PRESS RELEASE The Defence Headquarters has been notified of a video trending on social media indicating that trucks and other similar vehicles conveying agricultural products from the North, heading towards the southern part of the country were being prevented and turned back along Kaduna – Jebba road by some unscrupulous elements. The Defence Headquarters wishes to clarify that following the tension generated by the incident, joint troops comprising the military and other security agencies were deployed to clear the Jebba – Kaduna road and have since restored normalcy in the general area. There is currently free flow of traffic along…

President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration will continue to deal with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and other criminals who constitute a threat to innocent citizens across the country. Speaking on Thursday during the joint security meeting of Northern State Governors’ Forum and traditional rulers, Buhari said the country is battling with different dimensions of security challenges, adding that he has asked the new service chiefs to devise new strategies that will end the ugly situation. Represented by Ibrahim Gambari, his chief of staff, Buhari said criminality should be handled without resorting to ethnic profiling. “I must appreciate efforts of the 19…

The United States launched airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops. The airstrike was the first military action undertaken by the Biden administration, which in its first weeks has emphasized its intent to put more focus on the challenges posed by China, even as Mideast threats persist. Biden’s decision to attack in Syria did not appear to signal an intention…

Abductors of the 27 students and 15 workers of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State, have threatened to starve them to death if the ransom they are demanding is not paid on time. One of the abductors stated this in an audio recording made available to one of our correspondents on Wednesday by a prominent Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi. In the audio recording, the abductor, who spoke in Hausa, was heard conversing with a negotiator, identified by Gumi as a top official of the school. He rejected N2.7m offered him as ransom for the 27 abductees. The bandit stated, “I…