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Tag: boko haram

  • Army clears Boko Haram camp in Borno

    Army clears Boko Haram camp in Borno

    The Nigerian Army said yesterday it had cleared a suspected Boko Haram camp in Duwabafi village, Borno State.

    A statement in Maiduguri, the state capital, by the Army’s Acting Director of Public Relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka, said: “In continuation of the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, on Sunday, troops of 243 Battalion, 5 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, on fighting patrol, encountered some suspected elements of terrorists at a primary school in Duwabafi village in Borno State.”

    The statement said the Army killed four suspected terrorists in a heavy gunfire, recovered two AK-47 rifles, four sizes of solar energy panels, various types of drug and five motorcycles.

    “There was a heavy exchange of gunfire in which the patrol killed four suspected Boko Haram terrorists, recovered two AK-47 rifles, four sizes of solar energy panels, several types of drugs and five motorcycles,” the statement added.

    The Army said the patrol had returned to base and to plan for more onslaughts on the remaining vestiges of Boko Haram elements in the area.

     

  • Army clears Boko Haram camp in Borno village

    Army clears Boko Haram camp in Borno village

    The Nigerian Army said that it had cleared a suspected Boko Haram camp in Duwabafi village, Borno.

    This is contained in statement issued by Col. Sani Kukasheka, the Army Acting Director, Public Relations on Monday in Maiduguri.

    “In continuation with the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, on Sunday, troops of 243 Battalion, 5 Brigade Nigerian Army on fighting patrol encountered some suspected elements of the terrorists holed up at a Primary School in Duwabafi village in Borno.”

    The statement stated that the Army killed four suspected terrorists in a heavy gunfire, recovered two Ak-47 rifles four various sizes of solar energy panels, different types of drugs and five motorcycles.

    “There was heavy exchange of gunfire in which the patrol killed four suspected Boko Haram terrorists, recovered two AK-47 rifles, four various sizes of solar energy panels, several types of drugs and five motorcycles,” Kukasheka said.

    It stated that the patrol had returned to base and to further restrategise for more onslaughts on all remaining vestiges of Boko Haram elements within the area.

  • Eto’o urges help for ‘unnoticed’ Boko Haram victims

    Eto’o urges help for ‘unnoticed’ Boko Haram victims

    Africa’s most decorated footballer, Samuel Eto’o, has appealed for funding to help people escaping violence in Nigeria and Cameroon and warned that the world is neglecting an escalating humanitarian crisis in West Africa.

    A six-year campaign by the Boko Haram sect to carve out an Islamist state in northeast Nigeria has killed thousands, uprooted 2.2 million people within the country and driven around 160,000 Nigerians to seek refuge in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

    Cross-border raids and suicide bombings by suspected Boko Haram forces have displaced more than 80,000 people over the last year in Cameroon’s Far North region, which is also home to 60,000 Nigerian refugees who have fled attacks by the militants since the start of 2013.

    Yet Cameroon’s record goal scorer fears the conflict and ensuing displacement are being ignored as global attention remains fixed upon Europe’s burgeoning migration crisis.

    “There are different classes of crisis now and no one seems to notice the displaced in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria,” the four times African player of the year and twice African Nations Cup winner told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    “When you see the population in refugee camps growing from 6,000 to 50,000 people in less than a year, you realise how serious the situation is,” he added.

    Reuters reported that Eto’o, who plays for Turkish team Antalyaspor, was speaking after hosting a fundraising ball in London for the Yellow Whistle Blower FC initiative, which launched in March and has raised 50,000 pounds ($76,500) so far.

    The money is being used by Oxfam and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to help the displaced and provide food, water and medicine to people living in makeshift refugee camps.

  • Chibok girls: Why we can’t negotiate with Boko Haram now —Buhari

    Chibok girls: Why we can’t negotiate with Boko Haram now —Buhari

    The absence of a credible leadership in the terror sect, Boko Haram, is putting the federal government off negotiating with the group on the release of the Chibok school girls, President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday in New Delhi, India.

    President Buhari, who was in India for the just concluded Third India-Africa Forum Summit, said that while his administration is keen on securing the release of the girls, it does not know any credible leadership of the sect it can talk to.

    “We want to get them back safe to parents. But we are not sure of a credible leadership that is prepared to talk yet about Chibok girls,” he told the New Delhi Television (NDTV) on the sideline of the summit.

    Over 250 of the girls are still in Boko Haram’s captivity since their abduction from the Government Girls Secondary School in April last year.

    The federal government recently expressed a willingness to have negotiations with the Boko Haram, in spite of the claim that it is militarily on the back foot.

    President Buhari said he is “prepared to discuss anything” with the group to rescue the girls, because “we want them back safe. If they are desperate, if they can blow people up in churches and mosques, they can even kill them.”

    He also told NDTV  that the terrorists are on the retreat.

    “They are on the retreat. If you go to the front, you will find out that they no longer occupy the areas in the North East they once did,” he said.

    But he explained that the war in Libya is pushing Islamic State fighters into Nigeria, filling the ranks of Boko Haram.

    “A lot of trained people have returned to their bases in Nigeria and are finding their way back to strengthen Boko Haram,” he said.

    In March this year, Boko Haram officially became an affiliate of the Islamic State, who they had started to court in July 2014. Islamic State flags and chants have appeared in subsequent propaganda videos, an attempt, as President Buhari believes, at “psychological warfare to show that they are not alone, and have the participation of a more resourceful group.”

  • Immigration boss to staff: Don’t issue passport to terrorists 

    Immigration boss to staff: Don’t issue passport to terrorists 

    Following the unending activities of the Boko Haram sects, Comptroller-General (CG) of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Martin Abeshi Friday warned officers and men of the service against issuing passports to terrorists, kidnappers and other criminals.

    Abeshi advised the officials to screen passport applicants thoroughly, stressing that the penalty for indiscriminate issuance of passport is stiff, and he vowed that any indicted officer would not be spared.

    He gave the warning at a meeting with top officials including border control and passport officials at the NIS headquarters.

    The immigration boss also directed his men to remove roadblocks at border areas, noting that they could screen foreigners coming into the country without blocking the road with logs and disused tyres.

    His words: “You must not engage in indiscriminate issuance of passports; you know that Nigeria is battling with terrorism now, you must therefore screen passport applicants thoroughly before issuing out passports.

    “It is a security document and it must not be issued to kidnappers, terrorists and other criminals; penalty for doing this is very stiff, don’t say you have not been warned.

    “I don’t also see any reason in the blocking of road by our officers, if you see any foreigner, ask him to alight  from the vehicle, screen him and allow the vehicle to go, there is no need blocking the highway with wood and tyres, the police have stopped roadblock, don’t block the highway in whatever form.”

    Abeshi expressed displeasure over reports of corruption in the service, adding that he was sad anytime he read about the corrupt practices of NIS personnel on the pages of newspapers.

    He emphasized that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration will not tolerate any act of indiscipline and corrupt practices from any quarters.

    Abeshi advised officers who are not abiding b the law to desist and follow the right part before they are caught.

    He therefore tasked the senior officers to deal with cases of misconduct and sharp practices by the personnel under them and also advised them to collaborate with other security agencies by sharing intelligence reports with them to make their job easier.

    The Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Human Resources, Henry Malgwi, asked the personnel to familiarize themselves with the 2015 NIS Act, noting that any officer caught engaging in malpractices would be handed over to the police for prosecution.

  • Boko Haram: Regional troops set to begin raids

    Boko Haram: Regional troops set to begin raids

    A long-awaited regional task force is set to begin raids on Boko Haram’s last enclaves when the rainy season ends soon, the United Nations’ top official in West Africa said.

    Nigerian and Chadian forces early this year forced the militant group, which has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, to cede large swathes of territory in northern Nigeria, undermining its six-year campaign to carve out a caliphate.

    But some fighters have since regrouped and ramped up suicide attacks and guerrilla raids in the remote border areas around Lake Chad where Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria meet, Reuters reported.

    “They will take advantage of the end of the rainy season now to really go after them,” Reuters quoted Mohamed Ibn Chambas, UN Special Representative for West Africa, as saying in an interview on Wednesday.

    The rains in northeast Nigeria typically end in September but have lasted longer this year.

    The 8,700-strong joint force, headquartered in Chad’s capital N’Djamena with troops from Chad, Niger, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon, was supposed to be fully functional in July.

    But plans were not finalised until late August, and some observers have bemoaned a lack of progress since.

    The African Union and the Lake Chad Basin Commission signed a memorandum of understanding in October giving final implementation guidelines and the United States has sent troops to provide intelligence and other assistance.

    The expected joint raids will have to adapt to the changing nature of the enemy, which once attacked with hundreds of fighters aboard scores of vehicles but has been reduced to isolated bands, Chambas said.

  • Army declares 100 Boko Haram chiefs wanted

    Army declares 100 Boko Haram chiefs wanted

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai yesterday declared 100 members of the Boko Haram sect wanted.

    Their arrest, he said, would help in the final push against the terrorists in the Northeast.

    Gen. Buratai spoke at the launch of the anti-Boko Haram Terrorists Campaign materials at the Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri, headquarters of the 7 Division. He displayed the photographs of the wanted men and sought public help in getting them.

    “The fight against Boko Haram insurgency is a collective responsibility of all, including the media. These photographs of terrorists’ suspects are to be identified with their numbers attached to each of the 100 photos, while members of the general public could send in more information on the locations or whereabouts of these Boko Haram sect members that appeared in these special photo identifications. Each of the suspects must have either participated or be involved in the ongoing war in the theatre operations of Lafiya Dole.

    “If any member of the general public identifies the location and whereabouts of these suspects, please contact these three telephone numbers in this launched anti-terrorism campaign materials in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.”

    Gen. Buratai announced what he called a handsome reward for any person with useful information on the wanted men.

    He enjoined Nigerians to use the following telephone numbers to reach the military – 0818155888,  08160030300 and 07053333123.

    Army spo0kesman Col. Sani Usman yesterday said troops rescued 338 hostages following an attack on Boko Haram camps.

    Soldiers of the 28 Task Force Brigade deployed in Bitta and Pridang, killed 30 members of the  sect, he said.

    The military raided Boko Haram camps around Bulajilin and Manawashe villages on Bita and Damboa road on the fringes of Sambisa Forest, he added.

    Col. Usman said those rescued include eight men, 138 women and 192 children.

    Those rescued were evacuated to Mubi in Adamawa State for profiling and debriefing.

    Arms and ammunition recovered by the troops are one General Purpose Machine Gun and two dane guns; 150 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) bullets, six boxes of 7.62mm (NATO) bullets and three cutlasses.

    Acting on a tip off, troops also ambushed and killed four suspected Boko Haram terrorists who were on a suicide bombing mission to Gubula in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

    Two AK-47 rifles, unexploded ordinance, mortar bombs and N153,385 cash were recovered.

    “Having appealed and given the terrorists final warning, we would like to state that from now on, troops within bounds of respect for human rights and rules of engagement, shall continue to decisively deal with Boko Haram terrorists until they are defeated”, the Army spokesman said.

    The army also yesterday foiled a suicide attack in Adamawa State. It was learnt that soldiers in Mubi intercepted a middle-age woman with an improvised explosive device.

    The woman was said to have concealed the device in her hand bag, while heading for the market in Gubula village “to accomplish her evil mission”.

    After foiling the attack, the army cordoned off the area and discovered hidden explosive devices.

  • Boko Haram forces police to operate under trees

    Boko Haram forces police to operate under trees

    Boko Haram’s burning down of police formations, offices and structures, in Yobe State has compelled the security men to be operating some of their offices under trees, Police Commissioner Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim has said.

    He told the visiting Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 12, AIG Tunde Ogunsakin that the visit of the AIG will boost the morale of policemen in their operations.

    “Apart from one or two structures that are standing, may be the CPs House and B division, no other structure is standing in this command. All others have been destroyed. Both the OC CID and MOPOL, operate under trees with extreme difficulties. Most of the officers live in rented houses, make shift offices and under trees,” he said.

  • Army declares 100 Boko Haram members wanted

    Army declares 100 Boko Haram members wanted

    The Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai on Wednesday declared 100 members of the Boko Haram insurgents wanted.

    According to him, the arrest of the wanted members of the sect would help a great deal in the final push against the Boko Haram terrorists in the Northeast region and the country in general.

     Lt Gen Tukur Buratai who spoke at the lunching of the Anti-Boko Haram Terrorists Campaign materials at the Maimalari Barracks, Maiduguri, Head-quarters of the 7 Division Nigeria Army also displayed  the photographs of the 100 Boko Haram militants.

    He solicited for the support of the general public to assist in  the arrest and prosecution of the suspected insurgents who have allegedly unleashed terror on the people in the region.

    His words: “The fight against Boko Haram insurgency is a collective responsibility of all, including the media. These photographs of terrorists’ suspects are to be identified with their numbers attached to each of the 100 photos, while members of the general public could send in more information on the locations or whereabouts of these Boko Haram sect members that appeared in these special photo identifications. Each of the suspects must have either participated or involved in the ongoing war in the theatre operations of Lafiya Dole.

    “If any member of the general public identifies the location and whereabouts of these suspects, please contact these three telephone numbers in this launched anti-terrorism campaign materials in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital,” Buratai  requested

    He disclosed that most of the suspects are teenagers, adding that  only three are above the age of 70 years.

     Though he was not specific with an amount of  any  ransom placed on the wanted terrorists, Buratai however announced a handsome reward for any person with useful information leading to their  arrest.

    The Chief of Army Staff assured that all information provided will be treated with utmost confidentiality of the informant.

    The public were therefore enjoined to use the following GSM nos to reach the military, the nos are;  0818155888, 08160030300
    and 07053333123.

  • Boko Haram: Police operate under trees in Yobe

    Boko Haram: Police operate under trees in Yobe

    The burning down of police formations, offices and structures in Yobe State by the Boko Haram insurgents has compelled men of the force to be operating some offices under trees in the state, Yobe State Police Commissioner Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim has said.

    The Yobe Police boss who played host to the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 12, AIG Tunde Ogunsakin who was on a working tour of the command however observed that the visit of the AIG to the command will boost the morale of the police in their operation.

    “Apart from one or two structures that are standing, may be the CPs House and B division no other structure is standing in this command. All others have been destroyed. Both the OC CID and MOPOL operate under tree with extreme difficulties.  Most of the officers lived in rented houses, make shift offices, and under trees,” he said.

    CP Zanna regretted that the personale of the command has been seriously depleted through transfers and training without replacements. “By the time I took over in September this year, a substantial number of personnel have been transferred without replacement, this has added to the manpower constraint in this command despite our peculiarities,” he said.

    He requested for the deployment of professional manpower for the command, saying, “Presently we don’t have a single Lawyer in the legal department and ICT experts are also needed”

    Earlier at an interactive session with AIG Ogunsakin assured men of the Yobe State command of their welfare.

    AIG Ogunsakin also described the men and officers of the command as special and strategic in the fight against the insurgency in the region, while charging them to remain professional and civil in the course of their police.

    He also promised to take the myriad of problems of the command to the Inspector General of Police for necessary action.

    In another vein, Yobe State Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam has asked the Federal Government to motivate the police force in the state.

    According to the governor, the motivation of the men and women of the force in the state and the entire region would make them to be more proactive in their duties.

    Gaidam disclosed this on Wednesday in Damaturu when Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 12, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin at his office in Damaturu also observed that a well-motivated force will enhance adequate patrol and, better intelligence gathering and efficient community policing.