The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sambisa

  • Air Force drone hits Boko Haram’s base in Sambisa

    Air Force drone hits Boko Haram’s base in Sambisa

    Troops stop two suicide bombers

    Boko Haram terrorists yesterday suffered massive losses after an Air Force drone hit their base near Sambisa Forest, killing many and destroying equipment, according to the military.

    Also yesterday, two would-be suicide bombers were stopped by troops from entering Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    Explaining how the sect’s members were hit, Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, said in a statement:

    “The Nigerian Air Force Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has destroyed a logistics base used by members of the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) group.

    “The UAV was on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission when it came across the gathering of BHTs at Garin Moloma, about one kilometre north of the Sambisa Forest.

    “At the time of the UAV attack, the location, though under surveillance for quite a while, had a large gathering of BHTs and vehicles.

    “The multiple explosions and huge fire ball from the location strongly suggests that it may be either an ammunition/fuel storage or weapons/technical workshop.

    “This strike is thus a major setback for the Boko Haram sect, and a major plus for the fight against insurgency by own troops.”

    The military averted a suicide attack on Maiduguri when troops intercepted two bombers before they could enter the city, home to over two million people, many of them Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) fleeing attacks and insecurity.

    Residents said two suicide bombers made desperate efforts to enter the city through the outskirts but were gunned down.

    Media Coordinator of Operation Lafiya Dole Col Mustapha Ankas said the bombers were intercepted by military troops at Muna Dalti.

    “Troops intercepted two suicide bombers trying to infiltrate Maiduguri through Muna Dalti 100 meters ahead of our troops and CJTF checkpoint.  The suicide bombers were halted but refused to stop. In the process, the bombers blew themselves up,” Ankas told reporters.

    He added that there was no casualty other than the two bombers. He said the area had been cordoned off, adding: “Aggressive search is going on in the general area.”

    Col. Ankas said troops of 112 Battalion and AHQ Special Group conducted fighting patrols along Gardawaji, Adashe, Mijigine, Manawci, Sigafariya Bula Goma, Mafa, Dikwa and Kala Balge in the central part of the state where 56 Boko Haram insurgents were killed.

    According to him, items recovered from the insurgents include:  Eight AK-47 rifles, three RPG, seven tubes, one GPMG, one MPGP, one-60mm mortar, one grenade, three motor bombs and 18 motorcycles.

    Col. Ankas said vehicles were also destroyed and 520 hostages were rescued and brought to an IDP Camp in Dikwa.

    He reassured the people that the military was determined to safeguard their lives and property, adding that the heat on the insurgents was forcing them to resort to using suicide bombers.

    Col. Ankas urged the people to be vigilant always.

    The sect struck at the weekend killing no fewer than 85 people in a night attack at Dalori, a farming community 12 kilometres to Maiduguri.

    The terrorists reportedly arrived the village in a convoy of Golf Volkswagen vehicles and motorcycles laden with explosives and petro-bombs and  attacked the village, killing the villagers, set fire to houses and fled towards Alau Dam.

    Col. Anka in a statement said: “The insurgents came in Golf cars, motorcycles and started opening fire and burning houses. Their motives were to cause rancor and penetrate crowd with suicide bombers.

     

  • We won’t bomb civilians’ locations in Sambisa – Air Force

    We won’t bomb civilians’ locations in Sambisa – Air Force

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) pledged yesterday that its ongoing strike mission in Sambisa forest would not affect civilian targets.

    Air Commodore Isiaka Amao, Air Component Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri that the Air Force conducted series of intelligence gathering on the area before embarking on the mission.

    He said that while the Air Force is on a mission to wipe out Boko Haram terrorists from their Sambisa forest hideout, “we are also aware that the terrorists usually keep abducted women and children among them; so we carry out series of intelligence-gathering before striking at any target in the hideout.”

    “We do not carry out strikes in women and children locations because we know that they are innocent persons kept by force by the terrorists.

    “Our job is to degrade the terrorists and rescue vulnerable persons forcefully abducted in their hideout,” he said.

     

     

    Amao said that the Air Force had continued to intensify its effort in support of the ground troops and had conducted no fewer than 40 intervention missions, with over 80 per cent success in the forest.

  • We won’t bombard civilian locations in Sambisa – NAF

    We won’t bombard civilian locations in Sambisa – NAF

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Saturday assured that its ongoing strike mission in Sambisa forest would not affect civilian targets.

    Air Commodore Isiaka Amao, Air Component Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, gave this assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri.

    Amao explained that the air force conducted series of intelligence gathering on the area before embarking on the mission.

    According to him, we are on a mission to wipe out the Boko Haram terrorists from their Sambisa forest hideout.

    ‘’We are also aware that the terrorists usually keep abducted women and children among them; so we carry out series of intelligence-gathering before striking at any target in the hideout.

    “We do not carry out strikes in women and children locations because we know that they are innocent persons kept by force by the terrorists.

    “Our job is to degrade the terrorists and rescue vulnerable persons forcefully abducted in their hideout,” he said.

    Amao said that the air force had continued to intensify its effort in support of the ground troops and had conducted no fewer than 40 intervention missions, with over 80 per cent success in the forest.

  • 63 unaccompanied kids rescued from Sambisa Forest

    There were 63 unaccompanied children and six expectant mothers among the people rescued from the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, who are in camp in Malkohi, Yola, Adamawa State, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said yesterday.

    Most of the children are severely malnourished and have eye infections, NEMA’s Director-General Muhammad Sani Sidi, said.

    He assured, during a visit to the camp with the United Nation Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure, that the rescued women and children would receive social, psychological and health support before they are reintegrated with their families.

    Sidi said the agency had engaged tailors to sew at least five sets of clothes for each of the rescued women and children because most of them had only the clothes they wore.

    He said a mobile clinic had been deployed for medical screening to identify those who need treatment, while the agency, in collaboration with UN agencies, had mobilised a team of experts in psycho trauma counselling and medical doctors to provide medical care to the rescued.

    Taure told the rescued women and children that the world and their families had missed them, adding that the UN agencies would support the Nigerian government in providing their needs to facilitate their reintegration with their communities.

    He said the UN had directed its relevant agencies to provide the needed assistance and support to them.

    Infant feeding, children’s clothes, diapers and sanitation items have also been provided to 21 nursing mothers.

  • Soldiers destroy seven Boko Haram camps in Sambisa

    Soldiers destroy seven Boko Haram camps in Sambisa

    The Defence Headquarters yesterday said troops have destroyed seven more camps of Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest.

    But four soldiers were wounded in the encounters with Boko Haram insurgents.

    It was also learnt that troops have been directed to dismantle all hideouts of the terrorists on or before May 29.

    A statement by the Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade said additional 25 women and children were rescued by troops.

    The statement said: “Seven additional terrorists camps were yesterday destroyed as more terrorists also died in the ongoing onslaught to flush them out of Sambisa forest.

      “An additional 25 women and children were rescued in the process.

     “The troops who scaled series of land mines in continuation of the assault on the forest bases of the terrorists, captured camps which include the four notorious Alafa camps as well as those in Rogo Fulani, Laraga and others used as training camps in the forest.

    “Various weapons including Rocket Propelled Grenades, Anti-Aircraft Guns and a number of vehicles were either captured or destroyed during the operation.

    “Four soldiers were wounded and have evacuated for treatment.”

    “ The operations are continuing with troops demonstrating high morale and fighting spirit as they search the forests for terrorists, arms and hostages.”

    A military source confirmed the May 29 deadline given to troops to dislodge insurgents and dismantle their hideouts.

     The source said: “We have a target to clear all the hideouts of the terrorists on or before May 29 handover date and we are working round the clock to achieve this.

    “We have ordered the troops to make sure that they rid Sambisa Forest of all the camps and cells of Boko Haram before the set date.

    “We are confident that we will be able to meet this target.”

  • Army rescues 160 more women, children from Sambisa

    Army rescues 160 more women, children from Sambisa

    More hostages have been freed from Boko Haram captivity in the Sambisa Forest, the military said yesterday.

    No fewer than 160 women and children were freed after the 293 rescued earlier on. The “hostages were held in atrocious condition”, Defence Spokesman Major-Gen. Chris Olukolade said.

    The mission involved heavy fighting between the military and Boko Haram across nine of their camps, which, according to reports, destroyed part of the terrorist organisation’s hub and left several of its fighters dead.

    “They (freed hostages) have been evacuated to a safety zone for further processing,” Colonel Sani Usman, the Army spokesman,  in a statement.

    One woman died and eight others were injured in cross fire as troops stormed nine Boko Haram camps in Sambisa forest.

    A soldier also died. Four others were injured during the operation in which no fewer than nine insurgent camps local within the forest were destroyed.

    Col. Usman said the operation, which was carried out by troops of the 7 Division, succeeded in rescuing more women and children from the insurgents.

    According to him, the troops also killed several Boko Haram field commanders and foot soldiers and destroyed two Armoured Personnel Carriers, two Buffalo vehicles mounted with Anti-Aircraft Guns, a truck and several Hilux vehicles.

    Also recovered were one Anti-Aircraft Gun, one General Purpose Machine Gun, one Rocket Propelled Grenade and several AK-47 rifles.

    “Please recall that we promised to keep you abreast of troops’ progress in respect of Nigerian military’s ongoing operations to rid the country of terrorists and their enclaves.

    “In line with that, I wish to inform you that today’s evening, troops of 7 Division Nigerian Army also cleared several terrorists strong points and training camps within Sambisa forest, Borno State, Nigeria.

    “Sadly, one woman died and eight others sustained gun shot wounds. So far, the troops have destroyed nine terrorist camps in the forest. This is in addition to the four destroyed yesterday.

    “The troops have also rescued additional women and children. They have been evacuated to a safety zone for further processing. During the encounter, unfortunately we lost a soldier, while four others were wounded in action.”

    He named Wulari Bukar, Gangala, Anguwar Bakwai, Jigide, Kotorima, Lagara Bello and Lagara Fulani among the insurgents’ camps destroyed by the troops.

    “I am glad to say that troops’ morale is very high as they are poised to accomplish the task of destroying all terrorists’ camps and rescuing all those held hostage by the terrorists,” the spokesman added.

    “Whoever they may be, the important thing is that Nigerians held captive under very severe and inhuman conditions have been freed by our gallant troops,” Gen. Olukolade said.

    He told reporters in Abuja that the army would “comprehensively” clean out the forest, adding: ”There is great hope for the recovery of more hostages of the terrorists.”

    The rescues raised hopes for the liberation of the 219 girls snatched from their school in the Borno State town of Chibok on April 14, last year, which caused a global outrage.

    The military released  photographs of some of the rescued women and children in an undisclosed location, huddled on the ground and watched over by soldiers.

    A child in a photograph appears to be in a state of malnutrition.

    Gen. Olukolade said Air Force jets had been bombarding the forest, which he described as Boko Haram’s “last bastion” in the Northeast after being pushed out of captured towns.

    He said in the last few days, more than 13 camps had been captured ”including the notorious Tokumbere camp. Other camps overrun and destroyed by troops include Wulari Bukar, Gangala, Anguwar Bakwai, Jigide, Kotorima, Lagura Bello, Lagina Fulani, among others.

    “Several field commanders and foot soldiers of the terrorist group have lost their lives, some armoured personnel carriers, Bufallo vehicles mounted with Anti-Aircraft guns, a truck and several Hilux vehicles were destroyed by troops. Also recovered from the fleeing terrorists are a number of Anti-Aircraft guns, General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG), Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) and several AK 47 rifles. Unfortunately though, we lost one soldier in the course of the operation while 10 others have so far been wounded.

    Equipment such as armored personnel carriers, pick-up trucks and weapons were seized.

    “The true identity of some of the rescued women and girls are yet to be ascertained,” said Gen. Olukolade.

    “At the moment, what is uppermost and of priority is their movement to a conducive place where they are now undergoing thorough profiling to verify their true identity, where they come from, how they found themselves in the forest etc.

    “Additional numbers of persons are still being recovered from the forest. Until such comprehensive profiling is done, nobody can confirm whether they are among the Chibok girls or not.”

  • Boko Haram: Troops bombard Sambisa, Gwoza with air strikes

    Boko Haram: Troops bombard Sambisa, Gwoza with air strikes

    Many terrorist have been killed in air strike targeted at Sambisa Forest and Gwoza, it was learnt yesterday.

    Sambisa is believed to be Boko Haram’s biggest hideout. Gwoza in Adamawa was seized by the sect, which abducted many policemen from the Police Training School in the town. The Defence Headquarters said hundreds of the terrorists were fleeing.

    But ground troops were yet to be mobilised to the forest and Gwoza for strategic reasons.

    The fleeing insurgents were said to have stormed a village and killed many residents.

    Top on the mission of troops was the search for the 219 Chibok girls whose abduction on April 14, last year has embarrassed the Federal Government.

    It was learnt that the air strikes were video taped.

    The video may be shown to Nigerians later, the military said.

    Defence Information Director Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade gave insights into the operation in a statement in Abuja.

    The statement said:  “A concerted air campaign by the Nigerian Air Force is ongoing in furtherance of the mission to clear terrorists from all their enclaves.

    “The air strikes which today targeted the training camps and logistics dumps of the terrorists in Sambisa forests and parts of Gwoza have been highly successful as it achieved the aims with required precision.

    “The death of a large number of terrorists has been recorded while many others are also scampering all over the forest and out of the struck bases. Details of casualty will be determined in subsequent phases of the operation.

    “Meanwhile, the strikes continue in other locations of the theatre heralding the advance of troops and other elements of the mission.”

    A military source said: “We are getting to the critical leg of the military campaign against Boko Haram insurgents. This is why military officers from the ranks of Brigadier-General and Colonel are leading the onslaught against the insurgents.

    “The air strikes on Sambisa and Gwoza were also simultaneously video recorded by troops for Nigerians to appreciate their campaign.”

    On the fate of Chibok girls, the military source said: “We have placed priority on the search for these girls in our mission to Sambisa Forest and Gwoza.

    “As we conduct air strikes, we are trying to locate where the girls are kept in order to liberate them. This is one of the reasons why ground troops have not moved in.

    “You know, Sambisa and Gwoza are the two main strongholds of Boko Haram. Once these towns are recaptured by troops, the end of the insurgency has come.”

    Another military source said: “The insurgents have started fleeing Sambisa Forest and Gwoza but there is no more hiding place for them.

    “They have become frustrated to the extent that while fleeing, they stormed a village in anger and slaughtered everyone around.”

  • Mr President, lead us to Sambisa, not moon!

    SIR: It’s been a long while since May 25, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy fired the imagination of the United States of America, by publishing the goal of sending an American safely to the moon before the end of the decade. Four and half decades have passed since July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon surface and said, “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’’.

    The feasible race President Jonathan always told us we were in is the one to break into the league of 20 biggest economies in the world by 2020. We are five years close to that set year. In this re-election bid, Jonathan would have done well to lay out his plan to bring Nigeria closer to the attainment of that vision by 2019. He is, instead, advertizing a detour. He wants to take us to the moon!

    He didn’t define our mission to the moon, if only to flesh out the idea. He left us to figure out that. Maybe we are going to catch there to catch fun, to enjoy a walk on the moon without shoes.

    But a space detour is out of tune with the times. It suggests that President Jonathan is out of touch. Or, the one he is most likely to turn to for the list of the priorities of the average Nigerian youth, Boni Haruna, his 57-year old Minister of Youth Development, got it twisted.

    The reality is that Nigerian youths are not asking for the moon. We have never asked for what takes the equivalent of knowledge of rocket science to deliver. Citizens of other countries may ask too much of their leaders, but, not us. We ask nothing beyond a better terrestrial existence.

    We ask for the mundane things that other nationalities take for granted in this century. We ask for potable water, more hours of light, state recruitment process that doesn’t scam and kill applicants. We ask for hospitals that don’t leave patients to rot and die because doctors are on the umpteenth strike. Hospitals that are well resourced to treat all castes of fathers – my own father and the President’s 50-bedroom occupying, election time father.

    The moon can wait. The moon will become a destination to consider after we have humanized the Nigerian plane; after we have made it habitable for the overwhelming majority of the poor – the poor whose misery cannot be summarized by statistics.

    Ironically, President Jonathan is pitching astronomical adventure at a time when the foremost challenge of the country is how to assert dominion over the portion of the earth that the map says belongs to Nigeria.

    This moon talk serves well as filler to pad speaking lot. But the moon talk also indicates that escapism may have become the directional principle of state policy. Lord knows that President Jonathan is yet to exhaust ripe candidate sites in Nigeria. The 200 plus school girls abducted on April 15, 2014 are still in Zambisa forest. They have remained virtual sex slaves of their brute captors. The government hates to be reminded that they are responsible for rescuing them. So, #BringBackOurGirls campaigners are treated as dissidents.

    Of course, Chibok girls are now a catchall metaphor for, and the sole name of, all those carted away by the terrorists. Before that school invasion, kidnappings had been happening in that axis. But because Nigeria could not quantify the value of its lost citizenry as easily as barrels of stolen crude, the people did not matter.

    The moon safari tickles Jonathan because though he lives in Nigeria, he doesn’t live like a Nigerian. He has guards watching over him round the clock. He doesn’t know firsthand what it means to escape with burns from a hut set ablaze in the dead of the night. He has all the creature comforts petrodollars can buy. If he wanted a new jet, it shows up in the budget. And if he wanted to eat more food than he did last year, he would make his food bill higher by 7.4%.

    It is ludicrous that the President is promising space exploration when he and the entire armed forces he leads have proved incapable of the exploring a nearby forest where our daughters have been hostage for nine months. It’s absurd to have to say this but the Commander-in-Chief needs to know that what matters most right now is securing Nigerians within Nigeria. To redeem our country from terror: To recover our girls from Sambisa. Not going to the moon.

    • Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu

    immaugwu@gmail.com

  • Harbinger of death

    Where is the Sawyer?

    Call him back not to die

    Let his death come after this war

    Sawyer, come wage a true war

    Fight the Boko Haram with your talent

    Your urine was poisonous

    So was your sputum

    Your venom was not found in your teeth

    Your buca cavity was a container

    That offloaded a pint of Ebola

    Come back Sawyer and berth

    In our lush forest of Sambisa

    Where figs are armoured tanks

    Dreaded by our decorated combatants of war

    Come back Sawyer

    Fight a gallant war

    Waged against us by your incarnates

    Sawyer find your ilk in Sambisa

    With your buca cavity the war is won

    Slither your way into Sambisa

    Kiss the dreaded forest

    With your 21 days agonising silencer

    BUT Skip out our girls

    Your spurting venom travels in lightning speed

    From Liberia to Nigeria

    A haven surfeit of scourge.

  • Danjuma to Jonathan: lead us as C-in-C to Sambisa

    Danjuma to Jonathan: lead us as C-in-C to Sambisa

    Chairman of the Victims Support Fund Committee, General Theophilus Danjuma has challenged President Goodluck Jonathan as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to lead the onslaught to the Sambisa forest where the Boko Haram insurgents are said to be operating from.
    Danjuma who spoke on Wednesday during the inauguration of the Committee in Abuja by President Jonathan said the war against terror was taking too long to win and must be won urgently by the Federal Government.
    “One thing we will not do is to go to Sambisa forest. The commander-in-chief will lead and we will follow the commander-in-chief. But seriously, this war must be brought to an end. We must win this war immediately. It is taking too long.
    “I called it civil war when it began; people say it is insurgency. The insurgents appear to be having an upper hand at this very moment. They pick and choose where to strike. They are even holding positions and displacing us. We must win this war Mr. President; we must do so immediately,” Danjuma said.
    While inaugurating the Committee, President Jonathan admitted that his administration owes Nigerians victory over Boko Haram.
    Stressing that evil will never prevail over good, Dr. Jonathan said no effort would be spared by his government to bring the individuals responsible for crimes against humanity to justice.
    But he called for the support of all Nigerians for the security agencies in the war against terror.
    He said: “We owe Nigerians nothing but victory over terror. The life of every Nigerian is precious and we will continue to work round the clock to put an end to this insurgency.”
    “I call on all Nigerians to stand together in support of our security agencies against terrorism. They are working night and day under difficult circumstances. It is unfortunate that when our security personnel prevent 1000 attacks, it is the one attack that succeeds that makes headline news and tends to portray our security agencies as not doing enough. It is part of the realities we have to deal with.”
    “The menace of terrorism has emerged as one of the most complex and challenging problems confronting governments in different parts of the world. Terrorists aim to cause social dislocation, spread fear and panic among the populace and disrupt government activities. But they never win. They have not won in the Middle East, in the USA, in China, in Columbia, in Italy, in the United Kingdom, in Kenya, etc. And they will not win in Nigeria. And, with the support of all Nigerians, we would ensure they do not win in Nigeria. Good must prevail over evil.”
    The President spoke about how it began “on December 25, 2009, when a 23-year-old Nigerian attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, on his way from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, United States”.
    “Although his plan failed and the lives of 289 passengers were saved, it was one incident that finally confirmed that a few Nigerians had finally embraced terrorism as a way of life. Now we could no longer deny that terror has arrived our country with its ugly claws deployed!”
    He added: “The year 2009 appears to be a tragic turning point. Boko Haram, an assemblage of heartless individuals, took it upon itself to bring evil upon our country. They have in their mission, turned women to widows and reduced children to orphans.
    “They have killed and maimed and struck fear into law-abiding citizens. They have destroyed villages, attacked property and terminated people’s livelihoods without a care in the world. They have engaged our security agencies in a meaningless warfare that has wasted unimaginable human and material resources.”
    “The reality today is that, we are confronted with individuals whose minds have been so twisted and tutored to believe they are doing God a service.”
    “For those who take pleasure in seeing innocent human beings in pains, to see limbs being shattered and blood flowing in all direction after terror attacks, we say, you shall have no hiding place. Nigerians will expose you. The people of conscience around the world have rejected you.”
    Jonathan praised the countries backing Nigeria to fight the insurgency and this country’s neighbours for their co-operation.
    He said: “This has given us more fillip and we are confident that the days of Boko Haram are numbered. It is now just a matter of time. Our war against terrorism is gathering momentum. When you read about bombing incidents in the mass media, they may come across to those not directly affected as mere statistics. As the old proverb says, when you carry another man’s coffin, it looks like an ordinary log of wood.”
    “But to us, fathers and mothers, and the families of the victims, they are not just numbers. They are human beings – sons and daughters, uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and indeed, fathers and mothers! They are Nigerians!! They are individuals with dreams and aspirations, noble Nigerians who love their country.”
    According to him, the Victims Support Fund Committee will help to mobilise collective efforts and resources in support of the victims.
    He urged Nigerians and non-Nigerians, individuals and cooperate bodies, to give generously to the Fund.
    The committee is to
    •identify sources and ways of raising sustainable funding to support victims of terror activities;
    •develop appropriate strategies for the fund raising;
    •ascertain the persons, communities, facilities and economic assets affected by terror activities;
    •assess and determine the appropriate support required in each case;
    •manage, disburse and/or administer support to the victims as appropriate;
    •address related challenges as may be appropriate; and
    •advise the Government on other matter(s) necessary or incidental to support victims of terror activities.
    Giving the vote of thanks, National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki, assured the committee that the Federal Government would win the war against terror.
    He said: “Sir, you gave me a very difficult task after Gen. Danjuma’s statement. The only thing I will do is thank them for agreeing to serve and assure them that we will win the war.”
    “But there are some very hard choices that would have to be made. We have to been more concern about the lives of a few versus the condition of a few million. The decision has to be made soon. This is not the first time we have been challenged by very senior Nigerians about the need to end this.