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Baga Killing: Defence Headquarters Insists On Minimal Casualty Figure

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The Defence Headquarters fact-finding team to Baga has returned to present its report to the Chief of Defence Staff on the outcome of its 3-day visit to Baga following the reports on last week encounter between the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and Boko Haram Terrorists in the town. The team which was led by the Chief of Training and Operations, Defence Headquarters, Major General Lawrence Ngubane interacted with the Commander, officers and troops of the MNJTF as well as some community leaders, the police, aid workers and residents of the town with a view of getting their perspectives on the incident. The team also went round the town interviewing those who participated or witnessed the encounter at the various scenes connected with the incident as it tries to verify various claims reported in the media concerning the professional conduct of the soldiers. In its particular concern to ascertain the claims of massive loss of lives, the team was taken to cemeteries in the town as it tried to locate the reported large number of civilian casualties were buried.  It however found no mass grave after nearly two days of search. Responding to the enquiries of the team, the District Head of Baga, Alhaji Babagana Zanna, who was also accompanied by the Local Government Chairman Alhaji Kone, maintained that he had not received any report of the said mass burial in his domain.  Also responding to the team, the Chairman, Kukawa Local Government Area, who was earlier quoted to have given some figures said he was not in the town during the incidence and as such does not know the number of civilians who died in the incident. Briefing the team earlier, the Task Force Commander, Brigadier General Austin Edokpayi narrated how the task force operation was conducted on the 16 and 17 April 2013.  He noted that the situation in the town had been stabilized until the arrival of some politicians and government officials who addressed the community on Sunday 21 April making a series of allegations which ended up raising fresh tension and campaign to discredit the military.The politicians reiterated their call for withdrawal of soldiers from the State. General Edokpayi maintained that the operation was only targeted at stopping the Boko Haram terrorists who had established a pattern of burning buildings and property as a mode of operation in the area lately.  He cited instances of how the terrorists used the approach of burning properties in communities such as Duguri, Metele, and Kangarwa where they operated recently. He went on to brief the team on details of the casualty recorded in the course of the encounter from the perspective of the task force, stating that some civilians who were wounded were treated and discharged from the Task Force Medical facility.  He also showed the team various high caliber weapons recovered from the insurgents before they were finally routed from the town. The leader of the DHQ team, Major General Ngubane later addressed the troops of the task force, assuring them that the Chief of Defence Staff is concerned about how operations are carried out in any location where the troops are deployed. According the General, his team was also in Baga to confirm the logistics and welfare needs of the troops and brief the CDS for immediate attention. Speaking further, he urged the troops to continue to be vigilant and defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria at all times.  He however warned that any negligence or violation of rules of engagement would not be tolerated from any quarter. General Ngubane also spoke to officials of the Red Cross and NEMA who confirmed that they were not being hindered in having access to the displaced people.  They appreciated the security granted them saying it gave confidence against earlier fear of Boko Haram terrorists. Before returning to Abuja, the team also visited the Headquarters of the Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Order in Maiduguri.  They later paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, who commended the visit, describing the incident in Baga as unfortunate. Earlier, the team leader assured the Governor that the Nigerian Military places high value on human lives and would not encourage the loss of even one life carelessly in its operations.  He however noted that the figures being quoted as civilian casualties in Baga were a far cry from the possible actual figure. He wondered why the incidence was being so sensationalized unnecessarily.  He thanked the Governor for his understanding and support for the military in his state. The team has since returned to Abuja to brief the military authorities at the Defence Headquarters.

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Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

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Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

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By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

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Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

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Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

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Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

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President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

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