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The Air Force will join the military operations against killer-herdsmen and militia in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa, Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said yesterday. He said the intervention of the NAF would be through the establishment of Forward Operational Base (FOB) in Taraba state and Quick Response Wing along Benue and Nasarawa axis. A statement signed by Director of Public Relations and Information of the NAF, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, said the Air Chief said the developments were part of an elaborate efforts to address the security challenges. The statement reads: “Air Marshal Abubakar also spoke on the current and likely threats as well as contingencies from the perspective of air operations. Some of the initiatives included but are not limited to the establishment of new commands and some units, improvement in human capacity development, improved aircraft serviceability and logistics support as well as enhanced personnel welfare.”

Angry mob on Thursday burnt three trucks at Agbede along the Benin-Auchi-Abuja expressway after one of the trucks accidentally hit some persons along the road. It was gathered that the truck had a brake failure and rammed into several persons standing by the roadside. The mob blocked the highway and caused heavy vehicular traffic that lasted hours. Eyewitnesses said four persons died and eight others were seriously injured in the accident. Our correspondent gathered that the mob’s action prevented officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other security agents from carrying out rescue operations at the scene of the accident. But Edo State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Samuel Odukoya, said only one person died in the accident.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the assertion that President Mouhammadu Buhari ignores the killings perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen because he is Fulani is unfair and untrue. The Vice President said this yesterday, during a summit on national security organised by the Senate in Abuja. Osinbajo also said in some of the worst cases of killings, the security agencies were simply not there in time. According to him, the Army has in the last few days scaled up its personnel and equipment in Agatu,  Guma, Katsina Alla and Logo LGAs. “Government fails in that responsibility often, but, I must say, never deliberately. Every killing diminishes us as people; every killing undermines the authority of the state. This is why the saying sometimes that because the President is Fulani he has ignored the killings by herdsmen is both untrue and unfair. “In any event, the herdsmen and farmer clashes resulting in deaths had been with us for at least two decades and I have...

The trial of Air Marshal Mahammed Umar Dikko, former Chief of Air Staff, on charges of fraud to the tune of N9.7billion came up on Thursday, February 8, 2018 before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, sitting in Maitama, Abuja, with the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness, Air Commodore Salisu A. Yushau (rtd). Dikko, who served as the Chief of Air Staff, Nigerian Air Force, NAF, between September 2010 and 2012, is facing a 7-count charge of money laundering and procurement fraud to the tune of N9.7billion preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. He, among other things, allegedly withdrew N700million from the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) account to purchase a house at No. 14 Vistula Close, off Panama Street in Maitama, Abuja. The former Air Chief was also said to have stolen N500million from the NAF account to buy a four-bedroom duplex at Road 3B Street 2 in Mabushi Ministers Hill, Abuja. Additionally, the former NAF boss ...

Maj. Mahmoud al-Werfalli PHOTO: Aljazeera A Libyan commander wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over a series of summary executions was released on Thursday, a day after handing himself in to military authorities in eastern Libya, a military source said. Supporters of the commander, Mahmoud al-Werfalli, had demonstrated in the eastern city of Benghazi late on Wednesday against any legal action being taken against him, closing roads and burning tires. Some held signs reading “We are all Maj. Mahmoud al-Werfalli”. Werfalli is a commander in an elite unit attached to the Libyan National Army (LNA), the dominant force in eastern Libya. It rejects the internationally recognised government in Tripoli and is aligned with a separate government based in the east. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Werfalli in August 2017, accusing him of a role in the summary killings of 33 people between June 2016 and July 2017, as the LNA neared the completion of its campaign to tak...

Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has released a new video pledging to continue attacks days after Nigerian army repeated that the group had been defeated. The factional leader said in the video which was released on Tuesday said that a recent effort to clear out Boko Haram’s stronghold of Sambisa forest in Borno State had failed and vowed to keep fighting against Nigeria and western education. “The person that believes in nationalism is the one we are at war with, the person who believes in disseminating western education, which is replete with unbelief, is the one we fight”, Shekau said in the 11-minute video. In the video, delivered in Hausa Language, Shekau expressed frustration on the continued hostility and loss of his supporters to Nigerian army. He pleaded with his non-combatant members across Nigeria to pick up arms and help him fight till he drops dead. He added that the latest claim by the military that the group had been sent pack...

Four Chinese nationals and 16 Nigerians have been arrested for allegedly running an elaborate illegal mining operation in Ebonyi State. The arrest during a raid of the mining site at Echara Unuphu in Abakaliki Local Government Area during a raid by the police and other security agencies on Wednesday was at the instance of the state government. The state government said the miners built a wide tunnel and hired soldiers to prevent its officials from inspecting their operation. The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Solid Mineral Development, Nwakaego Nworie, said she visited the site with geology experts but the miners prevented them from inspecting the site. “I became very curious and insisted that I must see the whole site. I moved down inside the site. I got to a place, a soldier blocked me and threatened to shoot me if I pass him. The soldier told me, ‘Don’t go to that extreme’. That day, I saw the tunnel even though I was prevented from going closer to it. “Today,...