The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • ‘Our Girls’ ‘Mubi; Psychologists and terrorists; Political gifts; Federal might Vs State right

    ‘Our Girls’ ‘Mubi; Psychologists and terrorists; Political gifts; Federal might Vs State right

    Our Girls’ kidnapped in Chibok are still missing in action since April 15. The media reports show that there is far too much political hot air and malicious accusations across politics since the kidnap. All this political manoeuvring could be curtailed and concentrated towards ensuring the safe release of ‘Our Girls’. In spite of their abhorrence of ‘western education’ be sure that Boko Haram is reading the Nigerian press and must be laughing to their stomachs in the Sambisa Forest. The evil ones must be very happy with the altercation between the political parties. This is exactly what Boko Haram want –to fragment the polity. Just this last Sunday there was another bombing of a football viewing centre in Mubi, Adamawa claiming between 18 and 40 lives. The Nigerian public is sickened by the pettiness of cheap political gimmicks surrounding Boko Haram’s horrific activities. Certainly the terrible ‘Our Girls’ issue is a security and political issue. But more importantly, it is also a traumatic personal issue to all Nigerian families especially the parents. They will be daily disgusted by the disgraceful political bickering displayed in the media. We are ashamed and are shamed as a nation by these outbursts which must be stopped. This is the time for unity, one voice and one motive –to get ‘Our Girls’ back.

    The psychologists when they are employed in the military will tell us about the psychopathic and megalomaniacal profiles of the Boko Haram leadership and the meek and fearful or blackmailed or paid follower-ship willing to put on armed vest and blow themselves up for religious fanaticism or hatred of other people, their religion and even their tribe. Most fanatics you cannot change. They have to be dealt with, confronted and defeated militarily, socially and politically. Can they be negotiated with?

    Many Nigerians would really like to see any negotiation with someone who wants females to be treated like dirt, wants a ban on western education and has planned and executed the strategies which resulted in hundreds being blown up, shot and kidnapped. There are of course many other Boko Haram idle ‘follow-follow’, rent a crowd hangers-on with no ideology who will need reorientation, re-education. Our psychologists must plan and speak out now to prevent a bloody tomorrow from our youth by reducing the youth becoming terrorists and potential Boko Haram members tomorrow. How do we today take actions to reverse the train of events which creates a Boko haram person in the future? Current assessment results in the belief that Boko Haram is the result of a complex evil mix of place, lack of opportunity, background, political thugs declaring their independence of political masters, political failures, religious bigotry, western education failures, the Libyan war and weapons spilling into the Sahara and Sub-Sahara and the ready receptacle of social insignificance and political incompetence at LGA and State level where the millions meant for development, especially of the youth, are stolen every single month.

    Every effort must be made to make today’s’ path of youth development smooth so that they will not be attracted by the rumoured $3000 per recruit, or intimidation to join Boko Haram et cetera. He who steals from children and the youth should be fearful of God’s pronounced judgement.  Good full rounded education including exposure to good books, role models and sports equipment must be in every school.

    The huge wage bill of political officeholders allows them to ‘give away’ generators and sewing machines and scholarships. Is this not government money? All that should stop; the money trail cut and re-routed through normal government channels. Name one country where the political office holders dish out such items. They are not dividends of democracy but demonic demonstrations of a misguided democratic experiment high-jacked for personal financial gain. Does Obama’s wife dish out free bags of potatoes? For every bag of rice, generator, exercise book, motorcycle the political donor keeps much more back. It must be stopped.

    The federal government has created a new group to man the federal highways particularly in Lagos. Is this another effort by federal to undermine Lagos?  The question is ‘when will the federal government see itself as servant and guardian of all and work complimentary to the efforts of each state in helping the citizens to survive? The federal government should not destroy selected states because they are not from the ruling party. Young men in a brand new uniform will not add value to the traffic in Lagos. They may just harass citizens. What the federal government can cunningly do to win the hearts and minds of the citizens is to repair, replace and pay contractors to do those decayed roads so boastfully called federal roads.

    It is sad that the true federalism of our founding fathers, a ‘true partnership between federal and state’ appears to be totally lost by the arrogant, selfish post-militarised federalists of today. Abuja federalism is the problem with Nigeria. Has the Non Sovereign National Conference 2014 lost the battle with the false federalist elite on true federalism? Instead of supporting states, federalists often usurp states actions. The politically greedy federal ‘anti-state’  stand on the budget, waterways, federal highways and mining in states must be countered if Nigeria is to survive as a happy, not master-servant, country. Enough of the unpopular boxing match ‘Federal Might Vs State Right to life!’ let us all run side by side.

  • Chibok girls… Parents’ cries linger 50 days after

    Chibok girls… Parents’ cries linger 50 days after

    It is 50 days today since over 200 pupils of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents. The insurgents have offered to swap the girls with their members in detention. The Federal Government is not buying the idea, which the United States adopted some days ago to free its soldier in Talibans’s custody, writes TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO

    When Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video of the girls his men kidnapped in a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, their parents  were a bit relieved. At least they were sure their children were alive. Shekau called for a swap of the girls with detained insurgents.

    Shekau made the claim in a video obtained by AFP showing about 130 of the 276 girls, saying: “We will never release them (the girls) until after you release our brethren.”

    Mrs Rachel Daniel, 35, mother of one of the abducted girls, Rose, 17, heaved a sigh of relief when the video was released.

    Mrs Daniel, like other family members of the abducted girls, daily think about reuniting with their children.

    Even Nigerians, especially the vanguards of #BringBackOurGirls campaign believed that the days of their protests on the streets are numbered.

    But they were damned wrong! The Federal Government vowed not to bow to the insurgents’ demand.

    Interior Minister Abba Moro told AFP that the government would not do Shekau’s bidding.

    “The issue in question is not about Boko Haram… giving conditions,” Moro said.

    A British newspaper reported that the girls would have regained their freedom a fortnight ago but President Goodluck Jonathan called off a prisoner swap deal with Boko Haram at the last minute.

    The Mail said a Nigerian journalist, Ahmad Salkida – who reportedly fled to the United Arab Emirates last year following threats to his life on account of his closeness to the insurgents – was said to have been appointed by both the government and the extremists to broker an agreement for the release of the girls in exchange for Boko Haram members in detention.

    “Sources in Abuja described how Shekau had agreed to bring the girls out of their forest camps in the remote northeast of the country in the early morning and take them to a safe location for the prisoner swap,” the paper wrote.

    “They would have been dropped off in a village, one group at a time, and left there while their kidnappers disappeared. There was to be a signal to a mediator at another location to bring in the prisoners.”

    The Federal Government was only expected to release 100 “non-combatant, low-level sympathisers” of Boko Haram, rather than commanders and foot soldiers, the newspaper reported.

    About 2000 Boko Haram members are said to be in detention. Accused of being a Boko Haram sympathiser, the Borno-born journalist has always insisted he only maintains a “professional relationship” with certain members of the group whom he knew long before it became violent. However, he was reportedly persuaded by the president’s aides to embark on a “secretive and dangerous” trip home to meet Shekau, after the president “personally signed a letter of indemnity” protecting him from arrest by security agents. But while attending the May 17 summit in Paris, France with leaders of four African countries and representatives of the European Union, United Kingdom, and the United States, Jonathan called home to halt the deal, the paper said. The action, it is believed, angered Shekau, raising fears that the girls might now be endangered.

    A government official, who pleaded for anonymity, later told The Nation that: “There was no time President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to the swapping of Boko Haram members with the girls. This position has not changed as I am talking to you.”

    Nigerians too are divided on whether the government should accept the offer. Some argued that the swap deal would ridicule the government among the comity of nations.

    Human rights lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN) described the controversy over the swap deal as “nauseating and demeaning of our humanity”.

    Ozekhome said: “It is unthinkable that some people would want the lives of these innocent futures of Nigeria to be wasted on the altar of government grandstanding and engagement niceties. There are times when a government stoops to conquer,” he said.

    He urged government to negotiate with Boko Haram if that would secure the release of the abducted girls.

    “I dare say that the Federal Government should negotiate even with Satan, if that would bring back our girls. Even Satan would be humbled and diminished by such an unprecedented strategy,” Ozekhome said.

    Senate President David Mark disagreed, saying government would not negotiate with ‘criminals’.

    Mark, an ex-military chief, believes the Federal Government has the resources to deal with insurgency, criminals and those blackmailing it.

    A renowned Lagos activist and lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) said the girls should not be exchanged for jailed insurgents.

    Falana noted that by law the abducted girls, who were kidnapped from school, are not prisoners of war.

    “They are not soldiers of the Nigerian Army, therefore, there is no lawful ground for such a demand,” he said.

    But another human rights activist, Shehu Sani, urged the Federal Government to make a ‘swap’ deal with Boko Haram members.

    Sani, who has a knowledge of sect’s tactics, said if the Federal Government used force, it would bring tragic consequences.

    He told The Nation that negotiations would get the girls out of Boko Haram’s captivity.

    “We don’t need the bodies of these innocent girls; we need their bodies and souls. Let us save these girls now by swapping. The Federal Government is in a dilemma. Those in government see that negotiation will make the government to be weak. And if they use force, it may turn tragic with Nigerians blaming them. This is why swapping of the girls is an option the government should consider. By now, we would have forgotten this challenge,” Sani said.

    What the super powers have done

    While Federal Government still believes that the swap could mean weakness in the battle against the insurgents, it is pertinent to point out that the world super powers have at one time or another employed swapping to rescue their loved ones from war opponents.

    Even the United Nations sees prisoner exchange or prisoner swap as a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners. These may be prisoners of war, spies, hostages and others. Sometimes dead bodies are involved in an exchange.

    Under the Geneva Convention (1929), it is covered by articles 68 to 74, and the Annex. One of the largest exchange programmes was run by the International Red Cross during the Second World War under these terms. Under the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, it is covered by articles 109-117.

    According to Wikipedia, during the course of the Arab-Byzantine wars in the medieval period, exchanges of prisoners of war became a regular feature of the relations between the two powers, beginning in the late 8th century and continuing until the mid-10th century.

    A truce was arranged beforehand, and both sides met on the river. The exchange was made man for man, as illustrated by al-Tabari in his report of the 845 exchange: “Two bridges were built over the river, one for the prisoners of each side. Each side released one prisoner, who walked across the bridge towards his co-religionists, simultaneously with his counterpart. After the exchange was complete, the surplus prisoners were either ransomed for money or exchanged for slaves.”

     

    Isreali-Arab

     

    Israel exchanged Prisoners of Wars (POWs) with its Arab neighbours, and released about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners to secure freedom for 19 Israelis.

    The first exchanges took place after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Israel exchanged all its Palestinian prisoners and POWs from Arab armies in exchange for all Israeli soldiers and civilians taken captive during the war.

    On December 8, 1954, a five-man Israel Defence Forces (IDF) patrol operating on the Syrian border was abducted by the Syrian Army. One of the soldiers, Uri Ilan, committed suicide while in captivity after being falsely informed by his captors that his fellow soldiers had been killed.

    The four surviving POWs and Ilan’s body were returned on March 29, 1956, in exchange for 40 Syrian soldiers captured during various Israeli military operations.

    Following the 1956 Suez crisis, Israel exchanged 5,500 Egyptian prisoners captured during the campaign and 77 others who were captured during military operations before the war, in exchange for an Israeli pilot taken prisoner during the war, and three soldiers taken captive in pre-war attacks.

    On October 18, 2011, IDF tank gunner Gilad Shalit, captured by the Palestinian organisation Hamas in 2006, was released in exchange for 1027 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

     

    Swap with rebels

     

    The Humanitarian Exchange or Humanitarian Accord (Spanish: Acuerdo Humanitario, Intercambio Humanitario or Canje Humanitario) referred to a possible accord to exchange hostages for prisoners between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group and the Government of Colombia.

    Syrian rebels freed 13 nuns and three maids in exchange for 150 women who were held in Syria’s jails early this year.

    These were cases between governments and rebels as it is now between the Federal Government and the Boko Haram.

     

    US and Taliban

     

    Even the United States had to engage in Prisoner-Swap to free its soldier, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, from Idaho, held for nearly five years by the Taliban in Afghanistan last Saturday evening. America turned in over five Taliban detainees in Guantanamo to Qatari government custody.

    The Taliban detainees were Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq.

    They were high-ranking members of the Taliban government toppled by the U.S. in 2001. Fazl was the deputy defence minister. Noori was the governor of Balkh province.

    Both parties (U.S. and Taliban) expressed joy seeing their loved ones returned.

     

    The plea from the abducted girls

     

    A heartbreaking new video by The Mail on Sunday showed eight girls, dressed in their home-made school uniforms of pale blue gingham, plead for release in front of the camera. They are clearly scared, upset and trying to be brave.

    Four of them can be heard clearly, in their Hausa language, stating that they were taken by force and that they are hungry. A tall girl, aged about 18, said tearfully: “My family will be so worried.”

    Another, speaking softly, said: “I never expected to suffer like this in my life.” A third girl said: “They have taken us away by force.” The fourth girl complained: “We are not getting enough food.”

    Their parents are sure looking forward to when like the parents of the Bergdahl, they would say they were “joyful and relieved”.

    “We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son… Five years is a seemingly endless long time, but you’ve made it. … You are free. Freedom is yours. I will see you soon, my beloved son,” Bob Bergdahl said.

    Like the Bergdahls, when will Mrs Martha Mark, mother of Monica who is one of the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, have opportunity to reunite with her daughter and make such emotional remarks?

  • Boko Haram’s actions against Islam, says OIC

    Boko Haram’s actions against Islam, says OIC

    •EU blacklists Boko Haram

    THE Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) has said members of the Boko Haram sect are against the teachings of Islam.

    OIC Secretary General Eiyadd Amin Madani spoke yesterday in Abuja with State House correspondents after officials of the organisation met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House.

    Madani said members of the sect are criminal misrepresenting Islam.

    The Secretary General said OIC officials were in Abuja to condole with President Jonathan over the deaths of Nigerians and the destruction of property by Boko Haram members.

    He said: “We are here primarily to listen to His Excellency, his vision about the OIC and the priorities of the OIC in the years to come. We also here to express our solidarity with Nigeria in facing up to this terrorist organisation and to condemn the terrorist acts they have been committing and to show our condolences to Nigerians and to the affected families.

    “The OIC has already issued statements and we are very clear that these people are outlaws. What they do is criminal acts that have nothing to do with Islam, Islamic teachings, the religion and history of Islam, the culture and civilisation of Islam. We should identify them for what they are: a terrorist group. So, we listen to the President and the Foreign Minister as well.

    “We offered anything that the OIC can do in terms of expressing supports, its willingness to be actively involved in facing up to this terrorist group.”

    Madani said the OIC is not a religious body but a political organisation.

    The Secretary General explained that the organisation  expressed concerns over the misuse of Islam, like Boko Haram has done.

    Also, the European Union (EU) yesterday announced sanctions against Boko Haram as an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group. This came weeks after it kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok.

    The decision to blacklist the group follows its designation as a terrorist movement two weeks ago by the United Nations.

    Boko Haram, whose name translates loosely as “Western education is sin, was added to the EU list late last week along with Syria’s jihadist Al-Nusra Front for the People of the Levant.

    The move subjects Boko Haram and Al-Nusra as well as people or entities supporting them financially or materially to sanctions including an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban.

     

  • 24 killed in Borno separate attacks

    24 killed in Borno separate attacks

    No fewer than 24 people including 14 suspected Boko Haram terrorists were been killed in separate attacks in Gwoza, Biu and Konduga Local Government Areas of Borno state yesterday

    13 people including four suspected sect members were killed in an attack on church worshippers by Boko Haram in Attagara village.

    Police sources and fleeing residents said.

    The village lies in the Gwoza hills, near the Cameroon border and now the main stronghold of Boko Haram.

    “As we were holding service, we started hearing gunshots and everybody fled, some through the windows, and ran into bush,” resident Matha Yohana said of Sunday’s attack. A police source said nine were killed in the assaults.

    Also in Gwoshe town in Gwoza, suspected members of the Boko Haram on Sunday morning burnt down many houses, shops and two churches.

    Military patrol troops have successfully repelled an ambush in Buratai community in Biu town. The troops, who fell into the ambush laid by the terrorists while on  patrol, engaged the terrorists in a decisive fire fight killing four of them and capturing one alive. Also in Kawuri village of Konduga Local Government, troops in a patrol killed five terrorists in a shootout. The troops also captured two AK 47 rifles and two vehicles used by the terrorists.

    Gwoza is south and about 135 kilometres, Biu is also south and about 185 kilometres, while Konduga is north east and about 40 kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the state capital.

    The Attangara community also mobilised and succeeded in killing four of the attackers.

    Also a fleeing resident of Attagara, Matha Yohana said the insurgents came while Sunday service was going. “The attack occurred at EYN Church (Church of Brethern in Nigeria) while the service was on. Our church has some men as security group. They usually keep vigilance of the church especially when service is going on. As we were holding service, we started hearing gunshots and everybody fled, some through the windows and ran into bush. Some whose houses are near the church also ran to their houses. Men in the community immediately mobilised and pursued the Boko Haram men. They were more than 10, they came on motorcycles and a car. Our vigilante killed four of the Boko Haram and arrested three. I later discovered nine of our men in the church security group were shot dead. I left Attagara yesterday afternoon, slept at Gwoza to get to Maiduguri today,” Matha said.

    Miss Noami Idrissa Gwoshe, whose mother was among those taking refuge on top of Mandara mountains before the attack, said in Maiduguri that their family house,  near burnt churches was also set ablaze.

  • Fani-Kayode quits APC

    Fani-Kayode quits APC

    Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has renounced his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  returned to Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

    Fani-Kayode, in a statement yesterday, stated that he left APC because he considered nation-building as more important than party politics, party affiliation or party formations.

    He said being a devout and committed Christian, “I cannot remain in a party where a handful of people that have sympathies for Boko Haram  and that have a clear Islamic agenda are playing a leading role.

    The former minister who joined the APC in February this year explained that the more reason why he decided to quit was that some people are working hard silently to impose a Muslim/Muslim ticket on the party for  next year presidential election.

    His words: “I believe that religion ought to play no part in politics but a situation where members of the Christian faith are not treated as equals and where  all substantive positions of the national executive of the party are made up of almost exclusively Muslims is unacceptable to me.

    “In fairness to the members of the party there are many leaders within its ranks who share my views and who are also opposed to the religious agenda that the few have but I am not prepared to stay and fight from within because the presence of any closet Haramites on the same political platform as me is something that I find utterly repugnant.”

    Fani-Kayode, who claimed to be a leader and foundation member of APC said: “I cannot be in a party where a number of leading people question the secularity of the state and yet those people are not called to order by the so called party leaders and where such people seem to hold sway.

    “I cannot be in a party which appears to have politicised the whole of the Chibok issue and who are not sincere in trying to get the girls back,” he added.

    APC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said last night that the party would react.

    But as of the time of going to press, the reaction was not received.

     

  • Rehabilitation and rescue

    Rehabilitation and rescue

    •Donations to escaped Chibok girls should spur retrieval of abducted ones

    As efforts continue to find the nearly 300 secondary school girls abducted by the militant Boko Haram sect, it is heartwarming that the Borno State Government has recognised its obligations to the 53 girls who were able to escape the insurgents’ clutches. Speaking in Maiduguri, the governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, announced a N150 million programme of rehabilitation for the girls and their families.

    At an average of about N3 million per family, the state government’s assistance is a substantial investment in citizens who have undergone a terrible experience. The girls will receive assistance in overcoming the trauma caused by the abduction and their parents will get help in rebuilding their livelihoods. It is particularly welcome that the state government has not forgotten these citizens even though most of the girls have not yet been found. Such actions are a happy contrast to the usual Nigerian practice of abandoning victims to their fate as soon as the television cameras have departed.

    In the specific case of the escapees and their parents, it is vital that the process of healing and rehabilitation commences as soon as possible. Too much emphasis has been placed on defeating the insurgents to the detriment of restoring the well-being of their victims, when in actual fact both should proceed simultaneously.

    Despite Borno State’s commendable measures, it should not be forgotten that the whole Boko Haram crisis demands a more holistic approach necessarily incorporating a variety of approaches. These include coming to grips with the widespread poverty and exclusion that provide terrorist groups with foot soldiers and ostensibly justifies their activities. The creation and deployment of armed thugs by politicians must also be curtailed; public office holders who use them must be identified and prosecuted. The porous borders which have made it so easy for insurgents to conduct cross-border attacks with impunity must be tightened up.

    Perhaps the most urgent requirement is that of stepping up the fight against the terrorist activity that has continued to plague the country’s north-east. The most immediate need is for proper coordination. The clash of accusation and counter-accusation going on between the federal and Borno State governments must stop. Not only does it waste time and energy, these quarrels poison the atmosphere, thereby creating resentment, hardening attitudes and inhibiting cooperation between all parties. It also presents an extremely unflattering picture of the country to the world.

    There is also the obvious fact that most of the girls abducted from Chibok are yet to be rescued. Four more students are reported to have escaped from their captors; the military high command claims to now know where they are hidden. In practical terms, however, the girls are no closer to freedom than they were when they were first taken from their school.

    International assistance has come in from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and China, and their resources have been deployed in trying to discover the location of the abductors. President Goodluck Jonathan seems to have finally grasped the full dimensions of the kidnap saga, as evidenced in his tough-talking Democracy Day speech in which he declared total war on all forms of terrorism and insurgency. What is now needed is for these positive steps to be translated into results.

    The recovery of the abducted girls is the most immediate priority. Everyone involved in the rescue operation must unite around the achievement of this aim, regardless of party affiliation, national interest or any other consideration. When they are found and restored to their families, it is to be hoped that the Borno State Government and other bodies will ensure that they are reintegrated into society as quickly as possible.

     

  • Journalist Salkida as Boko Haram negotiator

    Before now, the name Ahmad Salkida was a relatively obscure one. Not much was known of the name within the journalism profession or the medium he worked for. Searches conducted on him showed a profile of a freelance journalist; amateur reporter with the defunct Sentinel magazine owned by the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and then the Daily Trust newspaper in Maiduguri as a reporter from where he seemed to have acquired the huge contacts that were to catapult his profile to national limelight courtesy of the Boko Haram insurgency.

    Amazingly, he joined the journalism profession with only a primary school leaving certificate having dropped out of secondary school. That was in the 90s when the profession had come to give much preference to university graduates, some with doctorate degrees. As luck would have it, even with this educational deficiency, he still found accommodation within the newsroom and that came to be the making of a man that was to play a key role (albeit by default) within the scheme of our national affairs.

    Perhaps, the first inkling of this character emerged when the Boko Haram sect spoke some time ago, of an unnamed journalist as one of their respected confidants to stand for them in a planned negotiation between them and the federal government. He had then arranged a negotiating team on the side of the sect with Dr. Datti Ahmed as the arrowhead. That outing was short-lived because Dr. Ahmed wrote to withdraw from the assignment citing seeming betrayal on the part of the government team. Other efforts at a negotiated settlement of the matter did not come out successful as the insurgents continued with their devious and murderous activities. We have thus been left with the pernicious activities of this terror group culminating in the controversial abduction of the Chibok school girls.

    Not much was heard of Salkida since his initial outings except his relocation to the United Arab Emirate with his family for fear of his life. He was later to explain that he left the country due to threats by the local authorities and the inability to secure a job on account of his professional relationship with the high echelon of the Boko Haram sect.

    But his profile has again resonated courtesy of the abduction of the 200 or so Chibok school girls in Borno State. He has regained his voice, this time in a most relevant manner. Both the local and international media have been awash with his speculated efforts to see to the release of the girls. He has come to assume the mantra of the proverbial rejected stone which nobody can afford to do without. Salkida was reported to have met with President Jonathan at the Villa. He was also credited to have embarked on a dangerous and risky mission that could have seen to the release of the girls but for the alleged last minute call from the president from a security summit in France canceling that backdoor negotiation.

    The report also came with a very frightening dimension that the next thing we are likely hear of the girls following the botched outing of Salkida could be a video footage by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau showing a systematic slaying of the girls. This dimension appeared to have come with all the trappings of blackmail intended to force the federal government to hurriedly accept whatever backdoor negotiations that may have been arrived at by the journalist-turned-hostage-negotiator. Or at best, it was designed to hold the government culpable for whatever harm that may come the way of the girls subsequently. Such has been the nature of the buck-passing and blame game since the girls were abducted.

    The unfolding story which emanated from the western media may have been fuelled by the insistence of Shekau that the group will only release the girls if members of the sect currently detained by the security forces are freed by the federal government. This appeared to have raised the stakes for apologists of negotiated settlement of the Boko Haram insurgency. The need for caution so that no harm will come the way of the abducted girls has further supported the idea of talking with the insurgents even in the most obscure and informal manner.

    But if these reports from the foreign media lack in official confirmation, the doubt surrounding their veracity has been obliterated by the confirmation of Salkida’s efforts by Mallam Shehu Sani, a civil rights activist who enjoys close contacts with families of some Boko Haram members. Sani who had arranged the meeting of former president Olusegun Obasanjo with the slain Boko Haram members’ families in Maiduguri about two years back said Salkida should be appreciated as his intervention could have seen to the release of the girls. He has also insisted that it is “significant for Nigerians to note that negotiation is the only safer option to get the girls back”.

    Salkida has thrown further insights into the activities and the motivating force of the terror group offering his assistance to resolve the grouse of the group and restore peace in the country. Writing on Twitter, the 40 year old journalist born into a Christian family but later converted to Islam said the most effective way for the federal government to fight terrorism “is to study those behind it and review what strategy works and those that do not work”. He said Boko Haram is a case of “corrosive doctrine that is poorly managed by the authorities” and if effective measures are not taken today, the phenomenon will intensify even after Jonathan would have been out of power. According to him, the whole thing is not just about who is in power as “the central theme of the Boko Haram insurgency is to undermine the institution of democracy and those who support it”. He has spoken.

    For all one may wish to care, Salkida has thrown further insights into the propelling force for the Boko Haram insurgency. He was there with them from the beginning and was supposed to have edited a journal for the group but for some differences on the thrust of that publication.

    That Boko Haram is a case of warped ideology not well managed, has never been in doubt. Also not in doubt is the assertion that its central objective is to undermine the institution of democracy and all that is western including education. In the same vein, its weird urge to institute a theocratic state is common place.

    It was therefore to be imagined how ridiculous it came when Governor Muritala Nyako of Adamawa State was busy the other time inventing some disjointed and illogical basis for the festering of the phenomenon. Salkida would want our leaders to study those behind this terrorism and that is a key point. If we had done that, we may have had a better handle to the festering crisis. Is it a surprise that up till now, our security forces have not been able to unmask their local godfathers and sponsors except the arrest and arraignment of Senator Ndume on terrorism charges?

    Again, the fact that Salkida came all the way from the United Arab Emirates where he is hiding to talk to some people in this country which outcome could have seen to the release of the girls speaks volumes. It illustrates the point most poignantly that the sponsors of the insurgency are within, their contacts with foreign terrorist organizations not withstanding. They are not ghosts. And as long as we have not been able to unmask these people, so long will the insurgency persist. That is the real task and the quickest way to end this madness.

  • Update: Police confirm 14 dead, 12 injured in Adamawa blast

    The Adamawa Police Command has confirmed 14 people killed in the bomb blast at a football field in Mubi on Saturday.
    Twelve others were also said to have been injured in the incident.
    AFP quoting a police officer claimed that at least 40 people died in the attack targeted at football fans.
    “There has been a bomb explosion at a football field this evening and so far more than 40 people have been killed,” said the officer who requested anonymity in the town of Mubi, which has seen previous attacks by Boko Haram Islamists.

  • Confusion over amnesty offer to Boko Haram members

    Confusion over amnesty offer to Boko Haram members

    V•Presidential spokesman, Abati, disputes Minister’s statement

    Did President Goodluck Jonathan offer Boko Haram members amnesty on Democracy Day or not?

    This is the subject of a controversy now raging among top officials of the Federal Government.

    At the centre of the controversy are the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati and Youth Development Minister Boni Haruna.

    Abati said yesterday that there was no truth in Haruna’s statement that President Jonathan had offered amnesty to the insurgents.

    Haruna , during  a programme ‘A day with young leaders of Nigeria’  to mark  the Democracy Day  in Abuja on Thursday  had announced that the President had offered amnesty to the insurgents in his determination to bring their  violent attacks to an end.

    He said:”President Goodluck Jonathan has also declared amnesty for members of the Boko Haram sect. Series of integration programmes have been lined up for the members of the sect who would surrender their arms and embrace peace.”

    He asked members of the sect to “embrace the government’s gesture and key into the amnesty programme.”

    President Jonathan, who spoke at the occasion after the minister,made no reference to the offer.

    Twenty four hours later, Boko Haram, as if rejecting the ‘amnesty’ offer opened fire on three emirs in Borno State, killing one instantly.

    And yesterday, Abati declared  that the President offered Boko Haram no amnesty. He referred to the President’s Democracy Day broadcast and insisted that nowhere in the speech was ‘amnesty’ used.

    He said: “If you read the speech line by line, you will see that it contains the very message that the President wanted to put across and in that speech if you look at it I don’t think the President used amnesty, instead he spoke about those who are willing to renounce terrorism, those who are willing to embrace, opportunities have been created for them through the fact-finding committee, through the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolutions of Conflict in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

    “So I will refer you basically to the speech by the President.”

    On the murder of the Emir of Gwoza on Friday, he said: “The President got the news and he was sad about it because what it means is that  these terrorists who are threatening peace and stability in Nigeria, are desperate and they continue to show that desperation.

    “But as the President made it clear in his democracy day broadcast, that was his main message to Nigerians, that at the end of the day it is the people of Nigeria that will prevail, no matter how desperate terrorists may be and that his government is determined to rid the country of terrorism.

    “And the support solidarity the cooperation, the expression of partnership that we are receiving from our neighboring countries, the whole of the West African sub-region, Africa and the entire world shows that this is the battle that the whole world is prepared to fight. So the days of peace as the President said in his speech is assured because this battle will not end until it is won and sustainable development is fully guaranteed.”

    Speaking on the ECOWAS meeting that ended in Ghana at the weekend, he said that the summit condemned the of terror in Nigeria.

    “Particularly, on the issue of terror, the summit condemned the activities of terror in Nigeria, the summit concluded that any threat of terror in any part of Africa or any part of West Africa in any country at all is a threat to entire sub-region and it is a threat to the continent and it is a threat to the whole of humanity,” Abati said, adding:”So the key message that came out with regards to the situation in Nigeria, was one of solidarity, partnership, cooperation and the heads of governments of west Africa states resolved that they will share intelligence and cooperate in every way possible, because doing so is to ensure stability within the region is to ensure sustainable development within the region and they spoke with one voice in condemning the terrorists activities in Nigeria.”

  • Use of force will kill Chibok girls – Jemibewon

    Use of force will kill Chibok girls – Jemibewon

    General David Jemibewon in this interview, held in Ado Ekiti, told Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, that though terrorism is a difficult form of war, Nigeria will ultimately win the Boko Haram war. The retired army general offers hints on how to win the war and the post terror challenges, advocating the establishment of what he described as Security Trust Fund. He also spoke on other national issues. Excerpts

    Today, we have lots of security challenges in Borno State and the military appears greatly troubled. As a top army general, how would you want Nigeria to tackle this problem?

    What is happening in the country today is very sad. I just imagine if I were still in the army as a young man, what would I have done? I don’t have what I may call total solution. It’s just to express a view based on your question and then also to work on the suggestions being put forward by most Nigerians. I think it’s unfortunate but we must understand that conventional war is slightly different from the situation we have today. It’s not exactly a total war because in a war, you know your opponent and your opponent knows you. Even by the uniform he wears and by the weapon he carries, you will know your opponent. So that when you hear the shooting of a gun, by your experience, you can almost say this is the calibre of the gun that is being shot.

    But now, you won’t know who is a member of this group. So, to say that our soldiers are not well equipped, not well armed, based on the few things in the papers are not appropriate statements. But I can understand that many people who do the writings or who make the statements never had any form of military training and this is why in some societies they advocate compulsory military training. If everybody had gone through military processes, they will know that this is not total war and that makes it more difficult to fight. So, I am just hoping that solving this problem will require a combination of most of the suggestions being put forward by various Nigerians; that is that it would be solved through dialogue, negotiation and through a little bit of application of force and action.

    Again, we must realise that with these girls abducted in Chibok, if we apply full military force to attempt to liberate them, they would be killed. So at the end you will ask yourself what have I achieved?

    Most people are of the view that Boko Haram insurgency would have been tackled earlier if Nigeria has done enough in the area of intelligence gathering. Do you support this view?

    I will ask you, what is intelligence gathering? Intelligence gathering is simply information gathering before and during events and then you project into the future to see what is likely to happen. For example, I will expect that some people ought to be assembled somewhere to be thinking what would happen if this Boko Haram crisis comes to an end because it will still have some after effect. It is just like what we are doing in this workshop, trying to promote peace before, during and after the election. Perhaps, our problem as a nation is that we did not anticipate what is happening so as to get prepared for it. But now that it has happened, how do we get information, analyse the information and also anticipate that when this will come to an end, what should we do? This is important because even when it ends, something will come out. We ought to learn some lessons. For example, how are we going to rehabilitate those who are bereaved and what actions are we going to put in place to prevent re-occurrence of such attacks?

    Intelligence comprises of many things. For example, those giving us headache today, it must have taken them some time before they acquired the strength they have acquired, the weapons they have acquired. They live within human beings. Soldiers were not based in those areas. If these people had come to the appropriate authorities to say we are seeing some strange faces in these areas, etc, that is intelligence.

    How do you respond to comments that military intervention is responsible for Nigeria’s problems?

    That sounds ridiculous to me because it is similar to the general statement that the British created the problem of Nigeria. If over 50 years after independence we are still blaming the British, then I feel sorry for that. I have told many people subject to what is being discussed, that a lady can go to the hospital to have a baby. Perhaps the father of that baby has died. In the course of birth the woman  may die, the child that is born could still grow up and become an important personality, not just in his country , in fact  he can be known worldwide.

    Sometime ago, reports said America predicted Nigeria’s break up in 2015. Don’t you think current security challenges in the country are a prelude to that predicted breakup?

    I read that report at that time. They did mention it. At that time, many people wrote in the newspapers, insulting the source of the information instead of working towards ensuring that it didn’t happen. So, I am praying that the country doesn’t break up. As I said in terms of intelligence, that was the kind of information we ought to have worked with, but unfortunately, we didn’t.

    Do you think the ongoing national conference can stop the feared break up, as some insist it is imminent?

    I wouldn’t say break up is imminent in Nigeria. But in any case, what we have to do is to work towards ensuring that the prediction does not work. And to ensure it doesn’t come to reality is the responsibility of all of us to promote peace, promote understanding. And in this regard, the press becomes a very vital organ.

    A lot of people are talking about restructuring, saying it is the only basis on which Nigeria can move forward…

    Perhaps they should let us know what they mean by restructuring and the nature of that restructuring. You see this shirt that you are wearing that some persons are admiring you that you are wearing a neat shirt, if you don’t take care of it by washing it, cleaning it, some people might run away from you because of the odour that will come from it. Your washing your shirt is restructuring it; keeping it clean to make it good, which is also making you good, is restructuring. So, even in a country you may assume is perfect, there is also need for discussion to make what is good better.

    So restructuring will always, in my view, occur on the basis of what I have just said. So, the country requires restructuring. There was a time there were no states in Nigeria. Then, we started with 12 states. We went to 19. Now, we have 36 states. That is restructuring. So, I don’t think the people advocating restructuring are wrong. But let them come out with what they mean by restructuring and how to do that restructuring. But by merely making statement about the demand on restructuring, I cannot say it is right or wrong.

    But the South-West delegates said the minimum requirement for them to remain in Nigeria is devolution of power to the regions…

    I want to believe other regions could also have their positions. But what does an association mean?  It simply means a group of people who have agreed to form that association. There will certainly be discussions one or two will disagree with and at the end, if they really cherish their coming together, there must be a way by which they reconcile their differences by coming to a consensus for the good and unity of that association. You can see in Africa, we started with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) but each country still exists on its own. What about United Nations? So, there will always be disagreements.

    So the fact that some people say except this, we are not going; now they are in a conference, they have to sit down. They must be some trade off if they still want the existence of this country- one way or the other. What will be surprising is if they are so rigid not to be flexible.

    There is what we were taught about the principle of war. One of those things is that you must have an aim. What are you fighting for? You must maintain your aim. But also we have what we call flexibility. As such we do not say any position is wrong. We only look at advantages and disadvantages in relation to other people’s opinion. Sometimes, we do not go for the position, solution or what appears to be the best. This is because what appears like the best position initially may have serious consequences towards the end. So, if some persons have taken a position, all we expect is that they must be amenable to discussion to listen to others and at the end, find a means through which we can proceed.

    Some people are not happy the way the military is reacting to the issue of Boko Haram insurgency and the comments they are making. For instance, they said they had located where the Chibok girls are; the other time they said they were close to Sambisa forest. Contradicting comments are being made by government agents and functionaries. How do you view all of these?

    It is difficult. Sometimes if you criticise you will be making things difficult. I think there ought to be a central point where information must go to and where decision, as to what goes out or is to be disseminated, is taken. But I know that there are competent people there that probably know better. But to answer your question, I think there ought to be a central control. However, what we need to do now is to encourage the military and wish them well.

    I am using this oppoturnity to put forward a suggestion. I have sat down to look at it critically. If we all believe that what is happening is a national tragedy, something that every Nigerian should be concerned about, then we ought to make an effort at the national level to support our security men. I deliberately didn’t use armed forces but security men – the Army, Navy, Air Force, Civil Defence, DSS, Police, etc. During the Nigerian Civil War, some people came up with the Troop Comfort Fund and it encouraged us. The fund raised was applied in many ways – providing food and other needs.

    So, I advocate the setting up of a Security Trust Fund at the national level. All those involved will know that the Nigerian society sympathised with them and know how this money will be used. Now, many of our troops, including the police, may come back with amputated legs and hands. This money can be ploughed into a central medical centre for the rehabilitation of those who would have been maimed or injured during this crisis.

    And the fund will be such that every Nigerian who believes that what we are facing now is a big tragedy will contribute to the fund. This is my idea. We need a National Security Fund to assist our security men in this operation, particularly if you believe that this is a national problem and needs the support of everybody.