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Tag: Baga

  • Boko Haram: Niger will not help retake Baga

    Boko Haram: Niger will not help retake Baga

    Niger  Republic says it will not be involved in any attempt to retake Baga, Borno State from Boko Haram.

    BBC reported that bodies  lay strewn on the streets of the town following an assault by the sect  on Wednesday, with hundreds feared killed.

    The town is near the border with Chad and had housed a military base staffed partly by multinational forces.

    Soldiers from Niger had been there but were not present when it was attacked.

    The withdrawal of the troops from Niger means Nigeria’s neighbour now has no forces directly involved in tackling Boko Haram.

    Chad has also withdrawn its forces.

    Nigerian officials said  that almost all of Baga had been set on fire and militants had raided the surrounding area.

    “We have 50 soldiers there and decided to withdraw them after Boko Haram captured Malamfatori town in October and continued to operate in the area with impunity,” Niger Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum told the BBC Hausa service:.

    “As you know, Baga is under (the control of) Boko Haram terrorists and unless the town is recaptured from them, we will not send back our troops.

    “But we are still determined to work with our neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria to contain the situation – it is a problem for us all.”

    A separate French-led initiative called for all four West African countries to contribute 700 troops each to a multinational force against Boko Haram, but no country has implemented the plan.

    Niger has blamed Nigeria, saying it has not kept to commitments regarding its own troop levels.

    Civilians who fled from Baga this week reported that they had been unable to bury the dead. Corpses littered the town’s streets, said Musa Alhaji Bukar, a senior government official in the area.

    Meanwhile, President Paul Biya of Cameroun yesterday launched an appeal  for international military help to fight the Islamist sect.

    The appeal came after the sect leader Abubakar Shekau threatened in his latest video posted online  to target Biya and intensify  cross-border raids into the country from Nigeria.

    “A global threat calls for a global response. Such should be the response of the international community, including the African Union and our regional organizations,” he said in a New Year speech on Thursday to diplomats at the presidential palace in Yaounde.

    Biya lamented  that a regional military force against the Islamists had yet to be established.

    At least 15 people were killed in an attack on a bus in north Cameroon on New Year’s day.

    Biya did not comment on the Shekau video in his speech.

    He has already  deployed more troops to Cameroun’s  Far North region with the soldiers killing  hundreds of the terrorists.

    New laws aimed at stamping out the militants were also helping, Biya said.

    “Although weakened by the losses it has suffered, our foe nonetheless remains capable of bouncing back,” he said.

    The German government donated 120 all-terrain vehicles to Cameroon’s military in November.

  • Like Baga, like Biafra

    SIR: I’d quickly like to get our national consciousness back from selective amnesia. While a mountain is being made out of a molehill, in one case, a genuine mountain has been reduced to a molehill in another.

    While I truly sympathise with the people of Baga for being caught in the cross – fire between the JTF and the Boko Haram nuisance, they truly cannot lay hold to the claim of “genocide” a word was made most famous by Ojukwu during the war waged by Nigeria against the Igbo people.

    If people are inviting the International Criminal Court ICC to come and investigate what happened in Baga, not minding the emergency relief and compensation effort being put by the federal government, then it behooves on Ndi-Igbo to take Nigeria to court, both locally and internationally and demand the same justice and compensation being given to Baga, Zaki-Biam and Odi.

    In the Baga issue, it is clear that it was the Boko-Haram that opened fire on the JTF first, killing a military officer setting their mosque on fire. The said mosque was where they hid to manufacture their bombs, which has killed over 5,000 people and counting.

    While the opposition parties, media and Boko-Haram politicians can seek to make political capital out of Baga, they should equally recognize that they offend the sensibilities and memories of the victims, relations friends and colleagues of those that have been butchered by these criminals, known as Boko Haram.

    If these same people can put in the same amount of effort they are putting in condemning the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, into condemning the Boko-Haram members and their sponsors, we would have gone a long way in tackling the activities of these cold-blooded murderers.

    The media should be more careful in ensuring that they do not continue to paint Boko-Haram, their sponsors and supporters as the victims, while painting the military as the hostile institution. They should remember that it is these brave military men and women that stand between us and being run – over by jihadist forces.

    Meanwhile, I believe the Igbo people should start going to court to demand compensation and justice because what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. If for the death of 38 or 178 people, Nigeria will spend billion to compensate them, then surely for the death of millions, more should be done.

    • Azubike Nwokedi,

    Onitsha, Anambra State.

  • Baga: Where truth is casualty

    Interestingly, the public is caught in the crossfire of claims and counterclaims over the devastation that has put the spotlight on Baga, Borno State. However, the expanding story has taken fresh turns with recent clarifying developments. These are the presentation of a “ Satellite Imagery Analysis of Baga and Environs” by Dr. S.O. Mohammed, Director General, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Abuja; the findings of the Senate Joint Committee on Defence and Army, National Security and Intelligence, and Police Affairs; and the first-hand investigative report by Al Jazeera.

    It is significant that these sources, working independently of one another, have provided new and striking single-thread perspectives to the controversy over the alleged deployment of flagrantly excessive firepower by the military in the infamous April encounter with Boko Haram, the Islamist terror militia, in Baga. The figures of fatalities in that conflict, particularly in connection with the civilian populace and the vulnerable, and the scale of structural damage, have been open to inventiveness, a situation that has been exploited by critics of the government. Quick to jump to conclusions, devoted antagonists of the administration seized the opportunity to level charges of human rights abuse and crimes against humanity at the army. Indeed, international observers, notably the United Nations (UN), Britain and the US, understandably expressed concerns about the alleged atrocities and called for a probe.

    There were, perhaps, fertile grounds for such reactions, to go by the earliest reports of the disturbing incident which highlighted varying degrees of the alleged death toll, ranging from 183 to 228. A community leader, quoted by Daniel Bekele, Africa Director of New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), claimed to have participated in the burial of 183 bodies following the clashes. The Red Cross reportedly said that 187 people were killed in the fighting. The highest figure came from the Senator representing Borno North in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Maina Lawal, who reportedly put the number of the dead at 228.

    In addition, the level of destruction of buildings in the community was the subject of contentious commentary from adversarial quarters. So-called witness accounts quoted by HRW said that the locals counted over 2,000 burned homes in the aftermath of the hostilities. Indeed, according to a statement by the rights group, “Satellite images of the town analyzed by Human Rights Watch identify 2,275 destroyed buildings, the vast majority likely residences, with another 125 severely damaged.” On its website, it posted images depicting aerial shots of the community on April 6, contrasting them with images of the same scenes on April 26, 10 days after the clashes. The body said further that satellite data “indicated that damaged structures were likely caused by intense and widespread fires,” and concluded that “such fires were intentionally set and not inadvertently sparked by the detonation of rocket-propelled grenades or improvised explosive devices.”

    It is noteworthy that the May 6 reaction by NASRDA to the HRW damage assessment of Baga not only provided a counterpoint to its conclusions; it also sought to enlighten the rights group on the “best-practice” method of interpreting such satellite data. NASRDA stated that its alternative perspective was informed by “multi-stage imageries (Image sets used by HRW, NigeriaSat-1, NigeriaSat-X, and NigeriaSat-2)” and faulted HRW findings and conclusions, which it said were based on “critical technical assumptions.”

    Among the high points of NASRDA findings and conclusions was the statement that “the estimation of the number of damaged buildings were about 80% exaggerated, because the process of generating the information was purely a desktop approach and without any ground truthing exercise to validate the time, extent, trend, and land use activities; leading to huge misinterpretation of features.” The agency argued that buildings, trees, fences, open court yards, uninhabited plots, etc were counted as same features. It said further, “ It is worthy of note that the effective damaged areas can’t logically house 2,400 damaged buildings (2,275 destroyed and 125 severely damaged) claimed to be identified in the study area by the Human Rights Watch.”

    While the agency conceded that “It is very true that images don’t lie,” it however ended on a cautionary note by pointing out that “the interpretation of features that occur in an area, and captured with scientific satellites must be interpreted with effective ground knowledge (in situ), history and land use activities for accurate results.”

    Beyond the question of structural devastation, however, is the more important issue of alleged mass killing involving non-combatants, which provoked intense emotions both locally and internationally. Following the visit to Baga from May 7 – 9 by the Senate Joint Committee headed by George Sekibo, mandated to investigate the alleged massacre, a member of the team reportedly told journalists that they found no mass grave in the town. He said he counted about 26 fresh graves at the cemetery the committee visited.

    Given the media’s reportorial role in this story, it is appropriate to play up the professionalism exhibited by Al Jazeera, the international Islam-oriented TV news station, whose Nigeria-based West Africa correspondent visited the troubled community for an on-the –spot assessment, and provided perhaps the sort of credible presentation needed to illuminate the murkiness. According to him, “It was important for me to get to Baga to see for myself, first-hand, what had really happened and try to figure out how many people might have been killed. We were escorted around Baga by the Joint Task Force (JTF) and allowed to talk to villagers we encountered freely, and film the damage caused by the fighting, mainly burnt out homes and businesses. But what I really wanted was to get to the bottom of reports of a “mass grave” in Baga where the 200 civilians who had been reportedly killed had been buried. “

    He regarded with professional scepticism the “one gravesite” showed to him by his escorts, where they said about 20 Boko Haram fighters had been buried. “So I decided to ask three or four villagers close to where we were filming as to whether they knew anything about a mass grave in Baga. Throughout the rest of my time in Baga, I did not see any mass grave. Neither were we prevented by the JTF from moving freely around Baga,” he reported.

    Evidently, truth is also a victim in Baga, considering the juxtaposition of the latest information about the fallout from the conflict and the initial publicity. It is not clear where the allegations of mass murder and deliberate wide-scale burning of buildings by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) sprang from, and how and why they gained such ground, but the course of the clashes is apparently outside the realm of speculation. According to the Defence Headquarters which organized a fact- finding visit to Baga from April 24-25, the community served as a base for Boko Haram terror champions, who ambushed MNJTF troops on patrol on April 16, killing one soldier, Aramaja Ololaja. The fire fight that followed was said to have “ended with a mop up operation on Wednesday April 17, when the terrorists were effectively overpowered and their base destroyed.” The military said only 37 people were killed, 30 of them Boko Haram fighters, one soldier and six civilians. So, where in this intriguing maze, lies the much sought truth?

    • Macaulay is on the editorial board of The Nation

  • Probing Baga killings

    Probing Baga killings

    •The United Nations should be allowed to probe the killings and provide the right statistics

    There has been a vociferous argument about the actual number of people massacred in Baga, Borno State, when Boko Haram insurgents and Nigerian military clashed on April 16 and 17. The figures in the media range from 185-210, but the Federal Government said it was between 26 and 35. However, the US-based Human Rights Watch has accused the Nigerian military of killing over 185 people in Baga and destroying thousands of houses there, thereby rendering many people homeless.

    On his own part, the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof. Ade Adefuye, denied this figure, saying that satellite pictures released by human rights organisations were insufficient to determine the number of casualties, and who were responsible for the carnage. He also made it clear to the US team which visited Nigeria that the claims about the casualties have been “excessively exaggerated”.

    Amidst these confusing scenarios The Empowered Newswire reported that the US officials were in a dilemma over which of the different accounts to believe. It is precisely this dilemma that prompted the US team’s visit to Nigeria for the purpose of “probing” the Baga killings.

    There is no doubt that, irrespective of the number of casualties in the Baga carnage, Nigerians and the international community have the right to know the correct picture of the killings as well as the circumstances that led to this tragic episode. For instance, who were involved; who gave the order, and for what reasons? We surely have the right to know exactly how many people were killed, especially as human civilisation has gone beyond jungle justice and indiscriminate termination of human lives.

    Unfortunately, the Nigerian government is yet to determine the exact number of casualties involved in the killings. And once again, it would seem the government has found it difficult to tell the truth about this notorious massacre. Even very few people have faith in the probe that the government has instituted on the matter.

    But these do not in any way justify the US intervention in its attempt to “probe” another sovereign country. Although the US may have military agreement with Nigeria on matters of this nature, and may even be sufficiently concerned about what use the country is putting whatever arms and ammunition that Nigeria is getting from America, yet, Nigeria is a sovereign country and, for this reason, the US cannot unilaterally send a team to “probe” the Baga killings in Nigeria.

    As Nigerians, we feel sufficiently concerned about the unnecessary loss of lives in the tragic incident. Yes, there is no agreement on the number of lives lost there, we should be concerned, as we indeed are, that even if only one innocent person died as a result of the crisis, it should still give cause for worry.

    But if we are to unravel the knotty issue, the United Nations is in a better and legitimate position to conduct a probe into the killings in order to determine the actual number of casualties as well as the circumstances surrounding the act. The US government, like Nigeria, is only one sovereign country among the other sovereign countries that make up the United Nations.

  • No mass grave found in Baga, says senator

    Are there mass graves in Baga, Borno State, following the recent clash between Boko Haram members and operatives of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF)?

    This is the question the controversy over alleged mass murder of Baga residents has thrown up.

    But a member of the Senate Committee, which visited the troubled community last week explained that members of the committee did not find any mass grave.

    The committee member, who spoke in confidence with our correspondents in Abuja, said he counted about 26 fresh graves at the cemetery the committee visited.

    The Senate, at its plenary on April 23, deliberated on the Baga incident and mandated its Joint Committee on Defence and Army, the National Security and Intelligence and the Police Affairs, to investigate the alleged massacre.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and Army, George Sekibo, led the senators on the mission from May 7 till May 9.

    Other senators on the fact-finding mission included Deputy Senate Leader Abdul Ningi; the Chairman, Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Mohammed Magoro; the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Army and Defence, Mohammed Bindowo Jibrilla; the Chairman, Senate Committee on Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Saidu Alkali; the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Abubakar Umar Tutare; the Vice-Chairman, Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Saleh and the Chairman, Senate Committee on National Identity and National Population, Maina Ma’aji Lawan, representing Borno North.

    The source said the committee met with Governor Kashim Shettima and was briefed by the police commissioner, the Director of the State Security Service (SSS), the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) and the Joint Military Task Force (JTF).

    The Senate Committee was also said to have visited the scene of the clash and had audience with the local government chairman, the district Head, the village head, the Bulama (a local ethnic group), elders and some victims of the crisis.

    It was learnt that peace is gradually returning to the town while many arrests have been made.

  • From Baga to Bama

    From Baga to Bama

    We are talking of peace, but they seem more interested in violence. Everything is being done to make them toe the path of peace and reason, but the Boko Haram elements seem set in their ways. To make Boko Haram see reason, the Federal Government raised a committee to dialogue with the group. The panel has since started work, but Boko Haram has so far not taken its place at the roundtable.

    We are talking peace, they are beating the drums of war. Nobody knows what Boko Haram is up to. The group strikes at will, catching the security operatives unawares. Anywhere they strike, they leave sorrow, tears and blood. They have hit Bama in Borno State again. This is the second time in less than one week that they are invading the community, which first made the headlines when former Petroleum Minister Prof Tam David-West was jailed there in 1990.

    Bama is a far-flung place from other parts of the country. It is a border town close to Chad, Niger and the eastern part of Cameroon. It is 70 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Those who know also say that it is quite a distance from Baga, another border town which is about 180 kilometres from Maiduguri. Baga was the scene of a bloodbath last month which shook the nation to its foundation. We are still trying to unravel the circumstances that led to that dastardly act in which 185 persons were said to have been killed by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), only for Boko Haram to hit Bama in the wee hours of Tuesday.

    Boko Haram invaded Bama in a big way. No fewer than 500 members of the sect riding in 10 Toyota Hilux vehicles were said to have invaded the town, wreaking havoc on army and police barracks, the prison, where David-West was kept, the magistrate’s court, revenue office, primary healthcare centre, and the local government headquarters, among other places. No fewer than 55 persons were believed to have been killed.

    The group was also said to have set free over 100 inmates of Bama Prison. Was the invasion carried out to release the prisoners, some of who may be members of the sect? Why has the sect stepped up its operation at a time when the government is looking for a way to appease the group through amnesty? With the way things are now, those against the granting of amnesty to Boko Haram may have a point. Should the nation still be talking of giving the group amnesty when it seems to have shunned all entreaties to cease fire and embrace dialogue?

    Let us say the truth, Boko Haram has gone too far in killing, maiming and destroying public properties. It is acting as if it can match the government in combat. That is a fatal error of judgement. Nobody, no matter how powerful they think they are can match the government’s might. If the government decides to take on Boko Haram, the consequences will be disastrous as we saw in what happened in Baga last month. Many don’t want a repeat of the Baga massacre, that is why they have been prevailing on the government to take it easy with the group.

    But for how long will the government allow Boko Haram to run rings round the country as if it is law unto itself. The government has tolerated Boko Haram long enough and this is why the group seems to think it can do anything and get away with it. With its murderous actions, Boko Haram keeps on testing the government’s will, yet its sympathisers keep saying that the group should be handled with kid’s glove. The question those people should answer is that having applied the carrot without any meaningful result, shouldn’t the government adopt the stick?

    Because of the undue sympathy for Boko Haram’s cause (which many of us don’t know anyway), we have tied the government’s hand. The government cannot act decisively to stop the group’s menace in order not to be accused of highhandedness. But see the havoc that Boko Haram is causing with its ‘lowhandedness’. We just must put a stop to this madness one way or the other. We cannot allow Boko Haram to continue to enjoy a free rein of killing households and destroying public properties without making the group to account for its deeds.

    Boko Haram has been given an opportunity to come to the roundtable for talks. So, what else does it want? Is it that its grievances cannot be resolved by dialogue? No matter how difficult a problem is, it cannot be resolved through the use of a knife or a gun. It can only be resolved through dialogue and the earlier Boko Haram and its backers realise this, the better for them. Or else, they should be prepared to pay for their action, if not now, but certainly in future.

     

    Failure of leadership

    In every society, government provides infrastructure for the well-being of the people. Where the private sector and individuals come in, it is to complement the government’s efforts. This is why some companies and individuals build roads, power plants, state-of-the-art schools and hospitals to relieve government of the burden of being the sole provider of these facilities.

    That these organisations and individuals embark on these projects do not make it their responsibility. But what do we see these days? These groups and individuals are being saddled with this duty, which governments elsewhere discharge faithfully. Despite its enormous resources, our government is finding it difficult to carry out these simple tasks.

    Isn’t it a shame that the government cannot provide us good roads, potable water, hospitals, houses and schools? These are basic infrastructure essential to the day-to-day living of the people, which they are today paying through their noses to get because government has abdicated its responsibility to rich organisations and individuals. These corporate bodies and persons are making a kill from the provision of these facilities.

    In our respective homes, we provide our own power through generators and water through boreholes or wells, depending on the person’s resources. Yet, we say we have a government. Government, my foot. Can we say we have a government when we cannot feel its impact on our lives? Whether rich or poor, neither can say that they feel the impact of government except those fortunate to participate in the looting of our patrimony.

    Now, they are carrying their incompetence too far. Of the 1.7 million candidates for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), only 520,000 stand the chance of being admitted and this in a society, which is already grappling with the problem of graduate unemployment. What does the government want the over one million remaining students to do in a society which places so much emphasis on paper qualification?

    As a way out, Education Minister Prof Ruqayyat Ahmed Rufa’i is calling on the private sector to invest in education. She is not saying anything new. There are already so many private investors in education, not only at the tertiary level, but also at the primary and secondary school levels. We know how much they charge. The poor cannot afford to send their children to such schools. Mrs Minister, your suggestion cannot be the solution to the problem.

    The Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants, and other ethnic militias and kidnappers we have today are all the by-products of a decadent society occasioned by the failure of leadership. We will remain at these people’s mercy except the government devises an ingenious means of meeting the citizenry’s needs instead of always relying on the private sector. Why don’t we then privatise governance? Won’t that be the one-stop solution to all our problems?

  • Baga…life gradually returning to normal

    The reported number of people who died in Baga, Borno State, Nigeria, caught everyone’s attention, in a way that the regular weekend bomb attacks of churches by Boko Haram, do not.

    As West Africa correspondent for Al Jazeera, based in Nigeria, I had reported nearly every attack by the group since they started fighting in 2009, starting with the killing of the group’s leader Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri where I was present.

    But the scale of last month’s attack caught my attention in a way that previous attacks had not.

    I was concerned about the figure of 200 killed that was being reported. Simply because I had reported so many Boko Haram attacks but nothing on this scale.

    And it had been reported that the military had said only 37 had been killed, 30 of them Boko Haram fighters, one soldier and six civilians.

    It was important for me to get to Baga to see for myself, first hand, what had really happened and try to figure out how many people might have been killed.

    We were escorted to Baga by the Joint Taskforce (JTF), a force consisting of the Nigerian military, State Security Service, police and other agencies, that have been fighting Boko Haram.

    The JTF had explained that the journey to Baga was extremely dangerous. They explained that Boko Haram fighters might be lying in wait along the road and could attack at any moment. And that was why it was necessary for our team to be escorted by the JTF into Baga and out.

    ‘Mass grave’

    We were escorted around Baga by the JTF and allowed to talk to villagers we encountered freely, and film the damage caused by the fighting, mainly burnt out homes and businesses.

    But what I really wanted was to get to the bottom of reports of a “mass grave” in Baga where the 200 civilians who had been reportedly killed had been buried.

    I asked the JTF to show me the mass grave. They denied such a grave existed. They explained there was only one gravesite where around 20 Boko Haram fighters had been buried. And the JTF took my crew and I to the gravesite to film. You can see this in our report.

    I was a little skeptical about the information being given to me by the JTF about the mass grave.

    The Nigerian army has been accused by organisations such as Human Rights Watch of killing civilians in their pursuit of Boko Haram fighters. And of pursuing retaliatory attacks on villages where Boko Haram members have been found.

    So I decided to ask three or four villagers close to where we were filming as to whether they knew anything about a mass grave in Baga. One of them was Fatima Ahmadu who is in our report.

    Throughout rest of my time in Baga, I did not see any mass grave. Neither were we prevented by the JTF from moving freely around Baga.

    The JTF, however, only seemed not to understand just how much time we needed in Baga to gather more information. It would have been helpful to meet more residents than those we encountered. And we were given just an hour to gather elements for our report.After filming the many burnt out homes and businesses, and the grave site, we moved to the market. To my surprise there was a semblance of normality returning.

    Baga seemed to be bustling with people, buying and selling household goods and foods. Petrol stations, mosques, churches, schools, seemed to be functioning.

    And every now and then a taxi load of people seemed to be arriving back into the town. We filmed all of this. And then hit the road back to the state capital, Maiduguri.

     

  • Adamawa govt donates to Baga victims

    Adamawa govt donates to Baga victims

    The Adamawa Government on Monday donated N20 million to victims of last month’s military/terrorists clash in Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno.

    Governor Murtala Nyako made the donation during a courtesy visit on Gov. Kashim Shettima in Maiduguri.

    Nayko described the incident as “unfortunate”, and said that the people of Adamawa were touched by the high casualty figure.

    He said the money was aimed at providing succour to the victims through procurement of relief materials.

    “I am here basically to condole with the government and people of Borno State over last month’s sad incident in Baga.

    “My deep condolences go to the victims and their families and we pray this kind of thing never happen again,” Nyako said.

    He commended Shettima on his efforts to implement developmental projects in spite of security challenges in the state.

    Nyako expressed optimism that the problem of insecurity in the North would soon be over as the Governors Forum was working hard to redress the situation.

    Shettima thanked Nyako and promised that the money would be used for the purpose intended.

  • ‘We welcome independent investigation on Baga’

    ‘We welcome independent investigation on Baga’

    Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity Dr Rueben Abati spoke on the national security and other   issues on the Sahara Television on Saturday. Correspondent Adeola Oladele – Fayehun monitored the interview in New York.

     

    COULD you summarise your report on the Baga incident…

    The statement that I issued on the matter was based on the submission of reports to the President by the National Emergency Management Agency and the Defense Headquarters or if you like, the Military Command, who had been given strict instructions to go and investigate what happened in Baga; to intervene in terms of rehabilitation of the victims, and to also determine whether rules of engagement of the military authorities had been respected or not, and to make appropriate recommendations.

    In that report, the military authorities made it very clear, that the incident occurred on April 16 and not the April 19 that was being published by newspapers, and that contrary to the reports, there was no case of over 200 people or 158 persons dying, that also there were no mass graves in Baga, and that the investigations revealed that 30 Boko Haram terrorists died, one soldier and some bodies were found in Lake Chad, a few meters away from the scene of the confrontation.

    The report also made it clear that arson is a usual method adopted by the Boko Haram terrorists, and that these Boko Haram terrorists, some of the weapons seized from them included rocket grenades, bombs, AK47s, and a lot of sophisticated weapons. And that in the process, many of the buildings around the area of the confrontation were set on fire by the Boko Haram terrorists.

    It was also made clear that the military command in its investigations was able to establish that there were no mass graves and there was no evidence that so many people died. NEMA pointed out that it has set up its own intervention programme, including units for internally displaced persons. And as at the time that statement was issued, 642 persons had been accommodatedat at the internally displaced persons unit. And also, NEMA made it very clear that the graves that the officials visited, the two major graves in the community, that they could only find a total of just 32 graves.

    In terms of population, Baga is a very small fishing community on the boarder between Nigeria and Chad. And even in terms of the number of houses in that community, you don’t have up to 1,000 houses. So, where was this information coming from that 3,000 houses were burnt, 4,000 houses were torched. So, NEMA concluded also that there has been a lot of misinformation.

    Are you saying Red Cross lied and the Senator that visited Baga and said 228 people died, are you saying he lied?

    The figures that are being around cannot be substantiated, and I’m quoting that line directly from the NEMA report. The NEMA officials were there on the ground, they conducted their investigations, you’re quoting Red Cross, don’t forget that many of the aid workers were claiming that they were not granted access; the same people who said they were not granted access are quoting figures. And NEMA has already debunked that and said that nobody was barred from accessing the community. NEMA was granted access, Red Cross was granted access, and the investigations that NEMA and the defense authority did are the details that I have given you earlier on.

    What about the Senator?

    The question we should ask is: “Did the Senator go to there or was he speaking on the basis on hearsay? Then the question is how did he conduct his own investigations? What empirical evidence does he have? Because we should refrain from relying on gossip or hearsay. And I believe that the senator, am sure the authorities may possibly invite him to provide evidence and to assist in the investigations that are still continuing.

    What about the published satellite image of Baga before and after the incidence. Have you seen the picture?

    Well, I have seen the satellite images that are being circulated. But you know those satellite images are questionable. You know that satellite imagery is determined by a lot of variables: weather condition, the quality of equipment, the resolution, the distance, and all of that. And the military authority have made it very clear that the Nigerian authority have also carried out their own satellite imagery, using Nigeria’s tools. And the evidence that they have is clearly different from the evidence that the Human Rights Watch is talking about.

    In that same Human Rights Watch report, it is claimed that certain persons in the community were interviewed. Where were they interviewed? When? These are questions that you should ask. I mean the same people said they were not granted access, so how did they conduct their interviews? And if they said they conducted their interviews by phone, the report states that communication satellite mast in that community had been damaged by the Boko Haram terrorists, such that at the moment, it’s very difficult to make phone calls to that community.

    And then, of course, it is not impossible if at all anyone was interviewed, you ought to realise that there is a lot of politicking involved in this matter, people are beginning to play politics with it, but the military authority and the Nigerian State has the responsibility to ensure the integrity of the Nigerian state, to ensure that the sovereignty of Nigeria is not violated, and to ensure that terrorists are not allowed to create a state within the state. Because what the authorities are faced with is a situation whereby the terrorists are almost creating an enclave inside the Nigerian territory.

    Are you going to have an independent investigation, apart from the government owned agencies?

    In the statement that I issued on this matter, I made it clear that President Jonathan, welcomed the decision by the National Human Rights Commission to conduct its own independent investigations. And the council of the National Human Rights Commission has already met, and they issued a statement saying that they would carryout independent investigations. Whoever wants to also carryout independent investigations is welcome.

    Historically, Nigerian government is known to downplay figures in incidences like this. So you should understand why people are not believing what the government is saying, do you?

    Well, the government is also concerned that people are playing politics with this Baga incidence, that there is a lot of misinformation out there, and there seems to be a deliberate attempt to give a bad name in order to harm it.

    Killing of innocent civilians by the Nigerian military is nothing new. Former President OlusegunObasanjo had his Odi massacre. President Yar’Adua actually created the modern day Boko Haram after his security agents massacred over 1000 members of Boko Haram. Is Baga President Jonathan’s own massacre? In this new world order where heads of states face charges of crime against humanity for ordering the killing of his own citizens is the president worried about the possibility of facing charges in the International Criminal Court over the activities of the JTF?

    One, the position of the government is that there was no massacre in Baga. Two, the reports by investigators also made it clear that the Boko Haram terrorists were the ones who set houses on fire, and the ones who have turned Baga into an enclave within the Nigerian State. And to the extent that that is true means that the terrorists are determined to violate the sovereignty of Nigeria.

    The investigations that have been carried out by the Nigerian authority are already public material and there is no reason why anyone should play politics talking about international criminal court. I don’t think that that is what we’re dealing with in this situation. But, of course, the National Human Rights Commission is going to carryout its own investigations, President Jonathan has said that the investigations should continue, and that where it can be established that there has been any misdeed or misconduct, that the administration will do everything to ensure that justice is done.

    Will the government allow an international agency to come and look into this incident?

    Yes, whoever wants to come and investigate is welcome. But what we expect is that people will be truthful, and that they will not play politics, or set out to work to a predetermined formula or answer, as seems to be the case at the moment.

    Do you think this will have an impact on the amnesty talk and the goal to see if Boko Haram could be brought into the administration for any kind of negotiation?

    If anything, I think what has happened in Baga again, brought attention to the fact that every step must be taken to bring this terrorist challenge that we have in that part of the country to an end. And the situation that we have on our hands now is that a lot of Nigerians are recommending the amnesty option, and government has set the machinery in motion for this to be considered as an option that can be taken along with other measures that are being adopted.

    So I don’t see it as standing in the way of the measures being taken.

    Did President Jonathan award $40 million contract to an Israeli company to monitor computer, Internet communication by Nigerians? Will some Israelis soon be reading my emails to my grandmother?

    Well, the report that I read indicated that the Israeli company that is being talked about never mentioned Nigeria. It only referred to an unnamed African country. It is the people doing the interpretation who are insisting that it must be Nigeria. I think that those making the claim must be certain that it is Nigeria that is being referred to. And in the reports that I have read, there is no clear indication that the Isreali company talked about Nigeria.

    Are you saying that as far as you know, there was no contract given to this Isrealicompany?

    Well, I am referring to the report on which your question is based, and am saying that the press release on which the stories are based, that press release by the Isreali company never mentioned Nigeria. However, speaking theoretically, you will note that in an age of terrorism, and with the kind of security challenges we have in the world today, many countries have seen the need in combating terrorism to upscale their intelligence gathering methods. And in many of the countries that we like to quote, that we like to refer to, you know for a fact that several methods are taken to monitor what happens in cyber space and to prevent cyber crime, and to ensure that nobody abuses an important medium as the internet. But that is speaking theoretically.

    So, you’re sure that Nigerian government did not give contract to this company?

    Well, I can find out for you, but you know these are security matters. But I have taken note of your request, I will find out.

    The Presidency said that the US report on corruption in Nigeria is exaggerated. That same week, the Senate Public Accounts Committee submitted a report that says that N1.5trillion special accounts funds by the Federal Government was misused from 2002-2012. The three special funds accounts are the Stabilization Account, Ecological Fund Account and the Natural Resources Account. How could that happen?

    Well, that has not been proven, and I don’t know the details of that story. But you know, of course, that often times, some of these things come up, and when they’re properly investigated, they’re found not to be actually accurate. But that story I don’t quite have the details, but I can assure you that allegations of mass corruption, all these are exaggerated. And as we move towards 2015, with which a lot of people seems to be so upset, you’ll keep finding all kinds of stories, which are contrive, and which are being brought forward to public attention just to see if the administration can be discredited. So, there’s a lot of mischief out there.

    This administration has made it very clear that it is committed to good governance, transparency and integrity in all its processes. And many steps are being taken to ensure that these objectives are met, that these objectives are achieved on a sustainable bases. And there has been many cases on a daily basis with clear evidence of the administration dealing with corruption. And I think that the last time that you and I discussed, you know I gave many examples in this regards, including the fact that the fuel subsidy scam was something that was exposed by this administration.

    Two, the fact that political corruption is probably the biggest corruption, and this administration has been dealing with that. Today, we live in a country where people praise election conducted by this administration, as being free and fair. Many elections have been held under President Jonathan’s watch, and there has been no evidence, no indication of interference by the center, or any attempt as was the case in the past by anybody at the center to impose his will on the will of Nigerians. This President is committed to free and fair elections, electoral process that is very high in terms of integrity.

    Look at what the administration is also doing in terms of the ports, you know, getting the ports cleared of all the toll gates that people have erected there. Look at what is being done in terms of even double-checking and making sure that people who are working for the government are properly documented. Look at what has been done in the agric sector, the same agric sector in this country that was defined by sheer scam, fertilizer scam, tractor scam; all of that has changed, and a lot is still changing. But the opposition in Nigeria will like to keep concocting stories trying to embarrass the government and claiming that the government is not fighting corruption.

    The truth of the matter is that this government is committed to the fight against corruption.

    What happened to the buses we were promised when the government removed subsidy?

    You know that after removal of partial subsidy that occurred in 2012, following the protest, government immediately set up the Sure-P Committee. The Sure-P Committee is a body set up to monitor how the savings are spent. I’ve heard a number of people talking about projects by Sure-P. it is actually an oversight body working with the project implementation units in the various ministries. And what government did was to outline and publish all the activities that Sure-P would oversee. And Dr. Christopher Kolade, who is the head of that committee, has given reports again and again and again.

    One of the programs under Sure-P has been the, empowerment at the level of maternal and child healthcare. Before December last year, almost about 4,000 health workers were engaged and sent to different parts of the country, focusing specifically on the issue of maternal and child health.

    On the issue of employment, under Sure-P we have what is called the graduate internship scheme, to which over 13,000 Nigerian companies signed up. And by December last year, over 100,000 Nigerian graduates were already being placed in various companies and that number has even gone up this year.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • US SENDS TEAM TO PROBE BAGA MASSACRE

    US government has dispatched a team of State Department officials to meet with top Nigerian government officials this week in Abuja to determine the actual circumstances of the Baga battle between Boko Haram terrorists and the Nigerian military, Empowered Newswire reports.

    While the US-based Human Rights Watch, HRW, has accused the Nigerian military for the massacre claiming that over 185 people were killed and thousands of houses destroyed, the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof Ade Adefuye has stated that the satellite pictures disclosed by the human rights organization is insufficient to determine who was responsible for the carnage.

    In US official circles all through last week there were also uncertainty as to what to actually believe or which reports were accurate.

    For instance, US government spokespersons last week could not directly answer media inquiries on the matter during daily press briefings at the State Department as journalists wanted to know who the US government believed-the HRW or the Nigerian government.

    The HRW and widespread western news reports suggested the Nigeria military were more responsible for the carnage, may have exceeded their engagement rules and violated fundamental human rights in the Baga battle.

    But on the order hand, the preliminary report of the Nigerian government released also last week hinted that such claims have been exaggerated.

    Speaking with Empowered Newswire over the weekend, the Nigerian Ambassador to the US confirmed that the US government’s team would be meeting in Abuja starting Monday with officials of the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Justice Ministry and the National Security Adviser among others over the Boko Haram issue and especially the recent Baga battle

    US State Department official spokesperson Mr. Patrick Ventrell had earlier indicated late last week that officials of the department’s Democracy and Human Rights Bureau led by Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer will be in Nigeria this week regarding fallouts of the Baga battle.

    But Mr. Ventrell, the official spokesperson of the US State Department could not answer categorically when journalists pressed him last week on whose report the US government believed.

    Below is an instance of Ventrell’s exchange with journalists covering the US State Department in Washington DC last Thursday:

    QUESTION: The Nigerian military says several dozen houses were burned during that operation. Human Rights Watch says that satellite imagery shows that more than 2,000 homes were burned in that violence. Does the U.S. Government have any reason to doubt the Nigerian military’s assessment of what happened there?

    MR. VENTRELL: Well, we have seen the Human Rights report, and as I said before, the U.S. strongly condemns the loss of life and mass destruction of dwellings in Baga, Borno State over the weekend of April 15th, which is evidenced in that Human Rights Watch report. So we extend our condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.

    And we understand that President Jonathan has called for an investigation, including ascertaining that security forces, namely the Joint Border Control Forces in the area, had adhered to the rules of engagement. So we urge a full investigation into these attacks, and that those responsible, both military and others, be held to account.