No fewer than seven persons were killed on Sunday in Takulashe village, in the Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State. The victims were said to be members of Civilian Joint Task Force and local hunters, who engaged Boko Haram insurgents that laid siege to the village. A resident of Chibok, Mr Jacob Shagari, told our correspondent on the telephone that the terrorists stormed Takulashe around 9am and broke into homes to steal foodstuffs and livestock. Shagari said the terrorists were engaged by members of the civilian JTF and local hunters. He said at the end of the engagement, which…

Police in Katsina and Zamfara states on Thursday said 21 persons, including police officers and members of vigilante groups, were killed in bandits attacks in the states this week. The police in separate statements said the attacks occurred in Dandume and Maradun local government areas of Katsina and Zamfara respectively. Police spokesperson in Katsina State, Mr Gambo Isah, said the attack in Diskuru in Dandume LGA where gunmen killed at least 12 locals, four vigilantes and a police officer, was retaliatory. Isah said the gunmen had been forced to retreat from a previous attack on the community after suffering heavy…

A knife-wielding Tunisian man shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in the French city of Nice on Thursday before being shot and taken away by police. President Emmanuel Macron said France would deploy thousands more soldiers to protect important sites such as places of worship and schools, as the country’s security alert was raised to its highest level. Speaking outside the church, Macron said France had been attacked “over our values, for our taste for freedom, for the ability on our soil to have freedom of belief ... And…

Gunmen on Tuesday invaded a mosque and abducted 17 persons in Gwargwada-Sabo community in Nasarawa State. Those abducted included a library staff with Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, three women and 13 other male adults. A resident of the community situated in Gadabuke Development Area, simply identified as Usman, said the incident happened during Isha’i (night) prayers. He said the gunmen, who invaded the community through the bush, surrounded the mosque, saying other gangs took position and started shooting sporadically into the air. “The gunmen actually took positions and started shooting into different directions, after that, other gangs surrounded the mosque…