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Chibok people decry Boko Haram attacks

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Chibok people decry Boko Haram attacks

Chibok people decry Boko Haram attacks

… Insist they have had 72 attacks, 407 persons killed, 332 abducted

By: Michael Mike

The people of Chibok local government area of Borno State have decried the neglect of their area by the government, which has left them vulnerable to Boko Haram attacks.

Chibok got famous when on April 14, 2014 Boko Haram invaded a school in their community, abducting over 270 schoolgirls.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA), an association of people from Chibok local government area of Borno State, lamented that since the break out of insurgency attacks over a decade ago, their area had been attacked over 72 times, with over 407 persons killed.

Also Read: ECOWAS suspends Burkina Faso after millitary coup

The group also lamented that over 332 persons have been abducted in the council, over 20 churches burnt, unquantifiable houses and businesses burnt, vehicles stolen and grains barns burnt or destroyed by the terrorist group.

The group, which was led to the press conference by the National President of KADA, Dauda Iliya said: “We are on behalf of the entire Chibok Community, using this medium to once again call on President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue Chibok Community, an ethnic nationality, from total annihilation by the Boko Haram Terrorists. This is because since the mass abduction of our 276 daughters in April, 2014, wherein 57 escaped (on their own) we still have 110 of them still unaccounted for. 

“The parents and the Community have continued to be subjected to persistent and sustained attacks, killings, abductions, maiming, arson and other myriads of criminality without adequate government protection. Chibok has been for all intents and purposes abandoned to its own devices by all layers of government in Nigeria.

Right from late 2012 up to this time, the statistics of the state of damage and destruction of lives and property inflicted on the Community presents a worrisome and pathetic picture.”

They alleged that: “From late 2018 to date, the frequency of attacks and level of destruction have escalated and are simply alarming. Just this year (2022) alone, Kautikari (second largest town in Chibok area) was attacked on January 14 with five girls abducted, three persons killed, many houses and churches burnt, etc. In sustaining their carnage, Piyemi, another big town in the Chibok area, was attacked on January 20 with 19 persons (mostly girls) abducted and one person, the Vigilante leader, beheaded!”

They added that: “The town was practically razed down and virtually all the recently harvested agricultural produce completely burnt down and/or looted. Chibok is predominantly an agrarian community and the whole year’s harvests have been lost to these sustained and targeted attacks posing serious food security concerns in the community.

“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians and Mr. President in particular, to rise up to the occasion and urgently save our people from total annihilation and starvation.”

They asked government to synergize with security forces in confronting the menace so as to end the sustained carnage on the people of Chibok and facilitate the return of the remaining 110 daughters abducted in 2014 and numerous others subsequently abducted at different times; for the immediate setting up of IDP Camps in Chibok town and provide Chibok with skills acquisition centre so as to avoid imminent hunger/starvation.

Also Read: Police in Gombe arrests 109 over illegal business, entry…

They also requested the federal government to order deployment of more military personnel as well as better arms to Chibok to halt the continuous attacks on the community and plead with Borno State  Governor to do more in organizing and helping the people of the area in securing the state in general and Chibok in particular from attacks.

They condoled  the Nigerian Army for the loss of gallant soldiers including the very brave Brigadier General B. K. Zirkushu who lost their lives in Askira protecting the people against the invading terrorists on November 13, 2021.

Chibok people decry Boko Haram attacks

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NAN, AWALCO Partners to Promote ECOWAS Parliament

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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

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Nigeria, China May Head for Diplomatic Row Over Shooting of Immigration Officer at Chinese Firm

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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

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Nigeria Explores CNG Technology to Power Defence, Industrial Vehicle Fleets

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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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