The troops deployed to flush out Boko Haram insurgents from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, yesterday, encountered intense resistance from sect members who were armed with sophisticated weapons from Libya

The curfew imposed on Yobe and Borno states were relaxed, yesterday, just as the military made progress in the campaign against the Boko Haram insurgency in the two states.

Indications emerged, last night, that President Goodluck Jonathan might have concluded plans to offload four ministers from his cabinet in a reshuffle that is about to take place this month.

The military, yesterday, extended the curfew in some parts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, to 24 hours, in continuation of the emergency rule imposed on the state alongside Yobe and Adamawa States, on Tuesday, to curb Boko Haram insurgent activities.
The curfew extension came on a day President Goodluck Jonathan told the insurgents to surrender and embrace the amnesty proposed for them by the Federal Government.

Troops yesterday used jets and attack helicopters to bombard Boko Haram Islamic camps in Sambisa Game Reserve, in Borno State, which is one of their strongholds killing a number of the insurgents. The Sambisa Camps are believed to be harbouring their training and enrolment base.

Following the declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan last Tuesday, and the deployment of over 3000 troops and Counter Terrorists Squad (CTS) within 24 hours of the declaration, the military, yesterday, launched air and ground offensive in the thick forests of Sambisa, Borno State, an area which the Boko Haram sect was reported to have used as a recruiting and training base.

Troops, yesterday, moved into Yola, Adamawa State capital and Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a State of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in response to Boko Haram insurgency which has claimed several lives and destroyed many property.

President Goodluck Jonathan, last night, declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states with an order to the military high command to use extra-ordinary measures to quell the insurgency that has bedeviled the states.

Following the massacre of Police officers and officers of the Department of State Service, DSS, in Alakyo village, near Lafia in Nasarawa State, 103 widows of the slain officers were, yesterday, given N2m compensation each by the State government and Police authorities.

Robust support came for President Goodluck Jonathan from South-South and South-East governors, who yesterday, gave a strong endorsement of his leadership and charged him to confront terror wherever it may be found in the land.

Northern elders have pointedly said President Goodluck Jonathan will not be re-elected in 2015.

They, therefore, said a segment of the Niger Delta people, particularly erstwhile militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who said there would be war in Nigeria if their kinsman, Jonathan, is not re-elected, may start their action now.

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met with heads of all the security agencies in the country to review the murder of over 80 policemen in Nasarawa and Bama in Borno states between last Monday and Tuesday.

The Nasarawa State Police Command has said that only 17 out of the 90 Police officers, excluding other security officers, who were on a mission to arrest the chief priest of Ombatse Shrine, located at Assakyo village, about 10 kilometres from Lafia, the state capital, returned so far with various degrees of wounds.

Northern Elders Forum (NEF), yesterday, examined the rift between President Jonathan and governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, and passed a verdict on the matter: Jonathan should concentrate on the enormous task of solving Nigeria’s problems and stop dissipating energy on needless war with governors.

Boko Haram militants, yesterday, launched series of coordinated attacks on Police, Army and Prison formations in Bama town, Borno State, leaving no fewer thatn 55 persons dead.