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North Korean Soldiers Commit Suicide To Avoid Capture, says US
Russia is deploying “human waves” of North Korean soldiers, the U.S. said Friday, and at least one soldier captured by Ukraine died of his injuries.
According to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, some North Korean soldiers have taken their own lives rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces.
These suicides, he said, were “likely out of fear of reprisal against their families in North Korea in the event that they’re captured.”
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service had confirmed on Friday that the North Korean soldier captured the previous day had died.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram Friday that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers have died or been wounded in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces mounted a lightning incursion in August.
But Russia has since amassed thousands of troops in a counterattack.
Kirby quoted a lower death toll among North Koreans, saying more than 1,000 soldiers had died just in the past week.
That’s on top of the more than 1,500 Russian soldiers being wounded or killed each day, according to Britain’s defense ministry, which estimated that there were over 45,000 casualties in November, the highest since the start of the war, adding that the number “is likely reflective of the higher tempo of Russian operations and offensives.”
To supplement its counterattack, Moscow turned toward its ally Pyongyang, which, according to estimates by the U.S. and its allies, has deployed an estimated 11,000 soldiers in Ukraine.
Kirby said the North Koreans are conducting “massed, dismounted assaults against Ukrainian positions in Kursk.” While these “human wave tactics” were ineffective, he acknowledged that Russia’s grinding assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was making it difficult for Ukrainians to weather the winter.
Neither Russia nor North Korea has publicly acknowledged the troop deployment.
The North Korean troops are being treated as “expendable” and ordered by their leadership on “hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses,” Kirby said.
“These North Korean soldiers appear to be highly indoctrinated, pushing attacks even when it is clear that those attacks are futile,” he said.
The exact number of North Korean soldiers who killed themselves to avoid capture is unclear. Zelenskyy said Friday that while “several” North Korean soldiers were captured, they were “seriously wounded and could not be resuscitated,” suggesting that some of them may have also been killed by comrades.
These troops were being sent to fight with “minimal protection,” he said, and were suffering a “great deal” of losses.
Still, Ukrainians have been unable to capture them as prisoners, he added. “Their own people are executing them. [ABC News
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A 22-year-old woman, Faith Sunday, nabbed in Lagos for child trafficking, has confessed to having sold her one-year-old for N1.5 million to save herself from dying as a result of hunger.
Faith was arrested along with seven other members of a child-trafficking syndicate by detectives from the headquarters of Zone 2 Police Command in the Onikan area of Lagos led by Ngozi Braide.
In her confessional statement to the police, Faith said: “I sold my son in September 2024 to a buyer through Mrs Ibezim Chioma and one Sunday Okputu.
“The buyer, who resides somewhere in the Alausa area of Ikeja, paid N1.5 million. Hunger forced me to sell my child to the syndicate. I want to invest the money in a business.”
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Zonal Anti-Crime Unit, Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, DCP Ajao S. Adewale, who paraded the suspects at the weekend, said the arrest followed an intelligence received by the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Adegoke Fayoade.
Adewale disclosed that based on the report, the Zonal Anti-Crime Unit swung into action and that investigation into the activities of members of the notorious child-trafficking syndicate revealed that the suspects specialise in buying and selling of new-born babies, toddlers as well as children of various ages.
Adewale said the syndicate comprised one Sunday Okputu, whom he described as the supplier of the children and Ibezim Chioma, as the gang’s go-between.
He added that the duo sought prospective buyers for their illegal lucrative business.
He identified one Mrs Chinasa Echellibe as the children’s caregiver who takes care of the children while awaiting prospective buyers.
He stated that the buyers were apprehended by operatives of the zone led by one Ngozi Braide.
He added, “Five children were rescued from the syndicate. They are a year-old Marvelous Obi who was sold to Ibezim Chioma when he was barely one week old.
“Chioma resold him to one Mrs Ken Obi and Mrs Appulus Marina Oluchi, who is currently in Italy but kept him in the care of Chinasa Echellibe, who is the syndicate’s caregiver.
“Three-year-old Promise Ifekwuna was sold to Mrs Ifekwuna Ngozi for N500,000 by Mr Sunday Okputu, the ring leader, sometime in 2021. Somtochukwu was found in the care of one Nwakuba Helen Chinyere who stated she was just a nanny employed by her younger sister, Caroline Enwereji, who resides in California, USA.”
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday, apologised to President Bola Tinubu for initiating the impeachment process against the former Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa.
The apology followed a directive given by the leadership of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) of the Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC) during an emergency meeting with the lawmakers at the Lagos House, Marina on Monday night.
GAC is the highest decision-making body of the Lagos APC.
The meeting also had in attendance Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.
A source at the meeting disclosed that Tinubu wasn’t pleased with the impeachment move hence his insistence that it be upturned.
Some members of the GAC also accused its leadership of not carrying them along before Obasa’s removal, hence they supported the President’s directive for his reinstatement.
The source further told SaharaReporters that the lawmakers were told to write two apology letters to the President.
The source said, “Members of the GAC after many disagreements among themselves directed the lawmakers to write two apology letters to the President. It is obvious that the lawmakers didn’t want Obasa reinstated but it seems the President really wants him back. Also, GAC members are divided on the matter.
“I want to believe that apart from the reasons the President gave, I think he took that decision to avoid the state plunging into a crisis. Also, the President directed that the former Speaker be reinstated to check the excessiveness of the lawmakers. You know they removed the lawmakers without carrying some leaders of the party along.
“So, they were told to write two apology letters to the President which they instantly wrote. The first letter was to apologise for making the wrong move of impeaching the Speaker without informing the leaders of the party. In the letter, they promised to commute the removal of Obasa to resignation
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives, notifying it of his decision to decline assent to the Federal University of Education, Numan, Adamawa State (Establishment) Bill, 2024, in accordance with Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Reading the letter on the House floor on Tuesday, Deputy Speaker Hon. Benjamin Kalu stated that the President rejected the bill due to certain provisions, including Section 22, which grants the authority to consent to land disposal to the state governor instead of the president. He noted that, in the case of federal universities, such authority should rest with the president as the land belongs to the federal government.
Meanwhile, the House observed a minute of silence in honor of the late Hon. Adewunmi Onanuga, who passed away on January 15, 2025. The Deputy Speaker announced that a valedictory session would be held in her honor. After the day’s business and proceedings, the House however adjourned plenary to Wednesday, February 5, 2025.
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