The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • Police confirms failed suicide attack on Maiduguri mosque

    Police confirms failed suicide attack on Maiduguri mosque

    Borno State Police Command has confirmed a failed suicide attack targeting worshipers at a mosque in Maiduguri.

    The two suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers allegedly blew up themselves near Sulemanti mosque of Maiduguri metropolis of Borno state in the early hours of Monday.

    Borno State Police Command spokesman Victor Isuku said the bomber , targeted a mosque in Sulemanti ward with strapped Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), but were detonated, killing the two suspect during midnight Ramadan prayers.

    Isuku Victor disclosed that; “A team of the Police Explosives Ordinance Department (EOD) has been deployed to the scene this morning near Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot.”

    A civilian Joint Task Force member, Bukar Shehu also told The Nation  that the suicide bombers were intercepted near a mosque premises under tree, before they blew up themselves to death.

    “The people in the mosque took to their heels, while we challenged the explosives strapped suspects of their mission to the mosque, before these explosive exploded near the mosque and under this tree.

    “It was God that saved us here; we would have been killed in the dawn suicide bombings. One of our members was injured by the shrapnel of explosives, including a woman with a leg injury. She has been taken to a nearby clinic for treatment this morning,” Shehu disclosed.

    It is not clear how the suicide bomber sneaked into maiduguri metropolis.

    Meanwhile, the mosque has been condoned off by soldiers and policemen to prevent any further attacks on mosques and other public places in the metropolis.

     

  • UNDP boosts standard of living in former Boko Haram territories

    UNDP boosts standard of living in former Boko Haram territories

    About 2,000 residents of Gaya Silkami and Fa’a Gaya village in Hong Local Government Area in AdamawaS have benefitted from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) project.

    The project is aimed at improving access to clean energy services by harnessing the solar energy resources for electricity generation in communities ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

    The Deputy Director of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), the technical partners of the project, Okon Ekpenyong, said the project was tailored to boost the energy need of communities and enable them undertake their day to day activities as the economic status of the communities were totally destroyed by the insurgent attack.

    “People in our communities have daily energy need for lighting their homes, communities. They also require water for daily household chores. This project is multifaceted to make life easy for the community”.

    Ekpenyong explained that after a need analysis was conducted and data obtained from different households, that the data was instrumental in the execution of the project which was carried within one month.

    “In the course of our survey, we discovered that one of the communities have two primary health centres. The lack of power supply to the communities affected the delivery of basic healthcare. Immunization rate was very poor as health workers have to travelled for about two hours to collect vaccines from the local government headquarters. The vaccines also have to be in good condition before they are administered. There was no place to store vaccines and keep them viable.

    “The project involves the provision of a solar-powered refrigerator to keep vaccines in good condition, solar-powered water borehole with 10,000 litres capacity for provision of portable water, solar lamps that can last for 44 hours and street lights in two strategic locations in each communities”.

    The Village Head of Gaya Silkami, Mr. Jafaru Biyama described the execution time of the project as a thunder lightning.

    “In the past politicians will promise us heaven on earth but none of their promises will be fulfilled. Even after Boko Haram attacked our village twice in February 2015 and we fled to the mountains. It was hard returning back to resettle when the Nigerian Army reclaimed our village from the terrorist. How were we going to live our lives? Before now, this village has never ever been connected to power supply. But just within the blink of our eyes, UNDP has changed our lives for good.

    “I am so grateful because we don’t need to buy fuel before we can power our borehole or use generator to power our health centers or keep our vaccines cold. The sun that shines in this village is our fuel. Our women no longer have to travel back and forth to the streams in search of drinking water. During dry season, it is hard to get any clean water from the stream. But that has changed now. Our community is lighted at night. We can see who is coming in and out. This is like a dream but it is for real”, he added.

    The Health Officer at Gaya Silkami Health Center, Mr. Javan Zakari, said the project has resulted in increased attendance of antenatal classes, immunization rate and improved health operations at the health center.

    “The whole health center has now been wired and connected to solar energy. There is power supply 24 hours daily. No excuse not to attend to patients. In the past we use lanterns to perform some surgical operations but now the whole place is lighted,” he appealed.

    A youth in Gaya Silkami village Jimmy Yakubu said after the insurgent attack he had no means of livelihood but the street light in the village is boosting his business. “Many people now hang out at night and this means more sales for me. I am happy and proud of my village,” he said.

  • Boko Haram ‘fracturing’ over ISIL ties – U.S army officer

    Boko Haram ‘fracturing’ over ISIL ties – U.S army officer

    The Boko Haram militants’ group has fractured internally, with a big group splitting away from shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from the Iraq- and Syria-based Islamic State, a senior United States general has said.

    Marine Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the nominee to lead the U.S military’s Africa Command, suggested the internal division was illustrative of limits of Islamic State’s influence over Boko Haram so far, despite the West African group’s pledge of allegiance to it last year.

    “Several months ago, about half of Boko Haram members broke off to a separate group because they were not happy with the amount of buy-in, if you will, from Boko Haram into the ISIL brand,” Reuters quoted Waldhauser as saying at his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

    Shekau, he said, had not fallen into line with ISIL’s instructions, including by ignoring calls for Boko Haram to stop using children as suicide bombers.

    “He’s been told by ISIL to stop doing that. But he has not done so. And that’s one of the reasons why this splinter group has broken off,” he said, adding ISIL was trying to “reconcile those two groups.”

    Reuters reported on June 9 that U.S officials had seen no evidence that Boko Haram has so far received significant operational support or financing from ISIL.

    The assessment suggested Boko Haram’s loyalty pledge had so far mostly been a branding exercise.

    Waldhauser acknowledged differing opinions about how much influence ISIL has actually had so far over Boko Haram, which won global infamy for its 2014 kidnapping of 276 school girls in Borno State.

    “They certainly have not given them a lot of financial assistance. So the point being is that perhaps improvement in tradecraft, in training and the like,” he said.

  • Multinational force begins operations against Boko Haram

    A multinational force has begun operations against Boko Haram along the border between Niger and Nigeria, a general in Niger has told Reuters.

    Brigadier-Gen. Abdou Sidikou Issa, who is the tactical chief of staff for troops based in Niger’s southern zone of Diffa, said troops from Chad and Nigeria were involved in the operation.

  • Boko Haram: Army may relax restrictions in Northeast

    Boko Haram: Army may relax restrictions in Northeast

    The Nigerian Army may relax restrictions placed on some insurgency – prone areas in the Northeast.

    According to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai, with the degredation of the Boko Haram insurgents, it is possible to review and relax some restriction placed on human and vehicular movement in some parts of the region.

    This was revealed during an interactive session between the House Committee on Army and the COAS.

    The COAS was represented by the Director (Operations Department), Brig Gen. Bassey Etuk.

    Chairman of the Committee, Riman Shawulu (PDP, Taraba) said the meeting followed a motion on the inability of farmers in Yobe State to access Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to power generating sets used on their farms. According to the Committee, 95 per cent of Yobe’s population, who were farmers, could not access petrol due to restrictions from the Army.

    The House also mandated the Committee to liaise with the Army on the inability of farmers in some parts of Adamawa State to access fertilizer due to therestrictions.

    The committee proposed that the farmers could access the product in jerry cans through their village heads to prevent it from getting into the hands of insurgents.

    It also requested the Army to consider farmers in Adamawa south who have not experienced the insurgency but affected by the restriction. This, it said was to prevent a possible outbreak of famine.

    The COAS, in his response, said the affected areas were in the three states that constitute the theater of operation of Operation Lafiya Dole, and that the military was aware that insurgents use the products to carry out their activities on motorcycle and other means.

    He hinted that the restrictions became inevitable because they are components in making Improvised Explosive Devices (IED)

    “The Army is not unaware of all manners of tricks used by the insurgents to obtain means of livelihood for survival, and that is the reason behind the restrictions.

    “We need to control the movement of some of these products, fertilizer is a component used for IED and has to be controlled, but with the degradation of the insurgents, the relaxation of some of the restrictions is possible.

    “However, since we don’t want the economic life of the people to be negatively affected, we will look into the requests.”

    He enjoined the House to make a formal request to that effect.

    Babale Bashir (APC, Kano) however cautioned that while looking at a possible relaxation of some of the restrictions, Nigerians should note that the restrictions were not meant to foist hardship but to protect them.

     

  • Boko Haram: Army may relax restrictions in Northeast – COAS

    The Nigerian Army may relax restrictions placed on some insurgency – prone areas in the Northeast, it emerged Monday.

    According to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai, with the degradation of the Boko Haram insurgents, it  is possible to review and relax  some restriction placed on human and vehicular  movement in some parts of the region.

    This was disclosed during an interactive session between House Committee on Army and the COAS.

    Brig Gen. Bassey Etuk, Director (Operations Department) represented the COAS.

    Chairman of the Committee, Riman Shawulu  (PDP, Taraba), in his opening remarks said the meeting was at the instance of a motion on the inability of farmers in Yobe State to access Premium Motor Spirit ( PMS ) to power generating plants used on their farms.

    In addition, the House also mandated the Committee to lias with the Army on the inability of farmers in some parts of Adamawa State to access fertilizer due to restrictions orders by the Nigerian Army.

    According to the Committee, 95 percent of Yobe State population, who were farmers, could not access petrol due to restrictions from the Army.

    The Committee proposed that the farmers could access the product in jerry cans through their Village heads to prevent it getting into the hands of insurgents.

    On the complaints of farmers in Adamawa south that have not experienced Boko Haram insurgency but equally affected by restriction on movement of fertilzer, the Committee requested the Army to consider relaxing the restriction in order to prevent possible outbreak of famine in the area.

    The COAS, in his response said the affected areas were in the three States that constitute the theater of operation of Operation Lafiya Dole and that the military was aware that the decimated insurgents use the products in question to carty out their nefarious activities on motorcycle and other means  to infiltrate and destroy communities.

    Saying that the Boko Haram insurgents have been degredaded, he added”The Army is not unaware of all manners of tricks used by insurgents to obtain means of livelihood for survival and that is the reason behind restrictions on certain products.

    “However, since we don’t want the economic life of the people to be negatively affected, we will look into the Yobe request of using fuel to power equipment or fertilizers distribution in Adamawa”.

    While he enjoined the House to make a formal request to that effect, the Army boss said the control of certain products like fertilzer and petrol became inevitable because they are components of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).

    “We need to control the movement of some of these products, fertilizer is a component used for IED and have to be controlled but with the degredation of the insurgents, the relaxation of some of the restrictions is possible,” he added.

    Babale Bashir (APC, Kano) however cautioned that while looking at possible relaxation of some of the restrictions, Nigerians should note that the restrictions were not meant to foist hardships on Nigerians but to protect them.

  • Travails of Boko Haram victim in Europe

    Travails of Boko Haram victim in Europe

    Members of Boko Haram stormed their house in Maiduguri, Borno State. He was stabbed in the head and face. His younger brother was killed, all in a bid to forcefully recruit him.

    Soon after, he fled Nigeria and made a long and dangerous boat journey to Europe, where in 2011 he sought asylum in Sweden. He told his story and showed his still fresh and infected wounds, including the gash over his eye, which he feared would cost him his eyesight. He was denied asylum, so he continued to Iceland, Eze Okafor, 32 recounted to Al Jazeera reporters, Marie-Helene Carleton and Micah Garen in Sweden.

    Eze fled Nigeria after being targeted by Boko Haram. In 2010, he and his younger brother, Okwy, were attacked in retaliation for not joining the armed group. “They tried to recruit me, but I refused,” he narrated.

    He applied for asylum in Iceland in 2012 but was denied and has been working with a lawyer, Katrin Theodorsdottir, who then applied for permission for Eze to stay in Iceland on humanitarian grounds, as his case has slowly made its way through the system. Eze said in October he was given temporary residency and could work.

    His case in Iceland has hinged on what time limit is relevant to his asylum request, as defined by Article 19 of the Dublin Regulation, which determines which EU member state is responsible for asylum seekers.

    Article 19 lays out a timeframe of six months within which an asylum seeker must be sent back to the country where they were originally asking for asylum; otherwise the current country is responsible for processing their asylum case.

    After many rejections, appeals and back and forth between various immigration authorities, Theodorsdottir said there was a “twist”. A special immigration committee reviewing Eze’s case said the time limit to send Eze back to Sweden might have expired, and advised him to go to the immigration office and have his application for asylum processed.

    Eze went to the immigration office as instructed to pick up the paperwork, and was told to wait for 45 minutes, which he did. According to Theodorsdottir, unbeknownst to him, the police officer was calling the immigration office; and then another twist.

    “The police said I should come to sign and all of a sudden they took me into custody. They arrested me. I spent the night in jail,” Eze recalled.

    “They next morning they said they were deporting me. I said I should go and get my stuff from my house. They said no. They took me to the airport and manhandled me.

    “In Iceland, I have been integrated into society, with so many friends. A lot of people know me. So when the police was beating me, when I was arrested, there was a lot of reaction.

    “What I am facing in Nigeria is that this Islamic group is after my life. My life is in danger,” he said.

    Early on May 26, Eze was put handcuffed onto a plane for deportation. Two members of the rights group ‘No Borders Iceland’ boarded the plane and stood up in protest, requesting that other passengers stand up as well protest Eze’s deportation. After about 10 minutes, they were arrested by Iceland’s police.

    Eze was then taken to Stockholm. At the airport, he thought the Icelandic authorities would give him back the only ID he had – his Nigerian driver’s license. They took it back to Iceland. He was handed papers by the Swedish immigration authorities, which gave him until June 1 to leave Sweden or be deported back to Nigeria.

    He was also given a piece of paper saying he had no right to financial assistance. Without money or any identification, he was turned out onto the street where he spent the first night.

    According to the article on Al Jazeera, Eze believes that when he lands at the airport in Nigeria he fears he will be apprehended by the police. “Boko Haram has a network. They have been looking for me since then.”

    Today, Eze is uncertain about his future. He does know one thing for sure. If he were to return to Nigeria, he believes it would mean death for him.

    With his friends, he is working hard to find a lawyer who could take his case in Sweden. His dream is to return to his home in Iceland.

    Theodorsdottir said there is something the immigration office could do. She has requested that he be granted permission to live in Iceland on humanitarian grounds, a request that is still pending.

    Eze said his mother, Celina, taught him how to cook at an early age and it is his passion. He loved working in the restaurant in Iceland and had a good relationship with his boss. He loves to cook Nigerian food. Maybe, he said, once he is back in Iceland, and his life has found balance again, he could pursue a dream. There is no Nigerian restaurant in Iceland.

    “Maybe one day, when I am back in Iceland, I could open a restaurant”, Eze said, smiling.

    “When I was in handcuffs on my way to Sweden, I was pleading with them,” Eze said. “I am not a criminal. I did not commit any crime. I am asking for refuge. They should treat me like a human.”

     

    Culled from Al Jazeera

  • Group urges Fed Govt to unmask sponsors of Boko Haram Sponsors

    The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has urged the Federal Government to carry out a proper scrutiny to unmask financiers of Boko Haram in the country.

    The group, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, by its Executive Secretary, Ikpa Isaac, also called on various persons or group sponsoring Boko Haram activities in the country to put the interest of Nigerians above their personal interest.

    Isaac said that only a probe of the stakeholders from Borno State can bring a lasting peace to the North east.

    He urged those who he described as ‘crisis entrepreneurs’ and believe in making financial fortunes from the insurgency to allow peace a chance in the interest of the suffering masses in the country.

    According to him, these individuals have sabotaged every effort to end the crisis and are not ready to quit their inhuman business of war mongering.

    The statement read: “The military has adequately demonstrated that they are up the task and all they have achieved in a short span of time should not be thrown away simply because some leaders in Borno State want the war to linger for their own interest.

    “President Buhari has to finally honour the implied promise of exposing these people who have been running terrorism as a business despite the toll of human misery they are exacting on the nation. There is no justifiable reason for the military to have carried out successful operations while the other components of the anti-terror efforts are being frustrated.

    “We have even seen instances were some so called leaders or elites in this area covertly or openly come out to speak for the terrorists. Some also take action or use inaction to aid the cause of the insurgents all in attempts to roll back the gains made in combating Boko Haram.

  • Boko Haram shoots 18 mourners dead at funeral

    Boko Haram shoots 18 mourners dead at funeral

    Awake keep in Kuda-Kaya village, Madagali Local Government Area, Adamawa State, turned bloody on Thursday night after an attack on mourners by Boko Haram terrorists.

    No fewer than 18 of the mourners, most of them women, were gunned down by the extremists who were believed to have sneaked in from the nearby  Sambisa Forest, which is the operational and training base of the terror sect.

    Some women were still missing at press time.

    The injured were rushed to Gulak Cottage Hospital for treatment.

    It is the second Boko Haram attack on the village, the first being last February.

    The rampaging terrorists, who rode on motorcycles, also set houses on fire and kept shooting indiscriminately with no one available to resist them.

    The attack took place at about 5 p.m. on Thursday.

    A resident, Moses Kwagh, told Reuters that people wailed until three hours after the attack and had then counted 18 women’s bodies.

    The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, DSP Othman Abubakar, said: “So far, 18 people have been killed in the attack. But the number of the casualties could be much higher.”

    The House of Representatives member from Michika/Madagali, Adamu Kamale, said the number of casualties could not be immediately ascertained. But he said that many residents were killed.

    State lawmaker Emmanuel Tsamdu told Reuters: “I am yet to get the details on how it happened and the real number of people killed. I have sent hunters to go to the area and get me the details because people are afraid to go to the village.”

    In the same state,the police have arrested a suspect described as one of the most wanted Boko Haram commanders .

    The suspect was nabbed in Gombi local government area by a policeman who reportedly sighted him at a security check point.

    The removed his uniform, changed into mufti and trailed the suspect to a bank’s  Automated Teller Machine (ATM) apparently to withdraw money.

     At the bank,the suspect begged a man on the queue to assist him in withdrawing money from the ATM.

    This confirmed the  policeman’s suspicion and he quickly mobilized the bank’s security guards to arrest the suspect.

    The police confirmed  the arrest and the identity of the suspect.

    He is currently undergoing interrogation,they said.

  • Troops arrest Boko Haram commander, engineer in Yobe

    Troops of 3 Division, Sector 5 and 27 Task Force Brigade of Nigerian Army on Thursday arrested a Boko Haram commander and an engineer at Gishiwa  Dabua and Garejin Audu areas of Potiskum, Yobe State.

    The suspects are- Ibrahim Jagwal (38) and Audu Ahmadu (45), who specializes in repairs of automobiles for Boko Haram.

    The Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman , disclosed this  in a statement issued in Maiduguri., Borno, on Friday.

    The statement reads: “The suspected terrorist who turned out to be the Ameer (commander) of the Boko Haram terror group at Tumbin  Gini, Abadam local government area of Borno State, also led the team  to Garejin Audu in Potiskum, where another terror suspect, Audu Ahmadu,  is a Boko Haram Engineer who specializes in repairs of automobiles for the terror group.”

    The vehicles, according to Usman, were recovered by the troops, while the suspects have been taken into custody for onward movement to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC).