Tag: Cameroon

The Cameroon military has freed captured German national Nitsch Eberhard Robert from Boko Haram custody.

Robert, a teacher, was captured last July in Nigeria but is now safely in Yaoundé, the country’s capital, according to Germany’s foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefe

The presidency of the Republic of Cameroon in a statement yesterday said:  ”a special operation led by Cameroonian armed forces along with security services of friendly nations succeeded” in freeing Robert.

Boko Haram kidnapped Eberhard in Nigeria in July, Cameroon President Paul Biya said. He did not detail how, when or where the rescue operation took place.

“A special operation of Cameroonian armed forces and security services of friendly countries” freed the man, he said.

Eberhard told journalists he was glad to be alive.

“I am happy to see all these people around me, who have rescued me and made sure that I survived, because until the last minute, I did not know whether I would survive or I would not survive. It was for me a big problem. Because it was darkness, total darkness, and you see nobody around you. Then this is a big problem to say OK, I will survive or not survive,” Eberhard said.

Eberhard was flown in from Cameroon’s Far North Region to Yaounde shortly after noon Wednesday in a military plane.

He said he was grateful to all those who worked to secure his release.

The German ambassador to Cameroon, Klaus-Ludwig Keferstein, also thanked Cameroonian authorities, particularly because “we could find a solution to this problem of hostage taking,” he said.

Eberhard spoke amid heavy security and mentioned that he was teaching at a vocational school in Gombe, Adamawa state, Nigeria, before the insurgents took him hostage in July.

He has been taken to the residence of the German ambassador in Yaounde. The ambassador said initial medical care will be given to him in Yaounde before he is flown back to Germany for more medical attention.

Biya said he was thankful to all those who “directly or indirectly helped in the achievement … and particularly the German government for their precious contribution.”

He did not specify how Germany participated. The German Foreign Office did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Chad sent about 2,500 troops last week to help Cameroon fight Boko Haram. Boko Haram was designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the U.S. State Department in 2013. The militant Islamic group seeks to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria and has ruthlessly targeted civilians.

Eleven people were killed in Cameroon after suspected Boko Haram militants attacked a bus in Far-North Region bordering Nigeria, an army source said yesterday.

All the victims of the Thursday’s attack were male and the attacked bus was taken away by the militants. “There were women in the bus but they were spared the ill fate,” the source told Xinhua over phone.

More than one dozen truck drivers were killed in Mora in Far-North Region of Cameroon by suspected Boko Haram militants Tuesday.

Boko Haram militants, who are active in the north of Cameroon, often attack on villages, pillage properties of the villagers and sometimes take foreign and local people as hostages.

The Cameroonian government has strengthened the military might by sending more troops in the north to fight against the militants since 2014.

Cameroon  soldiers have killed no fewer than  180 militants suspected to be members of  the  Islamist sect, Boko Haram, in the north of the country, a military source said yesterday.

The insurgents  were eliminated  during an attack at  Amchide in the north bordering Nigeria Thursday night around 8p.m.,  the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reported.

About 400 militants  allegedly attacked the defence and security forces.

The source said there was no casualty on the Cameroon side.

The attack, which has not yet been officially declared by the authorities, came nearly two months after around 200 suspected Boko Haram militants were killed by the army in Amchide and Limani, another part of northern Cameroon October 15 and 16.

Since then, the security forces have strengthened their positions in the north by increasing the number of personnel to around 6,000.

The militants are active in the north of Cameroon, and they often attack villages in the area, pillaging properties of the villagers and sometimes taking foreign and local people as hostages.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday maintained that internal and external sabotage is greatly responsible for the onslought of the violent Islamic sect in Nigeria.

He made the remark when the Creative Professionals of Nigeria led by Segun Arinze  visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Stressing that his administration is working hard to tackle terror in the country, he was optimistic that terrorsim will soon be overcomed in Nigeria.

He said: “We have challenges at present even in our infrastructure, but we are committed to expanding it in transportation, aviation, ports, roads, power infrastructure, among others.

“One of our greatest challenges is this security challenge.  But we are working very hard; we have our frustrations; we have issues of sabotage, internal and external,  but we are working very hard and by the grace of God we will overcome the problem,” he said.

He pointed out that the artistes have been a blessing to Nigeria, as they not only help  to boost the image of the country, but have been contributing greatly to the Nigerian economy.

He said: “But you are even appreciated more outside this country. And for those of us you placed here within this period, we know the value you have been bringing to us, to governance and social issues in this country.

“Most of us, politicians, are just busy generating negative issues. Everyday, they talk about corruption, governance and other issues. It is you that pomp the positive news into the system.”

He promised that the government would continue to provide funds to assist the artiste.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Segun Arinze said that never in the history of Nigeria had any President given the creative community the attention Jonathan had given.

He said: “Never in the history of Nigeria has any leader given us the respect you have given us. Never in the history of Nigeria has any leadership given us the support you have given us. Today, as one, we have come to say a big thank you.”

According to him, the uncommon transformation of the government has made them to travel to the best film schools around the globe to receive training.

“We have received grants to make better films whereas we could not previously access loans. Under your administration, many of our members have received national honours. Many of our members have got political appointments. Under your leadership, many of us are now venturing into politics, something never before heard of for artistes in this part,” he said.

Amid reports of a ceasefire agreement between the Federal Government and the Boko Haram sect, Cameroon yesterday announced that it had killed 107 members of the terrorist group.

Cameroonian soldiers reportedly killed the deceased members of the deadly sect in an ambush shortly after the sect’s members beheaded 30 civilians.

AFP quoted Cameroon’s defence ministry as saying in a statement read on state radio that the combat occurred on Wednesday and Thursday after militants from the Nigeria-based Boko Haram drove into the border towns of Amchide and Limani.

Officials said eight Cameroonian soldiers died in the battle, which the ministry called “fighting of rare violence”.

It was not possible to independently verify the information or the toll.

Boko Haram rebels, who have been waging attacks in Northern Nigeria and who kidnapped more than 200 school girls in April, frequently cross into neighbouring Cameroon.

A police officer speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity said that before the military confronted them, the Boko Haram fighters “cut the throats of many civilians, 30 at least.”

The manager of a money transfer agency was among the murdered, he said, and a Catholic church, a Protestant church and several bars were burnt.

“They wanted to attack the camp” where elite soldiers were garrisoned “with a booby-trapped car, but the soldiers were one step ahead of them and destroyed it,” the police officer said.

A security guard in Amchide at the time of the attack confirmed the officer’s information.

“The Boko Haram fighters killed many people in town. They cut the throats of my neighbours. They killed the Express Union manager and two security guards in his shop. They burned the churches and a mosque,” he said.

“The army told us to leave town, so we did,” he added.

The defence ministry made no mention of civilian deaths in its statement.

It said that the heavily armed Boko Haram members were travelling in armoured vehicles that crossed over from Nigeria.

The fierce fighting started late Wednesday and after a pause resumed on Thursday, ending with Boko Haram fleeing back over the border, according to the ministry.

A tank, a pick-up truck and a Peugeot car packed with ammunition and explosives were destroyed by the soldiers, it added.

“Several light and heavy arms were seized,” the ministry said.

“Calm has returned and our defence forces are in control of the border areas”.

Cameroon shares a border of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) with Nigeria, where Boko Haram has been waging a bloody insurgency since 2009 in which 10,000 people have died.

To protect the fleeing 480 Nigerian soldiers from harm, Cameroonian troops killed 27 suspected Boko Haram militants between Monday and Tuesday, the Cameroon State Radio said yesterday.

The radio said the Cameroonian soldiers escorted their Nigerian counterparts back home after the Tuesday attack.

It said Cameroonian soldiers killed the insurgents who attacked areas the Nigerian troops fled to during a battle with the militants. The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja claimed that the troops “strayed” into Cameroon while making a “tactical maneouvre”.

Sixteen of the suspected insurgents, the radio said, were killed on Monday and the 11 others on Tuesday.

Cameroonian troops, the radio said, beat back two attempts by Boko Haram to enter the country’s northern territory through a locality sharing borders with Borno State.

The troops seized heavy weapons and destroyed one of the vehicles the militants came with,  the report added.

Following the attacks, President Paul Biya ordered that the Nigerian soldiers be escorted back home, the radio said.

“The head of state has instructed that the columns of Nigerian soldiers who entered Cameroonian territory should be camped in specific locations and supervised by the Cameroonian army. The Nigerian soldiers have been provided feeding, medical treatment and fuel on instructions of the head of state.”

Colonel Didier Badjeck, a Cameroon military spokesman, told Voice of Africa (VOA) that allegations in Cameroonian media that the incidence was a defection were unfounded, adding that they were careful over the presence of the Nigerian soldiers as Boko Haram militants could also disguise as a regular army and attack them.

He said people should allow the Cameroonian army to fight Boko Haram as professional soldiers.

The extent of the underfunding of the Nigerian military over the years was exposed yesterday.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, said Nigeria is on the verge of disintegration, adding that the country requires drastic action to preserve its unity. According to him, the military is not only overstretched in dealing with insurgency, it is also grossly underfunded.

“I tell you as a politician and a lawmaker that I am seeing signs of disintegration of this country,” Sekibo said.

He spoke during a session by the Military Law Forum of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at the 2014 Annual General Conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital. The theme was: ‘The Nigerian Armed Forces in Internal Security Operations: Between Law and National Security Imperatives’.

To Sekibo, a successful fight against insurgency will depend on how well the military is equipped, adding that Nigeria’s unity now primarily lies in the hands of the armed forces.

“As chairman of Senate Committee of Defence, I can categorically say that our military is drastically under-funded. If you’re sending a man to go somewhere to fight, they cannot do with empty hands.

“Our military is much overstretched. That makes me to ask: Is pipeline vandalism an internal security issue for the military to handle? Is oil theft an internal security issue for the military as well ethnic crisis? I don’t see any reason why if we adequately train the other para-military forces like the police, they cannot handle such issues.

“It means that we have to encourage the police and give them the relevant training so that they will be able to stop ordinary pipeline vandalism, oil theft and some of these smaller issues, so that the military can face major crisis, even though they are internal, and bring peace in our land.

“In this insurgency issue, if the perception of the people becomes stronger than what is happening, then destruction is imminent. For that not to happen, it is in the hands of the armed forces. They have to fight their best.

“They have to make sacrifices to make sure that the insurgents are brought to their knees. If the insurgents come on their knees and beg the country, then law and the armed forces have met properly,” he said.

Sekibo urged the military to put the people first, and not violate human rights in a bid to please the government.

“I think as a senator that the military is not the people’s military. The military is the government’s military. Unfortunately I’m saying so because I represent the people.

“I think that if the military is for the people, then it should be about the people’s protection first, before the nation’s protection. We must make our military the military of the people,” Sekibo said.

The Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Jos, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), said the police and other para-military agencies should be properly trained, equipped and motivated so as to minimise the army’s internal security responsibilities.

“A situation where the members of the Armed Forces are deployed in almost every state of the federation may be inimical to the country’s democratic processes.

“Since the Armed Forces and the police and other civil authorities are jointly involved in internal security operations, the time has come for the joint training of members of the Armed Forces and the police generally or on special mission,” Amupitan  said.