Military strikes conducted by the US in December 2025 killed 155 Lakurawa terrorists in Sokoro, a report by The New Humanitarian has claimed.

The US focus was Lakurawa though the strikes didn’t touch other jihadist groups including Boko Haram, as well as the al-Qaeda-linked Ansaru.

The publication also claimed that the attacks left 200 additional Lakurawa fighters missing in the week following the operation.

The strikes, carried out in collaboration with Nigerian authorities, were believed to have involved Tomahawk missiles launched from a US destroyer positioned in the Gulf of Guinea.

The missiles targeted three districts in Sokoto State: Isa, Tangaza, and Tambuwal, though only Tangaza is widely recognised as a core area of Lakurawa.

It is believed that Tambuwal is not generally associated with organised armed violence; while Isa is a bandit stronghold largely controlled by Bello Turji.

Although details of the strike on Isa remain unclear, Turji is widely believed to have survived the attack.

A Lakurawa camp in Tangaza, however, reportedly suffered significant losses.

The New Humanitarian reports that there were two missile hits.

The first reportedly killed around 30 fighters. As surviving members converged to assess the damage and assist the wounded, a second missile struck, killing those who had gathered.

In total, an estimated 155 Lakurawa were killed, including 19 who were initially injured but later succumbed to their wounds.

Dando Sibu, a key Lakurawa commander, is reported to have survived the attack because he left the location less than five minutes before the second missile was fired.

However, in the week following the strikes, about 200 Lakurawa fighters were reported missing. The group was also said to have lost nearly half of its cattle, which is a major source of its revenue.

(The Sun)

Photo: Akran of Badagry, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi

The traditional ruler of the Badagry local government area in Lagos State, the Akran of Badagry, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi, is dead, aged 89.

The demise of the monarch marks the end of his 48-year reign on the throne, making him one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in Lagos State.

According to the palace, the Akran was pronounced dead by medical experts, after a brief illness, and the traditional rites for his burial have gradually commenced.

Residents of Badagry, who are currently mourning the loss of their revered monarch, described his death as a heavy blow, noting that the town has lost not just a king but a father figure whose wisdom, counsel and presence brought reassurance in moments of uncertainty.

• Map of Osun State

The Osun State Government has instituted a criminal case against United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and four of its top officials over alleged illegal opening of local government accounts.

Tribune newspaper reported that the Chief Magistrate Court, sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has fixed January 30 for the hearing of the case, marked Charge No: MOS/601c/2025.

The defendants in the suit are: the UBA Plc, its Group Managing Director, Mr Oliver Alawuba, the Company Secretary and Group Legal Adviser, Mr Billy Odum and the Deputy Managing Director, Mr Chukwuma Nweke.

In the charge sheet, the government filed the 31-count charge against the bank and its officials, with each count relating to alleged infractions involving opening of bank accounts for the state’s 30 local government councils.

In count one, the prosecution alleged that the defendants, on or about December 9, 2025, and on subsequent days, at UBA’S Osun State branch office located in the Olonkoro area of Osogbo, conspired to commit a felony by opening, operating and maintaining what it described as illegal Osun State Local Government Council accounts.

The alleged offence, the charge stated, occurred within the Osogbo Magisterial District and is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Volume 2, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.

They were specifically accused of allowing the opening, operation and maintenance of accounts for each of the local government councils “by unknown private individuals as signatories” after the Local Government Service Commission had introduced to the defendants, Directors of Administration and General Services and Directors of Finance of all the local governments as signatories to the councils’ statutory accounts “and thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 2 and 3 (1) and (2), and punishable under Section 5(1) and (2) of Osun State Local Government Accounts Administration Law, 2025.”