Troops Overrun 3 Sect Camps, Rescue Women, Children In Borno

Soldiers in Borno state have dislodged three camps belonging to suspected members of Boko Haram in Sambisa forest, rescuing three women and six children  during the operation.

This was made known by the Director Defence Information;  Brigadier General Chris Olukolade in a statement on Friday.

The women and children, he said were kidnapped from the police barracks and its environs during the 7^th of May attack in Bama by members of the Islamic sect.

He however said the troops are still on the look out for one woman and two of her children who are thought to be held in the forest.

General Olukolade added that the focus of the troops at the moment is to ensure that all camps and enclaves are dismantled and destroyed.

Nigeria: Shettima Condoles Slain CAN leader's Family

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has commiserated with the families and the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, over the death of its Secretary, Borno State chapter, Rev. Faye Pama Musa who was assassinated by gunmen, Tuesday.

The gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram sect shot dead the cleric at his Government Reservation Area, GRA, residence at about 7.30 p.m. Tuesday.

I am afraid for Nigeria. I just do not know what to think.

Army Aircraft Hit By Boko Haram In Borno

The Nigerian Army has confirmed that a military aircraft was on Friday hit by Islamic insurgents in Borno State in the on-going operations across northeastern Nigeria.

The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade confirmed the attack and revealed that the aircraft managed to return to base after the encounter.

The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade had told journalists that Nigerian forces used jets and attack helicopters to bombard Islamist militant camps in the northeast on Friday, killing a number of insurgents.

Brigadier-General Olukolade said that several camps had been attacked, including the Sambisa game reserve in Borno State.

Asked for more details about the shot military plane, Brigadier-General Olukolade declined to give further details, saying more information would be given after mop-up operations on the ground.

Nigeria in war situation, says Soyinka

Professor Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has described the state of the nation as a war situation going by the incessant killings of innocent people by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

Soyinka also decried  the way and manner the Federal Government was handling the insurgency,  saying it was looking at it as a short term phenomenon that could be tackled with short-term solutions.

He spoke on Wednesday via a video conference with privately owned television station, Al Jazeera, on the programme, The Stream, which focused on ‘Bringing Down Boko Haram’.

The programme also featured the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, and publisher of online news portal, Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore.

He said, “Nigeria is in a war situation and the entire population of Nigeria must consider itself as being in a war situation and that means the Boko Haram phenomenon should not be regarded as been limited to the Northern region alone or Borno and Yobe states.

“No, its is something that affects the entire country because these people have declared categorically that they would not  be satisfied with nothing less than not only the islamisation of Nigeria but  islamisation in their own very narrow, distorted and vicious mode; and they will not be satisfied.”

Soyinka linked the proliferation and availability of  foot soliders to the Islamist sect to corruption, misgovernance and massive youth unemployment.

He lamented that he was often at a loss on whether  to describe the sect as human or not.

He said, “The nation, the government are responsible for the proliferation and availability of foot soldiers and this is due to corruption, mammoth corruption, misgovernance, alienation, the level of unemployment, the distinct feelings – impressionable youths – of not being part of the entire polity.

“What makes it possible for a human being to behave in a way that we look for a new definition of humanity?  Even  many of our politicians got their (to power) by violence.”

The prof has said it all. What more can I say?

Baga Killings: Investigations underway

A sweeping and independent investigation by Nigeria's human rights commision is underway into last week's deaths in Baga community of Borno state where several residents were killed in a deadly confrontation between government troops and members of the extremist sect, Boko Haram.

Although a government establishment, the National Human Rights Commission, headed by Chidi Odinkalu, has a special autonomy to conduct independent probes into crimes as it deems necessary, and if needed, establish a commission of inquiry, fully independent of the government.

Mr. Odinkalu said on Monday the commission was reaching to its wide powers to unlock the truth behind a series of conflicting details of how many civilians were killed in the bloody battle in Baga, a scene of what many widely called a massacre that has alarmed the world and has put the federal government's crackdown on the deadly sect on the spotlight.

Boko Halal, not Boko Haram- Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate; Prof Wole Soyinka has advised the Federal Government and government at all levels to use quality education to address the nation’s growing illiteracy, noting that it is lack of education that breeds sinister groups like the Boko Haram.

Prof Soyinka made this remark on Monday, while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, where he noted that Halal is the opposite of Haram.

He commended the state government for winning and hosting the World Book Capital city next year, stressing that both the state and the country will benefit from the festival.

Prof Soyinka suggested that the slogan ‘Nigeria is Boko Halal’ should be adopted as the campaign slogan for the World Book Capital.

“When they (Boko Haram insurgents) say Boko Haram, we say Boko Halal” he said.

He explained that Halal; an Islamic term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, means “virtue, goodness and peace.”

Islamic fundamentalists that seek the imposition of Sharia law across Nigeria are known as Boko Haram which means ‘western education is sinful.’

France and Cameroon Paid Boko Haram $3.15 million To Free French Hostages – Report

The French hostages

Members of fundamentalist sect Boko Haram were paid an equivalent of around $3.15 million by French and Cameroonian negotiators before freeing seven French hostages this month, a confidential Nigerian government report obtained by Reuters said.

France and Cameroon reiterated denials that any ransom was paid. Nigerian authorities declined to comment.

The memo does not say who paid the ransom for the family of seven, who were all released on April 19, although it says Cameroon freed some Boko Haram detainees as part of the deal.

Armed men on motorcycles snatched Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife, brother and the couple’s four young children, the youngest of whom was four years old, on February 19 while they were on holiday near the Waza national park in north Cameroon, some 10 km (six miles) from the Nigerian border. They were believed to have been held in northeast Nigeria. They have since been freed.

37 Not 185 Died In Baga Clash, We Were Never Unprofessional – Army

Contrary to reports that 185 people died as a result of last weekend’s clash between the operatives of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) and members of the radical sect, Boko Haram in Baga town of Borno State, the military says not more than 37 were killed in that incidence.

A statement issued on Tuesday and also made available by the commander of the MJTF, Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye to newsmen in Maiduguri gave the breakdown of the casualties as 30 members of the Boko Haram insurgents, six civilians caught up in the crossfire and one soldier.

He also disclosed that five of the insurgents who attacked his men during the deadly clash have been arrested and are awaiting interrogation.

The statement claimed that the soldiers exercised restraint for so long under intense provocation from the sect as the two-day clash was highly provoked by the insurgents.

The Commander said one of such provocations was the beheading of one of his soldiers in the town by the terrorists who took cover in the community after the dastardly act.

He also maintained that at another time soldiers were ambushed by the insurgents and that a soldier was killed and the terrorists were shielded by the members of the community.

Hmmmmmmm! Let the counter accusations and denials begin. We shall know the truth soon enough

Nigeria to Probe Clash With Islamist Militants

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday ordered a "full-scale" investigation to determine whether the military fully complied with established rules of engagement during weekend fighting in the town of Baga, in Borno state.

The Nigerian Red Cross said Monday that at least 187 people were killed, while another 77 were being treated for injuries. At least 300 homes were also set ablaze in the town which lies on the coast of Lake Chad.

Locals say the clashes began Friday when troops surrounded a mosque that allegedly was sheltering members of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.

A shootout ensued, with militants using heavy weaponry, including rocket-propelled grenades. Soldiers and local officials say the militants used civilians as human shields, while residents say soldiers deliberately set fires during the attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed "shock and sadness" at the high number of civilian casualties.

Authorities blame Boko Haram for dozens of deadly bombings and shootings in northern Nigeria since 2009. Human Rights Watch says Boko Haram-related violence has killed 3,000 people, a toll that includes killings by security forces.

I am guessing that the president's order is some kind of facade. He cannot deny knowledge of the Baga onslaught.

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, center, visits injured victims of heavy fighting at a hospital in Baga, Nigeria,

Nigeria: Will the Boko Haram Commission End Violence?

Will an end be put to this?

A leading member of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s Boko Haram Committee has expressed confidence the panel will come up with recommendations to help resolve Nigeria’s internal security crisis.

“The group has many people of integrity, many people who have concern for peace security as well as development of Nigeria as a whole.  Therefore, I’m optimistic that we shall look into the problem very objectively and give our advice in the form of recommendations to Mr. President,” said Lemu

For me, this statement has come on the backdrop of some nominated members of the committee rejecting their nominations. They rejected the nominations with very valid reasons.....there was that of lack of proper consultation by the Government and secondly, Government's rejection of a previous voluntary decision to mediate between the insurgents and the Government.

Even Mr. Lemu is skeptical when you look closely at his other statements; “The problem is that over the years other crisis that have happened in Nigeria, the government of the day will appoint a committee or commission, they will [present] their report [but] the government will dump it aside, and then the problem will recur,” He said.

But he is hopeful Mr. Jonathan’s government will consider the group’s recommendations.

“Seeing that the government of the day has suffered from all that is happening in the country, we feel optimistic that whatever recommendations that this great body will give, the government will do something about it and we shall see positive results,” continued Lemu, “and with that optimism, I agreed to serve on the panel and I’m sure that something good will come out of it.”

Time will tell....

Amnesty for Boko Haram suffer another setback

Federal Government’s amnesty plan for Boko Haram members suffered another setback on Thursday as the President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Dr. Datti Ahmed,rejected membership of the newly constituted  Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North.

His  action came less than 24 hours after  the Executive Director of the Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, turned down his membership of the committee on the grounds that he was neither consulted nor informed by the Presidency.

Ahmed, a medical doctor,  said he rejected  membership of the committee because of the bitter experience he had with the government when he voluntarily tried to mediate between the authorities and members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, last year.

Alleging  insincerity on the part of the government during an an interview with the Hausa service of the  British Broadcasting Corporation, he said the composition of the amnesty committee was faulty.

 Ahmed argued that  the Chairman of the panel and  Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki,  as well as  the Secretary, who is a nominee of the Office of the Secretary to  the Government of the Federation, would always tell the government what it wanted to hear and “not the truth.”

Granting amnesty to Boko Haram would amount to wickedness- Ayo Oritsejafor

Pastor Oritsejafor

The President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has said it will be an act of wickedness, if President Goodluck Jonathan declares amnesty for Boko Haram.

 The CAN president warned that Jonathan should not toy with the future of Nigeria by trading off its security on the altar of politics.

Oritsejafor said the pardon could only be granted when members of the sect admitted their wrongdoings. He queried what would be the fate of the victims of the sect’s insurgencies, should its members be allowed to escape prosecution.

Cameroon: Boko Haram Threatens Cameroon Attacks in New French Hostage Video

A second video of a French family held hostage by Nigeria's Boko Haram has been sent to journalists in the region where they are believed to be held.

The Islamists threaten to launch more attacks in Cameroon and demands the release of its members there and in Nigeria.The video appears to have been recorded while French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was visiting Cameroon and Nigeria."We have been held for 25 years in a desert place," says a man who identifies himself as the father, Tanguy Moulin-Fournier.Speaking in French and English, he complains of "very difficult" conditions, "especially for the children" and says that the seven hostages will not hold out much longer.

Moulin-Fournier goes on to address Cameroonian President Paul Biya, passing on a Boko Haram threat to increase kidnappings and suicide attacks in his country if he arrests more of their members but offering to release the hostages if the group's members held prisoner in Cameroon and Nigeria are freed.The video was sent to journalists in Maidiguri, the main town in the area near the border with Cameroon, Niger and Chad where Boko Haram is active.Nigerian officials said at the weekend that no ransom would be paid for the hostages.CameroonNigerian Foreign Minister Confirms No Ransom to Kidnappers of French Hostages Nigeria ruled out a ransom payment yesterday to kidnappers holding seven members of a French family, as France's foreign