Author: AbdulRahman Tahir, Maiduguri

VICE President Kashim Shettima has condemned in strong terms the bomb explosion that claimed about two lives and left several others injured at a Mosque in Gamboru Market, Maiduguri, Borno State, describing the attack as a despicable assault on innocent citizens and the peace of the nation. In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha sent to News Point Nigeria, the Vice President condemned the attack. Shettima assured that the Federal Government is deploying additional tactical teams to the area to track down and apprehend those responsible for the terror attack. According to him,…

SUSPECTED Boko Haram insurgents have detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) at a Juma’at Mosque in Gamboru Ward, around the Customs area in the heart of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. News Point Nigeria reports that the incident occurred at about 6:10 p.m. on Wednesday while Muslim worshippers were observing the Maghrib prayer. Although information on the incident remains sketchy, residents told Channels Television via telephone that many worshippers were either killed or injured. The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Nahum Daso, could not confirm the blast but said he was on his way to the scene…

THE Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), in collaboration with local vigilante elements, have successfully disrupted a terrorist logistics operation and neutralized multiple insurgents during a well-coordinated long-range ambush as part of current kinetic operations conducted in the early hours of December 21, 2025. The Media Information Officer of the Joint Task Force, Lt. Col. Sani Uba, disclosed this in a statement sent to News Pont Nigeria on Sunday. He revealed the troops “acting on credible intelligence from own sources regarding the movement of logistics supplies by suspected JAS/ISWAP elements, troops of OPHK and members of the Civilian Joint Task…

TROOPS of the Joint Task Force, North East Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), have intercepted two pick-up vans suspected to be transporting logistics supplies to fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Borno State. The interception was carried out by troops of Sector 2 of Operation Hadin Kai, working in close coordination with members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), following actionable intelligence on the movement of terrorist logistics within the North-East. The Media Information Officer of OPHK, Lt. Colonel Sani Uba, disclosed this in a statement sent to News Point Nigeria on Friday, noting that the…

SUSPECTED Boko Haram insurgents have abducted the newly elected Vice Chairman of Biu Local Government Area and two councillors in Borno State, barely five days after they emerged victorious in the recently concluded local government council elections. News Point Nigeria gathered that the abduction occurred on Wednesday evening along the Kamuya–Buni Yadi road, a notorious stretch linking parts of Borno and Yobe states that has witnessed repeated attacks by insurgents and criminal elements. Sources close to the families of the victims identified the Vice Chairman as Alhaji Saidu, while the two councillors were said to be representing Zarawuyaku and Miringa…

OPERATIVES of the Borno state police command on Monday defused a big Unexploded Ordnance planted under a network mast at Chuskon, Federal Low Cost Area of Maiduguri. A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Nahum Daso obtained to News Point Nigeria, indicated that the EOD-CBRN base 13 team made the recovery following a report received by the Divisional Police Officer ITE Police Division. The statement reads in parts, “The Borno State Police Command, under the leadership of the CP Naziru Abdulmajid, has recorded another operational success with the recovery of an Unexploded Ordnance in Maiduguri,…

THE Nigerian Army has successfully rescued 12 teenage girls abducted by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Mussa District of Askira/Uba Local Government Area, Borno State. The victims as earlier reported by Vanguard last week, aged between 15 and 20, were kidnapped on 23 November while harvesting crops on their family farmlands and were freed on Saturday, 29 November, following a swift, intelligence-led operation by troops of Operation HADIN KAI in the southern Borno axis. According to a statement posted by Army Headquarters on its verified Facebook platform sighted by News Point Nigeria Sunday morning said, “the rescued girls have been evacuated…

THIRTEEN female teenagers were abducted by fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in a fresh attack on farming communities in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. News Point Nigeria reports that the incident occurred in Mussa district, where the teenagers were working on farmlands before they were rounded up and taken away by the insurgents. The Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdullahi Askira, confirmed the abductions on Sunday. Askira, who represents Askira-Uba Constituency, said the victims were between 15 and 20 years old and had gone to harvest crops when…

GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno State has declared fasting and prayer over the festering insecurity in the North-Eastern state. News Point Nigeria reports that Zulum made the declaration during a statewide broadcast on Saturday, saying the move is to seek God’s guidance amid the rising spate of insecurity in the state. “As a people of faith, we believe our security strategies must be underpinned by prayer. I, hereby declare Monday, 24th November, 2025, as a Statewide Day of Fasting and Prayer for the restoration of peace in Borno State and the country,” governor Zulum said. “On this day, I call…

BORNO State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has passionately appealed to the Nigerian Armed Forces to launch an urgent, full-scale offensive against terrorist strongholds in the Tumbus Islands of Lake Chad, the Mandara Hills, and the Sambisa Forest, declaring that such action is necessary to ‘end their madness.’ News Point Nigeria reports that Governor Zulum made the call on Tuesday during a meeting with the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, who paid a working visit to Maiduguri as part of ongoing assessments of counterterrorism operations in the North-East. Speaking with visible frustration over persistent terror attacks originating…

JUST hours after the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, departed Borno State, fighters of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) launched a deadly attack on Mayenti town in Bama Local Government Area, killing at least eight civilians while several soldiers were reported missing. The brazen assault, which occurred Monday evening, has once again underscored the fragile security situation in the region despite intensified military operations. Security sources told News Point Nigeria that troops of Operation Hadin Kai engaged the insurgents in a fierce gun battle after the attackers stormed the community on multiple motorcycles…

TROOPS of the Joint Task Force (JTF), North East Operation Hadin Kai, have rescued 74 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) from a possible abduction by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists along the Buratai–Kamuya Road in Borno State. The Media Information Officer of the Task Force, Sani Uba, stated this in a statement on Thursday. “The corps members, 36 males and 38 females, were rescued at about 9:05 p.m. on Tuesday after their vehicles broke down near a known kidnapping hotspot,” Uba said. According to him, a military patrol team was swiftly deployed to the scene after a closed-circuit television…

FORMER Borno State Governor and ex–National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has debunked a viral publication alleging that he accused Vice President Kashim Shettima of creating the Boko Haram insurgent group. The widely circulated article, bearing the headline “It’s Not Me, It’s Shettima Who Created Boko Haram – Sheriff Reveals”, claimed that the former governor made damaging comments linking Shettima to the genesis of the deadly extremist organization. But in a statement sent to News Point Nigeria, Sheriff dismissed the report as “false, malicious, and a deliberate attempt to mislead Nigerians and destroy his…

A MAJOR Boko Haram assault on Malam Fatori, the headquarters of Abadam Local Government Area in Borno State, was on Tuesday repelled by Nigerian troops backed by Nigerien forces and air support, leaving at least six terrorists dead while several others fled with injuries. News Point Nigeria reports that the coordinated pre-dawn attack, which occurred around 4:30am, targeted the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the area. Security and military sources said the insurgents deployed armed drones, mortars and heavy weapons in an effort to breach the defence perimeter. A senior military source confirmed to News Point Nigeria that the terrorists…

BORNO State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has expressed shock over the use of drones by Boko Haram terrorists to attack soldiers, saying that despite well-circulated intelligence that the Mafa area of the state would be attacked, troops could not prevent it from happening. News Point Nigeria reports that Zulum disclosed this on Friday in Mafa town when he paid a post-assessment visit to areas attacked by Boko Haram in the early hours of Thursday. The governor, while briefing newsmen, expressed his grave concern over the emergence of this new threat, stating that the successful use of a drone by the terrorists…

PASSENGERS at the Maiduguri International Airport on Monday witnessed unexpected drama after a Max Air pilot allegedly refused to operate a scheduled flight due to unresolved financial disputes with the airline’s management. The incident, which left more than 100 passengers stranded for hours, threw the terminal into confusion as anxious travellers demanded explanations from airline officials. According to eyewitnesses who spoke to News Point Nigeria, the passengers had already boarded the aircraft and were preparing for departure when the pilot reportedly declined to proceed, citing unpaid entitlements and unsettled debts owed by the airline to its flight crew. An eyewitness,…

HUNDREDS of travellers were left stranded for hours on Friday morning along the Maiduguri–Damaturu Highway, following a late-night Boko Haram attack on a military base near Ngamdu, a strategic town less than 50 kilometres from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital. News Point Nigeria reports that the incident, which occurred late Thursday night, forced the Nigerian military to temporarily shut down the busy highway, a crucial link between Borno and Yobe states and one of the most vital economic and humanitarian corridors in the insurgency-ravaged North-East. Eyewitnesses and motorists told News Point Nigeria that the attack led to heavy gunfire and…

BORNO State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has directed an immediate investigation into allegations that some Muslim women were harassed for wearing the hijab in certain hospitals within Maiduguri, the state capital. The directive follows a recent statement issued by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), claiming that several Muslim women seeking medical care in some public health facilities were subjected to harassment and discrimination on account of their hijab. Reacting to the report on Thursday, Governor Zulum expressed deep concern, noting that his administration had not previously received any official complaint on the matter. However, he emphasized that the allegations…

THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that Nigeria lost an estimated $10 billion to the prolonged armed conflict in the country’s North-East region over the last decade. News Point Nigeria reports that UNICEF’s Country Representative, Wafaa Saeed, made the disclosure on Wednesday in Maiduguri, Borno State, during the formal launch of a socio-economic reintegration programme for children affected by armed conflict. Represented by UNICEF’s Child Protection Manager, Shah Mohammad Khan, Saeed said the prolonged insurgency had not only crippled the region’s economy but also undermined the income and earning potential of millions of families and young people. “According…

THE Maiduguri community was thrown into grief on Tuesday following the discovery of the lifeless body of a young hawker, believed to be about 12 years old, in the Gamboru River, located in the Customs area of the city. Residents told News Point Nigeria that the child was first spotted floating along the riverbank before being pulled out by community members, who then alerted the authorities. Incidents of drowning are sadly not uncommon in Maiduguri and across Borno State, particularly during the rainy season when rivers and canals swell beyond their banks. Many vulnerable children, especially Almajiri pupils and young…