President Buhari has said that he is taken aback by the level of insecurity in the North-West and other parts of the country, directing security operatives to go harder on the perpetrators.

He also described banditry as “one evil plan against the country”.

The President spoke in Abuja when he received a delegation of Eminent and Respected Citizens of Niger State at the Presidential Villa led by Governor Abubakar Bello.

He said before elections, everyone knew about Boko Haram, but admitted that today; banditry had become a serious problem.

The visit came barely 24 hours after he ordered the Nigerian Air Force to bomb the bandits operating in Niger, Kaduna and Zamfara states.

According to the President, failure to secure the country will make it difficult to manage the economy.

Besides fears that farmers were unable to go to their farms for fear of attacks, President Buhari urged Nigerians to stick to farming as the surest way to contain poverty and diversify the economy.

 

The father of the abducted Dapchi School girl, Leah Sharibu, has been reacting to the news that his daughter has given birth to a baby and has been married off to a commander of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

 

Mr. Nathan Sharibu said his primary concern is to see his daughter return alive and will, therefore, not gives any credence to any rumours.

News that she had given birth, as well as her alleged marriage to a Boko Haram commander, started making the rounds after Journalist, Ahmad Sakilda, who is believed to have access to the insurgents announced in a tweet that the abducted schoolgirl is now a mother.

 

Leah was abducted from her school, Science Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018, along with over 100 other schoolgirls.

 

Although others were later released, she was held back on the grounds of refusing to denounce her religion – Christianity.

 

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has said that 29 deaths and 195 confirmed cases of Lassa fever have been reported in 11 states.

 

Director-General, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, explained that the current figures were as of Friday, January 24.

 

Ihekweazu said out of the confirmed cases, 89 per cent were from Ondo, Edo and Ebonyi states.

 

The NCDC boss said that the increased number of cases at this time of the year was not unusual due to ecological factors.

 

According to the report, 398 suspected cases were reported out of which 163 cases were confirmed while 235 cases were found to be negative.

 

In total, at least one confirmed case was recorded across 32 Local Government Areas in nine states.

 

Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire speaks on the disease during a condolence visit to the families of doctors killed by LASSA fever.

 

Two female suicide bombers have attacked a mosque in Gwoza, Borno state, killing a 12-year-old boy and injuring thirteen others.

 

It was gathered that the female bombers tried to force their way into the mosque during the early morning prayers before some persons in the neighborhood raised an alarm.

 

Some residents suspect that the suicide bombers might have infiltrated the town during a wedding which held at the palace of the Emir of Gwoza on Saturday.

 

Police authorities in the state say the area has been cordoned off while soldiers from 192 Battalion have been deployed there.

 

Borno state has been the worst hit in the resurgence of Boko haram attacks in the Northeast dates back to 2009.