The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • Damning report

    Damning report

    •The Fed Govt should investigate Amnesty’s alleged human rights abuses by the military 

    The report by an international human rights organisation, Amnesty International (AI), indicting the Joint Military Task Force and its civilian collaborators who are fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria can be adjudged a nightmare. This is because the insurgents are made up of such horrendous murderers, that it will sound ridiculous to an average person, to ascribe any form of respect for their human rights. Yet, regardless of our common indignation against the criminal elements, the protocols of the Geneva Convention on War Criminals cover them (insurgents). So, instead of a sweeping denial of the allegations, the Nigerian military command, and indeed the Federal Government should investigate the video report and react appropriately.

    We agree that the level of cruelty exhibited in the video can only be ascribed to a criminal organisation, instead of the national army of a respected member of the international community, such as Nigeria. Yet it will be playing the ostrich to pretend that the Nigerian Army, just like we have seen in other countries, is incapable of having within its ranks roguish elements, who can descend to such bestiality. Indeed, if such group exists in the Nigerian Army, it is in the country’s interest that the members are routed and brought to justice, to save the greater image of the national army. So, the way to go is to set up an independent enquiry to sift through the evidence provided by the group.

    Importantly, we appreciate the difficulty faced by our military personnel, in fighting a group that lays no claim to any form of respect for the international rules of military engagement. This is a group that relishes mass murder and the greatest acts of bestiality, as its form of military chivalry; but for which the international community in their common wisdom contends should not be subjected to the same measure as they give. We subscribe to that wisdom; otherwise it will be difficult to sift conventional armies from roguish armies of international criminal gangs such as the Boko Haram. That is the burden of doing the right thing, as against being an outlaw.

    We hope the human rights group also took into cognisance the fact that the Boko Haram elements have conducted their bestiality wearing the uniforms and camouflages of the Nigerian Army. As such, we hope they thoroughly conducted their enquiries before releasing that damning report. We also appreciate that with modern technology, images can be superimposed and fictions represented as visual facts, to mislead the public. Before coming to their conclusion that it was the Joint Task Force of the Nigerian army that was shown in the video, we hope AI took steps to eliminate these margins of error.

    After discountenancing these scenarios, the Nigerian Army, as we stated earlier, must use this crisis of confidence as a test case of the fidelity of its officers and men. Such enquiry will not derogate from the fact that they are engaged in the patriotic responsibility of confronting perhaps the greatest threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria since the end of the civil war. There is no gainsaying that their responsibility is onerous and very dangerous.

    Despite that, they must not allow in their ranks those who share similar traits with the insurgents they have forsworn to defeat. This regrettable allegation against our military is also one more reason why their involvement in policing operations must be curtailed. Prior to the Osun State election, Nigerians were appalled as hooded armed persons wearing military uniforms, intimidating freely in the state. Such conducts raise fears about the integrity of any national army.

     

  • Boko Haram: Troops kill 50, lose two soldiers to reclaim Borno town Damboa

    Boko Haram: Troops kill 50, lose two soldiers to reclaim Borno town Damboa

    Troops moved swiftly at the weekend to regain Borno State town Dambowa from Boko Haram insurgents.

    In the process, troops killed 50 insurgents and lost two soldiers.

    The troops survived five ambushes to reclaim the town which had been held by the insurgents for about one month.

    The Special Forces and more troops have been deployed in Gwoza where more than 150 people had been killed by the insurgents, it was gathered.

    National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki has said that the government had blocked all the source of fund for Boko Baram, thereby making it difficult for the sect to get funding for its nefarious activities.

    The Defence Headquarters has also said neither soldiers nor their wives could reject deployment to Gwoza and the Sambisa Forest.

    The protest in Maiduguri on Saturday by wives of some soldiers was being regarded as “indiscipline.”

    According to a top military source, who gave insights into how Damboa was reclaimed, said: “The troops survived five deadly ambushes by the insurgents to recapture Damboa, Delwa, Mustafari, Manga, Wanga and secure all routes leading to these places.

    “We have completed the mop up operation in Damboa and environs. So far, the troops succeeded in killing 50 insurgents and lost two of their colleagues.

    “Many arms and ammunition were also recovered from the insurgents including vehicles and  anti – aircraft RPG.

    “We are doing our best to restore normal life and business activities to these areas. The target is to clear the areas completely of insurgents and ward off further threats.”

    On Gwoza where over 150 had been killed, the highly-placed source added: “Special Forces have been sent to the  Emirate, including surrounding hill tops.

    “We will dislodge the insurgents from the town within the next one week. “The reality is that the insurgents had been taking advantage of the terrain in Gwoza to abduct, maim and kill innocent ones. The battle of Gwoza is expected to cover a lot of air strikes.”

    There were indications yesterday that the Defence Headquarters has said that soldiers or their wives cannot reject posting to either Gwoza or Sambisa Forest.

    Another military source said: “The soldiers or their wives cannot turn down deployment to Gwoza or Sambisa Forest or anywhere there is a security challenge.

    “We are going to engage in massive deployment of troops to these places and other flashpoints in the country. Contrary to insinuations, our troops are well-kitted because we know that curtailing insurgency requires being sufficiently armed.

    “What the wives of some of the soldiers did in Maiduguri at the weekend was strange to military ethics and orientation. Right from the time of enlistment, it is made clear that no soldier can reject posting.

    “The so-called protest amounted to indiscipline in the Armed Forces., we will not condone such.

    “Maybe some of the wives of these soldiers need more orientation and enlightenment. We will not hesitate to guide them accordingly.

    The source added: “There is no Army General that has not paid his or her dues by serving in frontline zones or managing security challenges. All our Generals are tested.”

    The National Security Adviser(NSA) said the nation’s educational system will be overhauled in the light of the security challenges facing the country.

    He said the recent abduction of Chibok girls had compelled the government  to place the protection of schools high on national security agenda.

    Dasuki made the submissions in a paper at the Nigeria Security Summit at Harvard University, Cambridge, in the United States.

    He said: “When we started to deal with the Boko Haram threat, our laws were not so clear on a number of fundamentals. Through the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, significant progress has been made.

    “It has allowed us to not only define terrorism, but block avenues of financing for their activities while putting in place structures to deal with our current threats. This has included the establishment of a Counter terrorism Centre and, working with key stakeholders, we have developed a National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST).

    Dasuki said the nation’s educational system will be overhauled to serve our current security and economic interests.

    He said: “Further to this, the threat that we face has drawn our attention to the need to overhaul our educational system. We are struggling with an educational system that does not currently serve our security, political and economic interests and as we revisit our national security policy, education has remained a top priority.

    While we grapple with education reform to ensure the right kind of education is available for all, the recent abduction of girls from their school in Chibok has compelled us to place the protection of schools high on our national security agenda.

    “Working with traditional institutions, community based organizations and the police, local governments must be proactive in building community resilience and good governance.

    “It is time we leverage on our democratic processes to increase access to decision making for a majority of our citizens. Inclusive, non-discriminatory and participatory governance is more likely to detect discontent before it erupts.

    “The goal of politics must be to lift our people out of poverty and provide them with the enabling environment to compete favorably.

    “This may not eliminate the possibility of misguided individuals or groups rising up against the nation, but will address some of the underlying factors leading to recruitment into groups prone to violent extremism.

    “We must also address environmental pressure from climate change that results in increased competition for limited natural resources, leading to increased herdsmen, farmer conflicts, inter-ethnic and communal clashes.

    “The youth bulge is both a challenge and an opportunity which the federal government has recognized and initiated programs to increase job opportunities.

    “Insurgents seek to force fundamental changes on society, operating with impunity; they violate all decent human values in an effort to draw a commensurate response from authorities.

    Terrorists win when states respond to their attacks in ways that are incompatible with their values.

    The NSA assured that Nigeria will abide by international practices in curtailing the prevalent insurgency.

    He said the Armed Forces had been undergoing a series of training on human rights.

  • People fleeing Boko Haram battle hunger

    People fleeing Boko Haram battle hunger

    Hundreds of Nigerians who have escaped violence by Takfiri Boko Haram militants have been stranded in a mountainous area without any food.

    “We are in distress. We need help. We have been starving for the past four days. We are surviving now on wild fruits,” said Liman Ngosha, a farmer from the town of Gwoza, on Saturday.

    Boko Haram militants attacked Gwoza town, some 135 kilometers from Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s Borno State, on Wednesday.

    Dozens of people were killed and hundreds of others forced to flee toward the Mount Mandara near the Cameroon border.

    Survivors said there were no soldiers in the town to defend them when the militants attacked before dawn, adding that the gunmen destroyed the residence of the town’s emir as well as several other buildings.

    “I cannot tell the exact number of people that were killed. Before I fled, over 100 corpses littered the streets of Gwoza,” Ngosha said.

    The attack on Gwoza town came only a few weeks after the militants seized Damboa, also in the Borno State.

    The notorious Takfiri group has repeatedly targeted Nigerian civilians, mostly in Borno, killing more than 2,000 civilians since January.

    On April 14, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 students from their secondary school in the town of Chibok in Borno. Reports say 57 of the girls managed to escape, but 219 are still believed to be in captivity, and international efforts to locate and rescue them have failed so far.

  • The pains of Kano

    The pains of Kano



    The time seems right for all and sundry to realize that the flow of information from one end to another in Nigeria and even the world at large is not in any way balanced. So too, it is a well known fact that bad news sell more, but the truth of the whole thing is that every state in Nigeria has her own portion of challenges to face; from armed robbery to hectic traffic, ritual killing, intricate lifestyles, kidnapping and various forms of gross immorality which are evenly distributed across. Painfully, we do not seem to see all of these but one, the most discussed on TV shows and the most published insurgency. Therefore, Chimamanda Adechie was definitely not wrong when she said that paying attention to one side of a story denies you the real picture of the whole story.

    Yet, we seem not to consider that fact of every state having her problems to contend with but if you say there is no challenge within your state, it simply means you are yet to identify some. Who would argue that five abducted by Boko Haram is worst compared to five who died in an auto crash on Benin — Ore expressway. The same as five taken into hostage in Niger-Delta and scores who died in a collapse building in Lagos or ten killed for rituals in Ogun or those who died in a fire outbreak in Oyo state. Human lives and state of emotional being are involved here. Then it makes you want to ask why the kettle would want to call pot black.

    Using Kano state for example, the state did face incessant attacks orchestrated by unscrupulous lazy elements who failed in their efforts to imperil her socio-economic. Yet, because the ancient city of many gates was attacked does not mean that the city exists no more or that human existence is now history. It may interest you to know that Kano state remains the Centre of Commerce that it has always been. The tons of watermelon, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, sugarcane for large-scale sugar production all of which come from Kano are still being produced and transported to other states in good qualities and quantities. You may be pleased to know that commerce in the state is struggling to remain on its feet because while some people are backing out some are venturing in.

    Perhaps, with the entry of the South African retailer, Shoprite, into Kano, it could not have been otherwise. Shoprite in Kano is having the first outlet in northern Nigeria, as part of an aggressive expansion drive, not heeding to widespread security challenges about the region. Interestingly, about $20 million (that is about N3.2billion) sunk into that project which now poses as Nigeria’s biggest. It is located in the new $110 million (about N17.6 billion) Ado Bayero Mall that took approximately three years to construct. Would any investor risk such a huge amount of money if the light at the end of the tunnel were not convincing enough? Therefore, I think it is everybody deciding what challenges to face according to where you choose to reside. This is because life its self is all about challenges, it only depends on the kind of challenge you want to face.

    Speaking with Kano State Sales Manager, Floor Mills Nigeria Limited, Abdul-Lateef Yusuf, he believes that the effect of insurgency has affected the inflow of people into Kano. “Population has a great impact on the commercial activities of Kano, being that the state is known for trading of all sorts of commodities.”

    Yusuf believes in the peace of Kano state and business strength. “If not for insurgency Kano is relatively better than South-South or South-West in terms of peace except in areas outside the state,” Yusuf recounted while speaking from the business angle. From his response, it was obvious that he expects things to get back to normal very soon and people feel more secured to live and do business in any part of Nigeria.

    Also speaking, Wole Ogunnaike, a Clergyman in Sabon Gari area of Kano State, gives an account from 1990 how he witnessed series of riots in the state including the Reinhard Bonnke’s riot of 1991.

    He agreed that Kano has suffered from incessant attacks but was of the opinion that the state has always been able to recover from it all in a jiffy. Ogunnaike opined that life in Kano is not worst than it is elsewhere in Nigeria. His words, “The question people ask me each time I travelled down the South-West is, ‘How are you guys coping in Kano?’ and I also ask them, ‘How are you coping too?’ Then they say, ‘with what’ and I say, ‘with armed robbery, ritual killing, day-by-day stress from work and other road users? How are you coping with traffic in Lagos? How are you coping with immorality and all others?”

    Recently some folks who relocated into Abuja from Kano are now confused as to where is actually safe. I guess Lagos or Port Harcourt would be their next choice of safe haven. However beautiful these places may seem, the kind of life lived in these said places is what a United Kingdom based Foundation, Walk Free Foundation, described in its 2013 Global Slavery Index as Modern day Slavery. A lifestyle where people hardly have time to attend to personal, marital and/or family issues due to the amount of hours spent on the road all on official duties. Painfully, Nigeria was mentioned among the Nations with highest indices alongside China, Pakistan, Mauritania, India, etc. I guess it is ok that Nigerians react to insurgency (which is almost normal in some other countries) in this manner because it is completely strange to both our cultural values and religious beliefs. Suicide killing is not a part of us and should be shunned completely.

    One thing that might interest you about the ancient city of many gates is the fact that Rabi’u Musa Kwankwanso, the Executive Governor of the state is currently equipping tertiary institutions within the state with up-to-date facilities in addition to granting indigenes free education up to university level while non-indigenes too are being encouraged to study in the state. To confirm the quality of education in Kano state, Micah Bamidele, a 300L Mechanical Engineering student of Kano State University of Technology, KSUT describes his academic experience in KSUT has quite eventful. Having witnessed several riots in Kano, he thinks insurgency just as riots are too often in Kano.

    Bamidele is although an indigene of Kogi state, but was born and bred in Kano State and now considers Kano a second home. He says, “Regardless of the tribalism and religious sentiments, educational standard in Kano is superb.” Bamidele has spent some time at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State in an effort to secure academic admission but he prefers to study at Kano State University of Technology. He further advised youths from all across Nigeria to consider studying in Kano.

    Impressively, the Red Cap governor has concerned himself also with training and retraining of Teachers at primary and secondary school levels. He is indeed a lover of education. There is however no denial that some people may have fled due to the incidents yet some other people are trooping in. I bet you that life in Kano is as normal as it could be everywhere else. I cannot wait to see Kano come to glory again.

  • Fed Govt position on Boko Haram? Why, it’s guesswork all the way

    Fed Govt position on Boko Haram? Why, it’s guesswork all the way

    The Council of State will not be the first body to set a deadline of sorts for ending the Boko Haram menace. The police, military and President Goodluck Jonathan himself had before this latest surge of enthusiasm set their own deadlines, all of them assured that the sect would be vanquished on a given date. They have all been spectacularly wrong, of course, with Boko Haram repeatedly putting the noses of these casual soothsayers out of joint. But refusing to be discomfited by the failure of past soothsayers, the council has suggested that everything would be done to end the Boko Haram insurgency by December, some four or five from now.

    Addressing the press in company with a few other governors and top security officers on July 31, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State suggested: “So, all the things came to the fore at the meeting and subsequently, each of us made it a deliberate resolution not to be bi-partisan or non-partisan, to support the President to make sure that we get rid of this insurgency and indeed suggesting that this should happen before December.” Why the governor and his colleagues, and indeed the entire council itself, do not realise the implication of setting a date is hard to fathom. Surely they must understand that the benefit of inspiring the public with unguarded optimism is less harmful than setting a date and Boko Haram provocatively exposing their impotence. Well, they have set a date; they must head to the guillotine and lose their heads or return with the heads of the Jacobins by December.

    But what is even more troubling about the Council of State resolution is this wisecrack from Governor Aliyu: “We must understand the boundaries of leadership and also the responsibilities that are involved. Leadership is not about beauty contest. In leadership, you must take difficult decisions and really go about implementing them.” The governor is nearly right. It is true that leadership has its responsibilities, and often these call for the taking of difficult decisions. But the problem with governments in Nigeria, as virtually all of them in the council are guilty of, and President Jonathan is even guiltier of, is that often the so-called difficult decisions are nothing but unwise decisions. Public policy in Nigeria is replete with foolish decisions. In short both the president and governors have taken more unwise decisions than they have taken difficult decisions.

    Take for instance the so-called difficult decision that confronts President Jonathan on the Chibok abductions. The president has at various times, and depending on his audience, minced his words, hesitated or despaired. Less than two weeks ago, newspapers quoted him voicing out his dilemma on that unsavoury topic of abductions. He argued he was unsure what to do; for whether he swapped the girls, and was accused of setting a dangerous precedent, or he attacked the girls’ captors, and was accused of reckless endangerment, he was certain to be damned. It appeared to mean he was more comfortable perching on the safe horns of a dilemma than deciding one way or the other what options he could live with. Alas, but almost certainly not finally, the president has for the umpteenth time conceded he had begun negotiating with Boko Haram through third parties. He had perished the inadaptable Sri Lankan ‘Total War’ strategy, which he briefly toyed with, and any other strategy for that matter.

    What is now clear is that whatever strategy would be found to resolve the Chibok abductions and end the Boko Haram war would come as a result of the president’s considerable fumbling and wobbling. There will be no scientific or rational plan to end the war, thus rendering the Council of State’s timetable capricious, insulting and provocative. Success cannot be ruled out, but it would be undeserving and probably against the run of play. Indeed, the remarks made by governors and state officials after the meeting raised more apprehension than it resolved fears. It became obvious why the country is misgoverned, and more especially why the president, upon whom officials doted and fawned, has become increasingly tyrannical.

    It is on occasions such as this, when the president seems to have his way without the restraining voice, conscience or remonstrances of the Council of State, that Nigerians appreciate the gratuitous rebuke past leaders like Chief Obasanjo and Gen Muhammadu Buhari sometimes hurl at Dr Jonathan. Rebuke is clearly not enough, as the mismanaged Boko Haram menace shows, but it can amount to something if politicians recognise the danger of supporting the president only because he appears to be punishing their regional or state enemies. It is also significant that Gen Buhari and Chief Obasanjo excused themselves from the meeting. They did not indicate why they were absent, whether inadvertently or deliberately. But their absence was significant. There are sadly too many members of the Council of State who can’t look the vengeful Dr Jonathan in the face and tell him he is wrong or insensitive. Nor, apparently was there any former president in last week’s council meeting able to tell the president he had misplaced his priorities and was leading the country down the blind alley of arbitrary rule.

    The president often encourages himself that the Boko Haram menace would soon end. He is right. Whatever has a beginning must end one day. But the fact is that he has done precious little to end the war or to even limit the sufferings the victims and the economy are enduring. Since he inherited the insurgency, the only seemingly bright idea he had brought into it is to set up the victims support fund, which some days ago raised the implausibly high figure of nearly N60bn. But both the fund and the amount raised pose two disturbing questions. To raise such a staggering amount, even in the cause of public good, should make economy watchers and tax analysts ponder just what kind of economic structure we run, and just how proficiently the system compels philanthropists to respect their obligations.

    Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it is incredible that to fulfill its obligations to society, especially in emergencies and great moments of national distress, the government has often relied on the public-spiritedness of the rich segment of the society. Both in the great flood of 2012 and in the current insurgency, the Jonathan government has relied almost exclusively on donations, some of which are not even honoured, thus giving the impression of governmental benevolence. Rather than put legislation in place to compensate victims of terrorism as other societies do, the government has nothing in place to recompense the public for government’s failure to perform its constitutional duties of protecting citizens. This is why in Abuja and elsewhere, victims of terrorism find themselves lacking the funds to access the right medical care, even after the president or governor had visited and given empty promises. The government has no business organising charity for its people. That should be left to individuals, private organisations and NGOs.

    The country yearns for a concise and possibly multifaceted approach to quelling the insurgency. The strategy should include the speedy rescue of the girls from Boko Haram captivity, a captivity that has blighted the country’s image and sullied the reputation of the president himself. It should also include caring for victims of terrorism at government expense, while not ignoring victims who have become internally displaced or have become refugees in Chad and other countries. It should also crucially include understanding the issues that predispose the country to insurgency and shape its responses, as well as finding panaceas for present and long term challenges, a task that appears beyond this divisive and insular government. In fact at the moment, the Jonathan government has approached the insurgency and other threats to national security with all the desultoriness it can manage, with all the guesswork at its disposal, and with such abject half-heartedness that nearly everyone is left with the impression the government is profiting from the misery of the people.

  • Ebola on my mind

    With Boko Haram rampaging in the north of the nation and the Ebola plague threatening to get a foothold in the south, the doomsday prediction about the Nubian’s last sigh is beginning to look like some divinely ordained soothsaying. No nation has been able to survive the impossible combination of natural and man-made calamities. If a nation must survive a plague, it must have good leaders and if a nation already suffers from a political plague it must not add a natural plague to its list of calamities.

    It was Manuel Castells, the great Spanish-American sociologist, who once dubbed AIDs, the Ebola virus, leprosy and other pestilential afflictions which have turned sub-Saharan Africa into a human hellhole as “epidemics of dereliction”. It is a haunting metaphor, and anybody who has seen how these scourges strip the human body of its last shred of honour and integrity must know what it means.

    But it does seem as if there are epidemics and there are epidemics. If natural epidemics waste the human body, what happens in a situation where the state is so stripped of its honour and integrity as to become an institutional derelict? An epidemic of state dereliction?  What then happen when in the same nation-space you have an epidemic of dereliction, that is natural calamity, combining with an epidemic of state dereliction, which is man-made catastrophe? Something new always comes out of Africa indeed.

  • Sovereignty of Nigeria will not be compromised – Jonathan

    Sovereignty of Nigeria will not be compromised – Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday that Nigeria will not compromise its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of current security challenges.

    Jonathan, who was represented by the Minister of Defence, Gen. Aliyu Gusau, said this at the graduation ceremony of Course 22 Participants of the National Defence College (NDC) in Abuja.

    He said that government had x-rayed the fletching position and environment of terrorism in the country because of its extreme destructive and socio-economic impact.

    Consequently, he said government had initiated a number of programmes and dedicated platform to the suffering of the people in the aid recovery.

    “We have made some gains against the adversary, we face an unspeakable evil and we must confront it with all our national endowment.

    “As government we will not compromise the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria and we will not allow the authority of Nigerian state to be challenged.

    “Education is a human right which is invaluable transformational value and is the basis of our developmental progress.

    “We shall not give up that right for some faceless, misguided and self-styled people using the means of terror,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the President as saying at the forum.

    Jonathan said that the government was evolving a broad base national security strategy anchored on the holistic wellbeing of the Nigerian people.

    “We will actively promote and hold on to societal goal and security that optimise our collective national strength.’’

    He, therefore, called on all Nigerians across partisan, ethnic, religious and cultural divide to close ranks with government to end insurgency, saying “there is no challenge that can divide the collective will of Nigerians.”

    “May I also use this opportunity to assure all Nigerians that we are committed to bringing back the Chibok girls alive,’’ Jonathan declared.

     

  • Special Forces to battle Boko Haram

    Special Forces to battle Boko Haram

    Special Forces have been deployed in Gwoza, a Borno State town, where Boko Haram killed scores of residents.

    The Special Forces, numbering about 600, have reclaimed Damboa, Manga, Wanga, Delwa and Mustafari from the insurgents who hoisted their flags in some of the towns.

    There were indications last night that Emir of Gwoza Muhammed Timta might have been relocated to Maiduguri, the state capital.

    A statement by Director of Defence Information Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade said troops were already involved in fierce encounters to apprehend terrorists who had held Gwoza and its surrounding villages hostage.

    The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said: “Special Forces in the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign have cleared Delwa, Mustafari, Manga, Wanga and Damboa of terrorists who have been rampaging in the communities.

    “The special operation, which began early in the week, is meant to restore law and order to the area and apprehend all terrorists who have been operating in the locality.

    “The operation, which has so far lasted 40 hours has dove-tailed into the mop up phase during which the remnants of insurgents are being cleared from the communities.

    “The mop up phase will also ascertain the casualties as additional efforts are also been made to ensure the protection of innocent civilians during the operation.

    “Meanwhile, troops are also involved in manoeuvres to apprehend terrorists who have been attacking Gwoza and surrounding localities since Tuesday, causing the death of many civilians.”

    A military source added: “The battle in Gwoza is fierce because the Special Forces have been pursuing the Boko Haram members to the hills in the area. Their efforts are complemented by massive aerial bombardments.

    “Certainly, it will be a battle to the finish this time around with the insurgents in the affected areas.

    “They have almost taken over a quarter of Borno State; we will never cede any part of Nigeria to the insurgents.”

    It was gathered last night that the Emir of Gwoza was relocated to Maiduguri to avoid a repeat of the killing of his father, the late Emir Idrissa Timta in May.

  • Boko Haram takes over Yobe military camps

    Boko Haram takes over Yobe military camps

    Some military camps in Buni Yadi, Buni Gari and Goniri in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State have been seized by Boko Haram insurgents, residents said yesterday.

    The bombing of the Katarko Bridge by the insurgents has cut off vehicular and human movement   between Buni Yadi and Damaturu, the state capital.

    It was gathered that residents  who defy the odds to travel in the area break their journeys at Katarko and cross the River Katarko to join a vehicle to Buni Yadi or Buni Gari.

    Adamu Saleh(not real name), who rode on a bicycle to Damaturu, said Boko Haram insurgents move freely in the area, brandishing their weapons.

    He said the insurgents occupied locations that were previously manned by the military.

    “I am just coming from Buni Yadi. I came with my bicycle all the way to this place. I did not use any bush path. I followed the main road.

    “We are facing a very terrible situation. There is no single security in our area. The same in Buni Gari and Goniri. In fact, the boys ( yaara, in Hausa, referring to Boko Haram) have taken over the military camps,” the man said.

    A top security source who does not want to be named because he is not allowed to talk to the media, said: “It is not a secret any longer that our forces are no longer in Buni Yadi, Buni Gari and Goniri. We only have our troops at Katarko.”

    Katarko is 22km from Damaturu and 34km from Buni Yadi.

    Residents of Gujba and Gulani have called on the Yobe State Government to rebuild the bridge.

    It was gathered that officials of the Ministry of Works, who assessed the bridge, narrowly escaped death in the hands of the insurgents who opened fire on them.

    In neighbouring Northern Cameroon, attacks carried out by suspected Boko Haram members on Wednesday killed 20 people, including 10 traders in Zigague village, an army officer told Chinese News Agency Xinhua yesterday.

    Colonel Didier Badjeck, head of Communication at the Defence Ministry, said the attackers had a cross fire with the Cameroon forces.

    “The attackers have been forced back. On their way of retreat, they attacked a bus, killing 10 people in the bus, including one soldier from Cameroon’s Rapid Intervention Batallion,” Badjeck said, adding that the attackers raided the bus for revenge.

    Last month, hundreds of heavily armed men invaded the same region, killing 15 people.

  • Boko Haram takes over Yobe military camps

    Boko Haram takes over Yobe military camps

    Some military camps in Buni Yadi, Buni Gari and Goniri in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State have been allegedly occupied by Boko Haram insurgents, residents said.

    The bombing of the Katarko Bridge by the insurgents has also temporarily cut-off both vehicular and human movement  between Buni Yadi and Damaturu, the state capital.

    Investigation gathered by The Nation revelas that  daring travellers to the danger zone now have to break their journeys at Katarko and cross over River Katarko to join a waiting vehicle to Buni Yadi or Buni Gari and vice versa.

    Adamu Saleh(not real name) who rode on a bicycle to Damaturu told The Nation that Boko Haram insurgents now move freely in the area brandishing their guns and weapons.

    He also informed that the insurgents are now occupying locations that were previously manned by military in the areas.

    “I am just coming from Buni Yadi. I came with my bicycle all the way to this place. I did not use any bush path. I followed the main road.

    “We are facing a very terrible situation. There is no single security in our area. The same in Buni Gari and Goniri. In fact the boys (yaara in Hausa referring to Boko Haram) taken over the military camps in the areas.

    A top security source who craved anonymity said, “it is not a secret any longer that our forces are no longer in Buni Yadi, Buni Gari and Goniri. We only have our troops at Katarko.

    Katarko is 22km from Damaturu and 34km from Buni Yadi.

    Residents of Gujba and Gulani are calling on the Yobe State Government to as a matter of urgency reconstruct the  bridge blown off by the insurgents.

    Meanwhile, it was gathered that officials of the state Ministry of Works who were on a damage assessment of the bridge narrowly escaped death in the hands of the insurgents who opened fire on them.