Headline

Insecurity: Emulate Boris Johnson, Nigerians Tell Buhari

Published

3 years ago

July 8, 2022

Following the worsening security crisis in the country, some stakeholders have insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari should immediately resign as Nigerian leader.

Terrorists and bloodthirsty bandits have been on rampage across the country, causing irreparable havoc.

The insecurity ravaging the nation, on Tuesday, June 5 took a frightening dimension with separate attacks on different government establishments and officials, including those working with President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Buhari’s convoy was attacked by suspected bandits in Katsina State on Tuesday. According to reports, at least two officials were seriously injured in the attack.

Recall also that the country’s medium correctional custodial centre was attacked on Tuesday night when suspected members of the Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) invaded the facility and freed at least 800 inmates.

Same day, about two police officers were killed in Katsina State where the presidential convoy was attacked.

Another senior police officer, an Assistant Commissioner of Police was also murder in a separate attack.

The development triggered Nigerians, particularly social media users to call for immediate suspension of all preliminary campaigns and other activities regarding the forthcoming general elections.

They expressed pessimism that the election would not hold, citing the level of criminal activities going on across the nation.

But speaking with DAILY POST, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko said the election must hold if the president fails to resign.

According to him, “Buhari does not need to be told to resign when he is so incompetent. The right thing he should do is to resign because he has nothing to offer, and he has never had solutions to problems right from the beginning of his administration.

“Nobody should bring up the issue that there should not be elections because there is violence. There were killings and terrorist attacks when INEC conducted election that brought in Buhari.

“That will only give the president the opportunity to extend his tenure. Whether there is war or not, there must be election. Buhari must go.”

Similarly, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who spoke to our correspondent from Benue State on condition of anonymity, asked the president to accept the call for his resignation and quit like the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

He said, “African leaders will always want to die in power. Nigerians have been calling for the resignation of President Buhari, yet he remains in Aso Rock doing nothing. Is that one a leader?

“Look at what happened in the UK, Boris Johnson has resigned because he was asked to. What is wrong with Buhari? Why does he want to die in power when he has nothing to offer”?

Recall that Boris Johnson resigned his office on Thursday, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future that has paralyzed Britain’s government.

Johnson had rebuffed calls by his Cabinet to step down in the wake of ethics scandals. He gave in after more than 40 ministers quit his government and told him to go.

On his part, President General of the Coalition of Southern and Middle Belt Youth Leaders Assembly, COSMBYLA, Goodluck Ibem, said the president must be shown the exit door.

He said, “There is no room for failure and any failure must be shown the exit door. The time is now.

“Nigerians should not be calling for the suspension of campaign activities, rather they should he calling for the immediate resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari over his inability as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces to provide security for Nigerians, which is the first responsibility of any government to her citizens.

“The call to suspend campaigns because of insecurity is purely a third term request for President Muhammadu Buhari.

“So those calling for the suspension of the campaigns want to extend the tenure of the President after 2023, but their evil plot is dead on arrival”.

Headline

Africa Coups: 10 In Five Years

Published

1 hour ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A military coup attempt in Benin Sunday adds to a list of such incidents on the turbulent African continent.
A group of soldiers announced that they had ousted President Patrice Talon, although his entourage said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Here is a recap of the 10 successful coups in Africa in the last five years:

Mali

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is overthrown by five army colonels in August 2020.

In May 2021, the Malian military takes over from the civilian leaders of an interim government.
Colonel Assimi Goita, who led both coups, is sworn in as transitional president.

After promising to hold elections in February 2024, the military puts them off indefinitely, pointing to the jihadist violence plaguing the country.

In July 2025, Goita approves a law granting himself a five-year presidential mandate, renewable without election.
In September jihadists launch a fuel blockade, weakening the ruling junta.

Guinea

On September 5, 2021, mutinous troops led by lieutenant-colonel Mamady Doumbouya take over in Guinea, arresting President Alpha Conde.

Doumbouya in early November 2025 submits his candidacy ahead of December 28 elections that are meant to restore constitutional order.

Sudan

After weeks of tension between the military and civilian leaders who had shared power since the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir, the armed forces led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stage a new coup on October 25, 2021.

Since April 2023 war has raged between the regular armed forces led by Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

The conflict has so far killed tens of thousands of people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso underwent two military coups in 2022.

In January that year mutinous soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba arrest President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Then in September army officers announce they have dismissed Damiba. Captain Ibrahim Traore becomes transitional president, but elections he promised do not materialise. In May 2024 the junta authorises him to stay for another five years in a country wracked by Islamist violence.

Niger

On July 26, 2023, members of the presidential guard overthrow Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in 2021. General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the presidential guard, takes over.

In March 2025, the junta extends by at least five years its transitional leadership of the country which is plagued by jihadist violence.

Gabon

In Gabon, ruled for 55 years by the Bongo family, army officers on August 30, 2023 overthrow President Ali Bongo Ondimba, less than an hour after he is declared winner of an election the opposition says was fraudulent.
General Brice Oligui Nguema is named transitional president.

In April 2025 he is elected president with 94.85 percent of the vote. He is sworn in on the basis of a new constitution approved by referendum during the transition.

Madagascar

In October 2025, the military ousts Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina and takes power following weeks of “Gen Z” anti-government protests.

Army colonel Michael Randrianirina is sworn in as Madagascar’s new president, promising elections within 18 to 24 months.

Guinea-Bissau

In November 2025, military officers in Guinea-Bissau declare they have “total control” of the coup-prone west African country, closing its borders and suspending its electoral process three days after general elections.

The military says a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” is taking over the leadership of the country “until further notice”.

Headline

Benin Republic Presidency Breaks Silence On ‘Military Takeover’

Published

8 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Benin Republic military
Military personnel in Benin on Sunday said they had ousted President Patrice Talon, but the Presidency said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Talon, 67, a former businessman known as the “cotton king of Cotonou,” is due to hand over power in April next year after 10 years in office marked by strong economic growth and rising jihadist violence.

West Africa has seen several coups in recent years, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau.

Early on Sunday, soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic.”

The signal was cut later in the morning.

Shortly after the announcement, a source close to Talon told AFP the president was safe.

“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city (Cotonou) and the country are completely secure,” they said.

“It’s just a matter of time before everything returns to normal. The clean-up is progressing well.”

A military source confirmed the situation was “under control” and said the coup plotters had not taken Talon’s residence or the presidential offices.

The French Embassy reported on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence in the economic capital and urged French citizens to remain indoors.

Benin has a history of coups and attempted coups.

Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to end his second term in 2026, the constitutional maximum.

The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him, leaving the ruling party to compete against a so-called “moderate” opposition.

Talon has been praised for driving economic development but is often accused of authoritarianism.

(AFP)

Headline

JUST IN: Soldiers Announce Military Takeover Of Govt In Benin Republic

Published

9 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in what is being described as an apparent coup, marking yet another power seizure in West Africa.

Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared the removal of the president and all state institutions.

President Patrice Talon, who has been in office since 2016, was scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s preferred candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, had been widely viewed as the frontrunner. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was disqualified by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have “sufficient sponsors.”

The takeover comes a month after Benin’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years while retaining the two-term limit.

(AFP)