120 insurgents arrested at burial of Boko Haram commander

The curfew imposed on Yobe and Borno states were relaxed, yesterday, just as the military made progress in the campaign against the Boko Haram insurgency in the two states.

Yesterday, the military announced the arrest of 120 militants at a funeral ceremony for one of the commanders of the Boko Haram killed during a confrontation with the military. Many other militants were reported to be fleeing towards the eastern border to Chad and Niger republics.

Members of the National Assembly belonging to the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC are today set to break party ranks as they rally support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s proclamation of state of emergency in three states of the Northeast.
Today’s vote in the Senate and the House of Representatives is coming on the heels of the
reinforcement of military forces in the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa affected by the state of emergency. At least 200 troops were confirmed to have been ferried into Adamawa State on the southern flank of the northeast presently under emergency rule.

Principal officials of the two houses were, locked in preparatory meetings ahead of today’s vote at press time. One of the principal officials in the House of Representatives told Vanguard on the condition of anonymity that the votes to endorse the proclamation would be achieved.

Boko Haram’s camp captured

EARLY reports of military operations in the three North-East states under emergency rule, on Thursday, indicated that Nigerian soldiers had recaptured three of the local government areas where insurgents had been in control in northern Borno.

The names of the recaptured councils could not be confirmed out of the lot in possession of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram. The areas where the insurgents were said to have been in total control before the military operation launched on Thursday were Marte, Magumeri, Mobbar, Gubio, Guzamala, Abadamin, Kukawa, Kaga, Nganzai and Monguno.

Also, the troops reportedly invaded and took over a training camp of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, known as Sambisa on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in the early hours of Thursday.

Borno as well as Adamawa and Yobe states fell under emergency rule by presidential proclamation on Tuesday.

President Goodluck Jonathan said all efforts to bring the violence in the area under control had failed hence the need to use force to force insurgents out of the states, especially Borno where the President said insurgents had taken control of the northern part.

Source: The Punch newspaper

Casualties as military launch air strikes on Boko Haram strongholds

*Army on display

Nigeria’s military on Friday attacked Boko Haram Islamist strongholds across the northeast, launching deadly air strikes on insurgent camps, the military said, while residents reported that forces had deployed in border areas to block the militants from fleeing.

Several thousand soldiers have spread across three northeastern states where President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency after Boko Haram seized territory and declared war against the government.

Full Text of President Jonathan’s Declaration of Emergency Rule

Dear compatriots,
1.    It has become necessary for me to address you on the recent spate of terrorist activities and protracted security challenges in some parts of the country, particularly in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and most recently Bayelsa, Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa states.  These unfortunate events have led to needless loss of lives and property of many innocent Nigerians including members of our security forces.
2.   The recent killing of security operatives by a cult group in Nasarawa state is particularly condemnable. I have directed that no effort or expense be spared in identifying and bringing to justice all those who had a hand in the killing of the operatives. 3.   The activities of insurgents and terrorists have been reprehensible, causing fear among our citizens and a near-breakdown of law and order in parts of the country, especially the North. We have taken robust steps to unravel and address the root causes of these crises, but it would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve.

Emergency ruling in some states

CALLS for emergency rule in some parts of the country are at least three years old. Plateau State was often mentioned, but memories of the emergency rule in the State in 2002, and fears that emergency rule could favour a party in the conflict stalled any move.

Abia, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Taraba are States that have been in serious security situations that raised enough concerns that emergency rule was considered.

Senate President, David Achelenu Mark, was incensed enough in July 2010 to have said, “We should declare a state of emergency in all these areas where we have armed robbery and kidnapping. If we can declare a state of emergency on energy, we should do it for kidnapping and then armed robbery,” he told his colleagues as debates raged on the state of insecurity around Nigeria. The issue was kidnapping in Abia State.

Miracle tree in Imo State, Nigeria

The Cathedral Church of Emmanuel Anglican Communion in Mgbidi, Oru –West Council Area of Imo state has become a pilgrimage site of sort as people from far and wide have converged on the premises of the church, to scoop water gushing out from the base of a tree that they believe, has healing powers. Consequently, people of various faiths troop to the new miracle site daily ostensibly, for miraculous healing for their ailments.  At the church premises, both old and young men and women with plastic containers wait patiently on long queues, to scoop the miracle water.

One of the church workers that identified herself as Uloma, told Sunday Sun that one of the women who sweep the church premises had discovered a puddle at the base of the tree in the compound when she pulled out the weeds around the spot. Surprisingly, the water flowed out of the base of the tree.  Uloma said that no one paid attention to the water initially, until one of their colleagues who was ill, said that she was directed in a dream to drink the water coming out from the base of the tree. She did so and received her healing the next day. She further stated that another woman who had ulcer came to the church when she heard about the water and immediately she drank it, she was miraculously healed.

Source: The Sun Newspaper.

2015 ELECTION: FG Lacks Sense of Good Governance - Maj Gen Buhari.

Former Military President and the defeated presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive change (CPC), Maj Gen Muhammadu Buhari, has described the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan as lacking the sense of good governance, noting that anarchy is on the increase in many parts of the country.

According to Buhari, who made this disclosure during the CPC convention held on Saturday at the Eagles Square, Abuja, the federal government had not demonstrated that it had the competence to govern the nation, adding that if the country must survive the current crisis, the National Assembly must take the lead in the quest for peace.

“We must explore every opportunity to save our country. This is a historic moment when several different political parties have resolved to come together to change Nigeria for the better and stop the mindless drift that has been going on for the last 14 years. We must seize this moment that calls for patriotism and sacrifice, it’s time to sacrifice everything; time, resources, ambition and ego for the greater good of the country,” Buhari stressed.

He, however, noted that the parties that formed the APC were equal, stressing that the merging parties must come together as one to unseat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming election.

According to him, the real time for change had finally come to Nigeria “and it must be now before it will be too late,” adding that government had failed in all facets. - Tribune news.