MAIDUGURI—Twenty four hours after Boko Haram insurgents attacked Bama town in Borno state, the sect members yesterday, in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles took over another border town of Banki, after killing unconfirmed number of residents, as others fled to Cameroon.

In a remote part of India, young Mangli Munda is marrying a stray dog to fight off evil spirits that her family believes she has.

President Barack Obama urged a broad front against the Islamic State as NATO leaders gathered in Wales Thursday with Britain and France weighing joining US air strikes in Iraq.

Owerri—Christ mothers from Mgbishii, a sleepy rural community in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area in Imo State, have cried out to the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Dr. Anthony Obinna, over alleged attrocities being committed by their sons and daughers in the area.

South Sudanese rights groups demanded Thursday an international arms embargo for their conflict-wracked nation, as millions of dollars worth of newly-bought weapons fuel an almost nine-month long civil war.

A Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial district in Ogun State, Gbenga Obadara, yesterday, explained why former governor of the state, Chief Segun Osoba, must not forgive governor Ibikunle Amosun.

THE Senate President, David Mark, yesterday, said that the defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was a big plus and would be celebrated by the leadership of the party.

Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, will next month commence the evacuation of petroleum products from tank farms and oil depots located in Apapa, Lagos by rail.

ABUJA—NATIONAL leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP yesterday alleged that National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the leadership of the party and the party structure were frustrating efforts by the Federal Government to contain the lingering cases of Boko Haram insurgency with many killed regularly and property worth millions of naira destroyed.

THE Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Adamu, has blamed the worsening insecurity in the country on lack of employment and respect for core societal values, lamenting that the Federal Government is not doing enough to address the challenge.

Mr Austine Alegeh, SAN, assumed office as the 27th President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, last week Friday, at the just concluded annual conference of the association, which took place in Owerri, Imo State.
Following his swearing in, he noted the challenges facing the Bar, but promised members to reform the association. He also outlined some areas his two years administration proposes to address, with the permission of the National Executive Committee, NEC and general members.

Lagos—Dangote Cement Plc, yesterday, predicted sharp drop in local cement prices by 300 percent from next month.

A few days after President Goodluck Jonathan directed that printing of all security documents in the country be handled by the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company, NSPMC Plc, a joint management team of the firm and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday, requested for collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, towards the printing and transportation of sensitive materials for next year’s poll.

WOMEN from the Niger Delta, have warned that those advocating the declaration of full-blown war by President Goodluck Jonathan in the search for abducted school girls from Chibok, Borno State are mischief makers, who want a massacre that will tarnish the image of the president ahead of the 2015 presidential election.

The World Economic Forum, WEF, yesterday released the 2015 Global Competitiveness Index, GCI rankings, in which Nigeria ranked 127 of the 144 countries assessed.