Islamic extremists have killed eight soldiers and wounded 17 in two attacks in northeastern Nigeria, the country’s military said Monday. The attacks bring the official toll to 10 troops killed and 24 wounded this past week after a lull during which the extremists confronted a leadership struggle. The Islamic State group’s West Africa Province claimed … Read more
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has said his government is not ready to negotiate with Boko Haram until it is clear who is leading the terror group. “I gave directives on three different occasions and I am not ready to go beyond this unless the leaders of Boko Haram come out in the open and say … Read more
The disputed leader of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has released a video message denying a claim by the military that he was killed or badly wounded in an air strike last month. Abubakar Shekau appeared healthy in the video in which he spoke in Arabic, Hausa and the Kanuri language. It is not clear … Read more
Two weeks ago we commenced series of write ups meant to showcase contributions of notable Islamic personalities towards advancement of the religion in Ghana. Our first two write ups emphasized forcefully the peace Ghana is currently enjoying as partly due to good Islamic practices laden with neighborliness, being promoted in the affairs of the nation … Read more
ISIS is allegedly an Al Qaeda-linked Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant, known for its ruthless tactics and suicide bombers and who currently poses a threat throughout the Middle East. It is also known as a militant group “Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham,” (ISIS) or the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant” … Read more
Nigeria’s president said on Thursday he would be open to U. N. bodies coming in to act as intermediaries in any talks with Boko Haram Islamist militants on the release of about 200 kidnapped schoolgirls. Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to free the girls, whose abduction almost two and a half years ago from the northeastern … Read more
Every effort must be made to stop the legal system being abused over allegations of serious misconduct by UK troops, Theresa May has said. The PM told defence chiefs she is determined to stop “vexatious” claims being brought against the armed forces. Two separate inquiries are examining about 2,000 allegations against troops who served in … Read more
Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, has told western leaders that shutting their doors to migrants who seek entry into their countries is not the solution to winning the war against terrorism. Terror attacks have heightened within the last few years with parts of Africa also experiencing same in the hands of Boko Haram and Al … Read more
UN peacekeepers were sent to the CAR in 2014 Several people have been killed in fighting between rival rebel groups in the Central African Republic, the UN mission in the country says. The UN the clashes took place in a village about 350km (220 miles) north of the capital, Bangui. Aid agencies say up to … Read more
Thirty-eight Boko Haram Islamist fighters have been killed during military search operations carried out by Niger and Chad troops in the Diffa region of southeast Niger this week, an official said Friday. Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the action and “on the enemy side; 38 terrorists killed,” Niger defence ministry spokesman Moustapha Ledru said … Read more
A few days before President Buhari showed up in Edo state to campaign for his party’s governorship candidate in the election that was originally slated for Saturday 10th September 2016, I was in a telephone conversation with a new buddy of mine in Benin. She informed me that in her neighbourhood, they have had electricity … Read more
Boko Haram was on Sunday blamed for an attack on motorists in northeast Nigeria which left one person dead and underlined the Islamist group’s continuing security threat to civilians. Gunmen on Saturday opened fire on a convoy of vehicles travelling to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, from the garrison town of Monguno, 140 kilometres (about … Read more
Hundreds of internally displaced people in northern Nigeria are returning home to the villages and towns they fled to escape the brutal onslaught of Boko Haram militants, the U. N. refugee agency reports. And this, says UNHCR spokesman Leo Dobbs, is a matter of concern. The Nigerian armed forces have retaken many of those areas … Read more
In-fighting has broken out in Boko Haram after the Islamic State group announced a new leader of its Nigerian affiliate, according to reports in the country’s remote northeast. IS said last month that Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram’s founder Mohammed Yusuf, had replaced Abubakar Shekau at the head of the designated terrorist … Read more
A Nigerian journalist accused of having information about the whereabouts of the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram has been arrested according to multiple reports, though the Nigerian military has denied the claims. Ahmad Salkida was declared wanted in August by the Nigerian military, along with two other persons, after Boko Haram released a video … Read more
Nigeria’s military says some officers are selling arms and ammunition to Boko Haram, indicating the corruption bedeviling the country’s fight against the Islamic extremists continues despite government efforts to halt graft. The admission comes three weeks after the Nigerian army said a military tribunal is trying 16 officers and troops accused of offenses related to … Read more
Lagos (AFP) – Nigeria’s military claimed Tuesday to have seriously injured Boko Haram’s elusive leader Abubakar Shekau and killed other commanders in an air strike on the Islamist group’s forest stronghold. The announcement was met with scepticism by Boko Haram experts who pointed out that Nigeria has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous … Read more
Sokoto (Nigeria) (AFP) – US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday praised Nigeria for its recent gains against Boko Haram Islamists but did not endorse military claims that the group’s leader Abubakar Shekau has been wounded. Speaking at a press conference in the ancient northern city of Sokoto, Kerry congratulated Nigeria for reclaiming swathes … Read more
Abuja (AFP) – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Sunday that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is “wounded”, in his first comments on military claims that the jihadi leader was injured in an attack. Nigeria’s armed forces said on Tuesday that Shekau had been wounded in an air strike on Boko Haram’s forest stronghold, but released … Read more
Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters on Thursday dismissed the reported change in the leadership of the terrorist group Boko Haram. In a statement made available to Xinhua in Lagos, Rabe Abubakar, the defense spokesperson, also said the change is irrelevant and inconsequential to the military’s operation in the north-east. He said for now, the troops are focused … Read more