BREAKING: Boko Haram Chief Recruiter Arrested [Photo]

Boko-Haram recruiter, Bana-Fanaye.
Authorities in Chad have arrested Bana Fanaye also known as Mahamat Moustapha, who is said to be the mastermind of Boko Haram operations in Chad and northern Cameroon.
According to Osun Defender, Fanaye was arrested on Friday afternoon. Recovered from his residence were assault weapons, and phone SIM cards for various countries, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Reports from the media quotes Chadian officials as saying that Fanaye is in charge of recruiting Boko Haram terrorists, arms purchases and planning of terrorism targets and operations in Chad and northern Cameroon.
Chadinfos.com reports that weapons of different kinds and assorted communication gadgets were found in his house, including more than 50 SIM cards from different countries in the sub region,
It was gathered his arrest that helped security forces locate other Boko Haram members housed in an area called Diguel Diguessou in the 8th district.
According to Chadinfo.com, the attack that lead to his arrest was a very bloody offensive that left many dead.
In a related development, Reuters has reported that Cameroon officials have arrested three suspects carrying a bag containing improvised explosive devices in the northern town of Maroua suspected Boko Haram suicide attacks killed at least 40 last week.
A senior military source with the Central African nation’s special forces in Maroua, told Reuters, that the men were caught on Thursday, July 30, at the entrance of the city following a tip-off.
Another senior local government administrator said by telephone from Maroua that:“The suspect who was carrying the bag with the explosives is a Nigerian. The other two are Cameroonians, according to their identity card.”
He said the young men, aged about 20, were suspected Boko Haram militants who were planning another attack.
Meanwhile, Cameroon has increased troops and tightened security in the northern regional capital following the suicide bombings by suspected Boko Haram militants from neighboring Nigeria.
It is reported that Cameroon security officials also carried out a raid on Thursday, July 30, in Kousseri, some 220 km north of Maroua, where some 2,000 Nigerians who were living in Cameroon without permits were loaded in trucks and taken across the border.
According to a local administrator, the raid was part of measures aimed at improving security and controlling movements along the border region.
Meanwhile, the leaders of both countries have pledged to work together to crush the six-year insurgency which has killed thousands, spread to neighboring countries and threatens the stability of the Lake Chad region.
This agreement was reached on Thursday, July 30, following a summit in Yaounde.
Boko Haram is fighting to establish an emirate in northeast Nigeria. The sect which calls itself the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), have been said to have become more offensive since pledging allegiance to the militant group that controls large areas of Syria and Iraq.

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Lagos seals Kanu Nwankwo’s hotel, worship centres

The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency has sealed a hotel owned by ex-Super Eagles player, Kanu Nwankwo, on Victoria Island.
The hotel was among other hotels, churches and mosques sealed across the state on Monday over alleged air and noise pollution.
No fewer than 30 facilities were shut in areas, including Ketu, Ikorodu, Ibeju-Lekki, Victoria Island and Surulere.
LASEPA said the owners of the facilities had been contacted several times in the last one year, adding that they refused to fully complied with LASEPA’s instructions.
At a mosque in Ketu ─ Olorunkemi Mosque ─ the leaders claimed to have taken down their speakers as instructed by the agency almost immediately.
However, the mosque was sealed for allegedly not complying fully with LASEPA’s instruction.
Other places also sealed include the Rain of Power and Miracles Ministry Church, Lekki; Christ Apostolic Church, Lekki; Duckland Hotels and Suites, Ikorodu; and Mela Rossa Club, Victoria Island.
At the Hardley Apartments, it was noticed that the generators powering the hotel had large exhaust pipes facing the road.
The Director of Enforcement, Kayode Bello, ordered that one of the generators be tested, and it was discovered that it gave off thick gaseous emissions.
Bello said, “Even the sound is going to be more than 45 decibels at night. We want you to comply ─ that is the reason we are here. We have been on this for more than a year.”
The doors and gates of the hotel were subsequently chained, and plastered with the LASEPA seal.
Later at a press briefing in Ikeja, LASEPA General Manager, Rasheed Shabi said, “The environment belongs to every one of us. Lagosians need to live in peace. A survey was carried out by an international organisation and it was discovered that 60 per cent of Nigerians have hearing problem.
“LASEPA, in the last two to three years, has been conducting surveys on religious houses, and our findings revealed that 95 per cent of them do not have approval to operate in Lagos.
“Most houses and club houses do not have fiscal planning approval. Before you can build any hotel anywhere in the world, there must be an environmental impact assessment.
“Most of the markets we have in Lagos State; we have people using trucks to sell their products with speakers to disturb the peace of Lagosians. Soon, we will tow as many trucks as possible to get them off the streets.”
Shabi said the owner of the places sealed would sign an undertaking that they would comply with instructions meant to clean up the environment.
“After today, the enforcement unit will go round. Anybody that breaks the seal has violated the Lagos State law. We will then involve the Ministry of Justice,” Shabi added.

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Senate President, Bukola Saraki Donates Cash And Rice To Widows In Illorin..See Photos

Photo News‬: Senate President, Sen Bukola Saraki donated rice and cash to widows in Ilorin over the weekend . Two of his aides -Alhaji Abdulrasaq Aladie and Alhaja Afusat were in charge of the donation as the programme was conducted in accordance with the directive of the Senate President.

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Senate crisis: APC govs divided over Saraki

There were strong indications that the All Progressives Congress governors on Friday failed to take a decision on the crisis rocking the party’s caucus in the Senate.
Saturday PUNCHreliably learnt that the governors, who met in Abuja late Thursday evening, were divided over how the crisis should be handled.
Investigations showed that some of the governors argued that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, should apologise to the party at a meeting to include its leadership and members of the opposing sides in the crisis.
But it was learnt that others differed on the grounds that governors should await the decision of the Ministry of Justice on the police report on the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Orders 2015.
The police, in the report sent to the Ministry of Justice on Monday, established that the standing orders used for the inauguration of the eighth Senate were forged.
In its recommendations, the police reportedly stated, “This practice, where some group of senators amends the rules of the senate without following legal procedures, is not only criminal, but portends danger for our growing democracy and should be discouraged.”
The police asked the justice ministry to vet the report and determine whether it constitutes a criminal offence or should be treated as an internal affair of the Senate.
Saturday PUNCHlearnt that some governors, who seemed to favour Saraki, canvassed for a quick resolution of the crisis.
The governors, who were said to have included Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, reportedly warned that any delay in resolving the crisis would impact negatively on the party and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The governors suggested that a meeting of parties to the crisis should be convened in the next one week, where Saraki should apologise to the party leaders and the President.
It was learnt that there were others, including the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who said the forum should wait for the decision of the justice ministry on the forgery of the Senate Standing Orders.
Such governors were said to have argued that Saraki twice violated the constitution and defied the party’s leadership.
They were said to have cited the forged standing order and the disregard for the party’s directive on the appointment of principal officers.
It was also learnt that at the meeting, the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who headed a peace committee set up by the governors on the crisis, briefed the forum on the efforts so far made by the panel to resolve the issue.
Investigations shared that the Oshiomhole-led committee lamented that the crisis in the Senate was dragging too long.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak to the media about the meeting, said, “The governors have not taken any decision on the senate crisis. Saraki’s repeated disrespect of the party does not help the matter. At the meeting, some governors expressed the view that the crisis should be resolved once and for all, while others were not happy with Saraki’s disrespect for the party’s leaders, including the President.
“Such governors insisted that the forum should wait for the decision of the justice ministry on the police report on the forgery of the 2015 Senate Standing Orders. They prefer the prosecution of everyone involved in the forgery.”
It was learnt that the governors, who were not happy with Saraki, argued that treating Saraki’s case with levity would set a bad precedence in the party.
Governors working to resolve the crisis –Oshiomhole’s aide
A source close to the Kaduna State Governor, when contacted, said, “We are not in a position to be responding to unofficial accounts of closed-door meetings.”
Also, the Special Adviser to Tambuwal, Imam Imam, toldSaturday PUNCHon the telephone that, “The meeting was a meeting of APC governors. It was convened at the behest of the Imo State Governor (Owelle Rochas Okorocha), why don’t you speak to them?”
But the Special Adviser (Media) to the Edo State Governor, Kazeem Afegbua, said his principal who was still in Abuja, as of the time he spoke to one of our correspondents, was working round the clock to ensure an amicable solution to the crisis.
Afegbua said, “His Excellency is still in Abuja. I am sure they will continue to meet until all the issues that are left are resolved.”
Also, the Director-General of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Saliu Lukman, expressed confidence that whatever issues that were left would be resolved soon.
“You should trust what our governors told you last night, total peace will soon return,” he said.

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PDP crisis: Party workers open fresh can of worms

The crisis rocking the opposition party Peoples Democratic Party took a new turn on Friday as its workers further accused the members of the party’s National Working Committee of being “too corrupt.”
The angry workers also accused the NWC members of demanding N1bn bribe from the Governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada, before giving him the party’s governorship ticket.
Governorship election will hold in Kogi State in the last quarter of the year.
The workers also alleged further that the NWC members demanded and received N750m bribe from Mr. Ndudi Elumelu with a promise to give him the PDP governorship ticket in Delta State early in the year.
Our correspondent learnt that the money was returned to Elumelu after ex-President Goodluck Jonathan got wind of the incident.
These and other allegations were made at a press briefing organised by the workers at Wadata Plaza headquarters of the PDP in Abuja.
The PUNCHhad, in two exclusive stories, revealed the plan by the NWC to sack 50 per cent of its workers and also cut the salaries of those to be retained by the same percentage. In response, the workers accused members of the NWC of squandering N12bn in nine months.
The money was said to have been realised from the sales of nomination forms during the contest for elective offices in the party in 2014.
The workers said this in their response to the letter sent to them by the party’s National Secretary, Prof. Wake Oladipo, on Wednesday.
Oladipo had, in the letter, informed the workers about the decision of the NWC to cut cost and that even those to be retained must also bring a letter of certification from their state chapters of the party before they could be absorbed.
Asking how a buoyant party with more than N12bn could become beggary in just nine months, the workers said all the members of the NWC, led by its Acting National Chairman, Mr. Uche Secondus, must either resign or be sacked.
They said the political fortunes of the party under the current leadership of the NWC had dwindled and that in order to save the party, Secondus and other NWC members must resign. The workers, who were led by their leaders, Ngozi Ezeh (chairman), and Dan Ochu-Baiye (secretary), said at the press conference that the members of the NWC were in a mission to kill the once buoyant and popular party.
Ochu-Baiye said, “It is no longer news that the political fortunes of the PDP have continued to dwindle since the coming on board of the present NWC in March 2012.
“The party under the current leadership of Secondus as Acting National Chairman and Prof. Wale Oladipo as National Secretary has been systematically and deliberately dismembered and it is being led to the morgue in preparation for its final burial.
“Never in the glorious history of our great party has its fortunes been so hopelessly mismanaged by an inept and dishonest group whose sworn mission is to permanently destroy and liquidate the lofty organisation that facilitate the current democratic dispensation.
“The current NWC members are only hanging on because of the obscene and bizarre bazaar which they have subjected the purse of the party to.”
The workers alleged that the many atrocities committed by the NWC members were responsible for the abysmal performance of the party during the last general elections.
They said, “We make bold to say that responsibility for the abysmal outing of the party should be located directly at the doorstep of the NWC members due to the following reasons: Criminal imposition of unpopular candidates and mind boggling extortion of aspirants.
“An example here is the yet to be resolved allegation by Ndudi Godwin Elumelu, who paid whopping N750m to the NWC to obtain the governorship ticket of the party in Delta State. There are many other victims.
“The same scenario is being played out in Kogi State while Bayelsa State is in the wings. In Kogi, it is widely alleged that the incumbent governor was requested to cough out the sum of N1bn to the same NWC to retain his ticket.”
The workers also accused the NWC of non-release of campaign funds to state chapters and embezzlement of proceeds of sales of nomination forms. They said there was no way any political party could undergo a high level of tortuous mismanagement and would still win elections.
The workers said the NWC members must tell members of the party why they compelled delegates to pay the sum of N10, 000 each into a private account of a company called Morufi Nigeria Limited.
“We are aware that over N1bn was realised from this fraudulent exercise,” they added, calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to arrest and investigate the NWC members for the alleged fraud.

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Female suicide bomber kills six in Maiduguri market

No fewer than six persons were killed and many others injured during a suicide bomb attack at a crowded grocery market in Maiduguri on Friday, a member of the youth vigilance group told our correspondent on the telephone.
The attack, which temporarily stopped commercial activities in the market, happened early in the morning.
The member of the youth vigilance group, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the bomb was detonated by a woman who arrived at the market pretending to buy vegetables.
He said the woman arrived in a tricycle at about 6:30 am on Friday at Gamboru market where a wholesale trading of fresh vegetables is done.Scene of a bomb blast that killed six persons and injured several others near Gamboru Vegetable Market in Maiduguri… on Friday. Photo: NAN
He said the woman who seeing that she might perhaps be caught by the security at the entrance to the market quickly detonated the bomb strapped on her at the tricycle park at the market. The source said, “The blast occurred near the entrance of Gamboru market where commercial tricycle operators park to pick passengers.
“The woman had come on a tricycle like every other person to the market. Immediately the woman arrived and saw that she might have to undergo security screening before being allowed to go into the market, she detonated the explosives on her and this left her dead with the driver and three others. Many were also injured by the explosion.”
He added that the trading at the market was temporarily halted as the bodies of the victims had to be evacuated and the injured taken to hospital.
The Information Officer, National Emergency Management Agency, North-East, AbdulKadir Ibrahim, confirmed that there was an explosion at the market, but told journalists to wait a little longer to get the casualty figure.
NEMA Coordinator for North-East, Mohammed Kanar, said six persons were killed in the early morning explosion.
He said, “I cannot give you the exact time of the blast but our men were called to offer assistance at about 7am. We found out that six persons were killed and two of the bodies were mangled.”

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MNJTF will defeat Boko Haram, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said with the coming on board of the Multi National Joint Task Force which has been established under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Nigeria and neighbouring countries are now on a better stead to defeat the Boko Haram sect.
According to him, with the formation of the stronger regional coalition, the countries in the region have an increased capacity to deal effectively with the sect and other terrorist groups.
A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted the President as speaking while granting audience to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Adesina said Buhari reaffirmed his belief that the full activation and deployment of the joint task force would lead to the speedy defeat and elimination of Boko Haram.
The President added that with the Command and Control Centre of the Nigerian military now in Maiduguri, Borno State, the morale of troops in the front-line states had improved significantly.
“You can tell the Secretary-General that we are doing our best and our best will be good enough for the nation and the sub-region,’’ Buhari told Chambas.
Against the background of upcoming elections in Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea and Burkina Faso, the President also called on the UN to assist African countries in the acquisition and use of innovative technologies to ensure more credible elections.
“When citizens recognise that their votes count, it will boost their confidence in democracy and their countries’ electoral systems,” he said.
Recalling that in the last general elections in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission used smart card readers to authenticate prospective voters, President Buhari observed that while Nigeria could afford the use of such technology in its elections, other African countries may require support and assistance from the international community.
Chambas commended Buhari for his strong and positive actions against terrorism.
The UN envoy also welcomed the President’s successful visit to Cameroon this week and his reaffirmation of Nigeria’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of all border issues with Cameroon.

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