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: Military Bombards Terrorists' Camps

 Following the declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan last Tuesday, and the deployment of over 3000 troops and Counter Terrorists Squad (CTS) within 24 hours of the declaration, the military, yesterday, launched air and ground offensive in the thick forests of Sambisa, Borno State, an area which the Boko Haram sect was reported to have used as a recruiting and training base.

A curfew (6 pm to 6 am) has also been imposed in the three states while banks and other public and government businesses have also been instructed to suspend their operations.

 In a related development, Mobile phone service was turned off yesterday in Borno and Yobe, stifling social life and business activities in two of the three states affected by the proclamation of state of emergency on Tuesday.

There was no official statement on why the cell phone services were turned off, but insurgents were believed to have used mobile phones to remotely detonate bombs in the past.

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 deploys ‘massive’ troops to northeast

Nigeria’s military on Wednesday announced the deployment of “massive” forces to its northeastern border regions after the president declared a state of emergency in the areas where Islamist insurgents have seized territory.

President Goodluck Jonathan issued the emergency decree in a broadcast late Tuesday, acknowledging for the first time that Boko Haram Islamists had “taken over” parts of Borno state, the insurgents’ stronghold.

“Nigerian Armed Forces…have commenced operations to rid the nation’s border territories of terrorist bases,” the military statement said.

“The operations which will involve massive deployment of men and resources is aimed at asserting the nation’s territorial integrity,” it added.

The emergency measures applied to Borno and two neighbouring states, Yobe and Adamawa.

Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north, had used Borno’s capital of Maiduguri as a home base, but its fighters have relocated to remote border regions following a crackdown in the city.

The borders with Chad and Niger are porous and analysts say that criminal groups, including weapons dealers, have for years migrated freely between countries.

Nigeria has warned that Boko Haram has increasingly sought ties with like-minded foreign groups, including Al-Qaeda’s north African wing and has gained access in recent months to more powerful weapons, some of which have been brought in through unchecked borders.

Nigeria President Jonathan declares State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa State

The President announced this in a State of the Nation Address on Tuesdayevening.

He explained that the security situation in those states called for the action.

In a seeming departure from the norm under President Olusegun Obasanjo, the president declared that all political office holders in the three affected states would still continue in office during the emergency rule.

The president said the insurgents and terrorists in those areas prevented the government from fulfilling its duties.

“No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terrorism,” Mr. Jonathan assured Nigerians.

228 People Killed And Over 4000 Houses Burnt In Baga – Senator Lawan

A Borno state Senator, Maina Lawan, on Saturday revealed that the actual death toll in the clash between soldiers and Boko Haram is 228, while over 4,000 houses were also burnt down.

Baga is the birth place of Senator Lawan who represents Baga and other towns in Borno north in the Nigerian senate.The villagers had told the state governor and journalists, two days after the incident, that they buried 185 people after the clash, a figure disputed by the Nigerian army.Mr. Lawan, a former governor of Borno state, expressed fears of an epidemic if the federal government does not immediately deploy more rescue and humanitarian aid workers to assist the displaced people.

According to Senator Lawan, at one of the three graveyards called Makabartar Waya, 130 graves of victims were counted.In another graveyard called Makabartar Arewa, 60 graves were counted, then in Budumari graveyard another 30 graves of victims were counted, while inside the town, the aid agencies said they buried eight corpses which could not be evacuated to the graveyards.

There have been conflicting death tolls from the April 19 operation carried out by joint forces from Nigeria, Chad and Niger against Boko Haram insurgents in the remote town of Baga.The Red Cross is investigating a report by locals that 187 people died, including many civilians, but defense spokesman Chris Olukolade said only 37 were killed.

Nigeria, the land of comedy. I bet we would never know the truth

Nigeria: Dozens’ killed in Nigeria gun battles between Military and Militants

Dozens of people have been killed in fierce clashes between Nigeria’s military and suspected  Insurgents, with a massive blaze that followed the fighting leaving nearly half the town destroyed, government and rescue sources told AFP on Monday.

Gun battles broke out in the remote northeastern town of Baga on Friday after troops surrounded a mosque allegedly housing Islamist insurgents.The town on Lake Chad lies in Borno state, the home base of Boko Haram Islamists who are blamed for carrying out scores of attacks across northern and central Nigeria since 2009.

The fighting “killed dozens of people”, said a state government official who refused to be named.Various officials contacted by AFP have been reluctant to discuss the scale of the violence, saying only the military was authorised to provide casualty figures.A rescue official with contacts in Baga told AFP that “many residents are still unaccounted…It is assumed that they fled into the bush”.

“From information reaching us from Baga, 40 percent of the town has been gutted by fire,” added the official who asked not to be named.Borno state military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa told AFP that media reports that some 180 people could have died in the clashes were “extensively inflated”.“There could have been some casualties, but it is unthinkable to say that 185 people died,” Musa said.“On my honour as an officer, nothing like that happened,” he added.Musa, as well as the defence and army spokesmen have refused to provide details of the fighting.

Red Cross spokesman Nwakpa O. Nwakpa told AFP that a significant attack occurred, but said, “we really don’t know yet how many people died”.

Mobile phone network coverage in some parts of Borno was crippled last year after Boko Haram burned down a series of telecommunication masts.Baga is more than 150 kilometres (95 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri, a precarious drive on poor roads in a region hit by waves of violence.

Boko Haram has used Maiduguri as a base for its insurgency, but scores of militants have reportedly fled to more remote corners of the state following a crackdown by security forces in the city.