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Borno Airstrike: President Tinubu Meets Service Chiefs

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"aTbyxzl1" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa<&sol;p><div class&equals;"deGi65kM" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>President Bola Tinubu is currently holding a security meeting with service chiefs&comma; intelligence heads&comma; and the Inspector-General of Police at the State House&comma; Abuja&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The meeting&comma; which began at about 2&colon;00 pm on Monday&comma; is the first item on the President’s agenda since his return to Abuja from Bayelsa State on Friday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The emergency session comes amid heightened security concerns following the United States’ authorisation of non-emergency embassy staff to leave Abuja and a controversial military airstrike in Borno State that killed over 100 civilians&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"4cx67Eq4" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Those in attendance at the ongoing meeting include the Chief of Defence Staff&comma; the Chiefs of the Army&comma; Navy&comma; and Air Staff&comma; the Director-General of the Department of State Services&comma; the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency&comma; and the Inspector-General of Police&comma; Tunji Disu&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The National Security Adviser&comma; Nuhu Ribadu&comma; is also attending the closed-door session at the Presidential Villa&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On April 8&comma; 2026&comma; the US State Department authorised the voluntary departure of non-emergency government employees and family members from the US Embassy in Abuja&comma; citing a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;deteriorating security situation&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The decision placed 23 of Nigeria’s 36 states under a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Level 4&colon; Do Not Travel” designation&comma; the highest risk category&comma; adding Plateau&comma; Jigawa&comma; Kwara&comma; Niger&comma; and Taraba to the list&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The US highlighted threats from Islamist insurgents in the Northeast&comma; criminal gangs in the Northwest&comma; and ongoing violence in parts of southern and southeastern Nigeria&comma; including oil-producing regions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The embassy said visa appointments in Abuja had been suspended&comma; though the Lagos consulate continues to provide routine and emergency services&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Federal Government said the travel alert was guided by US internal protocols and did not reflect the overall security situation across Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;While we acknowledge isolated security challenges in some areas&comma; there is no general breakdown of law and order&comma; and the vast majority of the country remains stable&comma;” Minister Mohammed Idris stated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The security meeting also comes hours after a Nigerian Air Force strike targeting Boko Haram terrorists hit Jilli Market along the Borno-Yobe border on Saturday&comma; April 11&comma; 2026&comma; killing over 100 civilians&comma; including children&comma; and injuring many others&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Amnesty International cited survivors as saying at least 100 people were killed in the airstrike&comma; with some reports putting the death toll as high as 200&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Air Force acknowledged conducting &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;precision mop-up airstrikes on identified terrorist locations” in the Jilli axis of Borno State but made no reference to hitting a civilian market&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; the Presidency defended the operation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking with Bloomberg earlier on Monday&comma; Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity&comma; Temitope Ajayi&comma; said&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The market was a legitimate military target because it has been turned into a logistics and trading hub by Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Amnesty International condemned the strike&comma; calling for an independent investigation and describing it as evidence of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Military air raids have killed at least 500 civilians since 2017&comma; according to multiple reports&comma; with failures in intelligence gathering and coordination between ground forces and air assets cited as contributing factors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nigeria is battling multiple security threats across its six geopolitical zones&comma; including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province insurgency in the Northeast&comma; banditry and kidnapping in the Northwest and North-Central regions&comma; and separatist violence in the Southeast&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Major attacks in 2026 include the February 3 massacre in Woro&comma; Kwara State&comma; where over 100 people were killed and 176 kidnapped&comma; and multiple mass abductions across northern states&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Amnesty International reported that at least 1&comma;100 people were abducted between January and April 2026&comma; though the Police disputed the figure as unverified&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 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