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Tag: boko haram

  • Troops liberate Yobe communities from Boko Haram

    Troops liberate Yobe communities from Boko Haram

    The Defence Headquarters in Abuja yesterday said troops were dominating operations in Yobe State.

    A statement on the Defence Headquarters’ website said: “Troops are dominating operations in Kukawa, Geri, Gujba in Yobe, to rid the terrorists on Sunday.”

    According to the statement, troops, on Sunday night, entered Kukawa Geri, Gujba, in Yobe and were determined to flush out the insurgents from their remaining hideouts.

    Most of the local government areas and communities previously occupied by terrorists in the affected states have been freed.

    The Nigerian troops routed terrorists from Bara, headquarters of Gulani Local Government Area of Yobe and Gulak, the headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa.

    The statement listed other locations  that were cleared during the operations as: Shikah, Fikayel, Tetebah, Buza, Kamla and Bumsa.

    They include: Monguno, Marte, Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa and Baga, among other big towns and communities.

    There were reports yesterday that 73 terrorists were killed by troops in fresh attacks on Konduga.

    The insurgents allegedly attempted to recapture the town, 35 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. A soldier reportedly died in the battle.

    Also at the weekend, soldiers from Chad clashed with Boko Haram insurgents in a Nigerian border town.

    According to Reuters, the fighting took place near Garambu, a community located near the Nigerian/Cameroonian border.

    The Chadian Army claimed to have killed 207 Boko Haram militants with only one casualty on its side. The Chadian Army reportedly seized from the militants a large cache of weapons and ammunition as well as two pick-up trucks.

    Reuters said that Chad’s claim was not immediately verified.

    Chad is a major player in the escalating regional conflict with the Islamist group, which has terrorised communities in Nigeria’s Northeastern region since 2009 and recently expanded its attacks to border towns in Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

    Chad sent thousands of soldiers to the Cameroon-Nigeria border following Boko Haram’s first recent incursions into Cameroon, and was involved in a February offensive with Nigeria and Cameroon that reclaimed the towns of Mafa, Mallam Fatori, Abadam, Marte and Gamboru from the extremist group.

    Its significant role in the multi-regional offensive resulted in a Boko Haram attack on the Chadian town of Ngouboua on February 13. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), about 30 Boko Haram sect members crossed Lake Chad in motorboats to carry out the attack that resulted in the death of a village chief and five Chadian soldiers.

    They managed to burn several residents’ homes before the military responded with infantry and airstrikes, eventually repelling the militants back.

    Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened Chad’s President, Idriss Deby, in a video in which he challenged the Multi-national Task Force to face his members.

     

  • Help for freed Boko Haram captives

    Help for freed Boko Haram captives

    Emotions were mixed when insurgents released 158 captives unconditionally in Yobe State. Why?  The joy of freeedom was undercut by the agony of children still held back by the extremists.  But relief materials donated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) may cheer them up a bit, DUKU JOEL reports

    PERHAPS, the relief materials will cheer them up a bit. When Boko Haram insurgents released some 158 captives in Yobe State, there was probably as much joy as grief. One man, for instance, was happy to have his wife back with some of their children after three weeks, but not all their offspring were set free by the militants.

    That was the picture in Damaturu, the state capital, as the freed captives reunited with their relatives.

    Now, help has come for them. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) some relief materials.

    NEMA Northeast Zonal Coordinator, Mohammed Kanar presented the materials, saying, the intervention was “to compliment the efforts made by the Yobe State government”.

    He praised the state for setting up a good structure which he said will enhance care for victims of disaster in line with NEMA standards.

    Kanar also said that the agency had been directly distributing relief materials to victims of insurgency in the state, pointing out that the agency was ready to assist the state government in identifying the the medical and psychological needs of the victims and how to manage them.

    The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA)  Alhaji Idi Jidawa who received the items on behalf of the state government, thanked the Federal Government for the gesture, assuring that the materials would get to the victims.

    He said,  ”This is the first time that NEMA is making a formal presentation to SEMA for onward distribution to victims of insurgency in the state.”

    Items distributed included bags of rice, noodles, vegetable oil, tomatoes  and cloth, among others.

    The 158 victims comprising 62 adults and 96 children were abducted early January after an attack  on Katarko  community.

    Out of the 62 women, 15 lost their husbands to the attackers.

    It was a pleasant surprise, for  the insurgents were under no apparent pressure. The 158 victims were set free unconditionally, with no apparent physical injuries.

    Most of those released were women and children.

    Sometime in early January, the insurgents launched a heavy attack on Katarko village some 20km away from Damaturu where they killed all able-bodied men on sight and abducted about 200 people mostly women and children.

    After their release on January 24, the eve of President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign visit to Maiduguri, some unconfirmed reports filtered in that government secured their release. Another version had it that the insurgents could not cope with the cost of feeding the women and their children hence the decision to release them unconditionally.

    It was gathered that some of the grownup boys kidnapped along with the women were either killed and dumped in wells or dropped by the roadside. The stories went on until they were freed.

    Most of them had said their last prayers for themselves and their children.

    Fannam Bukar who was abducted with her five children, was freed with three of them while the remaining two are still in the hands of the insurgents.

    “Myself and five of my children were taken away by Boko Haram,” she said amid tears. “I came out with only three of them (pointing at three small girls by her side). My two sons are still with them. My first son is 15 years old and the second one is 13. Only Allah knows what they are going now. I pray that Allah will bring them back safely to me.”

    Another woman, Aisha Dauda, saw her husband brutally murdered by the insurgents before she was whisked away with her three children to a place she described as “a big building” that she had never seen before in her life.

    “On that day when they came to our village,” she said, my husband and I were in the house including my children. When we heard the gunshots; we wanted to run but it was too late. My husband came out of the house and he was surrounded by the Boko Haram boys. One of them put a gun in his head, asking him where he was going to. I was hiding in the room but I could still see what was going on between my husband and the boys. I was praying for his life and the next thing I heard was his head on the ground.”

    As she narrated, Aisha often held her breathe, fighting back tears.

    Were they manhandled? Not quite. Most of the women attested to the fact that they were treated with dignity.

    One of the victims, Fanta Mohammed, said, “To say the truth, they did not maltreat us since they took us away. Throughout the three weeks that we stayed in their camp, they provided us with enough food and drinks. They gave us soap and water to bathe through some small, small boys in the camp. Sometimes they even gave us perfumes to spray on our bodies.

    “Anytime they entered our apartment to preach their ideologies to us, they asked us to avoid looking at them. They will always call us pagans. When they were releasing us, they asked us to prepare and join those pagans in the town.

    “We thank God that we have reunited with our family members after three weeks of being in captivity,” Fanta said.

    Bintu Lawan gave an insight into their release. She said they asked them to decide whether to join their religion or leave to join other pagans outside of their camps.

    “They asked us to join their religion and we told them we will not practice their style of religion. So they agreed to release us, saying we should go and join the pagans who have the symbol of the green-white-green flag in Nigeria, vowing that they will meet with us one day. But we then told them we would rather join the pagans.”

    She added: “They often provided raw food items to us and we cooked them ourselves. They gave us soap, perfume and any other basic needs you can think of. It’s only God that released us from the hands of these dreaded militants,” she said.

    Abdulrahaman Dauda was the first person to receive a call from his friend who sighted the freed victims at a village called Kasaisa near Damaturu. He informed security personnel because his two wives and five children were among the victims.

    Despite his re-unification with his family, his joy was not complete as his two grownup sons were still held by the insurgents.

    “I thank God because today I have my wives and three of my other children back. I am happy I have seen my family again but my two grownup sons are still in the hands of Boko Haram. I only pray that they return safely,” Abdulrahaman said.

    Aisha Dauda said: “I am happy because I came out alive to see my husband and other members of the family. My husband has informed me that two of our children are still missing. We are not sure what happened to them.”

    The freed captives were presented to their families at a ceremony organised by the State Special Committee on Rehabilitation of Victims of Insurgency in the state headed by Mr. Ahmed Mustapha Goniri, a lawyer, who is also the state Commissioner for Justice.

    He said that all the freed victims were in sound health, maintaining that the military Joint Task Force (JTF) in conjunction with his committee and medical experts have examined the mental, psychological, and medical state of the victims.

    The event was also co-organised by the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). Relief materials were presented to the freed victims.

    Goniri during the presentation, said, “Out of the 158 that are freed, 62 are adults and the rest are children of the victims. Of the 62 adults, there are 15 widows among them. The Yobe State government as part of her resolve to cushion the sufferings of the victims has decided to give each of the widows two bags of rice; one bag of sugar; two cartons of noodles, wrappers and N50,000 cash while the remaining will receive the same quantity of items with N30,000.”

    He thanked the parents for their patience during the period the victims were screened by the security operatives.

    The voluntary release of these detainees was the first since the insurgency started in the Northeast six years ago. Over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the insurgents last year were yet to be freed.

  • Military: fleeing Boko Haram on rampage

    As the campaign against Boko Haram is intensified, the military is worried that the defeated insurgents are now on the rampage in the North, setting off suicide bombs.

    The military claimed that more children and teenagers, especially female, have been recruited by Boko Haram members for suicide missions.

    It also said some of the explosive devices were allegedly stolen from quarry industries within and outside the country.

    A top defence source, who released a fact-sheet on the latest dimension in the war against Boko Haram, said the insurgents were targeting motor-parks, schools, worship centres and markets.

    The document said: “Following a routing by Nigerian troops in collaboration with forces from neighbouring countries on the platform of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) from most of its operational bases, Boko Haram terrorists have once again reverted to the use of suicide bombers in its evil campaign against Nigeria.

    “A security alert has thus been sounded for Nigerians to be vigilant and on the lookout for potential suicide bombers already brainwashed and probably drugged by the terrorists.

    “Boko Haram members, in their desperation to escape the military onslaught on their camps and their bid to retaliate such offensive, may have resorted to suicide bombings which was their hit-and-run tactic used for some years until 2014.

    “This time around, however, the terrorists have been using children and teenagers, especially female, to perpetrate their nefarious activities on soft targets in some Northern states.

    “Their major mission is to attack soft targets like motor-parks, schools, worship centres, markets, among others, for maximum casualty among the citizens.”

    The Defence source alleged that “some of the explosive devices used for suicide bombing were stolen from quarry industries within and outside the country.”

  • Fuelling the fire: Journalism and Boko Haram

    SIR: When Paul Collier, the professor of Economics at the Oxford University wrote in his book “Wars, Guns & Votes – Democracy in Dangerous Places”, not a few development media journalists criticized him for indulging in illicit generalization about the problems of insecurity in Africa especially considering the tripartite roles of civil unrest manifesting in wars, weapons and the elusive pursuit of peace through democratic practices.

    But Africa is indeed a hotbed of crisis. And Nigeria is living up to the calling as the battleground. The nation has been in the news across major news outlets around the world; providing daily items for the media with nothing short of bad advertisements for the continent in reports (often contrived) of insurgency and the perceived failure of the security agencies to repeal these attacks. While the nation groans under the threat of insecurity, politicians are busy perfecting their acts and strategies to win the elections either by “rigging” or “shifting” of the elections; and the media busy feeding on all sorts from rumours to outright falsehoods.

    Reports on threats of Boko Haram especially in the run up to the general elections have dominated the media. Almost half of every news bulletin on Nigerian television stations is dedicated to stories on Boko Haram. Newspapers sell more with screaming banner headlines announcing Boko Haram exploits or rarely of the bravery of our soldiers as Chris Olukolade or the Defence Headquarters would want; radio is not any better. A very common but disturbing practice is the undue publicity given to the dreaded group with every video. Every time Boko Haram releases videos, the newsrooms go crazy; feasting over it; some even broadcast their videos end-to-end thereby directly aiding the group to push its deadly agenda. No censorship. No sense of responsibility to the society and the Nigerian state.

    Real news informs and enlightens. It should not, in and of itself, incite or propel negative responses. Not for a nation in dire need of responsible and development-oriented journalism like Nigeria. News should lead to rational response and reason, not reactionary impulse. What Boko Haram is doing and promoting through its media, is evil and unconscionable to the lowest imaginable. From the abduction of Chibok girls to videos of treasonable speeches; the news that the captives were being sold and used as suicide bombers provides the information from which we can form a reasonable response. The showing of the actual videos promotes only the most reactionary of responses; it stoops to the level of Boko Haram and moves us backward, instead of forward.

    Journalists would therefore do our society more good by adhering to the time tested principle of sieving through information for public consumption. And there are criteria for this. A key criteria is: Boko Haram wants us to show it. If Boko Haram wants you to show something, you should start with the principle of ‘How can we avoid doing that?’ Sometimes you can’t, because it’s editorially a key part of the story. But in this case, we can if we want to.

    • Adedeji Ajayi,

     TVC News, Lagos

  • Troops foil Boko Haram’s attempt to blow up bridge

    Troops foil Boko Haram’s attempt to blow up bridge

    The Defence Headquarters announced yesterday that troops foiled an attempt by Boko Haram terrorists to blow up a link bridge in Gulak, Adamawa State,with many of the insurgents killed in the process.

    Many others were similarly killed in a separate encounter with the soldiers on Djimitillo/ Damaturu road after their camp was gutted by fire.

    However, a soldier lost his life while another was wounded in the Damaturu road axis battle. This report could not be independently confirmed.

    But the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, said a statement that troops on cordon and search along Djimitillo Damaturu road axis on Friday night engaged a group of terrorists after their hideout was discovered by troops.

    “The fierce fight to dislodge them from the location which is very close to a market, resulted in the capture of   Machine Guns and rifles as well as the death of some number of them,” he said.

    “Some of the terrorists are believed to have died in the fire that gutted the house where they had made their base.  A soldier was killed while another was wounded and is undergoing treatment.

    “In Gulak, Adamawa State, troops in pursuit of terrorists caught up with some of them who were in the process of blowing up a bridge to deter troops advance.  The terrorists were not lucky as they died in their encounter with troops.

    “The troops are continuing with the cordon and search of the town and environs after overpowering the terrorists.  A lot of arms have been recovered in the process.  Troops are also dismantling the terrorists group’s flags hoisted in the towns.”

  • Multinational Joint Task Force and Boko Haram war

    Multinational Joint Task Force and Boko Haram war

    IN two weeks of intense counterinsurgency measures, the Nigerian military has recorded some impressive advances into rebel-held territories. Even President Jonathan, imbued with new enthusiasm, has found the courage to visit a few of the more notable recaptured territories, and in the process seemed to steal the APC’s and Gen Buhari’s thunders. But both the president’s visit and the successes recorded by the military mask three disturbing facts about the insurgency in the Northeast.

    First, the manner Nigeria is celebrating its successes against Boko Haram leaves little room to acknowledge the significant contributions of neighbouring countries in the counterinsurgency exercise. Chad was first to push into rebel-held territories, dealing the insurgents massive and demoralising blows. Nigeria should have the grace to acknowledge Chadian and Cameroonian contributions in the war. Second, Boko Haram began a mild and almost amateurish form if insurgency in 2009, about a year before President Jonathan assumed office. Between 2010 and January 2015, a poorly-armed revolt that should have been destroyed with barely a sweat, was spectacularly mishandled by the president, thereby costing more than 13,000 lives, billions of naira in arms acquisition and property destroyed, and millions of people displaced or their lives shattered forever. The president must accept full responsibility rather than shift blame as he has done so far.

    Third, and very significantly, the Boko Haram insurgency has demystified the regional prestige Nigeria worked very hard to acquire. It is doubtful whether that respect can be restored in the foreseeable future, especially with the way Western countries now seem to dote on the Chadian military for their contributions in Mali and their chutzpah against Boko Haram. President Jonathan may not have inherited the best military in West Africa, but he was also not bequeathed the best armed insurgent group in the region. He bears sole responsibility for Nigeria’s image decline, and he must not be accorded any political credit for his military’s recent successes or his belated visit to the war zone.

  • Thousands protest Boko Haram, support army in Cameroon

    Thousands protest Boko Haram, support army in Cameroon

    Thousands of people marched in Cameroon’s capital on Saturday to protest against Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgency and support the Central African nation’s army, which is fighting alongside regional neighbours to defeat the sect.

    The march in Yaounde was aimed at informing the public, especially in the southern regions, about the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has carried out regular cross-border raids in the far north, one of the organisers said.

    Yaounde is located in the central region of the country.

    “It was important to tell Cameroonians that we are at war and a part of the country is suffering,” said Gubai Gatama, a newspaper editor who was among the march’s organisers. “About 150,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.”

    In addition to its own citizens forced to flee the violence, thousands of refugees have poured into Cameroon from northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram is seeking to carve out an Islamist emirate, Reuters says.

    “Some 170 schools in Cameroon’s northern region have been closed,” Gatama said.

    Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency in Nigeria has spread to neighbouring countries, where the group has launched attacks over the past year, burning villages and kidnapping residents.

    The Lake Chad region nations threatened by Boko Haram, Nigeria along with Cameroon, Niger and Chad, have launched a joint offensive to quell the rebellion and claim to have retaken territory from group in recent weeks.

    Muhamadou Labara Awal, 27, was among the 5,000 people who organisers estimated marched on the May 20 boulevard in Yaounde, chanting and waving the flags of the regional coalition.

    “It was important for me to be here because I’m not a soldier to be deployed to Fotokol. The only way I could pay homage to our troops was to be here,” Awal said, referring to a northern town regularly targeted by Boko Haram.

  • Nigeria will maintain momentum against Boko Haram – Jonathan

    Nigeria will maintain momentum against Boko Haram – Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said the Nigerian troops will maintain the momentum they have built up in ongoing operations against Boko Haram and rapidly recover more occupied territory from the sect.

    The President, who spoke at an audience with the outgoing French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jacques Champagne De Labriolle, in Abuja, said that members of the Nigerian Army he met in Adamawa and Borno States on Thursday were in very high spirits, well prepared and determined to successfully complete their operations against Boko Haram.

    “We have already recovered much territory and very soon our troops will clear the terrorists out of other areas not presently under our control,’’ a statement issued by his media aide, Dr. Reuben Abati, quoted the President as saying to the French Ambassador.

    Welcoming a congratulatory message from the French President, Francois Hollande, over Nigeria’s recent successes against Boko Haram, President Jonathan restated the country’s appreciation of France’s unwavering support for Nigeria and its neighbours in the fight against terrorism.

    He particularly commended Hollande for organising the Paris Summit of Heads of State of Nigeria, Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger and Chad in May 2014 to foster greater regional cooperation against terrorism and insurgency.

    The President pledged that beyond the ongoing military campaign in the northeast, Nigeria will continue to implement all agreements reached at the summit to ensure lasting peace and security within its borders and in neighbouring countries.

    He also seized the opportunity of the audience with Mr. Labriolle to reassure the international community of his firm commitment to free, fair and credible polls next month.

    The President wished the outgoing ambassador well in his future endeavours and urged him to always be a “good ambassador of Nigeria.”

    In his remarks, Mr. Labriolle said that France was “confident in the future of Nigeria and its ability to continue playing a huge role in Africa and world affairs.”

     

  • Army promotes soldiers battling Boko Haram

    he Nigerian Army announced yesterday a special promotion for all soldiers involved in liberating Baga in Borno from Boko Haram insurgents.

    The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, announced the promotion while addressing the soldiers during an official visit to Baga in Kukawa Local Government Area.

    Minimah said the promotion was to reward the soldiers for their gallant effort in flushing out the insurgents.

    He added that soldiers who died in the battle with the insurgents would also be promoted posthumously.

    “The entire country is singing praises of Nigerian soldiers for the bravery exhibited in the fight against the insurgents.

    “I urge you to keep the tempo by striving hard to record more successes’’, Minimah said.

    He expressed optimism that insurgency would end in the next couple of weeks.

    “Never again will Nigerians suffer this kind of large scale destruction in the name of insurgency’’, Minimah said.

    He said his visit was aimed at boosting the soldiers’ morale and building more confidence in them.

    “The war is almost ended, we will liberate Dikwa, Bama, Gwoza, Marte and other places in a few days time’’, Minimah said.

    He advised Nigerians to support the military in its quest to end the insurgency.

    “Nigerians should maintain confidence with Nigerian armed forces. They should support our military because there is no other.

    “War is war. War does not often come out in favour of any one. In fact, it is the end that justifies the means.

    “The war, as it stands, has turned out for the good of Nigerian Armed Forces, and God willing, in a matter of time, it will be over.

    “So, I encourage Nigerians to support their military’’, Minimah emphasised.

    He said that the six weeks offered by the Federal Government for the military to clear the insurgents was achievable, going by the recent developments.

    “It is achievable; we are still within the time frame. But six weeks should not be taken that everything must be attained because this is war’’, he added.

  • Chadian soldiers kill 207 Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria

    Chadian soldiers kill 207 Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria

    Chadian soldiers on Tuesday killed 207 Boko Haram militants in fighting near a Nigerian town close to the border with Cameroon, the country’s army announced in a statement.

    One Chadian soldier was killed and another nine were wounded in the clashes near Garambu, the scene of regular attacks by the sect in recent months.

    Reuters says there was no immediate independent verification of the Chadian army’s announcement.

    Chad’s military also claimed to have seized large quantities of small arms and ammunition and two pick-up trucks.

    Niger, Cameroon and Chad have launched a regional military campaign to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to carve an Islamic emirate out of northeastern Nigeria.

    Chad deployed troops last month in support of Cameroonian efforts to stop repeated cross-border raids by insurgents, whose operations increasingly threaten Nigeria’s neighbours.

    The African Union last month authorised the creation of the regional force, which will also include Benin, and is pushing for a United Nations Security Council mandate for the operation.