Photos: President Muhammadu Buhari's visit to Chad

Buhari was received by the President of Chad, Idris Deby who praised him for relocating the Nigerian Military Command center from Abuja to Maiduguri, for the fight against Boko Haram. See more photos after the cut…..

Jonathan may appoint military administrators for Borno, Adamawa, Yobe

President Jonathan

Punch newspaper reports that President Goodluck Jonathan may declare ‘total emergency rule’ in the three northern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe as the emergency rule imposed on the states because of insurgency expires this Thursday. The presidency, the newspaper says, is scheduled to take a decision today on the issue.

According the Punch, there have been speculations that President Goodluck Jonathan may impose “total emergency rule” on the states by appointing military administrators to take over from the state governors.

President Jonathan’s release of Boko Haram suspects: do you accept the government argument that they are doing this to gain popular support from the north for the army offensive against Islamic terrorists or do you see it as a sign of cowardice?

"The (prisoner release) measure, which is in line with presidential magnanimity to enhance peace efforts in the country, will result in freedom for suspects including all women under custody," a statement by defence spokesman Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade said.

According a news report by Reuters, security source said the gesture aimed to win over a population in the remote northeastern region wavering between fear of Boko Haram and resentment of the army's tough tactics.

File photo: Boko Haram suspects

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Jonathan orders release of detained Boko Haram suspects

President Goodluck Jonathan

by Fidelis Soriwei and Olalekan Adetayo

President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the Defence Headquarters to release some members of the Boko Haram sect in custody in connection with terrorist activities.

Already the directive to release the detainees has been communicated to all the units of the Joint Military Task Force.

Both the Presidency and the Defence Headquarters confirmed this on Tuesday.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a statement said, “Consequent upon the directive of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, the Defence Headquarters will be releasing from detention a number of persons being held in connection with terrorist activities.

Nigerian forces bomb Islamist militant camps from the air

File copy: Nigerian military jet

By Lanre Ola

Nigerian forces used jets and attack helicopters to bombard militant camps in the northeast on Friday, their biggest offensive since Boko Haram began an insurgency almost four years ago to try create a breakaway Islamic state.

Defense spokesman Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade said in a statement that troops had destroyed several Boko Haram camps and weapons stockpiles in forests around Borno state, epicenter of the uprising and relic of a medieval Islamic empire.

ThisDay bomber cried for missing heaven – Witness

Mustapha Umar, suspected Boko Haram member

by Ihuoma Chiedozie

A prosecution witness on Tuesday told an Abuja Federal High Court that a suspected Boko Haram member, Mustapha Umar, wept bitterly over his failure to die in a suicide mission.

Umar is standing trial for allegedly bombing a plaza housing the offices of some newspapers in Kaduna in April 2012.

At least 42 killed in Boko Haram attack on Bama

In this photo taken with a mobile phone, Tuesday, May. 7, 2013, soldiers and journalist looks at bodies of prison officials killed by Islamic extremist during heavy fighting  …more in Bama, Nigeria. Coordinated attacks by Islamic extremists armed with heavy machine guns killed at least 42 people in northeast Nigeria, authorities said Tuesday, the latest in a string of increasingly bloody attacks threatening peace in Africa's most populous nation. The attack struck multiple locations in the hard-hit town of Bama in Nigeria's Borno state, where shootings and bombings have continued unstopped since an insurgency began there in 2010. Fighters raided a federal prison during their assault as well, freeing 105 inmates in another mass prison break to hit the country, officials said.

Credits: AP Photo/Abdukareem Haruna