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Tag: boko haram

  • Suspected Boko Haram raid kills 10 in Cameroon

    Suspected members of the Boko Haramb sect on Wednesday killed 10 people and kidnapped one in a raid on Zigague, a village in remote northern part of Cameroon, state radio said.

    The heavily armed gunmen arrived in a pick-up truck and on motorcycles at around 2pm local time (1300 GMT) and stormed the house of a local chief, kidnapping one of his children and stealing a car, an army commander told state radio.

    “On their way back, they came face-to-face with Cameroonian soldiers but succeeded in shooting to death nine villagers and a soldier of the Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR),” Albert Mekondane Obounou, senior divisional officer for the Logone and Chari region, told state radio.

    Reuters reports that Cameroon has introduced measures to increase security on its long jungle border with Nigeria, deploying more than 1,000 soldiers, but has failed to stop Boko Haram raids.

    President Paul Biya dismissed two senior army officers last month following Boko Haram attacks in which at least seven people were killed and the wife of the vice prime minister was kidnapped.

  • Boko Haram attacks Borno as ‘butcher’ recounts killings

    Boko Haram attacks Borno as ‘butcher’ recounts killings

    Boko Haram Chief Butcher, Zakari Mohammed Ardo, has said that he slaughtered “only five people” while operating with his fellow sect members.

    Ardo, who  was yesterday paraded before reporters at a police facility in Abuja, said it took him two minutes to slaughter a human victim marked for the slab.

    The suspect said he was the leader of a five-man team of butchers. According to him, the four other members pinned the victim down while he cut the throat.

    The 30-year-old suspect, who spoke to reporters through an interpreter (he spoke in Kanuri) said he joined Boko Haram in 2012 and operated with the sect until his arrest on July 12, 2014.

    Zakari Mohemmed was arrested by the police along Darazo-Basrika road, Bauchi while fleeing from the Balmo Forest.

    He has since been under arrest until news filtered in at the weekend that he had escaped from police custody.

    Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba said the police authorities decided to parade the suspect to debunk reports of his purported escape.

    According to him, the suspect was still being interrogated and investigated.

    Boko Haram attacked Gwoza town in southern part of Borno State yeaterday, killing scores of people.

    The town’s police station, two churches, the local government secretariat and some other buildings were burnt down by the invading insurgents who shot indiscriminately in the down onslaught. The town is 135 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.

    A resident of the town Yahaya Mbursa recounted attack when he spoke with reporters yesterday. He said after setting the churches on fire and snatching unspecified number of vehicles at the Motor Park near the burnt police station, they fled into the hill tops of Mandara Mountains and the Sambisa Forest.

    “The Boko Haram dawn attacks were very shocking and terrifying. The gunmen burst into this town through the mountain tops and western forest of Sambisa. Some of the residents had to flee into nearby bushes and the hills, near this market square.

    “I cannot tell you the exact number of people killed yesterday while fleeing, but about a dozen were shot dead,” he said.

    Another source in the town said: “We had to run for our dear lives when the gunmen attacked the motor park and warned us not to panic but surrender all the vehicles; including the ones being loaded with passengers.” He added that they took many vehicles away.

    A former Vice-Chairman of Gwoza local government  Mr. Francis Mbala, confirmed the attack.

    Military sources in Maiduguri to ld reporters that that troops in the Bama-Gwoza axis and the ones in Damboa town and Bulabulin Ngarwa village in Borno state, were on Special Military Operations against insurgents.

    “The insurgents are on the rampage, as they have no any other place to hide now, other than to attack vulnerable towns and villages near the

    Mountain tops and Sambisa Forest,” the military source, said because he is not authorised to speak to reporters.

  • Jonathan pushes for more action against Boko Haram, others

    Jonathan pushes for more action against Boko Haram, others

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday called for more effective global action and implementation of all existing international protocols against terrorism and violent extremism, including Boko Haram in Nigeria.

    He made the call, according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, while presenting Nigeria’s statement to the ongoing United States-African Leaders Summit in Washington DC.

    Jonathan also demanded for a more effective international sanctions regime against countries, organisations and individuals that sponsor terrorism in any part of the world.

    He observed that some of the security problems now faced by Nigeria and other African countries were transnational in scope and could not therefore be solved by any country acting alone.

    Because terrorism, piracy and transnational organised crimes have become global in scope, he said that greater regional and international collaboration was needed to combat them.

    He said: “Several African countries, including Nigeria, are now challenged by terrorism and violent extremism.  For several countries in the continent, terrorism has become a real threat to social progress, peace and security.

    “The violent and criminal activities of Boko Haram in my country have captured the world’s attention.  This has been especially so since the terrorist group abducted some girls from their school dormitory in the North-Eastern Nigeria in April.

    “Nigeria may be the epicentre of Boko Haram terrorist activities at the moment, but its affiliation with international terrorist networks, dramatically increases its capacity and reach beyond Nigeria’s borders.

    “Nigeria is doing everything possible to combat Boko Haram and violent extremism. While we continue to enhance our intelligence and military capacities, we are, at the same time, working on political and socio-economic solutions. We are also building partnerships, both at the regional and international levels, to combat the threat posed by terrorism in our sub-region.”

    He went on: “In this enterprise, we are pleased to acknowledge the supportive role of the United States.  The assistance that we continue to receive from the U.S and our other international partners is proof indeed that partnership can multiply our strengths in addressing common challenges.”

    “We call for an effective international sanctions regime that would hold accountable any country, institutions and individual that finances terrorism.”

  • Little girls as weapons of terror?

    Little girls as weapons of terror?

    On January 27, 2002, Palestinian anti-Israeli occupation activist, WafaIdriss, became the first female suicide bomber of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when she boldly walked into a shopping district on Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road and blew herself up in the heart of the City.

    The bomb killed Idris, an Israeli citizen, and wounded approximately ninety people. Since then, Martyrs Brigade in Palestine has conducted series of successful bombing martyrdom operations with young females against Israel.

    Though the first case of female suicide bombing date back to the 1980s, and since then female martyrs have taken the initiative from the male folk, they have successfully executed suicide bombings in Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Sudan among others. Female predatory martyrs can bedaring: they have assassinated an ex-prime minister of India, ripped apart markets in Jerusalem and brought Moscow to its knees. They have sunk many, across the globe, beneath a tidal wave of grief.

    Islamic Jihadists in Nigeria have joined the global terror trend. It is an increasingly disquieting and disturbing twist to the war against terror. Boko Haram has adopted the Palestinian model of Jihadism in its recruitment of teenagers and little girls as suicide bombers in crowded places. According to the information gleaned from the media, the latest move by the extremist sect to rain terror on Nigeria prompted the leaders of Boko Haram to recruit and train teenage girls for suicide missions in parts of northern Nigeria.This in itself will prove to be another tough battle for the Nigerian security operatives– one that’s much more difficult to combat.

    These girls have drifted from the naiveté and demureness of their age group to the savagery of rebels. The perplexing rise of homicide-bombersis attributable to a culture of the glorification of martyrdoms in terrorist groups. Radical mothers are encouraged to compel their children to enlist in the struggle against the enemies of the nation of Islam and die as martyrs for the name of Allah. But it appears they are definitely not the leaders in their organisations, but serve as mere pawns and sacrificial lambs.

    These terrorist organisations use girls (adult and children alike) because theyare quite easier to work with in terms of planning and low cost. In relation to their low social status in some societies, they are considered expendable, willing casualty of the latest Jihadi trend. More so, women are emotional and easier to indoctrinate. When a human bomb mission is accomplished, it attracts higher shock value and more media coverage if it involves a female martyr.They have earned the dubious distinction of appearing more newsworthy than their male counterparts. But stressing these unique capabilities, women make up to 65 percent of all assassinations among groups that use female suicide terrorists. As a motivating factor, suicide-homicideis perceived as a way to achieve equal social status with men.

    Nigerian security agents should be on top of their game – not just the clichéd on top of the situation – as this gender of suicide bombers sometimes disguise with faux pregnancies and breast implants, fitted with explosive devices which are nearly impossible to detect at security checkpoints since traditional female garb, such as the hijab, are used to conceal them. The threat female suicide bombers pose is another dimension to the evolving tactics of terrorist groups, the most daunting yet for our security operatives.The dexterity and knack of the sect has proved challengingand light years ahead of security operative’s effort to stop them.

    The arrestof a 10-year-old female suicide bomber in Katsina State by security forces and recent suicide bombings by teenage girls has heightened fears that the abducted Chibok girls are being indoctrinated and conscripted to carry out terrorist attacks. Some years down the road, we will have a much bigger problem on our hands with the radicalisation of these children. The recruitment of little girls as suicide bombers raises the all-important question of parenting, such as: Who are their parents? How were they conscripted into terrorism? Were they fully aware that they were going to be martyrs in the process of killing others?

    There is the apprehension also that if the abducted Chibok girls could be forcefully converted to Islam by Abubakar Shekau as explicitly revealed in his video, there’s nothing stopping him from using them as pawns to detonate bombs in public places. Some analysts believe there is a nexus between the new trend of deploying female teens as suicide bombers by Boko Haram and the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls from Borno State.

    It is only a matter of time before the lid blows open. Recent intelligence reports reveal that some of these bombers who had carried out terrorist attacks might have been unaware that they were being strapped with deadly explosives. This writer will not pander to the conjecture that the bombers were beggars who were banished to the outskirts of Kano when the state government rid the state of street beggars. Such insinuation wrapped up in propaganda as ‘intelligence report’ might just be another ploy by the PDP led government at the centre to indict and witch-hunt the APC Kano government. The possibility that the female suicide bombers might be the indoctrinated and brainwashed wives and children of slain or arrested members of the Islamic sect who intend to take revenge on behalf of their husbands (or loved ones) is a probable presumption. We can’t rule out the possibility as well, thatsome of these martyrs may be entirely new recruits from neighbouring countries.

    We aren’t worried just because females have taken to the front lines in the festering Boko Haram insurgency but it is the use of teens and little girls that makes the trend disturbing. The 10-year-old girl strapped with explosives in Katsina but fortunately intercepted by eagle-eyed security operatives, barely knew how lethal the explosives she was wearing below her hijab was.The narrative might be the same for the others who have become Jihad’s cheapest weapon.

     

     

    Please follow the writer on twitter, @tilevbare.

  • Who is afraid of General Muhammadu Buhari?

    Who is afraid of General Muhammadu Buhari?

    The attempt to snuff life out of one of Nigeria’s most revered former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, in a fiendish operation which would have passed for a routine Boko Haram attack, would have thrown Nigeria in turmoil of unimaginable proportions as President Jonathan submitted days ago.

    The failed “assassination attempt” as Buhari tagged it, may not be unconnected with the grand plot to silence the opposition. This is coming on the heels of the impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state and the tightening of impeachment noose around Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa state before he was cleared of charges against him yesterday.

    Clearly, the shades of the varying scope of operation to hunt down those who pose a threat to the present government as enshrined in the alleged sniper’s list former President Olusegun Obasanjo divulged in his missive is being made manifest.

    Surely, the mere knowledge of an alleged sniper’s list should be instructive to the opposition party leaders.Impeaching opposition Governors one after the other, it now appears, is part of the grand scheme.

    To underscore the gruesome motive of the perpetrators, eyewitness accounts said the bomb-laden car single-mindedly targeted the vehicle conveying the APC chieftain to Daura, his ancestral home from Kaduna. It hit target but the bulletproof construction of the SUV ensured the General escaped death by the whiskers. To the ‘terrorists’, they came agonisingly close.

    How can we forget retired General Muhammadu Mamman Shuwa? In November 2012, the civil war veteran was killed in cold blood by unknown gunmen in his Maiduguri home yards away from soldiers idling away in enforcement of law and order. Boko Haram, the usual suspects were fingered. Had Buhari suffered a similar fate, the perpetrators would use the sect to divert attention from the perpetrators.

    The PDP have sold a dummy to Nigerians for too long that the sponsors of terror were members of the opposition, All Progressive Congress (APC), but this attack have vindicated the much maligned progressives. Buhari has openly challenged those who accuse him of religious fundamentalism to come out and show proof. No one till this day has any clue.

    Forirredentists, who think the attack on Buhari’s life was stage-managed, let them continue to stew in their bitterness and wallow in their chutzpah. Same people who peddle such falsehood of a self-masterminded attack won’t roam within a metre radius of a spot of a bomb scare. Any reasonable Nigerian will acknowledge the risk in masterminding such an attack as the probability that it could spiral out of control is higher than its success.

    The political elite in the ruling party must truly be frightened by Buhari’s growing popularity ahead of the 2015 elections even though the media coverage on the General is frequently negative with unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations. It has rather won him more support from discerning Nigerians who cannot be misinformed or misled by needless propaganda.

    For his loyalists across the country, they can boldly say of him, “All I need from Buhari is his word I can take it to the bank.”Such is the cult-like following that Gen. Buhari wields that he need not rent a crowd, or share rice to garner support.

    This is because of his glowing and incorruptible antecedents.Very few people in this country will occupy the number one position to live a modest and Spartan life afterwards like him. He occupied lofty positions like the Governor of the defunct North-Eastern State of Nigeria, Head of State, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and Chairman of NNPC, Chairman of Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF).

    He could easily be one of Nigeria’s wealthiest politicians with oil blocs to boot because he birthed and supervised the establishment of our existing refineries. Today, we import 70 per cent of the fuel we use because those after him have literally crippled the refineries. He could have retired into stupendous opulence like the Danjumas, Obasanjos, and Abachas of this world. But Buhari bucked the trend and chose the honourable path.

    His detractors and traducers are uncomfortable with him around the political scene. Maybe he scares them with his incorruptible, uncompromising, sober, painstaking personae he exudes; his intolerance of impropriety – a major fault of the privileged political elite – scares them. He is everything they are not.

    There have been various attempts to erode the electoral value of a man who has validated his cast iron reputation for accountability and transparency coming out unscathed from probes regarding his tenure as Chairman of PTF. And as Buhari’s staunch loyalist in Mallam Nasir el-Rufai posited that his antagonists “have changed our politics into that of ethnicity and religion to divert attention from their incompetence, lack of capacity and looting of the treasury… PDP is scared of Buhari’s integrity and his track record of doing the right thing and ensuring that people are brought to justice when they break the law. They are afraid of that day when he will become President.”

    With the failed attempt to take General Buhari’s life, the burgeoning army of opposition against the General of impeccable integrity would now sit back, maybe have a rethink, recall their foot soldiers masked in the toga of Jihadists cutting short the lives of “infidels” they see as living corpses.

    In the 2011 presidential elections, the man they hate to see even in their dreams, got over 12 million votes with a party that was formed barely 10 months to the election without the support structure and votes a state Governor or even a Local Government chairman would have brought into the party. He had no war chest or federal might to manipulate voters and electoral officers, a trick the PDP has perfected over the years. But Buhari’s enormous star power earned him a couple of senators and a state governor after the elections. It won’t take a political scientist, a Nostradamus or some prophetic unction to work the numbers in votes the General will pull in 2015 with the 15 Governors in the APC fold!

    Those who plotted the dastardly act are enemies of Nigeria, they neither seek its prosperity nor tranquilitybut thrive and profit from the chaos, bloodshed and colossal sleaze. They are afraid of the intimidating profile of the former Head of State and his acolytes in the opposition party.

    Whoever wanted Buhari dead has made a super hero of him. Of all the reasons why Buhari was wanted dead, the 2015 general elections keep popping out of every possibility and conspiracy theory. Inadvertently, they only succeeded in raising his popularity meter. With the overwhelming outpouring of emotion and support, the retired General has reaffirmed his status as a political heavyweight and gladiator who remains a top contender for next year’s general elections.

     

    Please follow the writer on twitter, @tilevbare.

  • Female bombers?

    Female bombers?

    •Nigeria’s terror campaign has entered a new dimension

    The insurgency spearheaded by the militant Islamic group Boko Haram has entered an even more terrifying dimension with the appearance of female suicide bombers. In Kano, two young women detonated bombs at a Catholic church and a fuel station, killing themselves and several others in the process. They were aged 15 and 19 years, respectively. Also, a 10-year-old girl with an explosives belt attached to her was apprehended in the company of two men suspected to be Boko Haram militants on their way to Katsina State.

    The utilisation of young females as suicide bombers is a sobering realisation of the exact nature of the threat the Nigerian state is confronting. It can clearly be seen that Boko Haram’s tactics are evolving as its campaign of terror and intimidation spreads. First, there were the armed attacks and bombings of symbols of federal authority, such as police stations and military barracks; then there were the assaults on western educational institutions, followed by the mass murders and abductions of civilians. As its baleful influence has spread, the group has now taken to the act of claiming territory by raising its flag in areas it perceives as being under its control.

    The murderous activities of this group have involved a variety of methods: planting bombs in stationary vehicles or refuse dumps; ramming bomb-laden vehicles into buildings and checkpoints; using male suicide bombers with explosive belts.

    The utilisation of young female suicide bombers is an obvious response to increased security awareness and improved surveillance methods which have made it harder for male operatives to carry out their evil purpose. Young women are generally seen as less threatening, and their ability to wear the all-enclosing burka and hijab makes it easier to shroud their identities and conceal their deadly cargo.

    It is still difficult for many Nigerians to understand how anybody, much less young women, can willingly accept to kill themselves for a cause, no matter how noble it may seem to be. However, when it is realised that Boko Haram may in fact be tapping into an already-established tradition of terror, much of this mystification disappears. There are allegations that the insurgents may have entered into a strategic alliance with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on training and the procurement of weapons. It is very likely that the methods of indoctrination used by the former on its own suicide bombers are being used to brainwash Nigerians.

    Already, there are speculations that the girls abducted in Chibok last April are either being readied for suicide bombings or have even been deployed in the next phase of Boko Haram’s campaign. Regardless of whether it is true or not, the possibility is too terrible to contemplate, and is yet another reason why the Federal Government must step up its efforts to rescue them. They have endured captivity for over three months; that is long enough for some to have succumbed to the blandishments of their captors.

    The evolution of the terrorists’ tactics is also a stark warning that Nigeria’s anti-insurgency operatives cannot afford to rest on their oars. This is a battle for hearts and minds, and as such, must be fought on multiple levels. Greater educational, employment and political opportunities must be provided for youths in the north-east to wean them away from the insurgents. Increased intelligence-gathering must be utilised in understanding insurgent strategies, anticipating attacks and identifying their bases. More efforts should be made in tracing the terrorists’ sources of funding and exposing those who are behind them.

    Above all, Nigerians must accept the battle against terror as their own and unite to fight it. Making baseless accusations against political opponents will not solve the problem, and will in fact embolden those who seek to use terror as an instrument of political policy.

     

  • U.S. planes spot girls in Northeast village

    U.S. planes spot girls in Northeast village

    Recent United States (U.S.) surveillance flights over northeastern Nigeria showed what appeared to be large groups of girls held together in remote locations, raising hopes among domestic and foreign officials that they are among the group that Boko Haram abducted from a boarding school in April, U.S. and Nigerian officials said.

    The surveillance suggests that at least some of the 219 schoolgirls still held captive haven’t been forced into marriage or sex slavery, as had been feared, but instead are being used as bargaining chips for the release of prisoners.

    The U.S. aerial imagery matches what Nigerian officials say they hear from northern Nigerians who have interacted with the Islamist insurgency: that some of Boko Haram’s most famous set of captives are getting special treatment, compared with the hundreds of other girls the group is suspected to have kidnapped.

    Boko Haram appears to have seen the schoolgirls as of higher value, given the global attention paid to their plight, those officials said.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces re-election in February, is under political pressure to secure the girls’ release, with some people urging him to agree to a prisoner swap.

    The government has ruled out a rescue operation, saying it is unwilling to risk the girls’ lives, or a prisoner swap.

    “We don’t exchange innocent people for criminals. That is not on the cards,” said spokesman Reuben Abati last week in an interview.

    In early July, U.S. surveillance flights over northeastern Nigeria spotted a group of 60 to 70 girls held in an open field, said two U.S. defence officials.

    Late last month, they spotted a set of roughly 40 girls in a different field.

    When surveillance flights returned, both sets of girls had been moved. U.S. intelligence analysts say they don’t have enough information to confirm whether the two groups of girls they saw are the same, they said.

    They also can’t say whether those groups included any of the schoolgirls the group has held since April. But U.S. and Nigerian officials said they believe they are indeed those schoolgirls.

    “It’s unusual to find a large group of young women like that in an open space,” said one U.S. defense official. “We’re assuming they’re not a rock band of hippies out there camping.”

    A wave of intermediaries acting on their own has tried to negotiate the girls’ release, Mr. Abati said, adding that the president has neither authorized nor discouraged those efforts.

    Several of those intermediaries have said Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has ordered his fighters to treat the girls as valuable hostages—not sex slaves—one senior Nigerian security adviser said.

    “He gave a directive that anybody found touching any of the girls should be killed immediately,” the adviser said. “If true, it is cheering.”

    It would also show that Boko Haram is trying to follow an al Qaeda tactic: swapping hostages for money and political gain.

    The group is accelerating its kidnapping of foreigners and politicians: Over the past two months, it has been blamed for abducting a German expatriate, 10 Chinese laborers in nearby Cameroon and the wife of Cameroon’s deputy prime minister.

    Boko Haram has used hostages in the past to demand the exchange of its prisoners held in both Nigeria and Cameroon, which was one of the conditions for the release of a French family from captivity last year.

    The international effort to find the girls has waned: The U.S. military is now carrying out just one surveillance flight a day, mostly by manned aircraft, totaling only 35 to 40 hours a week, said U.S. defence officials, as drones have been shifted back toward other operations.

    Some accounts suggest the burden of providing for scores of girls has become a point of dissension in Boko Haram’s ranks.

  • Security agencies probe Boko Haram’s ‘plan’ to have radio station

    Security agencies probe Boko Haram’s ‘plan’ to have radio station

    Security agencies are probing an alleged plan by Boko Haram to float a radio station.

    The moves by the sect to mount radio transmitters in Chad and Banki town have come under intelligence searchlight, The Nation has learnt.

    But the Defence Headquarters (DHQ)has ordered massive deployment of troops to Borno State to recapture Damboa, Bulabulin, Kreona and many towns and villages overran by the sect.

    The troops are to protect all roads and bridges linking the state capital and local governments.

    The military and security agencies had been inundated with information on “plans” by the insurgents to establish a Caliphate government in Damboa after hoisting some flags in the town.

    A highly-placed source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The DHQ has ordered massive redeployment of troops to Borno to secure Damboa, Bulabulin, Kreona and many towns and villages the insurgents had been invading.

    “For security reasons, I will not tell you when the troops will move into the affected areas but they are up to the task of routing out the insurgents.

    “We also got a lot of intelligence reports about their activities but we are probing all clues. We are investigating their alleged plot to establish a radio station with transmitters in Chad and Banki.

    There are speculations that Boko Haram plan to make Damboa its temporary capital before marching on Maiduguri and Damaturu.

    “But we have intercepted their plans; we will flush them out of all the towns and villages they have held hostage,” the source said.

    Responding to a question, the source added: “The Nigerian military will not cede a part of the nation’s territory to the insurgents. Their alleged threats to declare a Caliphate administration in Damboa will fail.

    “We will appeal to our citizens in the affected areas not to panic. The Nigerian military and security agencies will guarantee their security and safety.

    “We, however, urge these citizens to cooperate with the military and security agencies instead of bowing to the whims and caprices of the insurgents.”

    When contacted, the Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said: “It is not true that Boko Haram insurgents have dislodged troops from Damboa, Bulabulin, Krenoa and others.

    “We are on top of the situation. The military will not cede any part of our territory to the insurgents.”

  • Boko Haram: Military commits 600 extra-judicial killings, says Amnesty

    Boko Haram: Military commits 600 extra-judicial killings, says Amnesty

    •Report wrong, says DHQ

    The Amnesty International yesterday implicated the Nigerian military in the extra-judicial killing of over 600 in the North-East, especially Maiduguri and Bama.

    The AI also said it is in possession of video footage, images and testimonies to back up its claim.

    The organization also indicted the military for the killing of 33 people, including the children of a Shiite cleric, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, during a procession some days ago in Zaria.

    It demanded impartial and independent probe of extra-judicial executions in the country.

    But the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday faulted the findings of the AI.

    The AI however gave its verdict in a statement in Abuja on what appeared about a four-month survey of the North East.

    The statement said: “Gruesome video footage, images and testimonies gathered by Amnesty International provide fresh evidence of war crimes, including extrajudicial executions, and other serious human rights violations being carried out in North-Eastern Nigeria as the fight by the military against Boko Haram and other armed groups intensifies.

    “The footage, obtained from numerous sources during a recent trip to Borno state, reveals graphic evidence of multiple war crimes being carried out in Nigeria.

    “More than 4,000 people have been killed this year alone in the conflict by the Nigerian military and Boko Haram, including more than 600 extra-judicially executed following the Giwa Barracks attack on 14 March in Maiduguri.

    The Defence Headquarters yesterday faulted a report of the Amnesty International on alleged extra-judicial executions by troops the North-East, especially Borno State.

    It said the scenes depicted in the videos released by AI were alien to the operations and doctrines of the Nigerian military.

    It however said it has raised a team of legal and forensic experts to study the videos released by AI to identify those behind the executions.

    It vowed to take legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable in accordance with the provisions of the law.

    The Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, who made the clarifications in a statement in Abuja, said the Nigerian military cannot condone any action or inaction that tramples on the right to life of any Nigerian

    The statement said: “The Nigerian military takes the issue of Human Rights seriously and will never condone any proven case of abuse by its personnel. Military authorities are deeply concerned about the set of video footage being circulated and which unfortunately has also become reference data for Amnesty International in its report.

    “Much as the scenes depicted in these videos are alien to our operations and doctrines, it has to be investigated to ensure that such practices have not crept, surreptitiously into the system.

    “The Defence Headquarters considers these allegations too grievous to be associated with Nigerian troops, considering the doctrinal and operational contents of the training imparted to personnel on a continuous basis; emphasizing the importance of respect for Human Rights and dignity of human person as well as observance of humanitarian laws.

    “Notwithstanding the cases of impersonations that have pervaded the counter-terrorism operations in Nigeria and many other related issues which cast doubts on the claims made in the video, the military authorities view those grave allegations very seriously, more so as it borders on the integrity of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation, which must be sustained in the interest of our national survival.”

    The DHQ said a team of senior officers and legal cum forensic experts had been set up to probe the allegations and examine the videos with the AI.

    The statement added: “Consequently, the Defence Headquarters in addition to the already existing Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has constituted a team of senior officers and legal cum forensic experts to study the video footage and the resultant allegations of infractions in order to ascertain the veracity of the claims with a view to identifying those behind such acts.

    “ This will further determine and stimulate necessary legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable in accordance with the provisions of the law.

    “The Nigerian Armed Forces cannot condone any action or inaction that tramples on the right to life of any Nigerian.

    “The ultimate objective of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operation is the complete cessation of the heinous and barbaric activities of the terrorists and to stamp out every vestige of terrorism in our country with the application of international best practices in such operations.

    “It will therefore, be absurd for the Nigerian Armed Forces as an institution to perpetrate such unprofessional acts in the manner and level depicted in that video as alleged by Amnesty International.  Indeed, that level of barbarism and impunity has no place in the Nigerian military.

    “Respect for the sanctity of life is always boldly emphasized in our doctrinal trainings. It must thus be reiterated that the Nigerian military is a very well organized professional body of troops whose conducts in war and peace times are guided comprehensively by law.

    “The Armed Forces of Nigeria is conscious of the nation’s obligation to observe all rules, regulations and commitments in all activities, and wishes to reassure all Nigerians, the civil societies and the international community that it will not encourage or condone any form of human rights violation as depicted in the said video.”

     

     

  • We are living in troubled times

    SIR: Aren’t we living in troubled times in the geographical space called Nigeria? The Boko Haram insurgents are killing innocent people in the north-east of Nigeria in order to create an Islamic State there. Kidnappers and armed robbers are having a field’s day in some cities of Nigeria. Daily, millions of unemployed youths throng companies and government establishments searching for jobs. Truly, this is not the best of times for Nigeria and Nigerians. It is not the best time to be a Nigerian.

    But, our leaders are telling us that we have never had it so good like now, that today’s Nigeria is better than Nigeria of yester-years. So, the minister of finance does read out statistical gobblegook to prove that our economy has improved tremendously. But, millions of Nigerians are living below the poverty. And, about 10 million children of school ages are out of school because their parents cannot afford to keep them in schools.

    Besides, yearly, our universities churn out graduates who are pushed into the already saturated labour market. For all our economic prosperity, as espoused by our leaders, the government has not tackled the issue of unemployment effectively. An adage says that an idle hand is a devil’s workshop. The unemployed people constitute a ready pool from which Boko Haran recruits its foot soldiers and suicide bombers. And, most discontents in Nigeria who have taken to crime are unemployed people. There is always a connection between the high rate of criminal activities in Nigeria and our issue of unemployment.

    Now, Nigeria is racked with crimes.  Kidnappers are having a field day in some states in the south-east and south-south. Rich people are seized and they would not regain their freedoms until and unless they’ve paid ransom. There are incidences of armed robbery operations in the country. The rich live behind fortresses, and drive in bullet-proof cars. It is that bad.

    Now, the north is a hot-bed of terrorist activities. The Boko Haram insurgents control a large swathe of the north-east; and they’ve hoisted their flag in the Damboa town. They carry out their bloody and murderous operations in Abuja and other northern towns, too. Aren’t the people of the north under siege?  Until now, the federal government has not secured the release of the Chibok school girls who were abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents.

    But, the government’s responses to issues affecting us are tardy, uninspiring, and ineffective. It takes ages for the president to take a decision on an issue. The spectre of the outbreak of the dreaded Ebola disease looms over us. Given our porous borders, an infected foreigner can find his or her way into our country, and inadvertently infect our people with the Ebola virus.

    So, what is our country’s level of preparedness regarding how to tackle and contain the Ebola disease if we witness an outbreak of it in Nigeria?  The dysfunctionality of our health sector is obvious and disheartening. Well-heeled Nigerians travel to South Africa and India to receive treatment for minor ailments. Doctors in the government employ are always embarking on industrial action to press home their demands. In the past, our hospitals were referred to as consulting clinics; today, they’ve morphed to mortuaries where people go to die. Against this background, the outbreak of the Ebola disease will lead to the decimation of our population.

    So, we are really living in troubled times. But, our country’s future is a cause of anxiety and worry among Nigerians. The country is split along ethnic and religious lines. As the 2015 draws nearer, tension is mounting in the country.

    The Boko Haram insurgency, the issue of unemployment, our egregious variant of politics, and government’s ineptitude are factors that can trigger off conflict in the country. Indeed, we are living in troubled times.

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.