National News
Boko Haram: Libyan Mercenaries helping ISWAP fighters in attack – Senator Ndume

Boko Haram: Libyan Mercenaries helping ISWAP fighters in attack – Senator Ndume
By: Our Reporter
The Chairman Senate Committee on Army, Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume on Sunday said facts coming out indicated that Islamic State for West African Province, ISWAP fighters may have joined forces with mercenaries from Libya to carry out the attack on the military on Askira town on Saturday where a Brigadier General was killed.
Askira town in Borno state, northeast Nigeria came under attack by ISWAP fighters in the early hours of Saturday. The fighters displaced Nigerian troops and residents fled to the mountains for safety.
When reinforcement was coming led by the Commander 28 Task Force in Chibok, Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkushu, the ISWAP fighters having got the information laid ambush between Chibok and Askira where they open fire on the convoy killing General Dzarma and three soldiers.
Ndume who spoke on the deadly attack in Abuja, said the incident has caused panic among residents in the area.
Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, in his reaction to the killing of the General, expressed his condolences and described the incident as painful.
He lamented that residents are fleeing Askira as ISWAP terrorists are believed to be regrouping in the Lake Chad region.
The attack came 24 hours after military airstrikes took out several top commanders of ISWAP while they were allegedly holding a strategic meeting with their new leader, Sani Shuwaram, at Sabon Tumbun and Jibularam, in Marte Local Government Area of the State.
Ndume said: “I want to express my condolences to the Nigerian Army over the death of the General who died along Chibok road. ISWAP terrorists attacked a town there.
“They know that the General was the major obstacle to their operation. They laid an ambush and rammed a bomb-ladened car into his vehicle.
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“He was a gallant soldier. He took the fight to the terrorists. His death has sent a panic to people in that area.
“I am aware that some people around that Chibok area have started thinking of relocating.
“Some want to go to Mubi and other places. We are trying to urge them to remain there. The insurgency is coming to an end.”
He was positive that the Nigerian Army has the capability to defeat ISWAP and their Libyan mercenaries.
He urged other security agencies and well-meaning residents in the communities to support the military to gain a decisive victory.
“This is not the end but the beginning of the end of terrorists. I know that the Army has what it takes to take the fight to them.
“There is a need to urge other security agencies to give the Army the needed support. We also need to urge vigilante groups to assist them,” he said.
He described the attack by ISWAP as a revenge mission saying the assailants arrived in the area with 10 gun trucks to carry out the attack.
“For now, we will assume that it was an isolated case. But the intensity with which they came is worrisome.
“They came with more than 10 gun trucks. They are also regrouping around Borno North. That’s the Lake Chad axis. The Military is aware and the Air Force is providing surveillance in the area.
“It was a revenge mission. The Army has been taking out key ISWAP commanders and they have their revenge.
“Last week for instance, they abducted relatives of the Emir of Askira. They also abducted some passengers along that road. If the Army sustains the tempo, we will win this insurgency.
“The equipment is arriving gradually. We are monitoring. As a committee, we will go and see what they have brought into the country. This is an improvement.
“The Army is very rapid in responding. The Army is involved in about 33 States now. They’re under pressure.” Ndume said
Boko Haram: Libyan Mercenaries helping ISWAP fighters in attack – Senator Ndume
National News
NAN, AWALCO Partners to Promote ECOWAS Parliament

NAN, AWALCO Partners to Promote ECOWAS Parliament
By: Michael Mike
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has pledged to partner the Association of West African Legislative Correspondents (AWALCO) to publicise the activities of the ECOWAS Parliament, particularly its 25th anniversary celebrations.
The Managing Director of the agency, Malam Ali Muhammad Ali,, made the pledge when the leadership of the association paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Thursday.

Ali while expressing appreciation to the association’s officials for deeming it worthy to pay him a courtesy visit, said as Africa’s biggest news content provider, NAN was home to all.
He said: “For deeming it worthy to come and pay us this courtesy call, the agency is appreciative.
“We hope that it will help the Parliament achieve its goals, and raise awareness, like you said, about its activities.
“On our part, the News Agency of Nigeria, like you know, is Africa’s biggest news content provider.”
He noted that the agency is the most authentic and biggest news hub in Africa, with a domineering influence and reach within the West African subregion.
Ali said: “So, with an association like this, certainly in the News Agency of Nigeria, you find a soulmate, a fellow traveler. You are welcome. We look forward to partnering and doing more, and the News Agency of Nigeria is your home.”
Speaking earlier, AWALCO President, Mr Innocent Odoh, explained that the purpose of the visit was to seek the collaboration and support of NAN, as the indisputable leader in terms of news credibility reportage, and viability.
He said that ECOWAS Parliament would be marking its 25th anniversary on November 16 and a series of activities had been lined up for it.

Odoh said that AWALCO, being the association of the parliament’s press corps, was fully involved in it by way of planning to give the occasion a media and publicity glitz.
He said this would help to propagate the ideals of ECOWAS in general, and ECOWAS Parliament in particular, and make the objectives of ECOWAS Commission and Parliament known globally, starting from the subregion.
He said: “In terms of viability, if we talk about the repository of news in all ramifications, in all dimensions, I think the News Agency of Nigeria comes first before any other one.
“So, what we are doing is in line with the media advocacy that we are projecting for the ECOWAS Parliament at 25.
“We can see that if the collaboration with NAN takes off as we planned it, I think it will go a long way in expanding the vision of the association.”
The AWALCO president further said that the partnership would determine how the regional bloc is run, especially at a time that so many things about ECOWAS needed to be interrogated.
“That is why we’re here, to seek that collaboration, to seek that support, how we can deepen that collaboration to ensure that the citizens of the Parliament understand what is happening around them.
“ECOWAS has a vision of 2050 but many people may not be aware of it, but collaborations like this can open up an opportunity for people to understand the vision of ECOWAS,” he added
on her part, Chief Communication Officer, ECOWAS Parliament, Mrs Uche Duru,, who was part of the delegation, in a remark, extended greetings from ECOWAS Parliament Speaker and Secretary-General to Ali and NAN’s management.
The spokesperson for the parliament said the association was beyond Nigeria, as its membership encompassed the entire West Africa, including even from member states that were threatening to exit or had already exited.
NAN, AWALCO Partners to Promote ECOWAS Parliament
National News
Nigeria, China May Head for Diplomatic Row Over Shooting of Immigration Officer at Chinese Firm

Nigeria, China May Head for Diplomatic Row Over Shooting of Immigration Officer at Chinese Firm
By: Michael Mike
Nigeria is not taking lightly the shooting of an immigration officer at a Chinese firm in Jos, Plateau State.
The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who narrated the story,
The federal government has threatened a serious diplomatic row with the Republic of China over maltreatment of a Nigerian Immigration Service officer shot by a Chinese company in Nigeria for asking for the company’s expatriate list.
Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who narrated the story on Thursday in Abuja at a stakeholders sensitisation workshop on the implementation of the Nigeria Visa policy 2025, said Nigeria is not handling the matter with kid gloves as it would be taken up as a diplomatic issue.
Tunji-Ojo lamented that the development alone is an attack on Nigeria. It will never be condoned.
He said the Immigration officer, who was on official duty, had visited the Chinese company in Jos, Plateau state, to check the list of the company’s expatriates, but the owner of the company ordered a security officer in the premises to shoot the government official.
Tunji-Ojo said: “I won’t go to China as a Nigerian, open a company and tell my security to shoot a government official in uniform. It’s never done anywhere in the world.
“These officers put their lives on the line. These officers serve this country with their all. And you will not come from anywhere and ask them to shoot them in their fatherland.
“It will no longer happen. We will take it up with you. Because that company, we (Nigerian government) have the power to withdraw their business permit Nigeria and declare them illegal.”
He wondered how it had become an offence for an Immigration officer to visit a foreign company and demand to see their expatriate list.
He said: “It will not happen again. So we’re going to be very hard. We will not stop your business. We will not overburden your business. But don’t make us inferior in our own land. No, please.
“And we’re going to be very tough on this. Because talking to you, I’m not just talking with passion on this topic, I’m talking with a lot of anger, because that guy that was shot is a Nigeria that we all swore to protect by virtue of the laws of Nigeria, by the constitution. That Immigration guy was not shot by a terrorist, is a father, he is a son to somebody. He is a husband to somebody. That cannot happen anywhere in the world.
“We will not tolerate it. Please, no agent, no company is above the law,” the Minister declared
Nigeria, China May Head for Diplomatic Row Over Shooting of Immigration Officer at Chinese Firm
National News
Nigeria Explores CNG Technology to Power Defence, Industrial Vehicle Fleets

Nigeria Explores CNG Technology to Power Defence, Industrial Vehicle Fleets
By: Michael Mike
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar has led a high-level delegation on a tour of UROVESA—a renowned Spanish manufacturer of military and industrial vehicles.
The visit focused on exploring potential collaboration in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technology for powering Nigeria’s defence and industrial vehicle fleets.

The minister was accompanied on the visit by key figures including the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo; Presidential CNG Initiative representative, Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi; Engr. Henry Oki; and the Special Assistant for Gas Business and Investment to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), where they all engaged in detailed discussions with UROVESA executives.
During the visit, Tuggar emphasized the longstanding trade ties between Nigeria and Spain, noting that Spain remains one of Nigeria’s top trading partners, with Nigerian crude oil exports reaching $3.64 billion in 2023.
He lauded UROVESA’s innovative approach to producing all-terrain, armoured, tactical, and logistical vehicles, and expressed Nigeria’s growing interest in and implementation of CNG-powered solutions.

Tuggar also highlighted Nigeria’s business-friendly economic reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, which have positioned the country as a prime destination for investment in clean energy technologies. The discussions provided a valuable platform for further exploration of future collaborations between UROVESA and Nigeria’s Ministry of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) in CNG-powered vehicle production and supply.
According to a statement by the foreign affairs minister spokesman, Alkasim AbdulKadir, the engagement not only reinforced Nigeria’s commitment to a green energy future but also laid the groundwork for modernizing the nation’s defence and industrial fleets with environmentally friendly and cost-effective energy solutions.
He said the promising outcome of the discussions sets the stage for a strategic partnership that is expected to foster sustainable innovation and drive economic growth for both Nigeria and UROVESA.
Nigeria Explores CNG Technology to Power Defence, Industrial Vehicle Fleets
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