The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Boko

  • Putting Boko Haram on world stage

    One of the cardinal targets of the President Buhari administration is to ensure the security of lives and properties of all Nigerians and other nationals residing in the country.

    The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended also backed President Buhari in that direction.

    That is why he is leaving no stone unturned in the efforts to defeat the terrorists, Boko Haram as soon as possible.

    Boko Haram, which have claimed the lives of many Nigerians, injured others and destroyed billions of naira worth of properties in the country in the past 5 years, have in recent times been carrying out their evil attacks in neighbouring countries.

    Besides relocating the headquarter of Nigeria’s Armed Forces battle against Boko Haram from Abuja to the heart of the war, Borno State, Buhari also gave the new service chiefs mandate to crush the sect before December, 2015.

    He did not hesitate to seek the support of neighboring countries under the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic to defeat terrorism in the sub-region.

    The cooperation in the commission is mainly geared towards deployment of Multinational Joint Task Force against terror.

    Apart from the immediate Nigerian neighbours, Buhari also took the campaign against terror to the world stage.

    He visited Germany on the invitation of the G-7 leaders, where the world leaders opened a new chapter of diplomatic relationship with Nigeria as they promised technical and material support to quell Boko Haram and assist in rebuilding the Nigerian economy.

    Buhari also visited the United States of America (USA) in July 2015 and did not fail to seek the support of the US against Boko Haram.

    As a fallout of the visit, the United States pledged $5 million to the fight against Boko Haram, in addition to other material support.

    Buhari’s newest campaign against Boko Haram at the world stage is at the ongoing 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in the United States of America.

    Terrorism is among the top issues he tabled at the session.

    This campaign is directly to the right forum as the United Nations (UN) has the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security.

    Optimistic that the end of Boko Haram was really in sight, President Buhari in his Eid-el-Kabir message to Nigerians said: “Boko Haram’s reign of terror in parts of the country will be finally over very soon as the ongoing military onslaught against the terrorist sect will continue relentlessly until total victory is achieved.”

  • Abia, Boko: Arewa, State Police, idiocy and us

    Some of my police – hating friends are still convalescing from a brand of shock last week what I defined to them as the injuries of idiocy. That idiocy is disability to see deep down through, right to the bottom of public policy or advocacy. The irrepressible Tai Solarin and Akin Aguda lent themselves to this danger in the movement of the Federal capital from Lagos to Abuja, believing the reasons for the relocation were pure as stated. President Ebele Jonathan fell for it in the campaign to prevent Nigeria’s 36 states from having their police forces, as the regions had in the First Republic. On Tuesday last week, the president must have had second thoughts when about 500 men from the northern Nigeria traveling in a 35-bus convoy were arrested at about 03.00am by soldiers at a road-block in Abia State. Two of the buses escaped into the dead of the night. Coming within 48 hours after the foiling of attempts by Boko Haram to bomb five churches in Owerri was foiled, the arrests fueled speculations that the 500 men were Boko Haram soldiers. The fear aligns with recent threats by Boko Haram that it would bomb oil installations in Port Harcourt and other parts of the Niger Delta. Northern leaders and youths immediately described the arrests as infringements on the right to free movement claiming the suspects were heading for Port-Harcourt in search of jobs. An attempt to free the suspects on bail has failed. And detectives have claimed one of the suspects was a key Boko Haram terrorist wanted by Nigeria’s Federal government and the United States. With that, the rest of the story-line can be pinned together. One fraction of the evolving story-line is that they were heading for Oron and, from there, the Cameroun border to pick arms, which are no longer readily available in the Nigeria’s northern border with Chad and Niger Republic.

    I suspect that, if they are Boko, their mission may include Bayelsa State, home state of President Jonathan. What better prize, apart from Abuja, would Boko have claimed for itself if it could blast Bayelsa real hard to tell the world a president who couldn’t defend his own village couldn’t be president of Nigeria? Psychologically, that would be bad not only for the President and his kith and kindred back in Bayelsa State, but the rest of the country. I suspect that, with that, mass movements would begin across the country, everyone to his or her own tent in his or her own native land. And this may be yet a drizzle foreboding a stormy rainfall ahead.

    With these events last week, it became clear to more people in the south of Nigeria, the ostriches and the doubting Thomases, that Nigeria is at war, a brand of civil war different from the classical civil war, and that many people down south have not seen this unfolding picture for what it is. Last week, this column described the ostrich as a stupid animal. When it senses or sees danger in its environment, it buries its head in the sand. It believes if it cannot see the danger, the danger cannot see it. As for doubting Thomases, they are people who see heavy clouds in the sky, do not believe it would rain, even lightning and thunder, in love, give them the final warnings and time to seek shelter. Last week, this column also published from the column of Gbogungboro in the The Nationon May 29, 2014. It suggests the north of Nigeria is under instruction from Sultan of Sokoto Ahmadu Bello to make Nigeria an extension of Uthman Dan Fodio’s empire by using the Middle Belt region to prevent the south from pursuing its destiny and making it a slave of the north. That charge, said to be in a speech of the Sultan 11 days after Nigeria’s independence from Britain, was quoted as follows in Gbogungboro  May29 2014 column in The Nation as stated:

    ‘Someday, some bright historians will reveal to the world the causes and details of this most unfortunate turn in Hausa-Fulani attitudes to the political development of Nigeria. Much of what we know is encapsulated in the statement credited to Sir Ahmadu Bello, the leader of the Hausa-Fulani political elite, only 11 days after the day of independence. This new country called Nigeria, ‘he was reported to have said, ‘should be an extension of the empire of our great-grandfather Othman dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of government. We used the peoples of Middle Belt as willing tools and the peoples of the South as conquered territory, and never let them rule over us, and never let them control their own future’.

    That is the path that Hausa-Fulani politics has pursued ruthlessly since then. The central piece of it is to hold the power of the federal government by all means, and to use it to subdue the other peoples of Nigeria, in order to mould Nigeria into a de facto Fulani empire- what some now call a ‘sultan-state.

    From this, the slogan, BORN TO RULE, which many southern people find objectionable has legitimacy in the northern script! So does Boko Haram, inherent in any public advocacy or debate is an item of this script. So, when the police road-blocks were dismantled, and many southerners rejoiced, did they look deep to the bottom of the ban? I remember telling my friends it was better for policemen to collect bribes at those check-points if their presence would deter criminals and enable us all sleep like babies at night. I said so, mindful of the claim that the police are armed robbers. But did we think that, if they did, they couldn’t do so from their barracks? In berating the police, we seem not to remember the social interchange theory. The police are not from planet Mars. They are bonafide members of our society. If we are corrupt, so will they. In the North-East, where it is most active, Boko Haram has exploited inadequate policing to great advantages. We saw the value of adequate policing when the traditional hunters of Borno took it upon themselves to police their towns and villages: Boko Haram activity stalled for a while. Those 35 bus loads of Boko Haram suspects from the north would not have moved as freely and as swiftly as they did if there were enough policemen on all the routes which yielded it free passage and one of the ways to do this is to let the states set up their own police forces.

  • Soldier, policemen killed in Kano, Yobe Boko Haram attacks

    A soldier and two policemen were yesterday killed by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Yobe and Kano states.

    Another policeman was injured in Kano in an ambush on a security patrol vehicle.

    The soldier was reportedly killed in an attack at Ngelzarma, a satellite town on the Kano-Maiduguri highway, about 45 kilometres West of Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.

    Police Commissioner Sanusi Rufai said a policeman was injured in the attack.

    It was learnt that a soldier was still missing as at the time of filing this report yesterday.

    Rufai said: “There was an ambush, not an attack. A Joint Task Force (JTF) patrol vehicle was ambushed by some gunmen, suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect, on the road in Ngelzarma. A soldier was killed and a policeman sustained injuries.”

    Another account, however, said some soldiers were attacked at a food joint by the suspected Boko Haram gunmen on four motorcycles.

    The gunmen reportedly threw Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) and petrol bombs, killing a soldier and injuring two others, when the JTF patrol vehicles veered off the road at 8.30pm on Monday.

    There was no official confirmation on the destruction in the town.

    But an eyewitness, simply identified as Hamisu, alleged that 19 shops and a house belonging to a 60-year-old farmer were set ablaze by angry soldiers after the attackers had fled.

    It was gathered that many residents, who were caught in the attack, slept in nearby bushes or villages while others fled the town to neighbouring Damaturu and Potiskum.

    In Kano, the gunmen reportedly ambushed the police patrol team at Ungwar Uku Quarters in the state capital.

    It was gathered that the gunmen, who were said to be on motorbike, opened fire on the patrol team.

    The attack coincided with the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration celebrated across Nigeria.

    As at press time yesterday, no arrest had been made.

    But the area was condoned off by men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) as the police combed the area for possible suspects.

    Police spokesman Magaji Majiya, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), confirmed the death of the two policemen.

    He said the third policeman was receiving treatment for gunshot wounds.

    Yesterday’s attack came on the heels of a similar attack on Monday; two policemen were killed and two civilians were injured.

     

  • The North and Boko Haram

    The North and Boko Haram

    Violence and insecurity is not peculiar to northern Nigeria. Nigeria as a whole is at a point where perhaps its security apparatus needs a radical surgical overhaul in order to better guarantee the safety of the lives and property of the people who, in addition to coping with crippling poverty, have had to also contend with progressively worsening levels of insecurity through successive years, especially since the return to civilian rule on the eve of the 21st Century. What, however, seems to be increasingly peculiar to the north as far as violence and insecurity is concerned is the brazen terrorist toga the violence continues to don. And since mid-2009 when, starting from the then-hotbed of Bauchi State, a radical group first engaged security forces in gun battles across some states of the north, things have hardly let down. From gun duels and attacks with crude war material that group is now the infamous face of violence in Nigeria as its tactics get ever more sophisticated. That group – Boko Haram – continues to thrive in spite of consistent chest-thumping by the government that somehow the government is prevailing in the war against insecurity and violence.

    No doubt, Nigeria’s borders with other states contributes to the problem as some of the foot soldiers carrying out the violence have been found to be from some of these West African countries. Perhaps, this means that the efforts at border patrol and security measures in border towns have not been concerted enough. However, security forces may ransack compounds, and even invade and kill whole towns. This would no doubt, have its own success. Still, we would only just be scratching the surface of the issue at best because sheer, outright force does not seem like the only viable solution to the problem.

    Which is why it ought to (emphasis on “ought to”) be heartening that some people across both sides are beginning to consider dialogue in all this. But you wonder how feasible dialogue, productive dialogue in the interest of peace, is here considering the unrealistic nature of the group’s demands. If dialogue happens, that would be great. However, there are a few things that are beyond the direct control of the government that need to happen in order to have a chance of bringing about peace to the north.

    The staying power that the Boko Haram ‘brand’ continues to demonstrate in the north, especially in its two strongholds of Borno and Yobe states is, arguably attributable to the attitudes of indigenes of the two states, side-by-side the suspected membership composition of the group. There was talk across town recently especially in Yobe, that some of the recent success enjoyed by the Joint Task Force in identifying members of the group and their lairs in Damaturu and Potiskum was down to the fact that a few more people in those cities came forward to blow the whistle on suspected Boko Haram elements, leading security forces to more precise targets rather than having blanket information. This sort of ‘snitching’ is what has to happen more with Boko Haram. Such attitude to violence is one of the things that had not happened often enough in the past especially in Borno State, which has allowed the group to continue to spread its violent tentacles as though its members were aliens with superhuman ability to completely evade attention until Violence Hour strikes. In truth, however, sentiment and lineal affinity has always interfered with the people’s thinking as far as Boko Haram is concerned. As many families are inextricably tied to the group one way or another with having a deviant family member on the group’s payroll, innocent members of the public usually feel compelled to play the unwitting accessory as the family ties that bind them force them not to expose their family member as belonging to the group. But as demonstrated with the relative success of the security forces in the two Yobe towns where this attitude changed, be it for a split second, fighting the group’s brand of warfare is every peace-loving person’s responsibility.

    So, the people have to decide whether they will continue to allow their affinity towards family members who do not give a hoot about the safety and security of their innocent brethren becloud their sense of longing for peace. The people must simply wean themselves of that rather misplaced allegiance and realise that self-preservation and the preservation of innocent lives is infinitely more golden than protecting the interest of murderous, suicidal family members. They don’t have to go too far to find precedence to follow. In 2009, when a teenage Umar Farouq Abdulmuttallab attempted to blow up an American aeroplane, some attributed his behaviour to his privileged upbringing. But it turned out that his father, having watched him closely for a while, had been worried enough to alert the authorities that his son was showing extremist inclinations. In the end, although that act was not directly responsible for the botched bombing attempt, it vindicated his father and the family. It showed that not even a father could be swayed by filial ties to stand in the way of the safety and security of other people, even if his actions meant he was discrediting his own flesh and blood. Similarly, every well-meaning northerner has to accept that the safety and security of the innocent should be superintendent to their rather primordial considerations of filial protection over those whose actions directly and indirectly deepen their misery and make their own kith and kin endangered species in their own land.

    Another primordial factor that seems to be hindering the fight against violence in the north is the attitude towards religion. And by religion here, this writer means the interpretation of Islam by most northerners as against practically everything else, including contrary religious views and religions. If we chose to be naïve we can say that the Boko Haram problem is not a religious cancer. We can also elect to be simplistic and call it a sole problem of religion. Either way, we may not be doing justice to the issue. Simply, as it is today, violence in the north has a socio-religious touch to it, fuelled by political elements here and there. In the midst of this, other criminals of various ilks have exploited the situation to their own diabolical ends such that what we now have is a hydra. But this is one hydra with stronger tentacles of religion and politics – politics feeding on religious fervour to ignite an all too inflammable social canister.

    So, a good way to go is for people in the north to start looking at religion differently, stop seeing everything through the vaunted superiority of the religious compass. What if the people become less uptight and sensitive about religion? What if they start to look at religion honestly as a life journey encompassing tolerance, understand others and allowing other opinions to precede even when this may not be in their own best interest? What if religion is no longer a struggle between faiths or beliefs to them? What if they begin to see Islam as not a fragile Masonic doctrine that must be protected aggressively from others? How about they begin to see religion as a pattern of a series of interconnected faiths each with their peculiarity that might not always seem linked or pleasing to one set in the series, but then the one set does not harm the other set? I tell you what might happen: there would be less room for anyone or institution to attempt to mess with the sanity of individuals or groups by colouring everything as a religious struggle in which every man has to protect his own corner.

    That way also, the people would begin the process of extricating themselves from ‘personality-institutions’ and instead embrace ‘institutional-institutions’ and authority – learning to give their allegiance to rules, social contracts with all, as well as institutions, rather than subjecting themselves to being (mis)led by individual or group of individuals only, no matter how wealthy or ‘knowing’ the individuals may claim to be.

    But then considering the poverty level, the level of ‘unletteredness’ and the depth to which person institutions and religion has already sunk into the psyche of the people in the north, who will bell this cat?

     

  • How Boko Haram split wrecked FG, sect talks

    How Boko Haram split wrecked FG, sect talks

    • US AFRICOM Commander to meet Jonathan, security chiefs over insurgency

    Cracks within the leadership structure of the terrorist Islamist sect, Boko Haram, may be responsible for the failure of the much-publicised dialogue between it and the Federal Government.

    Since the killing of the group’s former leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in police custody in 2009 following a violent uprising in Borno and surrounding states, Abubakar Shekau has been the widely acknowledged leader of the militant group. But sources say the arrest of one of the group’s leaders in Kano by the Joint Task Force (JTF) may have sparked the division.

    It was learnt that not less than three factions of the sect have now emerged. This is complicating any further contacts and negotiations with the group.

    One of the splinter groups, Yusufiyya Islamiyya, has distanced itself from the efforts to resolve through dialogue the insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives across Northern Nigeria. The group has warned members of the sect to be wary of people with selfish intentions claiming to be negotiating with the government on their behalf.

    Yusufiyya is said to be under the leadership of Sheik Abu Usamata Al’Ansari who, before now, was well known as commander of Boko Haram in Kano. Sources even described him as the sect’s leader in the North West – comprising Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi and Jigawa States.

    Al’Ansari, who sources claimed was in Dubai recently as part of Boko Haram’s delegation for talks with government, is said to have pulled out following the refusal of the JTF to release Suleiman Mohammed, his aide and deputy, who was arrested some weeks ago.

    The continued clampdown on members of the sect by the Police and the JTF is another reason given by Yusufiyya for backing away from the dialogue. It is believed that Al’Ansari and his men are the ones behind recent bombings across the North.

    A reliable source who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “The truth of the matter is that discussion was opened with the Boko Haram sect. However, following internal disagreement within the group over how to handle the dialogue with government, it has become difficult to continue the discussion as the sect is now in factions. One of the factions said it is no longer interested in dialogue until all its men are out of detention.

    “There is also the issue of who the authentic leader of the group is. Our suspicion is that the aggrieved faction is the one behind the recent spate of bombings. This explains why nobody has come out to claim responsibility. Unless the internal crisis is addressed, it may be difficult to know who to discuss with among the factions.”

    Apart from Yusufiyya, another faction of the Boko Haram sect which goes by the name “Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan,” meaning Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa, is said to have denounced the call for negotiations.

    The group whose logo shows the Qur’an, with a gun on both sides, said it will continue to wage a war for justice and truth. It said it will not negotiate with the authorities as it is sure of victory.

    “We are more determined to continue the fight for the blood of our founder Mohammed Yusuf and other leaders who were slain in cold blood by your leaders. We are not part of any negotiation. We will continue to attack the aggressors,” the group said in leaflets distributed in Kaduna during the week.

    The sect has been engaged in a bloody campaign of bombings and killings in parts of the North in the past few months. A blistering crackdown on suspected members of the sect by the military and police has failed to end the reign of terror.

    But against all expectations, a senior member of the Boko Haram, Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, in November requested talks with the government, a day after a double suicide bombing blamed on the sect killed at least 11 and wounded 30 in an army barrack.

    Abdulazeez said he was speaking on behalf of Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader. The group set conditions for peace talks in the teleconference and nominated former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, among its mediators. It equally requested that the talks take place outside the country.

    Buhari has since declined the offer. Following Buhari’s refusal, the sect through a letter said to have been sent to the Federal Government through the Borno State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), nominated as mediator, Imam Gabchiya, an official from the University of Maiduguri.

    After initially welcoming the offer of dialogue enthusiastically, President Goodluck Jonathans had during his last nationwide television media chat dismissed all notions that talks had been taking place. He said government could not discuss with a faceless group.

    This denial notwithstanding, sources close to the two divides claim discussions were actually opened between them. One of such dialogue, The Nation on Sunday learnt, took place in Dubai and the two parties agreed on modalities for further meetings. It was learnt that both the sect and the authorities were well represented at the Dubai talks.

    However, indications that all was not well emerged when shortly after the encounter, leaders of the sect started speaking with discordant tones. According to sources, the arrest of one of the group’s leader in Kano by the JTF then disrupted all calculations. And by the time the discussants met in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, for another round of talks, not less than three factions of the sect had emerged.

    Meanwhile, Gen. Carter F. Ham, Commander, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) arrives in Nigeria this week for talks with President Jonathan, National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and other security chiefs over the threat posed by the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency.

    Ham disclosed this yesterday at this year’s Chinua Achebe Colloquim on Africa with the theme: ‘Governance, Security and Peace in Africa,’ which took place in the US city of Providence, Rhode Island.

    The general had said last week that the terrorist organisation – Al Qaeda’s – affiliate in North Africa was operating training camps in northern Mali and providing arms, explosives and financing to Boko Haram. He revealed that members of the sect had travelled to the camps and have, most likely, received funds and explosives from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). “We have seen clear indications of collaboration among the organisations,” he said.

  • We are willing to hold peace talks with Boko Haram, says govt

    We are willing to hold peace talks with Boko Haram, says govt

    The Federal Government has restated its preparedness to dialogue with members of the Boko Haram sect in a move to put an end to the security challenges facing the country

    The government, however, explained that no meaningful dialogue could take place as the members of the sect still remain faceless.

    Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Olusola Obada spoke in Abuja yesterday while receiving the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Chris Cooter and the Defence Attache, Col. J.G. Savard, to her office.

    She said the government would do everything within its power to put an end to the spate of violence being experienced in certain parts of the country due mainly to the activities of the sect.

    Obada assured the delegation that President Goodluck Jonathan would not hesitate to negotiate with the members of the sect whenever the opportunity presents itself, noting that Nigeria remains one indivisible nation in spite of the insecurity problem.

    She also called for assistance of the Canadian government in the fight against terrorism and insecurity in the country.

    She said: “Now, for our own local problems here, which we even believe that some of these elements are over there in Mali also where they are trained, we shall be very happy if you can assist in the area of training our troops, and also some other forms of assistance that you could give which I would talk to you about. We are hoping that all these things would become a thing of the past.

    Cooter said that his country recognised the importance of Africa and the strategic role being played by the country in the subregion especially in Mali where efforts were on to reclaim territories captured by militant groups.

    He stated that the establishment of bi-national commission between Canada and Nigeria had resulted in increased cooperation between both countries in security, politics and economic issues.

    He said that he was in the office of the Minister to discuss areas of cooperation between his government and Nigerians on the stated issues.

     

  • Boko Haram forces leaders to sing ‘scary’ tunes

    Boko Haram forces leaders to sing ‘scary’ tunes

    Is the Boko Haram ready for dialogue? The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the North and at the national level doubts the group’s sincerity to hold talks with government, but many a Northern voice, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), insists dialogue is the only way out, reports LEKE SALAUDEEN

     

    It has no face, save its leader whose face comes to live once in a while through You Tube. Its members are visible through their destruction of men, women, children and valuables and their willingness to die in order to kill. These weird characteristics are the reasons Christians in the North and elsewhere in the country do not believe the Boko Haram is ready for talks with the Federal Government. Their fears are shared by some influential leaders in the North, who believe the veil must come off the group’s face if it must be taken serious. President Goodluck Jonathan believes so too.

    A former chairman of CAN in Lagos State, ArchBishop Magnus Atilade said the Boko Haram members must be identified before talks are held with them.

    He told The Nation: “Given the circumstance in which we are today in this country, I think no sacrifice would be too much for government to make in the name of peace. This is not to absolve the Islamic sect of criminal activities. The major issue is how to restore peace. We can’t continue like this for long. It is affecting our economy, it’s affecting governance, it’s causing distraction and it’s affecting the nation’s image.”

    Spokesman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the North, Mr. Sunday Oibe, said it is sad Boko Haram wants to dictate conditions for peace talks to a legitimate government.

    Oibe told The Nation: “While calls were being made for dialogue, the Boko Haram members continue with killings and boast to do more; then who are you negotiating with? After declaring ceasefire, they went and killed a retired Major General in his residence in Maiduguri. How do you take such people serious? All those calling for dialogue are after what they will benefit from the process. It will create the opportunity of extorting money from government in the name of dialogue.

    “How do you dialogue with criminals? They have declared war against the state. They are not human beings. They should be treated like criminals from the pit of hell. They are not above the law. Security agents should renew their efforts in unveiling the identity of Boko Haram leaders, their followers and their sponsors. They should face the full wrath of the law for wanton killing of innocent people.”

    He dismissed those comparing the dialogue between Niger Delta militants with negotiations with Boko Haram, adding that in the prelude to the amnesty for the Niger Delta militants, it was the Federal Government said the militants must lay down their arms to benefit from the amnesty.

    “For Christians in the North, the Boko Haram onslaught is a religious war against the followers of Christ. Many have stopped going to church on Sundays for fear of bomb attacks. Why is it that the churches and Christians in the North are being attacked? This should not continue so that the country does not disintegrate. The killings and attacks on churches have provoked the Christians for too long. There is a limit to resilience. Christians would not continue to keep quiet and watch their fellow brothers and sisters killed by suicide bombers. If they want to split the country along religious line, they should come out and say it clearly. Just as Muslims have the right to worship according to the tenets of their religion, so are the Christians and traditionalists. This country has no official religion. Nobody can foist his/her faith on others. We have endured enough.”

     

    It’s not a North’s problem

     

    Former Military Governor of Kaduna State has absolved the northern leaders of any blame on the menace of the Boko Haram. He said it’s mischievous for any individual or group to hold the northern elders, politicians and traditional rulers responsible for killing spree of the sect.

    Umar told The Nation that northern leaders do not have security apparatus to confront the insurgents, it is uncharitable for any group to jump into conclusion that the northern elite are sitting on the fence.

    He said: “The state governors lack powers over the police who take directive from the Inspector General of Police in Abuja. There is no state police. The governors are chief security officers without power on the Commissioners of Police. If there is state police, it would have been a different ball game. If the Federal Government cannot use the instrument at its disposal to dislodge the criminals, do you expect individuals to come out and confront them?

    “Different bodies and organisations have denounced the activities of the Boko Haram publicly. Some have even made presentations to the Federal Government suggesting how to end the crisis. They did this at the risk of their life. They have condemned the notoriety of the group severally. They have forwarded their recommendations; it is left to government to accept or reject. What else do you want from the northern leaders?

    “The truth is that the Federal Government is in a serious dilemma in combating the menace of Boko Haram . However, all hands must be on deck. All of us should be security conscious by reporting strange elements or suspicious movement around us to law enforcement agencies.”

    Umar said rather than shifting blames, patriotic Nigerians should advise the Federal Government to find out what is responsible for the emergence of the anti-social elements like Boko Haram and Niger Delta militants.

    He said: “They are products of economic mismanagement by past and present leaders. Corruption has eaten deep into the system. The army of unemployed youths feels they have no stake in the nation. To them the future is bleak.

    “The way the economy is being handled is not in the interest of the majority. Two per cent of the Nigerian populace controls 90 per cent of the economy. About 70 per cent of the annual budget is spent on salaries for political office holders and civil servants. Our legislators are the highest paid in the world. That’s why when members of the National Assembly sneeze they celebrate it on pages of newspapers by placing adverts. Unless our leaders change their life style, restructure the economy in such a way that it will enhance the standard of living of common people, the emergence of militant groups would not abate.”

    On dialogue sought by Boko Haram with Federal Government, Umar said no. According to him, how do you expect government to talk with unidentified group?

    “I think the Federal Government was right in rejecting the peace overtures by the group. How do you hold peace talk with people whose identity you cannot ascertain, people that you can’t locate their residence? It looks awkward. Remember that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari turned down his nomination by the Boko Haram group to mediate on their behalf. The reason given by Gen. Buhari was that he didn’t know them; so why should he be negotiating on behalf of people he didn’t know? Again how credible is the information that Boko Haram is seeking peace talk. Has anybody verified the authenticity of this message? Since they are operating underground, it will be very difficult for government itself to cross check. They have to unmask themselves before holding peace talk with government”, Umar concluded.

    Former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ango Abdullahi said the mistake some highly placed officials make is that they have assumed that the issue of Boko Haram is a problem of the North.

    This assumption, according to him, is absolutely wrong and short-sighted.

    Abdullahi, a prominent member of the Northern Elder Forum, said; “Boko Haram, to me, was something that would have been nipped in the bud early, but was allowed to assume a dimension it is today. Their matter was badly handled in 2008/2009. From then on, instead of quickly nipping whatever problem it was in the bud, the matter took a totally different colouration. I think it was badly handled by law enforcement agencies. If it was a religious sect, it should have been kept that way and dealt with accordingly. Unfortunately, politicians started employing them against their perceived opponents.

    “The question now is, who is going to stop Boko Haram hostilities? Everybody has a role to play. Some are more responsible than the others. Government has a larger role to play. The primary responsibility of who to find solution to this problem is the government. From community leaders to traditional rulers, everyone has a role to play. We should start asking questions as to why this is happening.

    “Dealing with the matter by force is not the solution. In a presentation by the Northern Elders to President Goodluck Jonathan recently, we cautioned against the use of force. Government at all levels should enlist every stakeholder they consider important to come out and find a way of reaching out to these boys in the bush. They always give the excuse that they don’t know them, but they are not fictitious. We believe that with the current approach through the communities, they will be able to reach out to them.

    “Despite the difficulty in identifying who is Boko Haram in the society, there have been other efforts through the people who the leadership of Boko Haram felt they can trust in bringing about dialogue with government. I think the first one that I know is the efforts of Dr Datti Ahmed. I think they gave him a mandate to engage in discussion with government under certain conditions and these conditions were breached and that was why Dr. Datti withdrew from participating. Despite the fact that the government said it still wanted to pursue the dialogue and what we saw later was press statement on the papers and electronic media of Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi being an intermediary between government and Boko Haram. But before we know it, the Boko Haram disclaimed the Sheikh that at no time had they instructed Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi to speak with government on their behalf.

    “There are many allegations that a lot of bomb attacks were not carried out by the Boko Haram agents, that they are carried out by different people. In the course of various arrests that have been made after those attacks, a number of non-Muslims and even non-northerners were caught either by the people or security agents. May be the accusation is why government is not making pronouncements about the people they caught who are not Muslims or agents of Boko Haram but make so much noise on Boko Haram because it is an Islamic organisation. This is what perhaps they are trying to say.”

     

    They are as faceless to ACF

     

    The spokesman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, said Boko Haram members are faceless to the pan-North group.

    He is pleading with the Federal Government not to close its doors against peace overtures by the Boko Haram group, adding that Jonathan has some points by insisting he must be able to identify Boko Haram leaders before discussing with them.

    He told The Nation: “Mr. President did not rule out dialogue. He said the government cannot engage constructively with a faceless group. To some extent, the president is right and in another angle some people would say he is not sincere, especially when regard is paid to this fact that no one expects leaders of the sect to come into the open without anything in place to protect them from arrest by the authority. Naturally, they would fear being arrested or being killed. So there has to be some mechanism that would assure them of their security before they can show their faces. The situation is more complicated now that they have price tags.

    “As a way out, we want to appeal to leaders of the Boko Haram to approach Saudi Arabia or any other country of their choice to play some roles in the dialogue. If Saudi Arabia or any other country of their choice that has good diplomatic relationship with Nigeria agrees to broker the dialogue, it would naturally fall upon such a country to approach the Nigerian government for effect. In that case, there would be no fear of any arrest by Nigerian authority. Somehow, I do not believe the price tag means foreclosure of dialogue. It might be the government’s way of nudging the sect into accepting dialogue. A stick-and-carrot approach, one might say.”

    He said the sect’s members are unknown to ACF. “If we know them and have access to them, they would have stopped their violence by now. They are as faceless to government as they are to ACF.”

  • Let’s unearth the truth about Boko Haram

    Let’s unearth the truth about Boko Haram

    SIR: I was very enraptured when I came across the invitation by Boko Haram to have General Muhammadu Buhari as one of their mediators with the Federal Government. It was in the belief that more revelations would emerge. As a concerned Nigerian and a practising Christian, I am worried, just as others are, on the frequent attacks on churches by the sect which led to the loss of some of my precious teachers at the Bayero University Kano some months ago.

    Many people are of the suspicion that Buhari was behind the hazardous activities of the sect, quoting what they claimed was his proclamation in the 2011 campaign tours that “he would make Nigeria unstable if he was not elected president,”, a statement I never heard from him because I actively participated and heard all his speeches during the presidential campaign tour. They alleged his statement gave rise to the post-election crisis and now Boko Haram.

    I remember vividly, Buhari’s popular statement to his teeming supporters was“vote, stay and guard your votes till they are counted.” He said this everywhere he went. The 2011 general election which was to some extent, rigged in favour of the government in power generated a lot of crisis in the northern part of the country, which led to the burning of numerous churches by the hooligans. The hooligans whose targets were the PDP big shots suddenly turned the whole aggression against Christians, not minding the fact that a lot of them had supported and voted for Buhari against their Christian brethren.

    With a Christian cleric, Pastor Tunde Bakare, as his running mate and for the fact that the National Chairman of CPC, Prince Tony Momoh himself was a Christian, nobody from the Buhari camp could have encouraged any mob action against Christians. Now, the sect has mentioned the General along with five other personalities as trusted mediators between them and the federal government. The blackmail of Buhari is now seen as the bargaining power for juicy gains from the PDP government and some inconsequential people have taken that as their new profession.

    The General, who rejected his invitation on the grounds that he could not mediate for a group he does not know and which revels in killing innocent souls, has never been confronted by anybody for turning down the request. If he had not been invited as a mediator by the sect, his detractors wouldn’t have had the privilege of knowing his innocence.

    If Buhari had any hand, directly or indirectly in the activities of Boko Haram, he would not have come out openly to denounce its invitation as a co-mediator. The sect would have come out with some striking revelations if at all Buhari had betrayed them. There are some disgruntled elements in Nigeria who are usually prepared to use religion for their personal aggrandizements; they derive benefits from sponsoring violence and this is not new in our dear nation.

    During Shehu Shagari’s administration, the Maitatsine crisis broke out in Kano and other parts of the north where innocent people were killed; up till now, and just like Boko Haram, nobody can clearly define its objectives and what the Maitatsine really stood for. This was the handiwork of some disgruntled elements who wanted to create unnecessary confusion in the polity. That was not Buhari.For anybody to link him to the chain of unfortunate activities happening presently in Nigeria is a disservice to the nation.

    If President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had confessed in a national broadcast that he knew members of Boko Haram and some are part of his PDP-led government, I can’t understand why Nigerians are not pressurizing him to expose the so called members but rather accusing people whose guilt are not confirmed. Where would somebody whose income and financial status is known by all Nigerians, get the funds to procure the expensive cars and other weapons used by the Boko Haram?

    Even if it is true that the person who spoke for the sect was their real spokesperson, it could be that they have seen Buhari as an honest person who cannot be bought over by both sides. This is because of their involvement of other reputable Nigerians like Dr. Shetimma Ali Mungono, who can be attested by anybody as a patriotic Nigerian in their negotiating team.

    While I strongly condemn the devilish activities of Boko Haram and those behind them, I strongly believe that their day of reckoning is around the corner. I believe in the universally accepted statement that “ninety-nine days for the thief, one day for the owner”.

    • Comrade Richard Tersoo Mnenga,

    World Peace Academy, University of Basel,

    12, Basel 4053. Switzerland

     

  • Dons proffer solution to Boko Haram

    Major-General MD Isah has said that the security challenges the country is facing could be a thing of the past if universities inculcate discipline in their students to be able to make them good citizens of the country.

    Speaking in his keynote speech during the first International Conference organised by the Department of English, Anambra State University, Igbariam Campus, General Isah, represented by the Commander 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, Col. T. Gagariga, said that violent crimes across the country could be stopped through re-introduction of literature and other languages in our schools to keep the students busy.

    In his submission, the Head of Department of English language, Anambra State University, Igbariam campus, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Chuma Udeh, said the essence of organising the international conference was to seek solution to Boko Haram insurgency through literature.

    Udeh further called on other intellectuals across the country to come together to brain storm on the plausible solution to end violent crimes, including Boko Haram insurgency in the North and rampant kidnappings in the Southern parts of the country, adding that it was in the backdrop of these that the theme of the international Conference, Language, Literature and National Consciousness were chosen.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Boko Haram sends dialogue offer through letter

    Boko Haram sends dialogue offer through letter

    A  purported senior member of Islamist militant group Boko Haram yesterday distributed a letter requesting talks with the government.

    An attack on the police formation in Abuja yesterday and Sunday’s double suicide bombing at the Command and Staff College in Jaji are linked to the sect but the letter was silent on those attacks.

    The letter was signed by Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, a man known by local security sources in Maiduguri to be a sect member but considered to be a moderate.

    Reuters report that If the letter is genuine, it would appear to mark a change of tack for the Islamists that fits ill with a spate of violent episodes.

    Nearly 3,000 people have died violent deaths related to the conflict since the sect launched its uprising in 2009, according to a count by Human Rights Watch.

    The letter was handed to the an official of the local chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Aba Kakami, who has often received and distributed statements from the sect, usually claiming attacks against high profile targets or warning of them.

    Communication with the sect has been even more sporadic than normal since the military killed their spokesman Abu Qaqa in September in a gun battle.

    Abdulazeez first contacted reporters in Maiduguri earlier this month, setting conditions for peace talks in a teleconference and nominating former military head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and others as mediators. Gen, Buhari has since declined the offer.

    “We are by this letter of invitation to our respected elders proving to government that we are not joking with the government, but we are awaiting the response of those concerned,” the letter said.

    Abdulazeez said he was speaking on behalf of Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader.

    But even if Abdulazeez does represent Shekau, the extent to which Boko Haram is controlled by Shekau is in doubt, and analysts think military pressure has fragmented it.

    The letter nominated as mediator, Imam Gabchiya, an official of the University of Maiduguri.

    There was no immediate reaction from government officials, but President Goodluck Jonathan said on Nov. 18 that no talks were going on with Boko Haram while they remained faceless and in the shadows.