Author: Sani Nura

THE United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says it received at least $1.1bn (N1.1trn) in its humanitarian response in Nigeria’s northeast in the past 18 months. OCHA’s Humanitarian Dashboard for January 2022 to June 2023 showed that 11.6 million locals had been targeted for food, health and shelter, among other forms of intervention in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. However, the Office could only reach 8.3 million of that number due to a “funds shortage.” This population comprises three groups: Internally Displaced Persons, returnees and inhabitants of host communities. Fourteen years after Boko Haram began its gory…

THE Borno State Commissioner of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Resettlement, Ibrahim Idriss Garba, has been confirmed dead two months after being sworn into office. The Commissioner was reported to have died in his private guest house at the 777 Housing Estate at the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. According to sources outside government house, the Commissioner was rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital where he was confirmed dead. Before his death, the Commissioner was injured in an accident involving the convoy of the Governor while returning from a working tour of Southern Borno in September. A statement…

KATSINA State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, has said bandits freely buy weapons such as AK-47 and RPG in the market and that individuals should be allowed to do so to protect themselves. He said governors should not be blamed for the security challenges bedevilling their states, noting that they are called chief security officers without the authority to command the military forces, the police and other security agencies to deal with security issues in their states. Governor Radda, who asked the federal government to play a more critical role in the security of lives and property in the country, said…

BORNO State Primary Healthcare Board says it has recorded 59 deaths out of the 481 diphtheria cases recorded so far in 14 local government areas of the state. The Director, Public Health, Ministry of Health in Borno State, Dr. Goni Abba, disclosed this during an interview with this newspaper in Maiduguri on Wednesday. He said that about 20 cases are currently on admission and 216 samples were taken to the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja for analysis. “29 samples were returned from the National Reference Laboratory, in our response, we meet daily at the public health laboratory to brainstorm with…

ABOUT 35 travellers have reportedly been killed while 28 others were injured in an accident involving a trailer, a bus and a canter truck along Potiskum-Nangere road in Yobe State. The travellers were on their way to popular Potiskum cattle market when one of the trucks lost control. An eye witness, Adamu Hassan, told News Point Nigeria that the corpses have been evacuated to Potiskum Specialist Hospital while others are still at the General Hospital, Sabon Garin, Nangere as at time of filing this report. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state are yet to confirm…

A DAUGHTER of a member of the Borno State House of Assembly representing Ngala, Hon. Bukar Abacha, was reportedly strangled by unknown persons around Gidan Dembe in Maiduguri. The incident, which caused the stagnation of activities in the area, attracted a large crowd of residents who thronged the scene to catch a glimpse of what happened to the daughter of the lawmaker and wife of a businessman. A source who spoke with this newspaper said the incident occurred around 7:30 pm on Tuesday when the husband was said to have left the compound to a nearby mosque for Isha (night)…

AT least 50 people including a district head, and mostly women and children, were abducted and three others were killed in an attack by bandits in Bagega, a mining village in Zamfara state. Some resident, who preferred anonymity told News Point Nigeria via telephone that the gunmen stormed the village on motorcycles Tuesday morning, shooting indiscriminately and setting houses on fire. Confirming the attack, the Village Head, Malam Abubakar Uba, told Reuters that the gunmen kidnapped the district head, Sarkin Gabas, before proceeding to kidnap dozen others in the village. “They stormed the village on dozen motorcycles and their first…

BORNO State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has revoked a land title belonging to Nigerian Railway Corporation over acts of immorality and criminality taking place in the building located on the land. “I understand that this land was approved by the Borno State Government to be used by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) but unfortunately, it’s been rented out illegally with all forms of criminal activities taking place. “For this reason, the government has revoked the earlier approval and henceforth, the land belongs to Borno State Government,” Zulum said. The governor also ordered the demolition of all brothels within Bayan Quarters Area…

GUNMEN have attacked and killed nine members of a local vigilante group popularly known as Yan’ Ba Beli in Bauchi state. The gunmen whose identity and number are not yet known, killed the vigilantes in Gamji village forest while they (the vigilantes) were searching for bandits who have been killing and kidnapping innocent people for ransom in Ningi Local Government Area of the State. The gunmen were said to have laid an ambush and attacked the local vigilante group members and successfully killed nine of them while some others sustained various degrees of injuries. A member of a local vigilante…

THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has commenced the tracking of over 70 executive and constituency projects worth N7.3bn across Borno State. “This project tracking is on the behest of the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye,” Abubakar Gujja, a Principal Superintendent with the Borno State office of the ICPC, told this newspaper at the Maiduguri Dental and Eye Hospital, during the exercise on Monday. “The chairman is not alone in this initiative; he is carrying along the entire board of the commission to ensure transparency and fraud-free execution of all such projects appropriated in the…

GOVERNOR Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON has approved the appointment of Chairman and Members of the Gombe State Drugs and Medical Consumables Management Agency (GSDMCMA). The Secretary to the State Government,  Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi who conveyed the Governor’s approval,  announced Dr. Ismail Jibrin Kwami as Chairman with Hajiya Maimuna Idi, Dahiru Kala and Dr. Danladi Adamu Bojude of the Federal Teaching Hospital FTH Gombe as members. Also appointed as members include: Alhassan Yahaya Abdullahi, representing the Civil Society Organisations; Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of the Justice and Health and Pharm. Sebastine Zubairu, representing the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria. Other…

ARMED bandits on Saturday evening again abducted two students of the Federal University Gusau in Zamfara State. The two students, according to an eyewitness account, were male and female, who were abducted in their off campus hostel around 9pm on Saturday in the Sabon Garin Damba area of Gusau, the state capital. Residents said the bandits invaded the community a few minutes after 8pm and shot sporadically in other to scare residents. Several gunshots were fired by security personnel who tried to repel the aggressors but the bandits took away two students. Another resident who pleaded anonymity for security reasons…

THE Borno State Police Command on Saturday averted the theft of some train coaches at the Maiduguri Railway Terminus. A source who confided in our correspondent said the officials, acting on a tip-off by Good Samaritans in the area, also apprehended the suspects. The source said, “A suspected theft of train coaches of the Nigerian Railway Corporation was foiled at the Maiduguri Railway Terminus following a tip-off by Good Samaritans. The suspects were also apprehended by the police.” When contacted, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mahmood Yakubu, denied knowledge of the incident but asked our correspondent to reach…

OVER five thousand primary school teachers recently recruited by the Katsina State Government are currently undergoing screening and documentation exercise across the state. The chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Kabir Magaji, while monitoring the conduct of the exercise at Dutsinma, Katsina and Mani Centers on Friday, explained that the recruitment of the teachers would undoubtedly bridged the gap of lack of qualified teachers in the state. Magaji commended the giant efforts of the governor of the state, Dikko Radda, towards boosting the education sector by recruiting over seven thousand teachers in the state, adding that it was…

GUNMEN suspected to be ethnic militia have attacked Didango market in Karim-Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State, killing two traders and a businessman. Similarly several persons were wounded and items worth millions of naira carted away during the attack. A resident of the town, Yakubu Adamu, told this newspaper in a telephone interview that the militia armed with sophisticated weapons attacked the town in theor numbers on Wednesday which is a market day around 9pm. “The attackers came from from a nearby village. Nobody provoked them as Digango community who are mainly Wurkum, Jarawa and Hausa-Fulani tribes are not…

CHIEF of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, has tasked the troops of the Nigerian Army to find and kill Boko Haram terrorists before they attack Nigerians. Musa gave the order to troops of Operation Hadin Kai at the Maimalari cantonment, Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. The CDS further said a soldier who comes to the theatre without killing at least one Boko Haram fighter is not complete He urged the troops to take the battle to the insurgents, saying “Don’t just come and sleep in the theatre, make sure you look for Boko Haram and kill. Anybody who comes to the…

BORNO State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, has announced the conversion of Mustapha Umar El Kanemi Arabic (Teachers) College in Maiduguri to a specialised institute for teaching of Arabic and Islamic education that will aim to counter the ideology of Boko Haram insurgents. Zulum made the announcement on Tuesday while on an inspection visit to the college, preparatory to the conversion. The initiative is a response to the threat posed by Boko Haram, a terrorist group known for its violent campaign against education and its propagation of a radical and misguided interpretation of Islam. When established, the new institute will be…

THE Zamfara State Police Command has paraded two suspects, Mansur Haruna and Ibrahim Nababa, over the killing of a veteran journalist, Hamisu Danjibga, in the state. While parading the suspects on Tuesday evening at the Police Command Headquarters in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Bunu, said Hamisu, a reporter with Voice of Nigeria (VON) was suspected to have been killed by his nephew, Mansur and his friend, Ibrahim He said the suspects were arrested when the police swung into action following the journalist’s death. According to him, the prime suspect, Mansur, has confessed to the…

RESIDENTS homeless as farmlands, domestic animals and residential buildings worth millions of naira have been swept away by flood in the Mayo Selbe community of Gashaka Local Government Area of Taraba State. The flood is sequel to a heavy downpour which lasted for hours Friday night. This is the first time the area has witnessed such a natural disaster which has also led to the collapse of a bridge within the community. Some of the eyewitnesses who spoke to News Point Nigeria via telephone interview are seeking evacuation to higher grounds to avoid a repeat. They also appealed to relevant…

THE Minister of Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu has handed over 40 fully completed houses at the Resettlement City built by the National Refugee Commission to the displaced persons at Gidan Dawa area of Gusau, Zamfara State. Edu, who made the formal hand over to the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, in the presence of the Honourable  Federal Commissioner, National Refugee Commission, Tijjani Ahmed, called on the International  communities, private establishments and willing individuals to support FG’s humanitarian response in the state. Speaking, the  Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal commended the federal government for its interest in addressing…