The Nigerian Army yesterday said it had arrested more suspected collaborators of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman said two officers, two soldiers, two policemen and 24 civilians were arrested, bringing the number to 30.
Col. Usman said more collaborators will be arrested and prosecuted based on the weight of the evidence against them and their level of culpability.
Some residents of Yola, Adamawa, have expressed delight at the release of 21 Chibok girls by their abductors.
The residents said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the development would boost government efforts to secure the release of the rest of the schoolgirls.
The state Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Malam Ahmad Sajoh, lauded the development and called for more action to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls and others abducted by the insurgents.
“I also want to advise on the need for more synergy among the security agencies.
“We are waiting for a more detailed report on the development to know the true position of things,” Sajoh said.
Hanatu Adamu, a market woman, who described the development as “exciting”, said she was happy for the girls’ parents and the people of Chibok.
“It is a sign that things will be better. May Almighty God help us to secure the release of the rest of the abducted girls,” Adamu said.
Sanusi Gambo, Janet Zira, Musa Buba and Lami Mohammed, students of Adamawa Polytechnic, also expressed joy at the development.
They described the development as “a big relief for all Nigerians and the world in view of the international dimension the Chibok girls issue has assumed’’.
“The world must now take Nigeria serious and support her as President Buhari requested, in securing the release of all those abducted as well as ending the insurgency,” the students said.
NAN reports that the Presidency on Thursday confirmed the release of the schoolgirls by their abductors.
Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media, announced the release on his twitter handle.
Shehu said the released girls were in the custody of the Department of Security Services (DSS).
He said the Director-General of DSS, Malam Lawal Daura, had briefed Buhari on the development.
Troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE have arrested three suspected members of Boko Haram group at the cattle market in Maiduguri, Borno State.
During preliminary investigation, the suspects – Abba Go Dallagio, Abba Fanned and Alhaji Nwariye, said they entered into Maiduguri through Mafa with about 200 cows to sell at the cattle market.
The Army High Command said the suspects added that they assisted in selling cows for the insurgents, and proceeds from the sales are remitted to them to fund their activities.
Another agent at the market, Ajid Umar, was also arrested with 170 cows.
The suspects are under investigation.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadiq Abubakar has disclosed that over 300 insurgents were killed during a night airstrike on Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.
The CAS who spoke at the commissioning of a borehole and 30 bedroom Emergency Hospital built by the Nigeria Airforce at Bama IDPs Camp described the operation as a very successful one, stressing that they can never attack innocent people again.
The CAS said “we have intensified our airstrikes in recent weeks especially on the 19th of August. We strike the terrorist in en mass. I am happy about our last night operations, at least 300 of the terrorists were killed in that operations, they can never wake to fight us again,”
” I urge you to continue this jobs you are doing here, there is no hidden place for them, we shall continue to strike them until we clear them, ” AVM Abubakar said.
He called on the insurgents to “come out wherever they are and surrender and face justice or they die”.
Troops on clearance operations in the Northeast have rescued 88 people in Bama Local Government of Borno State. Three insurgents were killed in the encounter.
A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said of the number, 28, comprising two men, nine women and 17 children, claimed they escaped from Bula Musa village.
“They have been taken to Bama for screening, profiling and possible handover to emergency management and humanitarian agencies,” Usman said.
He added that another 23, comprising a man, five women and 17 children, were intercepted by troops deployed in Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs’) camp in Bama. This was after they escaped from terrorists in Bula Musa general area on Sunday.
“In Dikwa, the troops also recorded an influx of 37 IDPs, comprising two men, 12 women and 22 children, from Gulumba Gana village, which is about 45km astride Gulumba-Kumshe Road axis in Bama.
“They were screened by the troops and the Civilian JTF, who later handed them over to the Dikwa IDPs camp management for further registration and rehabilitation,” Usman said.
The spokesman further hinted that those deployed in the Nigeria-Cameroon border, in conjunction with the Civilian JTF, arrested two escaping insurgents, Mohammed Mundilga and Ahmed Ali.
“On preliminary investigation, the terrorists, who hail from Gamboru Ngala council, confessed to be Boko Haram fighters. They said they sneaked into Gamboru from Abbaganaram village in Marte council because they were tired of staying in the bush.
“They tried to disguise as IDPs but were found out. They have been handed over to the Joint Investigation Centre for further interrogation,” he said.
Usman added that the troops also carried out clearance operation at Wadama, Izakah, Gelemari and Kalizaram villages.
He said following tips that terrorists were extorting residents of Zankari, troops stationed in Monguno responded and killed two of them, while one sustained injuries.
One AK-45 rifle and three rounds of 7.62mm ammunition were recovered.
Usman said the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) team, led by Adam Zanna Karamma, visited the IDPs camp in Bama.
He said the team registered IDPs below 17 years to get non-food items, as well as skill acquisition and construction of temporary shelter.
•Arrest youth corps member, three others
TroopS of Operation LAFIYA DOLE at harbour in Kangarwa, Borno State, on Sunday, killed 16 suspected insurgents and repelled others.
According to the Army spokesman Sani Usman, the attack was launched by the terrorists about 5.30pm.
“The troops received an alert and rose to the occasion. They dealt a decisive on the insurgents, killing 16, and recovered arms and ammunition.
“Weapons recovered include one Rocket-Propelled Grenade 7 tube, one Rocket-Propelled Grenade bomb, 11 AK-47 rifles, a 60mm Mortar tube, five AK-47 rifle magazines, one Gionee mobile phone and a Bandolier.
‘’Unfortunately, an officer and 11 soldiers were injured in the encounter,” he said.
Usman added that the injured were treated at the unit’s medical facility and are in stable condition.
The troops also arrested four persons – a member of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), Aliyu Jibrin, 24, and Ismaila Baba, 22, a student of Ramat Polythechnic, Mohammed Suleiman, 25, a driver and his assistant Mohammed Bukar, 15, for attempting to steal armoured cables belonging to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
Col Usman said the suspects were arrested at 1.20 am yesterday.
“The patrol team intercepted Aliyu Jubril, 24, a youth corps. member, Ismail Baba, 22, a student of Ramat Polytechnic, at Silo on Maiduguri-Damboa road while attempting to cart steal armoured cables belonging to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
He said the suspects were being interrogated and would soon be handed over to the appropriate security agency.
President Muhammadu Buhari has within his one year of assumption of office, curtailed the activities of insurgents in the Northeast.
This was the opinion of the Bauchi State Governor Abdullahi Abubakar.
The Governor, who spoke in Kaduna at the weekend at a programme “PMB at One: Our Verdict” organised by a non-governmental organization, CITAR NGO, said before the coming of the Buhari administration, the people were confused due to insecurity and so many societal ills.
Represented by a Liaison Officer in Kaduna, Hajiya Jummai Garba, Governor Abubakar noted that Nigeria’s belief in Buhari and in the change mantra of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had motivated him to stir the revolution that will bring succour to the masses.
“The believe in President Muhammadu Buhari and the change mantra of the APC has no doubt motivated him (Buhari) to stir the revolution that will bring about the necessary change and succour to the masses. Before the inception of this administration, the people were confused due to insecurity, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and so many societal ills.
“But with the support and cooperation given to the military by the President within this first year of his administration, the government has been able to curtail the activities of insurgents in the Northeast. People can now sleep with their two eyes closed,” Abubakar said.
Executive Secretary of CITAR NGO Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu blamed the escalation in insurgency on former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying he was governing the country almost the same way insurgents were governing their ‘caliphates’ through mindless staling and destruction of everything they see.
Yakubu lauded President Buhari for his anti- corruption fight and urged him to demonstrate total openness and accountability by putting the recovered stolen monies into a special trust fund account.
Insurgents in the Niger Delta drew the first blood in the escalating security situation in oil-rich region Wednesday night when a band of armed persons attacked a military house boat in a creek near Omadino community, Warri South council area of Delta state, killing 7 people, including 2 soldiers.
The Nation gathered that five boats, loaded with heavily armed insurgents, stormed an isolated boat house, located inside the creek around Omadino, an Itsekiri community, at about 8:00pm, opened fire on the occupants, killing all those aboard, except for one civilian, who reported died later while being taking to the hospital.
There was yet to be any claim of responsibility by either the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the insurgent group, which had in recent times pitted itself against the federal government by destroying oil and gas facilities or any other group for that matter.
Reliable sources, all of whom preferred to be kept anonymous, confirmed the development to the Nation, some with more detailed facts than the others.
A community source, said the attack happened at about 8:00pm, claiming all occupants of the boat, whom he thought to be soldiers, were killed.
“An army security house boat was attacked and all the security men inside were killed last night, at Omadino by pipeline here. This happened around 8 in the evening”, he said.
Another source, from one of the military formations in Warri, however revealed that the house boat was not all soldiers, but that there were civilians, who render different types of services aboard.
A military source from Warri, who confirmed the development, told the Nation that two soldiers and five civilians lost their lives in the attack.
He said most of the men stationed at the house boat had gone on pipeline patrol when the attackers came.
According to the source, although outnumbered by the assailants, the remaining soldiers who were left on the boat when the attackers came gave their best by giving a frantic fight, adding that the assailants did not leave without a bloody nose.
“The report is true. They came in five speed boats, they were many and unfortunately when they got there, some of the soldiers were on pipelines patrol. When the attackers got there, the man on sentry did his best and the rest, but unfortunately, because of their number they opened fire to kill the civilians inside the house boat. There were four civilians and two soldiers, making six.
“The seventh person, who happened to be a civilian, was rushed to Oghara (the Delta State University Teaching Hospital), getting to Oghae, they found out that the hospital was on strike. Before he could be rushed back to Warri, his situation had deteriorated; you know the distance between Warri and Oghara that was how he gave up the ghost.
“Our people also got some of them down, but as they wouldn’t like to leave any of their casualties behind, we can’t ascertain, but the soldiers tried their best in reducing their number”, the source said.
However, efforts to get the Commanding Officer of the 3 Battalion, Effunrun Barracks, Major Monday Anzaku and the Army Public Relations Officer (APRO) of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Benin, Captain Jonah Unuakhalu, for confirmation and comments were unsuccessful as both men were unreachable.
Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi, Monday said that over 800 repentant Boko Haram insurgents are currently undergoing skill acquisition training.
The NEMA boss who stated this at a two day Public Hearing on the North East Development Commission Bill, 2016 said that the skill acquisition exercise is being handled by the military and monitored by the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
Although he did not say where the exercise is taking place, it is believed that the repentant Boko Haram insurgents are being hosted in Maidugiri, the capital of Borno State.
Alhaji Sidi was responding to the comment of a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kaka Kyari Gujbawu, who canvassed general amnesty for returning Boko Haram insurgents.
Sidi said, “It is not true that the Federal Government has no amnesty package. There is what is called safe corridor. I do know that 800 plus (Boko Haram) have been registered. I don’t want to be specific. They have exited Boko Haram through the window. They are currently receiving various skill acquisition training. The military is handling it. It is being monitored by the Office of the CDS.”
Hon. Gujbawu had in his presentation at the event said that the NEDC Bill should include amnesty for repentant Boko Haram insurgents because most of the insurgents were conscripted and forced to fight along Boko Haram members.
He said that a second life should be given to the repentant insurgents.
He also said that provision should be made for the Civilian Joint Task Force members who he said were used and dumped.
Gujbawu said that some form of integration in the line of employment should be evolved for the Civilian JTF members who helped tremendously to push out Boko Haram insurgents from Maidugiri.
Chairman, Joint Committee on the North East Development Commission Bill, Senator Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako, assured that his committee would consider the amnesty aspect “critically” as well as discuss with the Executive on the issue.
Nyako said that it is only after such critical consideration that the committee would determine whether amnesty would party of the Bill.
He acknowledged the motion against the insurgency that was moved by Senator Thompson Sekibo and 40 others as part of the off-shoot of the Bill.
He said that the NEDC Bill was sponsored by 18 Senators of the North East zone across party lines led by the Senate Leader, Senator Mohammad Ali Ndume.
Nyako added that Nigerians should come to terms with the alarming fact that the North East zone is rapidly deteriorating as a result of the insurgency that began in 2009.
He said, “We often consider death as the most noticeable effect of this insurgency, but we need to look at our current situation holistically.
“Hundreds if not thousands of schools have been reduced to rubles; magistrates courts that used to resolve communal conflicts have been destroyed; hospitals and small clinics that used to treat nursing mothers, children and the elderly are non-existent, police and law enforcement structures have been demolished; homes, markets, public parks and community centers are completely ruined; women, men and children fleeing their homes have been forced to take shelter in completely foreign communities; our fellow brothers and sisters have been murdered, tortured, raped, dehumanized and rendered homeless.”
On his, Senator Abubakar Kyari (Borno North) noted that the Borno State Government was already doing something for the Civilian JTF.
He noted that the state government has trained them under the supervision of the military and provided vehicles and uniform for the group.
Kyari also said that the state government is paying stipends to members of the Civilian JTF out of its meager resources.
He noted that it would wrong to say that nothing is being done for the members of the Civilian JTF.
Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who inaugurated the Public Hearing, noted that what had been witnessed in the North East demanded special attention from all well meaning Nigerians and not just from government.
He said, “We must all rise up and say never again. We have seen families wiped out, children orphaned, incomes plunged below a tenth of what they were a decade ago.
“Families that have survived this onslaught have largely survived with little to live by and now rely directly on handouts for food rations.
“More than a quarter of the children in this area are either malnourished or in danger of malnourishment. Schools have become deserted and the social fabric of our national unity severely perforated in this area, threatening to create deep set divisions amongst us, fueling animosities amongst Muslims and Christians, leading to the entire economy of the region bleeding profusely.
“It is in this unique and dire context that we must appreciate the importance and urgency for us as a legislature and government to act, to restore hope and rebuild the North East.”
Saraki said that for members of the 8th National Assembly, the Bill is more than a National priority, because “it reflects our mandate to make laws for the good governance, peace and security of the entire country.”
He said, “The effort at this bill therefore, is aimed at creating the legislative framework to enable government provide the basic structures and capacities that will enable it rebuild the North East.
“It will also provide an avenue for external collaborators such as international development agencies to make effective contributions towards the region; further ensuring internal stability, a base for restoration, rehabilitation and conflict resolution.
“All the aforementioned are crucial not only for the sustained futures of the people of the North East but also for the country as a whole.
“This is a peculiar time in our history. Thankfully we can talk about rebuilding due to the remarkable bravery, patriotism and courage of our Armed Forces who continue to take the fight back to the Boko Haram who have now largely retreated to sporadic soft attacks. We are therefore here to show solidarity to their gallantry and act like leaders of a united and indivisible nation.
“However, we must not forget that this war against terrorism cannot be won by might but through the hearts and minds of citizens who are certain that they have a secure and guaranteed place within the fabric of our society and thus choose to live and act in harmony towards collective growth. Thus, in making a conscious, collective decision to focus development efforts in this region, we are fostering a strong sense of place and rebuilding a positive, shared identity.
“It is my firm hope that your contributions to this public hearing would further enrich the bill, deepen our discussion at Senate plenary and help provide us the missing links if any towards the process of giving back hope, belief and optimism to our people that wherever they may be, their welfare and security will remain the central purpose of government.
“I urge you to make haste in bringing this Bill to pass. Every day we wait to take legislative action, we delay the opportunities that ought to abound within and from the North East.”
The Nigerian Army says it has cleared seven more villages taken by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Borno in its bid to end terrorism in the North East.
Col. Sani Usman, the Acting Director Army Public Relations, stated this in a statement issued in Maiduguri on Sunday.
“As the ongoing clearance and rescue operations gained momentum, troops of 28 Task Force Brigade have successfully cleared enclaves of Boko Haram terrorists along Galtha Baba, Galtha Musa, Bulakurma, Shatimari, Chukruk, Bulangaje, and Disa villages.
“During the operation, one Boko Haram terrorist was captured alive,” Usman said.
According to him, three motorcycles, bags of grains, terrorists’ flags and uniforms have also been recovered.
He listed other items recovered to include: suicide bomber’s hijab, a cell phone and one Dane gun, as well as foodstuffs and cooking utensils.”
“The troops also rescued 15 persons that were held hostage by the Boko Haram terrorists in the area,” Usman said.
He said that unfortunately, two Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) over ran an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), but however, said the formation did not sustain any human casualty as the damage to the AFVs was minimal.
The spokesman said that the captured terrorist was being interrogated and would soon be handed over to the relevant agencies for prosecution.” (NAN)