Nigerian Army Captures Boko Haram Armoury, Kills 10

The Defence Headquarters on Saturday said Special Forces captured a massive armoury with arms and ammunition in one of the camps of Boko Haram insurgents near Lake Chad.

This was contained in an electronic mail sent to journalists on Saturday by the Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen Chris Olukolade.

Olukolade said the Special Forces captured the large cache of arms and ammunition from a dump in one of the camps of the insurgents on Friday night.

He said the arms and ammunition were still being evacuated from the site where several of the insurgents were said to have died during the raid.

Missing Malaysia Jet Suspect 'Not Terrorist'

One of two men who used false passports to board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight was an Iranian asylum seeker and not believed to belong to a terrorist group, say police.

It came as search and rescue teams expanded their search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to include a vast area on the west peninsula of Malaysia at the Straits of Malacca.

Malaysian police have said that one of the two men was an 19-year-old Iranian asylum seeker trying to reach Germany.

The identity of the other man continues to be investigated.

Boko Haram Attack Maiduguri Airport

There are indications that the Boko Haram has attacked the Maiduguri Airport in Borno State. The attack, according to unconfirmed reports has recorded several casualties as Suspected Boko Haram terrorists, Monday morning, attacked the Composite Group Air force Base and other places in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

The siege which started at about 3am shook the town as sporadic gunshots and other Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers fire were heard, with ensuing airstrikes in Maiduguri and Jere metropolis till 8 am.

Sources said during the attacks on the Air force Base and other targets, including the Maiduguri International Airport, several people were killed as the terrorists, numbering over 300-planted explosives in targeted areas in the state capital.

SSS Parades Lecturer, Four Others for Terrorism

The State Security Service (SSS) on Wednesday in Abuja paraded an assistant lecturer in Arabic and Islamic studies at the Kogi State University, Ayingba, Muhammad Yunus, for recruiting and coordinating a Boko Haram terror cell in Kogi State.

The service said Yunus, who is the spiritual leader, runs a terror group which comprised Umar Musa, head of operations/ instructor; Mustapha Yusuf (aka Habib); armourer/chief courier, Ismaila Abdulazeez, a foot soldier; and Ibrahim Isah (a.k.a one in town), who is also a foot soldier.

SSS Deputy Director, Media and Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar, while briefing newsmen, explained that the terror cell planned to launch attacks in Kogi State before they were apprehended.

Kenya Mall Terror: Caught on CCTV, The Horrific Moment Al Shabaab Gunman Took Aim at Hostages

This is the horrifying moment one of the terrorists in the Kenyan shopping centre attack levelled his gun at cowering hostages, ready to execute them.

The attacker, wearing a camouflage jacket and facemask, points a handgun at customers in a bank as they lie under a counter with their hands around their heads. 

The CCTV pictures were taken inside the Diamond Trust Bank on the ground floor of the Westgate shopping mall in the early stages of the hostage crisis.

Another picture shows three fighters brandishing rifles at the entrance to the shopping centre, one of them apparently wearing  a traditional Islamic robe and pointing at a figure cowering  in the corner.

Abuja Court Strikes Out Terrorism Charges Against Amigo Supermarket Owner, Other Lebanese Supects

An Abuja court has struck out a case of illegal arms importation filed against the co-owner of Amigo Supermarket, Mustapha Fawaz, and three other Lebanese, Channels Television is reporting.

Magistrate Muyiwa Oyeyipo of the Chief Magistrate Court in Karu, an Abuja suburb, stuck out the suit following an application by the prosecutor, Cliff Osagie.

Mr. Fawaz, Talal Roda, Abdulla Tahini, and Kossay Nourdin were charged for terrorism and alleged importation of firearms. The Department of State Security Service, SSS, and the Nigerian Army said they found several arms and ammunition including anti-tank guns in buildings belonging to the Lebanese in Kano. Amigo and Wonderland Amusement Park in Abuja, also owned by Mr. Fawaz, have since been sealed.

Boko Haram Armoury Captured

Special Forces in the ongoing military offensive against Boko Haram in the North have captured the sect’s armoury keeper and recruitment kingpin among 54 other insurgents.

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), in its mission update signed by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig-General Chris Olukolade, yesterday in Abuja, disclosed that the armoury keeper and five Nigeriens were arrested Wednesday in Maiduguri, Borno State. The other 49 insurgents were apprehended in Yobe State as at last weekend.

Also, the key terrorist, who specialized in recruiting youths and other terrorists were seized by troops following a tip-off.  A huge cache of deadly weapons of mass destruction was recovered by troops from the suspects, both in Borno and Yobe states. “The same individual who also watches over the insurgents’ armoury was arrested in one of the cordon-and-search operations by the Special Forces.

Goodluck Jonathan Officially Declares Boko Haram a Terrorist Organisation

President Goodluck Jonathan has formally approved the proscription of Boko Haram and authorized the gazetting of an order declaring the group’s activities as acts of terrorism.

The order, which has been gazetted as the Terrorism (Prevention) (Proscription Order) Notice 2013, affects both Boko Haram (Jamaatu Ahlis-Sunna Liddaawati Wal Jihad) and Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan (Ansaru). The order was approved by President Jonathan pursuant to section 2 0f the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 (As Amended).

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Rueben Abati, said this “officially brings the activities of both groups within the purview of the Terrorism Prevention Act and any persons associated with the two groups can now be legally prosecuted and sentenced to penalties specified in the Act”.

Nigerian Security Agents Seal Off Amigo Supermarket Over Owner’s Alleged Link To Terrorism

Stern looking Soldiers, Policemen and agents of the Department of State Security (SSS) sealed the popular Amigo Supermarket in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It was learnt that the fully kitted team of security personnel stormed the ever-busy supermarket and ordered both customers – who were still shopping and staffers out of the expansive building located on Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2 Abuja.

The move is not unconnected with the discovery of a large cache of arms and ammunitions in Kano by Nigerian security forces in which the owner of the supermarket, Fauzi Fawad, who is now at large, was fingered as a member of a Hezbollah cell in the state.

Boko Haram Crisis: We're Paid N5,000 each to Burn Schools – Kid Suspects

Punch is Reporting that Some kid suspects released by military authorities in Maiduguri on Friday said the Boko Haram sect paid them N5,000 each to burn primary schools and spy on soldiers. They were among 23 women and 35 children released to the governors of Borno and Yobe states by the Commander, 21 Armoured Brigade, Maiduguri, Brig-Gen. R.O Bamigboye, on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sa’ad Ibrahim.

The children, whose ages range between nine and 15 years, said they were given kegs of petrol by Boko Haram leaders and sent to burn schools in both states.

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, government officials and journalists listened in bewilderment as the children narrated how the extremist sect to burn schools and spy on soldiers used them. One of them said they were taken to the Yobe State capital, Damaturu, and told to spy on soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force and report back to the Boko Haram commanders.

Owner of Abuja’s Wonderland Amusement Park, Amigo Supermarket linked to Terrorism Act

Nigerian security agencies have linked a co-owner of two major ongoing businesses in the nation’s capital as a ringleader in a major terrorist operation in the country.

In a statement by the spokesman of the Joint Task Force in Kano, Ikedichi Iweha, Fauzi Fawad, the co-owner of Amigo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park, was named as a member of a Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist cell in Nigeria.

Wonderland is Abuja’s biggest and most popular amusement park, while Amigo is one of the largest supermarkets in the Nigerian capital.

The JTF said Mr. Fawad’s name was mentioned by “all those arrested,” for being in possession of heavy weapons, and other terrorism related activities.

Mr. Fawad is now on the run, the JTF said. It arrested three Lebanese suspected of owning the large cache of arms recovered at a bunker in the city. More after the cut: