A federal high court in Abuja has granted the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) permission to access and analyse electronic devices recovered from the residence of Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna.

Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, granted the order on Thursday following an ex parte motion filed by the ICPC.

Moving the application, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, counsel to the ICPC, asked the court to allow the commission to access the devices for inspection and forensic examination.

Akponimisingha told the court that the request was necessary to enable investigators to conduct forensic analysis and data extraction as part of an ongoing investigation involving the former governor.

Items listed by the commission include a Sony HD-EGS storage device, a 1TB Transcend storage device, a Toshiba storage device, a Samsung mobile phone, a Nokia N95 8GB mobile phone, a BlackBerry device, and a Google IDEOS phone.

Others are a Samsung storage device (SPO802N), a Remarkable tablet, an Apple MacBook Pro, a Seagate FreeAgent external drive, a ZTE mobile phone, 10 flash drives, and a microcell memory card.

The application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/499/2026, was filed in the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against el-Rufai.

El-Rufai had challenged the search of his Abuja residence by the ICPC on February 19.

The former governor is praying the court to nullify the search warrant issued by a magistrate court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on February 4, authorising the search and seizure at his residence.

He sought a court order to rule that any evidence obtained from the search is inadmissible in any proceeding against him, because it was procured in breach of constitutional safeguards.

El-Rufai also sought N1 billion as general, exemplary, and aggravated damages for alleged violations of his fundamental rights, including trespass, unlawful seizure, psychological trauma, humiliation, distress, and reputational harm.

The former governor joined the chief magistrate who issued the order, the inspector-general of police (IGP), and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) as respondents in the suit.

Five US military aircraft and the first batch of United States troops arrived in north-east Nigeria ahead of a joint offensive against ISWAP terrorists in the region.

The New York Times reports that a US military aircraft touched down in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on Thursday night.

By Friday evening, three aircraft were visible at the base, with equipment being offloaded from at least one of them.

According to Brant Philip, a counter-terrorism researcher and expert, the military aircraft touched down in air force bases across Nigeria’s northern region over the past few days.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the United States would send 200 troops to Nigeria to train the country’s military, as the West African nation battles insurgents across swathes of its territory.

A US official said the troops would supplement a handful of United States military personnel already on the ground in Nigeria.

The deployment follows an increased security partnership between both nations since US President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over Christian genocide claims.

In a post on X, Philip shared that in furtherance of the security deal, six US Air Force cargo planes were deployed in West Africa over the past week.

Philip said one aircraft stopped in Ghana, with five proceeding to Nigeria.

He said a sixth aircraft arrived in Nigeria on Saturday and will likely follow the route towards the north-east.

Philip noted that one of the US planes, 1x C-17A, was deployed in the Kainji Airbase, while two others, 3x C-17A and 1x C-130J-30, flew to Maiduguri Airbase in Borno.

He said all of them left their respective bases on the same day they landed.

“Maiduguri Airbase will likely be the primary base of operations for supporting the Nigerian army against ISWAP,” the analyst said.

According to him, the Borno state capital is a critical location because the IS affiliate currently controls most of the rural areas in the state.

He said parts of the deliveries may include at least one or more MQ-9 Reaper drones, attack helicopters, and a large number of US troops.