TWO notorious Boko Haram commanders and eleven other fighters have been eliminated in a fierce counteroffensive launched by troops of the Northeast Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai, following failed attempts by the insurgents to overrun Bitta and Wulgo communities in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State. The slain commanders were identified as Abu Nazir (Munzir of Juye) and Abu Fatima (Munzir of Koloram), both long-standing field leaders of the terrorist sect. News Point Nigeria gathered that they led coordinated midnight raids on the two communities on Thursday, August 21, and Friday, August 22, but met stiff resistance from Nigerian…
Author: AbdulRahman Tahir, Maiduguri
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FOUR security personnel, including members of the military and police, have been killed in a deadly ambush by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State, heightening fears of renewed attacks in farming communities across the state. The attack occurred on Monday morning when security operatives were providing protection for local farmers on their way to their farmlands in the outskirts of the state capital. According to eyewitnesses and security sources, who spoke to News Point Nigeria on condition of anonymity, the insurgents, riding motorcycles and some on foot, advanced stealthily before engaging the security escort team in a fierce gun…
THE Borno State Police Command has uncovered and safely neutralised a dangerous missile unexploded ordnance (UXO) discovered on a farmland in Dikwa Local Government Area, averting what could have been a major tragedy. The discovery was made after a farmer, Mr. Babagana Kachalla, reported sighting a strange object partially buried on his farmland. Acting swiftly on the alert, the Commissioner of Police, CP Naziru Abdulmajid, deployed operatives from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Base 13, Maiduguri, to the scene. In a statement issued on Monday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Nahum Daso, confirmed the recovery and explained that…
THE Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has recorded sweeping successes in its counter-insurgency campaign in the North-East, clocking more than 1,500 operational flight hours and eliminating at least 592 terrorists in just eight months under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai. According to NAF spokesperson, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, the figures were disclosed by the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, during a courtesy visit to Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, on Tuesday in Maiduguri. Abubakar revealed that the air campaign involved 798 combat sorties, destroying 372 enemy assets, including 206 technical vehicles and 166 logistics…
THE International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed that over 24,000 Nigerians have been reported missing by their families since 2015, with a significant number still unaccounted for, especially in the country’s conflict-ridden North-East region. Speaking at a media workshop held in Maiduguri on Wednesday, María Toscano, the ICRC’s Protection of Family Links Team Leader, shared that Borno State alone accounts for about 9,000 missing persons, out of the total 16,000 registered in the North-East. According to Toscano, 65 per cent of the missing were children at the time they disappeared, a staggering statistic that underlines the humanitarian…
GOVERNOR of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has moved to calm growing public anxiety over rising water levels at the Alau Dam, assuring residents of Maiduguri that the situation remains under control and that proactive measures are already in place to mitigate any risk of flooding. The reassurance follows days of heightened concern among residents, especially those living in flood-prone neighborhoods of the state capital, after persistent rainfall raised alarm over potential overflow from the dam. Speaking to journalists on Sunday shortly after inspecting the ongoing reconstruction and reinforcement work at the Alau Dam site, Zulum acknowledged the public…
IN a bid to revitalize his administration and strengthen governance, Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has reshuffled his cabinet, relieving two commissioners of their duties and appointing their replacements. The development was announced on Thursday via an official statement released by the governor’s spokesperson, Dauda Iliya, in Maiduguri, made available to News Point Nigeria. The officials affected by the shake-up include: Engr. Emet Kois, Commissioner for Environment, and Hon. Tukur Ibrahim Shani, Commissioner for Intergovernmental Affairs and Special Duties. Governor Zulum expressed his gratitude to the outgoing commissioners for their service to the state, while also extending his…
FORMER Borno State Governor and Senator, Ali Modu Sheriff, has urged the Federal Government to strengthen regional alliances with neighbouring countries as a critical step towards ending the Boko Haram insurgency. Speaking as a guest on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria, Sheriff stressed that lasting peace in Nigeria’s northeast could not be achieved without meaningful cooperation with neighbouring states. “What should be done is that we have to have a proper relationship with Cameroon, Chad, and Niger,” he said when asked what must be done to permanently end the Boko Haram crisis. The…
THE troops of Operation Hadin Kai have toiled Boko Haram attack on Monguno and Bitta in Borno State, killing several terrorists, including a Boko Haram commander. According to a statement by the Deputy Director Army Public Relations, Captain Reuben Kovangiya, the troops courageously foiled terrorists’ infiltration attack into Monguno. “The resilient troops during the attempted infiltration, engaged the insurgents with superior fire power, resulting in the neutralization of several terrorists, among whom was a senior Commander, Ibn Khalid, and also their cameraman,” he said. He noted that the troops, while in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists, also observed traces of…
SUSPECTED Boko Haram insurgents on Tuesday abducted the Secretary of Kukawa Local Government Council in Borno State, along with one other person, in what appears to be a targeted attack near the troubled Lake Chad region. Security and local sources confirmed the incident to this newspaper, revealing that the victims were intercepted around 1:35 p.m. at Garin Kashim, a rural location along the route to Kukawa town. The LG Secretary, who was reportedly newly posted to the area, was travelling in a Volkswagen Golf vehicle when the gunmen ambushed the car. “The insurgents flagged down the vehicle, singled out the…
FROM above, Monguno looks like a military fortress carved into the desert, surrounded by deep trenches and layers of defences. Located in Nigeria’s conflict-ridden Borno State, the garrison town has become a rare sanctuary in a region still gripped by insurgent violence. While the insurgents led by Boko Haram and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have been pushed back from its peak in 2015, attacks on military positions have surged again this year. Over a dozen army bases in Borno and Yobe States have been attacked or briefly overtaken by militants. Monguno itself was captured…
THE Borno State Police Command has confirmed the remarkable escape and safe return of two teenagers, Ayuba Ishaku and Yakubu Haruna, who were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in 2019. The boys, now around 13 years old, were held captive for over four years before seizing a rare opportunity to flee from a terrorist camp and make their way back to safety. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the police spokesperson, ASP Nahum Daso, the escape occurred on July 8, 2025, when the insurgents left their camp for an operation, leaving the boys unsupervised. Taking advantage of the…
FOR Saminu Wakili, life has been a test of resilience, survival, and purpose. His bright smile and crisp black-and-white barrister’s robes may reflect the image of a promising young lawyer, but behind his formal legal attire lies the haunting past of a boy who fled Boko Haram violence with nothing but a will to live. Born and raised in Gwoza, a community in Borno State, Wakili’s life was violently upended in 2013 when insurgents from the Boko Haram sect attacked his town, destroying homes, schools, and lives. “They burnt our houses, burnt everything we owned,” Wakili recalled in a heartfelt…
NINE people have been killed in an attack on Malamfatori in the Abadam Local Government Area of Borno State. The attack also left four others injured in the attack on the border community, 272 kilometres from Maiduguri. In a press statement from the Borno State Government, the Governor, Babagana Zulum, who was represented by the Commissioner for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Sugun Mele, condoled with the families of the victims of the attack, making cash donations to them. “We are here at the instance of His Excellency, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, who is out of the country on an…
BORNO State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has dismissed speculation in some sections of the media that he would lead five other governors in defecting to the opposition coalition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Zulum, in a statement by his spokesperson, Dauda Iliya, described the rumour as an unfounded fabrication by unscrupulous elements seeking relevance. The governor reiterated his loyalty to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The statement quoted the governor as saying, “We have become aware of a fictitious and mischievous social media report circulating in certain quarters, alleging plans by me to decamp from the All Progressives Congress…
TWO women have been killed in a recent flood disaster in Wovi Community of Damboa Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno, while several houses have been destroyed in Rumirgo, Askira Uba LGA, displacing several families. In a statement, Dauda Iliya, the spokesperson to the Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, extended his principal’s sympathy to the victims and their families. “I received with profound sorrow the sad news of the devastating flood disaster in the Wovi community, which claimed the lives of two women, as well as the destruction of homes in Gumsuri, displacing many families,” he said. “Equally distressing is…
FOUR persons have been killed while 10 others sustained injuries when an Isuzu vehicle conveying passengers from Damboa to Maiduguri, Borno State rammed into an improvised explosive device (IED) suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram terrorists. The incident occurred as the vehicle reached Komala Village, Konduga, in Konduga local government area of Borno State. This newspaper recalls that in a similar incident last Friday at the same Konduga, a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated an IED at a joint in a crowded fish market and killed 12 persons with 18 others sustaining injuries. Security sources and eyewitnesses…
BORNO State Governor, Babagana Zulum, on Monday blamed the recent suicide bombing in Konduga Local Government Area on the presence of illicit drug markets, vowing to enforce a ban on the sale of alcohol and drugs across all 27 local government areas of the state. The governor made this known during a sympathy visit to the affected community, where he promised a statewide crackdown on all illegal drug markets, unapproved structures, and locations that promote criminal activities. Recall that PUNCH Online had reported on June 20, 2025, that a suicide bomber detonated an explosive in Konduga, killing 12 people and…
VICE President, Kashim Shettima, has arrived in Mokwa, Niger State, following the devastating flood that left at least 200 people dead and hundreds displaced. More details shortly…
COMMUNITIES around the army detention facility in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, have demanded the immediate relocation of the barracks out of the community. Known as Giwa Barracks, the facility is located in the Jere Local Government Area of Borno State. During a press briefing by members of the communities in Maiduguri, the residents decried the risk level they are being exposed to living near the detention facility. This came after an explosion that rocked the army armory at Giwa Barracks a month ago, leading to the destruction of the armory and other buildings within proximity. According to the Chairman…