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…
Author: AbdulRahman Tahir, Maiduguri
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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…
THE Chief Of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa on Friday debunked claims that the military was involved in forceful abortions of babies fathered by Boko Haram insurgents in Northern Nigeria. A Reuters report in February 2022 stated that the military ran a secret abortion programme in its fight against armed groups in the northeast, adding that the military abortion programme involved terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls. However, General Musa, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria, slammed the allegations, indicating that they were machinations of NGOs who don’t wish…
THE Minister of State for Defense, UK, Lord Vernon Coaker, has said that terrorism cannot win, as it undermines the rule of law, international treaties, and borders across the globe. According to him, Nigeria and the United Kingdom should continue to stand together as strongly as they have done now and in the past. Coaker made the declaration yesterday (Wednesday) when he visited the Theatre Commander, Joint Task Force, Northeast, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), Maj-Gen. Waidi Shaibu, at the Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, Borno State. He said the British government regarded Nigeria as extremely important in terms of alliances and friendship,…
THE Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba-Arah, has provided an update on the tragic tanker explosion that occurred in Diko, Niger State. As of 12pm on January 20, 2025, the death toll has risen to 98, while 69 people have been injured. The explosion also left 20 shops completely burnt, causing significant losses to business owners in the area. In a statement issued by Baba-Arah, he described the incident as a catastrophic tragedy that has thrown the state into mourning. He confirmed that rescue operations are ongoing, with emergency responders working tirelessly to ensure…
THE Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has commiserated with families of the victims of the tanker explosion along the Dikko/Kaduna Road, in Niger State but called for stricter enforcement of safety measures. Seventy-seven persons died and scores were injured during the incident that has thrown the country into mourning. In a statement, the chairman of the Forum, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, extended the heartfelt condolences of the NGF to the government and people of Niger State, as well as families who have suffered the unimaginable loss of their loved ones. “This heartbreaking incident has cast a shadow of grief across the entire…
IN a devastating incident, seventy-seven lives were lost in a tanker explosion at Dikko Junction, Niger State. News Point Nigeria reports that the tragic event, which occurred on Saturday, has plunged the community into mourning and raised concerns about safety measures in the area. The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba-Arah, confirmed the death toll to this newspaper through a telephone conversation. According to Baba-Arah, 25 injured victims were rushed to various hospitals in Suleja, Wuse, and nearby health facilities for urgent medical attention. Following the incident, the Niger State Government directed that no…
UNSPECIFIED numbers of Nigerian military personnel have been missing in a recent ambush by Boko Haram terrorists in Baga, at the fringes of the Lake Chad. Personnel of the armed forces, who spoke to News Point Nigeria on condition of anonymity, said soldiers were ambushed while trying to recover dead bodies of 40 residents killed by the insurgents and several soldiers were shot dead in the gun battle that ensued. “Our troops went in search of dead bodies of civilians killed by the terrorists, we went too far in search of them and the terrorists played ambush on us. A…
OPERATIONS Hadin Kai, the Joint Task Force of the military in the North East has banned the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), popularly known as drones in the region. Air Component Commander, Air Commodore U U. Idris, who gave the directive in a signal sighted by this newspaper said the use of drones without permission amidst poses threats in the Borno, Yobe and Adamawa,(BAY) states. He decried that governments agencies and private individuals operates the drones without consent of the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai. The statement, “The proliferation of drones for domestic and commercial purposes has led…
BOKO Haram terrorists have attacked the community in Borno State and killed two persons while also razing down a church. The village is called Bamzir village under Whuntaku District, Chibok Local Government Area. In a statement, the media team of the local government chairman of Chibok LGA Mustapha Madu said the terrorists attacked around 2:10 am Sunday and set many houses ablaze resulting in the death of two blood brothers identified as Josiah Pogu Pudza, a student of SS Two, and Enoch Pogu Pudza while one Esther Yohanna sustained a bullet injury. The statement noted that the terrorists carted away…
VICE-PRESIDENT Kashim Shettima has described the soldiers who lost their lives repelling the terrorist attack in Damboa, Borno, as eternal heroes whose sacrifices would never be in vain. In a statement by his spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, on Friday in Abuja, Shettima reaffirmed deep sorrow and firm solidarity with families of the heroic soldiers. He noted that the military recorded a decisive victory in Nigeria’s ongoing counter-terrorism efforts but regretted that the price of freedom is eternally steep. ”It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that I received news of our brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice defending…
TWO police officers have been killed as Boko Haram terrorists attacked a police station in Gajiram with, Nganzai Local Government Area of Borno State with bombs. One other police officer was critically injured as the terrorists exchanged fire with police on duty at the station before they were eventually overpowered and repelled with the assistance of the civilian joint taskforce who are stationed near the police station. According to a security source, the Boko Haram terrorists attacked around 11pm on Wednesday. The source said no facility or security equipment was affected in the attack. However, a police statement which confirmed…
TERRORISTS linked to the Islamic State group have reportedly killed six soldiers in a raid on a military base in northeastern Nigeria, according to news agency AFP. AFP quoted two military officers, saying that the fighters from Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) reportedly launched a pre-dawn attack in trucks and on motorcycles on Sunday on the base in Sabon Gari in Borno State’s Damboa district. The insurgents reportedly set fire to the base along with army vehicles. “We lost six soldiers in the ISWAP terrorists attack on the base after an intense gun battle,” AFP quoted one of the…
BORNO State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has announced that the state government will subsidise the cost of petrol to farmers in communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency. Zulum announced the subsidy on Friday evening in Bama town when he flagged off the distribution of farm inputs to over 5,000 farmers hitherto displaced by Boko Haram insurgents. According to the governor, a litre of petrol sold between N1,000 and N1,200 in Maiduguri will be subsidised to the farmers for N600. This is aimed at alleviating the financial burdens faced by farmers in communities that have suffered economic and infrastructural destruction due…