Author: AbdulRahman Tahir, Maiduguri

BORNO State High Court Chief Judge, Justice Haruna Mshelia, who was abducted alongside his wife, driver and orderly by suspected Boko Haram terrorists along Biu-Damaturu-Maiduguri Road, on June 24, 2024, has regained his freedom, sources told this newspaper. Meanwhile, another source confirmed that the wife, Bintu Mshelia, the driver, were still in captivity, while the police orderly has been executed. Justice Mshelia, a judge of the Borno State High Court sitting in Maiduguri was traveling in his vehicle, accompanied by his driver, a security escort and his wife when the sad incident took place about two months ago. In a…

THE Commissioner for Finance in Borno State, Ahmed Ali Ahmed, is dead. Details of his death are still sketchy, but sources familiar with the incident told our correspondent that the commissioner died inside his room on Monday morning. The deceased was said to have exceeded the time he usually comes out in the morning. His door was then forced open where his corpse was found. “Oga is no more, he died early this morning,” the source told this newspaper. Governor Babagana Zulum has lost two of his cabinet members within one year.

GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno has alleged that 95 per cent of those who participated in Thursday’s violent protests in Maiduguri were children under 14 years. This newspaper reports that Zulum made this known in a broadcast to the people of Borno where he also declared the lifting of the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state. Zulum said: “Over 95 per cent of those who participated in the so-called Thursday protests were children under 14 years. Most of them do not know why they are protesting. “A six- year-old child carrying a placard is amazing; he must have been directed…

A NEW report by Nextier has indicated that insurgency recorded 109 deaths arising from 19 violent incidents, perpetrated by the Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents in the first half of 2024 alone. The report ‘Nigeria’s Northeast Belt of Insurgency and the Challenge of Refugees’, also called on the Federal Government to liaise with neighbouring countries and regional bodies to boost joint border surveillance. The report was authored by an Associate Consultant at Nextier and a Lecturer at the Political Science Department of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria, Dr Chukwuma Okoli, and a Managing…

FOUR protesters were killed at Kime filling station, Bolori Junction in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, on Thursday. Officials at the petrol station, who identified the deceased as their workers, gave separate accounts of how they died. “As I’m speaking to you know, they are still lying in the pool of their blood,” said one of the attendants that gave his name as Malam Musa. Musa who confirmed that he was with the victims said they died from an explosion. “I nearly got affected, but as God would have it, I escaped unhurt.” However, another source, who pleaded for anonymity, said…

A 24-HOUR curfew has been declared in Borno State amid the ongoing hunger protests across the nation. Spokesman for the Command, Nahum Kenneth Daso, who announced this in a statement on Thursday, said the curfew was on the basis of security concern following the bomb explosion of Wednesday. This newspaper had reported how a bomb exploded at a local tea joint in the state on the eve of the nationwide protest. Although sources told this newspaper that 19 persons were killed, the police confirmed 16. In his statement, the police image maker said the curfew was declared in the interest…

PANDEMONIUM broke out on Thursday in Bulunkutu area of Maiduguri when an immigration officer accidentally shot himself thrice on the foot while blocking protesters. The sound of the gunshots further provoked the protesters who went wild with the thought that one of them was shot but became calm on discovering that it was an immigration personnel that was shot. This newspaper reports that joint patrol team of the police, military, immigration, DSS, Civil Defence barricaded the Bulumkutu Railway Junction to prevent the hardship protesters from heading to the main city of Maiduguri. The self-wounded officer was part of the security…

AT least 19 people were killed after an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) suspected to be planted by Boko Haram insurgents went off at a local eatery in Kawuri village, Konduga Local government area of Borno State, on Wednesday. The incident happened three days after insurgents attacked a police station at Jakana town in the same Konduga LGA. A policeman and one woman were killed in that attack while two patrol vans set ablaze. A government official from the village said the bomb went off around 8:05pm at a local tea joint where the villagers gathered for a night chat, adding that…

A LANDMINE exploded under a Nigerian military vehicle killing seven soldiers in a northeastern area  of Borno where Islamic State-affiliated insurgents are active, civilian JTF sources told AFP on Friday. The soldiers were heading for Kukawa early Thursday when their vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device, two different sources said. “All the seven soldiers in the van died in the explosion at Bawarti village,” civilian JTF leader Babakura Kolo told News Point Nigeria. The incident was confirmed by an army source, who pleaded anonymity. Both sources blamed Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the dominant insurgent faction in the…

THE Senator representing Borno South, Mohammed Ali Ndume, says he would continue to be a member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) as long as Borno State governor, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum, remains in the party. Ndume stated this on Thursday at his residence in Maiduguri, while addressing some groups of women supporters, who vowed to stage a peaceful protest naked at the national assembly against his removal as Chief Whip of the Senate. He said: “On the call by APC National Working Committee (NWC) that I should leave the party and join any other political party, let me…

ALI Ndume has broken the silence on his removal as the Chief Whip of the Senate, saying, having reviewed the conversation that prompted his ouster, his action did not warrant his sack. Ndume was removed as the senate chief whip after his criticism of the President Bola Tinubu government’s handling of the nation. About two days after the decision, the lawmaker said he has also declined the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Tourism, arguing that he lacks the experience and exposure to lead such a sensitive group. The Borno South lawmaker said this in his country home of Maiduguri…

A  JOINT operation between the troops of 21 Armored Brigade of the Nigerian Army  and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully intercepted a large consignment of illicit substances destined for Boko Haram camp in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State. Intelligence sources told this newspaper that acting on intelligence, the joint team launched a swift and decisive operation to disrupt the supply of illicit substances to the terrorist groups. The operation, which was carried out following a tip-off, resulted in the recovery of 163 bags of the substance, equivalent to 2.5 tons in a warehouse in…