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Tag: boko haram

  • Boko Haram kills 148 in Borno attacks

    Boko Haram kills 148 in Borno attacks

    … 68 others wounded

    It was yet another reign of terror as gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect evaded Kukawa town of Kukawa Local Government area of Borno state killing at least 148 people and leaving about 68 wounded on Wednesday night.

    Kukawa is a farming and herding community, located about 179 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital.

    One of the survivor who escaped to Maiduguri gave a horrific account of how the terrorist surrounded the entire village and started shooting sporadically at the time the Muslims fateful were about to break their fast for the day.

    We started hearing gunshots from nowhere all over the town. The terrorists surrounded the town shooting sporadically on the residents. Confusion and panic took over the town as people began to run for their lives to unknown destination confused,” Aji Bukar narrated.

    He disclosed that the insurgents hard a field day with their weapons shooting at sight any human object on their way as people ran to the bushes or their houses and lock themselves up for safety.

    He added that many of the dead bodies are still littered on the streets as the residents are afraid to come out to bury the dead as the time he had escaped.

    “As I speak to you, some of the corpses were still not buried. People are afraid to come out. The entire village is deserted. Elders in town were afraid the attackers may return which is delaying the burial of the dead bodies scattered over the tow,” he said.

    A member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), also told our correspondent on phone that the insurgents caught up many residents and shot them in two separate mosques with the injuring of several others.

    “People were just preparing to break their Ramadan fast and already gathered in nearby mosques when Boko Haram people came on in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles painted in ash colour.

    “They rounded up people and opened fire on them. Boko Haram later set fire on several houses burning many people. One of our colleagues who escaped the attack said they recovered 97 dead bodies, some of them burnt beyond recognition before burying them this afternoon (Thursday),” he said.
    Similarly, about 48 people were on Tuesday night killed in Monguno town of Monguno local government area of Borno state.

    No fewer than 23 people were also reported to have sustained various injuries and some houses and shops were also touched by the gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists.

    Narrating on the Monguno attack, an escapee informed that the insurgents fled from the Sambisa Forests and regrouped on the shores of Lake Chad to attack unprotected villages near Monguno town.
    He said; “The attackers armed with rifles and explosives burst into our villages; and summoned all the male villagers here to congregate for a special message from Boko Haram leader. Three minutes after, one of the gunmen ordered us to lie down with face on ground; and all of them
    were shot dead at close range.”

    He said they launched another attack on a nearby village, eight kilometers from Monguno, adding that; “the total casualties, including the injured ones have reached 23, while the one in the other village caused the death of 25 farmers and herdsmen. No woman or child was
    killed in the twin village attacks here in Monguno areas.”

    The House of Representatives member representing Monguno, Nganzai and Marte Federal Constituency at the National Assembly Barrister Mohammed Tahir Monguno confirmed the attack and described it as deadly.

    A military source disclosed that, “Many people were killed. I don’t think our men were there at the time of the attack,” the military source said, adding that “the casualty figure may be much high.”

    A former local official of Kukawa Local Government, Alhaji Habib Kakero wrote on his facebook that : “Our town Kukawa has been attacked by Boko Haram, they killed many of our people, and may Allah repose their souls in perfect peace.”

    Mohammed Kukawa who hails from Kukawa but resides in Maiduguri informed that  he lost three of his family members in the attack.

    “A family member who escaped to a nearby village in Niger Republic  has called to tell me my elder brother, who is a farmer, uncle and other relations were among those killed Wednesday,” he said.

  • Buhari pledges support for terror victims

    Buhari pledges support for terror victims

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commended steps being taken by the Office of the National Security Adviser and other agencies of government to rehabilitate victims of terrorism and violent extremism in Nigeria.

    He spoke in Abuja after receiving a briefing on the work of the Countering Violent Extremism Department in the NSA office.

    Buhari, according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the Federal Government will continue to do its best to ensure that victims of Boko Haram atrocities receive necessary support, and that it will strive to rid the country of terrorism and insurgency in the shortest possible time.

    One of the CVE objectives is to reform terrorists and prevent others from joining terrorist organisations and violent sects.

    Head of the CVE, Dr. Fatima Akilu, told President Buhari that its non-military approach was running concurrently with the armed onslaught against insurgents in the country.

  • Boko Haram: Protest paralyses Anambra community

    Boko Haram: Protest paralyses Anambra community

    Activities were paralyzed Tuesday in Ekwulobia, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra state as traders, young and old trooped out to protest the dumping of alleged Boko Haram suspects in the prisons in the area.

    As early as 7.30am, placard carrying protesters, including some clergy and high chiefs and women marched through the Ekwulobia Street to register their grievances.

    All the shops in the Area were under lock and key as security operatives were deployed by the state commissioner of police, Hosea Karma to maintain law and order.

    The chairman of Aguata Local government area, Mr.Tony Umeoji, while speaking with reporters said the transfer of the Boko Haram prisoners to the place was politically motivated.

    He alleged that any attempt to interrupt the development of the South East from Anambra State, would be suicidal.

    According to the council boss; “I must tell you that this development will chase away intending investors to Anambra State, thereby setting back the wheel of progress of the state.

    ‘It is a situation that calls for concern because of the apprehension and restiveness among the people of Ekwulobia.

    “The people are scared and there is a general sense of insecurity in the place right now.

    “The Ekwulobia prison does not have minimum capacity and facility for such high profile inmates.

    “The prison is 80 bedded and there are already 133 in mates and you are adding another 43 in mates of the Boko Haram prisoners. That is too much and not healthy for human being,” he said.

    Also in his own reaction, the member representing Aguata II Constituency in state House of assembly, Ikem Uzoezie appealed to the authorities concerned and President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency relocate the Boko Haram inmates to a prison with maximum capacity and facility.

    He said; “this development calls for concern because the relative peace we have been enjoying has been interrupted.”

    Meanwhile, Uzoezie revealed that when the Assembly reconvenes, it would deliberate on the matter with a view to prevailing on the presidency to redress the issue.

     

  • Fresh suicide blast kills 11 in Chad

    Suspected Boko Haram fighters blew themselves up during a police raid in Chad’s capital early on Monday, killing five officers and six militants, police and government officials said.

    The raid of an illegal arms cache was part of a security operation aimed at dismantling a network of Boko Haram militants blamed for twin suicide bombings in N’Djamena on June 15.

    The apparently synchronised attacks were the most deadly that Western ally Chad has known and killed 34 people.

    “After an interrogation, a suspect showed us a house for building bombs,” said interior minister Abderahim Bireme Hamid. “When we arrived on the scene at 5am, our forces came across the terrorists who blew themselves up.”

    A police officer who participated in the raid said one of the militants was wearing an explosive belt and detonated it as police arrived.

    A Reuters witness outside the house in N’Djamena’s eastern neighbourhood of Diguel saw Red Cross workers load at least four white body bags onto a truck. The torso of one of the dead lay in the sand outside the house.

    Prosecutor Alghassim Khamiss said the house was an arms cache and that authorities had seized a large number of home-made explosives and eight mortars there.

    Chad has played a leading role in helping Nigerian forces win back territory from Boko Haram, which has mounted a six-year insurgency to carve out an Islamist caliphate in Nigeria’s northeast and attacked neighbours Niger and Cameroon.

    Its capital is a command centre for a regional force in the fight grouping troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Benin as well as a base for a 3,000-strong French operation fighting militancy in the region.

     

  • Chad arrests 60 after suicide attacks

    Security forces in Chad have arrested 60 suspected militants and dismantled a cell responsible for two suicide bomb attacks in its capital on June 15, the chief prosecutor of the central African nation said on Sunday.

    Blasts in two police offices in N’Djamena that appeared to have been coordinated killed 34 people including four suspected Boko Haram militants and injured dozens, Reuters says.

    It was the largest attack of its kind in Chad.

    “An active cell of a terrorist network has been identified and dismantled,” said prosecutor Alghassim Khamis, adding that those arrested came from Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria.

    He identified one attacker as Issa Oumar, alias Issa Tchoulou, but did not give his nationality. Bomb fragments collected at the sites had been turned over for analysis to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, he said.

    Communications equipment has been seized and thanks to new technology, witness testimony and an examination of the victims it was clear the attack was well planned with explosive vests made from a specially-constructed black tissue, said Khamis.

    Chad has played a leading role in helping Nigerian forces win back territory from Boko Haram, which has mounted a six-year insurgency to carve out an Islamist caliphate in Nigeria’s northeast and attacked neighbours Niger and Cameroon.

    The Chadian capital is a command centre for a regional force in the fight.

  • Boko Haram: Amnesty and the military

    Amnesty International, the world’s foremost human rights campaigner, must be surprised at the energetic reaction of the Nigerian people and organisations to its report of June 3, on the conduct of the Nigerian armed forces in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists. In the report, Amnesty charged Nigerian soldiers and their commanders with gross human rights violations, including execution of some 7,000 innocent people for not producing Boko Haram members who killed their comrades in arms in their villages and towns. Even the Nigerian human rights community reputed for its criticisms of the Nigerian state was in the forefront of the denunciation of the Amnesty report which also calls for the arrest and prosecution of soldiers, middle and senior military commanders, including the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, and the erstwhile Chief of Army Staff,  Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, and their successors. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to look into the allegations and treat them with the seriousness they deserve.

    Nigerians, irrespective of their differences and political leanings are united in the criticism against the Amnesty report. This is one of the rare instances in our recent national history where national consensus has been reached so easily. The reason is simple: Boko Haram is a national embarrassment of profound proportions. All of us are casualties, to use the language of J.P. Clarke, the outstanding Nigerian poet, playwright and essayist. In other words, those who used to think that the insurgency was a north-eastern affair were in grave error. One of the first officers to be felled in the war against Boko Haram was a young gallant captain from Ozubulu in Anambra State in the South-east. The highest ranking officer to be gunned in the battle against Boko Haram was a brilliant Lt Colonel from Uke in Idemmili North Local Government Area, also of Anambra State, a veteran of the Liberian and Sierra Leone civil wars who had just returned from China where he underwent an advanced course in guerrilla warfare. Various Igbo communities with their sons and daughters in the north lost quite a number of them when Boko Haram terrorists on occasion opened fire on them in places like Niger State and Adamawa State. The most senior officer being tried right now for cowardice in the war against the terrorists is Brigadier General Ransome-Kuti, from Abeokuta in Ogun State. To state the obvious once again, we all are in various ways casualties of the Boko Haram menace.

    Nigeria may be far from being a united political entity, but the war against the insurgents is bringing the people together. Bertrand Russel, one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, has called our attention to how crises tend to unite people. In his BBC prestigious Reith Lectures, Russel argued that passengers on a bus may not be talking to each other because they are strangers, but they would definitely come together to fight an enemy if any of them is attacked by an external force. Nigerians have been denouncing the Amnesty report like one man because, among other things, the report would seem to provide a tremendous propaganda weapon to the terrorists. The report is ominously silent on the unspeakable atrocities committed by the dangerous sect daily against defenceless members of society, a development which brings to mind the ongoing savagery in the Middle East by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which interestingly attracts strong condemnation from all and sundry around the world. The new Amnesty report which demands the prosecution of top military officers for war crimes is reminiscent of the report by the same human rights organization in 2009 which strongly condemned the Nigerian police for killing the founder and leader of extremely the dangerous Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf, and demanded severe punishment for the security men but said nothing about the scores of policemen butchered like animals in an unprecedented orgy of violence which rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, for days. Consequently, Nigerians often wonder if Amnesty International is on the side of terrorists.

    True, the Nigerian military is fighting the terrorists from a disadvantaged position. Our soldiers are trained to fight in conventional war where the enemy has a known territory, wears a uniform and to some extent obeys rules of engagement. Boko Haram is composed of sheer terrorists, and the brainwashed membership engages in guerrilla warfare. While the military takes its time in firing against the enemy so as to minimize collateral damage as much as possible, terrorists do not give a hoot if innocent persons are felled down by their bullets. Like armed robbers under siege by security men, Boko Haram members just spray bullets on all and sundry, delighting in collateral damage. As far as they are concerned, women and children are targets, a fair game. They routinely disguise as pious Muslim women and frequently strap improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on callow eight-year-olds, turning them into cannon fodder.

    Soldiers who fight in such circumstances anywhere in the world are bound to be edgy. They could tamper with human rights easily. The truth is that even in the best of conventional wars, there are always gross human rights abuses. As any American soldier who has been on a duty of Iraq since 2003 can tell you in confidence, the reported human rights violations by American soldiers which Washington reported are only a tip of the iceberg, the least of such awful abuses which occurred on a grand scale. The concept of espirit de corps compels commanders not to escalate the reports to higher authorities. War is no tea party anywhere. Thousands of innocent lives are at stake every minute. In most cases, the political authorities turn a blind eye to such reports because they do not want to demoralize the young men and women in the firing line. Both President Richard Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, were aware of the terrible things which American fighters were doing in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s against the locals.

    Still, the Amnesty International’s allegations of improper conduct against the Nigerian military should not be dismissed with a cavalier wave of the hand. All soldiers, including those fighting in wars, must abide by the Geneva Convention, the rule of law and due process. The lives and dignity of fighting soldiers are as important as those of civilians. What riles most Nigerians about the Amnesty report is that the human rights body seems to be on a mission to demoralize and demonise the Nigerian military which has over the decades given a wonderful account of itself in various countries of the world. Our past and serving top commanders appear to have been marked down for ruination, accusing them of complicity in atrocities even when all evidence suggests they have been absolutely ignorant of the alleged human rights violations. The Amnesty report seems to have provided Boko Haram a propaganda stunt which former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously called  the oxygen of life for terrorists the world over. Nigerians deserve better.

    • Mustapha, a retired naval officer, sent in this article from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
  • Buhari condemns fresh Boko Haram attacks

    Buhari condemns fresh Boko Haram attacks

    President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest terrorist attacks on Borno and Yobe communities by the Boko Haram bandits.

    In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, the President said he was deeply touched by these mindless incidents of violence on innocent people during the month of Ramadan.

    He insisted that the terrorists are enemies of everybody, and enemies of humanity everywhere.

    Stressing that terrorists don’t represent any religion, he said that no sane people who believe in any god would destroy the lives of innocent people in cold blood.

    The pattern of their indiscriminate violence against innocent people, he said, showed that they represent nothing else but anarchy and devilry.

    The statement reads: “In what appears to be one of his toughest expressions of outrage, President Buhari reminded the terrorists of his uncompromising resolve to tackle them with all the resources at the disposal of his government.

    “Make no mistake about it: this government is ever determined to discharge its fundamental duty of protecting the lives of its citizens from physical threats from any groups bent on creating chaos, confusion, and on destroying social and economic life of the people”, he warned.

    President Buhari, who extended his sympathy to the families of the victims, also reassured all Nigerians that his government would never tolerate terrorist blackmail, and that security forces would confront the Boko Haram bandits to the last man.

    Describing terrorists as “cowards who lack any moral inhibition and any iota of humanity to reason compassionately”, he said that they would not find Nigeria a safe haven, because “they would be “hunted down without mercy and compromise.”

    Reiterating that security would be tackled by his administration with vigorous determination, he advised Nigerian to show more vigilance and be alert to the presence of suspicious people around them.

    “The terrorists are enemies of religion and humanity. No true believers in any God would target worshipers, holy places, or people who are fasting and other innocent Nigerians,” he stated.

  • ‘No Boko haram convict sent to Anambra’

    ‘No Boko haram convict sent to Anambra’

    Former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, has called on the people of Anambra state, especially traders, to discountenance rumours of a transfer of Boko Haram convicts to the state.
    He urged them to re-open their markets and businesses shut over the weekend following apprehensions arising from the falsehood.
    Ogene, who represented Ogbaru Federal Constituency of the state and was Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, stated that though the prisons falls under the purview of the federal government, it was inconceivable that persons awaiting trial for insurgency will be transferred to states outside the jurisdiction where they are being tried.
    “So far, I don’t think there are more than five convictions for Boko Haram offenses in Nigeria. Indeed, the bulk of those in custody for insurgency are Awaiting Trial Inmates, who are routinely brought to court near their places of remand – certainly not anywhere near the South east of Nigeria”, Ogene said in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.
    He disclosed that following the protests of last Saturday, he urgently made contacts with some officials in the Presidency and was assured that nothing of the sort was being contemplated.
    Sensing political motives for the rumours , Ogene wondered why the state government remained mute for more than 24 hours, while the economy of the entire state, and life in it’s commercial cities, were brought to a standstill.
    “Could there be a correlation between Governor Willie Obiano’s recent boast that he would not allow the All Progressives Congress (APC) gain a foothold in Anambra state, and the recent protests aimed at maligning the APC-led federal government” , Ogene said.
    Noting that electioneering was over, he urged the governor not to covertly or overtly attempt to pitch the people of Anambra state and the South east geo-political zone against the APC government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

     

  • Boko Haram: Union seeks support for displaced persons in Edo

    Boko Haram: Union seeks support for displaced persons in Edo

    The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has appealed for organizations, international donors and individuals to support the government in catering for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) who are victims of Boko Haram attacks.

    The national president of MHWUN, Mr Josiah Biolemoye made the appeal when he led other members of his executives to donate cash and food stuff worth about N2m to the IDP camp in Benin on Saturday .

    Biolemoye who alongside members of executives openly wept at the numbers of Boko Haram victims in the camp, stressed that there was no way government only can bring succour to the IDP’s.

    The president who described as tragidic, the pathetic stories told by some of the victims, said irrespective of tribe, religion or state, we all belong to one and the same country.

    He urged Nigerians to show love and be their brothers keepers by coming to the aid of these people.

    While praising efforts by government to put an end to the insurgency, he stressed that all hands must be on deck to address the menace.

    “Welfare of these people must be of priority not only to the government but to all Nigerians, organisations as well as international communities.

    “With the situation I met here in this camp in Edo today which is just one of the several camps in the country, there is no way welfare of this people can be left in the hand of the government alone.

    “We must all show to be truely our brothers keepers by coming to their aid. There is no assistance that will be too small for these people.

    “This camp in Edo, is being run by an individual who was only moved by their plead for assistance. We should all emulate the noble gesture of this pastor as well as other Nigerians that have in one way or the other come to the rescue of these people,” he stated.

    Meanwhile, the cleric who runs the camp, Solomon Folorunsho of the International Christian Centre for Mission said what he sees in the IDP’s are young and intelligent Nigerians who will move the country to greater height.

    About 1,500 IDP’s are in the camp in addition to over five hundred orphans previously catered for by the mission.

    The Boko Haram victims comprises mostly of children, women and men.

    The victims were brought in from the North East according to the cleric through another missionary group.

  • Niger Republic kills 15 Boko Haram suspects

    Niger Republic kills 15 Boko Haram suspects

    Fifteen Boko Haram fighters were killed and 20 others arrested by the Niger Republic Defence and Security Forces (FDS) during clashes that occurred between June 18 and 23 in Niger’s Diffa region, near the Nigerian border.

    A source yesterday said following the attack carried out on June 17 in Niger’s Gueskerou commune by the Islamist sect, killing 38 civilians, FDS launched ground and air operations.

    The spokesman for Niger’s Defence Ministry, Moustapha Ledru, said 15 terrorists had been killed, 20 others arrested, one armoured vehicle recovered and 20 motorcycles destroyed during the operation.

    No injuries were reported on the part of the army, the statement by the defence ministry’s spokesman said.

    The statement quoted Niger’s National Defence Minister, Karidjo Mahamadou, as hailing the FDS for the brilliant operation against the terrorists and encouraged them to continue with the fight to restore peace and security.

    Nigerien and Chadian forces are engaged in a large-scale operation against Boko Haram to secure Lake Chad basin and stop further attacks in Nigerien regions of Diffa and Bosso.