Boko Haram kills five soldiers in attack on Borno military base – Newstrends
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Boko Haram kills five soldiers in attack on Borno military base

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Boko Haram kills five soldiers in attack on Borno military base

Boko Haram terrorists have overrun a military base in Damboa LGA of Borno State, killing dozens of soldiers, vigilantes and carting away military weapons.

Security and local sources confirmed the incident to Daily Trust on Monday.

One of the security sources said the fighters in large numbers carried out the attack around 4pm on Saturday at the Forward Operating Base, Sabon Gari area.

He said the military put up a good fight but they were overwhelmed by the terrorists.

“The base had suffered over 100 terrorist attacks in the past, but what happened yesterday was a devastating one, many soldiers and vigilantes were killed and all the armament in the base carted away.

“Operation vehicles and buildings were also burnt this time around,” he said.

Narrating how the incident happened, he said, “They (insurgents) initially sent a big drone, which we all thought was a military surveillance before they later attacked the base.

“I cannot tell you the exact number of the soldiers and vigilantes or the identity of the officers killed but we have recovered over 12 dead bodies,” he said.

He said the insurgents were said to have coordinated their attack from the Mandara Gau in Biu Local Government Area, about 25 kilometers away from the Sabon Gari base.

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“They forcefully took over a mango plantation owned by a former commissioner in Borno State, where they currently lived as a hideout,” he said.

Another security source, who corroborated what happened, revealed that the insurgents used surveillance drones to scan their location before the deadly attack.

He said between Chibok and Damboa, in the last two weeks, Boko Haram has been using drones to do surveillance.

“In one of our bases, a day before Xmas, they attacked us and injured six soldiers.

On 24th December 2024, the terrorists launched a drone attack on the Forward Operating Base inside the Damboa LGA and injured at least six soldiers.

However, the spokesman for Defence Headquarters, Brig Gen Tukur Gusau, had during a media briefing in Abuja, described the attack as a harassment, saying it was not qualified to be called an attack.

He said the fighter drones used by terrorists in the bombardment of the Nigerian military base were “toy drones.”

Terrorist fleeing Chad onslaught regroup in Sambisa

A local source, who prefers a single name, Adamu, said that most of the terrorists that carried out the attack were fleeing insurgents dislodged by the joint military operations in Lake Chad.

“When the onslaught became unbearable to the terrorists in Lake Chad, most of them escaped and joined the terrorists here, loyal to the late Abubakar Shekau. It’s these people terrorising us now, “he said.

Months back, Chadian troops entered the Lake Chad area avenging the killing of its over 40 soldiers by the terrorists.

Also, President Mahmat Deby has stationed at least two thousand troops that are currently involved in ongoing operations in the Lake Chad general area, including on Nigerian soil.

The decade-long Boko Haram conflict, which had spread to the neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes.

Boko Haram kills five soldiers in attack on Borno military base

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ICPC slams El-Rufai’s ex-aide with money laundering charges

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January 8, 2025

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ICPC slams El-Rufai’s ex-aide with money laundering charges

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has charged a former Chief of Staff to immediate past Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu, with alleged money laundering at the Federal High Court.

Saidu, who was also a one-time Commissioner of Finance in El-Rufai’s administration, was charged along with Ibrahim Muktar, described as “a public officer in the employment of the Ministry of Finance”.

The charge states that the defendants are facing a two-count charge of money laundering, contrary to an earlier claim that Saidu had been found not guilty of all charges after 10 months of investigation.

The court document stated that sometime in March 2022 or thereabouts, Saidu, who was the Commissioner of Finance at the time, “did accept a cash payment of N155,000,000.00 from Ibrahim Muktar, exceeding the amount authorised by law, which sum you (Saidu) received in cash through proxy to wit: Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 2(a) and punishable under the Section 19(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.

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The ICPC also alleged that in the same March 2022 or thereabouts, Saidu “indirectly took control of N155,000,000.00 received in cash for and on behalf of you by Muazu Abdul from Ibrahim Muktar, which fund you reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: corruption, and you hereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.

Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 states that “any person who contravenes the provisions of Subsection (2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen (14) years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both”.

The charge, which was signed by the Assistant Chief Legal Officer of ICPC, Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, was filed yesterday at the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Kaduna.

 

ICPC slams El-Rufai’s ex-aide with money laundering charges

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14-yr-old boy stabbed to death in London bus

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January 8, 2025

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14-yr-old boy stabbed to death in London bus

A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death in broad daylight on a London bus on Tuesday in the latest knife-crime incident in the British capital, police said.

The victim was killed on one of the city’s familiar double-decker red buses in Woolwich, southeast London, police said in a statement.

Paramedics treated the boy for stab wound injuries at the scene, “but he very sadly died shortly after medics arrived,” the statement added. No arrest was immediately reported.

The incident comes after an 11-year-old girl was seriously injured in a stabbing in the busy Leicester Square area of London last August.

A 32-year-old man was later arrested.

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In September, a teenager was stabbed to death in the same area of Woolwich. Three young men have been charged and will face trial over the killing that the prosecutor described as “tit-for-tat violence with all the hallmarks of a turf war”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called knife crime a “national crisis”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote on X on Tuesday that his “thoughts are with the family, friends and wider community in Greenwich following the appalling fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy.”

Matthew Pennycook, the Labour MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, said he was “deeply saddened that yet another young life has been lost in our community”.

Office for National Statistics data released in October said that knife crime in England and Wales was up four percent in the 12 months to June compared to the previous year.

It was still lower than pre-pandemic levels, however.

The Labour government, in power since July, has pledged to halve knife crime in the next decade.

A ban on some knives and machetes came into force in September and the government hopes to prohibit ninja swords.

14-yr-old boy stabbed to death in London bus

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El-Rufai, Atiku allies, Al-Mustapha in talks with SDP leaders

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January 8, 2025

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El-Rufai, Atiku allies, Al-Mustapha in talks with SDP leaders

Several prominent opposition figures convened for a closed-door meeting with officials of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Details of the meeting’s agenda remain undisclosed at the time of this report, fueling speculation about possible alliances or strategic discussions ahead of upcoming political events.

The meeting took place early on Tuesday at the national secretariat of the SDP and included former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (former Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha), and Otunba Segun Showunmi, a former spokesman for Atiku Abubakar, among others.

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Confirming the meeting, Showunmi shared the news on his Facebook page.

He wrote: “You must set forth at dawn! A strategic meeting was called by HE Shehu Gabam, Chairman of SDP, with HE Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, and Otunba Segun Showunmi. The alternative to meet, greet, and review the state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria.”

This development follows El-Rufai’s dismissal of reports suggesting that he had defected from the APC to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Responding to the rumours on his verified X account, the former Kaduna governor urged Nigerians to disregard the false reports, calling them “patent lies.” He also revealed that he had instructed his lawyers to take legal action against those spreading the misinformation.

“Please disregard the patent lies and rumours about my political affiliation. I have referred the lead peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers,” El-Rufai posted on Sunday.

A close associate of the former governor, who requested anonymity, also described the claims as the work of mischief-makers, stressinig that El-Rufai, a key figure in the APC, would not have defected to the PDP without making it public.

 

El-Rufai, Atiku allies, Al-Mustapha in talks with SDP leaders

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