The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IEDs

  • I received N5,000 for facilitating each suicide bomb attack – Suspect

    Abubakar Kori, a dwarf, who facilitated the suicide bombing activities of ‘Boko-Haram’ insurgents, said he was paid not less than N5, 000 for each suicide bomb attack carried out by the insurgents in Maiduguri.

    Kori, 25, is among the 22 people arrested by the police in Borno and Yobe for their alleged involvement in suicide bombing activities carried out by the insurgents.

    He told our reporter that he received N5, 000 as payment for facilitating the execution of each suicide bomb attack in Maiduguri and its environs.

    Kori, who was a security guard at a fuel dispensing station in Dalori area of Maiduguri, said that he participated in several suicide bomb attacks in recent months in the metropolis.

    “My role is to keep the Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) for onward delivery to another person who will carry out the attack.

    “On different occasions, two of my acquaintances gave a parcel to keep for somebody, who will come and take it.

    “I normally kept the parcel in my duty post; the appointed person would come and picked it; after successful delivery, they paid me N5, 000.

    “We reside in the same neighborhood in Maiduguri; they always told me that the parcel was given to them by one Ba’Adam, and asked me to keep it.

    “They introduced me to Ba’Adam, who is the mastermind of the attacks,” he revealed.

    On his part, Adam Mustapha, a.k.a Ba’Adam, admitted that he coordinated various suicide bomb attacks, which resulted in the death of hundreds of people in Maiduguri.

    Ba’Adam, 20, narrated that he had coordinated several bomb attacks at Bulukuntu, Baga road, 333 Artillery gate, Customs, Post Office and Muna Garage areas of Maiduguri.

    “On two occasions, I was paid N200, 000 for the successful execution of bomb attacks.

    “Most of the time I had to pester them before payment could be made to me,” he said.

    When asked whether he had cause at any time to regret his actions, Ba’Adam said that he was never remorseful at any given time.

    Another suspect, Ibrahim Mala, 48, also admitted to aiding suicide bomb attacks in Maiduguri, sales of rustled animals and supply of logistics to the insurgents in the bush.

    Mala, a butcher and resident of Dalori-Kakere village in the outskirts of Maiduguri, revealed that the insurgents were supplying sheep and provided him with N180, 000 loans, to enable him to run his business.

    “They paid me N5, 000 for safe keeping of IEDs, and they also sent me on errands to buy consumable items for them.

    “I bought the items at the market and kept it at my home; some persons would come at night, pick and deliver same to members of the group hiding in the forest.

    “Some of the items included torch lights, matches, sandals, kola nuts, cubes and clothing materials.

    “I saved money in dealing with the group and bought a plot of land worth over N420, 000.

    “I know that they are Boko-Haram insurgents and my wife was not happy with my dealings with them; she asked me to stop but it is too late,” he narrated.

    Commenting on the arrest, Mr Abba Kyari, the DCP, Intelligence Response Team (IRT), said that the suspects were apprehended by the police in various communities in Borno and Yobe.

    Kyari called on members of the public to report suspicious persons and movement to the security agencies.

    He also called on the people to cooperate with the police and other security agencies to end insurgency and restore peace to the North-East sub-region.

  • Boko Haram boy: I made explosives for bombers

    A 15-year-old former Boko Haram bomb maker, Ali Goni, has confessed how he made over 500 underwear Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) for insurgents in the last five years.

    Goni was 10 and in primary six when he was kidnapped in Bama.

    The military authorities described the teenager as the most deadly Boko Haram member who had mastered various techniques to destroy lives.

    Army intelligence described him as the most innovative bomb maker to emerge in recent years.

    Goni, who is being rehabilitated at a military detention camp in Maiduguri, said he assembled IEDs from fragmented materials. He introduced padlocking IEDs strapped onto bombers which makes it hard to be demobilised or detected.

    He said: “I was kidnapped with my mother on Bama’s Kawuri Street by Baba Kaka, a dreaded Boko Haram commander. They took us to Sambisa and kept us in a camp called “Kwalfata“.

    “We underwent various trainings in the camp and during the course of our training, I was selected to be trained on bomb making and detection, as well as identifying and demobilising explosives.

    “I refused initially, but they said they would kill my mother. Many of my colleagues died during training but I was the best among all.

    “My job was to make bombs for suicide missions. I was working under Baba Musa, a 70-year-old. Musa also taught me the new technique of making underwear IED with padlock.

    “At some point, I was the only bomb maker when all those I trained with were killed by the military. So they took me from camp to camp to make IEDs for suicide missions.

    “I was in Kangarwa, Pulka, Banki and other camps. I managed to escape when the military bombed our camp in Baga. I ran to Cameroon where I surrendered to the Cameroonian forces. I was later handed over to the Nigeria military.”

    Goni hoped to be a soldier in the future to help the military in identifying IEDs.

  • FG to pay N88b to civil war victims, clearance of unexploded bombs, IEDs

    ECOWAS Court adopts terms of settlement in three suits by victims

    The Federal Government has agreed to pay N88billion as compensation to 493 identified victims of the last civil war, demining and reconstructions of some communities ravaged by the war.

    The Fed Govt also agreed to construct one block of 10 classrooms for 50 communities currently barred from using their school facilities because of the presence of bombs and other post war relics

    These formed part of the terms of a settlement agreement entered into by the the Federal Government and the representatives of the affected communities spread across some states in the South-east, South-south and part of North-Central geo-political zones of the country.

    The states are Imo, Anambra, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu, Cross River and Benue

    The agreement was yesterday in Abuja by the Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as its judgment in one of the three suits filed by the victims, marked: ECW/CCJ/APP/06/2012; between Vincent Agu and 19 others v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) and 5 others.

    Parties to the suit also agreed that the terms of settlement shall operate as “full and final settlement of all claims” arising from the suit marked: ECW/CCJ/APP/06/2012 and two other suits filed on the same issue.

    The other suits covered by the agreement are: ECW/CCJ/APP/10/2014 (Dr. Sam Emeka Ukaegbu & 7 others v. President, FRN & 6 others) and ECW/CCJ/APP/11/2014 (Placid Ihekwoaba & 19 others v. President, FRN & 6 others).

    By the agreement, N50b of the N88b is for full and final compensation to the victims (for the physical injuries they suffered), their families and communities for having been deprived of the use of their farmlands since the cessation of the civil war hostilities in 1970 owing to the continued presence of mines and other post-war ordnances.

    The remaining N38b is for “the total demining and destruction, rebuilding of public buildings, mine centre activities, construction of classrooms, provision of prosthetics” and all other related items as listed in Schedule 4(2) of the terms of settlement.

    The amount, by the agreement, is to be paid by the FG within 45 days after the ECOWAS Court’s adoption of the agreement as its judgment in final resolution of the dispute between parties.

    Other terms contained in the agreement include that:

    *The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) undertakes to mobilise the 4th and 5th respondents (RSB Holdings Nigeria Ltd and Deminers Concept Nig Ltd) back to complete the final phase of the on-going removal and destruction of post-war lethal materials, the firms, having satisfactorily carried out the first phase of the contract.

    Parties acknowledged that the firms were earlier engaged by the FG in 2009 for the first phase, during which they recovered and destroyed 17,000 bombs, while 1,317 are still being kept at the mine Action Centre, Owerri, Imo State.

    It was also acknowledged that during the first phase, 685 persons were selected and classified as survivors, out of which 493, including the applicants on record, were confirmed as victims of either landmines or other dangerous military ordnance including locally fabricated weapons, hence their entitlement to the compensation, including their families and communities.

    *That a special purpose vehicle, comprising of all the necessary stakeholders, shall be created for the implementation of the activities contained in Schedule 4(2) of the terms of settlement to ensure transparency.

    *That the FRN undertakes to set up, in the South east, the National Mine Action Centre in Owerri, Imo State and to ensure that every landmine, unexploded ordinance and explosive remnants of war discovered in the course of the job should be completely destroyed.

     

    *The FRN undertakes to rebuild and or rehabilitate all public/private buildings already identified in the enumerated exercise by the contractors herein, as having been affected by the war or used either as military facility of refugee camp during the war, as contained in Schedule 2 of this term of settlement.

     

    At the commencement of proceedings yesterday, lawyer to the applicants, Alex Williams told the court that after four years of negotiations, parties have finally agreed to some terms, which they filed before the court on October 24 this year.

     

    He said the business of the day was for the court to adopt the terms of settlement as its judgment in the case.

     

    Lawyers to the 1st, 2nd. 3rd and 6th respondents, Sola Egbeyinka and lawyer to the 4th and 5th respondents, Charles Uhegbu agreed with Williams to the effect that the business of the day was for the court to adopt the terms of settlement filed by parties.

     

    The terms of settlement was endorsed by all lawyers in the case and representatives of stakeholders and interested parties.

     

    Following the agreement by lawyers in the case that their terms of settlement be adopted, a three-man panel of the court led by Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke adopted the terms of settlement as its judgment.

     

     

     

  • Boko Haram using IEDs to bomb soft targets, says global body

    The Global Amnesty Watch yesterday said Boko Haram was using improvised explosive devices to bomb soft targets.
     
    The organization said the use of IEDs by the insurgents called for prompt action to ensure that lives in the north east is not put at risk.
     
    The GAW said this in an electronic mail sent to our correspondent by Cila Roberts on Wednesday in Abuja.
     
    He called on the Federal Government to curtail recent attacks by Boko Haram on soft targets in the region.
     
    Roberst said: “The Global Amnesty Watch has observed recent incidents of suicide bombings using human borne improvised explosive devices and other Boko Haram opportunistic attacks on soft targets. Coming at a time when Nigerians, particularly those in the northeast, are beginning to put the ravages of the terror group behind them, the development calls for prompt action to ensure life in the region is not put at risk.
     
    “The attacks, which are apparently attempts by Boko Haram to reassert its degraded influence or dominance, must be immediately curtailed by the authorities with the active support of citizens to ensure that terrorists have no chance of regrouping to again torment the population.
     
    “It is a clear sign of war fatigue that the Federal Government must respond to in practical terms. We therefore urge the government to immediately design an exit program that includes working with credible NGOs and foreign partners to increase pressure on the remnants of the terrorists to surrender their arms and submit for rehabilitation. “    
                    
    The organization commended the army, and other security agencies for the fight against insurgency.
     
    “The Global Amnesty Watch appreciates the Nigerian Army and other branches of the Nigerian Armed Forces for prosecuting the war within the rules of engagement in conformity with best international standard. The military has demonstrated a high level of professionalism in addressing some of the humanitarian crises arising from the war against insurgency.
     
    “This success however has its elastic limits considering the attempts by Boko Haram to mutate. It is therefore the right time for the Federal Government of Nigeria to put alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in place to ensure that the end of Boko Haram is finally seen in that country.
     
    “The exit strategy must thus include the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Nigeria and the Department of State Security assuring commanders of the sect of their safety should they surrender to designated actors. This should also include a hybrid justice system that affords Nigerian troops the capacity to address security threats posed to the nation’s sovereignty without running foul of international conventions.
     
    “Authorities should in the interim scale up operations to safeguard civilians by forestalling further attacks on soft targets in the northeast axis of the country,” he said.

  • Pregnant with IEDs

    It’s yet another twist in what Hardball would like to christen the Northeast debacle. Of course we all know the narrative: a horrific decade-long ogre, a terror scourge that is at once a blood festival and a sustained human tragedy.

    A grim episode that has littered the savannah landscape of our minds with gruesome icons like Nyanya Motor Park bombing; Abuja Police Headquarters bombings; UN building bombing; the Christmas eve 2011 desecration of St. Theresa Catholic  Church, Madalla; Chibok Girls abduction;  Sambisa Forest; and the dire IDPs to name just a few..Though the blood-thirsty Boko Haram has since been technically defeated, the ghoul is yet to be rested and buried.

    It’s little, evil off springs still roam the sprawling semi-arid landscape intent on gore. Unyielding, remnant of the BH have scurried into little rat holes from whence they continue to plot and prey on simple minds.They had started with dozens of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) strapped on teenage boys.

    When that no longer worked, they deployed damsels, imbued with feminine wiles. Then innocent but brainwashed little boys and girls. All this dark machinations to kill and destroy continue to fail. But they won’t give up.

    Their latest infamy: they zombified a pregnant young lady, and strapped IEDs on her and set her on a journey to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. Evil has a long, live tail, it is said; which is to say that we have only scorched the BH snake, we have not exterminated it.

    And in closing the war, we must not miss the opportunity presented by the moment to explore the ‘good’ in BH: and that is the opportunity to build a formidable military, security and intelligence corps to be among the best in Africa and beyond. What is left of BH is largely a warfare of the mind. A horde of intelligence personnel must be unleashed on the Northeast and beyond to sniff out the rest of the miscreants from their holdouts and hiding holes.

    And what about the master plan to turn around the entire social-economic architecture of the Boko Haram country and the entire North. There must be a medium to long term plan to remake the Northeast zone into a manned and managed territory with local governance piercing into the vast landscape and touching every man and woman therein wherever he or she may be.

    A total and urgent approach to finding that ‘good’ in BH will quickly flush out the remnant of little men clustered in dark places making tin cans of death. Never should any pregnant teenage girl bear additional burden of strapping on IEDs and getting annihilated in the process. Never should we witness another fetal fatality.

  • Abandoned IEDs explodes in Edo

    Abandoned IEDs explodes in Edo

    Some Improvised Explosive Devices known as IEDs believed to have been abandoned by kidnappers and notorious criminals Tuesday exploded in Edo State.

    The incident occurred at house number 40 at about 2pm at Zomi street off Upper Sakponba road in Ikpoba Okha local government area.

    Residents who were at home when the explosion occurred said they heard a loud sound that shook their houses.

    The explosion shattered windows of houses in the area.

    Two persons were seriously injured in the blast but no live was lost.

    It was gathered that policemen recently raided the house looking for kidnappers.

    Some said the house was used as the kidnappers hideout before police swooped on them and some of them ran away.

    A 70-year woman living opposite the building who gave her name as Hannah said she heard a large sound.

    A tenant in the building who gave his name as Chinedu Elue when the explosion occurred said he decided to do some cleaning after an electrician came to work in his apartment.

    He said he went out to buy ice cream after setting fire on some dirt when he heard explosion.

    Chinedu said he recently moved into the apartment and that another family living in the house was not at home.

    Men of anti-bomb squad led by DCP Musa UBA detonated other explosives found in the compound.

    Residents in the area stood at a distance and watched in fear.

    Inside the building, the place where the bomb exploded left hole on the ground.

  • Army arrests seven suspects with IEDs in Kaduna

    Army arrests seven suspects with IEDs in Kaduna

    Troops have arrested seven suspected Boko Haram bomb and Improvised Explosive making Devices (IEDs) specialists.

    The terrorists were arrested in Kaduna after painstaking surveillance and proactive intelligence operations over a period of time.

    A statement by army’s acting Director of Information Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, said: “From all indications, the suspects were in Kaduna to conduct suicide bombings, kill and maim innocent citizens in the state and other surrounding areas during the Christmas period.

    “Recall that recently in Maiduguri some of them were arrested while trying to detonate IEDs carried in food containers in public places.

    “The arrest of these suspects would no doubt assist in the fight against terrorism in the country, more so as the military have technically defeated the Boko Haram terrorists in the field, the terrorists have resorted to attacking soft targets through suicide bombings, IEDs and harassing attacks on isolated communities.

    “Therefore, the public is please requested to continue to be more vigilant and security conscious by reporting suspicious persons and their movements to security agencies. This request has become necessary because the terrorists have resorted to mingling with the public across the country after sensing the futility of their encounter with troops in the northeast.

    “They adopt other methods of perpetuating violence in the society.”

  • Boko Haram: Military pounds 17 insurgents’ camps

    Boko Haram: Military pounds 17 insurgents’ camps

    •80 undergo grilling

    •DHQ orders full medical service for wounded sect members

    About 17 camps of Boko Haram spread across Adamawa and Borno States have come under sustained pounding by troops deployed to the Northeast to flush out terrorists in the area.

    Over 80 insurgents arrested during the raids are currently being grilled at Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri.

    Fresh intelligence discovery by the military also confirmed that Boko Haram members have changed tactics as they now seem to prefer unprimed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

    The Nation gathered yesterday that troops have subjected more than 17 Boko Haram’s camps in the two states to pounding in the last 24 hours.

    “We have had sustained air raids on more than 17 locations of the insurgents in the last 24 hours,” one source said.

    “The encounters were mostly in mountains, forests and borders between Adamawa and Borno States. We have been targeting these areas in order not to give them a breathing space and to ensure there is no violation of the borders.

    “The reality is that we are going to sustain the air strikes for as long as possible; we will not relent at all.”

    Responding to a question, the source said over 80 insurgents had been arrested and were undergoing interrogation at Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri.

    The source, who said some of the Boko Haram fighters were in bad shape, however, claimed that the Defence Headquarters had directed that the wounded be offered full medical service.

    The DHQ gave the directive in line with its rules of engagement and international practices on armed conflict.

    The source added: “We are currently interrogating more than 80 insurgents; we are also sorting them out based on empirical evidence of what we found on them.

    “Most of the insurgents were badly wounded; some of them look fragile; and a few others were bleeding.

    “The Defence Headquarters has however directed that we should give them full medical service in line with our rules of engagement and international best practices.

    “We are already taking care of them in different medical facilities although some have little chance of survival.”

    On why soldiers were reportedly running away from Boko Haram targeted areas, the military source said: “The troops are neither withdrawing from battle fronts or afraid of encounters with the insurgents.

    “What happens is that whenever they locate or sight Boko Haram camps, they will call for air raids and they have a responsibility to get out of the place before air strikes or else they will be killed along with the insurgents.

    “So a Senator that is saying that troops are running is not familiar with military tactics. Our air strikes on the insurgents are usually devastative and if troops remain during such raids, they will be killed too.

    “What the troops do is to keep a safe distance and lay ambush for the insurgents running away from air strikes.”

    But the source said the military had just discovered Boko Haram’s new tactics for unprimed IEDs.

    He said: “They now have preference for unprimed IEDs which can go through security checks undetected. In the past, they were using primed IEDs which would be planted at strategic locations.

    “On Friday, we found out that they have chosen to be smuggling unprimed IEDs into targeted areas and whenever they are ready to attack, they will unleash the explosives.

    “This is why we are doing more cordon and search, frisking, and combing of everyone because unprimed IEDs can only be located as an item but cannot be detected by security sniffing gadgets.

    “The intelligence units are also working on the probability that some external forces are giving backing to these insurgents. The patrols are on and more of the arrests of those with unprimed IEDs are being made.”

    The Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade confirmed the arrest of many suspects.

    He said the military needs information from those arrested and “the more of them we catch alive, the better for our intelligence.

    “For instance, one of the specialists in butchering innocent citizens is in our net and he has made far-reaching disclosures. These insurgents are always after martyrdom but we want them alive for questioning.”

  • ‘70 killed in Boko Haram battle’

    ‘70 killed in Boko Haram battle’

    The military said yesterday that it had killed no fewer than 50 suspected Boko Haram members fleeing towards Cameroon.

    It said 15 soldiers and five civilians died in the battle.

    The military has stepped up an offensive in the volatile northeast in the past few days, after Boko Haram fighters, armed with grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns, attacked an army barracks in Bama, Borno State, on Friday.

    Defence spokesman Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade said the military had targeted insurgents behind Friday’s Bama attack and that 20 vehicles used in that raid had been spotted from the air and destroyed.

    “Although a good number of the insurgents escaped with bullet wounds, while some have been arrested, over 50 of them died in the course of exchange of fire with ground troops in the operations to apprehend fleeing terrorists,” he said.

    “The military has lost 15 soldiers, mostly from the attack while some died during the pursuit.

    “A total of five civilians also died during the attack. Intensive cordon and search operations are still ongoing to fish out the insurgents who might be lurking around communities in the area.

    “Meanwhile, families affected by the attacks have been relocated to other military locations.”

    A military source said: “Contrary to what the public was being fed with, the troops were the ones who ambushed the insurgents.

    “We got intelligence report that they might strike and we had to prepare ahead for them. Immediately they succeeded in finding their way to the vicinity of the barracks, we ambushed them.

    “Those arrested are undergoing investigation. But those in the barracks were evacuated because of likely reprisals by the insurgents on civilian targets.

    “We will rid this axis of insurgency in the next few weeks. We have launched a 24-hour air and ground raid against the insurgents.”

    The deadly strike by the insurgents along the axis was the second in two months.

    Armed with rocket propelled grenades and Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs), Boko Haram insurgents had in October invaded a military checkpoint.

    They took over the Bama-Banki Junction road leading to the Republic of Cameroon.

    The insurgents also set ablaze the entire houses, filling stations and shops within the vicinity.

    Some details on the toll from the Bama attack emerged from Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the main mortuary for the region.

    An attendant told Reuters that Friday’s attack left no fewer than 20 soldiers dead.

    “There is no space left in the mortuary because the military brought in more than 20 dead soldiers killed in the Bama attack,” the mortuary attendant, who declined to be named because he was not authoritised to speak, said.

    “These four were left on the floor as we’re waiting for space to be created before we put them in,” he added, gesturing to four bodies wrapped in shrouds.

    Borno State Governor Ibrahim Shettima yesterday briefed President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa on the attack by Boko Haram on the Nigerian Army’s 202 Tank Battalion in Bama.

    Speaking with State House Correspondents after the meeting, the governor denied the allegation that the barracks was deserted.

    He said: “Women and children normally during crisis are moved to safer locations but the soldiers are on ground; they are right now in Bama and are doing their job very well.

    “I am just here to brief Mr. President of what transpired in Bama. I believe that very soon this issue will be frontally addressed and it will be a thing of the past.”