News
Zulum Targets Construction of 85,000 New Houses for 66 Communities in Borno

Zulum Targets Construction of 85,000 New Houses for 66 Communities in Borno
By: Michael Mike
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, said his administration is targeting the construction of 85,000 new houses in 66 communities in the state aimed at resettling IDPs and other victims of Boko Haram insurgency.
Zulum stated this on Thursday when he received a delegation under the northeast ambassadors’ group comprised of high commissioners, ambassadors, and developmental and humanitarian partners.

Zulum explained that each of the proposed resettlement communities will have schools, clinics, police posts, marketplaces, stalls, boreholes, secure farmlands and vocational training centres where appropriate.
The governor said Borno State Government would commit 15% of its annual budget to the solution pathways for the resettlement of IDPs while expanding Maiduguri city along six entrances to accommodate people who may choose to integrate into the city.
According to Zulum, the solution pathway requires Borno to raise 2.7 billion US dollars for implementation.
He said: “I am committed to resettling our people into decent homes in secure areas, supporting them to reintegrate into communities or relocate to another place as they wish, respecting their choices and dignity.”
The governor added that “Implementing the durable solutions pathway for IDPs will also significantly reduce the recruitment of jobless young men by ISWAP, which is a threat to national and international security.”

He explained to the delegation his administration’s policies of rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement, highlighting solutions to internal displacement.
The governor noted the significant progress in security achieved by his administration since 2019 and gave assurance of consolidating the gains recorded.
He expressed gratitude to all the development partners for supporting the regional stabilisation facility and one UN offer, which has greatly impacted the lives of the people affected by insurgency in the Lake Chad region.
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of his colleagues, the chairman of the delegation of the Northeast Ambassadors Group and the high commissioner of the UK to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, commended Governor Zulum for his commitment towards improving the lives of the Borno people.
He said: “I think I can say on behalf of the whole team that we are delighted and we are also united in recognising that you have made the commitment and showed dynamism in your leadership that we really appreciate. Also by showing the way you want to make a difference for your people and putting in place both the short-term plans and the 25 years Borno State development plan and vision.”
The northeast ambassadors’ group expressed commitment to support Borno in achieving durable solutions addressing the challenges of improving the livelihood of internally displaced people.
Zulum Targets Construction of 85,000 New Houses for 66 Communities in Borno
News
DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo
By: Zagazola Makama
A wave of coordinated security offensives in Imo State has barbecued the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), with the killing of key kingpins and the dislodgement of notorious terrorist camps in forested parts of Njaba and Isu Local Government Areas.
Zagazola Makama understand that The offensive, which began on June 29, was spearheaded by the Department of State Services (DSS) in close collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, special forces, and local tactical units.
It was launched after the arrest and detailed confessions of two ESN commanders Uchenna Opara, popularly known as Ntanta Miri, and Ozioma Ihedoro, a.k.a OZ, both natives of Umuaka community in Njaba LGA.
Acting on actionable intelligence, the joint team raided and obliterated several terrorist enclaves, including Umuele Umuaka, Ezioha, and Ugbele Umuaka, known safe havens of the separatist group.
A fierce gun battle ensued as operatives stormed the camps. Three ESN fighters were neutralised during the confrontation, while others reportedly escaped with bullet wounds. Their bodies were later recovered along the Ugbele Umuaka axis.
What followed was a methodical clearance operation targeting the B44 camp cluster, long considered one of ESN’s strategic base networks. The camps, codenamed B44 Tangle 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9, were all successfully dislodged by the joint force.
A caterpillar operator working with the team was tragically killed in the line of duty when the group came under sudden fire while approaching the B44 main camp. He was rushed to the Federal University Teaching Hospital (FUTH), Owerri, but later confirmed dead by a medical officer on duty.
Items recovered from the operation included:
One AK-47 rifle, 15 rounds of live ammunition, pump-action shotgun, two locally made IEDs, one human skull and a Biafran flag
In addition, two suspected ESN members were arrested during the combing of nearby bush paths. The duo Emeka Ogene Sabinus of Ezi Isu in Isu LGA and Nnabuike Emmanuel of Ohofia Oduma in Aninri LGA, Enugu State were said to bear tribal incisions associated with the proscribed militia.
The collapse of the B44 cluster was significant in the counterinsurgency drive in the South-East, where pockets of armed resistance have posed growing threats to residents, security personnel, and national assets.
“The terrain is difficult, but our operatives are relentless,” a senior official close to the operation said. “We are targeting leadership figures, supply chains, and safe havens.”
Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to apprehend fleeing fighters, with mop-up operations continuing in adjoining forest belts across Orlu, Njaba, and Isu corridors.
The Imo offensive adds to a growing list of successes by joint intelligence-led operations aimed at stabilising regions grappling with armed separatist violence, kidnappings, and the weaponisation of local grievances.
DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo
News
FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions
By: Zagazola Makama
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested three most-wanted bandits and kidnappers operating across Abuja and neighbouring parts of Kaduna State.
According to a police sources, the arrests were carried out on June 29 between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., by operatives of the Scorpion Squad led by ACP Victor O. Godfrey, following actionable and digital reconstructive intelligence.
The sources told Zagazola Makama that the suspects were identified as: Abdulkadir Abubakar, a native of Mpape, FCT, Mohammed Tasiu Sani, of Rigina, Kaduna State, Suleiman Jibrin, 27, of Sabon-Gayan, Kaduna State.
The three suspects, all Fulani by tribe, have been on the command’s most-wanted list for
their roles in multiple kidnapping and banditry operations, particularly in Jere, Kajuru, the FCT and its environs.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed to abducting victims and moving them to detention camps in Kachia and Rigina forests in Kaduna State. Some victims, they admitted, were held for months, while others were killed at will.
The sources revealed that one of the suspects, Abdulkadir Abubakar, provided disturbing details of internal executions within the gang, in which some members were killed by their own leaders over mistrust and betrayal.
An operational motorcycle, popularly referred to by locals as the “Boko Haram Motorcycle,” was recovered during the raid. The suspects are currently assisting operatives in ongoing efforts to recover arms and ammunition, and to track down other gang members still at large.
FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions
News
Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun
By: Zagazola Makama
A 20-year-old farm labourer identified as Solomon (surname yet unknown) has been found dead with gunshot wounds after he was allegedly shot by a member of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, along the Ilesa/Iperindo Road in Osun State.
The incident, which occurred on June 29, followed the reported confrontation between a local security operative and a group of five farm labourers on their way to a farmland.
According to Temidayo Olowookere, the employer of the deceased, the labourers were accosted around 11:00 a.m. by an Amotekun operative, one Ajayi Ibukun, who accused them of extorting money from passersby. Two members of the group were apprehended, while the remaining three fled into the bush.
Olowookere said the detained workers were later released to him in the afternoon. However, later in the evening, when two of the three fleeing labourers returned, Solomon remained missing.
A search party was immediately organised. His body was discovered in the bush with gunshot wounds on his back, raising suspicions that he may have been shot during the initial confrontation.
His remains were evacuated to Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, where he was confirmed dead and deposited at the morgue for autopsy.
Police say efforts are currently underway to trace and apprehend the security operative allegedly involved in the shooting, while the community continues to call for justice.
Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun
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