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Tag: terrorists

  • Block terrorists funding sources, NUPENG urges

    Block terrorists funding sources, NUPENG urges

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has implored the Federal Government to block Boko Haram’s sources of financial transactions, fuel supplies, and logistics to forestall further onslaught.

    President of the union, Comrade Igwe Achese, who gave the advice in reaction to recent wave of attacks by the group, which left hundreds of people dead in the northern part of the country, also enjoined the government to re-organise the armed forces to make them fit to face the guerrilla warfare, through adequate training, increase in payment of hazard allowances and other welfare packages to boost their morale.

    He further advised the government to devise a medium and long term plan of action to rejuvenate economic activities in the area, create jobs for the restless youths, with basic education put in place for the many uneducated youths that are used for suicide bombings and killings

    “NUPENG is worried and concerned about the new wave of killings and wanton destruction presently perpetrated by the Boko Haram insurgents. The union condemns in its entirety the recent attack on the Redeemed Christian Church in Potiskum, where the Pastor and six worshippers were killed.

    “The union also kicks against the killing of over 100 innocent souls in Zamfara and Plateau States by the insurgents,’’ Achese said.

  • CJN raises posers for terrorists

    The International Law Association (Nigeria Branch) has been launched. It also held its first annual conference in Lagos, which dwelled on how to tackle terrorism, reports JOSEPH JIBUEZE.

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Aloma Mukhtar, has inaugurated the Nigerian Branch of the International Law Association (ILA), 28 years after the first attempt to establish it in the country failed.

    Founded in 1873, the ILA has 59 branches and aims to bring together scholars, lawyers, advocates and practitioners interested in public and private international law.

    It was first set up in Nigeria in 1982 but existed for only four years.

    The branch’s president Prof Fidelis Oditah (QC, SAN) said ILA seeks to promote “the study, clarification and development of international law, both public and private, and the furtherance of international understanding and respect for international law.”

    According to him, the association  has consultative status with a number of the United Nations (UN) specialised agencies as an international non-governmental organisation.

    Oditah said: “Since 1960, Nigerian international lawyers have made significant contributions to the development of international law through publications, practice and commentaries.

    “The ILA contributes to discussion of topical issues in international law through a number of vehicles, such as conferences, study groups and regional events, which branches conduct from time to time.

    “We encourage all lawyers, academics, advocates, practitioners, and students who have interests in international law to join the Branch and become involved in this important work of promoting Nigeria’s international law expertise to the rest of the world.”

    Oditah said non-lawyers, such as politicians and diplomats who practice international law, can register as members to understand its principles.

    “We do not want to reduce the ILA into an academic legal debating society,” he said, adding the association is faced with the challenges of outreach, access and funding.

    Justice Mukhtar described the launch of ILA in Nigeria as an auspicious occasion. “It marks the beginning of totally new chapter in the annals of our fledging legal system,” she said, adding: “My joy knew no bound when a branch of the association was approved in Nigeria.”

    The branch also held its first annual conference with theme: “International Investments in an era of transnational threats: Taking stock and charting international law responses for the future.”

    On why the theme was chosen, Oditah said: “In the last four years, Nigeria has been under the siege of Boko Haram. The problem with terrorism, which can be either national or transnational, is that they tend to use guerilla tactics. They hit and run. They’re not subject to the laws of war or the constraints they impose.

    “By creating that type of instability, they impoverish those areas. If you want to invest money in Nigeria, it unlikely you will choose that part of Borno State. The question for us is: Is there is any way international law can respond and try to protect investment in areas which have been besieged by transnational threats such as Boko Haram?”

    The QC/SAN said Nigeria is obligated to protect any international investments in the crisis-prone Northeast.

    “If Nigeria fails to do so, then it breaches treaty obligations, not just the bilateral investment treaties, but also its own domestic laws, such as the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Act which seeks to implement certain principles of international economic law by guaranteeing investors the safety of their investments,” Oditah said.

    Justice Mukhtar said the impacts of insecurity on a country are limitless.

    “Apart from economic cost, the social and psychological implications are immeasurable. Terrorism erodes inter-communal trust and destroys the reservoir of social capital that is so vital to building a harmonious society and pulling together community efforts for national development.

    “The attendant proliferation of small arms and militarisation of society results in vicious cycle of violence which hampers national cohesion and stability…Development thrives in a peaceful environment.

    “Consequently, all hands must be on deck to ensure peace and stamp out every form of insecurity, particularly terrorism as it is inimical to sustainable development,” she said.

    According to her, insecurity will be a clog in the wheel of progress unless it is tackled.

    “It is indeed evident that Nigeria has not attained its best in her quest for industrial and technological breakthrough since independence, and this has forced the nation to rely heavily on importation for a great percentage of its basic sustenance.

    “As government strives to correct this trend, insecurity will definitely stand as a clog in the wheel of our progress as it is inimical to industrialisation,” the CJN said.

    Justice Mukhtar raised three posers for insurgents, wondering whether terrorism is the best way to address social challenges.

    “While we concede that there are ills in the society that need to be corrected as with every country in the world, may I urge the champions of the self-justified course to have in mind these three questions:

    “(1) Is the end sought good enough to justify the means? (2) Will the end indeed be achieved by means of terrorism? (3) Can the end not be achieved by any other way other than terrorism?”

    An international law expert, Prof Maurice Mendelson (QC), who gave the keynote speech, said terrorism is sometimes caused by simple greed, quest for power or hatred – “the thinking that others are sub-human or instruments of the devil.”

    He said terrorism can be internal or transnational and requires global cooperation in the fight against it.

    Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Mr Ade Ipaye, recommended more use of dialogue in the bid to end terrorism. According to him, the death penalty may do little to deter those who have already made up their minds to die for a cause.

    “Attempt to crack it down has spurned more terrorism. I think the role of law should now be in the realm of negotiation, dispute resolution. I would encourage any kind of engagement. I agree it’s a crime against humanity of the worst kind, but total routing hasn’t been effective. And we have exhausted our punishment – the death penalty, because they want to die,” he said.

    Also at the conference were Justice Sidi Bage of the Court of Appeal, Lagos; a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN); deputy president, Nigerian Society of International Law, Prof Yinka Omoregbe; Mrs Funke Adekoya (SAN), Mrs Miannaya Essien (SAN), Mr Osaro Eghobamien (SAN), Mr Mike Igbokwe (SAN), Dr Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), former Commonwealth Lawyers Association President Mrs Boma Ozobia, among others.

     

  • Managing disaster in terrorists’ enclave

    Managing disaster in terrorists’ enclave

    The spate of Boko Haram attacks has increased in the Northeast geo-political zone, leading to displacement of many from their homes. In this interview with JOEL DUKU, the Executive Secretary of Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA), Musa Idi Jidawa, speaks on the challenges of managing displaced persons, among other issues. Excerpts:

    As an agency, what are the scopes of your responsibilities?

    The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA) was established by an Edict of the State House of Assembly in November, 2010. It is saddled with the responsibility of managing disasters in the state. Our operational guideline is that in the event of any disaster, we evaluate its nature and then decide on which ministry will take the lead.

    For instance, if it’s a disaster that concerns health, we refer it to the Ministry of Health to lead, if it is fire disaster, then the fire service comes in. But the overall coordination of disaster management in the state rests squarely on the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

    Principally, we are established to advise government on any disaster that occurs in the state. We also take necessary action by preparing the ground for first aid and then seek assistance where necessary in order to salvage the situation.

    Yobe is recently hit by crisis caused by Boko Haram insurgents. How have you been coping with this?

    We are recently challenged by the issue of insurgency and the whole of North-eastern states. This has also caused great challenge for us. But we have Governor Ibrahim Gaidam as a responsive governor, who always sympathises with the people affected by any form of disaster.

    If we have a disaster case, the governor always responds promptly by providing the necessary logistics so that we can contain such a disaster to ameliorate the pains of the victims.

    Could you mention some of these cases that your agency has handled in recent time?

    In 2014, we experienced a lot of attacks by the insurgents. When the insurgents attacked Buni Gari, the Governor donated N4.6m to cushion the effects of the victims. Our agency has also taken an assessment of the destruction which is before the governor. The assessment was so comprehensive so much so that it captured houses that were burnt, burnt tricycles (Keke NAPEP), burnt vehicles and those whose business premises were affected. So, all areas affected had been assessed and submitted to the governor.

    Also, in collaboration with the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Action against Hunger (ACF) and other agencies, we have conducted a humanitarian need assessment to determine victims’ areas of need with a view to bringing succour to them.

    The state government also established a state standing committee comprising agriculture, education, health and environment. The committee will determine the modalities to be adopted in helping insurgency victims.

    We brought these sectors together because children are out of school, people have been denied of farming due to the insecurity and so on. There was an attack on the Red Bricks Housing Estate for which the state government donated N15 million to carter for the victims of the attack. There were people whose houses were bombed. The Army base in Buni Gari was also attacked and about 310 security personnel were involved.

    Those involved were 210 policemen and 100 soldiers. The government gave close to N10 million for the well-being of victims and families of the affected personnel. In addition, relief materials worth over N4.8 million were also given to the families of the victims.

    An officer was also involved in a gas explosion accident and the state government offered assistance. The sum of N5.8m was also given to victims of fire disasters. We also have internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled from Goniri, Buni Yadi and Buni Gari. On receiving the news, I mobilised my men to establish a camp in one of the primary schools along  Gujba Road, even though no one turned out at the camp. We had to go round the metropolis and we were able to identify 150 households with 114,761 IDPs. These people were living in houses of people such as Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, the Mai Gujba, Waziri Gujba and some other politicians from the area.

    Almost all Goniri natives were having not less than 20 to 30 people who relocated from their village to live with them in Damaturu. I got in touch with His Excellency and he immediately approved over N31 million for the purchase of relief materials for the displaced persons. The sum of  N3, 645, 000 was also disbursed to victims of flood at Koryel in Tarmuwa Local Government Area.

    Other places affected were N100, 000,000 for victims of FGC Buni Yadi and N1.9m assistance for victims of insurgency at Buni Gari.

    So, we made provision for all those things just to alleviate the suffering of those households. Imagine a family of six suddenly accommodating over 30 people. It was a serious situation. Our people didn’t want to live in camps because of the fear of Boko Haram attacks.

    When the  Goniri incident happened, we established a camp along Gujba Road but nobody came to the camp. They were afraid as we were. You can establish a very beautiful camp and unknown to you, some insurgents may sneak in and you don’t know what will happen next. By the time you establish a camp here, you will require heavy security personnel.

    So, fear, cultural and religious practices are some of the reasons our people didn’t want to live in the camps. There were also reported cases of people that fled from Gulani to Fika Local Government Area and settled at Dumbuluwa Primary School. I was contacted by the Chairman of the local government area and within 24 hours we sent relief materials to them.

    Apart from Yobe State Government, have you received any assistance from any other organisation?

    It would not be an understatement to say that the chunk of what came in as relief and assistance to SEMA is from Yobe State Government. However, there is a Presidential Committee on Draught, Flood and Rehabilitation which decided to incorporate nine states of Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Katsina, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno.

    That committee headed by Aliko Dangote looked at the peculiarities of every state and sent relief materials to them under the Presidential Initiative on Northeast. NEMA sometimes makes public distribution to our victims in the state.

    We have enjoyed partnership with some donor agencies such as Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) as I mentioned before. Recently, we’ve had a meeting with them and came up with an idea of empowering the IDPs.

    Of recent, JAIZ Bank had donated some relief materials to us, even though they are coming in batches; we have not taken delivery of the whole consignment.

    The office of the National Security Adviser had also sent 33 trucks of rice out of which we have  taken delivery of about 22.

    The Boko Haram crisis is different from other disasters in which relief and humanitarian services and aid workers have easy access to the scenes. How do you cope in delivering relief materials to victims in this kind of situation?

    The principle is that in whatever disaster of humanitarian endeavour, your safety is primary. In this case for instance, since the beginning of the insurgency, most of the people have left their homes for Damaturu and other safe places. We used to visit those areas, but had to stop because the people are no longer there.

    Rather, we keep track of the IDPs where they are and serve them. Some have fled to Ashaka in Gombe State, some to Ngalda, Tadangala Dumbuluwa and Fika towns.

    The Buni Yadi and Buni Gari communities complained that they were attacked before Goniri community came under attack, but when relief materials came; the latter received before them. How accurate is the complaint?

    What happened was different from the rumour people are peddling. There were two issues relating to Goniri. NEMA went there and made public distribution for the Goniri citizens that are in large number. Remember there was an attack in Buni Yadi and the people moved out and 90 per cent went back thinking the place is safe, and the same to Buni Gari.

    Unlike that of Goniri, the entire community left and found shelter in the homes of their relations in Damaturu. When they heard what happened to Goniri, they came to my office and started complaining and I asked them to go and identify all their complaints and bring them to me.

    It is easier to solve a problem when you identify it than when you have not. So, they Buni Yadi people went and brought their list which I have incorporated into our next plan of distribution. With the assistance of the Chairman of Gujba Local Government Area, we have gotten a list of 400 displaced persons for which an approval has been given.

    What inspires you in the course of performing your duties?

    If you can call it success then it has to be hinged on the support and the confidence of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam in this agency. I have no barrier in getting to the Governor. Anytime we present a problem to him, it gets express attention.

    That confidence, I consider as panacea to challenges, and enables me to pursue my assignment with all the vigour that I could muster.

    Other organisations are also very willing to partner with us because of the good work we are doing. This is helping us a lot to reduce duplication of efforts and unnecessary dissipation of energy.

    Apart from government’s response to disasters, there is also the need for citizens to help in disaster management and rescue operation. How would you assess citizens’ cooperation in that regard?

    As I said, the issue of disaster management is not a one-man business or an organisation’s business depending on the nature of the disaster. For instance, if a disaster breaks in a community, say fire outbreak and you bring a jerry can of water, it will go a long way, one maybe in a camp, and the water will help in different ways. An ordinary torchlight can be of immense help.

    Are people really responding to these?

    They need to be sensitised. We have advocacy programmes. We also have produced jingles on radio and made some advertisements to educate people on what they need to do in times of disaster. We hope that we continue in this tempo even after the security situation improves in the region.

    What is your advice to the people?

    My advice to the people is that they should constantly pray for God’s intervention because our condition has degenerated to a level that is beyond our understanding. Our leaders need prayers for them to lead us better.

  • Fire on the mountain

    Fire on the mountain

    Fire on the mountain!”  This may look like a familiar lyric from a popular song. It is not. But if the drama that is currently unfolding in the north-east of Nigeria is anything to go by, then, it is crystal clear that, indeed, there is fire on the mountain. In the last few weeks, the Boko Haram terrorists have intensified their attacks and open confrontation with Nigeria’s security forces. They have been moving from their base in Sambisa fortress to some parts of Borno and Adamawa States, seizing towns and villages along their route. At the last count, the terrorists have taken over at least nine out of the 27 Local Government Areas in Borno, representing one-third of the entire state.  Recently, they proclaimed the town of Gwoza, a “caliphate under Islamic law.” Michika, Uba and some parts of Adamawa, have also tasted Boko Haram’s bitter pill.

    Following the terrorists’ recent incursion into Bama town, about 72 kilometers from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, fears were heightened that the next port of call may be Maiduguri itself. Speaking in Abuja last Thursday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, said the frequency and scope of terror attacks had grown more acute, adding that this had constituted a serious threat to the overall security of Nigeria. According to her, “Boko Haram has shown that it can operate not only in the North-east, but in Kano, Abuja and elsewhere. We are very troubled by the prospects of an attack on and in Maiduguri, which would impose a tremendous toll on the civilian population. This is a sober reality check for all of us”.

    It is, indeed, time to engage in a sober reality check. This is because at no time since the end of the country’s civil war in 1970, has the territorial integrity of this country been so threatened than what is currently playing out today. In spite of all the havoc the terrorists have wreaked on innocent people all over the place, they had the audacity to distribute leaflets in Maiduguri, the state capital, warning the residents of an impending attack. For one, the major weapon of terrorists is fear. Those leaflets must have been circulated to create fear in the minds of the people. If that is the aim, the terrorists may have largely succeeded in view of the mass exodus of residents in Maiduguri.

    For whatever it takes, the military and the federal government should do everything possible to safeguard Maiduguri. The city is too populated to allow these vagabonds to truncate its tranquillity. It is exigent that the temerity of the rampaging terrorists should be halted without further prevarication. By now, it must be clear to our policy makers that we have an emergency at hand. There is no doubt that the army is short of manpower, having been overstretched because of its involvements in internal security duties in the country. Be that as it may, we may not have any other option than to resort to what happened during the civil war by recruiting those who are ready to do the job. Care must; however, be taken not to recruit Boko Haram agents or sympathisers.

    In that case, rather than the usual one year training, the new recruits can be trained for two weeks and deployed in large numbers to crush the terrorists. The thing is to get the whole place flooded with troops. If the enemy out-flanks you, pull back, regroup and re-think your strategy. It is good that the terrorists have now come out of Sambissa Forest due to the rains and the subsequent marshy terrain. The security forces should launch a massive and sustained attack on them in the towns and villages they now occupy as well as lead an assault on Sambissa itself. The terrorists must have left some line guards behind to take care of the place for them. All the security forces need do is to muster enough manpower and fire power to do this. Obviously, the terrorists cannot cope if many fronts are opened.

    The terrorists are known to move swiftly just like the ISIS is doing presently in Iraq and Syria. The so-called Islamists, though calling themselves different names, share a common doctrine of destruction. They seek to impose their will through propaganda, forced conversion, kidnapping, beheading, slaughtering, forced marriage, rape and other unspeakable horrors. Obviously, Boko Haram exists for the same genocidal mission as ISIS. It has its own contribution to this hateful movement. The plan by Al-Queda to acquire territories after territories until it enthrones its own Islamic doctrines was hatched many years back with defined roadmap and timelines. This was expected to have been crystallised in 2013. And Nigeria falls within the countries whose territories it wanted (and still wants) to acquire for this indoctrination. What this means is that Nigeria is fighting a formidable enemy.

    The truth is that 16 months after a state of emergency was declared in the north-east states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, it appears that the country has not got an effective strategy to deal with Boko Haram and its avowed commitment to wage war against the country and its people. Much like the man who has a hammer and, therefore, assumes that every problem is a nail, our policy makers have tried these past 16 months, to define the Boko Haram problem as something that they are comfortable to deal with. Now, it is apparent that they are failing or they have failed, and woefully too. Not with the terrorists who seem to be riding roughshod over everybody and traversing state borders, thereby killing and maiming several innocent citizens as well as displacing people and destroying hundreds of schools in a wave of terror aimed at establishing a utopian Islamic state in Nigeria.

    Recently, the international community was jolted with the abduction of more than 250 schoolgirls from Chibok community in Borno State. In the wake of the uproar, some foreign countries sent specialists with medical, intelligence, counterterrorism and communications skills to advise Nigerian officials. In addition, manned and unmanned surveillance aircrafthave been flying over the heavily forested north-eastern region of the country where intelligence officials believe the girls are held. Some 80 armed American troops have also been sent to Chad, one of Nigeria’s next door neighbours, where predator surveillance drones are being operated from a large air base near N’Djamena, the Chadian capital. All these seem to have yielded nothing as the Chibok girls are still marooned in the woods.

    Viewed from the prism of the seeming bureaucratic lethargy with which the ongoing war against terrorism is being prosecuted, it is as if Nigerian leaders are bidding their time and waiting for a miracle from nowhere to happen and put an end to this ugly episode. It is rather senseless to expect outsiders to come to our rescue every time there is a problem. Every nation is and should be responsible for its own citizens’ safety except that, on this score, Nigeria’s record is abysmal. Corruption has become a hydra-headed monster that has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation. The nation’s considerable oil wealth has been cornered by a few smart alecs. The result is that the citizens have not been provided with adequate security, water, health, reliable power supply, good and motorable roads, as well as, quality education.

    Now, the army, the last bastion of hope, is starved of essential resources and completely demoralised.  This, in itself, is a bigger threat to stability. Yet, a military response is not a viable option to end the growing disenchantment in the country. It is, therefore, expedient on our grandstanding political leaders to urgently tackle the root causes of disaffection in the country by reducing corruption, and providing jobs and other lifelines to the growing army of hungry and angry Nigerians. As a people, we need a new, honest conversation on how we are going to defeat the multifarious forces of evil that have held the country by its jugular. Perhaps, we would be better off with leaders who do not have good strategies and know they do not, than with leaders who get stuck to bad strategies.

  • Soldiers kill 50 terrorists in hideout assault

    The Defence Headquarters said yesterday that troops on assignment in Borno State killed over 50 terrorists during an afternoon raid of a Boko Haram hideout at Kawuri, Konduga Local Government Area of the state.

    “Over 50 terrorists died this afternoon as troops raided their hideout in Kawuri before setting out on a planned attack on Konduga,” it tweeted last night.

    A Fabricated Artillery Gun, two Anti-Aircraft guns, an armoured vehicle and assorted ammunition were also seized during the raid.

    “Some hardware, weapons, food items and personal belongings were also destroyed in the Kawuri Raid,” according the DHQ.

    However, one officer and two soldiers were wounded in the operation.

    The claim could not be independently verified.

  • Muslims are not terrorists, say clerics

    Islamic clerics in the country have said Muslims are not terrorists contrary to wide belief.

    Delivering a paper entitled “Islamic Solution to Terrorism” at a lecture organised by the Right Path Prayer Group in Abuja, Sheikh Abdulrauf Abdulhameed Oloriomokewu Khalifahtul Quardiriyyah said Allah is a lover of peace; hence, every Muslim must love peace.

    “Muslims are not terrorists because there are lots of messages in the Quran that enjoin Muslims to shun terrorism. Allah loves gentleness. I just finished telling you the story of how Prophet (SWT) got the freedom to enter Makkah; it was through peaceful settlement. So, every Muslim must be peace-loving, because Allah (SWT) is a lover of peace and the religion is a religion of peace,” he said.

    Oloriomokewu argued that the Boko Haram insurgents have no justification for killing people.

    “The Quran says that you should not let the affliction meted to you disturb you from being faithful, from doing justice. They don’t have justification for killing people; they don’t have justification for killing Muslims because there is a strong warning that if you kill a Muslim, you will be in hell fire. Therefore, they should stop this act. Let’s forgive ourselves and look for a way forward,” he said.

    The cleric advised that the way out of insurgency is for everybody to go back to God and to promote peace.

    His words: “Let’s come back to God as all the prophets have done. Don’t let us say it is President Goodluck Jonathan or the Senators; let all of us together come back to God because God has not created anybody that he cannot overcome.

    “God has not created anybody that he cannot deal with and God has not created any situation that he cannot be on top of. We have to promote peace. If we promote peace in the country, definitely those people will stop being aggressive as they are now.”

    He corroborated Ustaz Mustapha Shuaib Agbarere’s statement that such belief is a misconception.

    “Muslims are not terrorists and Islam is not a religion of terrorism. We know why people will just gather among themselves and create an avenue of terror in any society. Among the factors that contribute to such situations are injustice; inequality as well as social and economic imbalance.”

    Proffering solution to the problem, Ustaz Agbarere said besides going back to Quran, Nigeria should begin to do justice and be kind to everyone without fear or favour.

    “We Muslims should forgive whatever grievances among ourselves so that Allah can forgive us and we also contribute prayerfully for God to descend his mercy and peace in our country.”

  • Jonathan: Don’t despair over terrorists attacks

    President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians to remain strong and resolute in defence of freedom, unityand progress of the nation.

    He made the call in a message to the nation on the 2014 Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

    While noting that some parts of the country witnessed terrorists attacks during the month of Ramadan, he hoped that the Ramadan’s spiritual lessons and the Holy Prophet’s teachings of will remain with Nigerians towards greater benefit and glory for the nation.
    “May the lessons and blessings of the Holy Month also permeate into us all, and positively influence our attitudes towards our fellow countrymen and women, irrespective of their religion or places of origin; and promote greater commitment to the peace, unity and stability of the nation.

    “Although the observance of the Holy Month was sadly tainted in parts of the country with the continuing atrocities of extremists and terrorists in our midst, I urge all patriotic Nigerians to remain strong and resolute in defence of freedom, unity, law and order, peace, security and progress of the nation,” He said

    Continuing, he said: “I feel the pains and anguish of all our compatriots who have experienced the harrowing impact of terrorism unleashed on them by brainwashed and misguided agents of evil and disunity, but we must never throw up our hands in helplessness and despair as the terrorists and purveyors of anarchy want.”

    The President also urged all Nigerians to continue to show solidarity with the Nigeria Armed Forces and security agencies and give them the full support they require to succeed against terror.

    He said: “I assure all Nigerians, once again, that we are totally committed to winning that war, putting the scourge of terrorism and insecurity rapidly behind us and giving the fullest possible attention to the urgent task of improving the living conditions of our people in all parts of the country.”

    “We cannot and will not be deterred from our goal of positively transforming our nation into a strong, united, progressive, stable, secure and prosperous nation,” the President said.

  • 50 terrorists killed in military  raid on  Boko Haram camp

    Abuja- A military raid on  a makeshift camp used by terrorists in Miyanti and Bulungu, Borno State has claimed the lives of 53 terrorists,the Defence Headquarters said yesterday.

    A fuel dump used for storing fuel, vehicles and motorcycles were destroyed in the raid.

    The DHQ, in a statement  posted on its website, said two soldiers died during  the operation.

    Five others received injuries.

    Besides, 15 rifles, 11 machine guns and ammunitions were captured by the troops.

    The information could be  independently verified.

    The DHQ said that in a separate operation close to  Duguri, near the Nigeria–Niger border, troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force stormed a terrorists’ hideout, recovering 18 rifles, five general purpose machine guns, 25 hand grenades and IED making materials.’’

    It said a suspected gun runner was apprehended .

    The suspect is currently undergoing interrogation.

    It said that the suspect was arrested during a cordon and search operation by troops.

    The statement said that 15 other suspects were being detained in Abuja after a raid that led to the recovery of seven rifles, pistols, swords and other weapons.

    It said that military operations to track armed gangs would be sustained in various locations.

  • Nigerian army will soon overcome terrorists – CDS

    Air Chief Marshal, Alex Badeh, Chief of Defence Staff,  has said that the Nigerian army will soon overcome terrorists.
    According to him, military pressure  had forced insurgents to resort cheap targets.

    Badeh who stated this during his visit to scene of explosions in Jos on Thursday said the military pressure in the North East had compelled the terrorists  to relocate other parts of the country.

    “The military have been mounting serious pressure on the insurgents and that is the reason they have started moving out of the area,” the CDS said.

    The CDS expressed the Nigerian military’s determination to  tackle the security challenge bedeviling the country noting that `The Nigerian soldiers are highly capable of fighting the insurgents and very soon the issue will be addressed.”

    “Some countries have been fighting terrorist activities for over 40- years but the issue entirely new we doing everything possible to address it.”

    He appealed to Nigerians to be patient and support the military with vital information about the insurgents.

    He warned the public against rushing to bomb scenes as there was the likelihood of another explosion. “People should desist from rushing to the bomb blast scenes as there is always the possibility of the another explosion.’’

    He sympathised with the people of Plateau over the twin bomb blasts that caused the death of several people

    The Plateau Governor Jonah Jang has appreciated security agencies for their prompt reaction to incidents.

    The governor who spoke through his deputy Ignatius Longjan stated that the visits of the Inspector General of Police and  the Chief of Defence Staff was an indication that they were concerned about happened in the state.

  • How some brave women are battling terrorists

    How some brave women are battling terrorists

    AS Mossarat Qadeem tells the story, the big clue came from a simple source: a young woman who noticed her brother spending time with strangers.

    It was about one year ago in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, formerly called the North-West Frontier province, when the 25-year-old woman noticed a group of men she did not recognize meeting in the evenings in a house on her street. Several young men from her area were attending these meetings, including her 18-year-old brother. Yet her brother wouldn’t tell her what it was all about. His secrecy sparked her suspicion, said Qadeem, founder and executive director of PAIMAN Alumni Trust, an Islamabad-based non-profit that, among other initiatives, works with mothers in some of the country’s most conflict-ridden areas to de-radicalize their sons. Thus far, she said, her organization has turned 455 individuals away from militancy.

    The young woman, a member of a local peace group created by PAIMAN called TOLANA, which means “together” in Pashto, asked her male colleagues to investigate. They went to the meetings themselves and learned that the strangers were trying to lure local boys out of the city and into their radical group. TOLANA members then informed the sister and her parents who took the boy to stay with an aunt who lived elsewhere. Their response prevented him from joining the violent ranks of militants wreaking havoc across Pakistan. All because his sister saw some strangers.

    “So it was like an early warning for the community that something strange is taking place here,” said Qadeem, who calls her organization’s model of countering extremism an indigenous one, rooted in the local culture and religious traditions. “They all gathered because of the warning of just one woman.”

    Qadeem told her story recently while in Washington, D.C. as part of a four-woman delegation from Pakistan here to seek support from U.S. policymakers for their efforts to increase the role of women in initiatives to counter violent extremism. Joining Qadeem were Huma Chughtai, a gender and police reform specialist, Shaista Pervaiz, who represents Punjab province as a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the National Assembly and is the general secretary of the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, and Nuzhat Sadiq, a senator in the Pakistani parliament who also represents Punjab province as a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

    ‘It makes perfect sense to have more females involved in counter-insurgency, especially when we know that a lot of them are already involved in the insurgency side.’

    The delegates explained that women are critical in fighting extremism precisely because of Pakistan’s conservative social norms and religious customs. These traditions mean that the genders are often segregated and thus women have access to other women in ways that men do not, like being able to enter private homes where females are present. Women are also often the first to see behavioral changes that can be signs of growing militancy in their family members, male and female alike, and women can be particularly effective in building trust between communities and law enforcement.

    Strategically, this focus on women makes perfect sense, said Hedieh Mirahmadi, president of The World Organization for Resource Development and Education and a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Mirahmadi testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee recently on the topic of women’s role in preventing radicalism.

    “They are the first line of defense,” she said, noting that women can help disengage relatives from violence or, through their influence within the family, thwart their descent into violence in the first place. “Countering violent extremism, we believe, it’s a prevention framework. So it’s not just the capture-or-kill focus of counter-terrorism. It’s supposed to be a prevention model. So they are part of that early prevention process.”

    In conversations with policymakers including Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader in the House, other members of Congress, and officials from the State Department, the Pentagon, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the National Security Council, the delegates stressed that they were not asking for money. Rather, they said they wanted to see some of the millions in aid Congress has appropriated for Pakistan allocated specifically to improving women’s roles in the struggle against radicalism. Since 2002, the appropriations have totaled more than $800 million for law enforcement and counter-narcotics alone, according to the Congressional Research Service.

    The delegates focused on expanding U.S. support for grass-roots, female-led initiatives against violent extremism, strengthening women’s inclusion in creating Pakistan’s strategic priorities related to internal security, counter-terrorism and negotiations to end violent extremism, and especially the need to increase the recruitment, retention and professionalization of women in the Pakistani police force. To date, congressional appropriations to Pakistan have not prioritized engaging more women in the police, according to a report by the Institute for Inclusive Security, a D.C-based organization that works to increase the participation of women in peace processes and that hosted the women during their week-long visit.

    “This is a missing link in our set-up,” said Chughtai, as she prepped with her colleagues before their meeting with Representative Pelosi. “We have women in the police force, but the number is very small, the number is less than 1 percent.”

    This oversight is not one Pakistan can afford. Terrorism and insurgency-related violence may have claimed as many as 49,000 lives since 2001, according to Pakistani intelligence reports cited by the Congressional Research Service.

    “Extremism and internal securityit all boils down to the fact that police is the first responder,” said Chughtai during a panel discussion with the other delegates at the Atlantic Council last week. Using her background in Sharia and international human rights law, Chughtai has advised individuals and organizations on national and international human rights and women’s rights conventions, linking those with Islamic tenets. She thus counters arguments that fuel extremism and promotes peace and interfaith harmony.

    Yet without women police officers, female victims of bomb blasts have been left to die because male responders cannot attend to them, thus reducing trust between the community and police. Raids into homes where females are present or searches of women are not possible, and in general, gathering valuable intelligence from women or community members is constrained.

    According to Inclusive Security, citing statistics released by the National Police Bureau of Pakistan in 2011, just over 4,000 of the 453,901 members of the police force were women. Only 85 of them served in higher ranks.

    Still, Moeed Yusuf, director of the South Asia programs at the United States Institute of Peace, said it’s not the number of women in the police force that matters most. It’s putting them in roles where they can be most effective. This, he said, is in building police and community relations.

    “The fundamental thing that you have to do is better law enforcement,” he said, “which, in turn, requires you to have the trust of the society, which means better police-community relations.”

    Yusuf explained that women officers excel in these positions by using their networks among mothers, who he said would not go to male police officers, to build trust and identify young people vulnerable to the lure of violent, intolerant ideologies. Such early identification is key, of course, to preventing the spread of extremism.

    “There is no other more effective way to actually handle this than that,” he said. “And that’s lacking.”

    It is also well known that militant groups already include female members and that other women, especially those left bitter from the loss of a loved one, are vulnerable to recruitment, said Haider Mullick, an adjunct professor at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

    “So I think it makes perfect sense to have more females involved in counter-insurgency,” he said, “especially when we know that a lot of them are already involved in the insurgency side.”

    Allison Peters, a policy advisor at Inclusive Security who also leads the organization’s advocacy work on Pakistan and recently spent a week with the women delegates, said there were several reasons why their visit was especially timely. Of particular concern is the drawdown of NATO troops from Afghanistan later this year and what any subsequent security vacuum along the borders will mean for Pakistan. She further highlighted the Pakistani government’s ongoing attempts to negotiate with the Pakistani Taliban, the resumption of the ministerial-level U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue after a three-year break, the development of Pakistan’s first comprehensive internal security policy, ongoing terrorist attacks, and a new multinational fund announced by the U.S. and Turkey that will provide financial support to locally-led initiatives to combat violent extremism in Pakistan and elsewhere. The delegates stressed that women need to be part of many of these conversations and need to help shape the policies that result.

    While it is perhaps too early to know how the women’s recent week of advocacy will turn into action on the ground, Swanee Hunt, founder and chairperson of Inclusive Security, emphasized the importance of their presence, of their voices being heard, and of the chance it brings for change. Pervaiz, the National Assembly member, agreed that having an opportunity as the “stakeholders” to meet in person with decision makers leaves a unique impact.

    “It has given a very humane touch to the whole thing,” she said. “When people come into contact, when you share experiences, when you share your thoughts, that makes a lot of difference.”

    Hunt, who served as the United States ambassador to Austria from 1993 to 1997, also said that the ways women are fighting back against violent extremism in Pakistan, as part of the police force and without, can be a global model.

    “It’s law enforcement but it’s beyond that, it’s what women bring into law enforcement,” she said. “They are disarming extremists with no collateral damage. Unlike a drone attack, which is extremely, extremely expensive, and kills many more innocent than it does the extremists that it’s targeting.

    “The basic question is why should we meet murder with murder?” Hunt continued. “When we do that we lose the war and we lose ourselves also, we lose the humanity in ourselves. And that’s what these women understand. So when they go out, someone like Mossarat Qadeem, when she goes out, she is winning back the young men and their mothers. She’s not going out to kill them. So what they’re talking about is transformation. It’s really the most noble form of foreign policy.”