News

By Muhammad Sabiu

No fewer than 26 insurgents of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) have been eliminated in Gajiram town, Borno State, after the Nigerian military launched airstrikes on them.

Reports show that the military made the attacks after the insurgents, who came on their gun trucks, made an attempt to invade the town.

A military officer in the know of the incident, whose identity is made anonymous, reliably told journalists that 26 bodies of the insurgents were counted.

Confirming the heavy casualty inflicted on the terrorists, he said, “The aircraft arrived timely and bombarded the locations of the terrorists and burned some of them beyond recognition.

“We have so far counted 26 bodies of the terrorists, but unfortunately, we lost two gallant soldiers while tackling other fleeing enemies.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government has said that Twitter has agreed to abide by the laid down conditions for its operations in the country.

Appearing on Channels TV, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, disclosed.

Recall that On June 5, 2021, the Buhari administration had slammed an indefinite suspension on Twitter.

Keyamo was a member of a committee the government set to dialogue with the microblogging site.

He disclosed that the committee had made significant progress, adding that: “The reason why the President took that step is to recalibrate our relationship with Twitter and not to drive them away from our country. That recalibration we have started it.

“We also set up a technical committee to interface with Twitter and come up with a lot of conditions for them to fulfil for us to lift the suspension.

“It was Twitter that reached out to the Federal Government to say they want to know what and what they can do to straighten up the relationship with the Federal Government and so, we have gone far, but I may not, at this forum, let out a lot, but we gave them a lot of conditions, and they have agreed to all the conditions.”

The conditions were: “Twitter paying attention to national security and cohesion; registering its physical presence and representation in Nigeria; fair taxation; dispute resolution and Local content.”

This indicates that the ban on Twitter will be lifted soon.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya, has charged officers and soldiers of the newly formed 6 Brigade of the Nigerian Army to exhibit professionalism and discipline in their operations and other engagements in their area of responsibility.

A release issued to journalists by the Director of Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed that Gen Yahaya gave the charge on Sunday, November 28, 2021, during a visit to the Headquarters 6 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Jalingo.

The statement described his visit as part of the operation and assessment to formations and units of the Nigerian Army across the country.

The release partly reads: “Presented with a security brief on the Brigade’s area of responsibility by the Commander 6 Brigade, Brig-Gen Hillary Mabeokwu, the COAS proceeded to address the troops, charging them to demonstrate professionalism and discipline in the discharge of their duties.

“He pledged to provide requisite logistics for the full take-off of the nascent Brigade.

“The COAS later commissioned newly constructed 6 Brigade Garrison office and Quarter Guard before proceeding to inspect the proposed permanent site of the Brigade.

“He expressed appreciation to the government and people of Taraba state for providing the Nigerian Army with a parcel of land to build the Brigade,” the statement added.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Nigerian Correctional Service has, on Sunday, confirmed the attack of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Jos, Plateau State.

The spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Controller of Corrections, Francis Enobore, confirmed the incident, saying “The Medium Security Custodial Centre in Jos, Plateau State came under attack by gunmen who reportedly stormed the facility in large number with sophisticated weapons”

He further stated that “although they gained entrance to the yard, they are however trapped within as men from sister security services were immediately mobilised to assist the armed guards to cordon the perimeter wall and the entire area”

The attack was said to have been carried out at about 5pm on Sunday, and sophisticated weapons were said to have been used by the attackers.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The Kano branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has set to educate business owners in December on its policies and how they can venture into various programmes initiated by the apex bank.

This is contained in a letter dated November 25, 2021, and signed by H.S. Mohammed on behalf of the Branch Controller, CBN Kano.

The letter was addressed to the Students’ Union Government president of Bayero University Kano, requesting the student leader to mobilise 50 of his union members at the sensitisation event.

The letter partly reads: “The Central Bank of Nigeria intends to sensitise manufacturers, traders, farmers, banks, artisans, cooperatives and the general public on the various policies and programmes of the Bank which they can key into.

“Consequently, the Bank is cordially inviting you and your members to in-depth presentations from 9:00 a.m daily on Wednesday, 1” and Thursday, 24 December 2021 at Afficent Event Centre, No. 4 Magajin Rumfa Road, Opposite DTSV Office Nassarawa, Kano.”

Explaining what the event is all about, the Bank wrote, “The ‘CBN Fair’ is a harmonised sensitisation program on all the Central Bank of Nigeria’s initiatives (Real Sector Financing and Interventions, Payment Systems Initiatives, Consumer Protection, Clean Naira Note Policy, Financial Inclusion and Consumer Rights) with a focus on the recent e-Naira initiative.”

By Muhammad Sabiu

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Nigerian government has directed federal civil servants from Grade Level 12 and below to resume full duties on Wednesday December 1, 2021.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, gave the directive in a circular on Friday in Abuja. Dr. Yemi-Esan, further said that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the vaccine mandate policy to all Federal Government employees.

The new development follows a recommendation by the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19, urging workers to resume full working hours and days.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Suspected gunmen in Imo State have on Monday launched an attack on some soldiers in Awo Mmamma town in the Oru East Local Government Area.

The attack, according to reports, has led to the killing of one soldier, which prompted the soldiers to raid the town.

In the raid, the soldiers have allegedly torched houses, cars, shops and a hotel, forcing many residents to flee their community.

A source, whose identify wasn’t made public, said “some hoodlums attacked some soldiers at Ishieke junction in Awo Mmamma and killed one of them. They zoomed off towards Ihiala in Anambra State. Later soldiers invaded the area and caused havoc in the area by setting a hotel, cars, houses and stalls on fire.”

However, police in the state haven’t commented on the incident as of the time fo filing this report.

Southeastern Nigeria has in recent months been hit hard by attacks suspected to have been carried out by Biafran combatants.

Muhammad Sabiu