10 Nigerian Pilgrims Die During Hajj To Mecca – Hajj Commission

Ten Nigerians who travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform the Islamic hajj rites have been confirmed dead, the Coordinator of the National Hajj Commission in Mecca, Aliyu Tanko, said on Monday.

President Obama Says U.S. Intelligence Underestimated Islamic State (ISIS) Threat

President Barack Obama said U.S. intelligence underestimated that the political chaos in Syria over the past several years would create an environment for extremist group Islamic State to thrive.

Ashraf Ghani Sworn In As President of Afghanistan, Shares Inaugural Stage With Abdullah Abdullah

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ashraf Ghani was inaugurated as president of Afghanistan on Monday, punctuating a season of grave political crisis with a peaceful transition of power that stood as a rarity in a country marked by four decades of war.

NSPMC Currency Printing Scandal: FG May Extradite Ex-Mint Boss To UK To Face Charges

The United Kingdom has requested the extradition of a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Security
Printing and Minting Company, Mr. Emmanuel Okomoyon, to face prosecution in relation to an alleged
scam involving printing of polymer notes.

Egypt: World Leaders Urge Egypt toRelease Al Jazeera Staff

World leaders at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) have highlighted the importance of press freedom and called on Egypt to release the three jailed Al Jazeera staff, a release by the TV network, has said..

Boko Haram Destroys 500 Houses In Adamawa State

No fewer   than 500 houses were destroyed in the Kubi and Watu villages in Michika Local Government Areas of Adamawa State as the suspected Boko Haram insurgents operated unchallenged in one of its recent attacks.

Boko Haram Looting Arms From Military Armoury – DHQ

The Defence Headquarters has said that it was aware that members of the outlawed Islamist sect, Boko Haram, were in the habit of looting its armoury.

Arab Female Air Force Pilot Who Bombed ISIS Is 'Disowned By Her Family' For Bombing 'Sunni Heroes of Iraq and The Levant'

The female air force pilot whose missions against Isis were dubbed 'boobs on the ground' has reportedly been disowned by her family and labelled an 'ingrate'.

Surrendered, Disarmed Boko Haram Insurgents To Be Rehabilitated

The Nigerian Government has revealed that those insurgents, who surrendered their weapons to the Nigerian troops, will be rehabilitated back to the society.

Fight Against Boko Haram: Russia to Supply Nigeria Arms

The Nigerian Government has formally reached out to Russia for assistance in its fight against terrorism in parts of the country.

Based on the government’s request, Russian authorities have offered to assist the nation’s security forces in terms of logistics and equipment to win the war against Boko Haram.

'Prisoner Swap Deal': List of Detained Boko Haram Insurgents That The Sect Wants Swapped for Abducted Chibok Girls

The failed high level negotiations between Boko Haram leaders and the Nigerian government team, led by a former Minister of Information, Edwin Clark, would have seen the country swapping 16 detained terrorists for 220 Chibok girls, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report.

Senate Okays Jonathan’s $1 Billion Loan To Fight Insurgency

The upper legislative chamber of Nigeria's national assembly - the Senate has approved the $1 billion dollar loan requested by President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle insecurity and terrorism in the country.

Nigeria's Electronic I.D Card: National Security and Unintended Consequences

                                                      Written by:

Don Okereke

President Goodluck Jonathan recently launched a MasterCard-branded Nigerian National Electronic I.D Card amidst pomp and pageantry.

Ahmed Salkida, Nigerian Journalist Trusted By Boko Haram Insists Abubakar Shekau Is “Alive And Well”

Ahmed Salkida, a Dubai-based Nigerian journalist who reportedly maintains communication with some leaders of the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, claimes that the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, is alive and well. Mr. Salkida denied reports asserting that Nigerian troops had killed the mercurial and fiendish Shekau, the speaker and voice in numerous videos released by Boko Haram.

Ahmed Salkida, in a tweet also dismissed media reports that the Nigerian government was negotiating with Boko Haram for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in mid-April by Boko Haram militants in Chibok, Borno State. The reporter’s tweet also described as untrue reports that the International Red Cross (IRC) was working on a deal that would persuade Boko Haram to free the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in exchange for the release of detained Islamist insurgents in the custody of Nigerian security agencies.

SaharaReporters had earlier published a report to the effect that a Nigerian intelligence source revealed that the person whose dead body is seen in photos circulating in news reports was not Shekau but one “Mohammed Bashir”.

An ntelligence source stated that the dead Islamist figure, who bore a striking semblance to Mr. Shekau, was indeed a look-alike who appeared in videos released by the Islamist sect.

Mr. Salkida’s tweet appeared to confirm that the Boko Haram “officer” killed by Nigerian soldiers in Konduga was a different person from Mr. Shekau. In fact, Nigerian security officials have maintained for months that Mr. Shekau was dead, apparently killed by his own disaffected lieutenants in an internal rivalry for control of the terrorist organization.

However, Salkida sent out another tweet today which appeared to cast doubt on the fact that Shekau indeed had a double.

A confidential debriefing document by the Nigerian army obtained last week also acknowledged that Mr. Shekau stayed permanently in his holdout in Sambisa Forest and was not in the habit of venturing out to battles. Item “R” of the document stated, ”Shekau has his wife and 2 children in Sambisa Forest. He is Kanuri, he speaks Hausa and he does not travel.”

Meanwhile, a Nigerian security source told SaharaReporters that there was evidence of a growing frustration among insurgent fighters and a simmering power struggle between some of the sect’s top figures. He disclosed that some of the insurgents who surrendered to Nigerian troops last week in Konduga have told army interrogators that they decided to give up after their commander executed two of their leaders who led the failed attack on Konduga. The source told SaharaReporters that the insurgents, who are being kept in one of the barracks in Maiduguri, told interrogators that they fled from a camp near Bama after their commander shot dead two insurgent field officers “for losing valuable weapons to infidels.” He added that the surrendering militants claimed they were reluctant and small-time fighters who were recently recruited from towns and villagers taken by Boko Haram.

The insurgents’ foiled attempt to seize Konduga, which was a first step in their plan to attack the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, is being seen as a possible turning point in the war between the insurgents and increasingly confident Nigerian soldiers. Nigerian troops killed hundreds of insurgents in the battle for Konduga and also seized an armored tank and several vehicles from the Boko Haram fighters. Incidentally, Boko Haram insurgents had originally captured the tank and vehicles from the Nigerian army in previous battles.

For close to two weeks, the insurgents have not been able to reproduce their earlier streak of victories over Nigerian troops. Instead, they have been routed in Konduga and driven out of Baza in Adamawa State.

  - SR

Explosives Uncovered in University of Uyo, One Suspect Arrested

Operatives of Peace on Campus Initiative (PCI), University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Monday, uncovered two improvised explosive devices in male hostel of the institution.

The operatives also arrested a diploma student of the institution, Mr Kufre Anwana, following the discovery.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that two improvised explosive devices, widely speculated as hand grenades, were found in a bag belonging to the suspect by some students, who alerted the operatives of the PCI.

National Coordinator, PCI, Mr Oliver Cromwell, told newsmen that his men in the UNIUYO chapter got information that the suspect was keeping explosive devices in his bag, while they trail him to his room in the hostel.

According to Cromwell, on discovering the devices, which was well packaged in a bag, the operatives apprehended the suspect and invited anti-bomb squad formation of the Akwa Ibom State police command, Ikot Akpan Abia, to the scene for verification and possible diffusion.

He stated that the squad detonated the two improved explosive devices, while it also conducted a search round the other hostel rooms.

“Anti-Bomb Squad was invited to come and ascertain if the explosives were real. When they came, they confirmed that those things were hand grenades and were locally made,” an eyewitness and student of the institution, who gave his name as Inyang, told the Nigerian Tribune.

Inyang stated that Anwana was not in the hostel at the time the explosives were uncovered, but was apprehended and interrogated when he returned.

It was, however, gathered that during interrogation, the suspect confessed to keeping the explosives, but dismissed that he actually bought or made them with intent to disrupting academic activities.

According to him, he stumbled on the explosive devices on the school premises, saying he was planning to hand them over to the security.

“It all started on Friday when I was coming back from the church. Just close to where the construction is going on, I saw two white things on the ground. When I picked them, I saw the inscription ‘hand grenade’,” he said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Etim Dickson, confirmed the incident, saying that the explosives were homemade devices, which could have been invented by any of the science students in the university.

He added that the police would get to the root of the matter.

The police spokesman urged students and parents not to entertain any fear about possible breakdown of law and order in the university community.

“The incident had been properly taken care of. We are on top of the situation. We shall get to the root of the mater,” Dickson, speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in a telephone conversation, maintained.

  - Tribune