The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • Boko Haram attacks Gombe

    Boko Haram fighters have attacked the north-east Nigerian city of Gombe, residents said.

    Fighters overran a checkpoint on the edge of the city and explosions and gunfire could be heard, witnesses added.

    The BBC says Nigerian troops backed by a fighter jet were trying to drive the militants back.

    Nigeria has postponed elections due to be held on Saturday amid concerns over the insurgency in the north-east, the BBC reports.

    Gombe – capital of Gombe State – has previously suffered suicide attacks but the BBC says this is the first time Boko Haram has launched a direct assault on the city.

    Reports said militants first attacked the town of Dadin Kowa, about 40km (25 miles) from Gombe.

    Ground troops with air support then battled to keep the insurgents from entering the city.

     

  • UN expects Nigeria to do more in Boko Haram fight

    The United Nations expects the Nigerian military to do more to combat Boko Haram and urged Nigeria and its neighbors – Chad, Niger and Cameroon to allow hot pursuit of the militants across borders as this was key to a regional offensive.

    Boko Haram is the main security threat facing Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer, and increasingly threatens neighboring states.

    Nigeria has postponed a February 14 presidential election until March 28 due to security concerns, Reuters says.

    Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin agreed on Saturday to create an 8,700-strong force to tackle Boko Haram. Once they have agreed how the force will operate, the African Union plans to seek United Nations Security Council support.

    Mohamed Ibn Chambas, UN Special Representative for West Africa, said on Friday that Nigeria needed “to demonstrate greater resolve than it has previously done in this fight against a serious enemy, Boko Haram.”

    “We all expect more from the Nigerian military,” Reuters quoted Chambas as saying to reporters in New York via a video link from Abuja.

    “They have been contributing to peacekeeping around the world for years and demonstrated robustness, now we want to see that same robustness in the fight against Boko Haram.”

    He suggested that the presidential elections “might be a little bit of a distraction at this point.”

  • Boko Haram: FG raises panel to probe alleged sale of IDPs’ children

    Boko Haram: FG raises panel to probe alleged sale of IDPs’ children

    The Federal Government yesterday said it had raised a panel to probe the alleged trafficking and outright sale of some children of the Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.

    The government said it was disturbed that hundreds of children were being trafficked to some countries as a result of Boko Haram insurgency.

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), who issued a statement in Abuja, said the government was determined to prevent acts that will further traumatise its citizens.

    The statement said: “Government’s attention has been drawn to an article published by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), alleging that hundreds of Nigerian children are being trafficked from some of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps set up to cater for people displaced as a result of the insurgency in the Northeast Geo-Political Zone.

    “The Federal Government views these allegations with serious concern as it places a high premium on the welfare and well-being of her citizens.

    “Consequently, an Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising of relevant agencies and security personnel has been set up to, among other things, investigate the matter with a view to holding accountable all those found culpable in these nefarious acts and recommend appropriate measures to forestall future occurrence.

    “Government has also taken steps to strengthen security around all registered IDP Camps. As an interim measure, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) has been directed to conduct enlightenment campaigns for caregivers in the camps.

    “Government is determined to prevent acts that will further traumatise its citizens who have found themselves in these camps due to circumstances beyond their control.

    “May I restate unequivocally, government’s commitment to the task of providing protection and assistance to victims of armed conflicts and internal strife and its resolve to provide adequate security of lives and property of her citizenry?”

  • Five killed in first Boko Haram attack on Chad

    Five killed in first Boko Haram attack on Chad

    Boko Haram terrorists yesterday carried out their first attack inside Chad, killing five people.

    The early morning strike on Ngouboua village and military camp on the shores of Lake Chad left four civilians and one soldier dead.

    Much of the village was torched before the jihadists were pushed back, a security source said.

    The attackers struck after crossing the lake from Baga, Nigeria to Ngouboua in large canoes.

    Two-thirds of Ngouboua, where around 7,000 Nigerian refugees have sought refuge from the jihadists attacks, was torched in the onslaught.

    Chadian military aircraft carried out airstrikes against the militants, destroying their vessels, the security source added.

    Similar cross-border raids and suicide bombings in the Republic of Niger town of Diffa this week by Boko Haram have forced thousands of Nigeriens to flee their homes.

    Attacks in Niger are deepening a humanitarian crisis in the remote border zone which is struggling to feed some 150,000 people who have run to escape the violence.

    About 7,000 arrived this week in Zinder, Niger’s second biggest town some 450 km west of Diffa.

    Niger’s military said its forces had killed 260 Boko Haram militants and had arrested others in fighting since February 6. A suspected local leader of the group was arrested and several weapons including rocket launchers seized from his home.

    The International Rescue Committee, which supplied the population estimates, has teams working around Diffa and Zinder. Matias Meier, country director, said some families in Zinder, one of the poorest regions in Niger, were having to host 20 people, while other displaced were sleeping in the stadium.

    “Everyone wants to get as far from Boko Haram as possible,” the politician said, asking not to be named.

    The IRC’s Meier said: “Those who went on the trucks are the lucky ones. Bus tickets are sold out until the end of next week. Many are just walking or going by bicycle.”

    A tout at Diffa’s bus station said hundreds of mini-busses, coaches and trucks had ferried people out of the town. The cost of a seat in any vehicle travelling to Zinder had nearly tripled to 15,000 CFA francs ($26), he said.

    Niger’s army, backed by Chadian forces deployed to the country, has fought several battles sparked by raids in the Diffa region by militants this week.

    “We have taken the steps necessary to guarantee the peace and security of the population. We call on people not to panic,” said Colonel Moustapha Michel Ledru, spokesman for Niger’s armed forces.

    A state of emergency has been declared in Diffa region.

  • Boko Haram attacks Chadian village overnight

    Boko Haram fighters attacked a Chadian village overnight, killing several people in the first known lethal attack by the Nigerian militant group in the country, residents and a security source said on Friday.

    “They came on board three canoes and succeeded in killing about ten people before being pushed back by the army,” a resident of the village of Ngouboua on the shores of Lake Chad, told Reuters.

    The security source said that about 30 militants attacked the village in the early hours of the morning, setting houses ablaze.

    Boko Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have staged a number of cross-border attacks in recent weeks in their campaign to carve out an Islamist emirate around the Lake Chad area which borders Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

    Chad’s army, one of the best in the region, has joined a regional offensive against them and said it has killed hundreds of fighters in the past fortnight.

  • Suspected local head of Boko Haram arrested in Niger

    … Thousands flee after attacks

    A suspected local leader of Boko Haram sect was arrested and several weapons including rocket launchers seized from his home in the town of Diffa in southern Niger on Thursday, security sources said.

    The town on the Nigerian border has come under attack from the militants this past week, since Chad deployed hundreds of troops to the area as part of a regional effort to tackle Boko Haram, Reuters says.

    The man was identified as Kaka Bonou, a trader known to authorities for suspected involvement in trafficking of stolen goods, the security source said.

    “Different weapons of all calibre including rocket launchers, were found in his house,” one of the Niger military sources told Reuters, requesting to remain anonymous.

    Meanwhile, thousands of civilians fled their homes in Diffa this week, officials said, following waves of cross-border raids and suicide bombings by Boko Haram.

    Niger’s military said its forces had killed 260 Boko Haram militants and had arrested others in fighting since February 6.

    The International Rescue Committee, which supplied the population estimates, has teams working around Diffa and Zinder.

    Matias Meier, country director, said some families in Zinder, one of the poorest regions in Niger, were hosting 20 people, while other displaced were sleeping in the stadium.

    A local politician said the flow of people out of Diffa continued on Thursday even though the town was calm.

    “Everyone wants to get as far from Boko Haram as possible,” the politician said, asking not to be named.

    The IRC’s Meier said: “Those who went on the trucks are the lucky ones. Bus tickets are sold out until the end of next week. Many are just walking or going by bicycle.”

  • Suspected Boko Haram leader held

    A suspected local leader of Boko Haram was arrested and several weapons including rocket launchers seized from his home in the town of Diffa in southern Niger Republic yesterday, security sources said.

    The town on the Nigerian border has come under attack from the militants this past week, since Chad deployed hundreds of troops in the area as part of a regional effort to tackle Boko Haram.

    The man was identified as Kaka Bonou, a trader known to authorities for suspected involvement in trafficking stolen goods, the security source said.

    “Different type of weapons of all calibre including rocket launchers, were found in his house,” one of the Niger military sources told Reuters, requesting to remain anonymous.

  • ‘Niger forces killed 260 Boko Haram fighters since February 6’

    Security forces in Niger have killed 260 Boko Haram militants since the group began cross-border attacks on Niger’s southeastern Diffa region on February 6, a spokesman for the armed forces said on Thursday.

    Col. Moustapha Michel Ledru told Reuters that a number of fighters had been arrested and some weapons seized, without giving details.

    Boko Haram has launched a series of attacks but Ledru said the situation was under control.

    “We have taken the steps necessary to guarantee the peace and security of the population. We call on people not to panic,” he told Reuters.

  • Suicide bombers hit Niger town

    … Chadians kill 13 Boko Haram insurgents

    Two female suicide bombers attacked the Niger frontier town of Diffa on Wednesday, security sources said, shortly after Chadian army said it had killed 13 fighters from the Boko Haram sect in the Nigerian town of Gambaru.

    The violence on Nigeria’s borders with Niger and Cameroon occurred as regional armies are mobilising to foil Boko Haram’s bid to carve out an emirate around Lake Chad, which borders Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

    Boko Haram’s five-year-old insurgency has killed thousands in northern Nigeria but regional armies said they have killed hundreds of militants in battles along the borders since deploying troops to contain the threat.

    “There were two suicide attacks carried out on Wednesday by women,” said a police source, referring to the Diffa attack. “The two women died and I think they were the only victims.”
    Reuters was not able to verify whether there were any other casualties.

    Earlier in the day, clashes erupted in the Nigerian town of Gambaru, on the eastern border with Cameroon, where Chad has deployed hundreds of soldiers to help Cameroon ward off attacks from Boko Haram.

    Chad’s army said 11 Chadian soldiers were wounded, three out of 14 Boko Haram vehicles were destroyed, and one was seized.

    “We knew they were going to attack us. We were waiting. The battle didn’t last long. They fled,” a military source said.

     

  • Boko Haram attacks Chadian troops in Nigerian town

    Boko Haram fighters attacked Chadian army positions in Gambaru, a town in northeastern Nigeria, on Wednesday, and were beaten back, Chadian military sources said.

    “We knew they were going to attack us. We were waiting. The battle didn’t last long. They fled,” one military source told Reuters, noting that eight Chadian soldiers were wounded, three of 14 Boko Haram vehicles were destroyed and one was seized.

    Chadian troops are in Gambaru as part of a regional offensive against Boko Haram, whose militants have staged several cross-border attacks over the past week as part of its campaign to establish a caliphate in northern part of Nigeria.