Gist Arena

The video posted online purportedly shows gunmen shooting civilians, lying face down in a dormitory.  The massacre took place in the town of Bama. The footage shows a militant leader threatening to massacre who he called infidels in all future attacks and arrests. He described killing, slaughtering, destruction and bombing as the group's religious duty. Just two days ago, Boko Haram killed dozens of men and kidnapped scores of women and children in an attack in the restive northeast. Watch It HERE

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] has described a former Head of State and flag-bearer of the opposition All Progressives Congress [APC], Muhammadu Buhari, as a “semi-literate jackboot”. Speaking at the national secretariat of the PDP, Monday, the national secretary of the party, Wale Oladipo, while receiving a delegation of PDP members from Diaspora, said the PDP has beaten Mr. Buhari three times in past elections and would do so again in 2015. He said the presidential election slated for February 14, 2015 would be between “darkness and light; between a cosmopolitan highly focused PhD holder and a semi-literate jackboot.” Mr. Oladipo said the election would be for a man that believed in integrating the economy of Nigeria into the world economic order and the reformation of the power sector to meet the aspiration of Nigeria’s industrial development. Mr. Oladipo asked the delegation to enlighten Nigerians on the programmes of the PDP wherever they were in th...

A bomb explosion has occurred at a market in Bauchi State, hours after a blast killed nearly 20 people in Gombe State. Details of the latest attack are sketchy, but one witness said the blast occurred at about 5:30 p.m. as traders were preparing to close for the day. Witnesses said the explosion occurred near a police outpost inside the market. The police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed, confirmed the attack but said he had no details yet. Some witnesses said at least 15 people were killed in the attack. The blast came hours after another explosion killed 19 people in neighbouring Gombe State. Police said the Gombe attack occurred at a crowded bus station, and that 25 people were injured. A similar attack occurred in Gombe October 31 killing 23 people. More details later.

A former Chief of Army Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, has instituted a suit at the Abuja High Court against the Australian hostage negotiator, Stephen Davies, who accused him of sponsoring Boko Haram insurgency in the North East Nigeria. In the suit filed by his team of lawyers, Nnoruka Udechukwu, C.U. Ilegbune, and Ben Anechebe, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Ihejirika is demanding N100 billion as aggravated damages for defamation. Mr. Davies had in August accused the retired general, a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, an unnamed senior official of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as well as a man based in Cairo, Egypt, of being among the top sponsors of the Islamic insurgents. The former army chief has denied the allegation. Mr. Ihejirika, who retired military service in January, said that as a result of the allegation, “he has suffered ‎grievous wrong and he has been exposed to scandal, odium, ridicule, humiliation and his character, cre...

As is well known, available figures, statistics and ratings show that the Nigerian economy has consistently maintained an unprecedented growth rate of 6-7 per cent under the Jonathan administration. They also show that the Nigerian economy is now the leading economy in Africa and the 26 th  largest in the world, with a gross domestic product of over $500 billion per annum. Statistical indicators are like a woman’s bikini, they hide or mask the most important details, while revealing what, to a casual observer, seem like a whole lot. Take for example real economic growth rate: a measure of how much the economy grew, in real terms. Real growth rate is essentially a  quantitative measure. While it measures the total goods and services produced in a given year, it does not say anything about how the quality of life has changed, and whether or not available resources were used transparently and beneficially. As a result, economists have come to the conclusion that ...

The gale of court-martialling sweeping through the Nigerian army as it struggles to rev up its war against Boko Haram extremists, seems to have reached the officers’ cadre as a brigadier-general and 14 other top officers are billed to face a military tribunal today, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt. Senior military sources, who asked not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that the trial of the officers would be held at the Ikeja Military Cantonment, Lagos. It is not clear what the officers are being charged for as they are yet to be formally arraigned but our sources say it might be related to negligence in the army’s campaign against the terrorist group Boko Haram in the North East of the country. The court-martial of these top officers marks a shift from recent trials in the military that have primarily involved non-commissioned officers. Last Wednesday, 54 soldiers from the 111 Special Forces battalion attached to the 7 division of the army were found guilty of mutiny and ...

The Synagogue Church building which collapsed in September killing more than 115 people was caused by “weaponized infra sound”, a coroner court heard Monday. Biedomo Igunuwei, a chemist, who said he has conducted independent research into the incident, said that the “plane-like object” that flew over the church on September 12 fired an “infrasonic weapon” – a low sound radiation used as a weapon to cause structural damage and destruction to objects – that caused the building to crumble. “Having analysed the video evidence and interviewing the survivors of the collapsed building and observing the site of the collapsed, I came to the conclusion that the building collapsed as a result of infrasonic weapon probably fired from a flying object or a stationary location on the ground,” said Mr. Igunuwei, who described himself as an expert in weapons and explosives research. “This infrasonic weapon employs its vibrational characteristics to induce a high intensity destructive...

A bombing at a bus station in Gombe city killed at least 20 people on Monday, the latest violence in the region repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram, the Red Cross said. As the country is set to hold a general election on February 14, but relentless bloodshed has raised security concerns ahead of the poll, with some warning that voting may be impossible in large parts of the northeast. “There was an explosion at the Dukku motor park. The Red Cross mobilised with 20 body bags and they have all been exhausted,” said Abubakar Yakubu Gombe, area secretary for the Red Cross. “We are still looking for more bodies among the carnage,” he told AFP, adding that another 18 people with “serious” injuries had been taken to hospital. The bomb was planted near a bus that was filling up with passengers, said Mato Yakubu of the National Orientation Agency, a government body responsible for the media. He said the blast occurred at 10:50 am (0950 GMT) at the station on the...

A statement from the Nigerian Police below... On December 16th at about 9:10am, military personnel on Stop and Search along Potiskum Road by Ashaka/Bajoga Junction intercepted one Honda Odyssey vehicle with registration number AT 670 DKA (Yobe) driven by a man later identified as Nuru Fika. The driver who claimed that the car was faulty requested the security personnel to assist him in pushing the car. But the driver was requested to open the booth for searching which he refused. The booth was forced opened and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) were discovered there in. The driver took to flight but was arrested after sustaining gunshot wound, he was pronounced dead at the Hospital. Police EOD team moved to the scene where ten (10) cylinders were recovered from different compartments of the vehicle, all recovered IEDs were safely detonated. State CID Gombe is investigating.

Charly Boy  has opened up on the situation in the country and how hopeless it all seems in a piece he titles "You". The "Area Fada" talks about how the many creative, progressive and hardworking Nigerians are ruled by a few riffraffs, scumbags, fraudsters and scavengers. He also says the 2015 elections hold no hope. Read the full article below: My personal person, personally I know what you are going through this season, these are crazy times, and most of us are about to snap, life is really unpredictable with its twisted sense of humour. I dey feel you die my guy, I understand your pain, your hopelessness in an environment that has promised so much but have given so little. With this mass unemployment, consistent frustration and stagnation, coupled with the anticipation of who will lead you in 2015, how can you break this jinx you ask?  I represent you all in this wilderness in the middle of nowhere. I know the frustration you face in trying ...

A court here jailed cleaners Monday over the sexual abuse of a young boy at one of Indonesia's most prestigious international schools, in a scandal that has rocked Jakarta's expatriate community.  In separate hearings, judges told the South Jakarta district court that four male cleaners - Agun Iskandar, Virgiawan Amin, Zainal Abidin, and Syahrial, who goes by one name - were "proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing sexual abuse and violence on minors". They were each sentenced to eight years in jail and a fine of 100 million rupiah ($8,000). Afrischa Setyani, the only female cleaner among the five defendants, was earlier Monday "found guilty of assisting in violence and sexual abuse of children", presiding judge Mohamad Yunus said. "We sentenced her to seven years in prison and a fine of 100 million rupiah ($8,000)," he added. Their sentences were lower than the prosecutors' recommended 10 years. ...