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Tag: boko haram

  • Boko Haram wants to attack me – Suswam

    Boko Haram wants to attack me – Suswam

    Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, on Monday alleged that members of the Boko Haram sect were planning to attack him.

    He said available evidence showed that the sect would attack him very soon and urged Christians in the country to pray fervently  for him and his family.

    The governor stated this while addressing members of NKST Church, in Makurdi, the state capital, on Monday.

    He decried a situation in which only four Christians from the north were elected governor of their states.

    He said with the demise of Patrick Yakowa and the current situation of Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State, only two Christians from the north, out of 19 states in the region are now left standing as governors.

    “Going by security reports available to me, I may be attacked any day, anywhere, anytime and this is the reason I called on you Christians to pray for me and my family “ Suswam told the congregation.

     

     

  • Ndume had contact with Boko Haram member – SSS

    Ndume had contact with Boko Haram member – SSS

     

    The State Security Service on Wednesday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Sen. Ali Ndume’s call log showed that he communicated with Mohammed Konduga (a convict) 73 times, in a month.

    Ndume is standing trial for alleged link with the Boko Haram Sect.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Konduga, who was alleged to be a former spokesman of the sect, is currently serving a three year jail term, after he pleaded guilty to the charges, filed by the SSS.

    Ndume had insisted that his link with the group was necessitated by his membership of the Presidential Committee to restore peace in the troubled North East of the country.

    At the resumed hearing of the case, Mr. Aliyu Usman, a forensic expert with the SSS, while giving evidence said the history of the communication contacts was contained in the two moblie telephones obtained from Ndume and Konduga.

    Usman said the communication between the two persons took place between October 3, 2011 and November 3, 2011, adding that they were inform of SMS and voices.

    He said the data extracted from the two mobile phones were subjected to forensic analysis, adding that the results were stored in three copies of DVDs.

    Usman said the two mobile phones used MTN lines, adding that the details of the communication were obtained from the network.

    When the prosecution counsel, Mr. Thompson Olatigbe sought to tender the three DVDs as evidence, Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), counsel to Ndume objected it.

    Tarfa argued that the items being secondary evidence should have been accompanied by a statement.

    He submitted that the items did not qualify to be admitted, and that the move was a violation of the Evidence Act.

    Tarfa said the evidence neither carried the signature of the witness nor any form of identification to show its originality.

    He further submitted that the evidence sought to be tendered lacked the description of the maker and certification to show its source.

     

  • Jonathan seeks U.S. help in fight against Boko Haram

    President Goodluck Jonathan has described Boko Haram and kidnapping as major challenges facing the country.

    He spoke yesterday when he received Commander of the U.S. Africa Command, AFRICOM, Gen. Carter Ham, at the State House, Abuja.

    He called on the U.S. to support Nigeria’s effort to find lasting solutions to various security challenges confronting the nation.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ham was in the country to present a paper at the National Defence College, Abuja.

    The president said Nigeria was “facing various security challenges, including the Islamic Boko Haram group, policing the nation’s extensive maritime borders, crude oil theft and kidnapping.’’

    He commended the U.S. for its role in global peace and security.

    “We appreciate the commitment of the U.S. to ensuring that the world is safe and secure,’’ he said.

    The president also briefed Ham on his visit to Mali and the efforts by ECOWAS to resolve the conflict in that country.

    He said the situation could still be contained if the right steps were taken quickly.

    Jonathan congratulated also President Barrack Obama on his re-election, commending the smooth process of the U.S. elections.

    Ham said he seized the opportunity of the visit to the National Defence College to hold talks with security agencies on ways to strengthen the partnership between Nigerian and American forces.

    He said the U.S. was ready to cooperate with Nigeria in maritime security, communications, development of civil-military capabilities and resolving the conflict in Mali.

    The general commended the college for the harmonious working relationship between military personnel and civilians.

    Participants at the lecture on security issues include military personnel from neighbouring countries.

     

  • Old soldiers and loose cannons

    Old soldiers and loose cannons

    When is political criticism beyond the pale? Is former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s criticism of government’s handling of Boko Haram the unforgiveable sin?

    Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has added a new dimension to the controversy over comments made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, suggesting that incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the Boko Haram insurgency leaves a lot to be desired.

    Speaking mid-week at a book launch in Lagos, Nigeria’s war-time leader said: “Obasanjo is highly irresponsible to have made such comments about the present government. Many people have condemned what he (Obasanjo) did in Odi and Zaki Biam. So, it was irresponsible for him to defend it or accuse the present administration.”

    For a man widely regarded as mild-mannered, genial, not given to controversial utterances – except where they have to do with Biafra and genocide – this was uncharacteristically hard-hitting.

    At the same event, Nigeria’s doyen of accounting, Mr. Akintola Williams, similarly took the position that Obasanjo could have been more circumspect. “I am sure if he considers his statements, he would not say such things. I would have expected him to observe complete silence, especially commenting on offices now held by somebody else other than himself.”

    After last weekend’s intervention by Jonathan in which he described the military invasion of Odi as an unmitigated disaster which resulted only in the deaths of old people and children, the controversy has now snowballed beyond analysing Obasanjo’s methods, to discussing the etiquette of political criticism.

    Conventional wisdom suggests that it is bad form for predecessors to openly criticise their successors in such high offices of President or Prime Minister. Although this is a widely accepted convention, it is not law. There is no rule of thumb anywhere.

    Former United States President George W. Bush virtually disappeared and hardly ever made a comment during the first four years of Barack Obama’s presidency. Similarly, former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, hardly said a word about his successor, Gordon Brown’s stewardship – even when it was becoming apparent that he was about to truncate the Labour Party’s long tenancy in No. 10 Downing Street. When he did speak out in his memoirs, it was to score his performance as Chancellor and an irritant second-in-command.

    Across the border in Ghana, Jerry Rawlings and his politically-ambitious wife, Nana, often exchange brickbats with the successors to the flamboyant former military ruler.

    But before you jump to the conclusion that former military rulers given to dictatorial ways do not understand civility, then consider the fact many predecessors don’t shrink from laying into successors in certain countries running the parliamentary system. Examples like Israel, Pakistan and Italy, to name a few, are relevant. Again, it could be down to the temperament of the people and country.

    I guess individuals have to decide what they want. You can choose to play the statesman who stays above the fray, or elect to be an influential but partisan power broker. Obasanjo would like to have the best of both worlds, but his temperament always causes him to slip of his perch on any sort of high ground.

    Although Gowon has called the former president’s criticisms of the Jonathan administration’s handling of security issues ‘irresponsible’, there are many who are happy that a high profile figure like Obasanjo is ventilating in the public square what they’ve been moaning about in their homes, bars and offices.

    When this sort of exchange happens we hear talk of how the former president could have expressed his views through the “usual channels” – rather than making statements that “overheat the polity.”

    Truth be told: the polity is already suffering from heat stroke. One more pungent comment is not going make things any worse.

    I suspect that when persons of the caliber of our former heads of state – their personalities and temperament notwithstanding – beginning to criticise their successors so publicly, frustration at lack of access, or inability to get their message across may be at the root.

    People like Obasanjo have long since renounced popularity, and would say what they want irrespective of whether Gowon or some other eminent person approves. He would also be aware that if lack of access is the problem, things are not going to be made better by pungent comments that undermine the credibility of the government.

    So, it could be one of two things, and we should be careful not to rush to any conclusions. In the days of the military regime of former President Ibrahim Babangida, Obasanjo famously spoke up to denounce the regime’s mismanagement and dictatorial ways.

    At a time when the vast majority of voices had been silenced by fear, his intervention was not wise from a personal point of view. His utterances were the swiftest way to jeopardise access and patronage.

    On the face of it, a supposedly democratic setting offers greater freedom for expressing contrary opinions. However, given the centrality of government in our society, the business of criticising and opposing the powers-that-be has never been more unattractive. Speaking truth to power is now an undertaking for only those who have burnt every bridge leading to Aso Villa or some state government house.

    Obasanjo’s intervention while not elegant, or correct, could be viewed as bold and patriotic. Those who demur are free to argue that it is nothing but one more sop to a gargantuan ego.

    Although this back and forth between the former president and the incumbent hardly tells us anything we don’t already know about their character, it is further evidence of the chasm that now separates the one-time allies.

    It is also a signal of the looming civil war in the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as the scheming gathers steam ahead of the 2015 election season. All the pointers are that Jonathan’s greatest booster in 2011 would do everything in his power to frustrate his second term bid.

    Again, the exchanges throw some light on the nature of interpersonal relationships within the exclusive club of Nigeria’s former rulers. Gowon is the most senior of the lot – having been head of state in the Civil War years and head of the defunct Supreme Military Council (SMC).

    Anyone who has taken the pains would have noticed that on several occasions, Gowon has taken it upon himself to be the one to take Obasanjo down a peg or two. Where many who are practicing politics presently may be intimidated by the profile of the former president, Gowon who was OBJ’s boss suffers no such affliction.

    Calling another former head of state “irresponsible” is not only overly aggressive, it is not diplomatic. The comment just reeks of underlying animus.

    But then it will take more than that to stop a man who has had drag down public fights with virtually all his colleague former heads of state.

  • Nigeria after Boko Haram

    Nigeria after Boko Haram

    Given its rage and capacity to cause maximum damage, not to mention the tough talk of its leaders, will there ever be Nigeria without Boko Haram? Is there any chance that one day the guns of the Islamist sect will stop booming and its bombs silent, the energies of its leaders and suicide bombers channelled to healthier ventures?

    My answer is yes.

    True, the group has terrorised the country enough for everyone to take it very seriously. Tons of blood is continuously spilled. The dead victims are gone, never to contribute anymore to the growth of their families or country.  For survivors, life will never be the same again after their encounter with the sect.  Many may never walk again. As for property lost, it can only be measured in billions, perhaps, trillions. Boko Haram has also caused all sorts of problems for government across the board, the security community and virtually everyone else. Relentless terror has taught public officials to have a healthy fear of the group, just as day-to-day life has substantially changed, especially in the North.

    Still, a post-Boko Haram era is possible, whether government succeeds in crushing it or the group, by itself, refrains from its acts.

    But I have an enduring worry: are we preparing for that peacetime? You can grapple with the tensions and challenges of the moment, even manage to contain them (as the military do), but there is more work to be done. Preventing a repeat scenario of those tensions and challenges is where the ultimate victory lies. That is the peace era, defined not merely by momentary cessation of violence but by the sustenance of law and order and mutual respect for one another. Peace era stimulates creativity, productivity and growth. Is the Jonathan administration merely working towards the end of Boko Haram, or is it looking to evolve sustained peace?

    Niger Delta militancy in the last decade is a relevant scenario. Like Boko Haram, it started with isolated cases of disorder before it got everybody in the region and beyond worried. Before we knew it, not only oil facilities were being blown up, nor were expatriate workers the only targets and victims of kidnappers; local chiefs, grandpas and grandmas and their grandkids were being taken too, to be ransomed at handsome fees. Naturally, business activities declined in the region, to take root beyond our national borders. And then President Umaru Yar’Adua came along, succeeding to get the region’s fighters to lay down their arms and embrace amnesty. It worked. Tensions cooled and, to boot, some of the former militants have been trained in entrepreneurship skills to help them get a life worth the name.

    Yet, and this is my major concern, I do not think government has really come to grips with the issues that remotely caused or precipitated the militancy in the first place. Life in the oil-rich delta is still pretty much unflattering. Several communities are left without power, clean water or any viable means of livelihood. Many areas lack schools of any kind, and where they are available, are not worthy of the name. Regional soils and waters are despoiled, leaving residents with few sustenance options. The Jonathan administration can look beyond the amnesty-induced peace and work towards evolving enduring harmony propelled by capacity-building and growth. The rehabilitated ex-militants represent a tiny fraction of the Niger Delta population, much of which live in abject poverty. Resolving infrastructural challenges will help to check gloom in the region. In other words, the government merely looked to contain the militancy, which it did, but has failed to create an environment that will be sustained on growth based on needs met, not on fires put out.

    The Boko Haram matter should be approached from a wider, more comprehensive perspective. So far, government’s response is not flattering. Predominant assessment is that it is not doing enough to halt the sect. The move by the Jonathan administration to stop the United States government from designating Boko Haram as a terrorist group has also worsened matters. But I think that, one way or another, the terror reign will end someday; how that will happen is beyond me. Yet, one question remains: what happens after the guns and bombs of the sect cease? Beyond politics and rhetoric, has the Jonathan administration assessed the factors that gave rise to the emergence, and ferocity, of the sect and mapped out strategies to contain them? Is neglect of the people one of the reasons? Is infrastructural challenge another? What about youth unemployment?

    I have argued in this space that the federal government does not need to create a Ministry for the North to pacify Boko Haram, my position being that such creations are largely political and have very little positive effect, anyhow. The Niger Delta Ministry has changed little in the region. Still, there is a lot a federal government can do to solve problems and stimulate growth in the states. Apart from initiating and executing its developmental programmes, it can inspire the state governments to drive growth and put their people out of misery. To inspire, it must shed party toga. Its intentions must also be transparently genuine and the president must be fatherly and above board. He must be courageous, with an eye on enduring legacy.

    That is one way to prepare for a post-violence era and make way for the emergence of a new Nigeria.

    First published on August 19 under the title ‘Are we preparing for post-Boko Haram era?’

  • ‘We lost 12 pastors to Boko Haram’

    The President of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Rev. Soja Bewarang, said the Church lost at least 12 of its pastors and several members due to the activities of Boko Haram.

    Rev. Bewarang made this known while presenting the Church annual report to the General Church Council held at COCIN headquarters in Jos on Wednesday.

    “As if the great loss we suffered as a church in the last 12 months is not enough, only last week we heard the brutal killing of Rev Elisha Kabura in his house in in Borno State.

    “No doubt, as a church our hearth is broken over the loss of our reverends in Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Maiduguri. These victims would have been here with us for this general council meeting if not for their untimely death.

    “We call upon the Federal Government to take more serious proactive measures to safeguard lives and properties of all citizens of Nigeria especially in Kaduna, Yobe, Borno and Bauchi States respectively.

    “COCIN as a single denomination has suffered greatly due to Boko haram activities and flood disaster,” Rev. Bewarang said.

    The COCIN president, however, expressed confidence in the unity and progress of the country despite the security challenges facing it.

     

  • Council urges police to improve service

    Council urges police to improve service

    The Chairman of Coker/Aguda Local Council Development Area, Hon. Bolanle Akinyemi-Obe, has implored the Nigeria Police to improve on the ‘stop and search’ operation.

    Akinyemi-Obe gave the advice at a special security meeting with the community leaders and stakeholders.

    “I believe now is the time for the security teams to improve on the stop and search operation on motorocycle riders, especially at the weekends as you can hardly differentiate armed robbers from the real motorcyclists, ” she said.

    The council chief , who called the attention of the gathering to the problem of kidnapping and ‘Boko Haram’, asked the LCDA councilors to organise similar meeting at the ward level to educate residents on their responsibility towards the Nigeria Police and other security groups.

    Hon. Akinyemi-Obe emphasised the importance of information in fighting crime, saying that the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and OP-MESSA teams could only be assisted with correct information by the community members.

    The chairman praised the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the State Security Service (SSS) operatives for helping in combing premises around school building to save pupils from being influenced into taking hard drugs and other bad manners.

    The council chair thanked the stakeholders for the suggestion raised in caging the activities of criminals in the LCDA.

    “I also want to thank the Immigration Department and all other security network for treating all information being provided by the people of this peace-loving LCDA in confidence,” she said; adding that the people would not relent in providing useful information at all times.

    Present at the event were political leaders, community leaders, officials of Nigeria Immigration Department, NDLEA officials, SSS officials, Neighbourhood Watch and Nigeria Police among others.

  • Cleric supports talks with Boko Haram

    The Pastor-in-charge of Providence Baptist Church, Lagos, Rev Julius Oduola, has backed the Federal Government’s decision to dialogue with the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

    He said it is always better to seek peace at all costs than resort to confrontations and armed resistance.

    Acknowledging the group has engaged in unprecedented terrorist acts, Oduola said it is still best to engage them in dialogue for lasting peace.

    He spoke last Friday with reporters on the anniversary lecture of the church with the theme, “Our people’s security and welfare: The role of the government and the church.”

    The lecture will be delivered by Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Dr Matthew Kukah, on Saturday at the Lagos Airport Hotel.

    Oduola urged the Federal Government to seize advantage of the sect’s willingness to dialogue to end terrorism in the nation.

    According to him: “Dialogue is always the best way to resolve conflicts, not confrontations. When the militancy in the Niger Delta was becoming unbearable, it was the offer of amnesty that bought peace.

    “If God is helping Boko Haram to ask for talks, I think we should embrace it. Confrontations will only lead to more deaths and loss of billions.”

    While emphasising the need to seek peace at all costs, he pointed to ongoing clashes in Syria, saying, embracing talks would have ended the struggle.

    He assured that the lecture, which will be chaired by eminent administrator, Dr Gamaliel Onosode, will examine what the government can do to bring about peace across the nation.

  • Boko Haram: Why Nigeria, ECOWAS will intervene in Mali – Minister

    Boko Haram: Why Nigeria, ECOWAS will intervene in Mali – Minister

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, said Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will intervene in Mali because of the security challenge facing the nation through Boko Haram insurgency.

    He also said there is no going back in implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2071 for military and other intervention and assistance to Mali.

    Ashiru made the disclosures in a position paper on the current situation in the Sahel and West Africa at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos.

    In the paper, which was released to the press in Abuja, minister said Nigeria will however not accept the partition of Mali or imposition of an Islamic State.

    He said: “One of the major challenges facing Nigeria today is security. The menace of Boko Haram and its links to other terrorist organisations in Africa such as Al-Qaida in the Maghreb (AQIM) has demonstrated to us in the Nigeria the nexus between domestic situation and foreign policy.

    “It has shown that peace and security of the sub-region is tied to peace and stability in Nigeria. This is why the Federal Government has taken a keen interest in the situation in West Africa beginning with Nigeria’s historic engagements in the restoration of peace in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and now, Mali.

    “Neither Nigeria nor ECOWAS has jettisoned the principle of unconstitutional change of Government. On the country, it was that same principle that informed our unequivocal condemnation of the coup and our intervention is ensuring that the military junta in Bamako handed over to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Diancounda Traore as the Interim President under the Framework Agreement that was first hammered out in Abuja under my watch.

    “ECOWAS has continued to push for the implementation of the Peace Agreement, despite continued challenges. Indeed, an Extra-ordinary Summit of ECOWAS on Mali is scheduled to hold in Abuja in the next few days.

    “This is coming on the heels of the adoption of the UNSC Resolution (2071), which has provided the needed backing for military and other intervention and assistance to Mali. Let me assure this audience that ECOWAS is working hard to respond adequately to this Resolution.

    “In the same vein, the so-called serious dispute between ECOWAS and Bamako appears to have been exaggerated. Mali had since formally requested ECOWAS to deploy its forces to Northern Mali.

    “The issue of support for the military junta by the Malian people had also been raised, but this is no reason to encourage military, unconstitutional change of government, which the AU had adopted as a sacred principle.”

     

  • I would have been Boko Haram member, says Onoja

    I would have been Boko Haram member, says Onoja

    A former Military Governor of Plateau and Katsina states, Brig.-Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd), yesterday said the Boko Haram sect is pursuing a just cause.

    The retired soldier, however, faulted the killing of innocent people by the sect to get antional attention.

    Onoja spoke in Minna, the Niger State capital, when the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) submitted a report on Road Map for Peace Unity and Development of Northern Nigeria to Governor Babangida Aliyu, the Chairman of Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF).

    The former military governor stressed that the sect has a “genuine case”.

    Onoja said he would have joined the sect if it had not resorted to indiscriminate killings of innocent lives.

    He said: “If you look at it from the beginning, they (Boko Haram) have a genuine case. I have told people that I would have been a member of Boko Haram before they started killing people. But if they had started going after those who rigged elections and killing them; those who carried ballot boxes to their homes, thump-printed and started announcing fake results the next day, which is what most people are doing; if they go after such people, I would have joined them. What we don’t want is to start wasting people’s lives.”

    The retired soldier recommended dialogue with the leadership of the sect to prevent further killings.

    Gen. Onoja noted that security challenges are not peculiar to Nigeria.

    According to him, advanced nations, despite their technological wherewithal to get information fast and wage military war against similar sects, still dialogue with some dissident groups for peace.

    Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu yesterday in Minna, the state capital, received the report of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on the need to restore peace in the North.

    The Chairman of the National Executive Council of the forum, Alhaji Aliko Mohammed, submitted the report, entitled: The Road map for Peace Unity and Development of Northern Nigeria.

    The governor advocated the merger of the ACF with Northern Elders Forum (NEF).

    He said: “ACF should swallow the NEF.”