-Six members killed in fighting
-Bomb suspects held in Ibadan
-Sect’s leader vows more attacks
It was a bad Independence Day for the fundamentalist Boko Haram sect yesterday.
Six suspected members of the group were killed by the Joint Task Force in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and Zaria, the university town in Kaduna State.
One was killed in a gun duel in Zaria; five were gunned down in Maiduguri.
But the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, vowed more attacks, saying the group would target government officials’ and military leaders’ wives – in retaliation for the detention of its members’ wives.
Shekau said the nation’s military and security agencies have seized 10 women who are wives of Boko Haram members. He claimed the women had been raped by the captors, though he did not elaborate on how he knew that.
Shekau issued the threat in a YouTube video over the anti-Islam film that has sparked widespread protests in the Muslim world.
“First, insults against the prophet, evil plots against him, making blasphemous movies against him, all these will do no harm to Islam,” Shekau said in the video, which appears to have been posted on Sunday. He spoke in Hausa.
“Anybody plotting this will surely pay for it. Everybody knows what this statement entails. Everybody should wait and see what we will do regarding this,” he said.
The video could not be independently authenticated, according to the AFP, but it closely resembled previous such videos of Shekau, who has been in hiding since a 2009 crackdown by the military on Boko Haram.
In the video, Shekau appears relaxed, wearing a checkered red-and-white Keffiyeh scarf. A Kalashnikov assault rifle leans against the wall behind him.
At one point in the video, Shekau laughed and said: “You should wait and see what’s going to happen to your own wives.”
“Let it be clear that we never sought dialogue or to sit down with government agents or representatives … they (Nigerian leaders) will never know peace while they attack our members.”
Shekau also said the sect’s spokesman was being detained by the security forces.
“Our spokesman, Abu Qaqa is alive but with the security agents, but I believe strongly that after this message from me, they may decide to kill him this night,” Shekau said.
It was the first public statement on the matter by the militants since a raid, which it says led to Qaqa’s arrest but not his death.
Senior security sources said on Sept. 16 that troops had killed a man identified as “Anwal Kontagora, alias ‘Abu Qaqa’”, whose pen name is often used to claim responsibility for the sect’s pronouncements from its base in the northeast of the country.
A number of protests over the anti-Islam film produced in the United States have been held in the North, organised by a Shiite Muslim group not connected to Boko Haram, with no violent incidents occurring. The protests have been held in Jos, Katsina, Kaduna and Zaria, among others.
In the nine-minute video, Shekau, an AK-47 leant on the wall next to him, also threatens the government, saying he is prepared to die. He denied that the group has been holding dialogue with the government.
Boko Haram’s insurgency in the North has been blamed for more than 1,400 deaths since 2010.
It was a bloody Independence Day in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, yesterday.
A member of the Joint Task Force (JTF) was killed and four others seriously injured when an Improvised Explosives Device (IED) targeted at their patrol vehicle exploded on Lagos Street in the city. The assailants were believed to be members of Boko Haram.
According to sources, the JTF men were on routine patrol when the bomb went off around 8am. The patrol vehicle went up in flames. A Fire Service source told our reporter that he saw the body of a soldier lying on the ground.
He said other soldiers were injured. But JTF spokesman Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa denied knowledge of the attack. He, however, confirmed that there was an explosion in the area and promised to give details later. Shops owners around the place quickly fled the area leaving their shops open. Security operatives cordoned off the area.
Maiduguri Street were deserted as people ran indoors. Four people were shot dead on Sunday night by gunmen in Damboa, also in the beleaguered city. Residents said the people were shot dead by gunmen who stormed their homes behind the CBN quarters.
The JTF attacked the sect and killed five suspected members in a gun duel at Abbaganaram Ward.
Two explosions had earlier rocked the state capital in the morning at Gwange quarters and Lagos Street.
In Jos, the Plateau state capital, the police yesterday defused an Improvised Explosive Device on Ajayi Street in the centre of the city.
The IED was planted by unknown persons at about 10.10 pm on Sunday at the densely populated area of Kwararafa, near the Jos Central Mosque.
Nobody died. The police arrested one person over the incident.
The police Bomb Disposal Squad, led by Mr.Abel Mbibi, was alerted by members of the public. Police spokesman Emmanuel Abuh said the suspect had been handed over to the Special Task Force. (STF).
In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, three suspects, including a Burkinabe, have been arrested by the police for allegedly attempting to smuggle explosive devices into the country through a border.
The explosives were allegedly meant for Borno and Yobe states.
The suspects, who were paraded by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operation), Mr Musa Kimo, at the Police Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan are in their 40s.
Kimo said the suspects were apprehended around 8pm on Saturday by the anti-bomb squad. He said they concealed the explosives in a sack.
Kimo added that the anti-bomb personnels confirmed that the explosives recovered from them are capable of destroying a whole community and was expected to be transported to Yobe and Borno states.
The police boss said one of the suspects claimed to be a citizen of Burkina Faso works with a mining company in Kwara State. The other said he is from Lambu town in Kano State.
Although the Burkinabe said he was sent from the mining company to deliver the explosives to someone, Kimo said if he was on a legal trip, the law stipulates that anyone transporting an explosive should inform the police for authorisation.
He also said the suspect from Kano State wanted to bribe the policemen with N20,000 but the officers refused his offer.
He said investigation into the incident was going on.
In Zaria, the Independence Day celebration was marred by explosions in Danmagaji when men of JTF again launched an attack on a suspected hideout of Boko Haram members, killing one and arresting another.
An eye witness account said security operatives launched an attack on one of the houses in the area, adding that there was an exchange of gun fire with members of the sect for several hours.
It was gathered that after the gun duel, the security men overpowered members of the sect, killing one of them and arresting another.
Kaduna State Commissioner of Police Olufemi Adenaike confirmed the incident. He said security men recovered some items.
“We are on top of the situation,” Adenaike said, adding that the raid is continuous.
Members of the JTF had on Sunday raided a suspected Boko Haram bomb factory at Gaskiya in Zaria during which two persons were killed after a gun battle.
