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Tag: boko haram

  • Boko Haram seizes Adamawa Acting Governor’s hometown

    Boko Haram seizes Adamawa Acting Governor’s hometown

    •Gulak, too, falls
    •Seven residents killed

    Boko Haram insurgents early yesterday reportedly seized Kirchinga, hometown of Adamawa State Acting Governor Umaru Fintiri, hours before he took part in the PDP governorship primaries.

    The primaries were on at press time.

    Kirchinga is in Madagali local Government area of the state whose headquarters, Gulak was also seized.

    Gulak is the hometown of another governorship aspirant, Mallam Ahmad Gulak and immediate past Special Adviser on Political Affairs to the President.

    Seven lives were reportedly lost in the attacks.

    The fate of Kirchinga could not be confirmed yesterday but the Secretary to the Adamawa State government, Prof. Liman Tukur, confirmed that Gulak, headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area was in the hands of the insurgents.

    Other towns in the local government area allegedly overrun by Boko Haram are Duhu and Shuwa.

    Sources said they were also closing in on Michika Local Government area from where another governorship aspirant, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa hails.

    The SSG in his statement said the insurgents killed and displaced many people in Gulak during their attack.

    He said: “It has come to the attention of the Adamawa State Government that insurgents are now in Gulak, the headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area and have killed and displaced scores of people.

    “On behalf of the people and government of Adamawa,His Excellency deeply sympathises with the people of Gulak and other surrounding villages and towns whose areas have been overrun by insurgents.

    “The concomitant effects of the insurgency like displacement of whole villages and towns create multitudes of internally displaced persons whose management and welfare, the government is left to bear.

    He said Government would do as much as possible to assist the displaced persons.

    The State Emergency Management Agency  has been  directed to hasten assistance to the displaced persons.

    Sources in the seized towns said the insurgents   are “in control everywhere,” attacking security posts and buildings.

    It was gathered that the insurgents told the people not to panic or run as they had nothing against the ordinary people.

    “They assured us that they will not attack us. But that was not enough to stop people from fleeing,” one source said.

    “The fear is that they might turn on us after the exit of soldiers and other security personnel.”

    An eyewitness to the attack, Sabo Lukas, who escaped to the Adamawa state capital Yola, told Reuters the militants had gone from house to house in Gulak shooting, and he had seen bodies of victims. He could not give an estimate for those killed.

    “As am talking to you, they are still there killing people,” Lukas said.

    Tanko Wazumtu, an aide to Adamawa state Acting Governor said his own father was among those killed.

    Gulak is about 50 km southwest of Gwoza, a border town in neighbouring Borno state seized by Boko Haram last month and where the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, proclaimed a “Muslim territory” in the northeast. Another town, Madagali, between Gwoza and Gulak, was attacked previously.

     

    A native of the local government area, Dr Umar Duhu said the insurgents came  in many Toyota Hilux vans around 5:30pm and armed  with sophisticated weapons.

    They began their operation by engaging security personnel at military checkpoints.

    “As we speak, the insurgents are holding sway in the towns after hoisting their flags on the roads.

    Palpable fear has enveloped   Michika town with residents fleeing to Mubi and Yola.

    A resident of Michika, Mr. Emmanuel Yame Kwache, said by phone that people are afraid for their lives.

    Mr. Kwache said: “We don’t know where to run to but we are praying to God to help us because the whole of Michika is now lonely and business activities have been affected drastically as most of the people have relocated to the mountains to hide.”

     

  • How Boko Haram runs seized towns

    •Bleak life behind the ‘iron wall’
    •Residents forced to listen to sermons
    •Education, health facilities scrapped

    Scarce food, cheap death, denial of education and medical attention, total absence of government. This is the lot of hundreds of thousands of Nigerians now trapped in towns, villages and hamlets across the nine local government areas being controlled by Boko Haram in Borno State.

    Residents fleeing the ‘iron walls’ in   Gwoza, Damboa, Askira/Uba, Marte, Chibok, Konduga, Dikwa and Bama say the terrorists are forcing  their helpless captives to listen to their preaching, which includes rants against corruption in the government and orders to keep their children away from Western education.

    Boko Haram means ‘Western education is sinful’.

    Besides, residents have no access to medical attention as Western medicine is also unacceptable to Boko Haram.

    Many health workers on polio vaccination campaigns have been killed by them.

    “In Bara now there is no single police, soldier, civil defence, state security service personnel,” said truck driver Musa Abdullahi, 60.

    “They have all run away for fear of being killed, even the civil servants are not spared from attack, if you are a government worker they kill you.” He fled with his wife and seven children to Ngaldi town.

    The terrorists are also asking people to join their fight.

    More than 26,000 people have fled Bama, a city of 200,000, joining some 1.5 million Nigerians forced from their homes by the fighting since a state of emergency was declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in May 2013, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

    Boko Haram has in recent weeks seized more towns and now controls about one third of Borno State.

    It has ‘created’ a caliphate in Gwoza, mimicking Iraq’s Islamic State group.

    Governor Kashim Shettima  took to the air on Friday  in a fresh bid to reassure citizens panicked about the  spreading insurgency in the state.

    In the broadcast he spoke of tens of thousands of farmers who have been driven from their land, many children, including new orphans, out of school and the need for additional medical services.

    Government, he said, has bought thousands of bags of food for free distribution, is starting scholarships for all children orphaned by the insurgency, and has instructed the state health ministry to introduce mobile clinics to attend to victims of the emergency.

    His words: “At least one third of our local government areas have been affected by their attacks with different degrees of intensity and periodic occupation.

    “In recent days and weeks, we have come under renewed and augmented attacks, waged against all of us, by an armed minority that seeks to impose on us, a doctrine that is completely at variance with the religion of Islam which they claim to promote; a doctrine that negates the dignity and existence of humanity on earth, despite Allah’s decree in the glorious Quran, that He has dignified the human creature, prohibited unjust killings and made the religion of Islam that which does not sanction compulsion in a multi-faith society like ours.”

    The Defence Headquarters  acknowledged “challenges in the counter-terrorism efforts” that has filled citizens and even foreign allies with apprehension, but it repeated promises that “everything will be done to … defeat the rampaging terrorists.”

    The statement did not admit that Boko Haram militants this past week seized Bama, the second largest city in Borno state, and now threaten the state capital, Maiduguri. Boko Haram has hoisted its black and white flag over several other Nigerian towns in recent weeks.

    Shettima urged Nigeria’s federal government to redouble its efforts to contain the insurgency.

    The United States and the United Nations this week expressed deep concern about Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation, with U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield warning Nigerian officials that “The reputation of Nigeria’s military is at stake. But, more importantly, Nigeria’s and its children’s future is in jeopardy.”

    In an apparent rebuke to the Nigerian government and the military’s denials of the perilous situation, she said it was “past time for denial and pride.”

  • Boko Haram: DHQ orders tight security for Maiduguri

    Boko Haram: DHQ orders tight security for Maiduguri

    •Fog slows down aerial attacks on Bama, Gwoza
    •Insurgents running short of food supply

    The Defence Headquarters has ordered a fresh security beef up in Maiduguri, following alleged dropping of fliers by Boko Haram of a planned invasion of the city.

    Giwa and Maimalari barracks, both of which the insurgents threaten to target, have been fortified and movement restricted to only those legitimately living there.

    The military and other security agencies have also been placed on the alert in the 18 Local Government Areas of Borno State largely unaffected by the   insurgency.

    However, fog yesterday slowed down aerial attacks on the insurgents in Bama and Gwoza.

    Reports from the area indicated that the insurgents were running out of food supply especially in Bama and Gwoza.

    Consequently, the terrorists have been forcing residents to share their food ration with them.

    A well placed security source said the Defence Headquarters and security agencies are investigating the alleged dropping of threat fliers by the insurgents.

    The source said the development called for the tightening of security in Maiduguri and the insurgents might have hidden under the cover of the prolonged outage in the state capital to circulate the fliers.

    Maiduguri has been without electricity supply for over four months now following the destruction of supply chain by the insurgents.

    The source said: “The military and other agencies are investigating the authenticity or otherwise of the fliers and their origin.

    “The DHQ has directed all formations to ensure tight security for Maiduguri. We are not taking any information, no matter how suspicious, for granted in view of the guerrilla tactics of the insurgents. Troops have been asked to protect everywhere in Maiduguri and some towns and villages in the state which have not witnessed insurgency.

    “Nigerians should appreciate that the insurgents have this style of driving fears into the citizenry. Given heavy military presence in Maiduguri, there is no way Boko Haram will attack the town because they paid dearly for it when they attempted it twice.

    “The good thing is that, apart from the military, everyone in Maiduguri is psychologically prepared for the insurgents.”

    Another source said: “I think the insurgents took advantage of the outage in Maiduguri to drop the threat fliers through their agents or contacts.

    “This is why civilian task force, called Civilian JTF, has been fishing out suspected Boko Haram members and agents in Maiduguri. I think the insurgents will be coming for suicide mission if they dare attack the state capital.

    On the situation in Giwa and Maimalari barracks in the town, the source added: “These formations have been fortified and movement restricted to only the soldiers and their relations.

    “Though it is normal in war situation for relations of troops to relocate from the barracks, we have not reached that level in Maiduguri.”

    Meanwhile, fogs yesterday slowed down the aerial bombardments of Bama and Gwoza by the military.

    But there were indications that the insurgents were running out of food supply.

    The insurgents were said to be forcing the surviving residents to share their food ration with them.

    Giving an update yesterday, a military source said: “The aerial attacks on Bama and Gwoza were slowed down on Saturday by weather, especially thick clouds.

    “Normal bombardments may resume on Sunday if the weather condition improves. So far, the aerial attacks have affected the insurgents who have lost many of their members.

    “They cannot sustain the siege on Bama and Gwoza because they are already running out of food supply. We will reclaim these towns from the insurgents who are managing to survive. They now live on the ration of innocent residents and inhabitants of these towns.”

     

     

     

     

     

    “We are also blocking notable food supply routes for the insurgents either within the country or outside.”

  • Boko Haram, ISIS caliphates a continuation of history

    he world is stupefied by the declaration of a caliphate in Iraq and Syria by extremist Sunni militants. The Islamic State (IS), as it is now called, is headed by the self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who has triggered one of the most brutal modern day repressions over a territory that spans portions of northern Syria and northern Iraq. Perhaps inspired by the IS, and nostalgic over the numerous caliphates that had made waves throughout history, leaders of Nigeria’s militant Boko Haram sect have also declared a caliphate covering towns in Borno State, and still expanding.

    Starting essentially from the Umayyads and right through the Abbasids, Fatimids and down to perhaps the most extensive of them all, the Ottomans (1453-1924), the caliphate idea has since the seventh century remained an inherent part of the Muslim world. IS and Boko Haram caliphates are a mere recrudescence of an enduring idea. The Sokoto Caliphate (1804-1903) is the Nigerian equivalent of the caliphates that swept through the Middle East and Europe between 661 and 1924. It is recalled that the setting up of a caliphate was the primary goal of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda. Though it is not certain IS and Boko Haram would be allowed to take root, their formation, no matter how brief, is a reminder of the nostalgia that accompanies the idea. More importantly, it reminds us that that idea is unlikely to die for a long time. Modern caliphates reiterate the continuation of history.

    But more spectacularly, the fragile Boko Haram Caliphate, which some have described as incipient Kanuri nationalism, and the more expansive IS should remind public officials, state actors and statesmen, not to say Nigerian leaders who insist Nigerian unity is non-negotiable, that no national border is either inviolate or permanent. In time, and as a historical inevitability, borders will still be redrawn, and states, whether in Europe, America or Asia and elsewhere, are doubtless still in formation. If Nigeria is to last as a country, its leaders must act with the highest degree of responsibility required to sustain and stabilize the polity, as well as demonstrate knowledge of statecraft. The Jonathan presidency demonstrates clearly how horribly remiss Nigerian leaders have become in their responsibilities, and how in particular, by his actions, Dr Jonathan endangers everyone, including his predecessors.

  • Boko Haram: Bama battle slows down rescue operation for Chibok girls

    Boko Haram: Bama battle slows down rescue operation for Chibok girls

    The planned rescue of  the over 200 school girls  abducted in Chibok in April by Boko Haram is on hold for now.

    The battle by troops to reclaim Bama and Gwoza both in Borno State  from the terrorists is said to have forced a shift in focus of military operations in the Northeast,it was gathered yesterday.

    Security  experts from the United States of America and the United Kingdom who were invited to assist in locating  the  whereabouts of the girls   have been cautious in sharing intelligence with the military because of  suspicion that such information may be leaked to the enemy.

    It was learnt that encounters between the troops and the insurgents  in Bama,Gwoza and Damboa might have  accounted for  a fresh relocation of the girls to some “hidden bases” of the sect.

    Said a security source yesterday:  “The occupation of some towns and villages by Boko Haram has affected the ongoing search and rescue operation for the Chibok girls.

    “The rescue operation for the girls has, no doubt, slowed down now as I am talking to you because of the new dimension of attacks by the insurgents.

    “The immediate priority now is to reclaim the captured towns, restore normalcy to these places and put in place measures to avert reoccurrence of the seizure.

    “We are suspecting that the insurgents might have relocated the Chibok girls safely to some of their camps since most Boko Haram leaders have been sighted in Gwoza.

    “We are optimistic that they are safe because the insurgents have changed their tactics. They no longer kill women and children even in the places they have captured.

    “You know, due to the rainy season, Sambisa Forest is presently marshy and inhabitable for the insurgents not to talk of the girls.”

    It was gathered  that  experts from the United States and the United Kingdom have  been cautious in sharing intelligence with the military because of likely leakage to Boko Haram due to alleged infiltration of the troops.

    Another source added: “These foreign powers came in to assist but there is suspicion that corruption, mutual rivalry and ethno-religious factor within the military have caused leakage of some intelligence reports.

    “So, these experts have adopted a cautious approach on the rescue of Chibok girls and how to tackle Boko Haram insurgency generally. It is difficult to secure 100 per cent confidence of some military officers. No one knows who is working for the sect.”

    Meanwhile, the military yesterday sustained aerial attacks against the insurgents in Bama and Gwoza.

    A top military source said: “The battle in Bama is almost won because the aerial power has led to the death of many insurgents. We will keep on shelling them until they surrender.

    “All their so-called land to surface missiles have been destroyed by the fighter jets. Once we regain the control of Bama, Nigerians will know the heavy casualties recorded by the insurgents and appreciate the nation’s military.”

  • Boko Haram serves notice of planned invasion of Maiduguri

    Boko Haram serves notice of planned invasion of Maiduguri

    An unusual  mode of  warning  by Boko Haram has sparked  a massive evacuation of occupants of Giwa and Maimalari military barracks in Maiduguri.

    The sect flooded the   city  with fliers warning of an impending  invasion.

    Most of the soldiers deployed to Borno State for the anti-terror campaign  reside in the barracks,some with their families.

    The online publication –First Africa News –reported yesterday  that  families of the soldiers  have vacated the barracks on account of the threat.

    The  fliers were written in the Hausa language.

    They claimed that  the invasion will be personally led by the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.

    The United States has expressed fears that Maiduguri  may be attacked by the sect following its seizure of Bama,about 72 kilometers from the state capital.

    Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday that his country was  “ very troubled by the apparent capture of Bama and the prospects for an attack on and in Maiduguri, which would impose a tremendous toll on the civilian population,”

    The sect has been moving from its Sambisa fortress to the southern part of the state,seizing  towns and villages on its route.

    Two weeks ago,Boko Haram  proclaimed the town of Gwoza,  a “caliphate under Islamic law.”

    It had earlier in December 2013 attacked the Composite Group Air Force Base in Maiduguri,firing with Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers before  troops rallied to repel the terrorists.

    Three months later –March 2014 –the rebels returned to the city but this time their target was Giwa Barracks.

    The attack was also repelled.

  • Ihejirika not Boko Haram sponsor – DSS

    Ihejirika not Boko Haram sponsor – DSS

    The Department of State Security has risen in defence of the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd), saying it’s uncharitable and wicked for anyone to associate him with sponsorship of the Boko Haram insurgency.

    The Spokesperson of the DSS, Ms. Marilyn Ogar, who addressed journalists at the Service’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday, also said the former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, has been invited for questioning.

    An Australian hostage negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, had, in a cable media interview last week, fingered Ihejirika and Sheriff as some of the major sponsors of Boko Haram.

    Davis was hired by President Goodluck Jonathan to help negotiate the release of the over 200 Chibok school girls abducted by Boko Haram in April 14. The girls are still in the sect’s captivity.

    Ms. Ogar said: “I want to say here that it is absolutely uncharitable for us as Nigerians to reward like that somebody who laid down his life in pursuing the same people.

    “For us to accept that he is associated with the same sect whose activities he, together with this Service, succeeded in bringing to a halt in Kano, Okene and other places, pursuing them down to the Sambisa Forest.

    “And to accept that the same man was sponsoring Boko Haram is wicked and uncharitable. We should not allow people to use our liberal nature to perpetrate all sort of evils in our society.”

    On ex -Governor Sheriff, Ogar said: “He had been invited here twice in the past. The Service has invited him again. There is nothing that this service has done in investigation in the past that we have not informed the public.”

     

  • Boko Haram: FG denies hiring Davis as negotiator

    Boko Haram: FG denies hiring Davis as negotiator

    The Federal Government has denied hiring Australia’s Stephen Davis as a Boko Haram negotiator.

    The Coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mike Omeri, who disclosed government’s position on the issue in Abuja on Friday, said the government has no plan of prosecuting any Nigerian for now following the allegations made by the Australian.

    Davis has insisted that former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff and former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika are Boko Haram sponsors.

    He also mentioned an unnamed senior official of the Central Bank of Nigeria and an Egypt-based man as those funding the sect.

    Davis, who refused to disclose the identity of the CBN official, said his allegations were informed by discussions he had with several Boko Haram field commanders.

    But Omeri insisted that government has not hired anybody to negotiate on its behalf with the Boko Haram.

    “For now nobody has been hired by the government to negotiate on its behalf with Boko Haram. Anytime the government decides to do so, it will make it known to the public.

    “The government is still investigating the allegations made by the alleged negotiator. However, the government has no plan to question anybody because of those allegations made by the Australian,” he stated.

     

  • Boko Haram holds Bama as military pounds town

    Boko Haram holds Bama as military pounds town

    The battle for Bama, Borno State’s second largest town, which was seized by Boko Haram four days ago, got hotter yesterday.
    Amid heavy bombardment, the military fought to recover the town.
    Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adeshola Amosun,  has relocated to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to coordinate the air strikes.
    It was gathered that Boko Haram members have blocked all link roads to Bama.
    The “push in” by troops had recorded what sources described as “modest gain” but the military was yet to reclaim the town by last night.
    A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The insurgents were still holding on to Bama, they are still in charge. Typical of rag-tag insurgents, they are holding on to the last straws.
    “But the troops are gaining upper hand  through heavy air strikes. We are mostly fighting the battle in the air in Bama and Gwoza.
    “The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adeshola Amosun, is personally supervising the aerial battle having relocated to Maiduguri from Abuja since Friday. This underscores the importance attached to the air strikes.
    “With aerial bombardment, we are hopeful that the troops launching the “push in” will finally take over the town.
    “The insurgents are feeling the air strikes, they are suffering huge losses. From intelligence report, the bombardments have become unbearable for them and they might vacate the place within the next 24 to 48 hours.
    “What we need to do now is for troops to gain access by land to Bama and dominate the place. We will reclaim these two towns.”
    Also yesterday, the military moved fast to unravel the circumstances surrounding the reported desertion of another 400 soldiers.
    Cameroon’s military claimed yesterday that the Nigerian soldiers are seeking refuge in the country after fleeing from battle with Boko Haram militants in Borno State.
    The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), sources said, is trying to reach commanders at the “battle front” and may contact Cameroon for details of the matter.
    Though the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, was said to have told the military high command that there was no case of desertion, the DHQ is determined to ascertain the veracity of the claim.
    A source said: “The Defence Headquarters is looking into the claim by Cameroonian Army which is yet to get in touch with us.
    “So far, the GOC and other officers have claimed that no such incident was reported by troops at the battle front. We have asked them to crosscheck.
    “We are trying to link up with various units and Cameroon to ascertain the veracity of a report by an international medium.
    “If it is true, this is the worst form of desertion and it is wrong. If it is true, we are suspecting that the way the first desertion was reported might have encouraged this batch.”
    Cameroon state radio, the soldiers arrived at the Cameroonian border town of Amchide, where they handed their weapons to military officials.
    Cameroon military spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck told the Voice of America (VOA) that the soldiers were accepted in the spirit of fighting Boko Haram alongside Nigerian forces.
    Speaking in French, Badjeck described challenging situations in war that cause troops to flee, adding that Cameroon had demonstrated that it is a nation that assumes its responsibility to those in harm’s way.
    Last week 480 Nigerian soldiers crossed over to Cameroon, ostensibly in “hot pursuit of Boko Haram militants.” Two-hundred forty-six of them have since returned to Nigeria, Badjeck said.
    The DHQ said the development was a tactical manouevre but has made no comment on the latest movement of soldiers across the border.
    In May, Cameroon’s Information Minister said President Paul Biya and President Goodluck Jonathan, had been communicating as part of a collaborative effort to defeat Boko Haram by sharing intelligence and allowing troops to pursue militants across borders if necessary.
    Last night, the Federal Government directed massive supply of relief materials to more than 30,000 displaced persons from Bama who are in Maiduguri.
    A team from the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) will deliver the relief items on today.

  • The Boko Haram scandal

    The Boko Haram scandal

    Truth is like gold which, in its raw form, may look like any ordinary mineral. It however stands out of the pack particularly after it has been melted. Taking it through the fire of a goldsmith, therefore, does not diminish its value. It rather enhances it.

    Besides truth, two other major phenomena of life are generally taken for granted by virtually all human beings. One is privacy which is natural and of necessity. The other is secrecy which is artificial and devilish. Professional journalists often report the one with caution and the other with passionate disdain. Thus, while privacy enjoys the protection of the law, secrecy often   incurs the wrath of the law.

    That is why any attempt to pry into other people’s privacy is often described as an invasion of privacy. In a nutshell, every secret tends to be a can of worms that is ardently guarded against exposure by its custodians.

    The above assertion is now vividly applicable to the evil carnage called Boko Haram in Nigeria which has become a frightening spectre to all citizens. The current restive situation in the country which makes the continuity of the entity called Nigeria seemingly uncertain is a confirmation of an Arab prophetic maxim rendered into a poem many centuries ago. It went thus:

    “This is the time we had been warned against in the admonitions of Ubayyi Bn Ka’b and Abdullah Bn Mas’ud; a time in which truth would be rejected in its totality while falsehood and evil machinations would be audaciously held aloft; should this situation be allowed to thrive without check; there may no longer be any cry over the death of a beloved person or joy over the birth of a new baby”.

    Given a landmark revelation, last week, about Boko Haram and its alleged sponsors, the time in reference in the above quoted poem seems to have come to quarantine Nigeria in the enclave of the Lucifer. The revelation was made through a popular television station in London by one Dr Stephen Davis, a 63 year old experienced Australian international negotiator who was allegedly hired officially by Nigerian government to negotiate with Boko Haram on the release of about 276 school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Bornu State. The innocent girls were abducted in their school premises on April 14, 2014, the following day that some heartless evil agents of the same insurgents bombed the crowded Nyanyan motor park in Abuja sending 77 innocent citizens to early graves in ‘hot blood’.

    Frightening revelations

    Davis, a former Cardinal of the Anglican Church, decided to blow the whistle this time around when he discovered that his contracted mission had become frustrated after meeting a brick wall. And that answers the most likely question that Nigerians may ask about the revelation: ‘why now?’

    Advancing his reason for coming up with the revelation now, the father of three children (all girls) said he could not imagine any of his children going through the agony to which the abducted Chibok girls were being subjected by the Boko Haram insurgents. He said that feeling was one of the reasons for accepting the negotiation contract in the first place. (Let us accept that fact for the purpose of argument). He regretted the length of time which the innocent Chibok girl have unnecessarily spent in the devil’s gulag and blamed it on the initial lackadaisical attitude of the government to the dangerous trend.

    In his narrative, Davis who had spent about four months in Nigeria pursuing the sensitively dangerous assignment disclosed that his frustration began when his rescue success was truncated 15 minutes before realisation last April. He gave a vivid narration of what transpired between him and the insurgents saying he would have succeeded in rescuing the first batch of 60 of those girls if the devilish insurgency body called Boko Haram had been united in one camp at that time as it is now. But, according to him, the body was divided into three different uncoordinated camps each struggling to assume the leadership of the sect based on the power generated through funding and supply of weapons.

    By his narration, Davis had completed his negotiation with one of the camps reaching a final agreement to release the 60 girls in the custody of that camp. But just 15 minutes before the release, another camp fortuitously stormed the place where the girls were kept and wielded them away. The thought, according to him, was that he (Davis) would commence a new negotiation process with the invading camp with a view to benefitting from any money involved. At that point, Davis gave up the hope of any success of his mission and left the country with a hint to the government that no such mission could succeed unless the sponsors of the Boko Haram insurgency were arrested and tried with a view to cutting off the source of funding the group. It was shortly after he left Nigeria that the different camps of Boko Haram united into a single camp under a single leadership. And that is what gave it the power to dare the Nigerian troops and acquire territories now designated Caliphate.

    Bokoharamgate

    In what may be termed ‘Bokoharamgate’ Davis alleged that the group’s funding largely passes through the Central Bank of Nigeria  (CBN) which technically makes it a legitimate transaction since it evades any suspicion. He asserted that some politicians and military men were solidly behind the rebellious insurgency called Boko Haram in the Northeast of Nigeria and even mentioned some names including those of a former Governor and a former Chief of Army Staff as forces behind it. (An interesting aspect of his disclosure is his exoneration of a former Presidential aspirant, General Muhammad Buhari and a former Minister of the federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai. The duo had been labeled the godfathers of Boko Haram by fellow politicians).

    According to Davis, one of the biggest suppliers of arms and military uniforms to Boko Haram is a Nigerian who lives in Egypt and receives money sent by political sponsors from Nigeria. He emphasised that the legal transaction of the funds is carried out with the help of the CBN. He added that the said official is a relative of three suspects of April 14 Abuja bombings that took 77 lives of Nigerians. In his words: “Meanwhile, the CBN official who handles the funding is an uncle to three of those arrested in connection with the Nyanya bombings. The three boys lived with him. They were arrested by the SSS (Department of State Security) after the bombings but they do not seem to have been interrogated about their uncle in CBN. Or if they have given up information about their uncle then the SSS has not moved against him… Also, a senior official of CBN, who recently left the bank, was very close to Sodiq Aminu Ogwuche, the mastermind of the Nyanya bombings who also schooled in Sudan. Boko Haram commanders said Ogwuche’s wife used to visit the top official in his office, at the headquarters of the bank, in Abuja before the Nyanya bombings”.

    The powerful cartel

    Davis who holds a PhD in political geography believes that “the political sponsors of Boko Haram are very powerful because they supply the finances and the arms. Until they are cut off from the group, those girls will not be released. We are talking of about 200 Chibok schoolgirls, but there are over 300 other girls that have been kidnapped. There are many young men that they also kidnapped and turned against their families. They asked them to go and slaughter their family members and they are doing it. Nobody is talking about those ones. They are the new child soldiers.”

    The expert mentioned repeatedly that the first thing to do to enable the release of the abducted children was “to stop the bagman who supplies weapons and military uniforms. We know his name, location and associates. If the man is stopped, the slaughterers, the ritual arm of the group, would be demobilised. The girls can be released afterwards. This man controls those ritualists.”

    If the above narrative is considered startling, then one can imagine the revelation that he (Davis) had hinted Nigerian government of the involvement of a cabinet Minister, some years back, when a former President (not Yar’Adua) was in the saddle. He said he hinted that former President that a particular Minister from the South-South in his cabinet was involved in the funding of Boko Haram and advised him to investigate the man, get him arrested and tried in a court of law.

    But, according to Davis, the ex-President rejected the advice on the excuse that such a trial could bring down his government.

     

    Genesis of Boko Haram

    It would be recalled that Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden) is not the actual name of the group that is now rebelling against Nigeria in the name of Islam. Its real name is ‘Jam’atu Ahlis-Sunnah Lid-Da’wah wal Jihad’ meaning: ‘Sunnah Congregation for Preaching and Strife’. The Group became known as Boko Haram because of its condemnation of Western education which it claimed to be the main cause of corruption in Nigeria. The name Boko Haram was given to the group by members of the public who were amazed by its strange preaching.

    Founded as a splinter fundamentalist Sunni group in 2002, the first leader of the group was Muhammad Yusuf, a Yobe-born cleric who resided in Maiduguri, Bornu State, where the dreaded Islamic group was founded. For the first seven years of its existence, Boko Haram was peaceful and forthright in its clerical activities except that it did not enjoy the cooperation of some other Islamic organisations in the region due to its method of preaching which was deemed abhorrent to others. Its violence tendency began in July 2009 when it had an encounter with Nigeria Police. Due to frequent complaints about the preaching methodology of the group, the Nigerian security agents began to monitor it with an eye of suspicion. And on a particular occasion when the group was returning from a cemetery where it went to bury the remains of one of its members who just died, its members were accosted by the Police who accused the sect of staging a public procession without official permit. Some members of the sect were arrested including their leader (Muhammad Yusuf) who was later shot dead in Police custody. The spontaneous reaction of the other members of the group led to the killing of about 700 of them by the Police.

    Ever since, there has not been any respite in the relationship of Boko Haram and the Nigerian Police. With the death of Yusuf, Ibrahim Shekau, his deputy, assumed the leadership of the sect. And under his leadership, the group continuously improved on its operational capabilities killing and maiming innocent lives and destroying all factors of progress in north-eastern part of the country. It was for the purpose of stopping that spate of destruction that some well-meaning Nigerians including this columnist have severally called for negotiation and possible amnesty for the insurgents. But some elements who had vested interest in a hidden agenda felt otherwise and the President accepted their opinion. Today, we can all see the result.

    If the current regime had adopted the late President Yar’Adua’s method of amnesty, perhaps the situation would not have reached this stage and so many lives would not have been lost. If Davis’ revelation is shocking those who are familiar with Nigerian security system will discover more shocking news in the fact that the last time that Nigeria really upgraded her military arsenal was 1982 when President Sheu Aliyu Uthman Shagari was in power according to privileged information.

    And if this is true what has been happening to Nigeria’s annual defence huge budgets for the past 32 years?

    Since 2011, Boko Haram has consistently maintained a steady rate of attacks striking a wide range of targets. Its trained agents have attacked politicians, religious leaders, security forces, traditional rulers and civilian targets. The tactic of suicide bombings adopted in the two major attacks in the federal capital territory on the police and UN Headquarters was new to Nigerian security and alien to the familiar mercenary culture in the West African sub-region. In Africa as a whole, it was only in Somalia that such tactic had been used by As- Shabbab and to a far lesser extent.

    And since early 2013, Boko Haram has increasingly operated in Northern Cameroon as an extension of its skirmishes along the borders of Chad and Niger. Such operations have been linked to a number of kidnappings, often reportedly in association with a splinter group called Ansaru, thereby drawing wider international attention to them.

    Questions

    With the above revelations coming from a federal government’s contracted expert why has the government not swung into action? And with the current situation in which Boko Haram seems to be waxing stronger, what next is in the plan of the Nigerian government for taming the monstrous shrewd? For how long are the kidnapped innocent girls expected to remain in the custody of the brutal insurgents called Boko Haram? And by the way, when will Mr President visit the region as an encouragement to Nigerian armed forces who are fencing off the Boko Haram further incursions into Nigerian? Should their efforts as well as the lives of thousands of the victims of that  obnoxious insurgency be in vain? There may be other questions for the government to answer on this highly embarrassing situation. Some of such questions may be raised in this column in the near future. God save Nigeria.