How Boko Haram’s several days factional battle led to Shekau death – Newstrends
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How Boko Haram’s several days factional battle led to Shekau death

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A fierce battle between the two factions of Boko Haram that lasted several days led to the final fall of its notorious leader, Abubakar Shekau, on Wednesday.
The encounter, which involved Shekau-led group and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) also claimed the lives of scores of foot soldiers and top commanders from both sides, with multiple sources saying Shekau killed himself.
Many media platforms had reported that ISWAP fighters armed with sophisticated weapons had penetrated the Sambisa Forest from different fronts and surrounded the place Shekau used as a safe sanctuary for years.
They reportedly killed many of his fighters and forced him to surrender.
Daily Trust reported security sources as indicating that when Shekau discovered that it was the end of the road for him, and ISWAP fighters had directed him to relinquish his position as the grand Amir (overall leader) and successor to the founder of the group Mohammed Yusuf but he reportedly opted for suicide by detonating the explosives he strapped to his body.
But the AFP reported that when Shekau reached the point of no return as he was surrounded by ISWAP fighters, he shot himself in the chest, fell on the ground while bleeding profusely but was whisked away to an unknown destination by some of his surviving loyal fighters.
Shekau took over Boko Haram, formally known as the Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, after its founder Muhammad Yusuf was killed by police in 2009.
He was instrumental to the killings of thousands of people and displacement of over three million in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states over the years.
Most of the fighters that fought for the defeat of Shekau on Wednesday were said to be between the ages of 12 and 30.
Daily Trust quoted a source as saying, “They are actually children of some ISWAP members killed over time.
“Others are youths sourced during raids on multiple islands around the Lake Chad. The ISWAP carefully selected the youth. It was therefore much easier for recruitment as some of the youths willingly joined the group and others were forcefully conscripted.
“Some of them were born during the wartime and others were very young when their parents joined the group around 2002. After their parents died because of illness or confrontation with Nigerian troops, the children naturally took over and when the group split into two in 2016, those that moved on their own or forcefully taken to the shores of Lake Chad under the umbrella of ISWAP had an upper hand in terms of training because they were taken to Libya for training in guerrilla warfare and other purposes.
“Others were sent to Syria and Somalia. They were taken to many countries abroad for training. However, those that came back especially between March and April this year took active part in confronting Shekau in the last few days. They launched a serious offensive alongside other top commanders and fighters already on the ground and they succeeded in taking over.”
Another source said some of the 300 youths were trained as “medical doctors, paramedics, engineers, IT specialists, bomb specialists and mechanics.”
He added that among them were women “who serve as nurses or cooks while others have gun-handling skills, meaning they can partake in combat operations.”
He said after their return from abroad, they were camped at a village called Shuwaram in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.
Another source said ahead of the invasion of Sambisa by the factional group, one of the top commanders of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and his lieutenants had visited the shores of the Lake Chad in company of ISWAP leader Goni Mustafa.
“The entourage were seen on two boats with ISIS flag. Some of those in the entourage were light-skinned people possibly from Libya or Syria. It was only Mustafa that was black. They first visited Marte before they proceeded to Sabon Tumbu.
“They also visited Kirta, Kusuma and Kwallaram where they held meetings with commanders and other fighters,” the source said.
The source said after the strategy meeting, the visiting terrorists left and since then, the ISWAP fighters started mobilising ahead of launching attacks on Sambisa Forest.
An offensive since 2015 by Nigerian troops backed by soldiers from Cameroon, Chad and Niger drove Shekau and his fighters from most of the areas that they had once controlled.
Some fighters including the late Mamman Nur broke away in 2016 and formed the ISWAP. They anointed Abu Musab Albarnawy, the son of late Yusuf as their leader.
“Some of them gathered at Kurnuwa, Kayuwa and Tumbin Jaki before they launched the offensive. They had RPGs, GPMGs and AA guns on some vehicles,” he said.
He added that the attackers also moved their “vulnerable women and children” from the Marte area to some locations around Kukawa.
Another source said before they aimed at Sambisa Forest, the ISWAP fighters were responsible for the recent attacks in Damasak, Marte, Mainok, Dikwa and Maiduguri towns in Borno as well as in Geidam in Yobe State.
A source said the group allegedly resolved to dislodge Shekau with the intent of relocating to Sambisa and the mountainous areas to evade air attacks by the military jets.
A security situation report trending on social media said Shekau must have been killed during the struggle.
The reports stated that: “On 19th May 2021, about 1829hours, ISWAP top fighter Baana Duguri-on this selector – geolocated around Sambisa Forest, Pulka, Gwoza LGA, BRS, informed ISWAP logistics commander Modu-Sulum- geolocated opposite General Hospital Konduga LGA Borno State that they killed Abubakar Shekau, overall BH leader in Sambisa Forest.
“Duguri disclosed that the ISWAP fighters’ team surrounded the BH leader with his team and shooting ensued between the 2 factions. Duguri further added that Shekau detonated a bomb and killed himself when he observed that the ISWAP fighters wanted to capture him alive.
“Furthermore, Duguri informed Sulum that the two sides also lost some fighters during the shooting…”
Meanwhile, Nigerian military had reportedly placed all Borno State commands of the Nigerian Army and Air Force on alert.
The Nigerian military said on Thursday that it was yet to get any information about the reported death of Shekau.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, told Daily Trust via a text message that he did not have information on Shekau.
“Sorry, I don’t have information on that,” he said.

 

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Just in: List of ex-governors under probe over N2.187tn fraud fabricated, says EFCC

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May 5, 2024

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Just in: List of ex-governors under probe over N2.187tn fraud fabricated, says EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied releasing a list of ex-governors being investigated for alleged corruption.
It described the list currently being circulated as a mere fabrication and urged members of the public to ignore it.
This was disclosed in a statement by Dele Oyewale, EFCC’s head of media and publicity.
It declared the report published by some media as “false and mischievous”.
The EFCC Press Statement
List of Ex- Govs Under Investigation for Alleged Corruption Not From EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, feels obliged to dissociate itself from a phantom report circulating in sections of the media claiming it has released a full list of ex- governors being investigated for alleged corruption.
The report headlined: “EFCC Releases Full List of 58 Ex-Governors that Embezzled N2 .187 Trillion”, in one of the news outlets, is false and mischievous as the Commission neither issued the said list nor entertained discussions on investigation of ex-governors with any news medium.
This invariably means that the so-called list is a disingenuous fabrication designed to achieve motives known only to the authors.
The public is enjoined to ignore the report as it is false and misleading.
The media is advised to endeavour to crosscheck facts pertaining to matters under investigation with the Commission to avoid misleading the public with false and inaccurate reports.

Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
May 5, 2024

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Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

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May 5, 2024

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Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

Not more than six per cent of total electricity from the national grid will be supplied to cross-border customers in Benin Republic, Niger and Togo.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) gave this directive to the System Operator (SO), a department in the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

NERC said this was done in a bid to increase power availability to Nigerians.

This is coming as the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has reportedly disclosed that the Federal Government and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) would make capital injections of N750 billion and N250 billion annual debt financing to bridge the huge electricity metering gap in the country that currently stands at about seven million, according to a ThisDay report.

These details are contained in a document tagged: ‘Interim Order on Transmission System Dispatch Operations, Cross-border Supply and Related Matters’.

The power sector regulator stated that the directive would last for six months in the first instance before a review.

Nigeria supplies a portion of the electricity it generates to some of its neighbours such as the Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Togo.

NERC’s order, dated April 29, 2024, and which became effective from May 1, 2024, was signed by the commission’s Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni.

The electricity sector regulator stressed that following the implementation of the April 2024 supplementary order, the commission had observed sub-optimal grid dispatch operation practices.

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It argued that this had compromised the Distribution Companies’ (Discos) ability to deliver on its Service Based Tariff (SBT) committed service levels to end-use customers with a significant impact on market revenues.

NERC said the system operator’s sole reliance on limiting Discos’ load off-take/allocation in managing recurring grid imbalances while prioritising international off-takers and Eligible Customers (ECs) is neither efficient nor equitable.

The practice so far adopted by the operator in managing generation availability, it said, had caused significant hardship to Discos’ customers, comprising industrial, commercial, and residential, especially during peak demands while prioritising delivery to other bilateral contracts, including export to international customers.

“The commission hereby orders as follows: The system operator shall develop and present to the commission for approval within seven days from the issuance of this order a pro-rata load-shedding scheme that ensures equitable adjustment to load allocation to all off-takers — Discos, international customers, and eligible customers — in the event of a drop in generation and other under-frequency related grid imbalances necessitating critical grid management.

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“The system operator shall implement a framework to log and publish hourly readings and enforce necessary sanctions for violation of grid instructions and contracted nominations by off-takers in line with the grid code and market,” it stated.

Among others, it further directed that the system operator shall publish and notify all market participants and the commission of the previous day’s hourly log readings of off-take by market participants and the market settlements report by 12:00 noon of the next day.

“The system operator shall ensure that the maximum load allocation to international off-takers in each trading hour shall not be more than six per cent of the total available grid generation.

“The aggregate capacity that can be nominated by a generating plant to service international off-takers shall not be more than 10 per cent of its available generation capacity unless in exceptional circumstances a derogation is granted by the commission.

“The system operator shall henceforth cease to recognise any capacity addition in bilateral transactions between a generator and an off-taker without the express approval of the commission,” it added.

It urged the system operator and TCN to immediately initiate and install integrated Internet of Things (IoT) meters at all off-take and delivery points of eligible customers, bilateral supplies, cross-border trades, and outgoing 33kV feeders of the Discos to provide real-time visibility of aggregate off-take by grid customers.

“The installation of and streaming of data from the IOT meters should be completed within three months from the date of this order,” it added.

Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

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Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

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May 5, 2024

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Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced a two-week power outage starting on May 4 in parts of Edo and Delta states.

In a statement released in Benin by Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs at TCN, it was revealed that the outage is necessary for the safe erection of two 132KV transmission towers at the Amukpe substation.

Benin DisCo will not receive bulk power supply during this period through several feeders, including Adeje, Industrial Woodland, Mosogar, Sapele, and Abraka.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), hereby states that it will commence the erection of two number 132kV transmission towers at its Amukpe Transmission Substation.

”And will equally restring a portion of the Benin-Delta and Delta-Oghara 132kV double circuit transmission lines from Saturday, May 4 to May 17, 2024.

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“Consequently, Amukpe Substation will be out of power for the work.

“Also, there will be no bulk power supply to Benin DisCo (BEDC) through the following feeders: the Adeje, industrial Woodland, Mosogar, Sapele and Abraka feeders.

“The outage is necessary to create a safe working environment for the contractor. Completion of the projects will establish N-1 redundancy, which would enable TCN to supply bulk electricity to the substation from either the Benin or Ughelli transmission line.

“This means that when one transmission line is faulty, bulk electricity can still be received in the substation from the second line,” Mbah said.

These developments, once completed, will ensure a more reliable and flexible bulk power supply through the Amukpe transmission substation.

It’s important to note that BEDC is responsible for the retail distribution of electricity in Delta, Edo, Ekiti, and Ondo States, covering an area of 57,353 square kilometres.

Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

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