Unconfirmed Report Indicates Shekau’s ‘Capture’

There were indications yesterday that leader of the Boko Haram insurgents, Abubakar Shekau, may have been captured in Borno State.
Unconfirmed reports said Shekau was nabbed by the ‘king of hunters’ around Gafa Mountain in Borno State.
Efforts to get official confirmation from the military failed, but a key said on phone that speculation about Shakau’s capture had been on for over a week. He however, revealed that troops of the Nigerian Army fighting in the area had surround the Gafa Mountain area last week over intelligence report that top Boko Haram leaders were hiding there.
The source said that with the cordon thrown around the area, there was no way Shekau and others would leave the place alive or without being captured.
Severally, the Nigerian military had pronounced Shekau either arrested or killed and severally the Boko Haram leader had bounced back alive, with YouTube video releases.
The Nigerian military had in September 2014 said that it had subdued Boko Haram leader, but shortly after that statement he appeared in a new video denouncing moves by the Nigerian Army to eliminate him.
On May 12, 2014, the DSS, through its former spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, insisted that the man in the videos released by the sect was not the real Shekau.
She had stated:  “Boko Haram has become a franchise; anybody can assume and lay claim to any name. What I know is that the original Abubakar Shekau is dead; the person claiming to be the national leader now is not the original Abubakar Shekau.”
Earlier this year, the Nigerian Army had announced the death of three key commanders of the extremist Boko Haram sect. The army said the terrorists were killed in a major air strike on their location in the dreaded Sambisa Forest.
The spokesperson for the Army, Sani Usman, said Shekau was also inflicted with “fatal injury” during the operation.
According to him, the bombardment was carried out on Friday while Shekau, who the Nigerian military had pronounced dead several times in the past years, was leading his group in performing the Friday prayers at a secret location called Tayye, in the heart of the vast forest.

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http://sunnewsonline.com/unconfirmed-report-indicates-shekaus-capture/

UK Indicates Interest In Kogi, Bayelsa Elections

The United Kingdom has told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it is very much interested in how events playing out in Kogi State’s inconclusive governorship election finally unfold.

British High Commissioner, Mr. Paul Arkwright, who dropped the hint when he led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the electoral commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, further expressed happiness over conduct of credible elections in Nigeria.

Charging the INEC boss to surpass the 75 per cent name recognition of his immediate predecessor, Professor Attahiru Jega, the UK Government equally promised to help Nigeria in improving on visible deficiencies noticeable in computerised electoral system in the country.

His words: “We are here to see how we can work with you in future in alliance with your commissioners. We want to see how we can continue our relationship with you. We also came to congratulate you on your appointment as the commission’s chairman .

“I heard that you did a very good job during the confirmatory hearing  and you showed huge amount of confidence in the structure. I want to also congratulate the new commissioners. It is really wonderful to know that you have some outstanding individuals among the commissioners with rich international backgrounds.

“I appreciate all you said and hope that in the future you will live up to expectations as the commission’s chairman. I was told that your predecessor, who did very well on the job, has 75 per cent name recognition in the entire country. That was a very impressive statistic and it will be nice if you have the same or above such record.

“I want to equally tell you that we are interested in your plans concerning Kogi elections. The death of the APC candidate for that election was a very sad news. We are equally happy about the plans for the Bayelsa election. We appreciate the professionalisation of your elections,” he assured.

Credit: Sun