metro
How we escaped from Sambisa Forest, by rescued Chibok girls
Marry Dauda and Hauwa Joseph, two rescued Chibok girls, have recounted their ordeal in the hands of Boko Haram when they were kidnapped in 2014 and forced into marriage eight years ago.
The two rescued girls abducted from the GGSS Chibok in Borno in 2014 disclosed that more than 20 missing others are still in Gazuwa camp in Sambisa Forest, eight years after being kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents.
The Gazuwa camp is the acclaimed headquarters of the Jam’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wal-Jihad, Boko Haram faction, formerly known as Gabchari, Mantari and Mallum Masari, located about nine kilometres to Bama Local Government Area of Borno.
They disclosed this while interacting with newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri, at a news conference at the Command and Control Centre Maimalari Cantonment.
Marry Dauda, who recounted her experience in the hands of the insurgents, said she could still vividly recall her compulsory marriage eight years ago after she was abducted at the age of 18 years.
Dauda said that she walked through the deadly forest for many days before she found help.
Like the others conscripted by the militants, she had been told that she would be hunted down and killed if she deserted.
She said, “I took excuse from Malam Ahmed that I will be visiting my relative from Chibok in the town of Ngoshe and he gave me one week. That is when I began my journey for freedom.
“I left Sabil Huda, popularly known as the camp of Abubakar Shekau and proceeded towards Njimiya and Parisu, where I met some of the Mujahedeens. They asked where I was going to and I told them I was given permission to visit my sister in Ngoshe.
“I finally arrived at Gava village in Gwoza, after walking for many hours through the deadly forest under hardship condition. I asked some people to direct me to the home of a daughter of Chibok.
“After meeting her, I told her of my plans to return home. She told me she had wanted to come with me but her husband has placed her on strict surveillance for attempting to run. I then left her and proceeded toward Ngoshe town.
“On my way, I met an old man who promised to help me to escape. But he told me that it won’t be possible in the afternoon until the sun had set. At about 8pm, he took me to Ngoshe town and told me to pass the night in the outskirt of the town and proceed the next morning.
“When the day broke, I took myself to some soldiers where I was rescued with my baby,” she said.
On her part, Hauwa Joseph said she was forcefully married to Amir Abbah, Commander of Boko Haram (Munzul), at Gazuwa camp who was later killed during an encounter with the troops of the Nigerian Army.
She said that she voluntarily escaped from the camp of the terrorists during massive incursion of the troops of the Nigerian army into their camp in Gazuwa on June 12.
Joseph said as people were running the same direction where the sect members are hiding women and Children, she took a separate route to escape from the terrorists’ camp.
She said on her way, she met with some of the insurgents who asked her where she was going, but she tricked them and told them that she was following some women to hide in the nearby forest.
“I slept under the tree with my child, then proceeded the next day until I arrived on the road where I approached a military checkpoint. Initially, they thought I was a suicide bomber, but when I explained myself, they took me along with them.
She thanked the military for rescuing her, saying that she hoped other girls still in the camps of the terrorists would be rescued.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, the Theartre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai North East Joint Operation, said that both girls were among the list of the missing Chibok girls.
Musa said that the girls were rescued due to a massive military operation in Sambisa Forest, Mandara Mountain, and the Lake Chad area.
“We are putting more efforts to ensure that the rest of the girls are rescued through the ongiong Operation Lake and Desert Sanity,” he said.
Also, Major General Waidi Shuaibu, The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Army, said the girls were rescued between June 12 and 14, around Bama and Gwoza general area.
Shuaibu said the girls had received necessary medical attention and would be handed over to the appropriate authorities shortly.
Boko Haram kidnapped 276 female students, aged between 16 and 18 from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014.
Over 100 of the girls were still missing as at April 14, 2021, seven years after the initial kidnapping.
metro
Pro-Wike Rivers lawmakers move to prevent probe of FCT minister tenure as governor
Pro-Wike Rivers lawmakers move to prevent probe of FCT minister tenure as governor
The factional House of Assembly in Rivers State, led by Martins Amaewhule, has risen against the Rivers State Commission of Inquiry Law of 1999.
Newstrends reports that the 27 embattled members who previously declared their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) are loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The embattled lawmakers are rushing to repeal the law, which empowers the state to inquire into past administrations.
The law was used by Wike, as governor, to create a Judicial Commission of Inquiry that probed the tenure of his predecessor.
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Meanwhile, the Amaewhule-led Assembly has already seen a bill seeking to repeal the law through a second reading. The repeal process was initiated by the lawmakers following the decision of the state government led by Governor Siminalayi Fubara to set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to probe the recent arson and destruction of local government secretariats in the state.
Notedly, the commission invited the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, and the APC Caretaker Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha to testify in the probe. However, both leaders have shunned the probe panel.
The Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol, the member representing Akuku Toru Constituency II, Lolo Opuende and the member representing Omuma Constituency, Sylvanus Nwankwo sponsored the bill. Leading the debate on the bill, Nwankwo said the obsolete laws were repealed and re-enacted to reflect current democratic realities.
Pro-Wike Rivers lawmakers move to prevent probe of FCT minister tenure as governor
metro
Bianca raises hope Tinubu will free Nnamdi Kanu to restore peace in South-East
Bianca raises hope Tinubu will free Nnamdi Kanu to restore peace in South-East
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu’s government to release the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
Mr Kanu, who has been in the SSS custody since 2021, is being tried for alleged treason.
Ms Ojukwu said that the release of Mr Kanu would help to ensure the total restoration of peace in the South-East. According to her, if Mr Kanu is released, the region’s development will be fast-tracked.
The wife of the late Odumegwu Ojukwu made the call at her husband’s memorial on Tuesday in Owerri. She advised the people of the South-East to look inwards and appraise the Igbo race that made them who they are.
“In the olden days, we had Igbo unions in places like Kano, Lagos and Kaduna, among others, where people discussed matters affecting them and why they must unite.
“Today, we are celebrating Ojukwu, our uncommon man, a man who stood for peace and equality for every person,” she said.
Ms Ojukwu expressed dissatisfaction that the peaceful atmosphere which Igboland was known for was no longer obtained in the region.
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“There are so many killings, unrest and kidnappings going on today in the region, which is not how it used to be,” Ms Ojukwu said.
She regretted that many people from the region could not go home again to bury their dead or give their children out to marriage due to the spate of unrest and insecurity.
Ms Ojukwu urged the people perpetrating the evil acts to desist from it and embrace peace. She pointed out that some of the perpetrators were from the region and urged them to allow peace to reign.
She condemned the act of killing people in the region “in the name of a sit-at-home directive from non-state actors.”
“Many people from the South-East have left the region for other cities like Lagos and other places due to the spate of insecurity in the area. I was sad when an Igbo person in the U.S. told me that they are making donations in America to buy burial grounds to bury their dead relations as insecurity in the region doesn’t allow them to do that at home come home,” the minister stated.
The event organiser, Raph Uwazuruike, urged Mr Tinubu’s government to release the IPOB leader.
Mr Uwazuruike, the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, stressed that Mr Kanu’s release would help the region experience peace again.
He said the memorial service was to commemorate Mr Ojukwu’s legacies, adding that “all the good things he stood for will not be forgotten.”
Bianca raises hope Tinubu will free Nnamdi Kanu to restore peace in South-East
(NAN)
metro
EFCC to arraign Yahaya Bello today for alleged N110bn fraud
EFCC to arraign Yahaya Bello today for alleged N110bn fraud
Immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello may be arraigned before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, today, Wednesday, November 27.
Bello, who was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency in April over an alleged N110bn fraud, was finally grilled after all efforts to have him arrested and stand trial proved abortive.
The former governor on Tuesday submitted himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in company of his lawyers.
Immediately after he turned himself in, the anti-graft agency held on to him for some clarifications and preparatory for his arraignment.
He is to be docked before Justice Maryan Anenih of the FCT high court sitting in Maitama.
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Justice Anenih had fixed November 27 for arraignment based on the request of the EFCC and had issued public summons against him on October 3 in respect of the fresh case filed against him by EFCC.
EFCC’S Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale confirmed that Yahaya Bello would be docked at the FCT high court but declined to give a specific date.
At the last hearing before Justice Anenih, Counsel for EFCC, Jamiu Agoro had said the order of the court, given on 3rd October had not elapsed.
After listening to all counsel, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and fixed November 27 as the return date.
EFCC to arraign Yahaya Bello today for alleged N110bn fraud
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