BOKO HARAM IS FULLY IN CHARGE OF MOST PARTS OF NORTHEAST AS WE SPEAK

Jose Mourinho: Manchester United sack manager

Manchester United have sacked manager Jose Mourinho after identifying a catalogue of his failings at the club.

The Portuguese, 55, took over in May 2016 and led United to League Cup and Europa League titles, but they are 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool.

The club have made a change after no progress with results or style despite spending nearly £400m on 11 players.

They also say the new manager will understand the philosophy of the club, including their attacking tradition.

It is understood players and staff are not happy after a disappointing and unsettling period during which young players were not developed.

United are sixth in the Premier League, but closer to the relegation zone than to leaders Liverpool, who beat them 3-1 on Sunday.

The decision to sack Mourinho, which will cost more than £18m, has been taken in the long-term interests of United with a view that the club is bigger than any one individual.

Mourinho is understood to have wanted his own structure, but the new manager will be appointed with a head of football above him reporting to executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

A United statement said: "A caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the season while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager.

"The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future."

The club hope to appoint a caretaker manager before they face Cardiff City on 22 December but it will not be assistant manager Michael Carrick or academy boss Nicky Butt.

A familiar conclusion to a rocky season

United's haul of 26 points after their first 17 Premier League games is their worst tally at this stage of a season since 1990-91.

They are 11 points off the top four, which would earn a Champions League qualification place.

The sacking of Mourinho, who replaced Louis van Gaal in May 2016 and signed a contract extension in January, comes after a fall-out with £89m record signing Paul Pogba, who was an unused substitute for the defeat at Anfield on Sunday.

Following a 1-1 draw with Wolves, Pogba said he wanted United to be able to "attack, attack, attack" at home, which led Mourinho to say the France midfielder would no longer be the club's "second captain".

After Mourinho was sacked, a post which said "caption this", along with a knowing expression on Pogba's face, appeared on his Twitter account before being deleted.

Former United captain Gary Neville replied: "You do one as well!"

United later claimed it was a "scheduled marketing post" by Pogba's sponsors Adidas.

Mourinho's third season did not begin well after missing out on key transfer targets in the summer, and two defeats in the first three league games - to Tottenham at home and Brighton away - meant his side were playing catch-up with the leading teams.

By October, there were reports Mourinho might be sacked prior to the home game against Newcastle, but after the team trailed 2-0, they turned it around to win 3-2 and seemingly buy the former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss more time.

Mourinho's agent Jorge Mendes attempted to calm matters earlier this month by taking the step of issuing a statement to say his client was "very happy" and "fully committed" to the club.

Despite reaching the Champions League last 16, where United will play Paris St-Germain, they have won just one of their past six games in the Premier League.

Mourinho's dismissal continues his run of having never completed four consecutive seasons in charge of a club.

Only once has he made it into a fourth campaign, but he left Chelsea on 20 September 2007 during his first spell at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho's record at United

Manager	Games played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals for	Goals against	Win %
Jose Mourinho	144	84	32	28	243	117	58.33%
Alex Ferguson	1,500	895	338	267	2,769	1,365	59.67%
David Moyes	51	27	9	15	86	54	52.94%
Louis van Gaal	103	54	25	24	158	98	52.43%

• 
  

Nigeria's Buhari rattled by Boko Haram attacks as polls loom

Insecurity is a major electoral issue for President Muhammadu Buhari as he seeks re-election in 2019 polls.

• 

Abuja, Nigeria – As Nigeria prepares for general elections in February, a series of attacks by Boko Haram has focused attention on the security situation in the country.

The armed group appears to have regained ground in the country's northeast in 2018, pushing into towns and villages it had previously lost to the Nigerian military.

With an escalation of attacks in recent months, the Nigerian government's claims of victory against Boko Haram appear premature.

The nine-year conflict with Boko Haram, that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced two million others from their homes in Nigeria, has also spread to neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

As Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari embarks on a re-election bid, he has called for urgent measures to curtail the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks.

At an emergency meeting of leaders from the Lake Chad region on Thursday in Chad's capital, Ndjamena, Buhari urged them to not "cave in" to the attacks.

"The group's renewed strategy of increasingly mining the area as well as its recent deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance have proved to be critical factors in the resurgence of attacks in the region," Buhari said.

"These activities are aimed at weakening our collective resolve to eradicate them from the region," he said.

Changed strategy

Nigerian troops have come under repeated attacks in recent months, resulting in multiple fatalities and the theft of their military equipment.

In one such attack, a Boko Haram faction attacked a military base on 18 November in the village of Metele in Borno state, northeast Nigeria.

Military authorities said 23 soldiers were killed and 31 others wounded. Military sources, who did not want to be identified, told Al Jazeera that about 100 soldiers were killed in the attack.

"In the last 2-3 months, we have noticed daring moves by the terrorists, increased use of drones against our positions and infusion of foreign fighters in their ranks," Nigerian army spokesperson Sani Usman said in a statement from Abuja.

Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction of Boko Haram have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The attacks have focused more attention on security issues in Nigeria in advance of the presidential election in February.

"Protection is a right that citizens expect their government to fulfil. There is a need to improve security across Nigeria," Isa Sanusi, spokesperson of rights group Amnesty International Nigeria, told Al Jazeera.

Broken promises?

For Buhari, insecurity has become a major electoral issue. The former army general had campaigned hard on security and vowed to defeat Boko Haram in the last election in 2015.

Shortly after his victory, the army made gains on Boko Haram, winning back territory, rescuing abductees and dislodging the fighters from their strongholds.

But in recent months, the fighters have returned, sacking communities, killing soldiers and kidnapping young girls and aid workers.

Hauwa Liman, a 24-year-old aid worker, was executed by Boko Haram in October after a deadline imposed by the group to release some of its imprisoned members expired.

Liman, a nurse with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), had been kidnapped by the armed group in March along with two other medical workers in Rann, Borno State.

Saifura Ahmed, a midwife with ICRC who was abducted at the same time, was executed by Boko Haram in September.

The armed group is still holding a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, who was abducted with 109 others in February from her school in the town of Dapchi, Yobe state.

"It's obvious from the recent rampaging attacks on hard targets (military installations) that the Islamic sect is still a threat, contrary to the claims made by the Buhari administration that they have been technically defeated," security consultant Don Okereke told Al Jazeera.

"Granted there are no quick fixes in fighting insurgency or terrorism, but many people didn't expect this Boko Haram issue to last this long," he said.

FACT CHECK: Did North Korean president ask to recolonise Nigeria, Ghana?

Kim at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week. Photo: Valery Sharifulin/TASS via Getty ImagesTHE North Korean President Kim Jong Un boasted that he could transform Nigeria and Ghana into first world countries if he were allowed to colonise the two countries, according to a news report going viral on the social media.  The report has been shared by over 80, 000 by users, especially Nigerians on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp — with many users taking the post as the gospel truth.

The 158-word news published by Abia Pulse says Kim described Nigeria and Ghana as the backbone of Africa because “they have all the natural resources in abundance to make them the most important and sought-after countries in the world but corruption is a major problem and a curse to them”.

It quotes the North Korean leader as saying: “Give me just a year and I will transform these two countries into first class countries that will attract businesses all over the world. Nigeria should give in, Ghana should give in and let us colonize them for the second time so they will eventually learn how to run a country.

Nigeria: 'Villages totally burned' deadly Boko Haram attacks

Boko Haram fighters attacked two villages on outskirts of Maiduguri as well as a camp for internally displaced people.

A man reacts as dead bodies are brought to a hospital after a suspected Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri's inner city in Nigeria.

At least 12 civilians have been killed in multiple Boko Haram attacks targeting two villages and a camp for those displaced by fighting in northeastern Nigeria, according to residents and civilian militia.

Boko Haram fighters arrived in seven trucks late on Wednesday and attacked Bulaburin and Kofa villages, as well as a camp in Dalori village outside Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

"The terrorists attacked and completely burned Bulaburin and Kofa villages and burned half the Dalori 2 IDP (internally displaced persons) camp," Babakura Kolo, civilian militia leader, told AFP news agency.

"They killed nine people in Bulaburin, two people in Dalori, and one in Kofa and looted food supplies before setting them on fire," Kolo said.

Musa Goni, a Kofa resident, said the fighters opened fire indiscriminately and killed one person as residents fled.

"They then moved to nearby Bulaburin where they gunned down nine people and burned the village after stealing food," Goni told AFP.

At Dalori 2, which houses 10,000 people, the fighters engaged troops and civilian militia guarding the IDP camp in a shoot-out before overrunning the makeshift facility, civilian militia camp member Solomon Adamu said.

"When the Boko Haram gunmen came they stopped on the road overlooking the camp and started firing," Adamu, who took part in the fight, told AFP.

"Soldiers and civilian JTF (militia) at the gate engaged them in gunfight but were forced to withdraw into the camp because we were outgunned," he said.

Residents were forced to flee and two were killed while several were wounded, according to Adamu.

The fighters invaded the camp after overrunning troops and the militia and "burned half the camp" by setting fires and firing rocket-propelled grenades on buildings.

"One grenade didn't explode and is still lying in the camp, waiting for bomb disposal units to evacuate it," Adamu said.

In a statement, Nigeria's military said one civilian was found dead after Boko Haram had ransacked Dalori's market, set buildings on fire and fled when soldiers approached.

The area has been attacked multiple times before by the Boko Haram faction loyal to Abubakar Shekau.

Despite government insistence that Boko Haram is near defeat, northern Nigeria is still beleaguered by heavy fighting.

Since the group launched its campaign in 2009, Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and forced two million others to flee their homes in northeast Nigeria.

Over the years, the armed group - which wants to form a breakaway Islamic state - has kidnapped thousands of adults and children. Thank you for your time

Police nab undergraduate, four others for money ritual

The suspects

Etim Ekpimah

Police operatives at the Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos, have arrested a 300-level political science student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, and four others for engaging in money ritual.

The student, Victor Nnacheta, 20, from Aguleri in Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State, was said to have consulted two Abeokuta, Ogun State-based Islamic clerics, Kabiru Badmos and Nurudeen Shodaolu, who undertook to perform a money-making ritual for him with a human skull and other body parts for N250,000.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the zone, Dolapo Badmus, said on Monday that the clerics consulted two men, Olarewaju Jimoh and Mayewunmi Lukmon, who worked at a cemetery to exhume dead bodies for them.

READ ALSO

She revealed that the skull and other human parts were grinded and mixed with black soap for Nnacheta to use before going to his Bet9ja shop.

Badmus stated, “A modest achievement we have made is that of a 20-year-old man, who said he wanted to become a billionaire overnight. He consulted some herbalists/Islamic clerics, who asked him to get a human skull and other body parts.

“The herbalists/clerics hired two men, who work in a cemetery. The two men were able to exhume dead bodies. The two men confessed that they gave out skulls, which the herbalists/clerics grinded and mixed with black soap.

“In the process, the police got information about them and arrested the suspects.”

Nnacheta told our correspondent that he had asked the clerics to make him prosperous in his Bet9ja business as he had no parents.

He noted that he had paid the clerics to prepare the concoction that would make him rich before the police arrested them.

Badmus noted that apart from the five persons arrested in connection with the money ritual, the police also apprehended four armed robbery suspects, who allegedly specialised in carjacking.

According to her, the robbery gang was led by a 25-year-old man, adding that the zone was able to recover three out of the five vehicles that the gang had snatched.

Badmus said, “We found a 25-year-old man leading three other men in armed robbery operations on the highways. Based on investigation, about five vehicles had been snatched by the gang; three of the vehicles were recovered from them.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

“The other two vehicles have been taken across the border to one unknown Alhaji. We have extended our investigation to Interpol to see how the Alhaji can be arrested. The three vehicles have been handed over to their owners.”

SEE HOW NIGERIAN POLICE JUST WASTED THIS SOUL AT AIRPORT BUS-STOP FOR NO REASON

SEE WHAT A MAN MUST GO THROUGH JUST TO GET A WIFE

IF YOU ARE NOT JUBRIL THEN SPEAK UP NOW OYEDEPO TELLS BUHARI

I AM NOT JUBRIL FROM SUDAN BUHARI SPEAKS UP

I’m not Jubril from Sudan, ‘it’s real me’ – President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari in Kakrow, Poland

‘‘It’s real me, I assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and I will still go strong.’’
Those were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari, Sunday in Krakow, Poland, at an interactive session with the Nigerian community in the country.
Responding to a question from a Nigerian in the Diaspora who wanted to know if he was real or the much talked about ‘‘Jubril from Sudan’’ – his supposed double- President Buhari described the authors of the confusion about him as ‘‘ignorant and irreligious.’’
‘‘A lot of people hoped that I died during my ill health. Some even reached out to the Vice President to consider them to be his deputy because they assumed I was dead. That embarrassed him a lot and of course, he visited me when I was in London convalescing… It’s real me; I assure you,’’ he declared.
The Nigerian leader said he was looking forward to celebrating his 76th birthday on December 17 and jocularly added: ‘‘If I am getting harassed by anyone, it is my grandchildren, who are getting too many.’’
The President used the occasion to reiterate that his government will continue to maintain focus and deliver on the three focal points of his campaign in 2015: security, economy and the fight against corruption.
‘‘Those in the North-east will tell you that in spite of the recent setbacks, there is a difference between the time we came and before.
‘‘We are not doing badly on security, economy and agriculture. We have virtually stopped the importation of food especially rice and we are saving a lot of money.
‘‘We now have food security and that has come with fiscal security because a lot of young educated people have not regretted going back to the farms and earning a respectable living.
‘‘I am afraid, this is not receiving good publicity… but a lot of people in the rural areas are enjoying the benefits of our interventions in agriculture,’’ he said.

President Buhari, who is in Poland to attend the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24, reaffirmed that no territory of Nigeria is under the control of Boko Haram terrorists, calling on Nigerians to remain vigilant and supportive of the federal government’s efforts to ensure the security of lives and property in the country.
While acknowledging that it has not been easy financing the security sector in the country, the president said the Nigerian Armed Forces were equal to the task.
The president noted that it was regrettable that herdsmen and farmers clashes in the country have been politicised, assuring that the Nigerian government will continue to prioritise security because that is what many investors consider first before investing in the country.
On the fight against corruption, he said all recovered stolen assets will be sold and the proceeds returned to the treasury for the benefit of Nigerians.
On women representation in his government, the president told the meeting: ‘‘I have plans for all Nigerians. I am not a male chauvinist. If I’m a chauvinist, will I give the finance ministry to women?’’
In his remarks, the Ambassador of Nigeria to Poland, Eric Adagogo Bell-Gam praised Nigerians living in the country for being worthy ambassadors of the country.
Among those who met President Buhari were Larry Ugwu, an artist and curator, who has lived in Poland for 40 years and has contributed immensely to promoting Nigerian cultural heritage in the Polish society; Anthony Egwuatu, a Gynaecologist, who has lived in the country for 30 years and Olomofe Larry, a human rights activist, who has fought for justice for fellow Nigerians in the host country, among several others.
The event was put together and anchored by Abike Dabiri, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Diaspora.