by Oge Okonkwo

Military discovers weapons hidden in Borno church

The arrest of a suspected terrorist has led to the discovery of a large cache of arms and ammunition hidden in the premises of a burnt church in Kalabalge Local Government Area of Borno State.

The suspect claims to be a Cameroonian and an arms courier for the group.

A statement by the spokesman for the Military, major General Chris Olukolade, said that the weapons, which were recovered by troops include, anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled guns as well as the general purpose and other brands of machine guns. They were found buried in the premises of one of the churches earlier burnt by terrorists.

“Also recovered from the location were thousands of various calibres of rounds of ammunition and links.The middle aged man who led troops on the cordon and search operation was one of the terrorists captured in recent raids,” the statement read.

The suspect also disclosed that the weapons were stockpiled to be used in a pending attack on some communities around Nigeria-Cameroon border.

The weapons have all been evacuated while Guard locations and patrols are being maintained in the general area and the surrounding localities.

Meanwhile, troops have continued with various operations assigned to the formations involved in the counter terrorist campaign.

They carried out thorough search for terrorists in caves of a particular mountain captured overnight, where they believed some terrorists had fled to in the wake of the ongoing offensive on various terrorist enclaves.

Arms are also the object of the cordon & search.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Kenneth Minima, has been checking on deployment & troops disposition in various locations of the theatre of the counter terrorist campaign in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.

The army chief, who is in company of his Airforce counterpart, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, also visited troops, who were wounded in the course of the operation so far, in the Military Hospital in Maiduguri.

The commander of the Hospital, Brig General Okeke, assured the Chiefs that most of the wounded soldiers were in stable condition that some, who had recovered very well, had expressed their desire to re-join their units & colleagues in the operation.

Lt Gen Minima, however, directed that the hospital should not hesitate let him know the requirement for any case requiring referral or further treatment anywhere.The service chiefs are also undertaking a comprehensive air surveillance of the entire mission area in addition to the direct inspection of some key locations where operations are being conducted.

They told reporters in Maiduguri  that they were satisfied  with the state & performance of the deployment so far, noting that substantial expectations of the counter-terrorist campaign was being achieved.

Senate president Mark may be looking for Moro’s replacement

There may be indications that Senate president, David Mark is looking for a replacement for the embattled Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, following the tragic outcome of the Nigeria immigration Service recruitment exercise which held nationwide.

There have a call for the sack of Mr. Moro after the fatal stampede which occurred claimed over 20 lives leaving many others injured.

According to reports, the senate president is believed to have influenced the appointment of Moro as interior ministerand is now under intense pressure to allow President Jonathan sack the embattled minister.

Another indication why Mark may call for the sack or Moro is that the interior minister is believed to be nursing a senatorial ambition which the senate president is opposed to.

Crisis hits Nigeria’s national confab as NBA pulls out

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has pulled out of Nigeria’s National Conference on Thursday.

The conference which started on Monday following an inauguration by Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan has been trailed with credibility crisis.

Speaking in Abuja, president of the NBA Okey Wali said the association decided to carry out its threat over what he described as the government’s “great disservice to the body, which would deny the country the necessary impact from a foremost sector in matters of constitutionality.”

Wali said :“We wrote to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ayim Pius Ayim, in reply to the letter we received and said we thought the NBA should play much bigger role than just a slot.

“This is not about self-glorification because we are talking about constitutional matters and that is where we possess the expertise to add value to the process.

“With just one person representing the NBA, it will not make the needed impact that we wished to make and if we can’t, that means, we are sorry, we are unable to accept it and we just wish them well.’’

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