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Tag: JTF

  • JTF kills four terrorists in Yobe gun battle

    After a gun battle with Boko Haram, the Joint Task Force (JTF) yesterday killed four terrorists in Yobe town, Gashua.

    The JTF also arrested four members of the sect during a raid on their hideout in Abujan Amare area of Gashua, in Bade Local Government Area.

    Spokesman of the JTF Lazarus Eli in a statement in Damaturu, the state capital, said arms and ammunition were recovered in the raid which took place in the early hours of yesterday.

    The items recovered include three AK 47 rifles with 42 rounds of ammunition, three magazines, a Thuraya handset, two laptops, a blood pressure gauge, 21 wrist watches, 13 handsets, a CD player and 18 SIM cards.

    Gashua is 187 kilometres North-West of Damaturu, the Yobe state capital.

    Lt. Eli said: “During the JTF raid which was initially faced with resistance from the terrorists, our men overcome their resistance with superior fire power and killed four suspects with the arrest of four other suspects.”

    The JTF has also commenced the use of Sniffer dogs at different check-points in the metropolis.

    Lt. Eli said the Sniffer dogs are used for the detection of specially-concealed arms and nitrate-based materials used in the making of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at check points.

    He said: “Available information reveals plan by the terrorists group to smuggle arms into the state capital by all means necessary and cause mayhem in the city so we have to keep evolving new methods. According to him, it is necessary to remain ahead of the terrorists and in so doing, we have to employ all the resources at our disposal to ensure we achieve the set objective” he said.

    Yobe state has relaxed the curfew imposed on Potiskum, the commercial hub of the state.

    Special Adviser Press and Information to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, Abdullahi Bego, said the curfew is relaxed by two hours beginning from 6.00pm to 7.am instead of from 7.am to 4.00pm.

     

  • JTF not responsible for Shuwa’s killing, says Ihejirika

    JTF not responsible for Shuwa’s killing, says Ihejirika

    •Faults Amnesty’s report

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, has denied reports linking the Joint Task Force (JTF) to the shooting of Maj-Gen Mohammadu Shuwa, in his home last Friday.

    This followed the denial by Boko Haram that it was responsible for the killing.

    But an official account of the shooting linked the act to the group.

    Unknown gunmen shot Shuwa and a guest at his home in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    An account by JTF spokesman Col. Musa Sagir said the gunmen entered the late General’s home while he was hosting guests shortly before the Jumat prayers and shot at him and his guests.

    But Ihejirika yesterday debunked insinuations that members of the JTF are responsible for the killing.

    Speaking through the Army spokesman, Brig-Gen Bolaji Koleosho, the Army chief dismissed the insinuation.

    He said: “All we are interested in is restoring peace to Maiduguri and this is what our officers lay down their lives to do.

    “How can you accuse them of turning back to kill the same people they are protecting?

    “It just does not add up. What reasons could the JTF have against Maj-Gen Shuwa? We debunked it and we condemned it.

    “It is unfair on the military to be accusing us of killing our own.”

    Chief of Civil Military Relations Maj General Bitrus Kwaji faulted the report of Amnesty International, which indicted JTF of violation of human rights in the handling of Boko Haram insurgents.

    Kwaji regretted that Amnesty did not hear the military’s side before going public with its report.

    He said the organisation, which claimed to have visited Borno, Kano,Bauchi states and the Federal Capital Territory, did not balance its report by contacting security agencies during its investigation.

    According to him, the JTF acts under the terms of reference given to it and if it had done otherwise, Amnesty ought to have brought its observation to the attention of security agencies before the publication.

    He stated that if any individual or group in the Army had been found wanting, such individual or group would have been sanctioned accordingly.

    “There is no truth whatsoever in what Amnesty reported.

    “Its report was in favour of Boko Haram; it was one-sided.

    “You cannot have a report like this without interviewing security forces.

    “You just can’t come out and say that security forces have violated the rights of Boko Haram members or that security forces are involved in human rights abuses.

    “Whatever the JTF does is within the ambit of the law,” Kwaji stated.

     

  • JTF not responsible for Gen. Shuwa’s killing – COAS

    JTF not responsible for Gen. Shuwa’s killing – COAS

    …Army faults Amnesty International’s report

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, has denied reports linking the Joint Task Force with the shooting of Major-General Mohammadu Shuwa in his home on Friday.

    The denial is coming on the heels of the Boko Haram sect washing its hands off the killing.

    Official account of the shooting had linked the act to the sect.

    Unknown gunmen, widely suspected to be members of sect shot Shuwa in cold blood at his home in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, killing him and one of his guests.

    An account by JTF spokesman, Col. Musa Sagir, had it that the gunmen entered the late General’s home while he was hosting guests shortly before the Juma’t prayers and opened fire on him and a number of his guests.

    But Ihejirika on Tuesday debunked insinuations that members of the JTF must have done the killing, which has continued to generate controversy across the land.

    Speaking through the Army spokesman, Brigadier-General Bolaji Koleosho, Ihejirika dismissed the insinuations, wondering how the JTF whose primary responsibility was to restore peace in Maiduguri would turn round to kill the retired General.

    He stated: “All we are interested is in restoring peace to Maiduguri and this is what our officers laid down their lives to do. How would you accuse them of turning back to be killing the same people they are protecting.

    “It just does not add up. What reasons could the JTF have against Major General Shuwa? We debunk it and we condemn it. It is unfair on the military to be accusing us of killing our own General Shuwa.”

    Chief of Civil Military Relations, Major General Bitrus Kwaji, who also spoke at the briefing, faulted the report of the Amnesty International which indicted the JTF for violation of human rights in the handling of the Boko Haram insurgents.

    Kwaji regretted that the watchdog did not hear the military’s side before going public with its report.

     

  • ‘JTF killed over 40 young men in Maiduguri’

    ‘JTF killed over 40 young men in Maiduguri’

    The Joint Task Force shot dead dozens of young men in Maiduguri during raids in four areas considered strongholds of a radical Islamist group, residents and a morgue attendant told AFP Friday.

    Residents of Maiduguri, the home base of Boko Haram Islamists, said the troops who swarmed late Thursday ordered males in their teens and early 20s to separate from others in the neighbourhood.

    In the Kalari area, they told the young men “to lie face down on the ground,” then asked the rest to look away.

    “All we heard were gunshots. They shot them on the spot,” said the elderly resident, who did not want to be named.

    “They did the same in three other neighbourhoods. We went to the morgue to collect the bodies and we found 48 in all.”

    A resident of the city’s Gwange area told AFP that the alleged massacre was “like a movie scene.”

    The troops “picked young men from their homes and were shooting them dead before everyone and took the bodies away to the hospital. I have never seen something like this,” he said, also requesting that his name be withheld.

    The Sabon Lamba and Gomboru neighbourhoods were also said to have been raided.

    A morgue attendant at the Maiduguri General Hospital said they “received 39 bodies yesterday which were brought in by soldiers. They all have fresh gunshot wounds.”

    A military source declined to comment on the allegations when contacted by AFP, saying only that if such killings had taken place, they were “unjustified.”

     

  • JTF making Boko Haram insurgency worse – Amnesty

    JTF making Boko Haram insurgency worse – Amnesty

    Human rights abuses committed by Nigeria’s security forces in their fight against Islamist sect Boko Haram are fuelling the very insurgency they are meant to quell, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

    Boko Haram said it wants to create an Islamic state in Nigeria and its fighters have killed hundreds in bomb and gun attacks targeting security forces, politicians and civilians since launching an uprising in 2009.

    Reuters says the sect has become the No. 1 security threat to Nigeria.

    The Amnesty report said the Joint Task Force acted outside the rule of law and their brutal tactics could build support for Boko Haram outside its extremist core.

    A Nigerian military spokesman contacted by Reuters rejected the report as “biased and mischievous.”

    “The cycle of attack and counter-attack has been marked by unlawful violence on both sides, with devastating consequences for the human rights of those trapped in the middle,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

    “Every injustice carried out in the name of security only fuels more terrorism, creating a vicious circle of murder and destruction.”

    The report is likely to add to calls for Nigeria’s military to change its heavy-handed approach to tackling the insurgency, which critics have long said is driving desperate youths into the arms of Boko Haram.

    It details cases of abuses stretching back to the start of the Boko Haram uprising in 2009.

    The report said a “significant number” of people accused of links with Boko Haram had been executed after arrest without due process, while hundreds were detained without charge or trial and many of those arrested disappeared or were later found dead.

    “People are living in a climate of fear and insecurity, vulnerable to attack from Boko Haram and facing human rights violations at the hands of the very state security forces which should be protecting them,” Shetty said.

    Amnesty said it had spoken to witnesses who described seeing people who were unarmed and lying down with their hands over their heads shot at close range by soldiers.

    In one case, a widow described how soldiers put a gun against her husband’s head three times and told him to say his last prayers before shooting him dead. They then burnt down their home. She now fends for her seven children alone.

    Defense spokesman Colonel Mohammed Yerima said that Nigerian forces only kill Boko Haram suspects during gunfights, never in executions.

     

  • Okunnu commends security agents for containing terrorism

    The President, Ansar-ud-deen Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Lateef Okunnu, on Saturday commended the security agents for curtailing the activities of terrorists in the country.

    Okunnu told the New Agency of Nigeria that the efforts of the  joint task force had helped a lot in checking the heinous activities of terrorists’ particularly in the north.

    The former Federal Commissioner for Works also sympathised with state governments and victims of recent flood disasters in the country and prayed to God to protect the nation against future disasters.

    On the Eid-el-Kabir festivities, he urged Muslims worldwide to always emulate the exemplary life of Prophet Ibrahim while celebrating.

    Okunnu said they should ensure their activities were guided by the teachings of the Holy Qu’ran, adding that such were emulated by the prophets.

    “The celebration of Eid-el-Kabir this year should be with fear of Allah as a major consideration.

    “We should be reminded of the exemplary life of the father of the faithful, prophet Ibrahim, his son Ismail, and wife Sayidat Hajara, on their total submission to the will of Allah.

    “ In the course of your celebration, let your activities be strictly guided by the teachings of the Holy Qu’ran and the Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad,’’ he said.

    He said the lessons from Eid-el-Kabir were sacrifice and absolute submission to the will of Allah, adding that God should be praised for “sparing our lives.’’

     

  • 24 terrorists killed after Borno multiple explosions, says JTF

    The Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order (ORO) said yesterday it shot dead 24 suspected terrorists after repelling Monday night’s multiple attacks in Maiduguri.

    JTF spokesman Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa stated this in a statement in Maiduguri.

    Col. Musa explained that the terrorists had made use of rocket propellers, grenade and Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) during the attacks.

    “Suspected Boko Haram terrorists launched attacks with rocket propellers, grenades and IEDs and gun fires at different locations in Maiduguri on Monday night.

    “The locations are Zannari, Lagos Street and Gwange General Area,” he said.

    Col. Musa explained that the terrorists urged residential homes in launching the attacks at different times in the night.

    “They used civilian residences and homes as launch areas for the attacks at different times,” he said.

    Musa said the attacks were all repelled by the JTF and no soldier or civilian was killed.

    “All the attacks were repelled, no soldier or civilian was killed.

    “Twenty four suspected terrorists were killed,” he said.

    He said a number of weapons were recovered by the JTF after the operation.

    “The following items were recovered: one RPG tube, four RPG charges, one General Purpose Machine Gun, seven AK 47 rifles, one FNC rifle and 24 assorted magazines.

    “Others are two pistols, IED materials, bows and arrows and cutlasses, among others,” he said.

    Musa said the city had returned to normal after the counter attack by his men.

    “The JTF wishes to warn residents of the city to stop allowing their homes to be used as launch pads.

    “Any person caught will be dealt with, according to the law,” he said

    A worker at Borno State Specialist Hospital told The Associated Press that soldiers dropped off 24 bodies there following the attack. The worker said the military identified the dead as Boko Haram members and that many of the bodies were dressed in the long robes favoured by the sect.

    The worker spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of angering either the military or the sect. A military spokesman later said a single soldier was wounded in the attack, though witnesses around the neighborhood said they saw more military casualties.

     

  • JTF kiils 24 terrorists in Maiduguri

    JTF kiils 24 terrorists in Maiduguri

    The Joint Task Force on Operation Restore Order (ORO) said on Tuesday that it shot dead 24 suspected terrorists after repelling Monday night’s multiple attacks in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, stated this in a statement in Maiduguri.

    Musa explained that the terrorists had made use of rocket propellers, grenade and Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) during the attacks.

    “Suspected Boko Haram terrorists launched attacks with rocket propellers, grenades and IEDs and gun fires at different locations in Maiduguri on Monday night.

    “The locations are Zannari, Lagos Street and Gwange General Area,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the JTF spokesman as saying in the statement.

    Musa explained that the terrorists made use of residential homes in launching the attacks at different times in the night.

    “They used civilian residences and homes as launch areas for the attacks at different times,” he said.

    Musa said that the attacks were all repelled by the JTF and no soldier or civilian was killed.

    “All the attacks were repelled, no soldier or civilian was killed.

    “24 suspected terrorists were killed,” he added.

     

  • Human Rights Watch indicts Boko Haram, JTF

    Human Rights Watch indicts Boko Haram, JTF

    The Boko Haram sect and the Joint Task Force might well have committed crimes against humanity during three years of conflict that has killed at least 2,800 people, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

    Crimes against humanity are offences that can lead to prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

    Boko Haram said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria, and its fighters have killed hundreds in bomb and gun attacks since launching an uprising in 2009.

    Reuters says the sect has become the No. 1 security threat to Nigeria.

    The report documents multiple cases of abuses by Islamists, including brutal killings of Christian civilians and the assassination of Muslim clerics who criticised them.

    Some of these attacks were “deliberate acts leading to population ‘cleansing’ based on religion or ethnicity”.

    The ICC defines crimes against humanity as grave offences that are “widespread or systematic.”

    There was no immediate reaction from Boko Haram.

    The report also accused the JTF of “physical abuse, secret detentions, extortion, burning of houses, stealing of money during raids, and extrajudicial killings of suspects.”

    “Despite allegations of widespread security force abuses, the Nigerian authorities have rarely held anyone accountable … further solidifying the culture of impunity for violence.”

    The study came as the JTF tried to fend off accusations of a shooting spree in the insurgent stronghold of Maiduguri on Monday that residents said killed at least 30 civilians.

    Asked about the report, the JTF spokesman for Borno State, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, reiterated a statement on Wednesday that there was no evidence of such abuses.

    “There is no established or recorded case of extrajudicial killings, torture, arson or arbitrary arrests by the JTF in Borno State”, where most of the violence has occurred, he said.

    “It is important to state that terrorists killed were during gun battles with the JTF troops”, not executions,” he said.

    The military campaign against Boko Haram has had some success – limiting Boko Haram’s ability to carry out large scale attacks, but the heavy-handedness has angered locals.

    “These killings, and clashes with the group, have raised the death toll of those killed by Boko Haram or security forces to more than 2,800 people since 2009,” the report said.

     

  • JTF denies killing civilians in Maiduguri

    JTF denies killing civilians in Maiduguri

    The Joint Task Force dismissed reports on Wednesday that it had shot dead at least 30 people in revenge for a bomb attack in Maiduguri.

    Residents told Reuters JTF personnel had opened fire on civilians and burnt houses in the city – the headquarters of Islamist rebel group Boko Haram – after an explosion hit a military convoy there.

    Nurses in the Umaru Shehu hospital said they had seen 35 bodies, five in army uniform and the rest wearing civilian clothes, after the shooting on Monday.

    The JTF dismissed the reports as lies.

    “No civilian or terrorist was killed by the JTF troops,” task force spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa said in a statement.

    There was “no established or recorded case of extra-judicial killing, torture, arson or arbitrary arrest by the JTF in Borno State,” he added.

    Musa said the houses had been burnt in the explosion that targeted the military convoy. Residents had told Reuters the buildings were set alight hours later.

    The JTF had launched a crackdown on Boko Haram, an insurgent group that wants to carve an Islamic state out of northern Nigeria.

    Analysts say the military campaign has had some success – limiting Boko Haram’s ability to carry out large scale attacks. But the army’s heavy-handed tactics have angered some locals.

    “This is revenge mission. Why are they killing innocent people instead of fishing out the Boko Haram members?” said Aishatu Ibrahim, as she wept over the phone.

    Her husband, who had no link to the Islamists, was killed in the operation, she said.