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Al-Mustapha Accuses Western Nations Of Plot To Prolong Boko Haram Insurgency

Published

3 years ago

November 23, 2022

The presidential candidate of Action Alliance (AA) and former Chief Security Officer to late military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Maj Hamzat Al-Mustapha, has alleged that there is a grand plot by western nations to prolong the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

Al-Mustapha said this on Tuesday in Abuja at a roundtable about the 2023 general election.

He claimed that while insurgency was hatched on November 1, 1999, it was conceived in 1972 after the discovery of oil and gas.

He accused the western nations of ensuring that there was an unending crisis in African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Libya, among others, where there are high deposits of mineral resources.

He said that the federal government discovered oil and uranium in large quantities in 1996 in the North-east and North-west, which he said was being mined illegally now while insurgency rages on.

Al-Mustapha said despite the fact that Borno State was the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency, surprisingly, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) paid between 10 and 20 years’ rent, an indication that there was a plot to elongate the crisis.

His words: “Borno State is a place ordinarily to be feared because of bombs in wrong places alone. But one may ask, NGOs in Borno state, particularly the capital, are too many. Houses for rent are difficult to find. They are renting houses from 10 years and above; 18 years, 20 years. That is to say there is a plan to stay longer.

“One may ask why? Who are these NGOs? Who certifies them and send them to Nigeria? How come soldiers and police and all uniform men and women are scared of Nigeria and scared particularly of Borno State.

“How come NGOs are much more friendlier? The weather is not friendly, the weather is harsh. How come they love Borno? How come they don’t go to other peaceful countries with better weather? What are they doing there? One may ask.

“Why are soldiers running away from the locations of Boko Haram? And why are the white men and women going there even at odd hours and coming back and unhindered? Why are we not asking them questions? Is Nigeria a jungle? Do we know who we are? What are the names of these agencies giving them clearances at home? How do they enter Nigeria? Immigration, foreign affairs Internal Affairs, presidency. What are they engaged in?

“What is that lucrative thing that makes them not to be afraid of the danger zone in the eyes of a typical Nigerian? How come a typical Nigerian cannot go to where they go to? How come they hold meetings with these people? How come they have telephones and internet interactions? How come we are not aware?

“The question here I ask is: Is it the security managers that are compromising? Or are these civil institutions that are compromising? or is it ignorance? Or is it negligence?”

Al-Mustapha recalled that in January 2022, one of the countries who allegedly took Africa’s resources proposed an agricultural investment and cooperation with Borno State.

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

3 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

3 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

3 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP