Tag: boko haram

No defection to Cameroon, says DHQ

Sect seizes Madagali

Did 480 Nigerian soldiers defect to Cameroon to avoid fighting Boko Haram?

A Cameroonian official said they did. But the military denied it all, saying the Nigerian soldiers were involved in a “tactical manoeuvre”.

The matter remained unclear last night as the Defence Headquarters insisted that there was no defection.

The BBC reported that 480 Nigerian soldiers were in Cameroon, following their alleged refusal to fight the insurgents.

The Director of Defence Information, Major-Gen. Chris Olukolade,  in a statement on the alleged disarming of the 480 soldiers in Cameroon, said: “The Nigerian troops that were found in Cameroon was as a result of a sustained battle between the troops and the terrorists around the borders with Cameroon, which saw the Nigerian troops charging through the borders in a tactical manoeuver.

“Eventually, they found themselves on Cameroonian soil. Being allies, the normal protocol of managing such incident demanded that the troops submit their weapons in order to assure the friendly country that they were not on a hostile mission.

“Following necessary discussions between Nigerian and Cameroonian military authorities, the issues have been sorted out. Subsequently, the troops are on their way back to join their unit in Nigeria.

“The reference to the incident as a defection is, therefore, not appropriate, considering the discussion between the two countries’ military leadership and the series of contacts with the soldiers who have confirmed that they are safe.

“Meanwhile, troops are repelling a group of terrorists who are trying to enter the country through Gamboru-Ngala. A group of them who fizzled into the town are being pursued.”

“We have sorted out things with the Cameroonian authorities.”

A top military source gave an insight into how the soldiers strayed into Cameroon.

He debunked insinuations that the soldiers defected or ran away from confronting book Haram insurgents.

The source said: “To say that 480 soldiers defected is incorrect. That is almost a battalion which comprises 500 soldiers. We did not see the presence of the soldiers in Cameroon as defection.

“The soldiers had crossed to Cameroonian borders near Gamboru-Ngala axis in pursuit of fleeing Boko Haram insurgents.

“It is normal to disarm foreign troops when they cross into your country. Such troops must surrender their arms and ammunition. There are military barriers in combat relationship between two countries.”

Asked why the Cameroonian Army disarmed Nigerian soldiers following recent tripartite understanding by Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger, the source said: “We have to comply with military’s international best practices.

“The agreement in France enabled us to easily recall these 480 soldiers.”

But there were indications last night that the DHQ had ordered a probe into the “presence” of the 480 soldiers in Cameroon.

But the Cameroon Army, in a report on the BBC, claimed that the soldiers defected .

Cameroon Army spokesman Lt. Col. Didier Badjek said the soldiers had been disarmed and were being accommodated in schools.

Clashes were continuing in the border town of Gamboru-Ngala.

Boko Haram on Sunday released a video in which it said it had established an Islamic state in the towns and villages it controls in the northeast especially Gwoza.

The Nigerian soldiers are in the Cameroonian town of Maroua, about 80km (50 miles) from the Nigerian border, Lt. Col. Badjek told the BBC.

Thousands of civilians have also fled across the border.

In May, about 300 people were killed in an attack on Gamboru-Ngala, which left much of the town in ruins.

It is near Gwoza, the largest town under control of Boko Haram. In the most recent census, in 2006, it had a population of more than 265,000 people.

In the 52-minute video released on Sunday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said Gwoza was now “part of the Islamic state”.

 

Residents of Adamawa State town Madagali yesterday said Boko Haram insurgents told them to defy the 24-hour curfew imposed by the state government.

Acting Governor Umar Fintiri on Sunday announced the curfew  after Boko Haram’s fighters invaded the town, which is close to the boundary with Borno town Gwoza, seized by the insurgents.

Residents said the insurgents, who are moving freely in the town, brandishing their guns, asked them to continue with their normal businesses, without fear of attack.

‘’They asked us to ignore the 24 hours curfew, promising not to attack us. They (Boko Haram) told us that they are not after us now; rather, they are pursuing troops being deployed,’’ said a resident of the town who pleaded for anonymity.

A source who spoke to reporters on the telephone said even those who were able to cross the mountain to Cameroon were feared to have been arrested by Cameroun gendarmes.

‘’Many residents are now on the hilltops, while those that were able to cross to Cameroon are reported to have been arrested by Cameroun security operatives.

‘’We are now finding it difficult to cross to Cameroon. Many have resorted to stay back here in the town, with Boko Haram hoisting their flag.

‘’We are now living in an atmosphere of despair and agony,’’ said another resident.

Although, this is not the first time Madagali has been attacked, Saturday’s was the deadliest with a number of residents feared killed, before the insurgents dislodged the community and established a settlement.

Madagali Local Government Chairman James Abu Waltharda said civilian casualty was minimal, but thousands of residents have been scattered across the state.

He said five churches were set ablase by the assailants in Sabongari and Hembla settlements in the town.

“The insurgents surely are still in Madagali but the military is near. I spoke with them. I did not hear any encounter between soldiers and the assailants but people will not return to their homes until they are certain the insurgents have left completely. Our people have run to Michika, Shuwa other areas even in those towns people are running,” he said

According to reports, after hoisting their flag at the military base, located at the secretariat of Madagali North Development Area, the insurgents patrolled streets in the town.

 

Boko Haram was yesterday fighting desperately to defend its “Islamic Caliphate” as troops turned on the heat to dislodge its men from a key town.

The insurgents first sacked an army barracks in Ngala before proceeding to Gamboru about three kilometers away.

The Islamist terror group made further advances in territorial grab by once more taking over Gamboru-Ngala, a key township on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon.

Its fighters were heavily armed. It was the second time Boko Haram fighters targeted and seized parts of the town.

In a response to the attacks, the Nigerian Air Force jet dropped a massive bomb in the middle of Gamboru, after hovering for several minutes in the air. The jet then left while the militants began a house-to-house raid in Gamboru.

A contingent of Nigerian troops was later seen massing close to a bridge earlier destroyed by insurgents during their first attack on Gamboru, according to a BBC report.

A security source said Boko Haram desperately wanted to seize full control of Gamboru-Ngala because the extensive area offers great strategic advantages. “If they completely capture the township, Boko Haram will be able to use it to transact economic and military business,” said the source. “The township will enable them to freely move arms into Nigeria in order to fortify their control of the seized territories they have declared an Islamic Caliphate.”

In a video released on Sunday, the insurgent leader, Abubakar Shekau, stated that his group did not recognise Nigeria. Instead, he declared that the sect had established a caliphate, or Islamic geopolitical entity.

Among towns and areas under the sect’s control are Gwoza and Marte in Borno State, Buni Yadi in Yobe State and Madagali in Adamawa State.

The attack forced thousands of people to flee.

The attack on Gamboru Ngala came after the town was almost entirely destroyed in May in a devastating assault that also left more than 300 people killed and prompted outrage at the lack of military response.

Many local residents sought refuge across the border in the northern Cameroon town of Fotokol, where troop reinforcements were being sent, a security service source told AFP.

Boko Haram, which has been blamed for more than 10,000 deaths in a five-year-old uprising, has in recent weeks sought to take over some towns in Borno State, shifting from hit-and-run tactics to an apparent holding strategy.

Residents said yesterday’s attack began at about 05:30, with the extremists launching coordinated strikes on the main police station and a military base known as the Harmony Camp.

“The sounds (of gunfire) became more deafening as police and soldiers responded to Boko Haram,” said witness Hamisu Lawan. “Most of our people have fled into Cameroon.”

Others locked themselves in their homes, voicing fears that the militants would turn their guns on civilians once they had overrun the police station and the military camp.

Residents in Fotokol, which is separated from Gamboru-Ngala by a river, also reported “intense” fighting throughout the morning.

“(Cameroonian) soldiers are at the bridge,” one said.

Cameroon said on August 18 that it had closed its vast border with Nigeria to guard against the spread of Ebola, which has caused five deaths in the country’s financial capital, Lagos, in the far southwest.

But few believed that Cameroon had the resources needed to seal all the possible crossing points along the roughly 1 600km frontier.

Local officials and residents in Borno said Boko Haram might be in control of a key road that connects Gamboru-Ngala to Maiduguri, the state capital.

Establishing which parts of the area have in fact fallen into rebels’ hands is difficult in the remote region, where travel is dangerous and prolonged fighting has hit mobile phone networks.

DHQ: Shekau’s claim empty

Troops to launch aerial battle

Just a few days after it captured a police training facility, the insurgent Boko Haram sect has declared an “Islamic Caliphate”.

The head of the armed group, Abubakar Shekau, proclaimed an “Islamic caliphate” in Gwoza, Borno State in a video obtained by French news agency AFP yesterday.

Gwoza is a big town, which is about one hour thirty minutes by bus to the capital city, Maiduguri.

“Thanks to Allah who gave victory to our brothers in Gwoza”, which is now “part of the Islamic Caliphate”, said Shekau in a video of 52 minutes.

The video purportedly recorded in Gwoza, shows a footage of prisoners being shot while on the floor, lay in a ditch before assault rifles were aimed at their heads.

Besides, fighters were shown storming the town in tanks, firing sporadically.

Shekau also lauds the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who in late June declared himself “the caliph” and “leader of Muslims everywhere.”

“We will not leave the city. We came to stay,” said Shekau. The leader of Boko Haram has been labelled a “global terrorist” by the United States and a $7 million price was put on his head.

He declared that Gwoza now has “nothing to do with Nigeria”.

“By the grace of Allah, we will not leave the town. We have come to stay,” said Shekau, who has been  sanctioned by the UN Security Council.

The United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) earlier this month confirmed reports that Gwoza was under rebel control.

Boko Haram has become the second Islamic group to declare a republic after the ISIS, which controls vast swathes of eastern Syrian and northern Iraq. In June, it declared that territory a caliphate, an Islamic State.

Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is referred to as Caliph Ibrahim. He declared himself “leader of Muslims everywhere”.

The Caliphate, where Shia Muslims, Christians and minority sects have been persecuted, massacred or forced to flee, has no international recognition.

Shekau hails al-Baghdadi.

Boko Haram is also believed to be in control of other areas near Gwoza in southern Borno, as well as large swathes of territory in northern Borno and, to a large extent, Buni Yadi in neighbouring Yobe State.

These two states and Adamawa State have been under the state of emergency since May last year.

There are few humanitarian workers on the ground in the northeast, travel is dangerous and the region, which has been under a state of emergency since May, last year, has poor mobile phone coverage.

Experts have described Boko Haram’s gains in recent weeks as unprecedented.

Soldiers who refused to deploy to Gwoza allegedly without better weapons are to be court marshalled.

During Boko Haram’s attack on Gwoza, the Police Training Institute near the town was taken over and the police authorities said at the weekend that 35 policemen were missing after the attack and takeover of the Institute.

They have launched a manhunt for the 35 missing policemen after two attacks on police training camps, police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said.

The statement on the police website says the attack followed another one on August 7 that was repelled by the police.

The Defence Headquarters described Shekau’s declaration of an “Islamic Caliphate in Gwoza” as an empty boast.

The Air Force is likely to be drafted into the battle to regain Gwoza, with Boko Haram blocking all the roads to the town.

It was also learnt that top Boko Haram leaders have occupied the palace of the Emir of Gwoza where they installed an Amir(Spiritual Leader) at the weekend.

Top military chiefs are said to have met on how to drive Boko Haram out of Gwoza.

It was learnt that intelligence reports confirmed that most of the leaders of the sect  are now living in the palace of the Emir of Gwoza and calling the shots from there.

The intelligence gathering indicated a total blockade of all access roads to Gwoza to prevent troops, police and other security agents from launching reprisals.

A source said: “The military is aware of the so-called declaration by Shekau. The truth the Boko Haram will not tell you is that Sambisa Forest has become marshy and the insurgents cannot operate from there anymore.

“They are also running out of foodstuff, hence they have become desperate to attack innocent villagers or scare them to have access to their barns.”

Another source said:  “The military will take the battle to the air with Boko Haram. There will be aerial bombardments of their so-called strongholds.”

The Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said: “The claim is empty. The territorial integrity of the Nigerian state is still intact.

“Any group of terrorists laying claim to any portion of the country will not be allowed to get away with that expression of delusion and crime.

“Appropriate military operations to secure that area from the activities of the bandits are ongoing.”

Some mutinous soldiers in the Army’s 7 Division have been relocated to another division for trial, it was learnt yesterday.

The military took the step to avoid the trial constituting a distraction to the division in its fight against the Boko Haram insurgency.

It was also learnt that the relocation became necessary to avoid “spiral effect” on the morale of other soldiers.

But a source revealed that Buni Yadi in Yobe State is constantly exposed to attacks from Boko Haram because of the “thin presence” of troops in the area as a result of manpower challenge.

The troops deployed in the area are only on patrol duties.

Although the military is silent on the number of the affected soldiers, the figure is said to be between 18 and 50.

Some of the soldiers were involved in shooting at a car carrying the former General Officer Commanding the 7 Division in Maiduguri, Borno State, Maj.-Gen. Ahmadu Mohammed.

Others were also said to have violated the Army Act on issues bordering on redeployment to flashpoints in some parts of Borno State.

A military source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The mutinous soldiers have been taken away from Maiduguri to some divisions where court martial had been on.

 “We also do not want the trial to distract the focus of the 7 Division in curtailing Boko Haram. It can evoke emotion and generate more reactions. Already, you can see the wives of soldiers protesting against deployment of their spouses to flashpoints.”

The source was however not forthcoming on where the soldiers will be tried.

Another source cited security reasons for the shifting of the trial from Maiduguri to other divisions.

The source said: “Actually, based on security reasons, it will not be safe to put the soldiers on trial in Maiduguri. They do not want it to have contagious effects.

“And the good thing about court martial is that its jurisdiction covers all parts of the country. The soldiers can be tried anywhere.”

Also yesterday, it was revealed that Bunu Yadi in Yobe State is constantly exposed to attacks from Boko Haram because of the “thin presence” of troops in the area as a result of manpower challenge.

“There is no doubt that the Army has thin presence in Bunu Yadi because troops are being deployed in many parts of the country.

“We have only been involved in patrols in Bunu Yadi area. We have said it that we have manpower challenge; it is not easy to train a soldier.

“We will dislodge the insurgents from the area soon. This is not the first time we have done it,” a military source said.

Also yesterday, it was learnt that the Police Training Academy near Gwoza in Borno State had been taken over by Boko Haram.

A witness was quoted by the BBC as saying that he heard shots after the insurgents arrived in three armoured vehicles and on dozens of motorcycles.

A police spokesman confirmed the attack and a senior security source said it had not been possible to communicate with the academy since Wednesday, the BBC reported.

The Liman Kara College is near Gwoza town, which has been seized by Boko Haram since the beginning of this month.

Thousands have been killed across the Northeast since Boko Haram launched its violent campaign for an Islamic state in 2009.

The militants have stepped up their attacks after being pushed out of their bases in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, and have been targeting towns and villages in deadly raids.

In recent weeks, the militants have been moving from their rural camps and taking over substantial towns.

The militants have been in control of Gwoza, which had a population of about 50,000, since the beginning of August.

They apparently retreated about 100km (62 miles) to Gwoza after losing control of Damboa – both large towns in Borno State.

But attempts by the security forces to retake Gwoza have failed – and a group of about 40 soldiers is now refusing to fight, saying they are too poorly equipped to take on the heavily armed insurgents

The residents of Liman Kara, which is about 15km from Gwoza, told the BBC Hausa service that police recruits were seen running from the college after the attack began at dawn on Wednesday.

He said he was unable to confirm if there were casualties as he had joined other residents and fled the town to nearby hills.

A security official who did not want to be named told the BBC that the militants had “entered the school” but said he could not confirm they were in control of the college as it had not been possible to contact it.

A similar attack on the college was repelled by officers undergoing training there two weeks ago.

BBC Hausa’s Mahmud Lalo said the Liman Kara academy is one of only two riot police training colleges in Nigeria and the militants are likely to find weapons there.

Several hundred militants were involved in the raid on the college, which there were reportedly more than 290 police trainees at the time.