NEWS

Two Niger Soldiers Killed In Gun Duel With Boko Haram

At least two soldiers were killed overnight while fighting off an attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists in southeast Niger, a source in the security forces said Tuesday.

“It was an audacious attack repelled by our valiant defence and security forces who lost two men all the same,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The insurgents from neighbouring Nigeria “came aboard about a dozen vehicles” early Monday evening to attack a National Guard outpost near Chetimari, a village about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the main regional town, Diffa, the source said.

“Since the Niger soldiers put up strong resistance, the Boko Haram elements withdrew to shell their positions from a distance,” he added.

The arrival of reinforcements led by the head of the National Guard contingent in Diffa, Major Mohamed Alwata, enabled the army to drive the raiders back towards Nigerian territory, where Boko Haram first launched a bloody insurgency in 2009.

The attackers “also lost several men” during fighting that lasted “for hours”, the source in the security forces said.

In mid-January, seven soldiers were killed and 17 others wounded in an attack at Toummour, in the east of the Diffa region close to the Lake Chad basin, a strategic area where the borders of four countries converge.

Chad and Cameroon are engaged alongside Nigeria and Niger in the battle against Boko Haram extremists, who first took the conflict across the border into Niger in 2015, with numerous raids around Diffa.

Between 2015 and 2017, UN monitors recorded 582 civilian casualties in 244 raids blamed on Boko Haram in the Diffa region. In 2017, 141 civilians were “wounded, killed and kidnapped,” compared with 227 in 2016 and 214 in 2015, according to UN statistics with no further breakdown.

The United Nations makes no estimates of casualties in Niger’s army, but the military is known to have lost dozens of troops since 2015.

 Obasanjo: Appointment Of Security Chiefs Violates Federal Character Principle.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the appointment of Nigeria’s service chiefs is not in line with the Federal Character principle as provided by the Constitution.

The former President who said this on Thursday at an even in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, noted that appointment into major offices must be fairly distributed across the country.

“The Federal Character principle, as espoused in our Constitution, was to guide the leadership to search for competent holders of major offices to be distributed within the entire nation,” he said.

According to Obasanjo, the essence is also to “avoid the concentration in a few ethnic hands or geographical places, as we currently have in the leadership of our security apparatus.”

President Muhammadu Buhari had been criticised over alleged lopsidedness in his appointments which some claimed mostly favoured the northerners.

The Presidency swiftly responded in a statement, saying: “It is, indeed, false for anyone to say that President Buhari’s appointments are lopsided. From all records, majority of the President’s appointees across different portfolios are not from the North.”

But former President Obasanjo had also criticised President Buhari’s government and called for a movement which he said would help to save Nigeria from its challenges.

One week after he made the call in a statement, a group – the Coalition for Nigeria Movement – launch on Wednesday in Abuja.

The former President, who also registered as a member of the movement on Thursday, said adequate attention was not being given to nation building.

He pointed out nation building as one of the important areas in the country that should be given priority with improved attention.

“We seem to have taken nation building for granted. Nation building must be given continued attention to give every citizen a feeling of belonging and a stake in his or her country,” he said.

Addressing members of the group, Obasanjo said it must be the new vehicle to give hope to the youths, dignity, and encouragement to women, as well as security, confidence, and a promising future to all Nigerians.

“It must work to bring about a new democratic and efficient Nigeria. The movement must speak up boldly and bluntly about the truth, but politely in accordance with African culture,” he said.

The former President stressed further that the movement would act collectively with political awareness, social responsibility, as well as sustained and sustainable economic development and progress.

He, however, warned members that timidity and cowardice must not be part of the group’s culture, and neither must there be indifference.

Obasanjo then called for support to build a new Nigeria that is “unshackled, united, dynamic, strong, secure, cohesive, stable, and prosperous at home and respected outside and as result, is able to play decisive role assertively within the comity of nations.”

Kano LG polls: APC will emerge victorious - Governor Ganduje boasts Read 

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state says that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will emerge victorious in the upcoming local government election in the state. He said this on Tuesday, January 30, while presenting APC flags to 16 Kano south chairmanship canditates at Kwanar Dan-Gora in Kiru local government area. The governor urged the aspirants and supporters to be more concerned about forging a united front and ensuring that the APC remained the party to beat in the February 10 local polls in the state. Ganduje thanked them for their loyalty to the party, especially since after the primary that produced him as candidate. 

The governor, who also received defectors ‎to the party, urged them to work towards its progress and be law-abiding. “We want you to shun all differences and accommodate the new entrants into the party. “With the strength of the party in the state, APC will win the local government election," Ganduje said. 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Governor Ganduje has launched the Kano North and Central senatorial districts campaign preparatory to the council polls.