JSTF TROOPS BACKED BY NAF HELICOPTER GUNSHIPS’ STRIKES DESTROY TWO BOKO HARAM CAMPS INSIDE SAMBISA GAME RESERVE..17 TERRORISTS, ONE SOLDIER KILLED IN FIERCE GUN BATTLE

Nigeria’s military on Friday said it killed 17 insurgents in raids on two “terrorist
camps” in the embattled northeastern state of Borno, the base of Islamist group Boko Haram. The military “conducted two special operations supported by Nigerian Airforce helicopter gunship to dislodge Boko Haram terrorist camps,” a statement from spokesman Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said. The statement is the first recent confirmation of a Boko Haram training camp or base, although the military has frequently commented on insurgent safe houses in urban settings. 

AT NDA, FEMALE CADETS LEAD IN ACADEMICS

At the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), female cadet officers excel in academics more than their male counterparts.

The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) was established on 5th February 1964 in response to the defence needs of independent Nigeria to train only male officers for the country’s Armed Forces. The role of the Academy was to provide each officer cadet with knowledge, skills and values necessary to meet the requirements of a military officer through military, academic and character development.  

'WE’RE UNDER PRESSURE OVER LOW RATING OF JONATHAN'

Following the low performance rating of President Goodluck Jonathan in the handling of the affairs of the nation by some prominent ex-militant leaders recently, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben aka Boyloaf and Chief Ateke Tom Friday said that they have been  under pressure to clarify their position on the issue which has been generating heat in the country.

The duo in a statement in Yenagoa said that their position was not targeted at discrediting the President, but to draw the attention of the neglect of the Niger Delta which is still yawning for development despite the fact that one of its own is the president.

MY LOVE STORY WITH HALIMA ABUBAKARÂ -IFEANYI UDEZE

Former Super Eagles ace defender,  Ifeanyi Udeze has finally opened up on his alleged romance with diminutive  Nollywood actress, Halima Abubakar.  In this exclusive interview with Entertainment Express, the one time PAOK Salonika of Greece captain spoke at length on his relationship with the Kogi State-born thespian as well as other personal issues.
Udeze, a member of the Super Eagles squad that participated at the 2002 and 2004 African Cup of Nations also commented on the performance of coach Stephen Keshi-led Super Eagles at the ongoing African Cup of Nations in South Africa, life after football, his business empire among other issues.
The father of three from Imo State, also spoke on the injury that has completely kept him out of active soccer, for almost a decade.

CHIME BACK TO WORK IN 2 WEEKS –AKPABIO

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State yesterday gave an assurance to Nigerians that ailing Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, who has been hospitalised in London since September 2012, would return to the country in the next two weeks.

This is coming at a time Akpabio has promised to make public any activity of the Governors Forum, which negates the principles setting it up, even as he insisted that the forum would continue to work in harmony with the Federal Government. Akpabio visited Chime in a London hospital, in the company of Governors Gabriel Suswam and Chibuike Amaechi of Benue and Rivers states respectively. Speaking with airport correspondents on arrival from London, United Kingdom at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Akpabio, who visited Chime in London hospital recently, declared that the ailing governor was now hale and hearty and capable of ruling the state upon his arrival. Akpabio admonished Nigerians to always trust their representatives and warned against playing politics with people’s health.

ACTORS SHUN KOK'S CENTENARY PARLEY WITH PIUS ANYIM

…As FG’s money tears Nollywood apart

Several leading actors in Nollywood, including the current national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) Ibinabo Fiberesima, deliberately shunned the recent parley organized by controversial actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo (KOK), on behalf of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.
The event, which was hurriedly put together at a hangout somewhere in Ikeja, is currently causing uproar in Nollywood and equally threatening the fragile peace being enjoyed in the perennially troubled industry.
The bone of contention, we reliably gathered was the large sum of the money doled out to Nollywood practitioners at the gathering by Anyim, through KOK, who personally shared the cash.

MIKEL IN SECRET ROMANCE WITH VILLAGE GIRL .SPOILS HER WITH GIFTS

Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi is currently enjoying a secret and sizzling romance with a relatively unknown girl from his Neni village in Anambra State, Express Sports can reveal on good authority
Mikel,  according to our impeccable source has been showering his new lover with love and gifts even as he added that the affair might possibly be altar-bound.
“I’ve known Mikel since we’ve been kids in Jos and I can swear before man and God that I have never seen him in love like this before. He even disguises himself whenever he visits the babe at Neni. That is understandable because he is a public figure. He speaks with her on phone for hours on daily basis and he sends her expensive gifts from London’’, he said.

23 YEARS AFTER ATTEMPTED COUP, IBB, NYIAM MAKE UP

The hands of the clock were set back Thursday as former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), and Colonel Anthony Nyiam (rtd), who attempted to topple the Babangida regime in the April 22, 1990 coup d’etat, put that experience behind them and held hands in a moment of reunion.

In the same vein, Chief Great Ogboru, the alleged financier of the same coup plot, and former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) in the Babangida regime, Brigadier-General Haliru Akilu, also exchanged pleasantries, exuding an air of let bygones be bygones.

The historic moment took place at the presentation of two books in honour of a former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Babangida administration, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos.

THE CEASEFIRE DEAL: •BOKO HARAM DEMANDS N26BN FROM FG, BORNO GOVT

The Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, popularly called Boko Haram, has asked the federal and Borno State governments to compensate its leadership, members and families of its dead members, as a major condition to sustain the one-week-old ceasefire it announced last Monday.  Saturday Sun gathered exclusively that the sect’s demand for monetary compensation, which will cost both the federal and Borno State governments nothing less than N26 billion has already been accepted by the Borno State government, which has been the worst hit by the activities of the sect.

The amount, it was gathered, could be more or less depending on the total number of the sect members that have been killed by the security agencies.  According to a highly placed source, “the money being demanded by the sect leaders, they claim they will use it to compensate themselves, their members for all their losses, especially their houses, cars and businesses that have been destroyed by government.

BLAME JONATHAN FOR BOKO HARAM – OBASANJO

The simmering differences between former president Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan has taken a turn for the worst, with the former leader pointedly blaming Jonathan for the festering crises in most parts of Northern Nigeria following attacks by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

In a recent interview published in this month’s edition of the pan-African magazine, New Africa, the former president accused Jonathan of mismanaging the security issues engulfing the country.

“If the president is the chief security officer of the country and there is a security problem, where do you go for solution? And if that solution is not coming from the chief security officer, who has everybody and can mobilize everybody, inside and outside to get a solution, then he has the responsibility to solve the problem. And nobody else should be blamed but him.”

Police Arrest Man For Assaulting His Son With Hot Iron