Global Naija Info

Iraqi forces gather at the Qayyarah military base, about 35 miles south of Mosul, on Sunday, as they prepare for an offensive to retake Mosul. The offensive to liberate Mosul from ISIS control has begun, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a televised statement early Monday. The fight is expected to last weeks, if not months, and if the battles to wrest Falluja and Ramadi from ISIS’ grip are indicators, Mosul will be a messy melee. The assault’s buildup has been ongoing for some time. US-led coalition and Iraqi forces have hammered ISIS targets with airstrikes for more than a year. The Nineveh Liberation Operations Center, which was set up to coordinate the offensive, has brought in dozens of American and British advisers. A US artillery unit has provided cover for operations south of Mosul. On ISIS’ side of the fight, there have been reports of a growing network of tunnels leaving the city. The terrorist outfit has also allowed wounded fighters to leave Mosul and freed ...

Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, founder of the Lagos Business School, Professor Pat Utomi and Mrs. Elizabeth, the wife of Yoruba writer, D. O, Fagunwa, are some of the eminent dignitaries expected in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday at the launch of a book on Nigeria history. The book is entitled: “Of Rusts and Gold: Snippets of History”, a collection of thoughts on Yoruba cultural and political history, contemporary Nigerian politics, monarchy, as well as the entrepreneurial spirits of early Nigerian traders and industrialists. Written by Femi Kehinde, a prolific writer, politician, as well as a former member of the House of Representatives representing Ayedire/Iwo/Olaoluwa constituency of Osun State between 1999 and 2003, the book launch will take place at the University of Ibadan Trenchard Hall. Also expected at the book launch is the Publisher of Ova...

Parents and family members of the 21 released Chibok schoolgirls celebrate after being reunited with the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram at a special church service in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday. Photo: Olamikan Gbemiga/AP

A prison The Nigeria Prisons Service, Bauchi State Command, on Sunday refuted speculations of attempted jail-break at the Bauchi Central Prisons. In a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Adam Jibrin, in Bauchi, it said there was no such incident. “While we express our dismay at the unprecedented anxiety the purported jail-break has generated in many quarters, the Nigeria Prisons Service wishes to inform the general public that the story is unfounded. “There was neither such incident in Bauchi Central Prison, nor indeed any other prison within Bauchi state. “We assure the general public that the Nigeria Prisons Service will always do all within its statutory mandate to ensure the safe custody and reformation of inmates under its care,” it said. The last time jail-break was recorded at the Bauchi Central Prisons, was in 2010.

Some of the 21 Chibok schoolgirls released on Thursday The 21 freed Chibok Girls say on Sunday in Abuja that for “one month and 10 days’’ of their abduction by the Boko Haram insurgents they stayed without food in the bush. Ms Gloria Dame, one of the rescued girls, narrated this while giving testimony on behalf of her colleagues at a thanks giving service organised for them at a DSS health facility in Abuja. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Jummai Alhassan, attended the service. The girl, who spoke in Hausa language, said that their survival in captivity was an act of God. “I did not know that a day like this will come that we will be dancing and giving thanks to God among people. “For one month and 10 days we stayed without food. I narrowly escaped bomb blast in the forest. “We are praying to God to touch the heart of Boko Haram to repent and we are calling on Nigerians to pray and fast for the release of our r...

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State on Sunday dismissed the allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari’s three-day visit to Germany was more of a medical trip than official engagements. Okorocha, who was part of the president’s entourage to Berlin, Germany, was reacting to media interview granted by a Kano-based social commentator, Dr Junaid Muhaamed. Muhammed had alleged that Buhari visited Germany on Friday to seek medical attention over an undisclosed illness. Okorocha, who spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja, however, debunked the allegation, saying that the official engagements of Buhari in Germany, had no connection, whatsoever, with medication. He said the visit to Germany only ended on a compassionate note on Saturday with the president’s convoy veering off its way back to the airport in Berlin, to visit a Nigerian military officer receiving treatment in a Berlin hospital. “President never went for any medical check-up. At...

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi on Sunday suspended Alhaji Sadiq Rabiu, the Chairman of the state Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, over an allegation of fraud during the just concluded Hajj. The Director-General, Media and Publicity to the Governor, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, who disclosed this in a statement in Lokoja, said Rabiu had been handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS) for investigation and possible prosecution. Fanwo said that the governor was also not happy with the dehumanising treatment of pilgrims from the state during the 2016 Hajj. “The travails of the chairman stemmed from allegations of corruption, nepotism and blatant disregard to the welfare of the state’s contingent to this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia,” he said. He said that the suspension of the chairman followed the outcome of an investigative panel into the allegations of corruption, nepotism and dehumanising treatment of pilgrims in spite of adequate provisions...