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INSECURITY: US Air Force In Benin-Nigeria Border Airspace, Wipes Out ISWAP Terrorists’ Armory
Without taking chances, the United States Air Force entered the airspace of Benin-Nigeria border without using the Nigerian airport, stepped up reconnaissance and massive attack against militants and it had begun the operation now in blasting the armory of the terrorists.
According to Standard Newspaper Inc USA, Corroborating this view, Bryant Philip, a top American security operative with specialty in West Africa law enforcement confirmed the latest development by explaining that the United States Air Force ISR aircraft is on an on-going mission above
His words: “The United States Air Force ISR aircraft is currently operating above the Babana strategic crossing on the Benin-Nigeria border. This route has long been used by armed groups, particularly JNIM, for smuggling supplies. In August, the Nigerian army clashed with unidentified gunmen.
“The United States resumes ISR missions today in Nigeria, targeting ISWAP zones of influence in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, on the fringes of Lake Chad. It took off from Accra, Ghana. Still not using a Nigerian airport.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army Elite Group, Maroon Beret famously described as Boko Haram’s nightmare stormed the secret enclave of the terrorists’ group and killed over 50 members of the notorious sect inside their make-shift huts in the forest.
As at press time, some 200 West African soldiers, mainly from Nigeria and Ivory Coast, are in Benin Republic to support the government following the failed coup, Benin’s foreign minister says.
Remember, the attempt was foiled after Nigeria deployed fighter jets to drive the mutineers out of a military base and state TV headquarters, where they had declared a takeover.
This is the first time that officials have said how many foreign soldiers were deployed to the country, although it is not clear if some have been withdrawn.
Benin’s Foreign Affairs Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari on Thursday said some of the regional troops sent to help had remained in the country “as part of the sweep and clean-up operation”.
The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, deployed troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast to secure key installations and prevent any resurgence of the violence.
Nigeria, Benin’s large neighbour to the east, said its soldiers had reached there since a few days ago, describing the coup attempt as a “direct assault on democracy”.
Security intelligence showed 50 soldiers from the country had been sent as part of the regional deployment.
“There are currently around 200 soldiers present, who came to lend a hand at the end of the day to the Beninese defence and security forces as part of the sweep and clean-up operation,” said Bakari, while addressing journalists in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Thursday.
Bakari, who was speaking alongside Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, said that by the time the Beninese forces called for help, the coup “was already a failure”.
“When we started discussions for the intervention of Nigeria and the others, under ECOWAS protocol, our military had already pushed them back,” he added.
According to Bakari, what was required was “precise aerial back-up to carry out a surgical operation that targeted the enemy’s key positions without risking civilian casualties”.
Tuggar said that fast diplomatic, military, and intelligence actions between Nigeria and Benin had helped to foil the coup.
Discussions are continuing over how long the regional forces would remain, but Bakari said any decision “will be taken in close collaboration with Benin’s defence and security forces, who have demonstrated their bravery”.
It is not clear if the French special forces who also reportedly helped loyalist troops thwart the coup are still in Benin.
Under intense pressure after a string of successful coups in the region, Ecowas is signaling that it is no longer willing to watch democratically elected governments be toppled by the military.
Bakari praised ECOWAS as “an important tool that allows us to defend democracy and the values of democracy in our regional space”.
Breaking News
POLITICS: Wike-led PDP Faction Takes Over Party Secretariat In Oyo
Members of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, loyal to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, have taken over the secretariat of the party in Oyo State.
The secretariat, located in the Molete area of Ibadan, was in the custody of the faction loyal to Governor Seyi Makinde of the state until Thursday when the members loyal to Wike took over the premises.
DAILY POST gathered that the PDP members stormed the secretariat on Thursday and occupied the premises with hundreds of members of the party in attendance.
PDP chairman in the state, Professor Abdulrahman Akinoso, confirmed the development to DAILY POST.
Akinoso in a telephone conversation with DAILY POST on Thursday, insisted that the real owners have taken over the premises.
He said, “It is true. It is not faction. It is PDP. We have taken over the premises. It was in the morning. We were there in the morning. We just left the premises. We are now in control. We have taken over the premises.” .…For more, Complete your reading.
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POLITICS: Foreign Recognition Won’t Secure Re-election – ADC Tells Tinubu
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has told President Bola Tinubu that foreign recognition will not secure him another term in office, insisting that Nigerians will judge his administration by its performance, not by diplomatic gestures from other world leaders.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party reacted to the Presidency’s celebration of a purported letter from United States President Donald Trump to Tinubu.
The ADC said presenting the letter as an endorsement of Tinubu’s administration was misleading, stressing that diplomatic correspondence between world leaders is a normal part of international relations.
“The Presidency’s attempt to present President Donald Trump’s letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as though it were a referendum on the state of the nation is not correct,” the party said.
According to the ADC, countries cooperate, leaders exchange views and letters regularly, adding that such communication does not amount to an endorsement of a government’s performance.
The party accused the Tinubu administration of being desperate for international validation instead of focusing on solving Nigeria’s challenges.
“It is apparent that this administration is desperate to seize upon any gesture of international recognition as proof of success at home,” the statement said.
The ADC maintained that “a letter from a foreign president, however well-intentioned, cannot substitute for the verdict of the Nigerian people.”
It added that the true measure of any government is not what foreign leaders say about it, but what citizens experience daily.
The opposition party argued that Trump’s letter had not changed the reality facing millions of Nigerians, especially those affected by insecurity.
“For the millions of Nigerians still living with the consequences of this government’s failures, President Trump’s communication changes nothing. It did not say that insecurity has been overcome or that Nigerians can once again travel freely, farm safely and sleep without fear,” the party stated.
The ADC also pointed to the continued captivity of hundreds of women and children in parts of Borno State and Kaiama in Kwara State, while many communities in Benue and other parts of the country still live in constant fear because of insecurity.
The party further noted that, despite the Presidency’s celebration of the letter, the United States Department of State has not changed its travel advisory for Nigeria.
According to the ADC, several Nigerian states remain under Level 3 and Level 4 travel advisories, with American citizens still being urged to reconsider or avoid travel because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping and civil unrest.
“We therefore wonder how correspondence from a government that designates several Nigerian states as ‘Do Not Travel’ areas can be regarded as an endorsement,” the party said.
It argued that the travel advisory shows the international assessment of Nigeria’s security situation remains different from the image the Presidency is trying to project.
The ADC said Nigerians are more concerned about their safety than diplomatic exchanges between presidents.
“The daily reality of Nigerians is shaped not by diplomatic correspondence, but by the guarantee that they can go about their lives without falling victim to violent crime or terrorism,” it said.
The party stressed that Trump’s letter was simply communication between two presidents and “does not amount to an endorsement of this government’s overall performance.”
It urged the Tinubu administration to focus less on celebrating diplomatic courtesies and more on delivering measurable improvements in the lives of Nigerians.
“Ultimately, Nigerians will not judge this government by the letters it receives from foreign capitals. They will judge it by whether .…For more, Complete your reading.
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