National
Why we must constantly review counter-insurgency operations in N/W – COAS
The Nigerian Army will continue to review its operations to be able to reinvigorate ongoing operations against non-state actors.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, said this at the opening of a three-day Retreat for Past and Present Commanders of Nigerian Army Operations in North West, on Monday in Abuja.
The retreat with the theme, “Reappraising the Nigerian Army’s Approach to Tackling Insecurity in the North West,” was held at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) Abuja.
The COAS was represented by the Chief of Operations, Maj.-Gen. Benson Sinjen.
Lagbaja said the security situation in the North West was made complex by activities of non-state actors who engage in banditry, kidnappings, cattle rustling, illegal mining and violent attacks on innocent citizens.
These activities, he said had led to destruction of lives, properties and means of livelihoods.
According to him, activities of these non-state actors have continued to impact the security environment across the country, in spite of unrelenting efforts to curb the trend by the army, sister services and other security agencies.
The COAS said that surmounting insecurity in the North West region needed periodic review of the situation with a view to truly understand the generality and specifics for seamless planning and executing of operations.
The threats, according to him, are always fluid and evolving, thus requiring them to quickly adapt to be at least a step ahead of the adversary.
Lagbaja said the retreat would provide opportunity for operational and tactical level commanders to be step away from their normal routines in the field and theatres of operations.
This, he said would also review their past and present performances with a view to reinvigorating future operations.
He added that the retreat would allow time for introspection, which will not only stimulate new perspectives and creative thinking, but also facilitate problem solving.
“It will also provide a veritable opportunity for reviewing our efforts at appropriate levels and boosting troops’ morale.
“The retreat will also give impetus to operational efficiency in the pursuit of the pillars of Nigerian Army Mission Statement and my Command Philosophy,” he said.
Lagbaja thanked President Bola Tinubu for his unwavering support to the army, pledging to execute his priority of securing the nation within the shortest time possible.
He also commended the troops for their perseverance, patriotism and sacrifice as well those who paid the supreme prize for the country.
The Director General, NARC, retired Maj.-Gen. Garba Wahab, said that any operation that lasts beyond six months was subject to a review or after action review, adding that the North West operation had lasted for years.
Wahab said there was a need to bring both the past and present commanders of the operations to come together to proffer strong and profound solutions to the issue of operations, administration, logistics and intelligence collaboration.
He said that the centre believed that bringing the commanders together would assist in getting new ideas and solutions towards creating an enabling environment in the area.
According to him, the military cannot solve the problem completely, but it should provide enabling environment for other activities to take place. (NAN)
With Pope Francis’s death, the immediate running of the Vatican is now in the hands of one cardinal, Dublin-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
Known as the Camerlengo, and appointed by the pope, it is he who will lead meetings to determine the date of Francis’s funeral, and supervise other organisational tasks, culminating in the Conclave to elect the next pope.
On Monday evening, Farrell was due to preside over the rite that would see Francis’s body placed in his coffin in the chapel of the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, where the pope had resided, and died.
Earlier on Monday, it was Farrell who announced to the world the death of the 88-year-old pope.
“This morning at 7:35 am (0535 GMT) the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father.
“His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his church,” said Farrell, speaking from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.
Farrell, 77, who has dual American and Irish citizenship, has served as Camerlengo since February 2019.
Known for his sense of humour and for speaking Spanish with an Irish brogue, the cardinal — who once was chaplain at Mexico’s University of Monterrey — now serves as the prefect for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
He was asked by Francis in 2016 to head the newly created dicastery combining the functions of two previous ones, and moved to Rome for his first Vatican posting.
He was made a cardinal by Francis that same year.
Since January 2024, Farrell has been president of the Vatican City State Supreme Court.
Earlier, he spent the bulk of his priesthood in the United States, nearly 30 years in the Washington DC area and nine years in Dallas.
In a 2016 interview in The Irish Times, Farrell explained how when his secretary in Dallas told him that Pope Francis was on the phone to tell him he would be made a cardinal, he told her, “Like hell he is”.
“I kept saying to her, ‘No, that is one of my bishop friends, just messing.’”
In his role of temporarily managing the Holy See, Farrell will be helped by three cardinals.
As Camerlengo, he has the right to ask all the Vatican departments for budget reports, economic information and details on other ongoing affairs.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has refuted reports of an alleged bomb explosion at the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Maiduguri, describing the claim as “false and misleading.”
In a statement dated 21st April 2025, signed by the Service’s Public Relations Officer, Deputy Controller of Corrections, Umar Abubakar, the NCoS clarified that there was no security breach at the facility or any other custodial centre across the country.
“The attention of the Nigerian Correctional Service has been drawn to an online report of a purported bomb explosion in Maiduguri Custodial Centre.
“This report is not true and is highly misleading, as the situation at the custodial centre remains calm and stable. Inmates are continuing their rehabilitation programmes without disruption. The fake report should be disregarded,” the statement read.
The NCoS’s rebuttal follows earlier reports, not from Channels Television, that an explosion occurred at the Maximum Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Maiduguri around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, 20th April, 2025.
The blast was said to have sparked a fire in the solitary confinement cell of Charles Okah, a high-profile inmate.
Accounts from within the facility had alleged that an object, possibly an explosive device, was thrown into Okah’s cell through the window bars, with smoke reportedly seen rising from the area shortly afterwards.
Okah, who has been in solitary confinement since 16th March 2025, was allegedly heard coughing and shouting for help as the cell filled with smoke.
Further reports pointed out that due to strict prison procedures, it would take time and approvals to open a cell at night, potentially delaying rescue efforts.
The incident rebuttal comes shortly after Okah authored an open letter to Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi-Ojo, alleging systemic corruption within the Maiduguri custodial centres.
Okah is currently serving a life sentence over his role in the 1st October 2010 Independence Day bombing near Eagle Square, Abuja, and a separate bombing in Warri, Delta State, on 15 March 2010.
As of press time, no independent verification of the explosion has been made, and authorities maintain that the facility remains secure.
Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effionge, on Monday, said over N10 million has so far been raised to support the 17-year-old minor, Quadri Alabi, who went viral during campaigns for the 2023 general elections when he stood in front of the convoy of a former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Effiong spoke when he appeared on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“I can confirm to you that as of this morning, we’ve raised over N10 million in barely four days for Quadri. It re-energises our hope in the Nigerian spirit. Within the first two hours, we had raised over N3 million.
“In 2023, the donation that was given to him wasn’t even close to this, and you saw what they (the area boys) did to him,” he said.
The lawyer disclosed that the teenager and his family had been moved to a safe area, while efforts were underway to provide them with accommodation.
He said, “We’ve completely taken them out of that community; we’ve put them where it is safe. We’re working on getting fresh accommodation in a different place.
“The mother is a petty trader; she needs some financial support to stabilise, so part of that money will go to that, and then we may have to decide on whether to put the rest in a deposit for him, because the money was first for him.
“The point is to ensure that he is rehabilitated and he doesn’t go back to a place that will make him vulnerable to that kind of attack; that is the least we owe Quadri.”
The Magistrates’ Court in Apapa on April 17 freed the minor following the legal advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dr Babajide Martins.
The magistrate confirmed that the legal advice issued by the DPP showed that there was no evidence to substantiate the allegation of armed robbery against Quadri.
In his legal advice, the DPP recommended the non-prosecution of Quadri and another defendant, one Muiz Animashaun.
Quadri and Animashaun were standing trial alongside three others for the offence of armed robbery.
Alabi Quadri went viral for standing in front of the convoy of the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Effiong, who is counsel for Quadri, had called on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, and the Inspector General of Police, to subject to an orderly room trial the DPO of Amukoko Divisional Headquarters and other officers who participated in what he called the “corrupt scheme of framing-up a teenager for armed robbery at the behest of rogue ‘Area Boys’”.
The lawyer also demanded the sum of N100m as compensation to his client, whom he said had been detained since January, 2025.
The police had explained that Quadri was arrested and charged in court after being linked to a violent street fight in the Amukoko area of Lagos earlier this year, but the minor’s counsel dismissed the allegation as mischief.
“Are the police saying that they know his age better than his mother? It is just an act of mischief. The statement of the police is embarrassing; it is despicable. They should tell the police what is going on,” Effiong added.