News
Nine soldiers feared dead in Gubio IED explosion in Borno
No fewer than nine soldiers have been confirmed dead following the detonation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) along the 85km Maiduguri-Gubio road in Borno.
Confirming the incident on Monday in Maiduguri, military and Civilian JTF sources revealed, “Our investigations indicated that the explosive devices were planted along the road last night by Boko Haram terrorists to cause havoc on the soldiers,” stating that the troops were travelling from Maiduguri via Gubio town for an operation in the Sasawa Forest, located in the neighbouring state of Yobe, when the incident occurred.
The source explained that the soldiers were travelling from Maiduguri when the incident occurred near Gubio, the council headquarters of Gubio Local Government Area (LGA).
According to the source, the troops had initially stopped at a military outpost along the roadside on Saturday and eventually planned to continue their journey the following day, Sunday.
“While travelling from Maiduguri on Saturday, the soldiers stopped at a military camp at the roadside before proceeding with their journey on Sunday,” said the source.
The senior military officer added that some soldiers also sustained injuries from the shrapnel of the bomb blasts, including burns to their limbs and heads.
While clarifying the circumstances that led to the IED explosion, the source stated, “The Sunday attack on our troops was not an ambush by gunmen or terrorists but was caused by an IED planted along the road in the night by Boko Haram insurgents.”
The affected troops were said to be from the 145 Battalion, Damasak, under 5 Brigade of the Nigerian Army at the Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri.
The explosion reportedly occurred on the evening of Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army is yet to issue an official statement on the IED explosions, including investigations and casualties sustained from the road blasts.
Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists have continued to target troops using gun trucks and improvised explosive devices along key routes and patrol areas of the Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad region.
In November last year, suspected ISWAP terrorists were also reported to have attacked a military convoy in the region, resulting in multiple casualties among soldiers and members of the Civilian JTF, who are assisting the military in ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the Lake Chad region and forest.
Terrorists have killed three soldiers in a fresh attack on a military camp in Kemanji community, Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The attack reportedly occurred in the early hours of Monday, with residents saying heavy gunfire echoed across the area during the invasion.
According to local sources, the assailants, suspected to be armed terrorists, stormed the military camp without warning and engaged troops in a fierce gun battle.
The confrontation left three soldiers dead, while other personnel were said to have responded with a reprisal attack to repel the assailants.
One resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the incident as sudden and violent, noting that the attackers took advantage of the early morning hours when some soldiers were asleep.
“Kemanji is a border community close to thick forest areas.
“Few of the soldiers were asleep around 3am when the terrorists invaded their camp and killed three of them before others responded,” the source said. (The Sun)
Prominent activist, Aisha Yesufu, has expressed concern over the ongoing teachers’ strike in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), calling on the minister, Nyesom Wike, to urgently intervene and resolve the crisis.
In a statement on Monday, Yesufu lamented the prolonged closure of public primary schools across the FCT, noting that the situation continues to disrupt the education of thousands of children.
She stressed that education remains a fundamental right and should not be treated with negligence, urging authorities to prioritise the welfare of both teachers and students.
“The continuous strike by teachers in the FCT is unacceptable. Our children cannot keep paying the price for unresolved issues,” she said.
The activist appealed directly to Wike to take decisive steps towards addressing the grievances of the striking teachers, including issues surrounding unpaid salaries and poor working conditions.
According to her, swift intervention by the FCT administration would not only restore academic activities but also rebuild confidence in the public education system.
The strike, which has lingered for weeks, has left many pupils at home, raising concerns among parents over the long term impact on learning.
Malam Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna, has alerted the public to what he called “certain malicious orchestrations” directed against him.
El-Rufai, in a statement signed and released on Sunday by Muyiwa Adekeye, his Media Adviser, said the unwarranted effort to arrest him upon his arrival at Abuja Airport from Cairo on 12 February 2026 served as a clear signal of more troubling developments to follow.
The evident objective of the current scheme, according to the statement, is to secure his indefinite detention through reprehensible tactics, stressing that such conduct is unacceptable, particularly toward a citizen who has made substantial contributions to our country.
He, however, said that the rule of law must never be perverted into a tool of oppression and legal processes should serve the ends of justice, not be employed to deny a citizen his fundamental right to liberty while he stands trial.
The statement stressed that Malam El-Rufai should be accorded full due process guaranteed by law to every citizen, and the persistent disregard for his rights must cease immediately.
The statement recalled that since 16 February 2026, when Malam El-Rufai honoured an invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he was detained, then transferred to the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on the night of 18 February.
It said the former governor remains in detention and has been arraigned in two separate high courts.
The statement, however, picked holes in a report headlined “El-Rufai’s trial: Gunmen invade principal witness home” published by a national newspaper, not Nigerian Tribune, on 18 April 2026.
It quoted the article as stating that a witness in the criminal proceedings at the Kaduna State High Court had reported to the police that armed individuals had invaded his residence.
The statement added that the paper included innuendos suggestive of a plot to frame Malam Nasir El-Rufai as the witness linked the incident to his role as a witness in the corruption charges against El-Rufai, specifically one of the nine counts involving the alleged unlawful revocation and reallocation of land.
The article, the statement added, further quoted the witness as alleging that the invasion might be part of an effort to silence him, drawing parallels with the controversial disappearance of Kaduna-based activist Abubakar Idris Dadiyata.
The statement said that while it is the civic duty of every citizen to report crimes to the authorities, it is an entirely different matter to publish false imputations against others.
It said any objective reader would recognise the clear intent behind these statements: to smear Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s reputation, jeopardise his pending bail application at the Kaduna State High Court, and implicate him in serious capital offences.
Part of the statement read, “Malam Nasir El-Rufai is an upstanding and law-abiding citizen who has no connection whatsoever to the incidents described in the publication. Therefore, he has already instructed his legal team to initiate defamation proceedings in this matter.
“Since 2023, Malam El-Rufai has been subjected to an appalling and sustained campaign of innuendos and vilification.
This is a man with a distinguished record of public service. Many will recall his sterling service to the cause of national unity through his principled opposition to opportunism, alongside other senior leaders, during the events leading to the 2022 primaries of the ruling party and thereafter.“
Just in: Terrorists invade military camp, k!ll three soldiers in Kwara
Aisha Yesufu faults FCT teachers’ strike, wants Wike to intervene
El-Rufai issues public alert in prison
-
News10 hours agoFull List: Items You can no longer Import into Nigeria
-
News10 hours agoSSANU plans indefinite strike as April 30 renegotiation deadline approaches
-
News18 hours agoRescued eight Benue bus kidnap victims identified as UTME candidates
-
News10 hours agoNCA demands arrest of Islamic cleric over alleged bounty on pastor
-
News20 hours agoHardship Not a Licence for Broken Homes – Abejide Tells Couples
-
News10 hours agoSERAP Asks Tinubu To Withdraw NBC’s ‘Unlawful’ Directive To Broadcasters
-
News10 hours agoTerror ‘kingpin’ killed as troops arrests suspects in Nasarawa, Benue, Kwara
-
News10 hours agoJAMB releases results of 1.8m UTME candidates