolve to flush out Boko Haram and extremism from Nigeria’s territory. President Buhari Speaking at an event in Abuja, the President condemned the activities of Boko Haram terrorists. Represented by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari who described the activities of the terrorist group as “mindless,” said, “The government is determined to ensure that the safety of every single Nigerian is a priority; this is why I have repeatedly ordered our law enforcement agents to ensure that perpetrators of violent acts are arrested and made to face the law. Boko Haram “We will not allow anyone, under any guise, whether it is politics, culture or religion to violate life or property of another citizen. This is the oath to which I swore and I will uphold it at all cost.”

The Nigerian Military,  on Tuesday , disclosed that an aerial operation on Boko Haram enclave in Sambisa Forest, has left some members of the insurgent group, including its factional leader, Abubakar Shekau fatally wounded. A statement by Army’s acting spokesman, Col Sani Usman, said Shekau was believed to have been injured on his shoulders, while some commanders of the group were killed in an aerial operation by the Nigerian Air Force. According to the Army spokesman , the operation was carried out on August 19, 2016 as the terrorists were performing  Friday  rituals at Taye village, Gombale general area, within Sambisa forest, Borno State. Usman said, “In what one could describe as the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid, we have just confirmed that as a result of the interdiction efforts of the Nigerian Air Force, some key leaders of the Boko Haram terrorists have been killed while others were fatally wounded. “The air interdiction took place la...

Boko Haram on Sunday released a video of the girls allegedly kidnapped from Chibok in April 2014, showing some who are still alive and claiming others died in air strikes. The video is the latest release from embattled Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who earlier this month denied claims that he had been replaced as the leader of the jihadist group. “They should know that their children are still in our hands,” said a man whose face was covered by a turban in the video posted on YouTube. “There is a number of the girls, about 40 of them, that have been married by the decision of Allah,” said the man in the 11-minute video, which shows girls with veils sitting on the ground and standing in the background. “Some of them have died as a result of aerial bombardment.” The mass kidnapping of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014 provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention on the Boko Haram conflict, in which at least 20,000 people have been killed since 2009. Throughout 201...

The Federal Government of Nigeria has presented food and non-food items to the military for onward distribution to 800 repented Boko Haram terrorists.  The government had instituted a Programme tagged: "Operation Safe Corridor" to de-radicalize, rehabilitate and re-integrate repentant terrorists as part of measures to fast track peace process in the North east.  The spokesman of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sani Datti, said in a statement on Tuesday that the items were presented to the military by the Agency's Director General,  Muhammad Sani Sidi in Gombe. He quoted the NEMA boss as saying that “The initiative, which is in line with international best practices allowed those engaged in the fighting to voluntarily surrender and embrace peace so that they undergo rehabilitation’’.   He said NEMA would play its role in the programme by providing regular support of food and non-food items for the repentant terroris...

Police detectives from the Delta State Command have quizzed a bishop of a new generation church in Warri over allegation of sponsoring the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers. Report gathered that the bishop (name withheld), hails from Ogbinbiri community of Egbema (Ijaw) Kingdom in the Warri North Council Area of the state and is the presiding bishop of the New Salvation Zion Church of Christ at Igbodu area of the city. Security sources said the church leader was invited for interrogation following two petitions alleging that he was funding the militant group. The interrogation was conducted at the Warri Area Command of the Delta State Police Command. It was learnt that the clergyman was interrogated from 8am to about 8pm last week Wednesday before he was allowed to go and ordered to report the following day for further questioning. A close relative of the suspected clergyman confirmed the development It was gathered that the petitions also alleged that the cleric wa...

The Bring Back Our Girls movement has lamented the inability of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to meet any of its demands, a year after its first parley with the president. Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari (2nd L) and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (L) listen to coordinator of the Bring Back Our Girls group Oby Ezekwesili (C) as she speaks about the ongoing campaigning for the release of Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists during a meeting with President Mohammadu Buhari in Abuja, on July 8, 2015.  In a statement read Friday during a special sit-out in Abuja to evaluate its achievements one year after engaging with the president, BBOG said it is extremely disappointing that none of the five demands has been completed. “On 8th July 2015, the #BringBackOurGirls movement, parents of our abducted #ChibokGirls and representatives of the Chibok community had an engagement with the new President, Muhammadu Buhari. This was necessitated by the need t...