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Tag: boko haram

  • Boko Haram: Uncertainty over Shekau’s fate

    Boko Haram: Uncertainty over Shekau’s fate

    JTF claims he may have been killed

    We’re winning, says Army

    There was uncertainty yesterday over the fate of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, following reports on his wellbeing.

    The Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno claimed in a statement that Shekau may have died in Amitchide (a border community in Cameroon) after an encounter with troops. But a highly-placed source said the position of the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) was that it was hasty to reach such a conclusion.

    Besides, there was no independent confirmation of the claim, which Boko Haram neither confirmed nor denied.

    It was learnt that the DHQ had been analysing all clues and documents the JTF presented to it as evidence that Shekau may have died.

    The DHQ was said to have passed an interim verdict that the JTF’s fact-sheet was yet to “add up”.

    According to sources, the DHQ asked the JTF to “exercise caution” in making any announcement until Shekau’s situation had been verified.

    But the JTF, in a statement by its spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, said intelligence report had shown that Shekau, who was reportedly injured during a crossfire with troops in Sambisa Forest in Borno State on June 30, might have died in Amitchide between July 25 and August 3.

    The statement said: “Intelligence report available to the Joint Task Force Operation RESTORE ORDER revealed that Abubakar Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted Boko Haram terrorists leader may have died.

    “He died of gunshot wound received in an encounter with the JTF troops in one of their camps at Sambisa Forest on 30 June 2013.

    “Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide – a border community in Cameroon – for treatment which he never recovered.

    “It is greatly believed that Shekau might have died between 25 July to 3 August, 2013. He was reported to have masterminded the kidnap of the seven French citizens and that of the elder statesman Alhaji (Dr) Shettima Ali Monguno, in addition to many murders of Islamic clerics in Northern Nigeria.

    “He was also responsible for bombings of many places of worship and public buildings including Police and United Nations Headquarters in Abuja.

    “The recent video released on 13 August, 2013 by the purported sect leader was dramatised by an imposter to hoodwink the sect members to continue with the terrorism and to deceive the undiscerning minds.

    “The JTF wishes to appeal to the sect members to lay down their arms and embrace the Federal Government’s offer for dialogue.”

    But a top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The DHQ has received documents or intelligence report from the JTF on the purported death of Shekau but all these are still being analysed.

    “The circumstances presented have some gaps which we have to fill through further investigation.

    “The DHQ believes the details made available have not added up. So, as far as we are concerned, it is still hasty to conclude that Shekau is dead.

    “As a matter of fact, the JTF was advised to tarry a while in making the announcement of Shekau’s death. But it was shocking to the DHQ.”

    Another source, who also pleaded not to be named because of what he called the sensitivity of the matter, said: “There are challenges in verifying the death of Shekau. For instance, if Shekau was shot wounded on June 30 by troops, how come the DHQ was just being informed?

    “How come none of the Boko Haram members in custody could account for Shekau’s death, unlike what they did on the death of Shekau’s deputy, Momodu Bama? Why is it impossible to send a decoy mission to Amatchide in Cameroon to verify his death?

    “The purported appearance of Shekau on August 13 made the claim of his death about 10 days earlier suspicious by the DHQ.

    “Although it is common for members of such a sect to sustain the struggle after the death of their leader, we might have to do voice screening or analysis to determine whether Shekau actually spoke on August 13 or not.

    “Certainly, we have some gaps to fill, including liaising with Cameroonian authorities, to verify Shekau’s death in Amatchide.”

    The defunct JTF in Borno State and the Borno Vigilance Youths Group, (BVYG) on Sunday arrested a top Boko Haram informant (name withheld) in Maiduguri, the state capital.

    The suspect, who claimed to be a close associate of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had some documents on the activities of the sect on him, when he was arrested.

    He was picked up at Baban Layi, a commercial area of Maiduguri metropolis, mostly dominated by Igbo traders, before they relocated in the heat of the Boko Haram crisis.

    According to JTF sources in Maiduguri, five other Boko Haram suspects were arrested in Gwange and Kulolori/Shuwari wards.

    Two of the suspects were arrested in Kulolori ward the remaining three were rounded up in Gwange area.

    Chairman of BVYG, Abubakar Mallum, said the arrested informant, claimed to be a merchant.

     

  • Uncertainty over whereabouts of 42 Boko Haram suspects

    Uncertainty over whereabouts of 42 Boko Haram suspects

    Over three weeks after the Nigerian Army paraded 42 suspected Boko Haram members in Lagos, their whereabouts has been shrouded in secrecy.

    Although there are speculations that the suspects have been moved out of Lagos to a safer zone, a top security personnel told The Nation that they are still in Lagos.

    It was learnt that security agencies are collaborating to keep the whereabouts of the suspects a secret to stop the Boko Haram network.

    Our source said the network of the sect is massive, adding that “in times like this, it is better to keep mum on where the suspected terrorists are.”

    The suspects were arrested in Ogun and Lagos states by the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, following intelligence reports that the state of emergency in three northern states had dislodged the sect’s members, who were relocating to regroup in other states.

    It was learnt that those who had resettled in the Southwest had been strategically deployed to launch attacks on infrastructure and public places to prove to Nigerians that they have not been defeated.

    At the parade of the 42 young men, some of whom confessed to taking part in some attacks in Borno State, 81 Division’s General Officer Commanding (GOC), Gen. Obi Umahi, said they were arrested between July 12 and 23.

    He said a joint raid by the security agencies conducted at the Ibafo trailer park and Ileke new trailer garage in Ogun State; Aviation quarters at Mafoluku, Oshodi; Ketu/Mile 2 Motor Park; Orile trailer park; Lekki new extension and Bar beech, led to the arrest of the suspects.

    Police spokesperson Ngozi Braide said she had no idea where the suspects were.

    Said she: “I don’t know if they are in our custody and I have no idea where they are. I will confirm and get back to you.”

    Army’s spokesman Col Kingsley Umoh also said he did not know the whereabouts of the suspects.

    He added: “I cannot respond to you unless I get the appropriate information. The intelligence officer is on an assignment out of the office and is not picking his calls.”

    The GOC was also contacted, but he said: “I will rather keep quiet on where the suspects are. They are safe and healthy and investigations are still ongoing to smash the Boko Haram network.

    “We are not hiding information from the public. We believe it is in the best interest of the country for their whereabouts not to be known.”

    The Director, State Security Service (SSS), Ben Olayi, confirmed that the suspects were not in their custody yet, noting that they could also be handed over to the police.

  • Seven Boko Haram suspects killed in Gombe

    Seven Boko Haram suspects killed in Gombe

    The Police in Gombe State on Friday shot dead seven suspected members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, during a clash.

    The clash lasted two hours, according to the Gombe Police spokesman Fwaje Atajiri.

    However, the claim could not be independently confirmed.

    The clash came 24 hours after members of the sect swooped on Damboa, Borno State, killing 11 people.

    The terrorists, according to a report, attacked soldiers, burned shops and killed residents.

    A military source said: “More troops have been dispatched to the area to confront the insurgents. They sneaked away towards the bush leading to parts of Yobe and Gombe states.”

    Around 50 gunmen in cars and motorbikes stormed the rural town, forcing hundreds of residents to flee to hide in nearby farms, locals said.

    The insurgency was initially weakened in the weeks immediately following the declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in May, but remains active and there has been an uptick in violence in the past month.

  • 11 dead in Boko Haram’s Borno attack

    11 dead in Boko Haram’s Borno attack

    Suspected Islamic militants on Thursday night attacked Damboa town,Borno State killing at least 11 people. Witnesses said gunmen shot civilians and police in Damboa, about 85km from the state capital, Maiduguri. The group was blamed for the deaths of 44 people in a mosque in the nearby town of Konduga last Sunday. Local official Ayamu Lawan Gwasha said security forces repelled gunmen who attacked the police station and a military post in Damboa. Farmer Mustapha Aji said other militants gunned down civilians and firebombed about 20 homes. He told the Associated Press that residents had feared an attack following the deaths in Konduga and had asked for more security, but it hadn’t yet arrived. Another witness, student Adamu Isah, blamed the attack on Boko Haram fighters. Details of the attack have been slow to emerge because of a communications blackout imposed by the military. In May, Nigeria declared an emergency in Adamawa,Borno and Yobe states in order to battle the militants. On Wednesday the army said it had killed Boko Haram’s second-incommand Momodu Bama, also known by his alias “Abu Saad”. However, there has been no independent confirmation of his death and Boko Haram has not commented on the statement.

  • Presidency gives FAAN 48 hours to remove tankers from Lagos airport

    Presidency gives FAAN 48 hours to remove tankers from Lagos airport

    The Federal Government yesterday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to relocate fuel tankers out of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, citing anxiety over safety and security concerns occasioned by the threat of Boko Haram.

    To ensure compliance, all security agencies attached to the airport, including State Security Services ( SSS), Nigerian Air Force and others have been mobilised to ensure the fuel tankers are removed out of the airport before Wednesday, as they constitute an infraction to operations at the terminal.

    Briefing newsmen yesterday, the Director of Aviation Safety, FAAN, Mr. Wendel Ogunedo, said there was no going back on the relocation of the fuel tankers, many of which have broken down and could be a vulnerable target by people with sinister motives.

    He said the FAAN, acting on the orders of the presidency, would not like to see the fuel tankers along the way into the international terminal, as any spillage of inflammable liquid, including aviation fuel, could do incalculable damage to installations and houses as well as houses around the airport.

    Ogunedo said a new place had been provided by the FAAN for the tanker drivers to operate from.

    He said the presence of the tanker drivers around the airport was a great disservice to the transformation going on around the airport.

    The Regional Manager, South West of the FAAN, Mr. Edward Olarerin also said since 2005, the authority had been meeting with the affected parties on how to find a lasting solution to the problem.

    He said efforts to relocate the tanker drivers in the past had not yielded positive results.

    He said some of the trucks that had been abandoned at the airport were not meant for lifting aviation fuel, raising concerns why owners of such trucks would abandon them for many years.

    Olarerin said the FAAN would not tolerate “a situation where trucks that are no more useful should be dumped on the access way to the airport.”

    He said in 2005, about 111 trucks were impounded by the FAAN.

    Speaking on behalf of the Petroluem Tanker Drivers (PTD), an arm of the NUPENG, the Assistant Secretary of the Lagos Zonal Command, Comrade Tayo Aboyeji, said his members “are willing to relocate on the condition that the FAAN provides the necessary facilities, including toilet and rest rooms.”

    He appealed for an 48-hour extension of the ultimatum given them to relocate to enable tanker drivers adjust to the new arrangement.

    He commended the FAAN for the space provided them to operate from, affirming that if the authority in the past had provided such facility, the matter would have been resolved.

    The relocation of the tanker drivers is coming on the heels of the planned commissioning of the extended wings of the airport billed for next week by the Vice President, Alhaji Namani Sambo.

    The FAAN boss said: ”All security agencies have been briefed and mandated to comply with the relocation of the tanker drivers in view of the serious security concerns raised over the trucks around the airport.

    “If there is a fuel spillage or an inferno arising therefrom, the incident would be serious.”

    An official of the State Security Services said the government directed the relocation of the fuel tankers as a follow-up to the alert raised from a confessional statement of a Boko Haram suspect which indicated that the fuel trucks at the Lagos airport could be a likely target of attacks.

  • Boko Haram: Presidency issues 48-hour ultimatum to FAAN to relocate fuel tankers from MMIA

    The Federal Government yesterday issued a 48- hour ultimatum to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) to relocate fuel tankers out of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, citing anxiety over safety and security concerns occasioned by the threat of Boko Haram. To ensure compliance, all security agencies attached to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, including State Security Services ( SSS), Nigerian Air Force, and others have been mobilised to ensure the fuel tankers are removed from the airport before Wednesday. Briefing newsmen yesterday, the Director of Aviation Safety , FAAN, Mr Wendel Ogunedo , said there is no going back on the relocation of the fuel tankers, many of which have broken down and could be a vulnerable target by people with sinister motives. He said FAAN would not like to see the fuel tankers parked along the road leading into the international terminal, as any spillage of inflammable liquid, including aviation fuel, could do incalculable damage to installations and houses around the airport. Ogunedo said a new place has been provided by FAAN, for the tanker drivers to operate from, adding that refusal by the drivers to relocate would force government to push them out of the place. He explained that the presence of the tanker drivers around the airport is a great disservice to the transformation going on around the airport, even as he urged the tanker drivers to comply with the ultimatum, promising that the grey areas would be sorted out. He assured that necessary logistics have been put in place to facilitate the relocation of the trucks to a designated area. Also speaking, the regional manager, South West of FAAN, Mr Edward Olarerin, said since 2005, the authority has been meeting with the affected parties on how to find a lasting solution to the problem.

  • U.S. to Nigeria: capture Boko Haram leaders

    U.S. to Nigeria: capture Boko Haram leaders

    From the United States came yesterday a piece of advice on Boko Haram – its leaders must be captured and prosecuted for Nigeria to achieve its potential as a stable regional leader.

    Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Ms Wendy Sherman spoke in Abuja during a meeting of the United States-Nigeria Bi-national Commission Regional Security Cooperation Working Group.

    Ms Sherman said Boko Haram offered no practical solutions to the North’s problems, but capitalised on frustration, religious differences and economic and social difficulties to undermine the government and make the country ungovernable.

    The United States, she said, knows from experience the difficulty in confronting an enemy that respects no boundaries and kills civilians indiscriminately.

    Success, in her view, cannot be achieved unless Nigeria surmounts the challenges that frustrate progress.

    Ms Sherman said the country faces several challenges to national and regional stability. The largest of these challenges is, according to her, the Boko Haram-led insurgency, which has created widespread insecurity across the North, increased tensions among ethnic communities, interrupted development, frightened off investors and generated concerns among the country’s northern neighbours.

    Her words: “Security efforts are necessary to protect innocent Nigerians, to prevent Boko Haram’s acts of violence, and to capture and prosecute its leaders. The Nigerian government and military must also win over the hearts and minds of northern populations by protecting them and providing timely and commensurate justice to both insurgents and the victims of this unfortunate conflict. Though no easy task, a comprehensive approach that addresses socio-economic problems, articulates clear rules of engagement, and commits to accountability for those who perpetrate violence, both Boko Haram and security forces, will demonstrate to every Nigerian that their future is brighter in a more secure Nigeria.

    “This may require a new social contract with Nigerian citizens that encompasses an economic recovery strategy as a complement to the government’s security strategy. This approach will be successful to the extent that it can garner the support of northern governors and local officials, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations and a generation of young Nigerians who are connected to their government, locally and federally.”

    Ms Sherman said defeating Boko Haram would not be a tea party, adding that the U.S. would help to get rid of the insurgents.

    Her words: “Achieving success will not be easy, but we are ready to work with you as one of your strongest and most faithful friends and partners, to discuss new ways of help.”

    She said the Federal Government must protect civilians from the harsh effect of the war on terror.

    “We stand ready to work together to develop a multi-faceted strategy to counter the threat posed by Boko Haram that also demonstrates to civilians that they will be protected. Nigeria’s diverse people, land, and spirit have already established a foundation for long-term national and regional stability; however, with today’s insurgent challenges, strong nations must deepen our commitment to respect human life and dignity, build peace, and prevent future atrocities, even in the midst of a protracted conflict with a violent enemy. We look forward to hearing Nigeria’s unique accounts of what steps you are taking to ensure transparency, accountability and justice, including access for civil society organisations and journalists to the North and what steps have been taken to bring to justice those accused of human rights violations,” she said.

    Ms Sherman said Boko Haram’s threat affect both Nigeria and the United States.

    Her words: “The United States remains your partner in helping to address this threat that our two nations share. We have designated three individuals as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, demonstrating our resolve in working with you to diminish the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks. We have provided assistance focused on identifying areas for information-sharing, enhancing security force professionalism and developing tactics to increase public confidence in Nigeria’s security response, and improving Nigerian forensics and investigative capacity. The United States has also been working with Nigerian peacekeepers that deploy to missions across Africa to make sure they have the training and equipment necessary for global peace and security missions. In fact, since 2004, we have trained over 800 staff officers and more than 41,000 troops through the Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) programme.”

    Ms Sherman said protecting civil liberties must be given a priority.

    “Stability, security, and prosperity are long-term goals with no easy fixes for any country, but together we can go further than we can alone. A visible commitment and demonstrated actions to protect civil liberties and ensure civilian security can go a long way toward rebuilding the trust between a government and its people- upon whom our shared well-being depends.

    “When government commits itself to progress and meaningful reforms, the people benefit and extremists become marginalised. By working together, we can contribute to economic growth, democratic progress, and lasting peace. These objectives are important to the United States, to Nigeria, and to the global community, and I hope that this forum will continue to further our partnership,” she added.

    Ms Sherman added that Nigeria has a great potential if she could successfully overcome the Boko Haram challenge.

    It described insurgency as Nigeria’s biggest challenge.

    According to her, there are more than 1.5 million Nigerians and Nigerian-Americans in the US and an estimated 31,000 US citizens in Nigeria, making the country the second largest destination for U.S. private investment in Africa with over $5billion (N780b).

    She said: “Nigeria’s success is important tom us, and we will continue to invest in Nigeria’s institutions, people, and businesses to both countries’ mutual benefit. We also recognise that success cannot be achieved unless Nigeria surmounts the challenges that frustrate progress. It is in the spirit that the United States engage today in this workshop group on Regional Security Cooperation.”

    She also said U.S. partnership with Nigeria is not in the security sector alone, adding that “in 2012, the United States provided Nigeria $647million in bilateral foreign assistance including over $480million to the president’s emergency plan for AIDS relief, demonstrating how important we consider Nigeria to be in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS. Nigeria’s own leadership and shared responsibility was highlighted at the recent Abuja+12 summit.

    “Our bilateral assistance also supports economic growth, education assistance, the strengthening of democratic institutions, and particularly critically to our conversation at this forum, efforts to help Nigeria address emerging threats.”

    Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Martin Uhomoibhi, said the conference was meant to “review the implementation of decisions reached during the inaugural session of the Regional Security Cooperation Working Group in Abuja last year.

  • Boko Haram damages Nigeria’s reputation, says govt

    Boko Haram damages Nigeria’s reputation, says govt

    •UN, UK condemn killings 

    The Federal Government yesterday lamented that the activities of Boko Haram has damaged the country’s reputation.

    It described the killing on Sunday of 44 people in Konduga, Borno State by people suspected to be Boko Haram members as “desperate and isolated.”

    United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged Boko Haram to cease further attacks.

    “The Secretary-General strongly condemns the recent violent attacks that have killed scores of civilians in the localities of Mafa and Konduga in Borno state,” his spokesperson said in a Statement.

    Mr. Ban called on all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue and other peaceful means.

    “The Secretary-General reiterates his firm conviction that no objective can be attained through such violence,” the spokesperson stressed.

    Britain said the attack is “contemptible and cowardly” in a statement by its Foreign Office Minister for Africa Mark Simmonds, it pledged to “stand with the government and people of Nigeria.”

    Information Minister Labaran Maku said the spate of insecurity being perpetrated by the sect has slowed down the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Maku, who spoke to reporters at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday, insisted that the insecurity is politically-instigated.

    According to him, but for the insecurity in the land, the Jonathan administration would have made appreciable progress in terms of development in the various sectors.

    “Boko Haram has damaged the reputation of Nigeria. A report of a bomb explosion makes more news globally than commissioning of projects. We have been doing well in an atmosphere of negative reports. This government is the most documented in the Nigeria history,” he said.

    Maku said despite the constant threat of insecurity, the nation’s economy has improved.

    He warned international agencies, particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not to dictate to Nigeria, but should give advice where necessary.

    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima was all grief as he visited Konduga yesterday.

    He was told by District Head Zannah Masu Yale that a woman was among the 43 killed. Thirty others, he added were injured in the attack on people at a Mosque. He said 78 houses were burnt.

    The traditional ruler urged the government to deploy more troops.

    The governor, who cut short his trip out of the state, donated N5 million and four vehicles to boost the youth volunteers in Konduga in the fight against insurgency.

    He also donated N250,000 each to families of the 43 dead and N50,000 each to the 36 injured victims who are also to be treated at government’s expense. He also gave N50,000 for rehabilitation while houses burnt will be compensated according to the number of rooms.

    According to him, the amount to be given for each of the burnt houses will be between N100,000 and N400,000.

    Shettima, who was emotionally shaken by the level of damage, told the grief- stricken people who thronged the palace of the District Head in their hundreds that the State Government would always identify with them at all times.

    “What happened to you is unfortunate and you understand that whatever happens to you directly affects us all and we identify with you at this hour of grief” he said.

    He praised the gallantry efforts of the security operatives and the youth volunteers which led to the death of five of the insurgents and the recovery of arms, saying: “you made me proud by your commitment toward the restoration of peace in the State”.

    Shettima inaugurated a Committee headed by the member representing Konduga in the House of Assembly to assess the level of damage and report back to government within the shortest possible time.

    He also raised a committee made up of the chief Imam, the district head, caretaker chairman, leader of the civilian JTF among others to manage the compensation cash.

    The governor commended the courage and perservarance of one of the victims, Mmalam Mairami Makinta, whose house was burnt.

    He also pleaded with the Military Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the Police Commissioner to immediately deploy more troops to the Area to check against future occurence and equally implored the people to continue praying until peace is fully restored in the State and the Country as a whole.

    Chairman of the Youth Volunteers in Konduga, Mallam Lawan Ajid, said,the deployment of more Military personnel would help in galvanising the youths to conduct their operations successfully and assured the governor that with the support of the government and the people, the youth volunteers would restore peace in the state in no distant time.

    Interior Minister Abba Moro said the army is making progress in the war against Boko Haram militants, despite the Konduga killings.

    Abba Moro dismissed the attack as “desperate” and “isolated”.

    “The security agencies of Nigeria have been able to push the Boko Haram sect from their major strongholds,” he told the BBC..

    Apart from Konduga, 12 others were killed at Ngom village, close to Maiduguri, according to reports.

    Although Boko Haram has not commented on the Mosque attack, its leader Abubakar Shekau, said in a YouTube video on Monday that his group is responsible for the recent attacks including the one that targeted the police and the military.

    He said this showed that the army’s claims to have inflicted heavy losses on the group were “lies”.

     

  • Fight against Boko Haram sparks vigilante war

    Fight against Boko Haram sparks vigilante war

    Nigerian ironworker Ba Kaka initially felt sympathy for Boko Haram’s violent uprising against a state he and many others saw as corrupt, un-Islamic and kowtowing to Western ideology.

    But as deaths mounted in the Islamist sect’s bloody campaign against state institutions, security services, Christians and even school children in northeast Nigeria, he began to see them as a threat to his life and livelihood.

    “We thought they were doing God’s work at the beginning, but over time, we realized they were just a cult,” said Kaka, who was forced to close his shop in the northeast’s main city of Maiduguri after a spate of Boko Haram attacks in his area.

    Kaka is part of a popular backlash against the Islamists – a member of one of a number of government-approved vigilante groups that have become a weapon in a military offensive that has dismantled Boko Haram networks and squeezed its fighters into a mountainous area by the Cameroon border.

    Though the sect remains the gravest threat to Africa’s most populous country and top oil producer, it is weaker than it has been for years.

    Yet the decision to give these gangs of largely unemployed youths the go ahead to hunt down militants risks dragging civilians further into the north’s conflict. Reprisals are already a problem, and security troubles could emerge further down the line, as has happened in the past with youth gangs.

    Though the state is not giving them guns, a few have acquired them anyway. Kaka himself uses his iron-working skills to fashion bladed weapons like machetes for the militias.

    “With all the death around us, we have gone beyond being afraid of them,” he said, gesturing to a dusty street in his area where a local politician was gunned down by the militants.

    Since an uprising by Boko Haram was put down by the security forces in a 2009 offensive that killed 800 people, the group has enjoyed mixed support from a population caught between it and a military and police often accused of using indiscriminate force.

    That support – or acquiescence – appears to be waning.

    “Unprecedented mass popular action against the group is the most serious setback to its armed campaign against the Nigerian state … since the military crackdown in July 2009,” said Adam Higazi, an Oxford Analytica researched based in north Nigeria.

    Boko Haram, who seek an Islamic state in religiously-mixed Nigeria and who rarely contact the media beyond Internet videos uploaded by leader Abubakar Shekau, could not be reached for comment.

     

    “Killed sooner or later”

     

    In Maiduguri, a city of tall trees and mosques ringed by tin-roofed slums at the edge of a semi-desert, youths armed with sticks man checkpoints. One group examines car boots and bags for bombs.

    The military has arrested hundreds of Boko Haram suspects since President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states in northeast Nigeria in May, and it has praised local vigilante groups for helping identify and denounce them.

    “If people had given us this type of cooperation earlier, we could have done better in tackling the insurgency,” northeast military spokesman Lieutenent-Colonel Sagir Musa says.

    A number of vigilantes interviewed by Reuters said they were fed up with being caught between the two sides.

    “Unless something was done all of us would be killed sooner or later by either the Boko Haram or the security operatives who were suspicious of every youth,” said Ba-Lawan, 25, founder of a vigilante group in Maiduguri. “It was to save ourselves.”

    Mohammed Kawa, 28, said he feared Boko Haram would “turn all of us into their slaves” if nothing was done to stop them.

    Before May, Boko Haram had seemed close to setting up a de facto Islamic state in the lawless border areas around Lake Chad, where Nigeria meets Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Local council officials had fled and police stations were empty, especially in Borno state, relic of an old Islamic caliphate.

    The military crackdown has re-established sovereignty over these areas. Military officials say senior Boko Haram commanders have also been killed or arrested – though they decline to name names – which could mean a secession crisis if Shekau is caught.

    At a desk in the capital Abuja, surrounded by folders marked “confidential”, a top Nigerian security official, who declined to be named, watches recently-seized Boko Haram recruitment videos and scans satellite images of the Gwoza hills, next to Cameroon, where he says Shekau is suspected to be hiding.

    Alongside videos of Boko Haram members demonstrating how to stitch a suicide vest – “here’s one I made earlier,” says one in the northern Hausa language, as if baking a cake for daytime TV – there is also one of “traitors” being executed.

    Two suspected state informants are beheaded in a field by masked men wielding Ak-47s to creepy music praising jihad.

     

    Risks Ahead

     

    Since the vigilantes rose up, Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates to “Western education is forbidden”, has turned on civilians. Fighters killed dozens of people in assaults on Western-style schools, which Islamists suspect harbor youths who are informants.

    “Boko Haram can intimidate the (vigilantes) by targeting their family members and villages where they are strong,” said Jacob Zenn of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation.

    This will in turn lead to paranoia and over-reaction by the vigilantes when they hunt homes for militants, he said.

    Shehu Sani, president of Nigeria’s Civil Rights Congress, says there have been cases of summary executions and burning down the houses of suspects by the vigilantes – the sort of abuses Nigeria’s military had been accused of in the past.

    “The army is starting to use them to perpetrate things they don’t want to be seen to be doing themselves,” he said.

    Nigeria’s history is riddled with examples of angry, destitute youths who formed groups backed by politicians for a particular purpose, which then grew out of control.

    Indeed, many describe Boko Haram itself as one such group – author Wole Soyinka last year said some northern politicians had “conjured up a Frankenstein” with their initial backing for it.

    Militants who besieged the oil industry in the southern Niger Delta last decade were politically sponsored at first.

    And the underlying drivers of violence and instability in Nigeria – corruption, extremes of wealth and poverty, lack of economic opportunities for the young – remain in place.

    Underscoring the risks, rival vigilante groups have clashed in recent days over control of the town of Biu in Borno. Five people died in clashes on Sunday.

    That presents the military with a dilemma: back off from supporting the vigilantes and leave them to be killed by Boko Haram, or sustain a movement that could later turn against the state.

     

    •Culled from Reuters

     

  • Boko Haram: Fed Govt to rehabilitate 2,000 youths in Yobe, Borno

    The Federal Government said yesterday it will rehabilitate 2,000 youths in Yobe and Borno states to change their mindset from Boko Haram activities.

    The rehabilitation, it said, would later be extended to Adamawa State.

    The Minister of Youth Development Inuwa Abdulkadir said the programme would change the youth from engaging in violent activities, which the Boko Haram sect has been using to wreak havoc on the state for years.

    Abdulkadir spoke yesterday at a ministerial briefing to mark this year’s International Youth Day in Abuja.

    He said there is need to rehabilitate the youth in the North to make them shun acts of violence, which may trigger more crises in the future.

    The minister said Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states were selected as pilot states because of the state of emergency imposed on them by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Abdulkadir noted that since youths constitute the driving force of the society, there is need to remould them to contribute to the development of the country without engaging in violence.

    On the theme of this year’s celebration: Youth Migration, Moving Development Forward, the minister said most youths migrate from Nigeria to escape persecution or economic hardship, among other reasons.

    “Poverty, crowded and unsanitary living conditions and the challenges of finding decent employment are regular features of youth migration. These are unacceptable,” Abdulkadir said.

    The minister added that the Federal Government would create a conducive environment for youths.

    Abdulkadir attributed the crises rocking the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) to older persons.

    According to him, such persons have been fomenting trouble to derail the council.

    He warned such persons to desist or face sanctions.