Author: AbdulRahman Tahir, Maiduguri

TROOPS of the Nigerian Army under Operation HADIN KAI on Thursday night repelled a coordinated attack by Boko Haram fighters on a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Gajibo village, Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State. The military disclosed this in a statement released Friday and signed by Ajemasu Yake Jingina, Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, 7 Division Nigerian Army. According to the statement, the terrorists belonging to the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of Boko Haram and ISWAP launched the attack at approximately 10:20pm on May 22. The soldiers stationed at the base responded swiftly…

GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno State has accused some military officers and politicians of being informants and collaborators for Boko Haram terrorists. Speaking in an interview on News Central’s Breakfast Central, Zulum vowed to deal ruthlessly with saboteurs frustrating the efforts of his administration in tackling insurgency in the state. The governor also said his administration would strengthen its intelligence network to overcome terrorists and their saboteurs. He said: “We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian Armed Forces, within the politicians, and within the communities. “What we shall do is to strengthen our intelligence and to deal with them…

BORNO State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, continued his visit to communities affected by the recent surge in Boko Haram attacks by travelling to Wulgo town yesterday. Wulgo, located on the fringes of Lake Chad, was recently attacked by armed insurgents, forcing troops of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, hitherto protecting the town, to retreat. By visiting Marte, Kala-Balge, and now Wulgo, Zulum aims to achieve a unified front in the fight against insecurity and to stimulate local support for sustainable peace and development. During his tour, the governor engaged with local leaders, listening to their concerns. He announced plans to…

NO fewer than 50 farmers and fishermen were killed in an attack by the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in the village of Malam Karanti near Baga, in the Kukawa Local Government Area of the northern part of Borno State, sources have said. Our correspondent gathered that the attack occurred on Thursday morning in Malam Karanti, a village five kilometres from Baga. Sources said the terrorists gathered farmers and fishermen near the village and killed 50 bean farmers. “The terrorists spared an elderly man, who later alerted the community. The terrorists assembled people in Malam Karanti and…

AN army Captain and a private soldier have been killed by Boko Haram terrorists in a midnight attack on Izge community in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State According to the Emir of Gwoza, Mohammed Shehu Timta, the attack happened around 1 am on Wednesday when the terrorists infiltrated the farming community, shooting sporadically before the personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces with the assistance of local hunters, vigilantes and members of the civilian Joint Task Force repelled the terrorists, killing three of them while recovering items from the fleeing terrorists Several motorcycles, bicycles, an operational vehicle and a…

THE governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum, has banned the sale of alcoholic beverages while accusing military and other security personnel of promoting criminality and antisocial vices in Maiduguri and its environs. The Governor said that ex and current serving personnel of the Nigerian security forces have played a significant role in influencing the civilian populace into criminality, radicalism, prostitution and other vices, heightening terrorism threats in the state. The governor said this on Tuesday at the inauguration of a reconstituted committee on “revocation of illegal hotels, brothels, shanties, and criminal hideouts and curbing the menace of antisocial vices”…

ABOUT thirty persons, mostly women and children, have been killed as a result of Boko Haram activities in Chibok and Kala Balge on Monday in Borno State. Seven mourners were shot dead in a Community in Chibok while holding a third-day prayer for a late community leader in the evening, same day, commuters died after stepping on an IED planted by terrorists. Several others sustained varying degrees of gunshot injuries from the attackers, believed to be Boko Haram terrorists. The mourners were gathered for the final prayers of their community leader around 6 pm when the Boko Haram terrorists attacked…

THE Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has refuted reports of an alleged bomb explosion at the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Maiduguri, describing the claim as “false and misleading.” In a statement dated 21st April 2025, signed by the Service’s Public Relations Officer, Deputy Controller of Corrections, Umar Abubakar, the NCoS clarified that there was no security breach at the facility or any other custodial centre across the country. “The attention of the Nigerian Correctional Service has been drawn to an online report of a purported bomb explosion in Maiduguri Custodial Centre. “This report is not true and is highly…

THE Police Command in Borno State has arrested eight suspects for allegedly killing and secretly burying a new born baby at a private hospital in Kwatam on Baga Road, Maiduguri. The command’s Public Relations Officer, Nahun Daso, disclosed this in an interview with some journalists in Maiduguri, yesterday. Daso said the incident occurred on April 18, 2025 at about 1:00 p.m., following a distress call received by the police from concerned residents who witnessed the suspicious act. He explained that the police operatives from Ite Division responded swiftly, cordoned off the hospital premises and arrested the suspects at the scene.…

THE Borno State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has reaffirmed its loyalty to President Bola Tinubu and endorsed him to run for a second term in 2027, while calling on him to retain Vice President Kashim Shettima, as his running mate. This declaration was made in a communiqué issued on Sunday following a critical stakeholders meeting held at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Government House, Maiduguri. The communique of the meeting was shared on X on Sunday by the Senior Special Assistant to Borno State Governor on Information, Dogo Shettima. According to the communique, the high-level gathering brought together…

GOVERNOR Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State has reacted to a news report which suggested that Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, dismissed the recent concerns he raised regarding the security situation in the state. Zulum had said Boko Haram has renewed its attacks and kidnappings in the state with little pushback from security forces, suggesting that authorities in the region are losing ground to the insurgents. Zulum stated this during a meeting with security forces in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Tuesday. This newspaper reports that Boko Haram militants and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP),…

SEVEN travellers have been killed by an explosion along the Maiduguri-Damboa Road. The explosion followed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by Boko Haram terrorists on the dilapidated and deserted road which passes through the Sambisa forest. According to several sources, the explosion happened while cars on a scheduled military-escorted convoy were transporting passengers from Damboa to Maiduguri on Saturday leaving several others with varying degrees of injuries. The Maiduguri-Damboa Road links Maiduguri to several local government areas in Southern Borno and has been a hotspot for Boko Haram terrorists for over a decade. The road was closed to vehicles…

GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum has broken his silence, insisting that the renewed Boko Haram attacks and kidnappings in many communities almost on daily basis without confrontation signalled that Borno State is losing ground. The governor stated this on Tuesday at a Special Expanded Security Meeting (ESM) attended by the General Officer Commanding 7 Div, Major General Abubakar Haruna, Sector Commanders, Commissioner of Police, heads of other security agencies, Shehu of Borno, Alh. Dr. Abubakar Garbai Al-Amin El-Kanemi, Shehu of Bama, Emirs of Biu, Uba, Askira, Gwoza, while Shehu of Dikwa- and Emir of Shani were in absentia. He said his administration…

A DEVASTATING fire ripped through the Kalari settlement in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State on Saturday, killing three people and displacing more than 3,000 residents. The inferno, which started around 1:00 PM, swept across three villages and destroyed over 1,500 thatched homes. The Nigerian military, alongside the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), swiftly responded to the emergency. Zagazola Makama a counterterrorism expert in the Lake Chad, reported that Soldiers from the 222 Battalion provided first aid on the scene and evacuated the injured to the Maiduguri Specialist Hospital using Army ambulances. “Local authorities, including the Chairman of Konduga…

TROOPS of Operation Hadin Kai have rescued 75 civilians from Sambisa Forest in Borno State. Addressing newsmen on Monday during the victims’ handover to the Borno State government in Maiduguri, the General Officer Commanding 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. W. Shaibu stated that the rescued individuals comprised seven adult males, 34 women, and 34 children. The GOC, represented by the Deputy Theater Commander, Brig. Gen. A.L. Akpodu explained that the civilians were rescued during a clearance operation conducted by the 21 Special Armored Brigade and the 199 Special Forces Battalion under Operation Desert Sanity IV in Sambisa…

THE case of missing children in Borno State has sparked public outcry, following a disturbing video of a young boy confessing to undergoing military training in a forest alongside dozens of other children. Some residents who spoke with this newspaper recounted the agony of their missing loved ones and expressed the fear that the rise in child disappearance cases in the state may be linked to insurgent recruitment efforts. The development comes as the #BringBackOurGirls movement renewed calls for the Nigerian government to release the findings of the fact-finding committee on the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction. With 78 girls still…

THE Federal Government has repatriated 7,790 Nigerians from the Republic of Chad, where they fled to amidst the conflict of Boko Haram insurgency for almost a decade. Dauda Illiya, the Special Adviser on Media of Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno, made this known in a statement on Thursday, in Maiduguri. According to the statement, Zulum led the Federal Government’s delegation to Chad in company of Dr Yusuf Sununu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and Aliyu Ahmed the Chief Executive Officer, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI). It stated that the delegation was received…

THE wife of the President, Oluremi Tinubu has donated N100 million to the families of 70 victims of tanker explosion in Niger state. Speaking at the Niger State Government House during her private visit to the state, Tinubu said the money is to alleviate the sufferings of the families so that they would not feel the impact of the disaster. “We usually write a condolence letter to the Governor each time we are aware of any challenges in the state, but this recent one, I know I had to do something. We are donating N100 million to rehabilitate the families.…

VICE Principal of Dugja Bayan Tasha Junior Secondary School in Biu Local Government Area of Borno State, his wife and three children have been killed in a fire outbreak in their home. Details are still sketchy on the cause of the fire which occurred on Sunday, but neighbours narrated how the deceased family struggled to escape from the raging fire to no avail. One of the sources said the inferno ignited in the living room, blocking all avenues of the family to access the exit door. “We suspect it was caused by an electric spark in the living room, which…

TWO days after the killing of 20 fishermen in the Gadan Gari fishing community of Bama Local Government Area, Borno State, on Wednesday, another attack by armed terrorists, suspected to be Boko Haram/ISWAP, has reportedly claimed the lives of a military commander, two senior officers, and 17 soldiers at a military base in Malam-Fatori, the headquarters of Abadam Local Government Area. Bama is located in Borno Central, while Malam-Fatori, in the northern part of the state, lies near the border with the Republic of Niger. A similar incident occurred a few weeks ago when terrorists invaded a military base in…