The Defence Headquarters says troops of Armed Forces of Nigeria, have in the last two weeks eliminated a total of 151 terrorists and apprehended 456 others in different operations across the country. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, stated this while giving update of military operations across the country on Thursday in Abuja. Buba said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai neutralised 44 terrorists, arrested 21 and rescued four kidnapped hostages during the period.   He said the troops recovered 17 AK47 rifles, three locally fabricated rifles, three locally made guns, one berretta pistol, three Dane guns and 116 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo. Also recovered according to him, are five rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 13 rounds of 9mm ammo, 20 rounds of 7.62 mm x 54 ammo, 42 empty and cases of 7.62 mm x 54 ammo. Others are 12 magazines, 50 jerry cans of PMS, three vehicles, five mobile phone, six motorcycles, three cutlasses and the sum of N3.18 million. Buba said the troops arrested some suspected terrorists’ collaborators in Jere and Biu in Borno, as well as Gujba Local Government Area in Yobe. He said that troops also ambushed and raided suspected terrorists’ hideouts in Konduga and Gwoza Local Government Areas of Borno. The director said that the offensive resulted in elimination of terrorists and recovery of arms and ammunitions. In North Central, Buba said the troops of Operation Safe Haven neutralised 16 terrorists, arrested 16 and rescued one kidnapped hostage within the period. He said they also recovered 12 AK47 rifles, two pistols, five locally fabricated rifles, six dane guns, 32 rounds of 7.62mm special, 15 magazines and three motorcycles. Under Operation Whirl Stroke, he said the troops neutralised 15 terrorists, arrested six and rescued one kidnapped hostage as well as recovery of arms and ammunition. In North West, the defence spokesman said the troops of Operations Hadarin Daji and Whirl Punch, neutralised 35 terrorists, arrested eight and rescued 17 kidnapped hostages within the period. He added that the air components of the various operations had continued to annihilate the terrorists from their various hideouts with series of air interactions. (NAN)

  The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said that over 20,000 Igbo people have been killed or declared missing after being abducted by the Nigerian security forces, since 2013. The group accused the federal government of pursuing ethnic hatred against the Igbo through arbitrary arrest, detention and extrajudicial murder by the Police, military, and Department of State Services.   It also stated that before and after the Nigeria – Biafra war, the federal government of Nigeria has been pursuing ethnic hatred against Biafrans as a state policy. IPOB explained that the ethnic hatred employed by the federal government against the Igbo was why its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, embarked on the Biafra self- determination quest to separate Igbo from ethnic profiling and hatred. The pro Biafra group called President Bola Tinubu’s attention on how Igbo people are being humiliated and victimized by the DSS and other security agencies. It alleged that Igbo land, especially the South East zone, has been militarized with ethnic biased security agents who abduct Igbo youths for execution. Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Comrade Emma Powerful, alleged that the Boko Haram insurgents in military detention facilities in the North have been released without trial while innocent Biafrans, particularly the Igbo, have been abducted and languishing in jails. “These innocent people picked up by security forces along the streets are made to pay huge amounts of money or be branded IPOB or ESN and be executed. Some of the victims of illegal abductions are held incommunicado, and their family members do not know of their whereabouts. “This genocide is going on a daily basis in a supposed democratic country called Nigeria. Daily, a lot of Igbo youths are extra judicially killed or abducted and hauled into detention facilities without being charged with any crime all over Nigeria. There is no region in Nigeria that is militarized like the South East Region. Most of the time, the Nigeria government sponsors violent criminals in the South East so that they can justify their military siege on the region. “The Nigeria government, through a back door court pronouncement, proscribed the peaceful movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in 2017. The federal government proscribed IPOB without IPOB having a legal representation “Which court gives judgment without hearing from the two parties except the Nigeria judiciary in their own court of law? This can only happen in Nigeria, where injustice reigns supreme. Nigeria judiciary is the only judicial system that took a fourth position candidate and put him in the first position. The IPOB legal team challenged this black market under the table proscription. IPOB has been at the Court of Appeal of Nigeria since 2018, but the Nigeria government suppressed the hearing of such appeal even when IPOB lawyers have fulfilled all the processes requirements.   “The Nigeria government, through her security forces capitalizing on the death of the justice system in Nigeria, anchors on the illegal proscription of IPOB to indiscriminately abduct and indefinitely detain many Biafrans particularly Ndigbo. In all detention facilities across Nigeria, 95% percent of the inmates are innocent Biafrans. Today, almost all the people detained in the Department of State Services, DSS, are innocent IPOB Biafran citizens. Even if you release all Boko Haram terrorists and bandits with the DSS, the facility will remain full of innocent Biafran civilians. “IPOB is not violent and has never been involved in any terrorism act, yet the Nigeria government clamped down on us while romancing with the terrorists in the North. This is pure ethnic profiling, hatred, and dehumanization.”

  Police detectives in Ondo state have arrested 22-year-old, suspected rapist and armed robber, Johnson Joseph, at Bolorunduro in Ondo East council area in the state.   The suspect was said to have robbed and raped his stranded victim at gunpoint in an isolated area. A police source told Vanguard that ” the suspect who pretended to be a good Samaritan volunteered to help the victim where she was stranded but later robbed her of the sum of N102,000, phone and raped her at gunpoint. The suspect was later apprehended by police operatives on routine patrol in the Command. Speaking on the arrest, the spokesperson for the state police command, Funmi Odunlami, who confirmed the arrest of the suspect said that items recovered from him include “a black unregistered TVS ladies motorcycle, One cut to size gun with bullets, six mobile phones and a POS machine. Odunlami said that his arrest followed a complaint of rape and armed robbery, lodged at the station by one of his victims. She added that during interrogation, “the suspect confessed to have robbed many people of their belongings and valuables in the past. “Four of his victims were contacted through their recovered phones from the suspect and they all identified him to have attacked and robbed them of their belongings. The police spokesperson added that ” the suspect will be charged to court after the conclusion of investigation.

•Lauds Emeka Orji’s Road Rebabilitation Programme •Take Over of NIWA Parks The Onitsba South Stakeholders have asked the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Chief Emeka Orji, to invite the anti -corruption agencies, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commissions ( ICPC) and Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), to investigate the tenure of Chief Emeka Asoanya who was the chairman of the Local Government for the better part of Chief Willie Obiano’s administration. In the statement made available to newsmen in Onitsha the group asked Chief Orji to do powerful petitions to the anti- corruption agencies on behalf of the people of Onitsha South Local Government Area so they would compel him to give account of his stewardship. In the statement signed by the, Chairman and secretary of the Stakeholders, High Chief Dede Uzor A Uzor and High Chief Udemadu Chika Udemadu the group lamented that Asoanya was in the saddle for almost six years as the helmsman of the Local Government without rebabilitaing even one single road to his credit, neither did he empower the youth or anybody. They lauded Onitsha South citizens for rejecting him during the last House of Assembly Election and the Tribunal for throwing away his petition for lack of merit. The group lauded Chief Orji for successfully taking over the NIWA Motor park from Chief Ngozi Okpagu,providing palliatives for the down-trodden nembers of the Local Government as well as engaging in road rebabiliations pedestrian walkways. The group said they were impressed that the Local Government boss was not only rebabiliating roads but also providing walkways from Niger Street to Ochanja market. They also said that he has been constructing standard round about at Uzodinma, Mbonu Ojike streets aggressively rebabilitating Miss Elems which has become unmotorable. Said the group: “Orji epitomises humility, and defender of the defenceless. He should be commended for taking over the NIWA park from some touts, those who have milked Onitsha and Anambra State IGR for the past 15 years or more. We commend his political will to change the face of Onitsha South” The group urged the chairman to be firm, steadfast and should not be distracted by enemies of the Local Government. The stakeholders however urged Chief Orji to extend the road rebabilitation to Porthacourt Road, Uga Street, Bida Road, Creek Road, Mbonu Ojike among other strategic Streets in the Local Government. The Stakeholders equally lauded the former chairman of the Local Government , Chief Bar Ugochukwu Ezeani, who during his period empowered over 1000 youths. The said the history of Onitsha South cannot be complete without him.  

  The death toll from devastating floods in Libya’s eastern coastal city of Derna yesterday rose to over 6,000, according to local officials. The figure is expected to rise as recovery operations continue in the city pummeled by Storm Daniel. The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration in Libya said over 30,000 people were displaced. This is just as authorities are racing to bury the deceased as bodies pile up in the streets of Derna devastated by flooding after a torrential downpour smashed through two dams, washing homes into the sea. Saadeddin Abdul Wakil, health ministry’s undersecretary of the Unity Government in Tripoli, one of two rival governments operating in the country, confirmed the over 6,000 casualty figure. He said: “Morgues are full in hospitals that remain out of service despite the desperate need to treat survivors of the disaster, according to staff. In Egypt, the government buried 87 Egyptian victims who died in Libya, according to the country’s emigration ministry. “Around 10,000 more are missing, potentially either swept out to sea or buried beneath rubble that’s strewn throughout the city once home to over 100,000 people.” Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday assured Libya of Nigeria’s unwavering solidarity and goodwill during these trying times. Tinubu, in a statement by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, commiserated with all families who had lost loved ones in what he called “monumental disaster”. He said “this disheartening” loss of lives, homes, livelihoods and critical infrastructure remained a shared grief that further united the people of both nations. “Nigeria is ready to provide all necessary support to assist the Libyan people in overcoming this harrowing tragedy,” the president added. The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, said the Libya disaster happened while the Ummah was yet to recover from the shock of the earthquake in Morocco. Deputy Secretary-General of the council, Prof. Salisu Shehu, in a statement, said the council beseeched the Ummah in Nigeria and all over the world, all global humanitarian agencies, supranational governments, organisations and well-meaning individuals to assist Libya “during this trying period.” “The council sympathizes with His Excellency, Mohammed al-Menfi, the government and the people of the State of Libya over the unfortunate disaster.”

  Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, alleged that the leadership of the Labour Party, LP, knew that its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, lost the February 25 election. Soyinka accused the leadership of LP of trying to force “a lie” on Nigerians, especially youths, that Obi won the election.   The Nobel laureate spoke at an event titled “The Lives of Wole Soyinka — A Dialogue” organised by Africa in the World. The event took place in Stellenbosch, South Africa. While speaking at the event, Soyinka was asked to react to his comment against the Vice-Presidential candidate of LP, Datti Baba-Ahmed after the general elections. Soyinka said the truth matters to him, noting that many people always look for shortcuts. His words: “This recent election – two things happened first of all. One party took over the labour movement, which is not my favourite movement, and then it became a regional party. “Whereas it was a marvellous breach into the established two camps. Peter Obi achieved something remarkable there, that he broke that mould. However, he did not win the election. “I can say categorically that Peter Obi’s party came third not even second and the leadership knew it but they want to do what we call in Yoruba ‘gbajue’, that is force of lies.” While he alleged that the LP leadership attempted to mobilise young people to protest against the outcome of the election on the “banner of lies and deceit, Soyinka said: “They were going to send some of the hardliners, proud young people into the street to demonstrate.” He, however, said: “I’m also ready to be among such demonstrators but only on the banner of truth not on lies, and deceit. “This party (LP) wanted the same thing (referring to 2011 post-election violence) to happen on the basis of a lie and we find this vice-presidential candidate on television boasting, insisting, threatening and trying to intimidate both the judiciary and the rest. “What kind of government will result from that kind of conduct? In addition, they did not know this but they were being used. “Before the election, there were certain clandestine forces, including some former generals, who were already calling for an interim government before the elections began.” “Some of them were known figures, including a proprietor of a university calling for an interim government before the election took place

  Nigeria’s power supply dropped by 93.5 per cent to 273 megawatts, MW in the early hours of today, from 4,182MW recorded on Monday, this week, following a complete system collapse, due to equipment failure or grid disturbance in the sector. Data obtained by Vanguard from Nigeria Electricity System Operator, the semi-autonomous arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, showed that Afam VI, Dadinkowa, Ibom Power, Jebba, Olorunsogo generated 0.70MW, 0.00MW, 32.90MW, 240MW and zero respectively. Managing Director/CEO of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, did not respond to calls and text messages, but a top industry leader, who confirmed the development, said: “The grid has been very unstable for days before the latest system collapse. As we speak, there is blackout.” Checks by Vanguard showed that Nigeria’s electricity generation dropped, Tuesday, by 59 per cent to 1,705 megawatts, MW, from 4,182 MW recorded the previous day at 06:00hours, due to grid disturbance. It indicated that many households and businesses are currently generating their independent power at higher costs because of the high price of diesel currently hovering at over N600 per litre, but also the high cost of petrol that shot up by about 169 per cent to over N500 per litre since June 2023, from N186 per litre (major marketers) in the preceding month of May 2023. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had promised Nigerians that they will witness improved power supply across the nation soon. Speaking at a recent reception organized for him, he said: “We know it’s not something that is achievable overnight but we believe that once the foundation is laid, others can also build on it. I can tell you that between six months and one year, we will start seeing improvement in the power sector.”

  A chieftain of the ruling Labour Party in Abia State, Maduka Zachary popularly known as ” Power Zac”, has been reportedly beheaded in his house.   The deceased was the Campaign Director of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections in Uturu, Isuikwuato Local Government Area of the state. He was also the Campaign Director of the member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Amobi Ogah. The late Zachary was also the home branch Chairman of Uturu Union. Reports said he was slaughtered in his Uturu country -home by his yet-to-be-identified assailants who reportedly took away his head. Vanguard was informed that the victim was part of the local security team combating the rising insecurity in Uturu. But when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Abia State, Moureen Chinaka, said she had yet to be briefed about the incident. She, however, promised to get back to our Correspondent after getting information about the sad development. “I’m yet to be briefed. I have no information for now with regard to that. So, I will get back to you when I’m briefed”. However, the Chairman of Labour Party in Abia State, Ceekay Igara, confirmed the incident to our Correspondent. He said that he had spoken with the LP Local Government Chairman in the area who also confirmed it to him. ” I have spoken with the Chairman of our party in the LGA and he confirmed it. He said it might not be unconnected with insecurity because the man was strong in the fight against insecurity and cultism in that region.” The incident, according to him, occured Tuesday night. Insecurity has been a major challenge around Uturu) Okigwe/Umunneochi/Isiagu axis cutting across three states. Bandits have made movement around the area a nightmare as kidnapping for ransom has also been on the increase even along the Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway way.

  The Maigemu District of Jos East local government area of Plateau State was thrown into confusion on Wednesday, September 13, when gunmen in large numbers stormed the community and kidnapped a clergyman and three other persons. According to The Nation, gunmen invaded the ECWA Church Nuku area in the district at about 5:40 a.m. and kidnapped a clergyman (name withheld) in his house. He was whisked away in the presence of his family. A leader of the community revealed that the gunmen, who operated unhindered for close to 40 minutes, also kidnapped three other people: Usman Umaru, Agwom Dauda, and a woman simply identified as Sarah. The source further disclosed that the gunmen who released several gunshots into the air to scare the people, especially the vigilantes and hunters, from coming out for a rescue left with their captors in a car while others trailed behind on their motorcycles. It was gathered that the security men, vigilantes, and hunters were combing the hills within the vicinity with the aim of arresting the kidnappers and their accomplices terrorizing the local government area. A relative of the clergyman who spoke with the Nation on condition of anonymity said that the kidnappers have not gotten in touch with the family for ransom. When contacted, the spokesman of the Plateau State Command of the Nigerian Police Force, DSP Alfred Alabo, who confirmed the incident, said men of the command are on top of the situation to arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act.