Author: Sani Nura

AT least six people, including women, were killed and many sustained injuries when insurgents fired a mortar bomb also known as heavy artillery into Damboa town in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno state. It was learnt that the outlawed group came at exactly 8:30 pm to Waluri bridge in Damboa town and attacked a civilian JTF location. According to a security source, after they could not gain access into the town, the attackers fired a mortar bomb into the town. “There was an attack by ISWAP last night in Damboa town, we lost six people including women and more…

VICE-PRESIDENT Kashim Shettima on Thursday asked the northern leaders to support the efforts of the Bola Tinubu administration in tackling Nigeria’s security challenges. Shettima made the call in Sokoto when he paid Sallah homage to the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saád Abubakar III in his palace. “I urge our political leaders to unite to confront the common challenges of insecurity, poverty and underdevelopment in the region,” Shettima was quoted as saying in a statement by his media aide, Olusola Abiola. “President Tinubu is aware of the challenges facing our people – the insecurity that has pervaded the northwest region and…

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities has rejected the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards prepared by the National Universities Commission. The union said it was nightmarish, a threat to quality university education, and an erosion of powers of the university Senate in Nigerian universities. A statement signed by the national president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, on Friday, explained that it was inexplicable that NUC pre-packaged 70 per cent CCMAS contents were being imposed on the Nigerian University System, adding that university Senates, who are statutorily responsible for academic programme development, were left to work on only 30 per cent.…

TROOPS of Operation Hadarin Daji deployed to Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State have rescued 20 kidnap victims while on their routine patrol in the general area. The victims comprised two females including a housewife who was abducted a week after her wedding, three children and 15 males, who were kidnapped from different parts of Zamfara and Sokoto states. During preliminary investigation, the victims revealed that they have spent 21 to 53 days respectively in the hands of their captors while other victims revealed that they were released from the camp of a notorious bandits’ kingpin, Bello Turji due…

GOMBE State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON yesterday joined the Emir of Gombe,  Alhaji Dr Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, CFR and other Muslim Ummah in the state to observe the  2- Raka’at Eid prayer to mark the commencement of Eid-el-Kabir Sallah Celebration in Gombe. The Eid prayer, which took place at the main Eid ground in Gombe was led by the Deputy Chief Imam of Gombe, Ustaz Aliyu Hammari and was also attended by top government functionaries, including the Speaker and members of Gombe State House of Assembly,  Secretary to the State Government,  Acting Head of Civil Service,  Permanent Secretaries…

THE Zamfara State Government on Tuesday said there were no plans to dialogue or negotiate with terrorists or any other criminal group but would wage war against them and death awaits them until they are eliminated from the state. The Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Nakwada stated this while addressing journalists about the activities of the present administration of Governor Dauda Lawal and that of his immediate predecessor, Bello Matawalle. Matawalle’s government had initiated a peace dialogue with the bandits which was later stopped in September 2021 due to persistent bandit attacks on rural communities in the state. Nakwada…

SEVERAL of Boko Haram/ ISWAP terrorists have been reportedly killed in airstrikes by troops of Air Component operation Hadin Kai, in Sambisa Forest axis of Bama Local Government Area. Sources said the terrorists were eliminated in air strikes carried out in the midnight of June 21, 2023 in Amchille in Gaizuwa. Counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama confirmed the strikes noting that the air component carried out the strikes following credible intelligence of terrorists planning to launch attack. “The jets successfully struck the camps, killing dozens of the terrorists while a few escaped. He disclosed that the…

GOMBE State Governor, Muhammdu Inuwa Yahaya, CON, (Dan Majen Gombe) has approved the extension of tenure of the Management of the  Gombe State University of Science and Technology, Kumo for six months with effect from 1st July,  2023. According to a statement by the Director-General, Press Affairs, Ismaila Uba Misilli, the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, who conveyed the Governor’s approval, said the decision followed the expiration of their tenure at the end of this June, and the need to facilitate smooth take over of the institution by the Lincoln University College Malaysia. Recall that Gombe State…

THE Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has raised the alarm over renewed attacks by suspected Boko Haram terrorists on farmers in communities within the state. Zulum, in a condolence visit Friday to five communities in Jere and Mafa local government areas (LGAs) where eight farmers and scavengers were brutally murdered, alleged sabotage of efforts to restore security to the troubled state. Before the murder of eight scavengers and farmers on Thursday in Shuwari, Kaleri, Tamsu Ngamdua, Baram Karamwa, and Muna communities, there had been similar attacks on farmers in Borno communities in recent weeks. A top military source…

A MAN suffering from epilepsy, Amos Christopher, has been apprehended by the Adamawa State Police Command for allegedly beating his ​​four-year-old brother, Thyson, to death. Amos, a 24-year-old who lives in Dobi village in Ga’anda District, Gombi Local Government Area, allegedly committed the act in one of the apartments in their home on June 19, 2023. A statement by the Adamawa State Police Spokesperson, SP Suleiman Nguroje, added that Amos strangled his younger brother before beheading him and dismembering his body with a hoe. The accused, said to be suffering from epilepsy by family members, murdered his brother when his…

A FEDERAL High Court (FHC), Abuja, on Wednesday, gave an order restoring Mr Mahdi Gusau as the deputy governor of Zamfara following his impeachment by the state’s House of Assembly on Feb. 23, 2022, inspite of a subsisting court order. Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgement, also set aside all the steps and actions taken by the House of Assembly, former Gov. Bello Matawalle and the state’s chief judge in the purported impeachment of Gusau during the pendency of the suit in court. Justice Ekwo, who held that the act of the then assembly’s speaker, ex-governor, chief judge and indeed…

THE Governor of Sokoto State, Ahmad Aliyu, on Monday, paid an unscheduled visit to the Sokoto Specialist Hospital to ascertain the quality of services provided by the outfit. Malam Abubakar Bawa, the Press Secretary to the governor, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Sokoto. Bawa said that the governor’s decision to visit the health facility unannounced followed the series of concerns raised by citizens of the state over the poor health service delivery at the hospital. The press secretary added that other concerns that spurred the governor to visit the hospital were the need to have a first-hand…

GOVERNOR Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has flagged off the sales and distribution of fertilizers for the 2023 farming season. Performing the ceremony at Lawanti Farm Service Centre in Akko Local Government Area, the Governor said the commodity will be sold at the rate of N19,000 per bag, against the market price of about N26,000 to alleviate the financial burden on the farmers. He said that the timely distribution of the subsidised fertilizers for this year’s cropping season is aimed at boosting agriculture and ensuring food security in the state and beyond while creating wealth and providing employment opportunities for the teeming…

THE Zamfara State Police Command on Saturday said it has returned all vehicles it seized from a former governor of the state, Bello Matawalle. The command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yazid Abubakar, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday via telephone conversation. Abubakar said the vehicles were returned in compliance with the order of a Federal High Court sitting in Gusau. The court, presided by Justice Aminu Bappah-Aliyu, on June 15, ordered all security agencies that removed the vehicles from Matawalle’s houses in Gusau and Maradun to return them within 48 hours. Security operatives…

ALHAJI Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto on Saturday directed Muslims to look out for the new moon of Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH from Sunday. Abubakar, the President General Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) gave the directive in a statement signed by Prof. Sambo Junaidu, Chairman Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, Sultanate Council, Sokoto. Dhul-Hijjah is the 12th and the last month in the Islamic calendar in which Muslims perform annual pilgrimage (Hajj) and celebrate Eid-el-Kabir festival. The statement said, “This is to inform the Muslim Ummah that, Sunday 18th June, which is equivalent to 29th day of Dhul-Qadah…

OVER a hundred students of the Federal University Gusau in Zamfara State have blocked Gusau-Kaduna road to protest the abduction of five students of the university. Five students of the institution were abducted by bandits last Friday night, a situation which has angered the students to block the road as a result of which several motorists were left stranded for several hours. Efforts by the security agents to disperse the students proved abortive as many of them sat on the main road, calling on the appropriate authorities to take urgent action on the security situation in the institution. The Vice…

THE member representing Hong constituency, Barthiya Wesley, has emerged Speaker of the 8th Adamawa State House of Assembly. Wesley was elected unopposed. Similarly, Buba Mohammed Jijiwa of Jada Mbulo also emerged as Deputy Speaker unopposed. Barthiya becomes the first physically challenged person to be elected leader of a legislature, a key fulcrum of government. Though he was not born with a disability, Barthiya survived a crash earlier in life that left him with one of his arms amputated. The UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in its 61st session of the General assembly by resolution A/RES/61/106 states…

BANDITS on Monday killed a medical doctor and abducted 10 people including members of the slain doctor’s family in an attack on Jangebe community, Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Residents said the armed men stormed the community around 1am and began to fire shots from several directions. Jangebe community has suffered series of abductions. From January to date, there have been at least four cases of bandits’ invasions of the community according to the residents. In February 2021, more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted from a secondary school in the community. In December 2022, the family members…

ONE person has been killed in an attack by gunmen on Balma and Bakuntube villages in the Ningi Local Government Area (LGA) of Bauchi State. Also abducted in the attack were two district heads and one other person. Eyewitnesses said the attackers were heavily armed and the operation took place in the two villages between Saturday night and Sunday morning within a few hours’ interval. The Bauchi State Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakili, confirmed the incident on Monday to News Point Nigeria, saying the Ningi division of the police had been directed to comb the Balma Forest, rescue the…

FORMER Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, has said most of his vehicles taken away by the security agencies from his two houses in Gusau and Maradun were bought before he became a governor. Matawalle was reacting to Friday’s invasion of his home by security consisting of police and the Department of State Services (DSS). News Point Nigeria had reported how operatives moved straight to the former governor’s residence and started evacuating the vehicles. However, speaking to BBC Hausa on Saturday, Matawalle accused the security agents of looting the personal belongings of his wives and children, including clothing materials. He said…