Troops of the Nigerian Army have killed a notorious terrorist commander named Munzur Ya Audu in North East and 114 others through well executed operations across the country.

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) revealed this through the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, while briefing newsmen on the operations of the military on Thursday in Abuja.

According to Buba, serious efforts had been emplaced to dismantle the capabilities as well as destroy the networks of the terror groups, adding that troops were also actively targeting terrorist logistics bases and other structures that had affiliation to terror groups.

In his words; “During the week under review, troops neutralised 115, arrested 238 and rescued 138 kidnapped hostages.

“Furthermore, troops recovered 145 assorted weapons and 3,825 ammunition, comprising one GPMG, two PKT guns, 68 AK47 rifles, two AK56 rifles and 24 fabricated rifles.

“Also recovered are 28 dane guns, one fabricated revolver pistol, six locally made pistols, one pistol, eight pump action guns, one hand grenade, four fabricated hand grenades, one RPG bomb and three explosives.

“Others are 2,093 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 246 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 317 rounds of 7.62mm GPMG/PKM ammo, 129 live cartridges, 28 shotgun cartridges, 500 empty case of MG ammo and 147 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo,’’ he said.

”In the North East, Buba said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai, neutralised 61 terrorists, apprehended 34 suspects and rescued 32 kidnapped hostages within the week.

In the North Central, he said troops of Operations Safe Haven and Whirl Stroke, neutralised 18 violent extremists, nabbed 48 persons and rescued 48 kidnapped hostages.

In the North West, he said the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji, neutralised 28 terrorists, apprehended 77 persons and rescued 57 kidnapped hostages.

Buba said the Air Component conducted air interdiction on the hibernating of terrorists at notorious terrorist kingpin’s Sadiku’s and Sola’s in Safana and Batsari areas of Katsina State.

“The air component acquired and engaged with rockets and bombs. Battle Damage Assessment revealed that several terrorists were eliminated and their structures were destroyed.

“Similarly, on Nov. 11 and Nov. 13, the air component conducted air interdiction on terrorist enclaves in Shinkafi and Zurmi LGAs of Zamfara, killing several terrorists and destroyed their logistics,’’ he said.

In the South East, Buba said the troops of Operation UDO KA neutralised,,,,six terrorists, apprehended 13 violent extremists and rescued one kidnapped hostage during the week.

(NAN)

Few hours after his arrest, a Finland court has sent separatist agitator, Simon Ekpa, to prison for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.

According to reports, a district court of Päijät-Häme remanded him after the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested him alongside four other men over alleged terrorist offences.

The self-declared Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government In-Exile was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.

Also, according to a local report, the Central Criminal Police in Finland confirmed the arrest in a statement on its website on Thursday.

The police said the main suspect was arrested “on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent”, while, “four other persons are suspected of financing the aforementioned activity.

All five suspects of the crime have been arrested during the beginning of the week.”

International cooperation has been carried out during the preliminary investigation.

“Claims will be heard in Päijät-Häme district court today, November 21″, the statement added.

There have been calls for the arrest of the separatist following his alleged involvement in the Sit-At-Home that has relatively crippled economic activities in the South East

At the time of filing this report, the fate of Ekpa is hanging in Finland

The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), says one out of four individuals between ages 15 years and above would like to leave their communities permanently or at least temporarily.

The NBS said this in its General Household Survey- Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 2023/2024 unveiled in Abuja on Thursday.

The report showed that more men aged 15 years and above wanted to leave their communities representing 31. 2 per cent compared to women at 19.3 per cent.

It said among age groups, 34.5 per cent of people between 20 and 30 years of age would like to migrate.

“This was followed by those between ages 15 and 18 at 26.9 per cent and those between ages 31 and 64 at 25 per cent.

“Among people ages 65 and above, only 6.5 per cent said that they would like to leave their communities.”

The report said that among those who would like to migrate, 35.3 per cent would like to move to Abuja and 26.6 per cent would like to relocate to another country.

The report revealed that those in the Southern zones predominantly reported that they would like to relocate to another country, while individuals in the Northern zones preferred to move to Abuja or another state.

The NBS said that nationally, 45.4 per cent of households had at least one former household member who had relocated within and outside the country.

According to the report, half of those former household members are females.

The report said that marriage was the main reason why former household members had relocated at 28.2 per cent, followed by those who had gone to live with relatives or friends at 21.2 per cent.

“This was followed by those who went to look for/start a new job or business at 14.6 per cent .

It showed that urban households were less likely to have a former household member who had migrated, with a reported share of 37 per cent compared to 49.3 per cent of rural area households.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the GHS-Panel is Nigeria’s nationally representative longitudinal household survey which began in 2010 and had implemented five waves of the survey.

The panel nature of the data enables tracking household-level changes in critical areas of welfare, work, and socio-economic outcomes over time, yielding insights for policy.