The International Criminal Court (ICC) may open investigations into alleged rights abuses in the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria, Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director, has said. “An ICC investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in northeast Nigeria is now…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arraigned Aisha Wakil, (aka Mama Boko Haram), before a Maiduguri High Court for alleged financial fraud to the tune of N66 million. Mrs Wakil, a lawyer, and wife to a Borno high court judge, was arraigned alongside Tahiru Daura. Mrs Wakil…

The Nigerian military has freed 983 persons it arrested and detained for alleged complicity with Boko Haram activities. It also handed them over to the Borno State Government. The suspects had been in a military detention centre in Maiduguri until Wednesday when they were asked to go home after months…

The United Nations and the European Union are ready to mobilise more support and resources to help Nigerian troops "defeat and eliminate" Boko Haram terrorists, UN special representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohammed Ibn-Chambas, said. Mr Ibn-Chambas who led a UN/EU joint delegation to Borno…

It was a sad day for many residents of Damaturu, Yobe State capital, after a military truck driving at a high speed crushed a taxi tricycle killing two passengers on Sunday. One of the victims was Hussaina Baffa-Bello, 19-year-old female student of Federal Polytechnic, Damaturu. Witnesses said the armored gun…

The Yobe State House of Assembly on Thursday confirmed Governor Mai-Mala Buni's nomination of Abdullahi Bego as a commissioner in his would-be cabinet. The former Northeast Bureau Chief of Daily Trust was screened alongside 19 other nominees, including a former senator, Alkali Jajere, also an ex-journalist with Yobe TV. Mr…

About 1.2 million civilians are trapped and have been denied access to humanitarian aid and services in two local government areas now largely under the control of Boko Haram, Edward Kallon, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, said. Mr Kallon also revealed that humanitarian workers have, in the past 18 months,…

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, has blamed the failure to end the Boko Haram war on "poor management" of strategy on the part of the military and other international humanitarian agencies working in North-east Nigeria. Mrs Umar-Farouq said this at the opening of a 3-days…

The existence of ghost workers in Bauchi civil service is not only crippling the system but denying thousands of unemployed graduates the opportunity to gain employment, the state governor, Bala Mohammed, has said. Mr Mohammed, a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, said his new government inherited an over-bloated…

The Nigerian government on Wednesday eased its ban on the operations of two international non-governmental organisations weeks after the military shut down their operations in the country's North-east region. Last month, soldiers sealed off offices of the Mercy Corps and Action Against Hunger following an allegation that they were "aiding…

Jummai Tafawa Balewa, the last surviving wife of Nigeria's first and only prime minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was buried today in her home town in Bauchi following her death Sunday. Mrs Balewa, 85, died at a Lagos hospital. Mr Balewa was assassinated in 1966. Her body were flown to Bauchi…

Nigerian federal university workers on Monday again said they would automatically go on strike in November if the government carries out its threat to withhold their October salary for refusing to enrol in a 'new' payment system. The federal government and the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) are locking…

At least 140,000 persons have been displaced by the resurgence of Boko Haram activity this year in Borno State, the United Nations Undersecretary-General, Mark Lowcock, has said. Mr Lowcock, who coordinates UN's Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, visited Nigeria this week on an official visit that took him to Maiduguri,…

The United Nations has reopened its building in Abuja, eight years after the property was destroyed in an attack by a Boko Haram suicide bomber. The Nigerian government undertook the rebuilding of the property and handed it over to UN officials on Thursday. On August 21, 2011, a car filled…

The Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, is currently holding a retreat with his cabinet members in Damasak, the headquarters of Mobbar Local Government Area. Damasak is one of the communities in Borno State that became virtually empty after repeated attacks by Boko Haram. The town, one of the largest…

A local female 'activist', Kellu Haruna, who spent the last five years fighting for the release of her husband and other men detained by the Nigerian military as suspected members of Boko Haram, has died. She died after suffering a heart disease complication. Mrs Haruna gained media attention after she…

The Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, on Sunday broke his longtime silence to speak on the Borno governor's recent call on insurgents to lay down their arms and embrace government's amnesty programme. In an 18 minutes audio message, Mr Shekau, who spoke in his native Kanuri language and in Hausa,…

The major factor that hinders the Nigerian army from defeating Boko Haram is the lack of an "army aviation," the man who heads the army's operations against the terror group said. Olusegun Adeniyi, who is the Theater Commander of the army's Operation Lafiya Dole, said this when he received a…

The National Assembly joint committee on the army on Thursday, in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, expressed satisfaction with troops' ongoing fight against Boko Haram. The committee's visit to Borno comes at a time soldiers are being killed during attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents. The NASS committee, led by…

The Borno State government has begun a new round of recruitment of local hunters to join the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency that entered its eleventh year in July. Governor Babagana Zulum said he was seeking alternative approaches to ending the long-running conflict. Sources in the state government and…

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State on Friday signed an agreement with 30 Saudi-based clerics who are residing in the city of Makka, the seat of Islam's holiest mosque, to endlessly pray for the return of peace in Borno, a government statement said. The governor, who has been in Saudi…

Borno State government's recent demolition of illegal hotels and alcohol joints around Maiduguri, the state capital, was done in response to intelligence that such outfits have become security threats, the state attorney General, Kaka-Shehu Lawan, has said. Mr Lawan, who is also the Commissioner for Justice said about 20 brothels,…

The military says it has freed and handed over 25 children, who were earlier arrested in connection with Boko Haram activities, to the Borno State government. The children, comprising 23 males and two females, were arrested during different military raids on Boko Haram hideouts. The children have been absolved of…

The Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, on Sunday approved the release of N825 million to clear 50 per cent of arrears of gratuities to 1000 retired civil servants, a government statement said. The approval is the second of such payments to retirees since the state government and workers' union…

At least 50 children are diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition every day at various communities and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in conflict-ravaged Borno State, health officials have said. After the 2016 malnutrition crisis in Bama where over 500 children under the age of five were treated for malnutrition,…