WHAT’S NEWS? October 31, 2023
By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Governor raises alarm over growing insurgency
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has expressed fears that the unchecked recruitment of minors into Islamic terror group Boko Haram and its ally Islamic State West Africa Province [ISWAP] portends a grave danger for Nigeria.
“We have to stop the younger ones from being recruited into Boko Haram and ISWAP, otherwise, in the near future, the entire Nigeria will be wiped off the map,” Governor Zulum said in Maiduguri, the capital city on Monday.
Borno, known as Nigeria’s home of peace, has witnessed increasing bloody attacks by Islamic jihadists in recent years, with many of the attacks receiving limited attention from federal authorities.
Governor Zulum admitted that Borno State is “the hub of Boko Haram and ISWAP” and called on the federal government to beef up security architecture in the country to contain the insurgency. “It’s better for us to control it, not for the sake of Borno State,” he said.
● Terrorists kill Chief Imam in Borno
Sheikh Baba Goni Muktar Malumti, the Chief Imam of Juma’at Mosque in Beneshiekh town in Kaga County of Borno State was gunned down by gunmen on Monday. According to a source who spoke to Vanguard, the gunmen came to the community purposely to kill Malumti.
“The terrorists first invaded the house of one Islamic scholar, but when they realized he wasn’t the one in the picture they had, they asked him to go back to the house and remain quiet,” the source said, “Thereafter, they went to another house where the Chief Imam was praying. The terrorists then opened fire on their target.”
After accomplishing their mission, the assassins gathered all the Chief Imam’s religious books and set them ablaze. Just last month, the Imam’s younger brother died at the hands of a gang of terrorists.
Read more: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/10/terrorists-kill-chief-imam-abduct-hunters-in-borno-community/
● Supreme Court legitimized forgery and crime: Atiku Abubakar
Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] who came second place in Nigeria’s last presidential election, has accused the country’s Supreme Court of legitimizing forgery, identity theft, illegality, and crime.
The one-time vice-president of Nigeria [1999–2007] made the bold indictment at a televised press briefing on Monday, four days after the Supreme Court affirmed the fraudulent February 25 presidential election and sided with President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku had challenged Tinubu’s election in court but lost his case despite presenting “incontrovertible evidence that Bola A. Tinubu was not qualified to contest the presidential election because he forged the qualifying academic certificate” and “irrefutable evidence of gross irregularities, violence, and manipulations during the elections.”
He has proposed several measures to straighten the democratic system in Nigeria, including that the inauguration/swearing-in of a newly-elected president be halted until the court resolves all litigations arising from the election.
● FBI blocks request to publish Tinubu’s confidential records
The United States has refused to turn over documents on President Bola Tinubu’s murky past in the archives of the FBI.
In September, the FBI announced plans to make public 2,500 documents related to Tinubu in its database as requested by self-exiled investigative journalist David Hundeyin alongside a U.S. anti-corruption agency, PlainSite.
But the U.S. intelligence agency made a U-turn on Monday, saying that “Tinubu has privacy interests that should be considered.” The Nigerian leader’s records in the U.S. have generated a lot of public interest since he won the presidential election in February. The records may provide clarity about Tinubu’s real identity which has been a subject of controversy for over two decades. Emmanuel Ogebe, activist with the U.S. Nigeria Lawyers Group and a columnist for TruthNigeria, has speculated that Tinubu was been an asset for U.S. intelligence agencies.
Read more: https://www.thecable.ng/he-has-privacy-rights-fbi-cia-reject-request-for-tinubus-records/
● Kidnapped Catholic priest regains freedom
Abductors of Very Rev. Fr Thaddeus Tarhembe of St. Ann’s parish of the Catholic Diocese of Wukari, Taraba State have freed him. The Catholic priest was kidnapped in the early hours of Sunday at his rectory.
The communications director of the Wukari diocese Rev. Fr John Laikei in a statement said Fr Tarhembe was released late Monday. The statement did not say if the authorities paid any ransom for the priest’s freedom.
The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wukari, Most Rev. Mark Nzukwein, had solicited prayers for Fr Tarhembe’s release from captivity.
Read more: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/10/kidnapped-catholic-priest-regains-freedom-in-taraba/
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Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
