The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • Edo Assembly holds prayer session for abducted girls

    The Edo House of Assembly on Tuesday in Benin held a prayer session for the abducted female students of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno.

    Mr. Johnson Oghuma, APC Etsako Central, who led the prayer session, prayed fervently for the girls to be rescued safely from the hands of their abductors.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the lawmakers also used the session to pray for the children as they mark the Children’s Day celebration.

    The Speaker, Uyi Igbe, said: “Let us also direct our prayers to other children irrespective of where they are right now.

    “Here in Edo, we have had incidence of children being kidnapped,” Igbe said.

  • Senate to Boko Haram: Free abducted schoolgirls

    The Senate on Tuesday pleaded with the Boko Haram sect to release the over 200 school girls kidnapped from Chibok, Borno State, about 40 days ago.

    Also on Tuesday, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, wondered why the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, would say the military has discovered the camps where the abducted girls were being held only to describe it as a military secret.

    Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who spoke at plenary in Abuja, urged the abductors to release the girls in the spirit of the Children’s Day celebration.

    Ndoma-Egba also drew the Senate’s attention to the challenges confronting the Nigerian child of today.

    He said children can only become true resources and wealth if they are well educated.

    He said: “Let me on behalf of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, congratulate the children of Nigeria and the children of the world on this day which is their day.

    “Children all over the world represent the wealth and the resource of every nation. They can be resource only if they are educated. Without education, the children rather than being a resource will become a burden on the society.

    “It is for this reason that I also use this opportunity to draw the attention of the Senate and the nation to the challenges being faced by our children in the northeast zone of the country.

    “Let me use this opportunity to appeal to Boko Haram to make this day whole for us as a nation. To make this day whole for as humanity by releasing our children in their captivity.”

  • Boko Haram: Oyo summons stakeholders’ security meeting

    Following the Boko Haram insurgency rocking the northern part of the country, the Oyo State Government on Tuesday summoned an enlarged security stakeholders’ meeting to further strengthen security in the state against any attack.

    Declaring the meeting open at Western Hall Secretariat, Ibadan, the Secretary to the state Government, Mr. Ishmael Olalekan Alli, said Governor Abiola Ajimobi resolved to organise the meeting because of his belief in the need to discharge constitutional obligations to the people of the state.

    According to him, the need is further heightened by the numerous security challenges bedeviling the country.

    He lamented that the lives of innocent people are being lost on a daily basis to Boko Haram and other forms of insurgency in the north.

    He said: “In view of this great threat to the security of our nation, I believe this meeting is crucial as it would afford us the opportunity of addressing these issues and proffer suitable solutions.

    “Also the meeting will allow participants to be informed on the necessary steps to prevent the Boko Haram insurgency, incidents of armed robbery, kidnapping and any form of threat to peace in Oyo State.”

     

  • Eminent journalist Dare advocates restructuring to save Nigeria

    Eminent journalist Dare advocates restructuring to save Nigeria

    •Dignitaries celebrate ex-UNILAG VC Ajayi at 85

    Yesterday was a day of honour for former University of Lagos (UNILAG) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ade Ajayi, as he celebrated his 85th birthday.

    Eminent Nigerians showered encomiums on him, noting his life of virtues and excellence.

    The event was held at the International Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan (U.I.).

    Renowned journalism teacher and Editorial Consultant of The Nation, Prof. Olatunji Dare, who was the guest lecturer, called for substantive re-structuring of Nigeria to save the country from collapse.

    Speaking on “100 years after amalgamation: The Nigerian condition”, the frontline columnist described as “sorrowful” the nation’s socio-economic condition.

    Bemoaning the nation’s challenges, especially the violence being perpetrated by Boko Haram, Dare said the ongoing National Conference, which is expected to correct many of the ills, might not achieve the objective because of the discordant tunes being sung by many of the delegates.

    Dare said: “A re-structured federation, based on a new constitution truly warranted by the preface ‘We the People’, has been the recurrent demand in recent times. There was much hope that the on-going National Conference may bring that about. But judging by the hazy status of the conference and by the reports on the deliberations, the hope could turn out to be misplaced.”

    He listed other problems facing the nation as infrastructural decay, over concentration of power at the centre, epileptic power supply despite billions of naira spent on building new plants, dispiriting health sector, mass unemployment, fallen educational standards, ethnic animosity, religious crises and corruption, among others.

    Dare warned of the inherent danger in the failure of restructuring, saying: “As the centre faces growing challenge from Boko Haram and other forces, its legitimacy and authority will weaken to the point that those nationalities strong enough or determined enough to break away will do so. Without substantive re-structuring, the Nigerian state will wither away.”

    He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to show that he is in charge and assert legitimacy.

    Criticising the centenary celebrations, Dare said: “This is hardly an inspiring note on which to celebrate the first centenary or to inaugurate the second centenary of what President Jonathan, in a prefatory broadcast to the milestone, described as ‘a unique country’, one ‘brought together in a union like no other by providence’.”

    At the event were Ajayi’s wife, Christiana; Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, represented by Commissioner for Physical Planning Muyiwa Ige; Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, represented by his deputy, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; U.I. Vice-Chancellor Prof. Isaac Adewole; Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe; Prof. Akin Mabogunje and Prof. Niyi Osundare.

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, was represented by Oba Kole Ojutalayo. The Elekole of Ikole-Ekiti, Oba Ajibade Fasiku, was there, among others.

  • Chibok girls: Govt drops swap deal for ceasefire

    Chibok girls: Govt drops swap deal for ceasefire

    We know where girls are but can’t use force, says Defence chief

    AFTER rejecting a prisoner swap deal with Boko Haram, the Federal Government is pushing for ceasefire as part of the ongoing back-door talks for the release of the abducted schoolgirls, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    The government, according to sources, is tinkering with releasing “soft” detainees arrested in connection with Boko Haram activities.

    But it was learnt that the sect is yet to respond to the ceasefire proposal, fueling fears that the two parties may be set for a long battle.

    The government is believed to be asking the facilitators of the back-door talks to tell Boko Haram to accept a ceasefire.

    The source said: “The thrust of the ongoing back-door talks is just for the sect members to lay down their arms and release the abducted girls. The government wants ceasefire from Boko Haram.

    “We are still talking. The Federal Government is rubbing minds with Boko Haram contacts.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “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.

    “Only soft detainees like wives, children, brothers, sisters and uncles of Boko Haram members, may be released, in line with the rules of engagement.

    “So far, we do not know their attitude to the ceasefire demand; they are yet to get back to us.”

    It was gathered that the military may take delivery of three surveillance aircraft to assist in the search for the abducted girls.

    A military source added: “All what we are doing is still surveillance of suspected areas or camps where the girls are purportedly held hostage.

    “The US, the UK, France and others have been assisting in the surveillance, which is a 24-hour business along Sambisa Forest axis, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Mali borders. The troops on ground are still within the fringes of Sambisa Forest.

    “As part of plans to strengthen the operation in the Northeast, the military will soon get delivery of three surveillance aircraft.”

    A British newspaper published on Sunday that the schoolgirls, who were kidnapped on April 15, would have regained their freedom by now but President Goodluck Jonathan called off a prisoner swap deal with Boko Haram at the last minute. The Mail on Sunday 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 militants — 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 the Nigerian capital 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.” Curiously, 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, 2014 Paris terrorism summit 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 about-face, it is believed, has angered Shekau, raising fears that the girls might now be endangered.

    “The next video we see from the terrorists could show the girls being killed one by one,” The Mail on Sunday quoted an intelligence source as saying. The turnaround may as well spell the end of any peace deal with Boko Haram, as Salkida is about the group’s most-trusted and unbiased go-between with the Federal Government.

    “He is probably the only civilian with access to Shekau. There is trust between them and Salkida had only one aim — to get the schoolgirls out,” the source said. “He reported afterwards that the group of girls he saw were alive and well, and being adequately fed and sheltered. They told him all they wanted was to go home.” Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati was quoted by the newspaper as saying he was not aware of any attempted rescue plan.

    The BBC also reported that a deal for the release of some of the schoolgirls was close to being secured when the government called it off.

    Some of the girls were set to be freed in exchange for imprisoned Islamist militants, reports the BBC’s Will Ross.

    But the government cancelled the planned agreement shortly before the swap was due to take place.

    The reasons for the withdrawal are unclear.

    It came just after President Jonathan attended a meeting in Paris hosted by President Francois Hollande of France where leaders said they had agreed a “global and regional action plan” against Boko Haram.

    The girls, who were mainly Christian, were taken from their school in Chibok, in  Borno State and are thought to be held in the Sambisa forest, close to the border with Chad and Cameroon.

  • Gunmen kill four soldiers in Plateau

    Gunmen kill four soldiers in Plateau

    Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members have killed four soldiers of the Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis, code named “Operation Safe Haven”.

    The soldiers were reportedly killed in an ambush in Gida-Bua village in Jos South Local Government of Plateau State. The village is over 300 kilometre away from Jos, the state capital.

    Langtang South Council chairman Bendel Nancwat, who could not confirm the killings said: “I just got the report but I have not gone there to confirm it.”

    Nancwat added: “Any confirmation of such report should be channelled to the STF headquarters in Jos, I am not in the position to confirm it”

    A source from the village, who gave his name as Dadul Gabriel, said: “The STF people were patrolling the village in their military vehicle. We saw them pass the village. Not quite 10 minutes we heard heavy gun shots rapidly. We thought it was the soldiers that have shot at some gunmen, but when we rushed there, we saw the bodies of the soldiers on ground. Their colleagues told us it was Boko Haram that laid ambush for them.”

    He said nine of the soldiers were travelling in the vehicle when the gunmen struck.

    STF spokesman Capt. Ikedichi Iweka could not be reached on phone to confirm the killings.

  • Group protests in support of Nigerian military

    Group protests in support of Nigerian military

    A strange protest took place yesterday in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which may introduce a new twist to ongoing war against terrorism.

    It was staged by members of an amorphous Citizens’ Initiative for Security Awareness (CISA).  The group marched on the streets of the FCT in support of the military for the counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast.

    The protesters wore branded T-shirts and displayed placards bearing solidarity messages with Nigerian soldiers.

    They urged the public to rally behind the Armed Forces in these trying times.

    Some of the inscriptions on their placards included: “Nigerian military, thank you for your sacrifice”; “Gallant Nigerian military, thank you” and “#We trust NigerianMilitary” reminiscent of the #Bring BackOurGirls campaign.

    The Nigerian military has come under severe attacks, following escalating insecurity in the land, with Boko Haram scaling up its attacks in parts of the country.

    Public criticisms of the war against terrorism seemed to have grown louder since the global outrage that greeted the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from a government secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, on April 15 by Boko Haram insurgents. Up till now, the girls have not been freed, despite the involvement of foreign military allies, such as the United States, the United Kingdom (UK), France and Israel, among others, in the efforts to locate and free the girls.

    In the past few weeks, senior military and civilian authorities from the U.S and U.K have condemned Nigerian soldiers for allegedly lacking in training and tools to confront the insurgents. The global media have no kind words for President Goodluck Jonathan either. His administration has been getting the knocks for the flip-flop approach to national security matters.

    While top government officials were giving the impression that the Jonathan administration would negotiate with the deadly group to secure the girls’ release, Mr. President is heard ruling out any deal.

    Two days ago, The New York Times reported that “Nigeria’s army hampers hunt for abducted schoolgirls”. The report detailed what it called “the failings of the Nigerian military” as impediment to efforts to free the Chibokschoolgirls.

    It said: “There is a view among diplomats here and with their governments at home that the military is so poorly trained and armed, and so riddled with corruption, that not only is it incapable of finding the girls, it is also losing the broader fight against Boko Haram. The group has effective control of much of the Northeast of the country, as troops withdraw from vulnerable targets to avoid a fight and stay out of the group’s way, even as the militants slaughter civilians.”

    Last week, Sarah Sewall, U.S Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, told the American Congress that the “behaviour of certain Nigerian military actors have made it impossible for the United States to work directly with them”.

    Among other things, she fingered corruption as one of the problems dragging back the anti-terrorism war.

    She said: “In addition, pervasive corruption undermines the (Nigerian) government’s fight against Boko Haram. The Nigerian government has one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest security budgets, with $5.8 billion dedicated to security in its proposed 2014 budget. Yet, corruption prevents supplies as basic as bullets and transport vehicles from reaching the front lines of the struggle against Boko Haram.”

     

  • Shehu Sani to govt: swap girls

    Shehu Sani to govt: swap girls

    One of the early facilitators of peace talks with Boko Haram, Comrade Shehu Sani, said yesterday that the best option for the Federal Government is to swap the abducted girls with the sect members in detention.

    He said the use of force to rescue the girls might turn tragic for the nation.

    He also said if the girls were kept longer in Boko Haram enclave, they might become radicalised and turn into insurgents.

    Sani, who spoke with our correspondent last night in Abuja, said the nation does not need the girls bodies after going through this harrowing experience.

    He said: “My advice to the Federal Government is to take the path of honour and swap the abducted girls. What is important is to get the girls out of Boko Haram enclaves.

    “The government cannot be talking of the use of force; it cannot be possible in this circumstance.

    “We don’t need the bodies of these innocent girls; we need their bodies and souls. Let us save these girls now by swapping.

    “After swapping the girls, the nation can now address insurgency in whatever way it deems fit.”

    Responding to a question, Sani added: “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, who recommended Ahmed Salkida to the Federal Government (the central figure in the ongoing back-door talks with Boko Haram), warned against the danger of holding the girls hostage for long.

    He said: “The danger of keeping them is that Boko Haram will be radicalising them. And if they succeed in radicalising the girls, we will be coping with another round of insurgents. This is what those in government should understand.”

  • We know where girls are, says Defence Chief

    We know where girls are, says Defence Chief

    It is without doubt the biggest question the world is asking: where are the 267 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram on April 15?

    Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh said yesterday that security agencies know the answer.

    Air Marshal Badeh said the military know where the girls were being held but would not use force to recover them.

    Addressing a solidarity rally organised by the Citizens Initiative for Security Awareness, a hitherto unknown “non-governmental organisation”, outside the Defence Headquarters, Air Marshal Badeh said the military had the capacity to rescue the girls without applying force.

    He pleaded that the military be allowed to continue with the assignment, saying that there was no need setting the stage for the killing of the girls in the name of rescue operation.

    Badeh said: “We want our girls back; we want our girls back; we can do it; our military can do it but where they are being held, can we go with force?

    “If we go with force, what will happen? They will kill them. So, nobody should come and say the Nigerian military does not know what it is doing. We know what we are doing, we can’t go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back. So we are working.

    “The good news for the girls is that we know where they are but we cannot tell you, we cannot come and tell you military secrets here.

    Just leave us alone, we are working; we would get the girls back.”

    Asked by prying journalists to disclose the location of the girls, the Defence Chief said that it would not be wise for him to make public such a military strategy.

    “That would be telling you our secrets, that would be telling you our strategy. We cannot be discussing our strategy here on

    television,” he said.

    According to Air Marshal Badeh, the military has the capacity to carry out any military operation, as demonstrated by the military’s triumphant execution of the civil war and the restoration of democratic governance in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    The situation in the Northeastern part of the county, he said, is different as the war involves the killing of fellow Nigerians and the military is not happy about it.

    Air Marshal Badeh said the Armed Forces had recovered some arms from the insurgents which the military is not familiar with.

    Judging by the nature of some of the recovered arms, the CDS said it was obvious that some people outside the country were fuelling the insurgency with the intention to destabilise Nigeria.

    “Some of the arms we are recovering are very alien to the Nigerian Army, which means there are people from outside fuelling this thing.

    “That is why when Mr. President said we have Al-Qaeda in West Africa, I believe it 100 per cent because I know that people from outside Nigeria are involved in this war.

    “They are fighting us. They want to destabilise our country, and some people in this country are standing with the forces of darkness; we must salvage our country; we must bring sanity into our country,” he said.

    He pleaded for support of Nigerians, saying that they have the option of backing the military or courting anarchy, adding that there is something wrong when people start castigating their country’s military.

    The President, he said, is behind the military.

    “What this is showing is that people have finally realised that you don’t have another military apart from this one that you have. And it is either you support your military or you are looking for anarchy.

    “This war is not fought by the military alone. This war is fought by Nigerians. Nigeria is at war, everybody must put his hands on deck. If you can’t do anything else, but you have mouth, you can support the military and not disparage the military because you don’t have another one,” Air Marshal Badeh said.

  • Igbo group urges Fed Govt to rescue Chibok girls

    Igbo group urges Fed Govt to rescue Chibok girls

    A group of Igbo resident in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Igbo Delegates Assembly (IDA), has urged the Federal Government to rescue the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls from their Boko Haram captors.

    The innocent girls were snatched from their school in the middle of the night of April 14 and have since remained in the sect’s captivity.

    In a communiqué by its President-General, Chief Damian Inyamah, and other officials after a crucial executive council meeting at the weekend, IDA also condemned the spate of bombings in some parts of the North, such as Nyanya, Kano, Borno, Jos, among others.

    It urged the Federal Government to tighten security to avert further killings and destruction of property.

    The group supported the Goodluck Jonathan led-administration for seeking global help to tackle insurgency and other acts of terrorism.

    IDA regretted the negative effects of Boko Haram activities on Ndigbo communities in the North and other Nigerians.

     

    The group congratulated the President Jonathan for successfully hosting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Abuja.

    It added that the socio-economic and political impacts of the forum would be beneficial to Nigerians.

    IDA urged Nigerians to support the Federal Government in the fight against terrorism.