The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Joel Duku

  • Boko Haram attacks camp bombed by air force

    Boko Haram attacks camp bombed by air force

    • Eight insurgents shot dead
    A fresh calamity almost hit the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp Rann, Borno State, on Thursday night, just  48 hours after its accidental bombing by a Nigerian Air Force plane.
     
    This time it was Boko Haram that was on the loose.
    About a hundred of its fighters, fully armed, sought to overrun the camp but were repelled by soldiers, witnesses said.
    The battle raged for about four hours, leaving eight of the invaders dead and one soldier wounded.
    Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) whose members have been assisting in treating the IDPs especially victims of Tuesday’s accidental bombing said yesterday that the death toll in the incident had reached 90.
    Most of the victims were women and children.
    An agency report yesterday said the Boko Haram botched attack occurred as aid workers were trying to help bombing victims.
    “This incident happened just an hour after a (Doctors Without Borders) rescue helicopter left the town and has a traumatiing effect on everyone in Rann,” one aid worker was quoted as saying.
     
    The Chief of Army’s Staff, Lt Gen. Tukur Buratai was due at Rann on Friday.
    The town is the headquarters of Kalabalge local government area. 
    The Air Force has launched an investigation into the accident.
     
    Doctors Without Borders said that “around 90 people were killed when a Nigerian air force plane circled twice and dropped two bombs in the middle of the town of Rann,”  adding that the death toll could still rise further.
    It cited  “consistent reports from residents and community leaders” that as many as 170 people were killed.
    “This figure needs to be confirmed,” it said in a statement.
     The victims of this horrifying event deserve a transparent account of what happened and the circumstances in which this attack took place,” MSF General Director Bruno Jochum said.
     
    Humanitarian workers were distributing food to between 20,000 and 40,000 people living in makeshift shelters at the camp when the bombing struck.
    MSF’s Jochum said civilians were paying the price of a “merciless conflict” between the government and Boko Haram, the jihadist group which wants to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

    One aid worker, who asked not to be identified, described the incident as “horrifying” and “a huge setback to humanitarian work in the northeast.”

  • Yobe University sets medical college

    Yobe State University has advanced plans for the take off of the College of Medical Sciences at the institution.

    This follows the approval of Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam for the appointment of a Provost and the recruitment of other key officers for the College.

    According to a statement signed by the Head of the Civil Service of Yobe State, Alhaji Dauda Yahaya said three other professors will be hired to head the departments of anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry which will be established in the new Medical Sciences College.

    The statement added that the governor has approved the recruitment of another that 33 personnel, including research fellows, senior lecturers, and lecturers to work in the three departments.

    The Head of Service also informed that Gov Gaidam had earlier given an approval for the recruitment of 58 academic and 10 non-academic staff for the Yobe State University as a way of given a boost to the staff strength of the institution.

    The statement said: “Some of these are Readers, Research Fellows, Lecturers, and Graduate Assistants. This also included many of the 25 Graduate Assistants recently recruited who were products of the same
    University as part of the strategies to cultivate and encourage local talent,” he said.

  • Cop kills self, two others in Yobe

    A police constable in Yobe State(name withheld) has allegedly shot two of his colleagues dead.

    The incident which took place at the Nangere Police Division in the state was reported to have occurred in the early hours of Friday.

    Eyewitness said the Police Constable shot two other Inspectors at close range following a disagreement on a homicide case that was brought to the station.

    “He shot himself after killing the two other inspectors at the station,” the eyewitness said.

    The Police commissioner in the state Zanna Ibrahim told our correspondent on phone that he was on his way to Nangere to get details of the incident.

    ” I am right now on my way to Nangere to get first hand information of what really happen. I will get back to you on my return to Damaturu.”

    Nangere is 118km from Damaturu, the state capital.

  • Pregnant woman, five others killed in Yobe blasts

    Pregnant woman, five others killed in Yobe blasts

    At least six people, including two suspected suicide bombers, have been killed in two explosions that occurred  in Damaturu, Yobe State, Tuesday.

    No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts but the Boko Haram sect has been blamed for  similar attacks in the past.

    Yobe State Police Public Relations Officer, Toyin Gbadegeshin, who confirmed the incident to journalists, said several critically injured persons have been taken to hospitals in the area.

    He said one of the explosions which involved a female suicide bomber happened at the entrance of the Damaturu main motor park.

    “The girl detonated the explosive at the screening centre of the motor park gate, killing herself and four others, including a pregnant woman and a baby.

    “The other explosive went off at about the same time with the first one at Pompomari, when a suspected male suicide bomber, sensing he will be apprehended, ran into a nearby bush and the explosive went off, killing him alone,” Gbadegeshin said.

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