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Military not achieving desired results in fighting insurgency– Dogara

As the war against terrorism in Nigeria’s North-East zone enters into its second decade, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has urged the Federal Government to contract “defence contractors” to rid the country of blood-sucking terrorists.

“We can outsource this fight. We can do this with our shoulders lifted high. Even advanced countries like Russia, for instance, use the Wagner Group.

“In the US, there is the Blackwater. These are defence contractors,” Dogara said on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.

Dogara was a lawmaker in the green chamber for 16 straight years from June 2007 to June 2023 when he represented Dass/Bogoro/Tafawa Balewa Constituency from Bauchi State, one of the six states in the insurgent-prone North-East zone of Nigeria.

He said the military has tried its best in about two decades now but the desired results have not been achieved as Boko Haram and ISWAP factions of terrorists still wreak havoc in the North East.

According to the lawyer, there can’t be foreign direct investments when insecurity has become the order of the day.

“We can engage these defence contractors to help us solve this problem assuming our conventional forces have shown or demonstrated so far that they cannot handle it. This is something we have to resolve ourselves. So, we can outsource it, if that is going to give us results.

“We are talking about results. It’s only a stupid, foolish person who opposes results. I don’t know if that is a definition of wisdom: to keep doing something the same way and expect different results. We have done this thing for how many years now and there have been no results. We can engage these people and they can work together with the conventional forces,” the former lawmaker said.

An Unending War?
Borno, a state in Nigeria’s North-East zone, has been under attack by marauding terrorists for over a decade. Thousands have been killed, even more persons injured, abducted, or displaced, the latest being in June when dark-hearted suicide bombers killed at least 32 persons, with scores injured.

The military has recorded some successes against terrorists in the past years but at the expense of gallant soldiers and other security officials who paid the supreme price.

The state’s eastern border with Cameroon has made the anti-terror war intractable for the military as intelligence over the years has shown that blood-thirsty insurgents swoop on the people of the state and leave the country immediately after deadly attacks, leaving residents in teeth-gnashing agony.

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EFCC seals Kaduna hotel for breaching money laundering act

The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, of the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has sealed up Hampton Hilton Hotel and Apartments, Kaduna, for non-compliance with the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations of the Financial Action Task Force, FATF for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, DNFBPs.

The entity was found to have committed multiple infractions in the course of the first evaluation carried out on it, on June 4, 2024, leading to the issuance of administrative sanctions to it by SCUML.

It was also found to have committed further infractions following the compliance evaluation of June 13, 2025, for which it was slammed N2,300,000.00 (Two Million Three Hundred Thousand Naira) fine, payable within seven days and with instruction to ensure full compliance with the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and AML/CFT regulations or face further consequences.

While it refused to pay the fine, it, as well, dishonoured SCUML’s invite to show up for compliance evaluation, resulting in the sealing of the premises.

The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, ensures DNFBPs’ compliance with Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and AML/CFT regulations.

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Buhari could have long been dead if he had chosen to be treated in Nigeria -Fmr aide Adesina

Former spokesperson to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, has defended the decision of late President Buhari to always seek medical attention abroad before and after he left office.

In a chat with Channels TV this morning, Adesina who served as the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Buhari said;

‘’Buhari always had his medical in London, even when he was not in office. So, it’s not about the time he was president alone. He had always had it in London and then, you have to be alive first to get certain things corrected in your country. If he had said, ‘I will do my medical in Nigeria just as a show-off or something,’ he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country but he needed to be alive to lead the country to a point where we will have that expertise”

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Buhari’s body arrives in Daura from Katsina for final burial

The remains of Nigeria’s former President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has arrived in his hometown of Daura from Katsina ahead of his burial later today.

The body, which was flown into the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina from the United Kingdom earlier in the day, was received with full state protocol by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda, and members of the late president’s family.

From the airport, the late leader’s remains were transported by a specially prepared ambulance under tight security to Daura, a journey marked by solemnity and respect, with hundreds of residents lining parts of the route to pay their final respects.

Buhari, who served as Nigeria’s Head of State from 1983 to 1985 and returned as a democratically elected president from 2015 to 2023, died in London on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the age of 82 after a brief illness.

According to Islamic tradition, he will be buried later today at his private residence in Daura.

Dignitaries, traditional rulers, political leaders, and sympathizers from across Nigeria have already gathered in Daura for the Janazah prayers and final interment, with security operatives deployed across the ancient town to ensure a peaceful ceremony