Cameroonian army kills over 100 Boko Haram militants

More than 100 suspected Nigerian Islamic sect Boko Haram militants were killed and over 200 arrested during an operation conducted by Cameroonian army on Friday night in Far-North Region of Cameroon, an army source told Xinhua over phone Saturday.
The operation took place in Doble, a place in Far-North Region bordering Nigeria, and was conducted by Cameroon Air Force and Rapid Intervention Battalion, an elite army unit stationing in the north.
During the operation, three Cameroonian air force pilots were seriously injured, the source said.
In the same night, 23 Cameroonian civilians were killed and a village was burned by suspected Boko Haram militants in Mozogo, a place in Far-North Region.
The suspected Boko Haram militants are active in the north of Cameroon, they often attack the villages in the area, pillaging properties of the villagers and sometimes taking foreign and local people as hostages.
The Cameroonian government has strengthened the military might this year by sending more troops in the north to fight against the militants.

IS claims responsibility for Libya’s Tripoli car bombing

The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for a car bombing in the Libya’s capital Tripoli on Saturday.
A car bomb exploded in Tripoli in front of the headquarters of the General Directorate for the Protection of Diplomatic Missions, with no casualty, according to a security official.
Col. Mubarak Abu Dhaheer, an official of the Directorate of Al-Hassi’s government in Tripoli, said that unidentified men put a BMW car in front of the building and detonated it by remote control, causing damages to the building.
Dhaheer described the explosion as a “criminal act that aims to destabilize the security and stability in the capital Tripoli, and to target police who protect diplomatic missions.”
After claiming responsibility for the explosion, the IS in Libya announced its intention to carry out similar attacks later on.
The website Manaber, the media outlet of the IS in Libya, published an image of what it described as “the state of Tripoli.”
The image was titled “targeting diplomatic security directorate headquarters with a car bomb, and the next is worse.”
Due to security concerns, most foreign diplomatic missions left the capital Tripoli since the forces of Libya Dawn took control of the capital in August.

Latest News: Nigeria’ll be a better place in five years, says Jonathan

Nigeria’ll be a better place in five years, says Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said if Nigeria continued to progress in the manner it is doing under him, the country would become a better place in the next four or five years.

He said his administration was putting in a lot of efforts to reposition the country but the results might not be immediate.

Jonathan spoke at the Christ Apostolic Church, Area 1, Durumi, Abuja where he joined worshippers for the last Sunday service for the year.

He urged Nigerians to continue to uphold his administration in prayers.

He said, “For me and members of my team, in spite of the challenges, we will continue to do our best.

“As a nation, we have not reached where we want to be, definitely not. But we are coming up with a number of policies.

“Those who are taking pain to look at what we are doing will agree with us that if we progress as a nation steadily in this manner, in the next four or five years, this country will be a better place.”

Court Orders DSS To Release 5 APC Staff, Calls Detention Unjustifiable

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, ordered the Department of State Security (DSS) to release five detained staffs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) arrested on November 22 by operatives of the security outfit.
The detained APC staff include Chinedu Atuche, Fayemi Olaposi, Augustine Onuchukwu, Ebun Ilori, and Esther Enemy.
Officers of the DSS, accompanied by the police, had raided a building which houses the APC’s data office, saying it acted on petitions alleging unwholesome activities at the location.
The court ordered their release in its ruling in a fundamental rights suit by the applicants, seeking enforcement of their fundamental rights. Respondents in the suit were the Police and the DSS.
In his ruling, Justice Mohammed Yunusa held that a citizen could not be detained for more than 48 hours without being charged to court.
According to him, if there was any need to extend the period, the law enforcement agency shall be required to file an application for a review of the period before a court of law. Since the DSS had failed to do that, the detention of the applicants for more than a week without being charged to court, was unjustifiable.
“The arrest and detention of a person for the purpose of obtaining information is clearly a violation of Section 35 of the constitution. It is clear that there is a clear contravention of the provisions of Section 35, since the applicants were not properly brought before a court of competent jurisdiction.
“The remand order, whether valid or invalid, has exceeded the time limit permitted as reasonable, by the Section 35 of the Constitution. The same arrest and detention of the applicant is illegal and they are hereby released,” Justice Yunusa said.
He restrained the DSS from further arresting the applicants, pending the determination of the substantive suit. He adjourned further hearing in the matter till January 19, 2015, after ordering the applicants not to travel outside the court’s jurisdiction without approval until the court sits again.