The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, is examining the latest video from Boko Haram insurgents purporting to show some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
Some girls wearing headscarves, in the video, were seen behind a Boko Haram militant who demanded the release of fighters in return for freeing the girls.
The militant also claimed that some of the girls have been killed in air strikes.
The Director Defence Information, Rabe Abubakar, a brigadier general, disclosed that the military is examining the video clip to verify its authenticity.
He said: “Currently we are studying the video clips to verify its authenticity and analysing the comments of the speakers in the video especially the terrorist member and the girl that spoke in mother tongue.”
Abubakar also disputed allegations in the video that some of the kidnapped girls were hit by an airstrike.
He said: “It is extremely difficult and rare to hit innocent people during airstrike because the operation is done through precision attack on identified and registered targets and locations.
“The Precision Airstrike is very effective at taking out targeted enemies because it is not a random operation.
“We are nevertheless studying the video clips to examine if the victims died from other causes rather than from airstrike.”
A statement by PRNigeria stated that the Nigerian Air Force through its Component in Operation Lafiya Dole has focused on sustaining air operations and providing support to ground troops of the Armed Forces’ strive to rid Nigeria of the Boko Haram insurgency.
“Airstrikes are controlled by professionally trained officers who coordinate the strike with friendly ground troops, after a lot of surveillance to limit casualty on the ground,
“Nigeria Air Force employs precision guided weapons with modern Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance systems to reduce likely collateral damage from any airstrike.
“All the areas stroke throughout the operation were thoroughly monitored on intelligence surveillance and eye services before the attacks or shelling. Most of the targets areas were clearly identified before the air strikes to avoid collateral damages.”
Meanwhile the Defence Headquarters has promised to issue an update after its investigation.
Garba Shehu, SSA, Media and Publicity to the President
The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has come to the defence of his principal over the “unfair criticism of the Buhari administration” on account of the numerous challenges facing the Nation under his watch.
According to Shehu, “the last couple of weeks have witnessed the heaviest public criticism of the Muhammadu Buhari administration since he came to power.”
He added that “Unfair criticism of the Buhari administration especially on account of escalating prices of foodstuff and the liberalization of the currency exchange needs to be challenged before it overshadows the commendable job the President has done in fighting terrorism as part of overall effort to secure the country, reducing corruption and yes, arresting the economic slide before it sinks the nation.”
Shehu said that the international perception of Nigeria has tremendously improved under the present administration and can lead to foreign investments when properly capitalized upon.
He accused the country’s media for not projecting the many positive attributes of Buhari’s leadership but has succeeded in winning “sympathy for anyone with a view that runs counter to the President’s.”
“The lavish praise the President gets abroad and the wide public support he enjoys among the lower segment of the local population is, by contrast, given a short shrift in the local press, mainstream and online.
“Boko Haram terrorist leader, Shekau or the pipeline vandal from the Delta region is more likely to get newspaper front pages today than the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige or the Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun talking about jobs creation in the economy,” Shehu said.
Buhari Feels The Pains Of The People
He said the president feels the pulse of the citizens and appreciates that things were not very smooth presently, but assured that things will soon change.
The Presidential Spokesman said: “President Buhari has himself on numerous occasions admitted that the change mantra has brought with it pain and suffering which he likened to the pains of labor. It is a passing phase.”
“He has said times without number that his government is dedicated to the poor. As can be seen from the 2016 budget, this is a government that is determined to hugely empower the disadvantaged groups- the poor, the jobless, the widows and the orphaned children including those of the North-East.
“Following the budget, the administration has begun rolling out several social welfare programs. The direct cash transfer to the poorest of the poor, the school feeding and the recruitment/skills training of about one million jobless citizens are such an example.”
Luck Has Not Been On Our Side
Shehu said that all leaders need luck on their side, in addition to hard work, in order to create what is sometimes seen as economic miracles.
He said: “As a leader, President Buhari never had the luxury of high oil prices as did his predecessors in office.
“When he first emerged as the military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari saw oil price, the mainstay of the nation’s economy sank to as low as $8 a barrel.
“He rolled up his sleeves, worked on diversification strategy of the economy only to be eased out of power just as they began to take hold. Thereafter, his successors abandoned these efforts.
“On his second coming, this time as a democratically elected leader, the collapse of oil prices has challenged President Buhari to quicken efforts towards the diversification of the economy with emphasis given to agriculture and solid minerals mining.”
Diversification Is Key
The President’s media aide said that the country must not lose the opportunity presented by the current oil crisis to diversify the economy and our foreign earnings.
“As the country hopes for a bumper harvest this year, government is taking steps to ensure that no farmer will sell at a loss or fail to find markets for their harvests.
“Grain silos are being readied nationwide to receive excess produce for warehousing to ensure food security, avert market glut and price collapse. By this, government will ensure a minimum guaranteed price,” he said.
Shehu added that the administration is devoting attention to ridding the country of its notoriety as a difficult place of doing business and the National Economic Council under the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo was making significant progress with that regard.
He also mentioned many projects that the administration was treat as priority. They include: “the Second Niger bridge, the East-West expressway, the green field Lagos-Abuja expressway and important national railway projects, Lagos-Calabar and Lagos-Kano,… the 4,000 MW Mambila power plant” as well as the Cleanup exercise “Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.”
This Is The Change We Voted For
The presidential aide said that “The change (Nigerians voted for) is working for the nation and sooner than later, the testimony shall be given.”
He noted that “the removal of subsidies on the petrol products has saved the government more than two trillion Naira annual expenditure.”
Shehu added: “President Buhari’s foreign trips have brought many things to the country. He has energized our foreign policy. It is generally accepted that good foreign relations bring foreign direct investment.
“His knack for prudent spending and effective management of resources is in the belief that this country can only prosper when there is transparency, reduced corruption and a drastic cut in bureaucratic red tape.
“His decision to have a small cabinet, reducing government ministries from 46 to 24 has the effect of relieving the treasury of the burden of salaries, allowances and miscellaneous expenses now being counted in billions of Naira.
“It bears repeating that the President is a different kind of leader, who just happens to be a victim of the tyranny of high expectations. He has brought positive intention, commitment, honesty and personal integrity into governance. This is why the country’s poor hold him so dear; this is why the world is in love with him.
“President Buhari should be credited for the unblemished record of his ministers. This is a government that has stayed above scandal for a year.
“The President needs our support with understanding and patience. No matter how hasty a president wants to bring changes, there is no magic wand in that office to make everything change from bad to good or make all of us prosperous with a wave of the hand.
“This change is on course. It requires patience,” Shehu concluded.
A picture of the chibok girls as seen in the Boko Haram Video
Boko Haram terrorists have released a new video showing some of the school girls kidnapped by the terrorist group in Chibok, Borno State, more than two years ago.
An insurgent dressed in Nigeria’s military camouflage who spoke in Hausa claims in the video that a military jet bombed the location of the Chibok girls and killed unspecified number of the girls.
The video also shows images of the girls allegedly killed during the bombing.
The insurgent who spoke in the video in Hausa called on the parents of the chibok girls to tell the federal government to released members of Boko Haram and their relations detained in various prisons in Maiduguri, Lagos, Abuja and other places across the country if they want their girls released.
He said this was the only condition for the girls to be released.
He said if the government or the military believe they can get the girls through military means, then they should know that they will not get them alive.
The Boko Haram spokesperson also said that only 40 of the girls have been married out to their members while the others not shown in the video were among those killed in the bombing by a military jet.
There are not more than 34 girls shown in the video.
One of the girls, who gave her name as Maida Yakubu, was asked to speak and she called on the authorities to release relations of their captors so that they could regain their freedom.
The girl claims to be a student of GSS Chibok.
Meanwhile, Minister of information, Lai Mohammed, reacting to the latest video of the Chibok girls, said that government was in touch with the Boko Haram group.
In a statement issued by the minister’s media aide, Segun Adeyemi, he said that “The government is in touch with those purportedly behind the video.”
“We are on top of the situation. But we are being extremely careful because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of Boko Haram.
“We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the girls.
“Since this is not the first time we have been contacted over the issue, we want to be doubly sure that those we are in touch with are who they claim to be,” he added.
President Muhammadu Buhari has praised the Nigerian soccer team to the Rio Olympics Games, popularly called Dream Team VI, for their 2-0 victory over Denmark to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s football event.
Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, made this known in a statement shortly after the match on Saturday Night.
“Again and again, the unconquerable Nigerian spirit has come to the fore, showing that where there is a will, there’s always a way,” the statement read.
“This was a team that was not given much chance, but which has now advanced into the semi-finals.”
The president urged the Nigerian team to focus their minds on winning the gold medal and making the country proud.
“Go for it,” he said, “Go for the gold, and let the Nigerian banner be held proudly aloft once again on the global stage. We are almost there. Let’s go.”
President Buhari urged every Nigerian to pray and support not only the football team, but the entire Nigerian contingent to the Olympics, “so that the rest of the world will know that even in the face of economic adversity, the Nigerian spirit remains resolute and lifted high.”
“And this, we shall demonstrate in every sphere of our national life,” the President concluded.
Normalcy has returned to Akokwa, a town in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State after a deadly clash between some Hausa residents in the area and some members of the host community which resulted in the death of 6 people.
Journalists report that there is heavy presence of security operatives in the area and people are going about their normal duties.
However, the indigenes of the area have called on the government to look into the matter critically and to prevent any future occurrence.
Some of the residents, who narrated the incident, alleged that the Hausa man, who was hired as a security guard in the one of the buildings in the area, had a misunderstanding with a young lady named Ngozi and the misunderstanding became intense that he pursued and murdered the lady in cold blood with a shovel, adding that he also went ahead to kill one Beatrice Ibe, who was trying to settle the dispute.
Imo State Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, who led security operatives and other top government functionaries to the scene of the incident, also used the opportunity to visit families of people affected in the clash while assuring the people that the state government is on top of the situation.
He pointed out that the incident is a clear case of homicide and not related to ethnic clashes.
Also, Taiwo Lakanu, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, has asked for the cooperation of the people while imploring them to remain calm and desist from any behaviour that might cause breakdown of law and order in the state.
In the meantime, the corpses of the affected victims have been deposited in a nearby mortuary, while some others who were wounded, including a 7-year old boy, are receiving treatment in a hospital.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that he was quoted out of context when he spoke to journalists on the budget padding allegations made against him by a member of the house, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
The speaker spoke with State House Correspondents shortly after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, August 5, and was quoted to have said that “Padding was not a crime.
Also, at an event organized by a civil society group last Thursday, Dogara was quoted as saying that legislators were “privileged people” and therefore cannot be tried in a law court.
But Turaki Hassan, Dogara’s media aide, issued a statement on Saturday saying his principal never presented himself as being above the law.
“Unfortunately the media reported him as saying that padding was not a crime. This tended to insinuate that the Hon speaker admitted there was budget padding but that this did not constitute a crime,” the statement read.
It went further: “There could be nothing further from the truth. The Hon Speaker’s assertion was and remains that nothing untoward had been done by the house and indeed the national assembly with respect to the 2016 budget.
“In the second instance, while responding to questions at the Civil Society Dialogue at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja on Thursday 12th August, Rt. Hon Dogara made reference to Sections 3, 24 and 30 of the legislative houses (Powers and Privileges ) Act to buttress the point that the legislature while carrying out its constitutional responsibilities is protected by law.
“He did not say or mean that he is above the laws of the land or that he is shielded by the law or has immunity for any infractions of the law.
“Dogara should not be portrayed as insensitive or arrogant as this is contrary to his true nature of humility and humaneness that has endeared him to his colleagues and Nigerians.”
No Kobo Is Missing From The Budget
The speaker insisted that “No kobo” was lost in the budget saga, adding that he felt the need to give some explanations on the matter due to the “damage Jibrin’s misrepresentations and lies” was inflicting on the country.
“Dogara had initially adopted silence as his response, but having observed the grievous damage Hon Jibrin’s extensive misrepresentations and lies was inflicting on the country and distracting our common and urgent resolve to tackle our distressed economy and security challenges, he opted to offer some explanations on the issues as continuous silence may have amounted to insensitivity, admission or arrogance,” the statement read.
“No kobo belonging to Nigeria has been misappropriated, stolen or lost in this budget saga. There was no act of corruption during and after the preparation of the 2016 budget.”
I Hope He Is Arrested Before He Steals Everything
Abdulmumin Jibrin
Meanwhile, shortly after Dogara’s statement, Jibrin fired back saying he hopes that the speaker is arrested before he “steals everything”.
“With the massive amount been moved from the House accounts on Dogara’s instruction, I hope he will be arrested before he steals everything!” Jibrin wrote on one of his social media handles.
He said Nigerians “must all thank the corrupt speaker Dogara for finally apologising to Nigerians for the multiple lies he has shamelessly been dishing out.”
Jibrin however added that for the apology to make any sense, Dogara and the three other accused principal officers should step down in order that a detailed investigation would take place.
The aggrieved lawmaker said the heat was getting much on the speaker’s side which could be the reason for his clarification statement.
“Same speaker who few days ago said padding is not an offense and he cannot be investigated. I guess it’s the heat, it will only get worst,” he said.
Jibrin, from Kano State, is accusing Speaker Dogara and three other principal officers of the house of illegally inflating the 2016 budget by billions of naira.
He started making the allegations shortly after he was removed as the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation.
Persistent downpour has rendered hundreds of people homeless in Jakusko town of Yobe State in northeast Nigeria.
The torrential rain, which has been incessant in the past few days, destroyed properties and washed away many farmlands.
Residents of the area say more than 200 houses were destroyed, while pleading for urgent assistance from government and other non-governmental organisations.
The Yobe State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajara Lawan, in a sympathy visit to the area described the situation as disastrous and pathetic.
She said that the state government through the relevant agencies would assist the affected individuals, and urged other well-meaning individuals to respond immediately in helping the victims who were mostly peasants and in dare need of urgent intervention.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has swiftly responded by commencing an assessment tour of the flood area to appraise the level of destruction with a view to alleviating their sufferings.
Nahuta Abubakar, acting Field Coordinator of NEMA in Yobe State, assured that the displaced persons would soon get assistance from the agency.
Governor Abubakar Bello has warned individuals or group of people in possession of firearms illegally in the state to surrender them within seven days to the appropriate authority.
The governor, who gave the directive yesterday in a state wide broadcast on the recent security challenges in some communities of Bosso local government area of the state, also disclosed the composition of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the military/communal clash.
He warned of grave consequences for failure to surrender such illegal firearms, stressing that the state will no longer be safe haven for criminals.
The governor observed that proliferation of small arms and light weapons are on the increase in the rural communities unlike in the past when gun running was only limited to the metropolitan cities.
He bemoaned the invasion of some villages in the state by cattle rustlers, kidnappers, banditry, armed robbers and other nefarious activities being committed by criminally minded persons.
“We must rise now to fight this menace. To achieve this task successfully, we must pay attention to what happens in our homes, villages and communities. We must make security of our environment our business by reporting any suspicious movement or activities around us to security agencies”, he said.
On the restriction of motorcycle movement from 7pm to 6am in the state capital and major cities in the state, the governor said the law was still in force, adding that he had ordered security agencies to embark on stop and search operation as a result of the prevailing security challenges in state of recent.
Governor Bello urged the people to bear with patience the attendant discomfort they will be subjected to as the decision to introduce these measures were taken in the interest of all.
He expressed regret for the clash between the military and some communities that resulted in loss of lives and property on both sides in Bosso Local Government area. He maintained that the sad incident was not a true reflection of what the people and the state were known for.
“The sad and emerging violent culture in our various communities is not a true reflection of of who we are or what we stand for, and belief in as a people. We cannot at this crucial point in our development as a state allow minor differences that can be mutually discussed and resolved to bring us to daggers drawn at one another”, he said.
The governor then called on the security agencies to be professional in carrying out their constitutional responsibilities and enjoined them to intensify efforts in sustaining peace and security of the state through inter-agency collaboration and intelligence gathering.
He also urged the security agents to build a new and robust, mutually beneficial relationship with various critical stakeholders in the state.
He commended the role played by the Emir of Minna, Umar Bahago for ensuring that peace returned to the communities and has also directed Niger State Emergency Maintenance Agency, NSEMA, to provide relief materials to the affected families of the injured and displaced persons.
The governor further appealed to the members of the affected communities who fled their villages in the wake of the military/communal clash to return to their villages as normalcy has returned promising them of adequate security.
The Vatican on Friday said that Pope Francis paid a visit to a Catholic charity organization, Community Papa Giovanni XXIII, that is giving shelter to women whom were rescued from forced prostitution.
The report from Vatican said Francis met with 20 of such rescued women at the community, including seven from Nigeria.
Others include six from Romania, four from Albania and one each from Tunisia, Italy and Ukraine.
“Today’s visit by Pope Francis is another call to conscience to fight the trafficking of human beings, which the Holy Father has on several occasions defined as a crime against humanity,” the report said.
This year is observed in the Catholic Church as The Jubilee Year of Mercy, and Pope Francis pays a special visit on one Friday every month to mark the Jubilee.
The Jubilee of Mercy as declared by Pope Francis began on December 8, 2015 and will end on November 20 this year.
Previous destinations for Francis’ Fridays of Mercy includes the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a migrant centre on the Greek island of Lesbos, and facilities around Rome for the elderly, mentally ill and recovering drug addicts.
Nigerian Troops, acting on information by an arrested suspected terrorist, Lawan Abbai, embarked on mine and Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, clearance operations in Gombori that led to the discovery of IEDs buried in the ground by insurgents.
The operation was carried out along the troops’ main supply route in Borno State.
Abbai was arrested on Thursday by officials of the Operation Lafiya Dole in Borno State in a counter-terrorism operation in northeast Nigeria.
Army spokesman, Sani Usman, said in a statement that “The troops located and recovered two heavy IEDs buried in the ground by suspected remnants of the insurgents.
“In the process of recovering the deadly IEDs, the troops intercepted four fleeing suspected Boko Haram terrorists that claimed they were on their way to surrender to troops.
“On preliminary investigation, they were identified as confirmed Boko Haram terrorists planting IEDs along troops’ routes by their arrested colleague, Lawan Abbai.”
Sani added that the troops also rescued five women and a baby from the Boko Haram terrorists at the same general area.
