President Jonathan Attends Year-End Church Service, Assures Nigerians of a Safer, Happier 2013

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President Goodluck Jonathan has assured Nigerians of a safer and happier 2013, as measures have been put in place to checkmate the scourge of terrorist attacks across the country.

The president, in a remark during the year-end Church service at the Ekklisiyar Yaruwa a Nigeria (EYN – Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), Utako, Abuja, on Sunday, December 30, told the congregants that the Federal Government has not only changed its strategy on the anti-terror war, it has also come up with fresh measures to curtail attacks by the Islamic sect.

He said some of the fresh measures had started yielding the desired dividends, adding that the government would do everything possible to ensure that the activities of the Boko Haram do not cause inertia in governance in the New Year.

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Youths of Kuru Clash With Troops Over Killing of Peer

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Youths and personnel of the Special Task Force (STF) clashed on Monday in Kuru, near Jos, following the killing of one youth on Sunday night by unknown gunmen.

STF media officer, Capt. Salisu Mustapha, said the deceased youth was killed by a stray bullet, while another stray bullet injured another youth. Mustapha could not confirm the source of the stray bullet, however.

Angered by the incident, youths in the area on Monday morning took to the streets to protest what they called the "constant and consistent killings" of their kinsmen.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who visited the scene of the protest, reports that the youths set bonfires on the main Kuru-Vom-Manchok road thereby making it impassable.

NAN correspondent saw rubbles of burnt cars at the scene of the protest but could not confirm their ownership.

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Police Confirm Attack Station in Hong

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Adamawa Police Command's Public Relation Officer, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, has confirmed the attack on Hong Divisional Police Station in Hong Local Government Area by some unidentified gunmen on Sunday.

Ibrahim told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Monday that the gunmen attacked the station at 8 pm on Sunday but were repelled by policemen who engaged them in a shootout.

"They were forced to retreat in different directions and were disorganized after they were forced to abandon their mission.

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Nigeria: One Cop, Four Insurgents Killed in Yobe Clash

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Maiduguri — A policeman and four suspected members of the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda'awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, were killed in Potiskum on Saturday during a fierce fight between insurgents and security forces, the Joint Task Force ( JTF) said in a statement yesterday.

Residents of Yindiski, a suburb along Gashua road in the outskirt of Potiskum, said the casualty figure may be much higher because they heard multiple gunshots for over four hours at Juma'a, a nearby settlement behind the Maximum Prisons Quarters in the area.

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Teenagers kill business mogul, three security officials, seven others in Maiduguri

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Some group of armed Teenagers shot dead a Maiduguri based merchant, Abubakar Girigiri, at his warehouse in the Bolori area of Maiduguri, Borno State on Thursday.

He allegedly died on the spot as he failed to make it to the hospital.

A witness, Modu Lawal told Journalists in Maiduguri that the gunmen arrived at the warehouse on foot, pretending to be customers before gunning him down. 

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JTF kills 5 suspected terrorists, destroys bomb factory in Kaduna

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The Nigerian army said soldiers killed five “suspected terrorists” and destroyed a bomb making factory on Thursday in the northern city of Kaduna where the Islamist sect Boko Haram is active.


Kaduna, in the mainly Muslim north, has been the target of several attacks by Boko Haram since the group’s low-level insurgency intensified over two years ago.

“On the approach to the factory, some suspected terrorists opened fire and also threw already primed Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) at the troops,” Kaduna Army spokesman Sani Kukasheka Usman said in a statement.

“The exchange of fire that ensued resulted in the death of five terrorists, while two that sustained various degrees of injuries are being treated.”

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Insecurity is the reason for slow development in the North – Governor Aliyu

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Niger State Governor, Mr. Babangida Aliyu has attributed the slow pace of development in the Northern part of the country to the Boko Haram activities.

The Governor made this observation at his residence in Minna, Niger State capital during an interactive session with some selected journalists.

According to Aliyu who doubles as Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF), the Boko Haram activities in the region had discouraged investors from investing in the region for fear of losing their investments to continuous crisis.

Aliyu said: “I am not satisfied with the slow pace of development in the Northern region, but under my leadership as chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, we have given the region good leadership.

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