The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • Insurgency: Nigeria cannot afford another civil war – Chukwumerije

    The Senator representing Abia North Senatorial Zone, Uche Chukwumerije, has condemned the renewed attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast, warning that Nigeria cannot afford another civil war within the short space of time.

    He was reacting to Tuesday’s bomb attack in Maiduguri, Borno State, where about 35 people were reportedly killed.

    The senator, who also called for moderation among the political class as they strive for power in the next year’s general election, said that hurling of abuses on the nation’s leaders all in the attempt at getting power at all cost is capable of derailing the political process.

    The chairman Senate Committee on Education told journalists in Abuja that Tuesday’s attack was one too many and a sign that evil men are working tirelessly to truncate the 2015 general election.

    He said: “In Maiduguri earlier this week, two young girls in their prime, against their wishes were forced to detonate bombs that claimed lives of many Nigerians. Similar attacks have also been witnessed in the recent past, in a renewed attempt to frustrate the general election.

    “But more than ever, Nigerians across the regions are determined to take their destiny into their hands. No amount of intimidation by these agents of darkness can disunite Nigeria again. We fought a 30- month civil war and the imprints are still there. Nigerians are determined never to witness a civil war experience again.”

     

  • Boko Haram: EU increases emergency aid to displaced victims

    The European Commission has come to the aids of internally displaced victims of Boko Haram activities in the Northeast.

    The commission is giving €5 million to step up its humanitarian assistance to the people displaced by the conflict in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.

    According to a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the commission stated that the conditions in informal settlements are particularly dire.

    It said tens of thousands of newly arrived displaced people are in urgent need of basic assistance such as shelter, food, water and health care.

    “Tens of thousands of people in northern Nigeria have been forced to flee, often more than once in recent months. They are exhausted and vulnerable, we must find ways to help and protect them,” said Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management.

    More than 1.6 million people are believed to be internally displaced or have sought refuge in the neighbouring countries of Niger, Cameroon and Chad as a result of the expanding and increasingly violent conflict in north-eastern Nigeria.

    Hundreds of thousands of people have settled in camps and public buildings as well as with host families, in courtyards, construction sites and open fields around major towns like Yola in Adamawa State.

    The total number of displaced people in Adamawa state is estimated at 500, 000 with another 350, 000 people around Maiduguri in Borno State.

     

  • Ohaneze begs Boko Haram to lay down arms

    Ohaneze begs Boko Haram to lay down arms

    Following the killings and occupation of some communities in the Northeast, the Ohaneze Ndigbo, Lagos branch on Tuesday pleaded with the Boko Haram sect to lay down its arms for the progress of Nigeria.

    The sect has killed over 5,000 people since it started its onslaught in 2009 and has occupied some communities in Borno and Adamawa States.

    Speaking in Abuja during a courtesy visit to Chief Edwin Clark in his Asokoro residence, the president of the group, Chief Fabian Onwualu said for the sake of peace “our brothers in the Northeast should lay down their arms for peace to reign in Nigeria.”

    Responding,Clark who commended the group for its support and visit  also called for the unity of the nation, adding that the country belongs to every Nigerian.

    “There is no superior and no inferior region in Nigeria. There is no nation that is superior or inferior to another, and that is why we are Nigerians.

    “We all have equal rights irrespective of the region we belong to. Discrimination of any sort is intolerable and will not be accepted.

    “The Igbos are part of Nigeria, no one has the right to deprive them of their right and heritage. No one can stop them from aspiring to any position they want.

    “Jonathan will win in 2015, the victory of 2011 will repeat itself in 2015,” Clark added.

    The president of the group had earlier called for the inclusion of Igbos in the cabinet of Lagos State adding that Igbos in Lagos constitute 68 percent of the population.

    The group made the plea in Abuja during a solidarity visit to Clark as part of its support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 ambition.

     

  • Panadol for another person’s headache!

    Panadol for another person’s headache!

    Tackling insecurity in Nigeria has become like a relentless migraine headache to both the Federal Government and the security services.  The more we are told that the security forces will soon defeat the Boko Haram insurgents, the more grounds and territory the sect takes with trails of tears and blood.  To put things in the right perspective, it is pertinent to ask ourselves some basic fundamental questions.

    Are we truly winning the war against the Boko Haram insurgents?  It does not seem so.  The security forces from evidence have lost more grounds and equipment to the group in the recent past than any other time and have turned the weapons so seized against the military.  Do we have the capacity to fight the war?  Perhaps yes; but the military has not shown any appetite and commitment as troops are reported to be abandoning and fleeing their locations at the rumoured or real approach of the Boko Haram.  Do we have the political will? No evidence. All we have is the political class playing politics with not just insecurity but every other thing that matters in the life of the masses of people and the nation at large.   Do we have the right leadership?  What we have across board and political divides do not reflect right leadership.

    We have the misfortune of a leadership that is in power and government but not in charge and control of anything.   Leaders that cannot put their ministers and Special Advisers (SAs) in check even when they cross the red line of law and morality.   We have leaders who are incapable of fighting the monster called corruption but rather perceived attacks on official corruption as a personal attack on them and their offices by the opposition.   Indeed, under the present dispensation, corruption has become a lifestyle just as the anti graft agencies have become comatose and dazed.  The fugitives who were cleared of corruption charges by the judiciary in Nigeria perhaps on the evidence available to them have been convicted in Europe on the same allegations with copious evidence.   The police till date and indeed the authorities concerned are still not able to prosecute the bribe taking members of the National Assembly in the Femi Otedola petroleum subsidy scandal.  What we see is unnecessary inter-agencies rivalry and competition for attention on the tube and print media giving mere impressions of performance to justify their budgetary allocation.   This is why till date, the alleged mastermind of the Nyanya bomb blast has not be arraigned,  no thanks to the  conflict between the Directorate of State Security and the Police on who should undertake the prosecution.

    Is the situation hopeless?   Methinks with the right mentality and patriotic fervour, we could change the tide and create new consciousness and new value system that will make us begin to appreciate democratic ethos and respect for law and order as well as the rule of law.    For now, we are mired in a state of anomie and sinking   deeper in despondency as security of life and property are slipping out of the hands of the state while the Boko Haram insurgents inch closer to a statehood.     Rather than confront the problem and fight the cause with patriotic zeal to regain our national pride and territorial integrity, we are blaming our so-called ‘international partners.”    Why would the United States or Britain for that matter take Panadol for our own headache?

    It does not make any common sense that our leaders could find it convenient to tell the whole world that we are losing the fight against the Boko Haram terrorists because America refuses to sell arms to us or provide intelligence to our security forces in our soil and territory.  Our grouse against the so-called international partners for not coming to our aid in the fight against insurgency is a misguided display of infantile reasoning akin to a lazy workman blaming his tool for his failure.   What kind of people are we that we appear so sedated and dazed as not to know how to use our head and common sense in the face of challenges?   It is not now that we should be talking about equipping our military?   What has happened to the huge budgetary allocations to the Defence Ministry over the years?

    Look at the show of shame in the premises of the National Assembly where the Nigerian Police and other security agents refused the Speaker entry into the National Assembly Complex.  It is a despicable act of unparallel dimension and a gross violation of the sanctity of any known democratic norm.   It has become obvious from the theatre of absurd that we have watched in the past five or so years that our political leaders of today under whatever guise or disguise and under whatever political apparition and platform have chosen to revel on the grave and misfortune of the Nigerian people.  We should not be looking for enemies from outside, these crop of politicians are working towards breaking up the country from their actions and inactions, from what they have done and what they have failed to do.

    In less than 24 hours after the Nyanya bomb blast, we saw our leaders and  politicians celebrating at a political rally in Kano.  In less than 24 hours after the killing of over 45 students in Potiskum, our politicians in their blind quest for power gathered at the Eagle Square Abuja in a political carnival subjecting residents of Abuja and environs to a most harrowing and gruesome torture flocking virtually every road that leads to the FCT.

    Just as we are worrying about the unrelenting insecurity in the North-east and the expiration of the state of emergency and what next to do, our politicians are at it again scheming to impeach the Speaker of the House of Representatives who has defected to the opposition party.   Look at the imbecility displayed by the Nigerian Police and some other security agencies.  Which court orders were they enforcing?  What has happened to those who had defected to other parties in the past; what kind of puerile selective justice are we applying in this country?   In all this, we want America and Britain to come and carry our cross.   Every public analyst and even our revered clerics that you would ascribe some modicum of knowledge of morality have sunk into that infantile logic that we are not able to defeat insurgency because America has refused to give us weapons and supply us with intelligence.  It is a shame indeed that this could be the defence of our government even through diplomatic channel of our envoy to America.

    It is a truism that the Nigerian military has been battle tested at home and abroad in International Peacekeeping engagements to the admiration and pride of every Nigerian and our international partners.  However, the story coming from the theatre of operation in containing the insurgency about local hunters reclaiming towns and cities abandoned by fleeing soldiers should be a source of worry to any Nigerian that has the interest of the nation at heart.  How did we get to this level of total and complete loss of sense of commitment to our land?  The fractious nature of our army today and reversal of fortune in gallantry is due mainly to meddlesomeness by the political class who prefer to promote ethno-religious sentiments to serve their interest.  In addition, there appears to be a paucity of critical leadership at the top echelon of Military High Command who care little about quality of personnel.

    If at all we have a sensible leadership, it should occur to us that America is not the only known market for arms and weaponry.  Syria today, does not rely on the weapons from America and Britain and the country has held out against formidable foes.   Sudan has held out against rebel groups in Darfur and the Republic of South Sudan not with the weapons from America and Britain.  Lately, Egypt has decided to look elsewhere for weapons and armament when threatened by America and Britain on charges of human rights abuses.  We should stop chasing shadows and face our problems as a nation; nobody takes panadol for someone else’s headache; Americans have their own problem.

     

    • Kebonkwu Esq writes from Abuja

     

  • ‘I escaped when our Boko Haram guards were sleeping’

    ‘I escaped when our Boko Haram guards were sleeping’

    Their escape must be a combination of factors. One was the fear of what might happen if they stayed  with the terrorists; the other, the courage to flee.  Two Adamawa State women captured by Boko Haram insurgents narrate how, against all odds, they evaded their captors, GRACE OBIKE reports

    In Kwabaru camp, Karu, Nasarawa State, where people displaced by insurgency are sheltering, you will find Mrs Mariamu Yakubu and Mrs Mariamu Musa. There is much more to them than their common names. Married with children, they stood face to face with young, bloodthirsty fighters of the Boko Haram sect. One ended up with other women in a dark, dreadful cave surrounded by thorns, outside of which none of them were permitted to go, not even to answer the call of nature. The other, alongside her 10 children, was made to lie face down and asked to produce the key of another person’s car. They escaped but their ordeal will probably live in their minds forever.

    Kwaburu camp has about nine makeshift rooms in which hundreds of displaced persons are quartered. Most of them are women and children but there are also a few men who escaped from the invading insurgents. Due to space constraints, the women and children sleep in the rooms while the men and boys from age 13 and above sleep outside on straw mats in the sand in the open air near the toilet.

    Thirty-five-year-old Mariamu Yakubu, now safe with her 10 children in the dreary conditions of the camp, relived her ordeal, her last child strapped to her back.

    She said that although she had always heard of the insurgents kidnapping young and unmarried girls, she never thought she would ever be a victim. One reason for this was because she was already married and had children. But she was wrong as she indeed became a victim.

    She said she came face to face with the insurgents on her way from the farm when two boys, who had already kidnapped two other women, confronted her, pointing a gun to her head and ordering her to follow them. Mariamu mustered the courage to ask where she was being taken, pledging that she be allowed first to return home and prepare dinner for her children.

    Their reply shocked her. They told her they were going to provide her with a more spiritual husband who will give her better children than those she had.

    “They told me that they will provide me with a more spiritual husband and that I will be able to have better children,” she said. “So, they tied up my hands and dragged me along with the other women and took us to a cave surrounded by a thick bush with thorns. They made us sit in the cave and warned us against trying to escape.

    “When we complained of hunger, they brought us corn and asked us to cook it and eat, but we refused. As if to prove to us that they meant business, they refused to allow us outside even to urinate. We had to urinate, defeacate and sleep in the same place for three days.

    “On the third day, I waited until it was dark and everyone, including the boys keeping vigil outside with their guns were fast asleep before sneaking out of the cave and ran into the bush. I ran inside the bush till I got home. I had injuries all over my body by the time I got home because of the thorns in the thick bush”.

    Her story is slightly different from that of her namesake, Mariamu Musa who had to flee her home with her children and grandchild in the wake of the attack on Gwoza by the insurgents. She was unaware of the whereabouts of her husband and could not abandon her children to their fate. Her biggest shock, however, was when she discovered that the same Okada rider who normally took them to and from the market was the same person who led the insurgents to her residence. Narrating her ordeal, Mariamu Musa said before the attack on the community, she had given up hope of living and was ready to die. According to her, she felt she was too old and lacked the strength to run away from the only home she knew after her husband who was an old solider had since run away when the terror increased, leaving her alone with the children.

    But after she and her family were subjected to a horrible ordeal by the young Boko Haram boys who were well known to them, she knew it was time for her to seek refuge in a much safer place. The boys had made them lie with their faces to the ground demanding the keys to the car parked outside the house. But when they could not provide the key since the owner had escaped with it, they became very angry and started shooting sporadically into the air. Having survived that ordeal, she took her children and left Gwoza to an unknown destination, walking several days and sleeping in caves and bushes, not knowing exactly where she was heading. Mariamu was lucky that the battery of her daughter’s cell phone did not run out and with it, they were able to contact a relative who directed them to the Kwubaru camp where she eventually found her husband. Before rejoining him at the Kwabaru camp, they had spent a few days at a similar camp in Adamawa State.

    She said, “The atrocities that I witnessed in Gwoza are more than I can tell you. They invaded our village in August, shooting sporadically and everybody ran away scared. They killed our children, especially the boys. When they see a boy of about ten, they will just kill or kidnap him. We the women ran into the forest and hid behind the rocks in order to avoid them. But they will still come after us shooting. We lived in the mountains for three days; then they sent a message to us that they are not killing women and that we should return home. But when we returned home, they started going from house to house attacking women. In my compound, we were 23, with two of us being older women and some young girls who had small children. One day, two young Boko Haram boys entered our house and asked us to give them the key to the car parked outside. We told them that the owner was not around and that he went out with his keys. They threatened to shoot us if we didn’t give them the keys. So, I knelt down and started crying, begging them not to kill us. But they shot inside the room several times to scare us. They asked one of the young girls to carry her baby on her back and follow them but we all cried and pleaded with them before they went outside and scattered the car before leaving”.

    She said further: “One of the boys that attacked us was a boy that I knew very well. He was the small okada boy that was always carrying me to and from the market almost every day before they began to attack us. I cried and said God so it is our own children inside this same Gwoza that are killing us like this? They asked us if we were Christians or Muslims and when we told them that we were Christians, they told us that they were going to kill us because we were the ones that they were looking for. I began to cry and beg them not to harm us. We were afraid of what will happen next and so, we stayed inside that room for ten days without going outside, without any food or water. The children were crying because they were hungry. One the 11th day, we escaped from the house and ran into the bush and walked for three days on foot inside the bush from Gwoza to Mazaghalli and then continued till we arrived Michika. After we left, they broke into our houses, stealing our properties. Eventually, it was someone who knew this place that brought us here because my daughter went to school and has a handset. so she was able to use it to call people that helped us. If not for the help, of people, we would have starved, they are always contributing to us, this one will bring seasoning, and this one will bring corn, this one yam to feed us here, that is how we have been surviving so far.”

    Interestingly, inside the IDP camp where these two women live with hundreds of others lives little Reuben, grand son of Mariamu Musa. During this encounter, lit was obvious that the one and half year old child was unaware of where he was or what was happening around him. Even though he, along his relations lost their homes to the insurgents, he appears happy laying with his rubber band. It is also evident that several of the kids in the camp have developed serious distrust for visitors having gone through so much in their life time than most adults outside their region will ever experience and have escaped death on several occasions with the parents and family they trust.

  • Sultan asks Fed Govt to wake up as Boko Haram kills 48 traders

    Sultan asks Fed Govt to wake up as Boko Haram kills 48 traders

    JNI blames seizure of territories on troubled military

    The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has blamed the military for allowing Boko Haram to seize Nigerian territories.

    He called on the Federal Government to stop the killings in the Northeast.

    The Sultan, a retired Brig. Gen. was addressing a press conference in Kaduna yesterday on behalf of JNI. He said the repeated attacks, particularly the taking over of towns and villages by the insurgents, portended danger to Nigeria.

    Represented by the Secretary General of JNI, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, the Nigerian Muslims leader said: “Nigeria’s sovereignty has been threatened as a so-called ‘Islamic Caliphate’ has been carved out of her by the insurgents. An unfortunate, worrisome and embarrassing dimension has recently been added to the scenarios – that of the way soldiers take to their heels and abandon their bases, arms, ammunition and other military hardware on the approach of the insurgents.

    “It is also sad and an unfortunate fact that Nigerian security forces only surface after the deadly attacks and terrorise an already terrorised people by installing road blocks and searching homes and business premises.

    “JNI condemns these heinous attacks in the strongest terms and, once again, calls on the Federal Government, with the loudest voice, to wake up to its fundamental and obligatory responsibility of protecting lives and property of Nigerians; especially in the Northeast where the insurgency is most endemic. The government should act fast and stop wallowing in diatribe, as human lives are sacred and must be seen to be treated as so.

    “Of particular concern are the brutal murder of young children in their school premises in Potiskum on 11th November and the murder of a prominent Muslim scholar and his associates in Nafada Town on Tuesday 4th November.

    “It is indeed alarming that in a matter of only two weeks, eight deadly attacks were unleashed on seven towns in four states of the Federation as follows:- Mubi town on 30th October, Gombe Motor Park on 31st October, Potiskum town on 3rd November (Ashura day), Nafada town on 4th November, Ashaka Explosives Depot on 5th November, Maiha town on 10th November, Potiskum School on 11th November and Kontagora Federal College of Education on 12th November, 2014.

    “Unfortunately, on Saturday, 15th November, 2014, a devastating attack was reported in Hotoro, Kano State, came another report same Saturday, 15th November, 2014, that the ethnic chauvinist group, Ombatse, attacked the palace of the Emir of Lafia, the JNI Vice President-General (VPG) Nasarawa State, leading to the deaths of many. Again on Sunday, 16th November, 2014, came another report of attacks in Azare, Bauchi State. As if these weren’t enough, Mafa Local Government of Borno State was ransacked on Thursday, 20th November, 2014, for several hours unabated.

    “Thousands of innocent citizens have lost their lives. Thousands have been abducted, the males forced into insurgency and the females into slavery. Thousands more are wallowing in Internally Displaced Persons camps in Nigeria and in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. Trillions of naira worth of infrastructure and public and private properties have been destroyed.

    “In the light of all these distasteful developments, JNI is forced to ask the following questions:- Where withered the Nigerian Army of the 1967-69 civil war? Where are the heroes of international peace keeping? When will the government bring an end to this scourge? Does the government really have the capability, capacity, commitment and sincerity to bring an end to this insurgency and the multifarious security challenges facing the nation?

    “As has been done painfully in previous cases, JNI President-General and the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, on behalf of Nigerian Muslims, condemns these unabated acts of terror being unleashed on innocent citizens and calls for concerted introspection and sincere commitment by Government to take proactive and effective measures in addressing this pernicious problem.

    “The government should, as a matter of urgency, ensure that the security Forces get all that they need for effective operations and that they serve diligently as soldiers should. In addition, all culprits must be apprehended and brought to justice, thus giving effect to the laws of the land and deterring others”.

    Speaking on the travails of the displaced people, the Sultan said: “As an ameliorating measure, the funds collected following the launching of the Victims’ Support Fund should be supplemented with government grants and judiciously utilised with dispatch in order to ensure that all necessary support reaches the affected victims and that destroyed infrastructure are rehabilitated.

    “Government should also step up the dialogue process with a view to ending the insurgency and de-radicalising the insurgents.”

  • Boko Haram kills 48 fish vendors in Borno

    Boko Haram kills 48 fish vendors in Borno

    No fewer than 48 fish vendors have been killed by Boko Haram gunmen near Nigeria’s border with Chad in Borno State, it was learnt yesterday.

    News of the killings came as the Sultan of Sokoto criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the insurgency in the Northeast.

    He wondered why soldiers were dropping their guns and made some suggestions to resolve the violence, which has claimed thousands of lives.

    The head of the fish traders association told French News Agency (AFP) yesterday:

    “Scores of Boko Haram fighters blocked a route linking Nigeria with Chad near the fishing village of Doron Baga on the shores of Lake Chadon Thursday and killed a group of 48 fish traders on their way to Chad to buy fish,” Abubakar Gamandi said.

    He said the insurgents set up a barricade at Dogon Fili, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Doron Baga, and stopped a convoy of fish vendors around midday, slaughtering some of them and drowning others in the lake.

    “The Boko Haram gunmen slit the throats of some of the men and tied the hands and legs of the others before throwing them into the lake to drown,” Gamandi told AFP by telephone from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    Doron Baga, 180 kilometres from Maiduguri, is the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger fighting the Islamist group.

    The MNJTF was formed in 1998 to fight trans-border crime but its mandate was expanded to tame the Boko Haram insurgency in the volatile region.

    Gamandi claimed the assailants killed all of their victims without using their guns.

    “The attackers killed their victims silently without the use of the gun to avoid attracting attention from the multi-national troops,” Gamandi said.

    A military officer in Maiduguri confirmed the attack but said details were sketchy.

    “We heard of the attack near Doron Baga but we don’t have any details because the area falls under the operational jurisdiction of the MNJTF,” the military officer said.

    According to another version of the report by the Associated Press (AP), Fisherman Usman Abubakar said the suspected Islamic militants drove into the town of Doron Baga and shot people on sight. He said he counted 60 bodies.

    Security officials have not yet responded to questions about the attack. Gideon Jubrin, spokesman for the Borno state police, said he had not received any official confirmation of the attack.

    News of the attack was slow to emerge due to the destruction of mobile phone towers in the area by Boko Haram in previous attacks.

    Incessant Boko Haram attacks have disrupted fishing and farming along the shore of Lake Chad and fishermen from Doron Baga were forced to abandon fishing and turned to importing dried fish from neighbouring Chad.

    Gamandi said the Dogon Fili route provided the safest passage for traders from Doron Baga to Chad as other routes are infested with Boko Haram gunmen who rob and kill travellers.

    Last December at least seven fishermen were killed when Boko Haram Islamists attacked Doron Baga in a nocturnal raid that left many homes burnt.

    In August, the Islamists raided Dogon Baga and kidnapped 97 people after killing 28 villagers.

    The hostages, including women and children, were loaded on speed boats and ferried across the Lake into Chad.

    Chadian troops rescued 85 of the hostages when they intercepted a convoy of buses transporting them from the shores.

    The Boko Haram violence has claimed thousands of lives since 2009 with the aim of creating a hardline Islamic state in the northern part of the country.

  • Pentecostal Bishops: Boko Haram an enemy

    The United Interna-tional Association of Pentecostal Bishops (UIAPB) has described the activities of radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram as a declaration of war on the sovereignty of Nigeria.

    In a communiqué at the end of its quarterly meeting in Lagos, the group said Boko Haram, attacks on defenceless civilians, especially Christians, has reached an uncomfortable level and should not be treated with kids’ gloves.

    The bishops also called on the federal government to devise a consolidated strategy to dislodge the terrorists once and for all before next general elections.

    According to them: “The conference views with seriousness and great concern the unabating level of insecurity in the country and called on the Armed Forces to do all within its power to arrest the situation.”

    The body praised the federal and state government as well as health workers for containment of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    ”It is one area that has shown that it can be done well when there is willingness and cooperation. We believe that Ebola was eradicated with that level of commitment because of the fear that it does not know class. If corruption was Ebola, we are sure it would have been eradicated by now.”

  • FG working hard to end Boko Haram onslaught – Jonathan

    FG working hard to end Boko Haram onslaught – Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said the Federal Government, the Nigerian Armed Forces and security agencies are working very hard to stop Boko Haram from capturing and holding any Nigerian territory.

    He made the remark while speaking at the opening of the meeting of Nigeria’s Honorary International Investment Council (HIIC) in London.

    The President, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, maintained that the Armed Forces and security agencies were making steady gains in recovering areas recently taken by Boko Haram.

    He said: “We are improving on security. For about a week now there have been no reports of Boko Haram seizing more territory. Rather, we are steadily pushing them back. The impression being created by sections of the media that the situation is worsening is not true. I can assure you that it will never get worse.”

    The President also called for greater support from the National Assembly for the Federal Government’s efforts to curb terrorism, insurgency and insecurity in the country.

    He informed members of the council headed by Baroness Lynda Chalker that he had offered himself as a candidate in Nigeria’s next presidential elections because he was convinced that with four more years in office, he will be able to further consolidate the positive national reforms initiated by his administration and take them to a point of irreversibility for the good of all Nigerians.

    “As you already know, I have indicated my willingness to carry on for another four years if I am given the opportunity so that we can carry forward some of the reforms we have been talking about,” the President said.

    He cited the expansion of transportation infrastructure, improvement of local content in Nigeria’s oil industry, more inclusive economic growth, job creation and national security which are on the agenda of the meeting as some of the areas in which his administration still hoped to achieve further improvements.

    He said: “We cannot move the economy forward without good infrastructure. We have been working very hard in that area. We have improved our road network significantly. In the next three to four years, we should be able to resurface almost all federal roads in the country and begin new ones.

    “We are improving our airport terminals and aviation security. Reforms are also ongoing at our ports to drastically reduce the time required for import clearance formalities.

    “In the rail sector, we may require private sector funds to quicken the pace of development. Our goal is to link all state capitals by rail. It may not be an objective that can be achieved by a single administration, but we want to lay a solid foundation that others can build on.

    “We are also promoting the increase of local content in our oil industry, because that is the only way in which our people will benefit more from the industry and begin to see themselves as true stakeholders who need to protect and help in the development of our oil and gas resources.”

    He thanked Baroness Chalker and other members of the council for their valuable advice to the Federal Government over the years.

  • Boko Haram kills 45 villagers in Borno

    At least 45 villagers were feared killed in Wednesday’s attack on Azaya Kura village, Mafa local government area of Borno State, by suspected Boko Haram members.

    Mafa is a border community with Cameroon, and 40 kilometres west of Maiduguri, the state capital.

    An eyewitness who escaped to Maiduguri told The Nation that the suspected Boko Haram insurgents rode in convoy of unspecified number Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles into the village and started shooting on sight and burning houses as the villagers took to their heels.

    An official of the local government said the insurgents also destroyed several houses and shops in the village and went away with large quantity of foodstuff and livestock from the area.

    “Most us of had to flee our homes nearly two months ago, after the Boko Haram established their authority in the area. And on Wednesday, the same militants came again to kill 45 villagers that refused to flee to Maiduguri,” said the fleeing local government official who does not want his name mentioned.

    He continued: “Since then, attacks on surrounding villages and hamlets have continued unabated but only a few of such cases were heard of.”

    Ibrahim Jibrillu, a farmer also disclosed that the insurgents attacked Azaya Kura village at noon on Wednesday, “killing very productive men” in the area.

    “So far, 45 men have been killed and there are others that died in the bushes as a result of bleeding from bullet wounds,” he added.

    An official of the Nigeria Vigilante Group, Muhammed Gava , confirmed the attack to journalists in Maiduguri.