NIGERIAN ARMY COMMANDER KILLED BY BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS IN BORNO STATE

 

The Acting Commanding Officer, 401 Special Forces Brigade Signals of the Nigeria Army, Major K Yakubu is dead. He died after Boko Haram terrorists attacked his team and wounded one soldier in Borno State on Tuesday.

Reports reveal that the military commander was killed after decimating Boko Haram camp in Doron Naira, an island in Lake Chad, and Nigerian border area of Baga.

It was gathered that the troops advance was delayed as vehicles broke down which resulted in the burning of vehicle clutches and overheating of radiators. The troops also had to stop many times to fix burst tires due to extremely harsh weather and sandy nature of the terrain, amongst others.

The troops arrived at Doron Naira Village (N13° 11′ 34.94 E13° 36′ 52.61″wink on June 1 and cleared the partially deserted settlement. Items recovered included one x 120mm mortar base plate, one x Motorbike, one x BHT Flag, one Holy Qur’an, metal links for AA rounds and a roll of copper wire.

Huts, fire trenches and other home utensils found at the hideout were destroyed before the withdrawal of the troops. Two Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the shootout. Other items captured include one x AA gun, 2 x AK47 rifles and assorted AA rounds.

The troops were, however, attacked by the terrorists Tuesday at about 1530hr at coordinate N13° 11′ 50.44″ E13° 36′ 51.44. Troops responded with overwhelming firepower, forcing the terrorists to withdraw.

The sources said that an advance team arrived Baga Wednesday. “Casualty on troops/equipment are one Killed In Action (Maj K Yakubu – Acting CO 401SF Bn), One Wounded In Action soldier while one x COBRA APC, one x mini-workshop (Toyota Hilux) and one x ATEGO truck that could not be repaired or recovered was destroyed in the operation.”

 

-----SAHARAREPORTERS

THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT IS SET TO REPLACE ALL CURRENT MILITARY SERVICE CHIEFS - SOURCES

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the removal of all the service chiefs and an announcement is expected anytime from now.

Those set to be replaced, according to sources from the presidency, are the Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin, 57; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, 59; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, 59; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, 59.

There have been calls to replace the chiefs, who were appointed by the president in July 2015, due to the lapses in the war against the Boko Haram, as well as the rising insecurity across the country, particularly in northern Nigeria.

According to the sources; “The President has signed off on their removal. An announcement is imminent… Not in weeks but in days. I believe the timing will be right after we’ve marked Inauguration Day. The NSA, General Babagana Monguno, may be affected in the shake-up as well,” one of the presidency sources said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Following the Armed Forces Terms and Conditions of Service, all four were due for replacement in July 2017, having met the threshold for retirement but the president had been encouraged by his now deceased Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, to keep them on the job despite protests from the public and the military.

The President appears to have caved in to pressure and counsel from his new Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, as well as domestic aides, who had previously unsuccessfully canvassed for their removal.

Olonisakin has spent 38 years in service, Buratai 36 years, Ekwe Ibas 36 years and Abubakar 40 years.

Section 8 of the public service rules stipulates that the compulsory retirement age for all grades in the service shall be 60 years or 35 years of pensionable service, whichever is earlier.

“No officer shall be allowed to remain in service after attaining the retirement age of 60 years or 35 years of pensionable service whichever is earlier,” according to the public service manual.

 

 

 

E-MONEY DECEIVED ME AND LEFT ME POOR AFTER ALL THE KIDNAPPINGS OF RICH PEOPLE WE DID TOGETHER- SUSPECT

Ifeanyi Asiegbulam

Police have arrested a 32-year-old man, Ifeanyi Asiegbulam, alleged to have assisted late billionaire kidnapper, Collins Ezenwa, popularly known as E-money, in kidnapping many rich personalities in the eastern part of the country.

Asiegbulam, who hails from Atah Town in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, was arrested in Cross River State, and currently in the custody of the Inspector-General of Police, Intelligence Response Team in Lagos.

According to Asiegbulam, although he worked with E-money for years, kidnapping many, he never knew the kidnap kingpin earned so much as he only benefitted peanuts from the millions paid as ransom, leaving hm poor.

He said he met E-money who was killed alongside two other members of his gang during an exchange of gunfire with some policemen attached to the Imo state police command in January 2018, five years before E-money joined the Nigeria Police Force.

    LATE COLLINS EZENWA'S (E-MONEY'S) BODY

It was gathered that operatives of IRT, had in 2018, few months after E-money and his gang members were gunned down, opened a massive investigation into his criminal enterprise and discovered that, E-money an ex-policeman, who was dismissed at the rank of a corporal, had within the space of two years, acquired properties valued in hundreds of millions of naira.

The deceased had 13 houses in choice areas in Imo, Enugu, Abia, and a hotel valued N220 million, 13 vehicles including trucks and trailers, amongst other.

The sum of N100 million was also found in E-money wife’s FCM Bank account, which was suspected to be proceed of crime and was ordered to be seized and forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, by the Federal High Court Owerri.

The money however disappeared, as the account which had a net balance of N105 million at the time it was confiscated currently has a balance of N6,800 in it.

Giving background information of how he met E-money, Asiegbulam said they were both motorcycle operators working in Owerri, before E-money opted to join the police.

He said: “I am a primary school dropout and this was because I lost I my father at a very young age an there was no one to train me in school.

My uncle took me to the north where I lived with him for some time and I returned to Owerri and became an Okada rider, few years into it I met E-money in Owerri and he was also an Okada rider at that time.

E-money and I became very close friends and after riding our bikes we will go to my mother’s shop where she sells fruits to rest and we did the job together for five years, before he joined the police.

E-MONEY (INSET- HIS SEIZED BUILDING AFTER HIS DEATH)

He told me that he wanted to join the police and he asked me to join him, but I told him that I have no school certificate to back me as a was a primary school dropout.

He went ahead, joined the police and started driving police vehicles around Owerri.”

Asiegbulam gives further details of how E-money lured him into the criminal world, saying: “ After a while I stopped seeing E-money doing his police job and in 2017, I heard that E-money had traveled out of the country, but he showed up few weeks later in the same year in my house with a dark colored Toyota Prado SUV, there he invited me to join his kidnapping enterprise. ”

Stating the numbers of people, they kidnapped together Asiegbulam said; “on the first operation I went him, we went out with his Prado SUV which has a tinted glass and we drove down to Okigwe, where we kidnapped a man in a car.

I don’t know how he got information about the man but I heard him talking to someone who gave him description of the cloth the victim was wearing and the type of car the victim was driving.

When we accosted the vehicle, we doubled crossed it and grabbed out the man in the vehicle and took him into our own vehicle then zoomed off.

He then asked me to blindfold the man and when we got close to my town he asked to come down from his SUV and he gave me the sum of N50,000.

I didn’t question it and he took the man away. I didn’t know where he took the man to, the number of days the man spent with him, nor how much he negotiated and collected as ransom.

“Two weeks later he called me again, asked where I was I told him, he picked me up and we proceeded to Umuahia, Abia State where we kidnapped a man using the same pattern and on our way back to Owerri, he asked me to drop out of the vehicle and gave me N50,000.

This time, he told me that he was heading to Enugu State and he has a hotel there and that is where he will keep that victim. I didn’t question him, I just took the money and left.

Few days later, he called again, picked me up and we went to Orlu, where we kidnapped a man in a Toyota Highlander.

This time he took the man to my house in Ikeduru and kept the man for two days.

He gave me the sum of N50,000 and a pump action gun to look after the man, thereafter he came back and took the man away. I didn’t know how long he kept the man or amount he took as ransom from the man.

I don’t question him and I am also not the only person working with him. He has seven boys including me working for him and he had two Ak 47 rifles and two pump action guns.

He bought the AK-47 rifles from a man in Aba, Abia State, we met the man in the bush took the rifles from him and paid him his money. I didn’t know the name If the man, it was E-money that knew the man.”

Asiegbulam also explained that E-money boys were split into two gangs, and he belonged to the gang which had De-Don and another know as PA as members.

He identified members of the other group as Chimobi, Chiwendu and Ugo. He added that E-money shared his rifles among his boys for safe keeping and easy movement during operations.

“I belong to one of the groups which has De-Don and PA as members and we all went for four kidnapping, while Chimobi, Chiwendu and Ugo, were also working for him. They did several jobs without my knowledge.” He stated

On how he escaped during the operation that led to the death of E-money, he said: “ One months after we kidnapped the man in the Toyota Highlander, E-money came to my house in Ikeduru, with PA and De-Don, and he told us that he had an operation. We didn’t know who the

person was, he then started calling one of his boys known as Chinwendu, to bring his Ak-47, unknown to him, Chinwendu had been arrested and was in the custody of operatives of the Imo State Police Command Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), and he revealed a lot about E-money’s activities to the SARS operatives.

While we were calling Chinwendu, the police made him talk to us that he was free. He told us where to meet him to collect the rifle and proceed for the operation.

But when we got there, E- money sensed danger and stopped his SUV and started running, De-Don and Pa joined him that same direction, the police went after them and gunned them down. I was lucky I was not noticed I quietly sneaked into a nearby bush and escaped.

“I ran to Owerri, where I stayed for two months, I then got a call from Ugo, who was keeping one of E-money’s rifles and we formed a new gang but on our first operation we had trouble.

We went to kidnap a woman along Onitsha Road. We were four persons that went for that operation.

While we were taking the woman to our camp, some policemen accosted us and a shootout ensued Ugo’s friend, I don’t know his name was killed in process, Ugo escaped, but one Chimobi and I were arrested.

Chimobi sustained a bullet wound in the process and we were kept in an open cell in handcuffs. I don’t know how Chimobi got keys to our handcuffs and we escaped again from police custody. I ran to Rivers State, I don’t know where Chimobi ran to.

“I stayed in Port Harcourt for more than one year then I moved to Calabar, Cross Rivers State, when I felt that the police were closing in on me in Port Harcourt.

I lived in Calabar for seven months with a friend who I met in Port Harcourt and we were working in a farm.

I didn’t know that the police were still hunting for me, I was arrested in my friend’s house taken to Owerri before I was brought back to Lagos and handed over to IRT.

It was after my last arrest that I realized E-money made so much money from our business and left me a poor man begging for money. ”

 

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CHADIAN TROOPS KILL 1,000 BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS IN LAKE CHAD

Chad launched an operation after at least 92 soldiers were killed on March 23 in the deadliest-ever attack by the Boko Haram [File: Audu Marte/AFP] 

The Chadian army says it has killed 1,000 fighters during an operation against the Boko Haram armed group in the Lake Chad border region.

Army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermendoa Agouna told the AFP news agency that 52 troops died during the operation, which was launched on March 31.

"A thousand terrorists have been killed, 50 motorised canoes have been destroyed," the colonel said, referring to a large boat also called a pirogue.

Chadian soldiers belonging to the Joint Task Force gesture while patrolling in Monguno on December 15, 2019. - Fourteen people were killed and 13 were missing after Boko Haram jihadists attacked a fishing village in western Chad on December 18, 2019, government officials said. (Photo by AUDU MARTE / AFP) (Photo by AUDU MARTE/AFP via Getty Images) 

Agouna said the operation, which was launched after nearly 100 soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack last month, ended on Wednesday after the armed fighters were forced out of the country.

It is the first official snapshot of the outcome of Operation Bohoma Anger, launched after at least 92 soldiers were killed on March 23 in the deadliest-ever attack by Boko Haram on the country's military forces. The armed group had mounted a seven-hour assault on a Chadian army base at Bohoma.

Reporting from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris said: "The country is trying to help other regional powers and regional forces under a group called the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to finally defeat the Boko Haram."

Chadian soldiers rest in the shade of their armoured vehicle near Malam Fatori on April 3, 2015, after the town in north-eastern Nigeria was retaken from Boko Haram by troops from Chad and Niger. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE DESMAZES (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images) 

"A similar operation was conducted five years ago, in 2015, that decimated the Boko Haram population. They have regrouped since then, and attacked and killed several thousands in the process and regional armies in the Lake Chad area have been struggling to deal with the problem," Idris added.

Lake Chad is a vast, marshy body of water where the borders of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon meet.

The western shores of the lake have been hit by armed fighters crossing from northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram launched a bloody campaign of violence in 2009.

FILE- In this Saturday March 7, 2015 file photo, Chadian troops and Nigerian special forces participate in the Flintlock exercises with the U.S. military and its Western partners in Mao, Chad. Even as Islamic State group fighters flee the Middle East and cause fear across Africa's Sahel region it is al-Qaida that poses the more serious long-term threat, the U.S. military's special operations commander in Africa said in an interview with The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) 

'Shouldering all the burden'

Chad declared departments near the lake "a war zone" in order to give the military free rein for the offensive.

The four countries bordering the lake in 2015 set up the MNJTF, also including Benin, to fight Boko Haram.

But Chad, whose forces have a relatively high standing in the Sahel region, has shown frustration with the MNJTF following the Bohoma losses.

"Chad is alone in shouldering all the burden of the war against Boko Haram," President Idriss Deby said last weekend.

FILE- In this Saturday March 7, 2015 file photo, Nigerian special forces and Chadian troops participate with US advisors in the Flintlock exercise in Mao, Chad. Even as Islamic State group fighters flee the Middle East and cause fear across Africa's Sahel region it is al-Qaida that poses the more serious long-term threat, the U.S. military's special operations commander in Africa said in an interview with The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) 

"It is not clear if this will be the end or the beginning of the end of Boko Haram in the region. Many experts believe it is going to be very very difficult to say that Boko Haram is defeated or will be defeated anytime soon because this is an idealogy that has taken foothold for more than a decade in Nigeria which is spilling into its neighbours," Al Jazeera's Idris added.

Separately, in Niger, the defence ministry in Niamey said its armed forces, in a joint operation with Chad, had inflicted "heavy losses" on Boko Haram in the lake region.

"Arms caches, logistical points and several boats were destroyed" and islands used as rear bases in the lake's marshland were "bombarded from the air," it said.

Landlocked Niger is facing attacks by armed group on opposite ends of the country - fighting that has spilled over from neighbouring Mali, and raids in the Lake Chad region by Boko Haram fighters.

Boko Haram's 11-year-old campaign has claimed tens of thousands of lives in northeast Nigeria and driven nearly two million people from their homes.

BOKO HARAM TARGETS ARMY LOCATION, SCORES KILLED

A FUNERAL IN JANUARY 2019 FOR FIVE  AIRFORCE PERSONNEL WHO DIED IN COMBAT IN A HELICOPTER CRASH WHILE FIGHTING BOKO HARAM IN BORNO, NORTH EAST NIGERIA. (PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES; SODIQ ADELAKUN)

Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in the North-East have engaged some Boko Haram terrorists who attempted to infiltrate the Nigerian Army location at 3 Battalion in the Gamboru area of Borno State, during which scores of the fighters were shot dead.

The Defence Headquarters, Abuja, said on Wednesday that the Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province terrorists came to the military location with seven gun trucks on Monday but met a stiff resistance from the troops.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig. Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, said in a statement that the troops seized three gun trucks, two anti-aircraft guns, two AK-47 rifles and one rocket propelled grenade tube from the insurgents.

Onyeuko said, “Troops of 3 Battalion and Quick Response Force Army Super Camp 11 in Gamboru on a targeted patrol had yet another fierce encounter with some Boko Haram and ISWAP marauders in a convoy of seven gun trucks and many motorcycles approaching the battalion’s location at about 6pm on Tuesday.

“Consequently, the criminals were overpowered and pursued up to the Wurge area. No soldier lost his life, and no military equipment was seized during the encounter.”

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. John Enenche, said there was no rift between the Nigerian and Chadian armed forces as being insinuated in some quarters based on the Chadian troops’ battles with the Boko Haram insurgents.

While fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja, Enenche denied that there was rivalry between Nigeria and Chad or any other country in the Lake Chad basin.

He said, “The Nigerian component of the Multi-National Joint Task Force together with other members from the Lake Chad Basin Commission has been involved in clearance operation around the Lake Chad Basin.

“This is the fallout of the recent offensive actions of the armed forces of Nigeria in the North-East Operation Lafiya Dole.

“There is no disagreement between the Nigerian and Chadian troops and joint operations are ongoing.

“The combined effort of troops of the land component, maritime component and air component has resulted in the neutralisation of scores of the Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP elements.”

----PUNCH

BOKO HARAM: NIGERIAN MILITARY SUSPENDS VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT OF SOLDIERS

Nigerian soldiers stand at the ready at the headquarters of the 120th Battalion in Goniri, Yobe State, in Nigeria's restive northeast on July 3, 2019. - Boko Haram's decade-long campaign of violence has killed 27,000 people and displaced about two million in Nigeria. (Photo by AUDU MARTE / AFP) (Photo credit should read AUDU MARTE/AFP/Getty Images

In an internal memo, the Nigerian Army has suspended approvals for voluntary retirement requests from soldiers, saying the rate at which applications to quit service was flooding its headquarters lately was "disheartening".

The directive, which military sources told PREMIUM TIMES went out late March, said all forms 9B (military retirement application document) have been suspended and would no longer be made available to soldiers willing to voluntarily discharge from service.

The order did not provide figures that show a spike in recent retirement requests compared with previous times, but it counselled broadly against frivolous voluntary retirement applications that were being allowed to advance through the chain of command when they should have been rejected at the early stages.

A spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Sagir Musa, did not confirm or deny the memo went reached for comments by PREMIUM TIMES.

Military sources saw the move as a coercive measure by the Nigerian Army to pull the breaks on droves of personnel exit in recent months.

"Our men are giving up on the war for many reasons that are not limited to poor equipment supplies and the lack of empathy they keep seeing from their top commanders," a military source who had seen the memo told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday. "The soldiers have been asked over and again to remain in service for the defence of their fatherland, but their hope has been waning."

Although military sources said the memo did not officially cite predominant grounds for voluntary retirement applications, those who have left service or have filed requests to leave had served multiple tours in the northeast as part of the Boko Haram war.

"Many of them have been trapped in the northeast for years and they just want to return to their families and look for another career path away from the military," the officers said under strict anonymity to avoid being sanctioned for speaking to reporters about internal military decisions.

Directive challenged

Already, the implementation of the new directive has commenced across divisions, brigades, battalions, and special operation units of the Nigerian Army, military sources said. The 29 Battalion is amongst the units that have implemented the directive, military sources said.

Nigerian Army soldiers stand at a base in Baga on August 2, 2019.  (Photo by AUDU MARTE / AFP) (Photo credit should read AUDU MARTE/AFP/Getty Images)

The Port Harcourt-based unit has dozens of troops deployed across multiple sectors of the counter-insurgency operations. The unit is part of the Army 6 Division that has suffered some of the biggest personnel losses since the war began nearly 11 years ago.

It was unclear how many officers and men have sought voluntary retirement under the division amidst Boko Haram offensive because the Nigerian Army does not publish the data and has ignored requests from the media and non-profits to do so.

Already, some troops have protested the decision to block them from seeking voluntary retirement and petitioned the Army Headquarters.

"A soldier who voluntarily joined the service without any duress is now being compelled to remain in the service even against his wish," according to an open letter to Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai that has been circulating on WhatsApp groups of military personnel. "With all due respect sir, this is unacceptable."

Boko Haram fighters who ,sometimes, are better equipped than Nigerian soldiers

The April 4 petition was signed by a lance corporal, who argued that the military can only invite a soldier filing for retirement "for interview, guidance and counselling or career review," but cannot block it "if the soldier insisted" on proceeding with the retirement "application."

It was not immediately learnt whether or not Mr Buratai has received the petition and ordered action on it. But the army chief has previously lambasted troops as cowards on allegations that they were fleeing from insurgents. He later walked back his comments following public criticism.

'Moral, legal standpoints'

Almost no sooner had the campaign begun after the Boko Haram sect declared war on the Nigerian state in July 2009 than the military became dogged by allegations of unbridled corruption which had seen its top brass feed fat on the security budget.

Anti-corruption activists blamed corruption amongst military chiefs for the poor living condition of soldiers and inadequate supply of modern warfare equipment.

Last week, the army commander leading the counter-insurgency was replaced after a video showing him expressing his frustration with the headquarters made social media rounds.

But military chiefs themselves have in turn blamed insufficient budgetary allocations for their inability to finish the war after several failed deadlines.

Abdul Mahmud, a public-interest legal practitioner, said both the military establishment and the rank-and-file have legal and moral positions to take, respectively.

"At the moral standpoint, soldiers have a right to turn in their retirement because of extant operational conditions that are unbearable," Mr Mahmud said on Sunday. "This is even as we know that senior generals are feeding fat on the war budget."

"Our brave men and women joined the military to defend their fatherland no matter what, but that does not mean they should be sent to senseless death," he said. "Their decision to leave cannot be faulted when they keep coming under a more sophisticated firepower from what was supposed to be a ragtag group."

Yet, the Armed Forces Act allowed military chiefs to exercise discretion on request for voluntary retirement.

"Section 25 of the Armed Forces Act talks about permitted resignation, which means the army or the navy board or air force council has the power to permit or disallow voluntary retirement," Mr Mahmud said.

Yet, Mr Mahmud said even though the Nigerian Army might not have acted illegally in preventing soldiers from proceeding on retirement, the order could prove ultimately counter-productive.

"You cannot force a horse to the river to drink water," Mr Mahmud said. "They are better off allowing those who want to go to go while embarking on a fresh recruitment drive and training for new intakes."

Mr Mahmud said President Muhammadu Buhari, as the commander-in-chief, should crack down on corrupt senior officers and roll back the trend of massive personnel exit from the military.

"The president should step in now and punish the crooks who are stealing the military blind and making service difficult for soldiers on the frontlines," Mr Mahmed said. "Those who feed from the war economy in the northeast are not superior to the Nigerian state, they should be called to order."

------PREMIUM TIMES

BOKO HARAM KILLS 47 NIGERIAN SOLDIERS IN FRESH ATTACK IN BORNO

FILE PHOTO OF TROOPS

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has confirmed the killing of at least 47 soldiers by members of the Boko Haram terrorist group in Borno State.

The Director of Defence Information, Major General John Enenche, disclosed this during a session with reporters on Tuesday in Abuja.

Giving an update on the military operations across the country, he noted that Nigeria was in a fluid conflict situation while the troops were at the frontlines.

Enenche explained that troops of Operation Lafiya Dole were on clearance and fighting patrol operation to Gorgi in Borno between March 21 and 23.

“During consolidation, they (the troops) were ambushed by elements of Boko Haram terrorists. Sadly, we suffered some casualties in the unfortunate attack,” he said.

The DHQ spokesman, however, revealed that the Air Component of Operation Lafiya Dole scrambled immediately to the scene and provided close air support to the ground troops.

He added that the Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform, as well as the fighter jets engaged the insurgents, killing some of the terrorists and immobilising a gun truck belonging to them.

“Some others (terrorists) who attempted to withdraw were also mopped up by the jets in follow-on attacks.

“The Defence Headquarters commiserate with the families of our fallen gallant heroes who paid the supreme price in the course of defending our fatherland,” Enenche said.

He assured Nigerians that the military and other security agencies would continue to sustain the offensive against the enemies of the nation.

The military spokesman added that this would be done in furtherance of the objective of restoring peace and security in the North East and other parts of the country.

Contrary to the figures stated by the DHQ, reports say at least 70 soldiers were killed in the ambush on the security operatives’ convoy.

The insurgents reportedly fired rocket-propelled grenades at a lorry conveying the troops as it travelled near Gorgi village on Monday.

---CHANNELS TV

ENYIMBA FC CONFIRM ABDUCTION OF PLAYERS BY GUNMEN, CAUTION MEDIA

DAYO OJO

Football players Dayo Ojo and Benjamin Iluyomade have been kidnapped by gunmen, according to a press statement from Nigeria Professional Football League outfit, Enyimba.

The incident took place on Sunday along the Benin-Owo expressway as the trio of Ojo, Iluyomade and Emmanuel James journeyed to Akure following the suspension of the Nigeria elite division to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

While James escaped the attack, the duo of Ojo and Iluyomade who play for Abia Warriors were taken away.

“Enyimba Football Club can announce that midfielder Ekundayo Ojo has been abducted by gunmen along the Benin-Owo expressway,” the statement read.

“Enyimba FC have since maintained close contact with Ojo's family, as efforts are already in place to ensure the player's release from his abductors.

“At this time, and considering the sensitivity of the incident, Enyimba Football Club wishes to call on members of the media to refrain from reports or speculation capable of jeopardizing the players' safety. 

“Ojo's family also wishes to appeal for privacy while enjoining the general public to pray for the safety and freedom of the player.”

Ojo, capped seven times for the Super Eagles, was part of the country’s national team who finished as runners-up at the 2018 African Nations Championship.
​
He joined the Aba based outfit after spending a decade at boyhood club, Sunshine Stars.

BANDITS KILL POPULAR TWIN BROTHERS IN ZAMFARA

POLICE FILE PHOTO

Some bandits suspected to be Fulani have killed popular twin brothers, Hassan and Husaini, in Birnin Tsaba village, in the Birnin Magaji Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The people of the town thereafter killed three Fulani people.

An eyewitness, Mohammed Sani, said the problem started when a group of bandits went to Birnin Magaji market and shot Hassan and Husaini dead.

He said, “Immediately the bandits killed the twin brothers, they left the market on their motorcycles.”

He added that when the people of the community got the information about the killing of the twin brothers by Fulani bandits, they mobilised and went in search of any Fulani man.

“As a result of this, three Fulani people have been killed by the angry mob, while others escaped with serious injuries,” Sani added.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Mohammed Shehu, said effort was ongoing in order to arrest “the perpetrators of this dastardly act.”

---THE PUNCH