Troops neutralise notorious bandit leader ‘Dan Dari Biyar’ in Sokoto

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Army Troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA have neutralised a notorious bandit leader identified as Dan Dari Biyar during a clearance operation in the western axis of Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the bandit kingpin was eliminated on Thursday while attempting to collect a ransom from relatives of kidnapped victims in the forest corridor between Turtsawa, Mazau, and Zango villages.

Dan Dari Biyar, whose nickname was derived from his infamous catchphrase “I prefer ₦500 to a Hausa man” was known for his brutality against kidnap victims, often mocking them before demanding large sums in ransom.

He was reportedly based deep within the Tidibale forest, from where he launched coordinated attacks on communities in Lalle, Tsamaye, and parts of Gwaronyo, including the notorious razing of Gidan Sale village along the Gundumi axis.

Military intelligence linked him to multiple raids, ambushes, and acts of arson across Sokoto East senatorial zone, particularly in hard-to-reach forest enclaves.

Sources said the successful operation was part of an ongoing offensive by troops aimed at flushing out bandit elements and dismantling their hideouts.

The operation was executed by a joint team of the Nigerian Army and local security volunteers under the Sokoto State Government’s community protection initiative.

Zagazola gathered that arms, ammunition, and communication devices were recovered from the scene, while pursuit of fleeing members of his gang continues.

Troops neutralise notorious bandit leader ‘Dan Dari Biyar’ in Sokoto

Court remands TikToker over false obituary video of President Tinubu

By: Zagazola Makama

A Chief Magistrate Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of a social media influencer, Ghali Isma’il, at the Keffi Correctional Centre for allegedly publishing a false video announcing the death of President Bola Tinubu.

Zagazola Makama learnt that the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested Isma’il following a video he uploaded on his verified TikTok handle, @bola_asiwaju, in which he claimed that the President had died after allegedly being poisoned.

The 29-year-old suspect, a native of Jogana Village in Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano State, was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on publication of false news and inciting disaffection against the government.

The first count, titled Publication of false news with intent to cause offence against public peace, stated that Isma’il, on or about July 20, 2025, falsely claimed in the video that he had confirmed from official sources that President Tinubu was critically ill, allegedly after being poisoned. The charge added that the intent was to cause public alarm and disturb the peace.

The offence, according to the prosecution, is punishable under Section 418 of the Penal Code Act, Cap P3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The second count, Inciting disaffection to the government, accused the defendant of attempting to bring contempt or incite feelings of disaffection against the President by spreading falsehood. The prosecution cited Section 416 of the Penal Code as the relevant legal provision.

The presiding magistrate, Ekpeyong Iyang, after listening to submissions by the prosecution and the defence, denied the bail application filed by Isma’il’s counsel.

He ordered the accused to be remanded at the Keffi Correctional Centre pending the continuation of trial, which was adjourned till August 19.

Isma’il’s arraignment came days after a U.S.-based professor of journalism, Farooq Kperogi, apologised for publishing a false report alleging that former President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife, Aisha, were divorced at the time of his death.

In a similar development, Finnish-based separatist agitator, Simon Ekpa, is currently standing trial in Finland for terrorism-related charges stemming from online broadcasts supporting Biafran separatism.

Prosecutors in Finland are seeking a six-year prison sentence for Ekpa, whose online activities, they argue, constitute terrorism under Finnish law.

Last week, in Abuja, Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), told a Federal High Court that his online broadcasts were mere jokes, despite prosecution claims that the content led to the deaths of hundreds.

Court remands TikToker over false obituary video of President Tinubu

Malnutrition crisis in northern Nigeria: mobilization is urgently needed to avoid further deaths

By: Abdulkareem Yakubu

Northern Nigeria is currently facing an alarming malnutrition crisis. In Katsina State for instance, where Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been present since 2021, the teams are seeing an ever-increasing number of malnourished children in its therapeutic feeding centers, with increasingly severe conditions and higher mortality rates. In collaboration with the local authorities, emergency prevention distribution of nutritional supplements has started for 66,000 children in the local government area of Mashi. In the context of drastic cuts in international funding, the need for prevention and treatment of malnutrition is enormous in northern Nigeria, and urgent mobilization is required.

By the end of June 2025, nearly 70,000 malnourished children had already received medical care from our teams in Katsina State, including nearly 10,000 who were hospitalized in serious condition. Without taking into account the new healthcare facilities opened by MSF during the year in the state, this represents an increase of approximately one-third compared to last year. In addition, between January and June 2025, the number of malnourished children with nutritional oedema, the most severe and deadly form of malnutrition, rose by 208 percent compared with the same period in 2024. Unfortunately, 652 children have already died in our facilities since the nobeginning of 2025 due to a lack of timely access to care. A worrying sign of the growing severity of this major public health emergency, is that adults—particularly women, including pregnant and breastfeeding women—are also affected. A screening carried out in July in all five MSF malnutrition centers in Katsina State on 750 mothers of patients revealed that more than half of adult caregivers were acutely malnourished, including 13 percent with severe acute malnutrition.

To cope with the massive influx of children expected by the end of the lean season in October, MSF has increased its support to local authorities in several states in north Nigeria where we provide care to the population. In Katsina state for instance, we opened a new ambulatory therapeutic feeding center (AFTC) in Mashi and an additional inpatient therapeutic feeding center (ITFC) in Turai, to provide a total of 900 beds in two MSF-supported hospitals.

“The year 2024 marked a turning point in northern Nigeria’s nutritional crisis, with an increase of 25 percent from the previous year,” explains Ahmed Aldikhari, country representative of MSF in Nigeria. “But the true scale of the crisis exceeds all predictions. We are currently witnessing massive budget cuts, particularly from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, which are having a real impact on the treatment of malnourished children.”

Earlier this week, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it will be forced to suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in Northeast Nigeria by the end of July due to ‘critical funding shortfalls’.

“At the same time, we observe ever-increasing needs, such as in Katsina State, where an increasing number of people cannot afford to buy food anymore, even though it is available in markets,” added Aldikhari.

A food security survey carried out by humanitarian organizations in the local government area of Kaita, in Katsina state, before the lean season began at the start of 2025 revealed that over 90 percent of households had reduced the number of meals they ate each day.

Across the north, other factors worsening the malnutrition crisis include disease outbreaks worsened by low vaccine coverage, availability and accessibility of basic health services, and other socioeconomic indices complicated by insecurity and violence.

“The most urgent way to reduce the risk of immediate death from malnutrition is to ensure families have access to food,” says Emmanuel Berbain, nutrition referent at MSF. “This can be done through large-scale distribution of food or nutritional supplements, as we are currently doing in the Mashi area, or through cash distributions when and where it is possible.”

The capacity to care for and treat malnourished children must also be expanded, both by increasing the number of beds in health facilities and by providing funding and access to ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). These actions must be undertaken as a priority in areas where the needs – i.e. the number of malnourished children – are greatest.

People over the age of five, who are also increasingly affected by malnutrition but are currently not covered by any assistance, should also be included in prevention programs.

On July 8, His Excellency Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima publicly sounded the alarm on the scale of malnutrition in Nigeria, warning that it deprives almost 40 percent of children under the age of five of their full physical and cognitive potential. He described the situation as a national emergency requiring urgent and collective action.

MSF treated over 300,000 malnourished children in seven northern states in 2024, a 25 percent increase from 2023. In the Northwest alone, where MSF tackles malnutrition in the states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, and Zamfara, we have already treated almost 100,000 children suffering from severe and moderate acute malnutrition in outpatient treatment centres in the first six months of 2025 and hospitalized around 25,000 malnourished children

Malnutrition crisis in northern Nigeria: mobilization is urgently needed to avoid further deaths