Germany must grant federal police more powers to counter threats like terrorism and cyber attacks, Interior Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, said on Tuesday, two weeks after a failed asylum seeker rammed a truck into a Christmas market and killed 12 people.
In his most detailed response yet to the Dec. 19 attack, de Maiziere said Germany lacked laws that other countries had, and police and intelligence bodies were too fragmented.
“Our state must be better prepared for difficult times than it has been,” de Maiziere said at the start of an election year in which immigration and security will be at the top of the political agenda.
“The Federal Government needs to be able to steer all security authorities where the central government and the states work together on national security,” he wrote.
Each of the 16 federal states has its own police force and intelligence agency, and the country’s worst attack in more than 35 years has reignited debate about how best to prevent information from falling between the cracks.
After the Christmas market attack, it emerged that Tunisian suspect Anis Amri had spent nearly a year and a half in Germany, using various names and moving between different parts of the country despite being identified as a security threat.
For several days he evaded an intensive search, crossing three international borders before being shot dead in Italy.
De Maiziere said the federal police agency should lead national manhunts, and a discussion about centralising intelligence agencies was needed.
Better coordination was also required to monitor several hundred individuals believed to pose a threat, including many who have returned from Syria and Iraq.
The minister said Germans should not fear to install more video cameras in public places to help prevent and solve crimes.
Germans have an aversion to such measures after mass snooping under the communist East German Stasi and the Nazis.
He also said failed asylum seekers who were viewed as a danger should be held until they could be deported.
Amri, whose attack was claimed by Islamic State, was due to be sent home
Pope Francis has urged leaders to work together to fight the “plague of terrorism.” In his New Year address he said a bloodstain was covering the world as it started 2017.
Speaking to some 50,000 people in St. Peter’s Square for his traditional noon address, Francis departed from his prepared text to condemn the Istanbul nightclub attack that killed at least 39 people.
“Unfortunately, violence has stricken even in this night of good wishes and hope. Pained, I express my closeness to the Turkish people. I pray for the many victims and for the wounded and for the entire nation in mourning,” he said.
“I ask the Lord to sustain all men of goodwill to courageously roll up their sleeves to confront the plague of terrorism and this stain of blood that is covering the world with a shadow of fear and a sense of loss,” he said.
He said 2017 will be what people make of it.
“The year will be good in the measure that each one of us, with the help of God, seeks to do good day after day,” he told the crowd on a cold morning.
Speaking on the day the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church marks its World Day of Peace, Francis said peace was constructed by saying ‘no’ to hate and violence and ‘yes’ to brotherhood and reconciliation.
The pope earlier said Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, lack of physical contact among people brought on by modern means of virtual communication “is cauterising our hearts and making us lose the capacity for tenderness and wonder, for pity and compassion”
Fourteen people were yesterday arraigned at an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court for alleged terrorism.
The accused, who are traders, were arrested by the police for attacking State Traffic Management Agency (EKSTMA) officers at Bisi Egbeyemi Market.
The EKSTMA officials arrested them for displaying their wares on the road on December 12.
They were also accused of vandalising buildings and vehicles at EKSTMA office in the Ministry of Works and Transport.
Police prosecutor Sgt. Bankole Olasunkanmi told the court the accused and others still at large unlawfully participated in an act of terrorism against EKSTMA officials, their office buildings and the community.
He said the offence contravened Section 11(e) of Ekiti State Kidnap and Terrorism (Prohibition) Law 2015.
Olasunkanmi sought an adjournment for him to send the case files to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
The plea of the accused were not taken due to the nature of the case.
Their lead counsel, Segun Akinwumi, urged the court to grant them bail in liberal terms.
Idowu Ayenimo, the chief magistrate said the counsel should file a formal bail application and ordered the accused remanded in prison custody, pending advice from the DPP.
He adjourned the case till January 11 for further hearing.
President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that his administration remains committed to realising the key priorities of securing the country, fighting corruption and salvaging the economy in spite of present challenges.
He spoke while receiving the Letter of Credence of the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. William Stuart Symington, at the State House, Abuja.
In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said the security situation in the Northeast had improved significantly following military training support and supply of hardware after the G-7 meeting in Germany in 2015.
‘‘When I was invited to the G-7 meeting after my inauguration on May 29, 2015, I thought I was going to be an observer at the meeting. But without prompting, I was asked to brief the leaders on the security situation in Nigeria, and I did. Since then, we have received support in training and military hardware, and I hope we have not disappointed,’’ he said.
The President said the target of reversing the ‘‘culture of corruption’’ in the country had received support from Nigerians, with many realising the depth of damage done by some previous administrations from the ongoing investigations and prosecutions.
‘‘The corruption we met at personal and institutional levels was unbelievable. Corruption was turning into a culture. After we came in, people started realising the truth,’’ he added.
He told the U.S. ambassador that his administration was still determined to continue investigations and prosecution of corrupt persons in the country as ‘‘Nigeria will either kill corruption or corruption will kill Nigeria in the long run’’.
‘‘It has not been easy for another party to come in and get things done properly, especially with the new economic reality of $37 per barrel of oil, against the $100 for the period, and there was no savings and no infrastructure on ground,’’ he said.
The President added that the timely intervention of the United States, with a visit of the Secretary of State John Kerry to Nigeria, before the 2015 elections, helped in ensuring peace and stability.
The U.S. ambassador said the interest in the well-being of Nigeria was of mutual benefit.
‘‘We do it not only for Nigeria, but for ourselves. We did it because it was right for us and right for our people,’’ he said.
He said he would work hard to further strengthen the relationship between his country and Nigeria, assuring that President-elect Donald Trump would also be interested in the wellbeing of Nigeria.
President Buhari also received Letter of Credence from the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, Mr. Moha Ouali Tagma, assuring him of Nigeria’s willingness to improve bilateral relations between the countries.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday called on African leaders to form a strong united front to defeat terrorism and violent extremism, which is inhibiting development in Africa.
He made the call while receiving Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto at the State House, Abuja.
Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also expressed concern that the continent is still grappling with acts and effects of terrorism after a successful de-colonisation campaign.
Acknowledging the valued cooperation between Nigeria and Kenya in the fight against terrorism, Buhari commended the East African country for the recent successes recorded in tackling terrorism in the region.
“A situation in which insecurity continues to obstruct the process of national development should not be allowed to continue”, the President told Mr Ruto, a special envoy to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
On the forthcoming election of a new leadership for the African Union Commission (AUC), President Buhari said African States need a very strong leadership at the AUC that will encourage member states to refocus their resources and energy toward human and national development.
On Kenya’s request for Nigeria’s support for the candidature of Amb. Amina Mohammed, Kenya’s Foreign Minister, who is vying for the AUC Chairperson, President Buhari said Nigeria will hold robust consultations with other African leaders on the need for strong and capable leadership that will respond to the current challenges facing the continent.
In his remarks, Deputy President Ruto commended President Buhari for his leadership, particularly on regional security and the fight against corruption.
He said President Buhari’s effort to eradicate terrorism and violent extremism had emboldened the continent’s resolve to achieve lasting peace and security.
The Federal Government on Tuesday in Abuja, re-arraigned Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOD) on an amended 11-count charge bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony and publication of defamatory matter.
Kanu, along with Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi, were re-arraigned before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja and they pleaded not guilty to the amended charges.
Nyako fixed Nov. 17 to hear the bail applications filed by counsel to all the defendants.
Nwawuisi, who is the 4the defendant, was added in the amended 11-count charge, as he had not been previously charged with the other three in the earlier six-count charge.
In the amended charge, in count one, all four defendants were accused of conspiracy to commit treasonable felony, contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act.
In count three, they allegedly managed an unlawful society, while count eight borders on possession of unlawful firearms and count 11 hinges on acts of terrorism.
They allegedly committed the offences in Nigeria and London between 2014 and 2015.
Counsel to the defendants, Chief Chucks Muoma (SAN), Mr Inalegwu Adoga, Mr E.I Esene and Mr Maxwel Okpara, complained to the judge that the prosecution was bent on frustrating the case by employing unnecessary delay tactics.
But Nyako said that since the case was before her for the first time, she was not interested in what had happened in the past.
“The case is coming before me for the first time so let us start on a clean slate, forget what happened previously,” Nyako said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Nyako would be the third judge handling the case against the IPOB leader.
The first judge that handled Kanu’s matter was Magistrate Shuiabu Usman of Wuse Zone 2, Magistrates’ Court, Abuja.
Usman squashed all the charges against Kanu after the Prosecutor, the Department of State Services (DSS) filed a motion challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The case was later filed in the Federal High Court, Abuja, where it was assigned to Justice Adeniyi Ademola.
Kanu, however, during one of sittings told the court that he was no longer confident in the court saying he got information that he would not receive a fair hearing.
The case file was then returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta who reassigned it to Justice John Tsoho.
However, following an alleged conflicting ruling giving on the issue of secret trial in favour of the DSS, Kanu in a petition asked the National Judicial Council (NJC) to investigate Tsoho.
He also filed an application asking the judge to disqualify himself from the matter.
Tsoho then hands off the matter on Sept. 26 and sent the case file to Auta, who reassigned it to Nyako.
A civil society organization, Sovereign Rights Coalition (SRC), has called on the Federal Government to prosecute Shiite leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky for acts of terrorism.
The group also wants the government to cut diplomatic ties with the Republic of Iran over the role played by the country during the attack on Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria led by Ibrahim, El-zakzaky.
El-Zakzaky and members of Shiite were involved in a December 2015 attack on the convoy of General Buratai in Zaria, Kaduna state.
Coordinator of the group, Daniel Obaje, who led the protesters to Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, described as blackmail comments by human rights group and western media on developments in the country as its concern security.
Obaje said: “It is pertinent for the immediate arraignment and prosecution of the leader of the sect on terror charges as deemed appropriate.
“We have also discovered that the relationship between our country and the Republic of Iran has become cancerous and will only be beneficial if such detrimental tie is severed to prevent further damage.
“It also chief amongst our demand that apart from ceasing all diplomatic relationships with the Iranian republic, a total removal of her embassy from Nigerian soil is pertinent and apt.
“All blackmails by bodies including human right groups as well as western media come to an end as it amounts to an affront on the sovereignty of Nigeria.
“It is not news that the group, Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) led by its leader Mr. Ibraheem El Zakzakky had launched an attack on the Chief of Army Staff and his convoy in Kaduna where in the course of the operation where he was arrested and a cache of arms was recovered.
“It has been nearly a year since this unfortunate event and these debauchers have continued to exhibit this impermissible crass negligence of the nation’s sovereignty in their hooded attempts to annex the nation to form their own republic.
“These extremists have so far been allowed to further destabilize the nation and its integrity via sponsored protests and media campaign accompanied with blackmail using international organizations and media.”
A director in the federal ministry of Justice, Princess Okorie who received the protesters on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami appreciated their efforts and promised to channel all their grievances to the appropriate quarters.
The ECOWAS Court has promised to assist Nigeria in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism within West African-region.
The community’s court president, Justice Jerome Traore said the two scourge must be fought at all cost.
He spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2016-2017 Legal year in Abuja with the theme “The role of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism within the West African Sub-region.”
Justice Traore said the court intended to offer assistance to ECOWAS and it’s members in the efforts being made towards the prevention and containment of these crimes.
The court, he assured will work within it’s legal power to ensure the enforcement of the rules.
He said, “This double-headed scourge must therefore be combated at all cost, and the Community Court of Justice, in it’s capacity as the principal legal organ of ECOWAS, cannot remain on the sidelines of this battle which is being fought almost all over the world, and notably within our ECOWAS space, for almost two decades.
“The Court thus means to offer in resolute terms the needed assistance to ECOWAS and it’s member states in the efforts being made towards the prevention and containment of these crimes.
“The Court will of course do so within the confines of the powers currently conferred upon it, by particularly ensuring, without sacrificing their potency, that the rules and procedure in force, are in all respects, in consonance with the observance of human rights and guarantee of the rule of law.”
While also expressing the concern of the court to the lack of access to the court, Justice Troare said ECOWAS court is thinking with the idea of providing legal aid fund to empower destitute litigants.
According to him, “The ECOWAS Court of justice remains concerned, in equal measure, by the issue of the need of ensuring ease of access to the Court. We are indeed conscious that, progress in the area of human rights defense-an area which virtually occupies the centre stage of the activities of our court today-is obtainable, in practical terms, by the extent of accessibility of litigants of the Court.
“That is why, for the purposes of facilitating access to justice, it shall be necessary to provide the court with legal aid fund, so as to empower destitute litigants, whenever they deem themselves victims of arbitrariness, to cone before the Court, to claim their rights. It would be regrettable, to say the least, if for financial reasons, a community citizen should remain helpless while his rights are being abused.”
He further promised that the “new Bureau of the Court intends to pursue and extend further the steps already taken, and it will do everything possible to ensure that the Community Court of Justice remains, as it has been in past, a guarantor of human rights and a safeguard against arbitrariness in the sub-region.”
To thIS end, he added that “further steps will be taken towards improving upon the output of the Court.”
“Also, in the course of this year, we will need to put in greater efforts to bring the court closer to those whose right it is to seek justice before our court, for a great number of those who desire to bring their case before the court do not always have the financial means required for doing so.
“Some efforts have already been made in that direction, through the organisation of external court sessions in the member states of ECOWAS, but we can do more for the qualified potential litigants of our community who remain destitute.”
The guest speaker, Col. Adama Coulibaly, Director General, Inter-Governmental Action Group against money laundering in West Africa (GIABA) explained that while there are differences between money laundering and financing of terrorism, the techniques used to launder money and finance terrorist activities/terrorism are very similar and in many instances identical.
Coulibaly added that, “the effects of money laundering and financing of of terrorism are both difficult to quantify.”
He therefore stressed that GIABA’s mandate is focused in ensuring the implementation of acceptable international anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism measures.
GIABA Boss, also expressed concern about the none adoption of the ECOWAS protocol for the prevention of corruption fifteen years after.
He noted that the region could not enforced the protocol as it was yet to be ratified. So far only eight member states have ratified the protocol when it needs nine states to do so before it cam be enforced.
GIABA is mandated by it’s statutes to combat the laundering of proceeds from crime and finance of terrorism.
Have you ever been on the highway driving home after a dog’s day at work and your phone rings? You peek at it. It’s an unknown number and you ignore it. It rings off and rings again. You take another look; again an unknown number but a rather peculiar one. It’s a ‘mature’ number as a friend of Hardball would term it: In the sense that it belongs to the first or second generation series of numbers.
And it keeps ringing relentlessly as if you are about to miss a major job if you ignored it. You reach out and manage to pick it and put it on speaker; disregarding the traffic code against fiddling with the phone while driving. And what do you get? A recording – someone desperately trying to sell you something.
Gosh! Your brains literally explodes in ire and you reach out quickly to shut down the irritant; you miss with the first jab and the second … your car swerves a little. You ignore the phone; reclaim your wheels as the promo continues to rant searingly running its full course. Now you are probably boiling over and cursing furiously under your breath. You feel so thoroughly ravaged and your blood pressure may have gone up one notch.
There are as many scenarios as there are GSM phone users in Nigeria. The telecommunications companies have grown from feeding frenzy on us their helpless game to the realms of terrorism. When this ravenously bad habit started about four years ago, it was enough to stay with those text-and-win promos.
You must remember that crazy era when some of the telcos offered SUVs and millions of naira to be won if you recharged. That epoch ended when one of the firms lost its mind and offered us an aeroplane. RECHARGE-AND-WIN-AN-AEROPLANE was the promo that ‘killed’ all promos. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) eventually got shame-faced enough to snap from its slumber and tried to moderate the madness.
No sleek-fingered telco has offered us a Concorde jet ever since but they have not stopped pecking at us like vultures upon a dying game. Hardball chose to keep his treasure of short messages from his service providers and in just one month of August, he got no fewer than 100 messages from each of the three lines he uses. The barrage of messages is a curious admixture of picking my pockets and obtaining by all manner of unscrupulous guises.
Here are a few examples: Dateline August 11, 2016, time 20:33: Dear customer, you have successfully subscribed to MTNsports EPL and N50.00 deducted from your account. Your service will be renewed on 2016-08-18. To cancel, text stop EPL to 5836. Enjoy!
One never remembered subscribing to the above and even if perchance I had been tricked into it as they are wont to do these days, I never received one word of information on the EPL game.
But every week one gets the notification for renewal and deduction of N50.00. This is just one example. There are so many more from all the firms.
If this is not criminality bordering on terrorism, then what is it?
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Wednesday conducted a counter-terrorism simulation exercise involving the insertion and extraction of Special Forces operating in conjunction with other organic security agencies and organisations to retake the airport from terrorists and ensure normalcy of operations.
The exercise which was code-named “Steel Dome “ which means Fortified Arena was conducted by the men of the Air Force Regiment- a special force operations team made up of commandos and other specially trained officers deployed for counter terrorism operations.
The Air Force Regiment was founded after the breach of the Air Force base in Maiduguri, Borno state on December 2, 2013 by Boko Haram insurgents. Since then, the Regiment has deployed Special Forces personnel throughout the country.
The Airport counter terrorism simulation according to Air Force Director of Public Information, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, is to answer the question: “When you have a terrorist situation in your airport, what do you do?” Steel Dome was to show what the NAF will do.
The exercise began with a briefing by Air Commodore Olusesan Idowu, the Director, Regiment Headquarters of the NAF in a small room at the northern corner of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja.
The briefing highlighted the objectives of the exercise which include: Practice individual/group skills in the planning, coordination and execution of counter –terrorist operations; understand the requirements and challenges involved in the coordination and conduct counter terrorist operations in concert with other security agencies; derive lessons that will guide Directorate of Regiment in drawing up a doctrine and planning guide for the conduct of airport counter- terrorist operations and reaffirm the NAF commitment to support civil authority in times of national emergencies.
But the planning of the response to terrorism belongs to the Commander Quick Response Force Minna, Air Commodore Mishelia who in a business-like manner informed the gathering that a group of terrorists have taken some passengers hostage at the departure lounge of the airport.
The Hostages and the terrorists
About 40 members of the Special Forces were involved in the rescue operations of the passengers. The departure terminal was cordoned off and troops positioned strategically before the entrance of the terminal, every angle leading to the terminal was covered by different personnel of the Special Force.
Inside the terminal, troops were positioned to cover every available exit space, everywhere one turns, there is a soldier armed, fierce and ready. Behind the counters, air conditioners and desks, mean looking soldiers were ready with their guns. But airport activities went unabated, with some passengers expressing shock at the presence of the troops.
Intermittently, the announcer would inform that the NAF was conducting a counter terrorism response simulation and all passengers were to continue their business.
But such admonition was hardly heeded.
At 9:30 am, a Super Puma helicopter of the NAF usually deployed for insertion and extraction of troops in emergency situation appeared in the sky above the airport terminal.
Its arrival was heralded by a loud noise; troops on the ground gave the aircraft covering fire as the Special Forces began to descend using a rope into the airport.
In all, eight soldiers descended directly into the terminal space. It will be their duty to surprise the terrorists who are holding the passengers hostage in the departure area.
Terrorists holding passengers hostage
The rescue
At the departure ticketing area, passengers huddled together in awe of the spectacular scenario playing out. There was a soldier at every turn and corner. Air Force evaluators wearing pink jackets carefully followed the process, checking every detail and making notes in big logbooks. Upstairs at the departure lounge, a serious, almost real time situation was playing out.
Six terrorists all armed with rifles, covering their faces with masks have detained 12 male passengers. The hostages were made to lie down on the floor in the middle of the lounge while the terrorists torture them. Slaps, kicks and punches were rained on the captives, bags were kicked in fury and the terrorists ensured the captives were reduced to fear.
“Do you want to fight?” a terrorist asked one terrified passenger. Instead of a response, the man simply said he was tired and would never visit this country again. Another hostage lamented his ill-fated travel with a vow never to return if he could just get out alive. A terrorist gave him a slap, he fell to the floor and a kick in the groin sent him face flat. He did not move for a long time. None of the actors in this terrible drama smiled, none of them betrayed any emotion.
It was not clear what the terrorists were waiting for, it was not certain if a line of communication had been established with a government negotiator, it was also not clear if the terrorists had made any demands.
What happened next was a scene out of an action packed movie. A shot rang out suddenly followed by five others in quick succession.
Four soldiers burst into the lounge; their forceful entry in a blaze of unending bullets sent the terrorists scampering for cover. A shot hit a terrorist; he fell, his rifle hitting the ground first.
“Alpha 1 to Alpha 2, evacuate terrorists and hostages over,” one could hear over the radio. The hostages were on their faces, there was a lot of scream and shouts of “I don’t want to die” as the Special Forces tried to reassure them.
The communication between the Special Forces was effective but the terrorists would not go down easily. Shots were heard, Alpha one called for back-up. Some of the Special Forces who were earlier inserted through the chopper came in from the staircase, a search was made and one terrorist was found, crouching behind a chair, he was disarmed and arrested. In all four of the terrorists were arrested while two died.
One soldier was also wounded, his colleagues gathered around to help him. The lounge was evacuated. The whole operation had taken five minutes, six seconds before the Police anti-bomb squad arrived to check if there were any bombs left by the terrorists.
