1,000 DAYS AFTER: PRESIDENT BUHARI RECOMMITS TO RETURN OF CHIBOK SCHOOLGIRLS

As the country, nay, the world, today commemorates the 1,000th day of the abduction of schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, President Muhammadu Buhari has recommitted the Federal Government to securing the release of the youngsters kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents.

"We are grateful to God that on this landmark day, we are not completely in the depths of despair, but buoyed with hope that our daughters will yet rejoin their families and loved ones. Three of them have been recovered by our diligent military, while the freedom of 21 others was secured through engagement with their captors. We are hopeful that many more will still return as soon as practicable," President Buhari said.

UN Expresses more concern by reports of Boko Haram links with ISIS, back Abuja RSS summit

The United Nation Security Council has expressed alarm at ties between the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram and Isis - while a security summit is taking place in Nigeria to discuss efforts to combat the extremists.

In a statement approved by all 15 council members it demanded Boko Haram “immediately and unequivocally cease all violence and all abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law."

The Council said they were alarmed at Boko Haram’s links with Isis. They also demanded the release of thousands of captives reportedly held by the group, including more than 200 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, in Nigeria’s Borno State in 2014.

Failure to Rescue Chibok Girls: NSA, Service Chiefs to Appear before Senate Today

The National Security Adviser (NSA), General Babagana Monguno (rtd), and service chiefs will today (20-02-16) appear before the Senate to explain the reasons they have failed to rescue the school girls kidnapped in Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, two years after. Making the announcement while presiding over the plenary yesterday, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said senators would meet with the service chiefs behind closed-door today at 1p.m.

The scheduled meeting with the service chiefs is in accordance with the resolution passed by the Senate last Thursday in commemoration of two years anniversary of the kidnap of Chibok girls.

Last Thursday marked the second year anniversary of the abduction of 276 girls who were writing their Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in the school by Boko Haram insurgents.

APC - Pres. Jonathan embarrassed Nigeria by waiting to be goaded by Malala to meet Chibok parents

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as a compound embarrassment the fact that it took 17-year-old girl-child education campaigner, Pakistani Malala Yousafzai, to visit and convince President Goodluck Jonathan to agree to a meeting with representatives of the parents of the kidnapped school girls.

''President Jonathan, who has already embarrassed himself and the entire people of Nigeria by his inexplicable failure to visit Chibok since the girls were abducted over 90 days ago, has compounded the embarrassment and insulted Nigerians by waiting for Malala to goad him to meet with the girls' parents, not in Chibok but in Abuja,'' the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

West Africa: UN envoy cites region’s daunting challenges, Boko Haram threat to Nigeria

While countries in West Africa are trying to promote development and consolidate democracy, they continue to face daunting challenges such as transnational organized crime and growing terrorist activities, the top United Nations official in the region told the Security Council on Tuesday, while also warning of the increasing threat the Boko Haram crisis poses to Nigeria.

Said Djinnit, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, added that the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA), which he heads, has been trying to sensitize regional leaders to the need for “decisive concerted efforts” to fight these threats to regional security and stability.

More than 60 women, girls escape their Boko Haram abductors;

Maiduguri - More than 60 women and girls abducted last month by suspected Boko Haram militants have escaped their captors, sources said Sunday, but more than 200 schoolgirls are still being held by the militants.

Local vigilante Abbas Gava said he had "received an alert from my colleagues ... that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home" late Friday.

A high-level security source in the Borno state capital Maiduguri, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed the escape.

How Boko Haram Suicide bomber kills five outside mosque in Borno

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber targeting worshippers at a mosque in a remote village in northeast Nigeria killed five people and wounded dozens, a security source said on Saturday, in an area where Islamist insurgents are mounting attacks almost daily.

The source, who declined to be named, said Muslims in the village of Konduga, in the northeasterly Borno state, were observing Friday prayers when the pick-up truck approached.

A local vigilante group stopped the truck to inspect it and the bomber then detonated the bomb a few metres away from the mosque, he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Islamist group Boko Haram is likely to be the prime suspect.

In a separate attack, also on Friday evening, insurgents fired on a military base in the northeastern town of Damboa with rocket-propelled grenades, Gideon Jubrin, police spokesman for Borno state, said. He had no information on casualties.

More than 50 insurgents, 6 soldiers killed as Boko Haram attacks Nigerian military formation – DHQ

At least 50 members of the insurgent Boko Haram group were killed on Friday night after the group attacked a military location in Damboa, Borno State, the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has said.

The spokesperson of the DHQ, Chris Olukolade, said the insurgents “stormed the troops’ bases and police locations while most of the troops were out on patrol of surrounding villages.”

Mr. Olukolade also said six soldiers including a “senior officer” were killed as soldiers battled to repel the insurgents.

UPDATE: Atleast 15 people killed in Maiduguri blast

Maiduguri - A truck exploded in a huge fireball killing at least 15 people on Tuesday in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the latest attack in a city repeatedly hit by Boko Haram.

The bomb rocked Maiduguri's largest roundabout near the crowded Monday Market where elderly women line the road selling peanuts and kola nuts as snacks to morning commuters.

The defence ministry said in a tweet that an "improvised explosive device" went off in "a van loaded with charcoal" and that the area had been cordoned off.

Unruly crowds tried to attack firefighters deployed to the scene, accusing of them of arriving too slowly and hindering their efforts to put out the raging blaze, an AFP photographer said.

CHRIS OLUKOLADE: Nigerian Troops Bust Terrorists' Intelligence Network, Arrest A Key Actor In Chibok Abduction

A terrorists’ intelligence cell headed by a businessman who participated actively in the abduction of School Girls in Chibok has been busted by troops. The man, Babuji Ya’ari who is also a member of the Youth Vigilante Group popularly known as Civilian JTF which he uses as cover while remaining an active terrorist, also spearheaded the murder of the Emir of Gwoza. His main role in the group is to spy and gather information for the terrorists group.

Babuji has been coordinating several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including the daring attacks on Customs and military locations as well as the planting of IEDs in several locations in the town.

The arrest of the businessman who is known to deal in tricycles has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women. One of them, Hafsat Bako had earlier escaped to Gombe State to avoid suspicion but was tracked and arrested. Prior to her arrest, Hafsat coordinated the payment of other operatives on the payroll of the group. In her confession, she disclosed that a minimum of N10,000 is paid to each operative depending on the enormity of his task.

30 bodies recovered in Chibok villages after Boko Haram attacks

At least 30 bodies have been recovered from two communities near Chibok in Borno State where suspected Boko Haram militants attacked Sunday, members of a local vigilante group have said.

Members of the vigilante group said they found 30 corpses from surrounding bushes and Churches in Kwada and Kautikari villages. Search was continuing in the area, they said. Gunmen stormed Kwada and Kautikari early Sunday burning Churches and shooting worshippers.

The Borno State police spokesperson, Gideon Jubrin, said he was informed of the attack, but said he did not have full details as of Sunday afternoon. Mr. Jubrin said he was yet to contact the district police officer in charge of Chibok.

Boko Haram: USA Delivers Military Equipment to Nigeria

In its avowed determination to give technical support to the Nigerian military, the United States of America yesterday confirmed the delivery of special military equipment to the Nigerian government as part of efforts to assist the country in the rescue operation of the over 200 school girls abducted from Chibok in Borno State over two months ago.

The United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria confirmed the delivery of the equipment.

The USA, according to a statement from the Public Affairs section of the embassy, delivered sophisticated military transportation and communication gadgets to the Nigerian Armed Force last Monday in Abuja.

Islamist Boko Haram ready to swap 219 girls with 70 detainees

The Islamist Boko Haram sect has demanded the release of 70 of its members in detention as a condition to free the Chibok girls, it emerged yesterday.

The sect is also asking the government to give amnesty to its members. A lawyer close to the armed group, Hajiya Aisha Wakil, told AlJazeera English that the sect said only when these conditions are met would it release the abducted girls.

No fewer than 276 girls were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State on April 15. The Boko Haram leaders deceived the girls that they were soldiers who came to protect them from attack.

There are 219 girls in their custody following the escape of 57 from their enclave.

Boko Haram Gunmen kill "many" in attack on Borno village

Suspected Islamist Boko Haram militants stormed a village in Borno State on Saturday, killing several people and torching houses close to where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped two months ago, a witness said.

Clad in military uniforms, the attackers raided Koronginim in a convoy of sport utility and military vehicles, the witness told Reuters by telephone, asking not to be identified.

The attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) before opening fire and killing "many", the witness said. "Two of their leaders were giving orders that they should shoot anyone on sight," the witness added.

There was mass abduction of students at Chibok - Fact-finding Committee chairman

TEXT OF THE ADDRESS BY BRIGADIER-GENERAL IBRAHIM A. SABO (rtd), CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENTIAL FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE ON THE ABDUCTION OF CHIBOK SCHOOLGIRLS, AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE COMMITTEE’S REPORT, AT STATE HOUSE, ASO VILLA, ABUJA; ON FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014.
Protocol

On the 6th of May, this year, Your Excellency, Mr President, inaugurated a Fact-finding Committee on the mass abduction that took place in the small hours of the 14th of April, 2014, at Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State. In defining the mandate of the Committee, Your Excellency’s directive was as clear as crystal. On that occasion, you stated unequivocally that the Committee was neither a judicial, nor an administrative panel of inquiry.

2. Your Excellency also stated that the Committee’s work was not a substitute for on-going efforts by the security and intelligence agencies to secure freedom for the schoolgirls, who were forcibly snatched from their hostels where they resided while writing their West African Senior School Certificate examinations.

219 girls are still missing: Presidential Fact Finding Committee on Chibok schoolgirls submits report

The Chairperson of the Presidential Fact Finding Committee on the abducted Chibok girl, Ibrahim Sabo, has revealed that a total of 219 girls are still missing. Mr. Sabo, a retired brigadier general, disclosed this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while presenting the report of the committee to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mr. Sabo, who disclosed that a total of 276 girls were abducted by members of the Boko Haram Sect, said 57 of the girls escaped while 219 were still unaccounted for.

President Jonathan had set up the fact finding committee on May 2 to gather information surrounding the abduction and to ascertain the exact number of students abducted amongst other terms of references.

Classified briefing: US military lo take action over Chibok girls, urge Nigeria government to create National Victim Fund

The US military may soon be deployed in the search of the over 200 secondary school girls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno state.

A US Congressional Delegation made up of Representatives Steve Stockman, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Frederica Wilson and Lois Frankel, who made this known at a news conference in Abuja on Sunday, said a directive is being awaited on the issue. 

According to Stockman: ” We get briefed by the military and pending the approval of the government of Nigeria and our government, we plan to take action but I don’t think we are going specifics this time.

Abduction of 20 Fulani women untrue - MACBAN

The Borno State chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, known by the acronym MACBAN, on Thursday, denied media reports that Fulani women were abducted by Boko Haram members in Borno last week.

Alhaji Amadu Musa, who is Chairman of the MACBAN in Borno State, in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri, the state capital, said the reported abduction of 20 Fulani women was “not true.”

“We need to tell the world that there is nothing like that. All (of) our women and girls are (safe and) intact. It takes us this long to respond because; we made series of consultations to avoid issuing conflicting statements that will generate tension.

THE LAMENTATIONS AND TEARS OF ALMAJIRI UNITED - Fani-Kayode

Ever since I left Almajiri United they have been abusing me and getting their Haramite footsoldiers to attack me in the newspapers and on the social media. If I was never of any value to them and they never trusted me why the loud lamentations, the open aggression, the anger, the bitterness and the tears simply because I have left? Cant they just leave me alone? Out of respect for the few dear friends that I still have in the APC I have held my peace but if I am sufficiently provoked and I start on them they will be damaged beyond redemption. 

NIGER DELTA MILITANT, ASARI DOKUBO CALLS NEW EMIR OF KANO A DOG ( photo )

Ex- Niger Delta militant and leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) Mujahid Asari Dokubo has described the new Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as a dog.

Asari took to his Facebook page to post a photo of a turbaned dog with the caption, "This is how I see Sanusi Lamido Sanusi."


He also tweeted a congratulatory message to the All Progressive Congress, APC on their new Emir while also wondering if the late Emir died a natural death.

Asari is one of the supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan's government, which Sanusi is at loggerheads with.

It could be recalled that in February, the leader of the outlawed Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force said that his kinsmen in the oil-rich belt would foment trouble if President Jonathan failed to secure a second term ticket in the 2015 presidential election.

Asari is always in the news for one thing or the other, from declaring there will be war if Boko Haram sect dares him and his men, to declaring that the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls is a scam.

He even staged an anti ‪#‎BringBackOurGirls‬ protest to show he's not convinced about the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok community, Borno by Boko Haram terrorists on April 14 2014.