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Insecurity : 31 killed as terrorists strike in Niger
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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
No fewer than 31 persons have been killed following a deadly attack by suspected terrorists in Yatakala, Tillaberi Region of the Republic of Niger, near the tri-border area with Mali and Burkina Faso.
Sources told Zagazola Makama that the attack occurred on Jan. 18 in the Yatakala/Bolsi area of Tera Commune, where the assailants reportedly gathered residents together and opened fire on them.
The sources said that several other people, believed to be mostly women, were abducted during the attack, while five persons were injured as they tried to escape.
“They went from house to house, rounded people up and shot them. Those who managed to flee sustained injuries.
Residents were rounded up and summarily executed, while an uncertain number mostly women, were abducted. At least 31 people were killed and five others injured as they fled,” one of the sources said.
The sources noted that Yatakala and surrounding villages toward the Burkinabe border had already been deserted by many inhabitants due to persistent attacks by armed groups.
No organisation had formally claimed responsibility for the latest atrocity, but the pattern and area of operation point strongly to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the Al-Qaeda-linked group active across the Liptako-Gourma axis
The area had previously come under attack on Jan. 3, 2026, when Yatakala/Garoul was assaulted and about 17 soldiers were reportedly killed.
Zagazola report that the Tillaberi theatre is under sustained pressure. The enemy appears intent on clearing large swathes of territory, forcing communities to abandon their homes and creating humanitarian corridors of displacement that terrorists then exploit for further expansion.
The attacks also draws to the attention of the accelerating expansion of jihadist violence across the Sahel and its dangerous spillover implications for Nigeria and the wider West African sub-region.
The attack fits into a broader campaign by both Al-Qaeda- and ISIS-aligned factions to dominate borderlands, forest reserves and riverine routes, particularly around the W Park–Panjari complex, with a creeping approach toward Niamey.
The strategic objective was to degrade state presence, terrorise civilians into flight, and establish uncontested movement and recruitment zones.
Its draws parallels with past atrocities, including the January 2025 killings in Kasuwan Daji in Borgu area of Niger State, allegedly carried out by JNIM in collaboration with JAS/Ansaru networks, as well as recent mass abductions at worship centres in Kurmin Wali, Kajuru LGA, Kaduna State.
These are not isolated incidents. They form part of a synchronised regional campaign aimed at destabilisation, psychological dominance and narrative warfare.
Zagazola warned that beyond the kinetic dimension, insurgents were also leveraging disinformation, including the manipulation of religious and ethnic narratives, to internationalise their cause and weaken regional cohesion.
The humanitarian crisis generated by these attacks will push refugees and internally displaced persons toward north-west and north-central Nigeria, with attendant security, social and economic consequences.
Therefore, Nigeria’s response must go beyond internal counter-terrorism operations to include strengthened diplomatic and security cooperation with Niger, Benin and other frontline states.
Border challenges cannot be curbed unilaterally. There must be deeper intelligence sharing, coordinated patrols and joint operations. ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) must urgently re-engage on collective security mechanisms to contain this expanding threat,” he said.
Yatakala massacre was both a warning and a call to action.
If proactive regional measures are not taken, the Sahelian conflict arc will continue to bend southward, with Nigeria increasingly in the line of fire. (Zagazola)
News
ANGER: Three Brothers Face Murder Charge for Beating man to death for dating Their Mom
Three brothers have appeared before the Mbabane Magistrates Court in Swaziland on a murder charge following the brutal de@th of their mother’s boyfriend.
The accused, Mlondi Mbuli, 25, Sakhelwe Mbuli, 18, and Lindani Mdziniso, 23, all from the Hholoshini area in Eswatini’s Hhohho Region, are alleged to have fatally assaulted Njabulo Ngwenya on June 28, 2026.
According to police, the brothers att@cked Ngwenya with bricks, stones, sticks, open hands, and kicks to different parts of his body. Investigators allege the assa¥lt was motivated by the brothers’ belief that Ngwenya was having a relationship with their biological mother.
Court records state that the incident was reported after Sibongile Motsa, also from Hholoshini, informed police that she discovered her son, Njabulo Ngwenya, lying deed inside her sister’s house at about 1 a.m. on June 28, 2026.
The matter came before Principal Magistrate Sfiso Vilakati during the trio’s initial court appearance.
The three defendants have been remanded in custody until July 10, 2026, pending committal of the case to the High Court for further proceedings.
News
BREAKING : Court orders final forfeiture of ₦150m kinked to Delta HoR member
A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has ordered the final forfeiture of ₦150 million linked to serving House of Representatives member, Nicholas Mutu, to the Federal Government.
The ruling was delivered by Justice J.O. Abdulmalik after the court upheld an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The court held that the funds should be permanently forfeited after no convincing explanation was provided to show why the money should not be seized by the government.
The forfeiture followed earlier proceedings in which the court granted an interim order against the funds.
The court also directed that the order be published in a national newspaper to allow interested parties to challenge the application.
However, after the publication and the expiration of the required period, no sufficient cause was shown before the court to stop the permanent forfeiture.
The EFCC told the court that its investigation linked the money to alleged corrupt dealings involving Mutu during his time as chairman of the House Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission.
According to the anti-graft agency, the lawmaker allegedly received kickbacks running into over ₦400 million from a consultant working with the NDDC.
The commission argued that part of the funds traced during investigations included the ₦150 million now ordered forfeited.
After reviewing submissions from both parties, Justice Abdulmalik ruled in favour of the EFCC and granted the final forfeiture order.
Mutu, a long-serving federal lawmaker from Delta State, remains a serving member of the House of Representatives.
News
Photos: “I Directed Wike To Build Roads Before Asking Nigerians to Move into Renewed Hope Estate, He Has Done It” – Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday, disclosed that he directed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to provide roads and other engineering infrastructure to the 3,112-unit Renewed Hope City in Karsana before residents could occupy the estate, and the minister wasted no time in carrying out the directive.
The President, represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, made the disclosure while commissioning the 10.5-kilometre Access Roads to the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates in Karsana West District, Abuja.
He said the completion of the road network fulfilled the directive he gave during the groundbreaking of the housing project, stressing that no housing estate could function without access roads and supporting infrastructure.
“When I performed the groundbreaking for the 3,112-unit Renewed Hope City here in Karsana, I gave one clear directive: provide the roads, provide the engineering infrastructure, and unlock this district for development. Housing without access is a blueprint without a building.
“For too long, Abuja’s story was ‘awarded and abandoned contracts’. Today, we are ending that story with roads that open, not ones that stall,” he said.
Tinubu said he specifically instructed Wike to immediately open up the district because “civil servants, families and investors cannot live in houses they cannot reach.”
“I gave that assignment to a Minister who treats deadlines as duties. I told the Honourable Minister of the FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike, CON, that civil servants, families and investors cannot live in houses they cannot reach. ‘Open Karsana, and open it now.’ He took that brief, set the pace and delivered.
“When urgency meets quality, results follow. That is what you are standing on today.”
The President said the newly completed Arterial Roads N11, N16, N40 and Special Important Local Street 03 have linked Karsana West to the Outer Northern Expressway, making thousands of affordable housing units accessible, livable and secure.
He praised Wike for what he described as the visible transformation of the Federal Capital Territory, saying the minister had turned stalled projects into completed infrastructure.
“You took stalled corridors and made them active corridors. You brought the same urgency to Karsana that you brought to other districts and the area councils. You measure contractors by output, not promises. Minister, you have earned my trust and you have my commendation,” Tinubu added.
He also commended Minister of State for the FCT, Mariya Mahmoud, engineers and officials of the FCT Administration for ensuring the project was completed on schedule and according to specification.
The President further praised Lubrik Construction Company for delivering the project after it was awarded the contract in February 2025, assuring contractors that his administration would continue to honour prompt payment for jobs delivered on time and to specification.
Earlier, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Barr. Nyesom Wike recalled that Karsana was inaccessible when Tinubu performed the groundbreaking for the Renewed Hope Estate in 2024.
“For those of us who were here that day, I was imagining how anybody would come and live in this area because there was no road,” he said.
The minister disclosed that developers had expressed fears that their investments would become worthless without access roads, but he assured them the government would intervene.
“I told them, ‘It is Renewed Hope. Go home and sleep. We must construct the road in this Karsana district.’ Today, it is a different story.”
Wike said the project became possible because the Federal Government ensured prompt payment while the contractor fulfilled its obligation by delivering within schedule.
He also announced that the FCT Administration would next Wednesday, July 8, flag off the construction of Kaba- Kagini – Zaudna road following recent request by residents over its deplorable condition.
In her remarks, FCT Minister of State, Mariya Mahmoud, described the project as another milestone in the implementation of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, saying the roads would boost economic activities, improve connectivity and expand access to affordable housing across the territory.
While celebrating the successful completion of the access roads, Mahmoud called on residents and stakeholders to take collective ownership of public infrastructure by protecting and preserving it for the benefit of present and future generations.
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