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Tag: boko haram

Buhari, Biya to strategise against Boko Haram in Yaoundé

The Cameroonian Minister of Communication, Issa Bakary, said on Tuesday that security issues are expected to domination talks as Paul Biya hosts his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari on a two-day State Visit.

According to Bakary, Buhari and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, will also discuss other issues that will boost the two countries ‘brotherly relationship’.

He said the visit would afford the two leaders the opportunity to map out strategies to defeat militants, Boko Haram who have been wrecking havoc in the parts of the two nations.

“The visit follows the continuing attacks on both countries by Boko Haram,’’ he said.

Bakary also said the visit became necessary as the insurgents, having been defeated frontally, have changed their attack strategy, including suicide bombings.

He called on all Cameroonians and the people of far north region in particular, to increase their vigilance and spare no effort in collaborating with local authorities and security forces.

He also said there was the need to share information on how to identify positions of Boko Haram and their accomplices.

July 28, 2015
Boko Haram kills 25 in Borno

At least 25 people have been killed by suspected Boko Haram militants during raids on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning on three communities in Borno State, military and police sources told Reuters.

The main village attacked was Dille along with two smaller communities in the Askira/Uba local government area in southern Borno State, the region hit hardest by Boko Haram insurgency.

July 28, 2015
Heightened security in Cameroon as Buhari visits

Security in Yaounde, capital of Cameroon, has been beefed up with the expected visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Central African nation on Wednesday.

President Buhari is billed to start his visit to Cameroon on Wednesday and he will hold talks with his Cameroonian counterpart, President Paul Biya, on how to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.

After visiting Niger and Chad after his inauguration on May 29, President Buhari had earlier shifted his visit to Cameroon due to the Muslims’ Ramadan fasting and his invitation to the G-7 meeting in Berlin, Germany.

Security patrols in Yaounde, the country’s capital, have increased since information about the Nigerian leader’ visit was made public.

Besides thorough checking and searching of cars and trucks with ordinary plate numbers, cars with diplomatic plate numbers are also not spared.

Speaking to journalists on Buhari’s visit, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Cameroon, Amb. Hadiza Mustapha said: “It is our tradition in Nigeria that when presidents come into office, his first port of call should be African countries. His visit shows the highest level of cordiality.

“There is need to synergize between the frontline states on how to confront insurgency, in order to build on the gains so far achieved.

“Nigeria’s relations with Cameroon have a long history of both economic and political ties anchored on affinities and shared destiny.

“It is a very significant visit and we are looking forward to it. The President is going to spend a night which shows you how much importance he attaches to it. I’m highly honoured to be receiving the second Nigerian President as Ambassador here.”

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July 28, 2015
16 killed in Boko Haram raids on Lake Chad villages

At least 13 suspected Boko Haram militants and three civilians were killed in separate attacks over the weekend after the insurgents raided several remote localities around Lake Chad, Chadian security sources have said.

The insurgents are also suspected of kidnapping some 30 people in Katikine village, near the lake.

The hostages were taken onboard four speedboats to an unknown destination, one of the security source said, asking not to be named.

Boko Haram, which calls itself the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) since pledging allegiance to the militant group that controls large areas of Syria and Iraq, is fighting to establish an emirate in northeast Nigeria, Reuters says.

The group has stepped up attacks in countries around the lake in recent months in response to a regional offensive by Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger to subdue the six-year-old insurgency.

“Medi was attacked by men on motorised boats,” the security source said. “The army returned fire and killed 13 assailants. Some soldiers were wounded.”

“The same day, three people in Blarigi village had their throats slit by suspected Boko Haram fighters,” he said, adding that some 2,000 inhabitants of Fitine Island on the lake were forced to flee following attacks which razed the village.

July 28, 2015
Group condemns Boko Haram activities in Nigeria

The African Ambassadors’ Group at the weekend condemned the continued attacks by the Boko Haram sect in northeast part of the country.

The ambassadors said the peace and stability of Nigeria was imperative to Africa.

The Dean of the group, Oubi Bachir, who spoke to journalists at the 52nd Africa Day celebration in Abuja, said African countries must come together to fight the insurgents.

The diplomats representing several African countries in Nigeria gathered to mark the Nelson Mandela International Day and they used the occasion to discuss issues affecting the continent.

Bachir added that the rest of Africa will put resources together to support Nigeria in its fight against terrorism.

He said: “The Africa Group condemns all threats to the progress of Nigeria, including the Boko Haram attacks that have taken the lives of hundreds of innocent Nigerians.

“The African Diplomatic Group commiserates with the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the families of the victims for the loss of their loved ones.

“The Africa Group calls for the unconditional release of the over 200 girls, who were kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State. We support the resolve of the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, and the international community, to once and for all resolve this hideous problem. Africa is committed to garner all the necessary resources to support Nigeria in its quest to combat terrorism.”

July 27, 2015
U.S. report indicts civilian JTF for recruiting children

Nigeria has not achieved much in its efforts to combat human trafficking across its borders, according to the 2015 Global Trafficking in Persons report.

In the report presented on Monday by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) against insurgency in northern Nigeria was indicted of recruiting and using child-soldiers by force.

The Nigerian government was also said not to have fully complied with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, though, significant efforts are being made.

Excerpts from the report follows:

Natalie and Dara, eager to earn money and go to school, left Nigeria with the help of men who arranged their travel and convinced them good jobs awaited them in Cote d’Ivoire. Once there, Natalie and Dara were instead forced to have sex with men every night to pay back a $2,600 “travel debt.” After two years of being subjected to sex trafficking, Natalie and Dara contacted a UN Police officer (who was in the area to investigate other suspected cases of human trafficking) and escaped. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime helped the girls return to Nigeria, where they participated in social service programs supported by regional NGOs. Their traffickers were convicted in 2014 and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and a $2,000 fine.

Aisha was at a friend’s wedding when she was abducted by Boko Haram, along with her sister, the bride, and the bride’s sister. They were taken to a camp where her friends were forcibly married to Boko Haram fighters. Aisha, at 19 years old, had to learn how to fight; she was trained how to shoot and kill, detonate bombs, and execute attacks on villages. She was forced to participate in armed operations, including against her own village; those that refused were buried in a mass grave. Aisha saw more than 50 people killed, including her sister, before she managed to escape.

Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Nigerian trafficking victims are recruited from rural and, to a lesser extent, urban areas: women and girls for domestic servitude and sex trafficking and boys for forced labor in street vending, domestic service, mining, stone quarrying, agriculture, textiles manufacturing, and begging. Young boys in Koranic schools, commonly known as Almajiri children, are subjected to forced begging. Nigerian women and children are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, as well as to South Africa, where they are exploited for the same purposes. Nigerian women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution throughout Europe. Nigerian women and children are also recruited and transported to destinations in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, where they are held captive in the sex trade or in forced labor. Nigerian gangs subject large numbers of Nigerian women to forced prostitution in the Czech Republic and Italy; EUROPOL has identified Nigerian organized crime related to trafficking in persons as one of the greatest law enforcement challenges to European governments. Nigerian women are transported to Malaysia, where they are forced into prostitution and to work as drug mules for their traffickers. West African women transit Nigeria to destinations in Europe and the Middle East, where they are subsequently subjected to forced prostitution. Children from West African countries are subjected to forced labor in Nigeria, including in Nigeria’s granite mines. Nigeria is a transit point for West African children subjected to forced labor in Cameroon and Gabon. During the reporting period, an NGO alleged Nigerian officials subjected children in internally displaced person (IDP) camps in northeast Nigeria to labor and sex trafficking. A Nigerian soldier also allegedly engaged in the forced labor of a child.

During the reporting period, media and international observers reported the terrorist organization Boko Haram forcefully recruited and used child soldiers as young as 12-years-old and abducted women and girls in the northern region of Nigeria, some of whom it later subjected to domestic servitude, forced labor, and sex slavery through forced marriages to its militants. An NGO also reported a civilian vigilante group, identified as the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), recruited and used child soldiers, sometimes by force. The government prohibited the recruitment and use of child soldiers and issued official statements condemning such use; however, the CJTF continued to recruit and use child soldiers during the reporting period. The Borno State government continued to provide financial and in-kind resources to the CJTF, which was also, at times, aligned with the Nigerian military in operations against Boko Haram.

The government of Nigeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period, the government sustained strong anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts by enacting amendments to the 2003 anti-trafficking law, which restrict the ability of judges to penalise offenders with fines in lieu of prison time; by investigating, prosecuting, and convicting numerous traffickers; and by providing extensive specialized anti-trafficking training to officials from various government ministries and agencies. The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) identified and provided services to an increased number of victims and continued extensive awareness campaigns throughout the country. The government also created an inter-ministerial presidential taskforce to coordinate anti-trafficking activities across the government. Despite these efforts, during the reporting period, the Borno State government provided financial and in-kind resources to the CJTF, which recruited and used child soldiers.

July 27, 2015
Presidency, Boko Haram begin talks
Hopes of freedom for the 219 Chibok girls have been rekindled, with preliminary talks between the Presidency and some Boko Haram leaders.

The new deal is being brokered by some confidants of the Presidency and the sect.

Some key commanders of Boko Haram in detention are also eager to be part of the initiative, The Nation learnt.

The new understanding came amid security reports that about 500 insurgents in a neighboring country are interested in renouncing terrorism – in line with the reconciliatory agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.

But the President is being cautious in rushing at the new offer from some leaders of the sect to avoid what a source described as the “costly mistakes of the past administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Buhari has asked security agents to “screen or certify” those spearheading the new negotiation to ensure that the government is dealing with the right Boko Haram leaders.

Some Boko Haram leaders are believed to have been overwhelmed by the President ‘s olive branch.

It was learnt that the President’s reconciliatory agenda made some confidants of the sect to initiate a fresh negotiation between the Presidency and some Boko Haram leaders.

It was gathered that at the preliminary level, a “cautious understanding” has been struck by both parties.

Some mileage gained so far include the following:
- likely release of some Chibok girls to underscore the readiness of Boko Haram for negotiation;
- involvement of some Boko Haram leaders, on whom the United States Government placed ransom, in the peace deal; and
- commitment of the Buhari administration to the negotiation.
A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The President’s appeal for peace in the Northeast is yielding dividends because a fresh facilitation of talks between the Presidency and Boko Haram has started.

“This latest negotiation, which is at the preliminary stage, is being promoted by some mutual confidants of the Presidency and Boko Haram.

“The new deal may lead to the release of some Chibok girls to set the tone for a comprehensive negotiation by both sides.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “The President is extremely cautious on this offer of negotiation.

“ Buhari has ordered security agencies to screen or certify those Boko Haram commanders interested in facilitating this latest negotiation to ensure that they are bonafide leaders of the sect.

“The position of the President is that why he is not averse to a peace deal, the Federal Government must avoid the costly mistakes of the past which led to a waste of time and huge resources.

“The President wants the release of the Chibok girls and quick restoration of peace to the Northeast; he is ready to negotiate with the right people for sustainable results.”

But there are strong indications that the leader of the sect, Imam Abubakar Shekau, is yet to be involved in the new deal.

“I think we are still at the preliminary stage. At the right time, there is a way the negotiation offer will be forwarded to their leader.

“But the fact that some Boko Haram commanders, whom US placed ransom upon, might be part of the negotiation shows that the crisis can be resolved, if all hands are on deck, “ another source added.

The defunct Joint Task Force(JTF) in the Northeast on November 23, 2012 placed ransom on 19 leaders of Boko Haram.

The list had comprised five members of the Shurra Committee (the highest making body of the sect) and 14 Boko Haram commanders.

But one of the Shurra Committee members, Mohammed Zangina (a.k.a Mallam Abdullahi/Alh. Musa) was allegedly killed in a shoot-out with the Joint Task Force(JTF) in Maiduguri.

With Zangina out, those still wanted are four members of the Shurra Committee of the sect, Imam Abubakar Shekau (N50million); Habibu Yusuf (a.k.a Asalafi) N25million; Khalid Albarnawai (N25million); and Momodu Bama (N25 million).

The fate of Momodu Bama was also unknown as at press time, following conflicting reports on whether he is alive or dead.

The Boko Haram Commanders being sought for by the JTF are Abu Saad (N10million); Abba Kaka (N10million); Abdulmalik Bama (N10million) Umar Fulata(N10million); Alhaji Mustapha (Massa) Ibrahim (N10million); Abubakar Suleiman-Habu (a.k.a Khalid) N10million; Hassan Jazair N10million; Ali Jalingo (N10million); Alhaji Musa Modu (N10million); Bashir Aketa (N10million); Abba Goroma (N10million); Ibrahim Bashir (N10million); Abubakar Zakariya (N10million); and Tukur Ahmed Mohammed (N10million).

Buhari’s “peace agenda” has motivated 500 Boko Haram members in a neighboring country to signify interest in renouncing terrorism.

A third source said: “These 500 insurgents said they were specifically encouraged by the rapprochement of the President.

“They have offered to surrender in return for integration by the administration of the President.”

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said: “If the President gets the right partners in doing a deal, he will consider a peaceful resolution. He has said that unambiguously in the course of the visit to the U.S. If that doesn’t work out, the President has the will and willingness to crush terror using the army.”
July 27, 2015
Troops kill terrorists on Dikwa-Maiduguri road

The Army yesterday said troops killed many terrorists on Dikwa-Maiduguri Road.

But the casualty figure remained unknown. The Nation saw a photographs of some Boko Haram fighters lying dead. The operation were kept under wraps.

A statement by Army spokesperson Col. Sani Usman Kukasheka said recent military operations against Boko Haram insurgents had been very successful, with the terrorists are on the run.

The statement reads: “In compliance with the directive of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Maj.-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, the Nigerian troops have increased the tempo of their offensive as they killed many terrorists during a recent combat operation along Dikwa-Maiduguri Road, in Borno State.

“Through a combined operation, involving the ground troops and Air Force, the military mercilessly dealt devastating blows on the terrorists who could not escape during the encounter.

“Some of the items recovered from the terrorists included vehicles heavily laden with Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs), motorcycles, trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft gun, general purpose machine, gunbox of anti-aircraft gun ammunition and rifles.”

The Army said that in one of the recent operations, the military attacked terrorists’ logistics base, where an IED was planted with connected wires traced to a kingpin’s residence.

It added: “Due to recent concerted efforts, roads and towns hitherto being held by Boko Haram terrorists and laced with mines, such as Biu-Buni Yadi-Damaturu and Biu-Sabon Gari-Damboa roads, were liberated and cleared of mines and made safe for public usage.

While renaming the counter-insurgency operation as “Operation Zaman Lafiya Dole”, the COAS urged the troops not to wait for Boko Haram to attack but to take the battle to the insurgents.

July 27, 2015
19 killed in Cameroon suicide blast

At least 19 people were killed in a suicide bombing in the northern Cameroonian town of Maroua on Saturday, a local military commander said, just three days after twin bombings there suspected to have been carried out by Boko Haram.

Residents said the female bomber struck at a bar in the Pont Vert neighbourhood, close to a bridge crossing a river that runs next to the town, at about 7.50pm local time (1850 GMT).

In the wake of the explosion, which was heard across the capital of Cameroon’s North Region, military and emergency services poured over the scene in search of survivors.

A senior military officer in Maroua told Reuters at least 19 people had been killed and 62 injured in the attack.

Cameroonian state television said the bomber was a teenage girl.

July 26, 2015
Boko Haram not in control of any LG in Yobe

The Yobe State Government yesterday dismissed as untrue media reports that Boko Haram insurgents are in control of five local government areas of the state.

The Director of Press Affairs to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, Abdullahi Bego, said the insurgents are not in control of any local government area.

He said the media reports “are misleading and totally out of the purview of the brief that Governor Gaidam gave to the National Economic Council regarding the security situation in Yobe State.”

“While security is still a concern and more work needs to be done, there is not a single local government council in Yobe under the sway or control of the insurgent Boko Haram,” Bego declared, adding that what Daidam told the National Economic Council was that two of the 17 local governments in the state were once “under the pale of Boko Haram,” and that was several months ago.

“Governor Gaidam has noted, however, that as a result of the gallant and salutary intervention of our nation’s armed forces and other security agencies, those two local government areas, namely Gujba and Gulani, were freed and liberated from insurgent stranglehold.

“The governor did of course ask for additional troops and weaponry to be deployed to Yobe State. He made this request only within the context of the need to sustain the momentum against Boko Haram and ensure that terrorists and insurgents are denied a chance to further harm our people.”

July 26, 2015