Researchers Create Searchable Database of Intelligence Operators

The researchers behind Transparency Toolkit, a venture whose goal is to develop source software to collect and analyze publicly available data on surveillance and human rights abuses, have released ICWATCH, a collection of 27,094 resumes of people working in the intelligence community.

Boko Haram: Displaced Women Deliver Of 5 Babies In 3 Days

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that displaced women have been delivered of five babies at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp at Kalambaina, Sokoto, between May 7 and 9.

The NEMA assistant head, Sokoto Zonal Operations Office, Thickman Tanimu, made this known to newsmen in Sokoto, saying amongst the five new babies, three were girls, while two were boys.

He said two were delivered on May 7 while on transit to Sokoto, two on May 8 and one on May 9, adding the mothers and children were hale and hearty.

The official said 2,000 displaced persons, including the new babies, were evacuated by the agency from Geidam in Yobe on Wednesday to Sokoto.

He said nearly 80 per cent of the affected people were from Kebbi, while the rest were from Sokoto State.

“They were earlier displaced due to insurgent activities in Doron-Baga in Borno and they fled to Gegeme in Difa state, Niger Republic as refugees.

“However, they were also unfortunately deported back to Geidam in Yobe State after an insurgent attack at their IDPs camp in Niger Republic.

“It was from Geidam that the IDPs were screened by NEMA and security agencies, and the agency evacuated them to Sokoto,’’ Tanimu said.

He said that the affected persons from Sokoto State had almost been evacuated by the state government to their various towns and villages across the 23 local governments of the state.

Rescued Girls, Women Face Taunts, Stigma – UNFPA

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said that hundreds of girls and women recently rescued from the Boko Haram militants, including dozens who are pregnant and other females among them may now face stigma from their communities.

In a telephone interview with Associated Press (AP), the executive director of the UN agency, Prof Babatunde Osotimehin, said that the most important thing is to restore their dignity. He said, “When you have been in captivity against your will and God knows whatever they have done to them.

Source:
Leadership Newspaper

Ifeanyi Ubah Escapes Assassination, One Aide Killed, Another Kidnapped

The owner of Capital Oil Limited and Founder of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), Ifeanyi Ubah, has escaped suspected assassins by the whiskers.

Biafra: United Nations Invites Group To Meeting In June

Supreme Council of the Elders of Indigenous People of Biafra has received an invitation from the United Nations (UN) to attend one of its meetings in New York in June, the first invitation to such a meeting since the Biafran pressure group came into existence.

Most Wanted Terrorists In The World: United States Maintain $7m (N1.4bn) Bounty On Abubakar Shekau

Abubakar Shekau

The United States is still maintaining the $7 million (N1.4 billion) bounty it placed on the leader of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

NMA Ekiti Branch Embark On Indefinite Strike To Protest Doctor, Nurse’s kidnap

Nigerian Medical Association has declared an indefinite strike to protest the kidnap of a former Chief Medical Director of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Patrick Adegun, and a Nurse with the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, Mrs Margaret Aladeneka.

The association declared this in a letter to Governor Ayodele Fayose by the Ekiti NMA Chairman, Dr. John Akinbote, and the Secretary, Dr. A. A. Akinyele, where they frowned on the serial kidnap of health workers in the state.

Adegun and his wife, Kikelomo, were kidnapped at about 8pm near their residence at Oke Ila in the state capital on Thursday.

Their kidnap came five days after Aladeneka was abducted, while a yet-to-be-identified man was killed during the operation. There has yet to be communication from the abductors.

According to a copy of the letter sighted by our correspondent on Saturday, the NMA said it arrived at the decision to withdraw all clinical services in Ekiti State at an Emergency General Meeting held on Friday in Ado Ekiti.

“As a result of the above development, the house unanimously resolved to withdraw all clinical services in Ekiti State until the safety of our members can be guaranteed,” the letter stated.

The NMA had earlier raised the alarm over incessant harassment and attacks of doctors and other health workers in the state calling on the State Government and Law Enforcement Agencies to curtail the incidents.

It also called on the government to expedite action on the implementation of the adjusted revised Consolidated Medical Salary Scale Circular issued by the Federal Government since January 1, 2014.

The Special Assistant to Governor Ayodele Fayose on Information, Mr Lanre Ogunsuyi, has, however, expressed worry about the situation.

He appealed to the doctors to shelve their resolve to suspend work, saying such step wouldn’t be in the interest of the state, particularly for those with critical ailments.

Ogunsuyi said, “Police and State Government will make Ekiti secured for health workers and every worker in the State. We will put in place good measures for people to be able to move without hindrance.

“We urged them to go back to work because suspending work in the hospital will aggravate the problem .But we are going to keep our strategy to ourselves for security reason. We will hold consultations with the doctors to know what their fears are and how to fashion out ways of providing security.

“To us as a government, every kidnap is criminal and condemnable. We are working with the commissioner of Police to tame criminalities in Ekiti State. The governor will hold consultations with all relevant stakeholders to tame all these problems one and for all.”

Source:
Punch Newspaper

Boko Haram Leader Shekau Reportedly Flees Nigeria

As the military deploys its special force units to track the fleeing leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, there are strong indications that the terror kingpin may have fled Nigeria through the help of Islamic State (ISIS) groups operating in East and North Africa.

Boko Haram Attack School In Yobe, Three Students Killed, Scores Injured

Three students were killed with at least twenty others injured when Boko Haram attacked the college of Administrative and Business Study ( CABS), Potiskum in Yobe State.

The Cheerleaders And The Freelancers: The New Actors In International Terrorism

They are the freelancers of terrorism: young men -- and some women -- who feel alienated from the Western societies in which they live, hold extremist religious views and embrace violence. They become immersed in social media, searching out opinions that echo their own.

Boko Haram: What Next For The Rescued?

They queued up for brand new clothes and flip-flops - cellophane-wrapped dresses for the girls and matching shirts and shorts for the boys.

U.S Court Declares Phone Data Collection By The NSA 'Illegal'

The NSA has come under increased scrutiny since the Snowden revelations. A US appeals court has ruled that bulk collection of phone records by the National Security Agency is illegal.

Students Counter Violent Extremism With Social Media

As social media continues to infiltrate our everyday lives with new ways of connecting and obtaining information, extremist groups such as ISIS are taking advantage of its ease of use and far-reaching implications to spread their message and recruit new members.

The Pseudoscience of Countering Violent Extremism

During a visit to the United States several years ago, I was drawn to a billboard on a New Jersey Transit platform that depicted a train bombing, helpfully labeled “train bombing.” The sign warned that “we’re all on the front lines” and encouraged viewers to report suspicious activity to the New Jersey Transit police via phone call or text message.

Nigerian Military Rescues Another 25 Boko Haram Hostages From Sambisa Forest

Nigerian troops have rescued 25 more women and children from Boko Haram’s northeastern stronghold in the Sambisa Forest, killing a number of insurgents and destroying Islamist camps, the military said Wednesday.

Terror Alert! Islamic State Claims To Have 'Trained soldiers' in 15 US States Ready To Launch Deadly Terror Attacks

ISLAMIC State have “trained soldiers” in 15 states across America waiting to carry out deadly missions, according to an online warning from the group. The online warning claimed there were 71 trained soldiers operating on American soil.