The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • Several killed in Maiduguri blasts

    Three blasts struck a mosque and the area near the building in Maiduguri, Borno State, a military spokesman has said.

    A hospital source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least eight dead bodies had been recovered from the area, with many more feared dead, and around 50 injured people had been taken to hospital for treatment.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions on the edge of the city centre but they bore the hallmarks of the Boko Haram sect.

    Maiduguri is the birthplace of the jihadist sect which has waged a six-year insurgency in its bid to set up a state in the northeast of Nigeria adhering to strict Islamic laws.

    “There were three improvised explosive devices explosions at Gomari and Ajilari general area in Maiduguri at about 7:21pm [1821 GMT],” the military spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, told Reuters.

    “Although details are not clear, it is important to note the attacks signify high level of desperation on the part of the Boko Haram terrorists,” he added.

    Bubakar Aliyu, a farmer who had just finished praying at a smaller mosque, said, “I heard the first blast from the main mosque.  Another exploded at a cluster of shops. I ran back to home and as I approached my house I heard another blast.”

     

  • Boko Haram desperate, says army after explosions

    Boko Haram desperate, says army after explosions

    There were multiple blasts in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital last night.

    Boko Haram terrorists were believed to have struck a mosque and the area outside the building, according to witnesses.

    A statement by Army’s acting Director of Information Col.Sani Usman said:

    “This is to inform the public that there were three improvised explosive devices explosions at Gomari and Ajilari general area in Maiduguri at about 7.21pm today evening.

    “Although details are not clear, it is important to note the attacks signify high level of desperation on the part of the Boko Haram terrorists.

    “Security personnel and emergency management teams have been drafted to the area and appropriate security measures being taken.

    “We would like to state that the Nigerian military would not be deterred in its determined efforts of defeating Boko Haram terrorists in the shortest possible time.

    “We would like to assure the public also that now the terrorists have  shown their ugly presence  in such areas, there is need for more vigilance, security consciousness and prompt reporting of suspicious persons or group of persons in their midst. This would enable the security take appropriate measures against them.

    “It will be recalled that their previous attempts to attack and blow up Allau dam was thwarted”

    Boko Haram yesterday denied claims by the authorities of winning the six-year war against insurgency after the army said it was pushing “for the final defeat” of the militants.

    “We are still at battle ground,” Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terrorist group was quoted to have said in an audio recording posted on YouTube. It could not be immediately verified.

    Shekau’s status has been hazy for a long time with claims and counterclaims on whether he is dead or alive. It is believed in security quarters that he may have died and that some sect members are impersonating him.

    Besides, the fact that yesterday’s message was relayed on an audio rather than video, which he had always used, is another pointer to the fact that all is not well with Shekau.

    [ad id=”403656″]Comments by the military are “propaganda” and “lies”, Shekau said in Hausa, dismissing claims that the group would be flushed out before the end of the year as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The military could not be reached for comments. Text messages sent to both the army spokesman and the acting Director of of Defence Information were not replied. They also did not pick calls.

    President Buhari has ordered the military to end the insurgency in three months.

    ”Buhari said he is going to finish with us in three months. You did not finish with us; there is a lot more to do, you Nigerians, you Chadians, you Cameroonians,” Shekau said in the audio recording.

    The latest attack by the group was staged in Cameroon at the weekend.Two young suicide bombers killed three people in far north Cameroon yesterday..

    The youths set off their suicide belts in the town of Mora as a police officer became suspicious of their appearance and approached to question them, a security source said.

    “The toll is five dead, including two civilians, a police inspector and the two suicide bombers,” a security source at the scene told AFP.

    A separate source close to regional security forces confirmed the toll and said the attackers, who aimed to target the town’s market, were a “young girl and a young boy”, without giving any more details.

    “If they had succeeded in their plan, the toll would have been terrible,” the second source added.

    The military has started reopening some of the schools closed for the past two years in Borno State. Troops reopened a public school in Gwoza on Saturday.

    Military spokesperson Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said schools were being reopened. Troops continue to recapture territory from the insurgents.

    The UN children’s agency said at least 1.4 million children are displaced by Boko Haram’s uprising.

  • Boko Haram kills five in Cameroon attack

    At least five people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on Sunday in the northern Cameroon town of Mora, military sources said, in what appeared to be the latest cross-border attack by the Boko Haram sect.

    The dead included a police officer, two civilians and the two female suicide bombers, who detonated themselves at around 8:00am (0700 GMT) in the Galdi neighbourhood near the entrance to the town, Reuters reported.

    “It happened not far from the town stadium when the police officer who was killed attempted to carry out a routine check,” said one of the military officers, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press.

    He said authorities had dispatched teams to the scene of the bombing to gather more details and it was possible the death toll from the attack could rise.

    Mora lies just a few kilometres from Boko Haram’s strongholds in northeastern Nigeria.

    Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in the area since Cameroon last year launched a crackdown on the group, which had previously used the extreme north region as a base for recruiting and supplying its operations in Nigeria.

    Cameroon is a major contributor to an 8,700-strong, Nigerian-led regional force expected to start operations against Boko Haram this year.

  • Governor cautions F.G over negotiation with Boko Haram sect

    Governor cautions F.G over negotiation with Boko Haram sect

    Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, on Friday cautioned the Federal Government to tread softly on its negotiation with the Boko Haram insurgents, to ensure talking with the genuine faction.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa Abuja.

    The governor also called on the local communities to be vigilant and be interested in the security around them by making available intelligence information to the security agencies.

    “I hope when we negotiate with them, we are negotiating with the correct people. Experience has shown that they have so many factions and if we are not lucky, we may be dealing with the wrong faction.

    “I believe the security agencies should have intelligence information to know what type of people we are dealing with.

    “But most importantly is community policing. Communities should be interested in the whole security situation because a lot of information can be received from the local people which will assist the security agencies. People should be alert about security situation,” he said.

    He was optimistic that the oncoming Sallah celebration would be peaceful due to the milestones achieved by the government in the war against insurgency in the country.

    “Sallah is a few days to come and we pray to almighty Allah so we have a successful celebration. Already we are expecting a peaceful Sallah because the Nigerian President has done a lot in controlling insurgency in the north eastern part of the country which normally flows to places like Kano especially during sallah celebration.

    “We believe that with the efforts of Mr President, the insurgency is down and we are expecting a hitch free sallah celebration. I urge Nigerians to continue praying for peace and stability,” he said.

  • Boko Haram: Number of displaced children hits 1.4m

    The number of children forced to flee Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria and neighbouring countries has reached 1.4 million, the United Nations children agency said on Friday.

    About 500,000 were displaced in the last five months after a sharp rise in attacks by the sect, it said.

    The militants have been waging a six-year insurrection to establish an Islamist state in the northeast of Nigeria that has killed thousands and displaced 2.1 million people, most of whom are children.

    “In northern Nigeria alone, nearly 1.2 million children – over half of them under 5 years old – have been forced to flee their homes. An additional 265,000 children have been uprooted in Cameroon, Chad and Niger,” Reuters quoted UNICEF as saying in a statement.

    [ad id=”403656″]Boko Haram controlled vast swathes of territory across three states in northeastern Nigeria at the beginning of 2015 but was pushed out by Nigerian troops with the help of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

    Now heavily splintered, Boko Haram factions have reverted to guerrilla tactics, raiding villages for supplies and bombing soft targets like places of worships, markets and bus stations.

    Attacks spiked between the end of May through July though the rainy season has seen a relative lull over the last month.

    UNICEF scaled up its operations and vaccinated over 315,000 children against measles this year as well as arranged safe drinking water for 200,000 people. It has also provided schooling and counselling.

    UNICEF said it has encountered funding problems after receiving only 32 per cent of the $50.3 million required this year for its humanitarian response across the Lake Chad region, creating a shortfall in measles vaccinations and other aids.

    The largest concentration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and therefore children are in camps or host communities in Borno State capital Maiduguri, the birthplace of the insurgency. While the army has freed the last few towns still under some form of Boko Haram control, IDPs are reluctant to return home.

  • Niger increases budget for Boko Haram, 2016 elections

    Niger increased its 2015 budget by 53.40 billion CFA ($92.16 million) to factor in higher spending on the fight against the Boko Haram sect and preparations for next year’s elections, the government has said.

    Niger has taken part in a regional offensive against Boko Haram this year and is contributing troops to an 8,700-strong multinational task force due to start operations soon, Reuters reported.

    The West African country also has a crowded slate of local, legislative and presidential elections next year.

    “The amended finance law aims to take into account external shocks, notably those linked to the security context marked by a war against terrorism, particularly Boko Haram, and preparation for the general elections,” Reuters quoted the Nigerien government as saying in a statement.

    “The 2015 state budget for expenses has been revised to 1.79 trillion CFA from 1.73 trillion, or an increase of 53.4 billion,” it added.

    This is the second time this year Niger’s budget has been increased. The first adjustment was to include financing for an economic and social development plan, the government said.

    The new budget also takes into account this year’s disappointing agricultural production and revenues from telephone companies that were lower than expected.

    Economic growth was estimated to be around seven percent in 2014, an increase from 4.11 percent in 2013, while inflation was three percent, according to official statistics.

  • Military uncovers Boko Haram business centre in Borno

    A fake business centre specialized in the production of fake National Identity Cards for men of the Boko Haram has been uncovered by the men of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

    The business centre situated at the busy Post Office area of Maiduguri according to the military was before its discovery being operated/managed by Mr. John Zakariya and Mallam Makinta Umar.

    The duo have been arrested and are now assisting the military with useful information.

    The discovery was contained in a press statement signed by Colonel Tukur Gusau, the Deputy Director Army Public Relations.

    [ad id=”403656″]Gusau in the statement said “the arrest of the accomplices were made possible after a Boko Haram terrorist who was earlier arrested confessed to Joint Investigation Centre that the suspected persons were in the business of producing ID cards for the terrorists group.

    “The items recovered from the accomplices include; computer laptops, memory sticks, still camera among others.

    ” During preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the accomplices produces fake National Identity Cards and other documents for the terrorists in a Business Centre located in Maiduguri.
    “These documents enable the terrorists to move freely to various destinations and carry out their terrorists activities, killing and inflicting hardship to the Law abiding citizens in the country.

    “The documents also facilitate the smooth movement of the terrorists to neighbouring countries to network with other terrorists.

    “This act by the accomplices is detrimental to the ongoing effort of the various security agencies under Operation Lafiya Dole”. Gusau’s statement added.

  • Amnesty urges Cameroon to investigate abuses in Boko Haram fight

    Amnesty International urged Cameroon on Wednesday to investigate the death of 25 prisoners and disappearance of 130 people after raids by security forces, raising concern about possible abuses arising from a crackdown on Boko Haram militants.

    Amnesty said the Nigerian insurgent group had committed war crimes in neighbouring northern Cameroon by killing at least 380 civilians since the start of last year.

    In one attack in October, Boko Haram shot or slit the throats of at least 30 people in the border town of Ambchide, Amnesty said.

    While providing protection to civilians in northern Cameroon, security forces had committed serious human rights violations, Amnesty said.

    More than 1,000 suspects had been detained in raids by authorities on villages, in which homes were destroyed and civilians killed, it said.

    Amnesty highlighted a raid by security forces in December on the villages of Magdeme and Double, in which 70 buildings were burnt down and at least eight people killed, including a seven-year-old child, according to residents.

    At least 200 men and boys were detained in the raid. The government has said that 25 died in their first night of detention from asphyxiation, but Amnesty said that another 130 remain missing.

    Steve Cockburn, Amnesty’s deputy regional director, appealed for Cameroonian authorities to launch an independent, impartial and rigorous investigation into the killings, disappearances and detentions.

    “We can’t have a situation where the population is scared of the people who are protecting them,” he told Reuters. “What that means concretely is a change of tactics to avoid the type of operation that leads to the mass arrests we have seen.”

    Amnesty found that overcrowding, lack of sanitation and inadequate health care in a prison in northern Cameroon’s main town of Maroua led to the death of at least 40 prisoners between March and May. The rights group called for a rapid improvement in conditions of detention.

    Cockburn voiced concern that an offensive against Boko Haram due to be launched this year by an 8,700-strong regional force – composed of troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin — could lead to more abuses.

    “That brings with it the risk of future human rights violations unless there are further measures taken to prevent the sort of mass arrests and other violations that we have seen over the last months,” he said.

  • Boko Haram leaders tired of fighting, says Centre

    Boko Haram leaders tired of fighting, says Centre

    The Executive Secretary of the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (rtd) yesterday said some Boko Haram leaders offered to negotiate to ceasefire because they are tired of fighting.

    He said the Federal Government and the insurgents should adopt an open mind to the ongoing talks for negotiation.

    He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for expressing the government’s willingness to dialogue with the sect.

    Anas spoke in Abuja in an on the update on the dialogue being facilitated by the CCC between the government and the insurgents to free the 219 abducted Chibok girls.

    He said Boko Haram neither asked for monetary inducement nor compensation during preliminary talks for the dialogue.

    He said: “We want to note that none of the suspected Boko Haram elements that spoke with the CCC asked for any form of monetary inducement or compensation as a pre-condition for laying down their arms.

    “In fact, many of them said that they were simply tired of fighting and being fugitives in a war that they were deceived into joining.

    Nevertheless, the Centre will continue to support and encourage all efforts towards bringing insurgency to an end in our country.

    Anas said there is nothing wrong in exploring any possibility of securing freedom for the girls.

    [ad id=”403656″]He added: “The CCC has noted with satisfaction, the pronouncement by President Muhammadu Buhari that some members of the Boko Haram terrorist group are in negotiation with the Federal Government over the possibility of releasing the Chibok Secondary School girls abducted on April 14, 2014.

    “We recall that while briefing the press on August 4, 2015, the Executive Secretary of CCC, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (retired) had disclosed that some Boko Haram elements approached the Centre for dialogue as a way of ending the seeming intractable insurgency in parts of the country.

    “While expressing support for the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari that the Federal Government was willing to dialogue with genuine leaders of the terrorist group, the CCC believes the new position had become imperative in view of the fact that military option alone has failed to resolve the issue.

    “The Centre believes that there is nothing wrong in exploring and exploiting every opportunity that will lead to freeing of not only the innocent school girls but every other Nigerian under shackles of the deadly insurgents.

    He asked Nigerians to support President Buhari as he takes tough decisions such as this.

    Anas added: “As we stated on August 4, 2015 on this matter, which was widely and extensively published by the media, every window of dialogue should be open but only for genuine leaders or representatives of the sect who are committed to keeping to their side of the bargain.

    “We urge both parties to approach the said negotiation with open mind and with utmost consideration of the interest of humanity.”

    “To Nigerians, we urge that we continue to trust and support our President even when he has to take tough decisions such as this knowing that what is upper most in his mind and in our minds is the freedom of our girls and all other captives.

    “The Centre views this gesture as good. It has opened a window of opportunity for dialogue for those insurgents that are willing and ready to lay down their arms.

    “This position is predicated on calls made to this Centre by some members of the Boko Haram requesting for genuine and comprehensive dialogue that could lead to hundreds of them coming out to renounce their membership.”

  • Troops arrest suppliers of foodstuff to Boko Haram

    Troops arrest suppliers of foodstuff to Boko Haram

    Intensive patrols and vigilance of troops have continued to yield positive results with the arrest of 33 suspected food suppliers to the Boko Haram insurgents on Damboa axis, near Azir-Wajiroko Road, Borno State.

    The Acting Director, Army Public Relations,

    Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman,

    in a statement yesterday said the suspects were nabbed with the foodstuffs meant for Boko Haram terrorists at Korode.

    He said nine of the 33 suspects are from Korode, five from Auma, 10 from Geargube, four from Kausautaya, four from Bulbul and one from Dolomi villages.

    Col. Usman said although some of them claimed to be traders, they did not, however, deny buying and selling food items to the insurgents.

    “Interrogation is ongoing to unravel the level of involvement of the suspects.”

    He said the troops, during clearance operations of Boko Haram hideouts, discovered and destroyed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted by Boko Haram terrorists at Sandia village on the Korode Road.

    According to him, more men, women and children were rescued from the insurgents at Buduwa on Bama axis. “They were part of those abducted by Boko Haram terrorists at Buduwa in Bama Local Government, which was earlier occupied by the insurgents.”