Headlines
Buratai Comes Under Attack for Seeking Prayers to Defeat Boko Haram
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has said terrorism and terrorist groups could not be eliminated alone by the military unless religious bodies and organisations in the country come to the ‘forefront of the spiritual battle.’
The army chief noted that the focus must be religious groups addressing the ideologies which fuelled the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists activities.
Buratai stated these on Monday in Abuja at a spiritual warfare seminar at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, with the theme, ‘Countering insurgency and violent extremism in Nigeria through spiritual warfare.’
The army chief, who was represented by the Chief of Administration, Maj. Gen. Sani Yusuf, urged Islamic and Christian clerics to join the fight against terrorism and reorient the people against negative ideologies.
Buratai said, “It is easier to defeat Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists than their ideology because while we degrade the terrorists and their havens, the narrative of the ideology grows the group.
“Therefore, communities, families and groups should join in the fight and narratives to reject and prevent the ideologies of the terrorists and extremist groups.
“Religious bodies and organisations in particular, which interface regularly with the grass roots, should be in the forefront of this spiritual battle and fashion out ways of stepping up their roles.
“It is a well-known fact that terrorism and terrorist groups cannot be totally eliminated by mainly military actions. This means focusing our efforts on the underlying narratives through ideologies employed by these terrorists to lure innocent citizens into their fold.
“The need to defeat the ideologies of Boko Haram and ISWAP is based on the awareness that it is the ideologies that enhance their resources and help to recruit new fighters to their fold and as such, kill their ideology and the terrorist movement withers and dies.”
But the Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr Debo Adeniran, flayed Buratai for “recommending a fetish approach to prosecuting a physical war.”
Adeniran said Buratai’s statement was an admission that he no longer had anything to offer and should be replaced by the President.
He said, “I think that this Buratai of a soldier does not know his onions; he had made a couple of laughable recommendations in the past and all he is doing is like groping in the dark. He doesn’t seem to know the technicalities of prosecuting such a war by the sheer ignorance he has been displaying and the trial-and-error strategy that he is adopting has led to Nigeria losing many brilliant and agile soldiers who could have otherwise been very useful in prosecuting sensible wars. But because of the carelessness of the leaders, we have lost many of them; as well as the fact that several trillions of naira has been pumped into prosecuting that war.
“I will join the school of thought that has asked the President and the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces to waste no further time in looking for a more brilliant and technically-savvy warrior that can prosecute the war that is going on in the North-East; otherwise, we will be losing our future to carelessness and that will not do Nigeria any good.”
Also, Adebayo Oladeji, the Special Assistant (Media and Communications) to the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Samson Ayokunle, urged Buhari to sack the army chief.
He said, “CAN has been consistently calling on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Commander-in-Chief, to overhaul the security system and replace the service chiefs.
“As far as we are concerned, the handling of the security challenges in the country has been everything, but satisfactory. We have also told the President to overhaul the National Security Council with a view to injecting new blood with a new vision and to address the lopsided appointments of the NSC.”
However, Ustaz Christian Okonkwo, the Director of Islamic Centre, Afikpo, an affiliate of the International Islamic Relief Organisation based in Saudi Arabia, said Buratai was right.
The former Director of Administration, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, said, “People get indoctrinated by the preaching and teaching of a set of religion or the other or by their attachment to their particular tribe or race. So, if we have to change the narrative, it just has to come from the same source to which these people have been indoctrinated because they have a very serious sentiment to that religion or ethnic group.”
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad lll-led Jam’atu Nasril Islam also backed the Chief of Army Staff.
The JNI’s Secretary – General, Dr. Abubakar Khalid-Aliyu, said, “My understanding is that the military chief has so many dimensions, including the military and spiritual dimensions, because they are based on religious ideology and this religious ideology has been the fuel. The terrorists need a superior religious ideology which teaches that life is sacrosanct and must be protected at all costs, and that taking a life as viewed by the Qur’an by injustice is like taking the whole human race. I think using higher ideology of Islam to compliment other aspect of it to fight the terrorists is apt.”
The Punch
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he has told US negotiators “not to rush into a deal” with Iran, amid anticipation — and mounting criticism — of an agreement to end the war in the Middle East.
“The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
“The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”
The United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports since April 13 after Tehran virtually halted traffic through the economically vital Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began February 28.
“Both sides must take their time and get it right,” Trump wrote in the same Truth Social post, while slamming the 2015 nuclear deal that former president Barack Obama agreed with Iran.
“Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” Trump wrote.
While the White House has not released aspects of the deal, Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Saturday on state television that the two sides were nearing a “a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement composed of 14 clauses,” in “a trend toward rapprochement.”
Several voices, notably among Republican lawmakers close to Trump, expressed fears of an agreement favorable to Iran as supposed aspects of the deal that began to leak.
According to news outlet Axios, a possible agreement would extend the current ceasefire by 60 days, during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, Iran would freely sell oil, and negotiations would be held on Iran’s nuclear program.
The top Republican senator overseeing defense policy, Roger Wicker, said that agreeing to a “rumored 60-day ceasefire” with Iran would mean, “everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!”
Fellow Republican senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham also voiced opposition to Iran soon gaining benefits such as the ability to sell its oil freely.
“If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,” Cruz, a Republican from Texas, wrote on X.
Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina, said the deal “doesn’t make sense to me.”
“We were told about 11 weeks ago by (Secretary of Defense Pete) Hegseth and the Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran’s defenses, and it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material. Now we’re talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran. How does that make sense at all?” Tillis said on CNN’s “State of the Union” morning program.
AFP
Adebayo Adelabu, one of the aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Oyo State, has alleged irregularities in the party’s governorship primary election held on Thursday.
Adelabu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the exercise, stated that the primary was characterized by misconduct ranging from disenfranchisement of his supporters in some wards and the commencement of election process earlier than scheduled.
Speaking after the conclusion of the primary election at IMG School, Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, the immediate past Minister of Power alleged that the process was neither free, fair nor credible.
He said: “Before our people started getting to their various wards, they have already conducted the election and they wrote the figures they want as results.
“In some wards, our people were prevented from voting. They were intimidated. They were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all.
“All this kind of misconduct is not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria, and something has to be done about it.”
Adelabu, therefore, vowed to come up with serious petitions against all the irregularities not just in Ibadan, but across all the five geopolitical zones in Oyo State.
“Also, conduct of many party executives is uncalled for, a lot of people bought forms and they were cleared. And they decided to conduct affirmation of a particular candidate in some wards.
“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination. The instruction we got from Abuja was that we should all carry out free, fair, and transparent direct primary election where every aspirant will be given a level playing ground and the election will be conducted peacefully.
“Where did they get the idea of consensus candidates? And this is what happened in a lot of the wards. And it didn’t go down well with us. “We don’t want that. We are going to assess the gravity of this gross misconduct and the potential impact on the overall result of this election.
“I will put a petition forward to the appropriate authorities so that it can be deeply investigated and there must be consequences to this. The people who perpetrated this misconduct must be identified and punished. And the aspirants involved also need to be suspended because this is not good for us.
“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people where nobody should be disenfranchised. Once you are a party member, you should have that freedom, that authority to pick an aspirant of your choice as the flag bearer of the party.
“This is Ibadan, this is Oyo State and this the centre of politics in the southwest. And we should be able to lay good examples and the process should produce a candidate that won transparently, freely and fairly,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government, Adelabu, polled 430 to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who had 3 votes.
Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.
They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.
The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.
Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.
