By Florence Onuegbu

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday, donated the sum of N5 million to the Armed Forces Remembrance Appeal Fund, toward boosting the welfare of ex-servicemen.

Sanwo-Olu made the donation during the launch of the emblem for the 2021 Armed Forces Remembrance Day and Appeal Fund, held at the Lagos House, Marina.

He said that all sacrifices made by members of the Nigerian Armed Forces in keeping the nation united would continue to be recognised and honoured by the state government.

The governor said that the state would always identify with the heroics and gallantry of servicemen who gave their all to the service of the country.

He said that the state government would not relent in supporting family members of ex-service personnel who died fighting for Nigeria’s unity.

Sanwo-Olu, who is the patron of the Legion, said that the state government would be supporting the Legion to assist in the welfare of ex-service personnel that became physically challenged in line of duty.

He also pledged assistance to Lagos-based relatives of soldiers who died in active service.

“As a government, we will continue to modestly support the welfare of our heroes and identify with your cause.

“We will continue to ensure that we bring succour and relief to the gallant officers that have served this country at one point in time or the other.

“The ex-servicemen who have now grown to become old soldiers have served the country at their prime. The least we can do as a state is to continue to celebrate these brave men and women who made sacrifices for our country’s unity.

“Through the Legion, we will assist in the welfare of those living with disabilities, while ensuring the families of fallen heroes are not forgotten. This is the reason the state generously donate to the Appeal Fund,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The governor promised to strengthen its engagement with the Legion and improve their operational efficiency, by donating more patrol vehicles and provide logistical support to ex-servicemen.

He said the state would augment budgetary allocation to the Legion.

The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, said that the launching was one of the important pre-event activities lined up for the marking of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

Elegushi said there would be a special Jumu’ah service on Jan. 8 at the Secretariat Central Mosque and an interdenominational church service on Jan. 10 at Chapel of Christ the Light in Alausa to commemorate the day.

The Deputy Commandant General of the Nigerian Legion in Lagos, Col. Fola Akande, said that the launch of the Appeal Fund by the governor would put smiles on the faces of over 2,000 beneficiaries of the Legion’s yearly empowerment programmes.

Akande, who is also the Lagos State Chapter Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, said the Legion usually reached out to widows of ex-servicemen, disabled soldiers and orphans.

The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the State Chapter of Nigerian Legion.

The main event for the annual Armed Forces Remembrance holds on Jan. 15, with military and paramilitary parades to commemorate the gallantry of servicemen and ex-personnel. (NAN)

By Abdullahi Shugaba

Alhaji Mustapha Inuwa, Secretary to Katsina State Government says the state government did not pay any ransom to rescue the abducted 344 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara.

Inuwa said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina on Tuesday that although rescuing the boys from their abductors was difficult, no ransom was given.

He said that the state government deployed a multi-facet approach in effecting the release of the boys saying, “in doing this, we ensured that no casualty was recorded.”

The SSG said, “Contrary to speculations in some quarters that the government paid N1million to rescue each student, the government did not pay any money.

“Although, the process was difficult and hectic, we ensured that no casualty was recorded during the operations, we are happy that they returned safely and were reunited with their families.”

He commended the efforts of the Federal Government through the police and other security agencies towards ensuring the release of the school boys.

It would be recalled that 344 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State were abducted from their hostel by bandits on Dec. 11, 2020, and regained their freedom after one week in captivity. (NAN)

By Ahmed Kaigama

Police Command in Bauchi state has arrested a 22-year-old man, suspected to be a ritualist for alleged gruesome murder of his neighbour in Alkaleri Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

DSP Ahmed Wakil, Police Public Relations office (PPRO) of the command disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Bauchi.

Wakil said that the Alkaleri divisional police officers arrested Hamza Musa, the 22-year-old man, for the gruesome killing of his 17-year-old neighbour, Adamu Ibrahim, at wake village, Alkaleri LGA.

“On 21/12/2020 at about 0930hrs, detectives of Alkaleri Divisional Police Headquarters, arrested one Musa Hamza, who lured one Adamu Ibrahim of the same address into the outskirts of the village forest and killed him with a stick.

“The victim was beheaded, his two eyes removed and his body burnt,” he said.

The police spokesperson said that the culprit buried the body parts of his victim separately in a shallow grave at a nearby bush.

According to him, Police investigated and exhumed all the buried human parts and took the body parts to the General Hospital Alkaleri for medical examination.

“We discovered the two eyes removed by the culprit were recovered from the principal suspect.

”The principal suspect voluntarily confessed to having committed the crime,” saying he was asked by a ritualist to bring the eyes for ritual to enable him to be rich.” Wakil said.

The police spokesman further said they  recovered one knife, One mp3 player, one pair of rubber shoes and one lighter as an exhibit from the suspect.

“Investigation is on-going after which the suspect will be charged to court for prosecution and conviction,” he said.

Wakil urged the general public to be security conscious by reporting any suspicious movement in their neighbourhood. (NAN)

By Hamza Suleiman
Sen. Ali Ndume (APC-Borno) has predicted that the Nigerian military counter-terrorism operations would curtail the activities of Boko Haram and other security challenges in 2021.

Ndume, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Nigerian Army, said this while speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri on Monday.

He said that as part of efforts to tackle the prevailing security challenges, the Nigerian Army had taken delivery of more sophisticated equipment for its operations.

He said that more arms and ammunition would soon be delivered while a better welfare package to motivate the soldiers had also been provided by the Federal Government.

Ndume said: “This year’s budget for Operation Lafiya Dole’s Theatre Command has been increased to N100 billion from about N75 billion in 2020.

“Also in terms of numbers, instead of the normal recruitment of 4,000 or 6,000 soldiers at a time, we have ask them (military) to recruit about 8,000 soldiers.

“The new recruits are undergoing training in Zaria and Falgori in order to beef up the number of the troops,” he said.

The lawmaker said that the Nigerian Armed Forces had also trained Special Forces that had dismantled Boko Haram insurgents from their hideouts, adding that this had significantly impacted on the counter insurgency campaign.

He lauded the military for standing in defence of the country in spite of challenges.

“There are some places that it was difficult for displaced people to return. But the Nigeria Army is now there. The Army has been in Ngwoshe, Borno in the last three years before the governor returned the people to the place.

“Although we still hear of attacks here and there; I believe with more commitment, which is contained in Mr President’s New Year’s broadcast, activities of banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other forms of criminalities will be curtailed,” he said.

By Christian Ogbonna
The Ebonyi Police Command has described as “fake, baseless and mischievous” an online video in circulation alleging that Fulani herdsmen in the state were being attacked and forced to leave the state.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Philip Maku, made the assertion in a statement issued to newsmen in Abakiliki.

According to the statement, Fulani herdsmen are not under attack or being chased out of Ebonyi.

“The attention of the Ebonyi Police Command has been drawn to a distorted and misleading video in circulation on social media platform by a faceless group that Fulani herdsmen were being attacked and chased out of Ebonyi.

“To set the record straight, the command wishes to state that on January 2, one Fulani herdsman, Alhaji Adamu, residing at Ozibo Village in Nkaleke Ichaba/Enyibishiri Community decided to relocate.

“Adamu relocated with some members of his family to Taraba in-search of greener pastures for his cows as the dry season is setting in.

“He also informed the village chairman and Ichaba Development Centre Coordinator before his peaceful and voluntary relocation.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Adamu left seven other members of his family, including Alhaji Musa Danfo and six others, who are still residing at the same settlement with some of their cattle.

“Before this video, the command has no record of threat to the lives of the peace-loving herders or their cows, neither to those residing in the said camp or entire state.

“It may also interest the public to know that the Fulani community on Saturday, January 2, paid a Christmas and New Year visit to Gov. Dave Umahi and no such threat was reported.

“However, the mischief makers and the enemies of the state made a recorded video to create panic, mislead the public and misrepresent the peaceful coexistence between the herders and their host communities,” the statement stated.

It further states that the police boss had ordered full scale investigation into the matter with a view to arresting those behind the fake video.

It therefore urges the public “to regard the video as fake, baseless and mischievous” and go about their lawful businesses.

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Nigeria Police, Abia Command, has confirmed  the recovery of Master David Okoye, who was abducted from his mother’s shop on Aug. 21, 2020 by an unknown young man.

The command’s PRO, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said in Aba, on Sunday, that the child, who was abducted by a member of an illegal adoption syndicate, was recovered on Dec. 29, 2020.

Ogbonna told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Abia Police Commissioner, Mrs Janet Agbede had earlier issued directives to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) to fish out the culprits and recover the baby.

He said upon receiving the order, the RRS Commander, John-Bull Obioguru, and his men, went to work and after some months of vigorous searching, located the child at Arochukwu local government area of the state.

“The RRS operation swung into action and recovered the child at Arochukwu in Abia state on the 29 of December, 2020 after he had been given out for illegal adoption at N800,000.

“On 1 January, 2020, the parents of David, Mr Ikechukwu and Rejoice Okoye came to RRS, in Aba North Local Government Area, and the baby was handed to them hale and hearty”, he said.

Okoye told NAN that he was in his workplace on Aug. 21, 2020 when his wife ran to him announcing that his child had been stolen.

He said she told him that a young man came to buy something from her shop and as she was trying to get change for him, the man lured the child with biscuits and abducted him.

“I asked her who is this person and she only gave a description, saying that she does not know the person who took the child. We were still searching for him until two weeks later when we got information that another child in that our Abayi Ariaria area had been stolen too.

“We then ran to the person whose child was stolen and asked how the person, who stole their child looked like, and they described him and it was exactly the person my wife said came to buy something and took our child.

“The woman then told us that she had made an entry at RRS in Aba North, and we went to the office and made our own entry, after which they promised to help find the baby”, he said.

He said that the police, who found out that the young man had shared the same compound with the woman whose child was stolen, began tracing him through his relatives and later found  him.

Okoye thanked the Police for doing a wonderful job and urged parents to be careful of  leaving their children with strangers, or relatives they could not trust.

Similarly, Ogbonna warned parents who wished to adopt children to avoid the temptation of taking the shorter route of patronising non-government and uncertified sources of adoption, or risk being caught and prosecuted.

Ogbonna also disclosed that the police was still looking for the parents of a young child, recovered in December, but who could not even state his name, to come forward and claim their child from the command. (NAN)

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Defence Headquarters says the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole has knocked down more terrorists’ hideouts, killing scores in two locations in Borno.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche,in a statement on Sunday, said the attacks were conducted on Saturday at Kote Kura and Bulama Isamari communities in Borno.

Enenche said the Air Task Force employed an appropriate force packages of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships based on credible intelligence.

He said the intelligence revealed that the Boko Haram terrorists had established camps within the two settlements where they store their logistics as well as plan and launch attacks.

According to him, overhead Kote Kura, a settlement in Bama area, the NAF attack aircraft engaged scores of terrorists observed in the target area.

“The attack led to the neutralisation of several of them as well as the destruction of structures and logistics stores, some of which were seen engulfed in flames.

“In the same vein, at Bulama Isamari, within the Timbuktu Traingle, the NAF aircraft took turns in engaging the target, scoring accurate hits which equally resulted in the neutralisation of several terrorists,” he said.

By Sumaila Ogbaje

Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed a new Boko Haram settlement at Mana Waji in Borno, killing scores of the terrorists in massive air interdiction missions on Friday.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, in a statement on Saturday, said the air interdiction missions were conducted after series of surveillance revealed the settlement.

He said that the series of aerial surveillance missions revealed that the new settlement was being used to store their weapons and logistics items and as well as plan and stage attacks.

Enenche said the air strikes were executed employing a force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

According to him, on sighting the NAF aircraft, the insurgents were seen fleeing the location.

“Consequently, in a preemptive move, the NAF attack aircraft engaged the new location in successive passes, leading to the destruction of some of the structures and logistics stores.

“Several insurgents were also neutralised in the process,” he said.(NAN)

By Mohammed Tijjani

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Saturday conducted a special search and rescue training for some of its personnel, to deepen their competence during combat operations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training exercise code named “Taimako Yazo” was conducted on the Kaduna-Abuja expressway.

The Chief of Air Staff (CAS),  Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar,  in his address, said personnel readiness was key to the success of any military operations.

Abubakar recalled that in 2019 the NAF had conducted several counter-terrorism exercises in Kaduna, Kano, Niger and Osun.

He said this was in a bid to further develop the capacity of its Special Operations Force, to be better positioned to respond to the various security challenges bedeviling the country.

“The overall desire is to ensure that our personnel are trained and equipped to maintain very high level of combat readiness and operational effectiveness.

“This aspiration no doubt is in tandem with our yearning to reposition the NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives for effective, efficient and timely employment of air power, in response to Nigeria’s national security imperatives.

“Accordingly, today’s exercise which is based on a Combat Search and Rescue situation is designed to exercise the capacity of our personnel to rescue downed aircrew who have had to eject or abandon their aircraft in emergency situations.

“The importance of training to a fighting force like the NAF cannot be over emphasised as regular purposeful training remains the cornerstone of military combat readiness,” he added.

According to Abubakar, this will ensure that NAF personnel are always at top physical fitness level to be able, willing and ready to execute any mission successfully.

“It is in realisation of this that the NAF ensures that its personnel are mentally alert and physically fit at all times through regular training and exercises to ensure that we remain continually willing, able and ready to defend the nation,” he said.

The Air Chief stated that even with today’s modern weapon systems, it is the personnel with competence that would make the difference in any current or future conflict situations.

“This philosophy has been incorporated into the NAF policies and regulations to ensure that personnel maintain a high level of combat readiness that would ensure efficiency and effectiveness in conduct of a wide spectrum military operations.

“Accordingly, in the quest to achieve professionalism, service members are subjected to excruciatingly difficult training procedures and exposures to various terrain conditions to enable them to achieve and maintain a high level of combat effectiveness.

“This, no doubt, will help our personnel perform at the highest standards, throughout their career.

“By organising this exercise we are also mindful of the need to sustain professionalism among our personnel,” he said.

Abubakar lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for his unflinching support for the growth and development of the NAF.

He reassured Nigerians that the NAF remained fully committed to the successful execution of its constitutional roles and would continue to meet its statutory responsibility of defending the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation.

Earlier, the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), NAF Special Operations Command, AVM Charles Ohwo, said that the objective of the exercise was to rehearse the tactics and doctrine.

He added that it was also to create a synergy amongst first responders for effective combat search and rescue operations of downed aircrew or other NAF personnel.

The AOC said that the ability to rescue crew in hostile environment was particularly important, as it could be adapted in anti-kidnapping operations.

This, according to him, was recently used by the NAF in concert with other security agencies in the rescue of the 344 boys of the Government Science Secondary School,  Kankara, Katsina State.

He said the exercise was a deliberate effort to boost human capacity, through robust and result oriented training for enhanced professional performance.

“The cliché of sweating more in training to bleed less in battle underscores the essence of this exercise.

“Hence, the event will enhance NAF combat efficiency, bearing in mind that combat efficiency is born from the right combinations of man and machine, as well as competent methods.

“Even more pertinent is that this event is in consonance with the CAS vision to reposition the NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives for effective, efficient and timely employment of air power, in response to Nigeria’s national security imperatives.

“The timing for this event could, therefore, not have been more apt as the NAF is currently engaged in counter-insurgency and anti-banditry operations in the North-East and North-West of Nigeria respectively.

“Notwithstanding tactics and doctrine, the event will enable our personnel to imbibe regimentation and fully appreciate the need for effective Air-Ground Integration,” he said.

NAN reports that the exercise was the fifth NAF combat-related event organised since 2019.  (NAN)

By Suleiman Shehu

Mrs Jumoke Babalola-Oludele, sister of the Deputy Minority Leader, Oyo State House of Assembly, Mr Sunkanmi Babalola, has regained freedom from her abductors.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Babalola-Oludele was kidnapped on Dec, 21 around Oniguguri junction, beside Lion of Judah, Iyana Church, Monatan area, Ibadan.

The victim was allegedly kidnapped by three unknown gunmen who drove in a white Toyota Camry.
The kidnappers had earlier demanded for N20 million ransom for her release.

Confirming the release of the victim on Saturday in Ibadan, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the victim had regained freedom and united with her family.

Fadeyi said Babalola-Oludele was released through the collaborative efforts of the security agencies and other stakeholders in the state.

The police spokesman further said that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the case while investigation was still ongoing.

The victim’s brother, Babalola, representing Egbeda State Constituency in the state Assembly, who also confirmed his sister’s release, said that no ransom was paid to her abductors. (NAN)