The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Maiduguri

  • Relocation to Maiduguri on course – Army

    Relocation to Maiduguri on course – Army

    Authorities of the Nigerian Army have said the directive given by President Muhammadu Buhari for the relocation of military Command and Control Centre to Maiduguri was being strictly adhered to.

    At a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the Army said the grand finale of this year’s edition of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration would take place in Maiduguri.

    Brig. Gen. Donald Oji, who spoke on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, however said the celebration would be low keyed.

    “The choice of Maiduguri to host the closing activities of NADCEL 2015 was informed by the need to further raise the morale of our troops in the area of operation by showing solidarity to them and to further reassure the people in the Northeast of Nigeria, particularly Borno State of the renewed determination of the Nigerian Army to end the insurgency in that zone,” Gen. Oji said.

    The celebrations which started on Wednesday will also include a medical outreach programme for the Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in Maiduguri from July 4-5.

    The Chief of Army Staff is expected to lay wreath at the military cemetery in Maiduguri and will visit the 7 Division hospital where injured military personnel are being treated.

    He will also address troops and present medals to deserving officers and men.

  • Explosions rock Maiduguri as Osinbajo visits

    Explosions rock Maiduguri as Osinbajo visits

    Two suicide bombers on Wednesday detonated explosives in the troubled region of Maiduguri as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo pays a one day visit to the area.

    The explosions reportedly took place at the Molai General Hospital gate barely an hour after the Vice President arrived on his official visit.

  • Osinbajo visits Maiduguri

    Osinbajo visits Maiduguri

    The Vice President Yomi Osinbajo is on a one day visit to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital to visit victims of Boko Haram insurgency and the people displaced during the crisis.

    The vice President who is accompanied by the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) Alh. Sani Sidi is expected to visit some designated IDP camps in the metropolis.

    He is also expected to visit victims of bomb attacks in the state receiving treatment in different hospitals within Maiduguri.

    The Vice President according to available information will also proceed to Yola in Adamawa state on the state mission.

    The Federal Government last week condemned the recent wake of attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents, just as President Mohamadu Buhari has also pledged to supports victims of the insurgency in the state and the Northeast region.

    The visit of the vice president to Maiduguri today marks the first high powered delegation of the APC led Federal Government of Mohammadu Buhari after he was sworn-in as president on May 29, 2015.

    The Nation checks gathered that the visit is a step towards getting first hand information of the condition of the victims and the IDPs by the Federal Government for onward action.

  • Suicide bombers kill three in Maiduguri, injure 16

    Suicide bombers kill three in Maiduguri, injure 16

    Two female suicide bombers killed at least three people and injured 16 in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, yesterday.

    Witnesses said the two women tried to get into a hospital but were stopped by security guards at the gate and blew themselves up.

    “We evacuated the charred bodies of the two security guards, another civilian and the two bombers,” said Auwal Mohammed, a member of the community in Molai, where the hospital is situated.

    A source at the mortuary of Borno State hospital in Maiduguri confirmed it had received three corpses after the blast.

    Another hospital source said 16 people injured in the attack had been brought in.

     

     

     

  • Nigerians write Buhari as he resumes duty

    Nigerians write Buhari as he resumes duty


  • Army to install military equipment in Maiduguri

    Army to install military equipment in Maiduguri

    Hi-tech military equipment, which will be used to combat the Boko Haram insurgency, have arrived Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, waiting for installation by the Army.

    A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, said the equipment, including new communication facilities, would take at least 21 days to become fully operational.

    The statement reads:

    “You will recall that a reconnaissance and an advance team for the establishment of Military Command and Control Centre (MCCC) were in Maiduguri and Yola last week.

    “Similarly, the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff were at the MCCC to begin operations on June 9.

    “The installations of hi-tech equipment, infrastructural development of the centre and posting of additional operations officers have also begun.

    “These are to be completed within 21 days when the MCCC will become fully operational.

    “With the establishment of the centre, strategic and operational decisions on the fight against terrorism and insurgency will emanate from the MCCC.

    “This will ensure faster response time, improve situational awareness and better coordination of stakeholders.

    “The centre will also give the needed impetus that will ensure prosecution and successful conclusion of the war against terrorism.

    “It will provide the required interface between the Armed Forces and Multi-National Joint Task Force to be deployed in the Lake Chad Basin area at the end of next month.”

  • Photo: Gov Shettima returns to Maiduguri

    Photo: Gov Shettima returns to Maiduguri

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  • Army relocates command to Maiduguri

    Army relocates command to Maiduguri

    The Nigeria Army on Monday said it has moved its Military Command and Control Centre (MCCC) to Maiduguri in compliance with President Muhammad Buhari’s directive.

    President Buhari had in his inaugural address ordered the military command to move to Maiduguri as part of his renewed fight against Boko Haram insurgency.

    A statement signed by Col. Sani Usman, the Acting Director of the Army Public Relation (PRO), and made available to journalists in Maiduguri, said  the command will be coordinated by the existing OPERATION ZAMAN LAFIYA.

    The statement reads in part: “In compliance with the Residential pronouncement and the Chief of Army Staff’s directive, a reconnaissance and advance team for the establishment of Military Command and Control Centre (MCCC) for OPERATION ZAMAN LAFIYA for the fight against terrorism and insurgency has moved to Maiduguri, Borno State.

    “The team, which is led by two stars generals, has already commenced work in earnest and it is comprised of elements of the office of the Chief of Arny Staff.

    “Others included all relevant Army Headquarters Department and other combat support components.

    “The center will serve as a forward command base for the Chief of Army Staff and other service chiefs.

    “The Centre is essentially an elaboration of an already existing Army Headquarters Command and Control arrangement.

    “From now on, the fight against terrorism and insurgency would be monitored, coordinated and controlled from this center.

    “I wish to inform you also that its establishment would not create another layer of command structure but would add impetus and renewed vigour to Operation Zaman Lafiya all aimed at bringing terrorism to an end, “said Usman in the statement.

    It said  that an alternative command center was also established in Yola as an effort to end Boko Haram.

     

  • Eight soldiers feared killed in bomb blast in Maiduguri

    Eight soldiers feared killed in bomb blast in Maiduguri

    About eight soldiers and other civilians have been reported killed in another bomb blast in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    The suicide bomber was said to have targeted a military checkpoint near the Maimalari Military barracks along Baga road west of the metropolis after passing through other check point from Baga town.

    Boko Haram insurgents have continued a sustained suicide attacks on Maiduguri since President Mohammadu Buhari was sworn in on May 29, with no day passing by without an attack on the troubled city.

    Abdullahi Sabo who resides around Baga road told our correspondent that he heard a deafening sound like a heavy thunder storm at about 5:20pm. ” I later learnt that it occurred at a major checkpoint that lead to Brigadier Maimalari barracks along Baga road,” Sabo said.
    It was gathered that the bomber deliberately chose to detonate his device when residents were rushing back home ahead the 7pm curfew time.

    A Civilian JTF who pleaded for anonymity informed that many soldiers were killed in the attack. He added, “the bomber was clever to come to the checkpoint and stopped to be checked by the soldiers from a car when he triggered off his explosive. I counted about eight soldiers that were killed on the spot.”

    An impeccable military source who prefers anonymity confirmed the attack but however informed that the attack was not exactly on the check point but rather near the barracks.

    He said, “yes the blast occurred near the barracks and killed a number of people. But the suicide attack did not occur at exactly the checkpoint; it happened about 60meters meter away from the soldiers checkpoint.

  • Maiduguri: 20 killed, several injured in another attack

    Maiduguri: 20 killed, several injured in another attack

    Another suicide attack has yet hit Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital Tuesday afternoon.

    The attack which took place at the busy Kasuwan Shanu( meat market) according to witnesses claimed more than 20 lives with  several others left wounded.

    This is the fourth bomb blast within Maiduguri  and Biu town in Borno State since the take off the new APC government in the country and the swearing in of Gov. Kashim Shettima as governor of Borno State for the second time under the same party.

    A butcher at the Abattoir one Ado  Mohammed Lawan told our correspondent that the explosion was buried under the table of one of the butchers at the market and eventually went off killing butcher who was unknowingly selling his meat.

    According to Lawan, many of the traders including other customers were completely burnt from the attack at the scene.

    “Most of the people that were taken to the hospital were completely burnt. You can only identify a human being from the head. I started counting but I lost count because I could not continue. But over 20 people that I counted were burnt beyond recognition,”, Lawan state.