The Boko Haram Thread

NIGERIA FORMER PRESIDENT'S SON WOUNDED IN BOKO HARAM ATTACK: AIDE

Boko Haram militants shot and injured the soldier son of Nigerian ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo during clashes, an associate of the former head of state told BBC radio on Tuesday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Adeboye Obasanjo was wounded when troops fought the Islamist fighters in the northeastern state of Adamawa, Mohammed Keffi said on the broadcaster's Hausa-language service.

"I got in touch with... Obasanjo and told him that I received this information... He told me yes, he was aware of the incident," Keffi said in an interview.

"He told me his (son's) team had left Mubi on their way to Michika when they came under fire from Boko Haram. He was shot and injured but he is in a stable condition."

The younger Obasanjo, an army engineer leading a platoon of army troops, was "getting better" after Monday's incident, according to Keffi.

The soldier's father, 77, was elected president in 1999, marking a return to civilian rule after military dictatorship, and held office until 2007. He had previously served as military leader from 1976 to 1979.

Obasanjo has been involved in attempts to end the five-year insurgency. In May, he held exploratory talks to open discussions with the armed Islamic fundamentalists to obtain the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in April.

Nigeria's military has been under increasing pressure to stop Boko Haram advances after the militants took over a number of towns in the northeastern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa.

Troops attempted to retake the town of Madagali, on Adamawa's northern border with Borno, on Friday but were forced to withdraw to Mubi, the state's commercial hub.

Residents of Michika in Adamawa state on Monday reported seeing air force jets circling overhead, but the planes were unable to bomb militants on the ground because they took cover inside civilian houses.

Michika is 37 kilometres (23 miles) from Mubi by road.


Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 09 Sep 2014 13:45
 
BOKO HARAM 'IN CHARGE OF 25 TOWNS' IN NE NIGERIA: BISHOP

Boko Haram militants are in charge of at least 25 towns and villages in northeast Nigeria, the region's Roman Catholic bishop has claimed, warning of a deteriorating security situation.

Bishop Oliver Dashe said 10 towns in Yobe state, the same number in Borno and five in Adawama had fallen to the rebels over the last month, as they seek to carve out a hardline Islamic state.

International assistance was now required to tackle the problem, he told the Nigerian Catholic Bishops' Conference in the southern city of Warri, Delta state, on Wednesday.

"As a nation we are almost losing this battle because it is spinning out of control," he added.

"The earlier we come together as Nigerians, forgetting our religious, ethnic, regional, cultural and ideological differences to face this menace the better for us."

Nigeria's government has denied losing territory to Boko Haram and the military has dismissed as "empty" the militants' claim last month that one captured town was part of an Islamic caliphate.

Independent verification that militants have overrun towns and villages is hard to come by because communications have been destroyed.

Most reports have come from the thousands of residents who have fled their homes to go to other towns and cities in the northeast and wider region.

Military top brass this month admitted that the militants' territorial ambitions were a threat to Nigeria's sovereignty.

A series of counter-attacks have been launched in recent days, which they claim have successfully recaptured towns.

Dashe said Boko Haram-related violence had devastated the Diocese of Maiduguri, which he represents and covers all three northeast states.

The heavily armed militants were getting the better of the military, while the region was facing a humanitarian crisis because of the thousands displaced, he added.

He criticised the government for "almost inaction" and its "lukewarm attitude" in tackling insecurity, which had seen young men forcibly conscripted into the militants' ranks and women forced to marry Islamist fighters.

"We used to think that salt is the cheapest commodity in the market, well, life is cheaper now, especially in the northeastern part of Nigeria," he told delegates.

"The bottom line is that the government and our political leaders have failed us and we have lost total trust and confidence in our government and our leaders."


Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 18 Sep 2014 16:17
 
NIGERIA MILITARY CLAIMS BOKO HARAM LEADER DEAD
by Ola AWONIYI

Nigeria's military on Wednesday claimed for the first time that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was dead, as it said troops had killed a lookalike who had been posing as the militant commander.

Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade told reporters in Abuja that a heavily bearded Islamist fighter identified as Mohammed Bashir died during fighting in the town of Konduga, in Borno state.

Bashir, who was said to have had several aliases, had "been acting or posing on videos as the deceased Abubakar Shekau, the eccentric character known as leader of the group", he added.

The announcement is the first time the military has said publicly that Shekau was dead after two previous claims by security sources that he had died in July 2009 and in late June 2013.

The military did not, however, say how or when Shekau died.

Earlier this year, the spokeswoman for the country's secret police, Marilyn Ogar, said "the original Shekau is dead" and that the person appearing in numerous videos was an imposter.

Olukolade said on Wednesday that the actual identity of Boko Haram's leader was not relevant. The name "Shekau" had become a "brand name for the terrorists", he told a news conference.

"The Nigerian military remains resolute to serve justice to anyone who assumes that designation or title, as well as all the terrorists that seek to violate the freedom and territory of Nigeria," he added.

The United States last year put up a $7 million reward for Shekau's capture as part of its Rewards for Justice programme and designated him a "global terrorist".

There has long been speculation in Nigeria and beyond about whether he was actually still alive.

It has been claimed that he actually died in 2003 and his name has since been used by at least two others.

They include Boko Haram members called Abdullahi Damasak, who was succeeded on his death by a Mustapha Chad, according to sources close to the group.

Olukolade told the briefing that Bashir had several identities: "Bashir Mohammed, alias Abubakar Shekau, alias Abacha Abdullahi Geidam, alias Damasak, etc."

Whether the announcement will end speculation about Shekau's true identity or death is unclear and there was no independent verification of the claims.

The military showed footage of an amateur video recording of the fighting in Konduga, in which bodies littered the streets.

"That character tallies with the one that has been showing himself on the video," said Olukolade, pointing to a bearded man lying dead on the ground alongside another slain fighter.

A close-up still photograph of the man's face was also shown alongside a screengrab from a Boko Haram video of Shekau holding an assault rifle.

An arrow pointed to a small growth on the forehead of both men.

Analysts said earlier this week that they were sceptical about claims that he had been killed, as the same photograph shown by the military circulated online.

Ryan Cummings, chief Africa analyst at Red24 risk consultants in South Africa, said he thought it unlikely that Boko Haram's commander would be in the thick of battle in Konduga or anywhere else.

But Jacob Zenn, from the Jamestown Foundation think-tank in the United States, said the death of a body double in Konduga was plausible.

"It's important to note, however, that Shekau may have had 'doubles' who appeared in some videos. And the army has a record of being incorrect about claims of Shekau's death," he said.

Wait and see if another video emerges "from Shekau -- or someone who purports to be Shekau", he said.

Nigeria's military has been under pressure to regain territory lost to the Islamists in the far northeast in recent weeks, and has been trying to push back against the extremists.

Addressing the annual UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed to step up the fight against Boko Haram, without mentioning Shekau.

"Let me underline today that we shall not waver until we end this mindless war on innocents and bring all the perpetrators to justice. We will triumph over terrorism," he said.


Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 25 Sep 2014 02:05
 
NIGERIA REPORTS CAPTURE OF HUNDREDS OF BOKO HARAM FIGHTERS

Hundreds of members of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram have surrendered, a Nigerian military spokesman said Wednesday in Abuja.

The captures came after clashes with Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Major General Chris Olukolade said.

He said that military forces had killed a reported lookalike for Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in the Borno state city of Konduga, 40 kilometres from the terrorist group's stronghold in Maiduguri. The doppelganger, named Mohammed Bashir, had portrayed Shekau in videos, Olukolade said.

Shekau's death has been reported several times, most recently in media accounts that he was killed Sunday in a Cameroonian military operation. The claim has not been independently verified, and Shekau's whereabouts are unknown.

Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 mostly Christian schoolgirls on April 14, and for years has waged a campaign of abductions, suicide bombings and massacres.


Source : Sapa-dpa /nsm
Date : 25 Sep 2014 00:53
 
Garyvdh said:
NIGERIA REPORTS CAPTURE OF HUNDREDS OF BOKO HARAM FIGHTERS

Hundreds of members of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram have surrendered, a Nigerian military spokesman said Wednesday in Abuja.

The captures came after clashes with Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Major General Chris Olukolade said.

He said that military forces had killed a reported lookalike for Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in the Borno state city of Konduga, 40 kilometres from the terrorist group's stronghold in Maiduguri. The doppelganger, named Mohammed Bashir, had portrayed Shekau in videos, Olukolade said.

Shekau's death has been reported several times, most recently in media accounts that he was killed Sunday in a Cameroonian military operation. The claim has not been independently verified, and Shekau's whereabouts are unknown.

Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 mostly Christian schoolgirls on April 14, and for years has waged a campaign of abductions, suicide bombings and massacres.


Source : Sapa-dpa /nsm
Date : 25 Sep 2014 00:53
Click to expand...

#bringbackourboys
 
And so the war on Extremist Muslims are being won pretty quickly now. I'm loving every moment of them being ripped a new one :o
 
BOKO HARAM LEADER DISMISSES CLAIMS OF HIS DEATH IN NEW VIDEO

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed Nigerian military claims of his death in a new video obtained by AFP on Thursday and said the militants had implemented strict Islamic law in captured towns.

"Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath," Shekau said in the 36-minute video, adding that his group was "running our... Islamic caliphate" and administering sharia punishments.

Nigeria's military said last week that Shekau was dead and that a man who had been posing as the group's leader in the videos had been shot dead after fighting with troops in the far northeast.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 02 Oct 2014 11:26
 
97 NIGERIAN SOLDIERS ACCUSED OF REFUSING TO FIGHT

A court-martial Thursday began hearing charges against 97 soldiers, including 16 officers, accused of mutiny, assault, cowardice and refusing to fight in the country's northeastern Islamic uprising.

Thursday's mass trial comes two weeks after 12 soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad for mutiny and attempted murder of their commanding officer.

Troops regularly have complained that they are outgunned by Boko Haram insurgents, that they are not paid in full and that they are abandoned on the battlefield without enough ammunition or food. Endemic corruption in Nigeria means millions of dollars goes missing from the budget to fight the 5-year-old Islamic uprising that has killed thousands.

Some soldiers have told The Associated Press that some of their colleagues collude with Boko Haram insurgents, giving them weapons and information.

The uprising grabbed international attention with the April kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls. Dozens escaped by the government and military failure to rescue 219 still missing has brought condemnation.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday praised soldiers for "inflicting devastating blows at the heart of terror" in the uprising centered in the northeast though suicide and car bombs have killed hundreds of people in northern cities and the central capital, Abuja

"Driven by patriotic zeal, they are turning the tide by their prowess and determination," Jonathan said in a broadcast to the nation marking 54 years of independence from Britain.

The Ministry of Defense and witnesses have reported that recent punishing bombing raids and ground attacks have repelled the insurgents and stopped them just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the northeast city of Maiduguri, the birthplace of the Boko Haram extremists and headquarters of the military campaign.

Boko Haram fighters last month seized a string of towns where they have declared an Islamic caliphate, in the style of the Islamic State group.


Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 02 Oct 2014 13:55
 
BOKO HARAM VIDEO SHOWS BEHEADING OF NIGERIA PILOT

A new video allegedly shows Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau disputing claims of his death, and the beheading of a man who identifies himself as the pilot of a missing Nigerian Air Force jet.

It shows burnt out plane parts with Nigerian military markings, the first indication that Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremists have the capability to shoot down aircraft.

Two pilots and an Alpha jet have been missing since Sept. 11.

The man beheaded with an axe identifies himself as a wing commander, saying he has not seen his second pilot since the jet was shot down.

Nigeria's military claims to have killed Shekau last year.

The video was made available to the AP through the usual channels and seems to show the same man who appeared in previous videos.


Source : Sapa-AP /ar
Date : 03 Oct 2014 14:24
 
'CEASEFIRE' DOUBTS AFTER ATTACKS REPORTED IN NIGERIA

Nigerian military and intelligence officials raised doubts on Sunday about the validity of a ceasefire with Boko Haram, with reports of fresh attacks and fighting in the country's northeast.

The chief of defence staff and a senior presidential aide announced on Friday that agreement had been reached to end hostilities and secure the possible release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.

Air Marshal Alex Badeh said he had instructed all armed forces' chiefs to ensure the "immediate compliance" with the development.

But a senior army officer in the violence-wracked northeast, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Honestly, we are yet to receive any operational order on the ceasefire.

"As such, we are battle-ready and would confront the terrorists if we see them."

A senior intelligence official in the region also indicated to AFP that he had not received word about the purported ceasefire.

On Sunday evening, troops from the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army fought dozens of suspected members of Boko Haram in the town of Damboa in Borno state, witnesses and security sources said.

Earlier, a group of insurgents attacked the Borno town of Sabon Gida, said one military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"The fight was tough and it seems the insurgents wanted to destroy everything in Sabon Gida. They came around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) and by 6:00 pm, the fight was over," added local trader Bilyaminu Aliyu.

Boko Haram took over Damboa, which is about 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the Borno state capital Maiduguri, in July, destroying much of the town and forcing thousands to flee.

The group's leader Abubakar Shekau claimed that they left voluntarily but the military said they recaptured it in early August. Residents have since begun returning.

Elsewhere, locals said that dozens of suspected Boko Haram gunmen had stormed the town of Abadam, north of Maiduguri near Lake Chad, on Thursday, before the supposed ceasefire.

A number of residents said at least 30 people were killed on Thursday and Friday -- after the purported deal -- while hundreds of others were forced to flee across the border into neighbouring Niger.

"We all heard of the ceasefire over the radio but it seems the insurgents are not perturbed at all," another resident, Mallam Babagana, said on Sunday.

"To me, they (the militants) don't even care about it because they increased their attacks from Friday, the very day the ceasefire was announced. By Saturday, they hoisted their flags."

Meanwhile, Enoch Mark, whose daughter and niece are among the 219 schoolgirls who have been held by Boko Haram since mid-April, said there had been another attack in neighbouring Adamawa state.

He said the attack, in the village of Wagga on Saturday, saw some 40 women abducted -- an established Boko Haram tactic in its bloody five-year insurgency.

On Friday, eight people were also killed on a road in the Borno state village of Shaffa near where a prominent Muslim leader, the Emir of Gwoza, was ambushed and killed by Boko Haram fighters in May.

Babagana said local hunters on their way to recover the bodies of the eight fought battles with militants on Saturday in Azul, also in the Hawul local government area.

"The unrelenting terrorists waylaid our members at around 9:00 am and serious fighting ensued," said Babagana, who heads a local vigilante group.

"We lost four of our members and we killed three terrorists."

Independent corroboration of attacks in the remote northeast are almost impossible, with communications devastated by the violence and access fraught with danger.

The police and the military have largely stopped communicating on attacks.


Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 19 Oct 2014 23:34
 
NIGERIA HOPES 'DEAL' WITH BOKO HARAM IMPROVES IMAGE IN WEST: ANALYSTS

Nigeria's disputed claim to have brokered a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram and release deal for more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls was aimed at improving the country's tarnished reputation abroad and little to do with domestic politics, analysts say.

The surprise announcement on Friday created a sliver of hope that the brutal five-year Islamist uprising could be nearing an end and that the girls seized from the northeast town of Chibok of April 14 might rejoin their families.

There are already strong signs that the deal will prove hollow: violence raged through the weekend and the credentials of the so-called Boko Haram negotiator have been widely questioned.

But even before cracks emerged in the purported ceasefire, many saw a clear political motive in the timing of the announcement.

A common theory ran that President Goodluck Jonathan would use the development to proclaim himself a tireless pursuer of peace, then swiftly declare his re-election plans for polls next February.

But that misreads the realities of Nigerian politics, a nation of 170 million people where a government's record on major issues often seems irrelevant on election day, analysts said.

"I really wonder if ending the Chibok crisis helps Jonathan politically," said John Campbell, a former US ambassador to Nigeria now with the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

The Chibok crisis is "a much bigger issue outside Nigeria than inside Nigeria" he told AFP.

For Osisioma Nwolise, a political science professor at the southern University of Ibadan, the Boko Haram conflict is a marginal campaign issue at best.

Nwolise said the numbers voting on the issue of Boko Haram is likely to be small, despite the several million people in the mainly Muslim north who have been directly affected by the violence.

Residents of the embattled northeast for example have been frequently left defenceless by the military against horrific Boko Haram raids.

Jonathan's popularity in region, which was never high, is now likely to be at an all-time low.

But Campbell agreed that the conflict and the fate of the schoolgirls is unlikely to impact the president's re-election prospects.

Elections in Nigeria are not issue-based but determined by factors including the ability of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to use the money and power of incumbency to steer the vote in its favour, he added.

The ceasefire and hostage release announcement came with a massive risk of failure, largely because all past negotiations with Boko Haram have collapsed.

Campbell suggested that those wondering why Nigeria would "go down this road", might do well to look to the international oil market.

"When I was ambassador, the United States imported a million barrels of Nigerian oil a day. Now it is zero," he said.

Increased US oil production is the main reason for this and Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, still has willing buyers for its crude.

But Campbell argued that Abuja may be anxious to make Jonathan "a more attractive figure" to ensure that Nigeria remains a viable trading partner for the West.

Jonathan's handling of Boko Haram and the Chibok crisis in particular has been pilloried abroad.

He hardly said a word about the kidnappings in the weeks following the attack and critics say his response showed a lack of compassion from the outset.

The government only moved to respond after a global social media campaign calling for the girls' release went viral, attracting the support of celebrities and US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Making dramatic moves now to secure the girls' freedom -- possibly including a swap for Boko Haram detainees -- could be in Nigeria's long-term financial interest, the ex-ambassador said.

For Adewale Maja-Pearce, who writes a Nigeria column for the New York Times, Jonathan has clearly become increasingly pre-occupied with his reputation abroad.

He pointed to the $1.2-million (940,000-euro) contract with the US public relations firm Levick signed when outrage over the Chibok crisis was at its height.

And, Maja-Pearce argued, if despite the announced deal the girls still do not return home, Jonathan will be no worse off.

"I think he believes that bringing back the Chibok girls will help him internationally but not bringing back the Chibok girls won't hurt him," he said.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 21 Oct 2014 14:13
 
NIGERIA TRUCE IS SHAKY, NO NEWS OF ABDUCTED GIRLS

Days after Nigeria's military raised hopes with the announcement that Islamic extremists had agreed to a cease-fire, Boko Haram still is fighting and there is no word on the fate of 219 schoolgirls held hostage for six months.

Officials had said talks would resume in neighboring Chad this week, but there was no confirmation that those negotiations had resumed by Wednesday.

The official silence raises many questions, especially since Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has not confirmed that a truce has been agreed.

Relatives of the girls abducted from a boarding school in northeastern Chibok town said they are confused but trying to be hopeful.

"Things are still sketchy with lots of holes and varying statements," Allen Manasseh, a brother of one of the missing schoolgirls, told The Associated Press by telephone. Manasseh said he relentlessly scours the news headlines to find out when his sister, Maryam, may return home.

Despite the cease-fire announced by the military on Friday, the Islamic insurgents have attacked two villages and a town in the northeast and raised their flag in a fourth village.

People who escaped this week from Bama, a town in a part of northeastern Nigeria where Boko Haram has declared an Islamic caliphate, say hundreds of residents are being detained for allegedly breaking the group's strict version of Shariah law.

Residents who got out of Bama said so many people have been detained by Boko Haram that the local jail is overcrowded and houses are being used as makeshift prisons. Many young men have been forced to join Boko Haram, and those who refuse are killed, said those who ran away.

People are jailed after brief "trials" for infringements like smoking cigarettes, said Amina Bukar, a middle-aged woman who said she hiked through the bush for five days before reaching Maiduguri, the Borno state capital 75 kilometers (nearly 50 miles) away.

Food is running short since shops have been looted by Boko Haram, said Bukar. "Water also is very scarce, sometimes you line up (at the communal tap) for 24 hours," she said.

In Nigeria's capital, Abuja, dozens of activists continue a daily protest ritual at Unity Fountain, using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls to demand that the government and military ensure the release of the students.

Campaigner Aisha Yesufu said they had been told the girls would be freed on Monday, but it didn't happen. "The government spokesperson came out and said that they never said Monday, that they are saying this week. We are still watching. We are extremely anxious," she told the AP.

Some 276 girls and young women writing science examinations were kidnapped from a government boarding school in Chibok in the early hours of April 15. Dozens escaped by themselves in the first couple of days but some 219 remain missing.

Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes in the 5-year uprising to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of some 160 million people divided almost equally between Muslims and Christians.


Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 22 Oct 2014 16:30
 
SEVERAL KILLED IN SUSPECTED BOKO HARAM ATTACK: LOCAL OFFICIAL

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed several people in a village in Nigeria's far northeast, a local administrator said on Wednesday, in the latest attack since a supposed ceasefire was announced.

Heavily armed fighters in all-terrain vehicles stormed the town of Kukawa, some 180 kilometres (112 miles) from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, and opened fire on police and a local market.

Kukawa, near Lake Chad, has been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram, forcing Nigeria's state-run oil company to abandon prospecting and drilling.

The latest attack happened on Monday and was slow to emerge because telecommunications in Borno have been largely destroyed by five years of violence.

"They (the gunmen) killed several people, especially around the market, where traders had gone for commercial activities," the Kukawa local government chairman Modu Musa told AFP.

"They burnt the whole market, the police station, government lodge, dozens of vehicles and most houses in the town in indiscriminate rocket and bomb attacks."

Police officers in Kukawa initially intercepted the insurgents on the outskirts of the town and engaged them in a fight but were forced to retreat because of the gunmen's superior firepower.

Hundreds of residents fled to Maiduguri, joining tens of thousands of others who have abandoned their homes and livelihoods as a result of sustained attacks in Borno and two neighbouring states.

Nigeria's government earlier this month announced that they had secured a ceasefire deal with Boko Haram and agreement to release 219 schoolgirls abducted from their Borno school in mid-April.

But violence -- and further kidnappings -- have continued unabated.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 29 Oct 2014 12:45
 
THREE BOMBS ROCK NORTH NIGERIA BUS STATION: POLICE, WITNESSES

Three bombs concealed in bags rocked a bus station in north Nigeria's Gombe state during Friday morning rush hour, the latest in a series of attacks targeting commuters blamed on Boko Haram, police and witnesses said.

Multiple witnesses said three men entered the state-run Gombe Line station early this morning and that each dropped a bag among the buses.

Gombe's police chief Abdullahi Kudu said the blasts went off at roughly 9:00 am (0800 GMT) and that three men had been arrested.

"As for the death toll, we are still working on that," he said of the attack in the state capital Gombe city.

Gombe shares a border with all three northeast states under emergency rule because of the Boko Haram uprising: Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

Kudu said he believed the suspects had come from Yobe where Boko Haram is believed to be in control of a series of towns and villages.

There was no claim of responsibility and attacks by criminal groups have been previously blamed on the Islamist insurgents.

But the militants have claimed credit for a series of bus station bombings this year, including two -- in April and May -- on the outskirts of the capital Abuja.

An October 23 attack at a bus station in Bauchi state, which neighbours Gombe, killed five people, with many blaming Boko Haram.

An employee of the Gombe Line company, Lawanti Aliyu, said he saw several people lying on the ground after the blasts who appeared to be either dead or seriously injured, but he was unable to estimate a death toll.

Nigeria on October 17 said it had agreed to a ceasefire with Boko Haram, raising hopes that the brutal five-year conflict could be nearing an end.

But the violence has continued at a relentless pace and many have questioned the credibility of the so-called Boko Haram envoys reportedly negotiating with Nigeria.


Source : Sapa-AFP /ar
Date : 31 Oct 2014 13:05
 
AT LEAST 8 DEAD, 34 INJURED IN NIGERIA BOMBING: RESCUE WORKERS

A triple bombing at a bus station during Friday morning rush hour in north Nigeria killed at least eight people and wounded 34 others, rescue workers told AFP.

A local rescue official who requested anonymity and was at the scene in Gombe state's capital said eight bodies had been brought to one area hospital.

The spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, Manzo Ezekiel, told AFP his staff had confirmed five dead but noted the toll could be higher and said that at least 34 people were wounded in the attack.


Source : Sapa-AFP /ar
Date : 31 Oct 2014 13:46
 
16 MEN ARRESTED BY NIGERIA SOLDIERS 'FOUND DEAD WITH BULLET WOUNDS'

Sixteen men who were arrested by Nigerian soldiers in the country's northeast were found dead just hours later with bullet wounds, community leaders said on Thursday, demanding an inquiry.

Troops rounded up 17 people, including an imam, from the Dogo Tebo area of Potiskum in Yobe state as they left a mosque after morning prayers on Wednesday.

Residents and hospital staff said the bodies of all but the imam were later found in the morgue at the Potiskum General Hospital.

"All the bodies have gunshot wounds on them," said a nurse, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The bodies had been brought in by soldiers and were formally identified by community leaders and residents from Dogo Tegbo, he told AFP.

One resident, Tukur Danu, said the cleric was not among the dead and added: "We are worried about what they could do to him."

Potiskum is the commercial hub of Yobe state, which with neighbouring Borno and Adamawa state has been under emergency rule since May last year because of the Boko Haram insurgency.

On Monday, at least 15 people were killed and some 50 others were injured in a suicide bombing targeting a major Shia Muslim festival in Potiskum.

The head of the Shia community in the city, Mustapha Lawan Nasidi, said at the time that several other people died when troops who deployed to the scene opened fire.

Community leaders believed the 16 men were picked up and killed because all of them were from the Kanuri ethnic group that forms the bulk of Boko Haram's membership.

"We demand a probe into this unjustifiable murder," said one community leader in Dogo Tebo, who asked not to be identified for his personal safety.

"We believe they were killed on suspicion of being Boko Haram because they were Kanuris."

All those seized were related either by blood or marriage, according to another leader.

"The government should look into this cold-blooded murder and ensure justice is done because being a soldier is not a licence to kill at will on mere suspicion," he added.

"Our fear is we don't know what they will do next," he said, adding that three more people were arrested late on Wednesday in the same area.

Dogo Tebo resident Maigana Kalli said that ordinarily, anyone arrested on suspicion of belonging to Boko Haram is taken to the regional army base in the state capital, Damaturu.

AFP contacted the army in Damaturu and the capital Abuja by phone and by text message but there was no immediate response.

Human rights groups in Nigeria and abroad have previously accused Nigeria's military of carrying out extra-judicial killings in the five-year fight against Boko Haram.

Amnesty International said in March that there was "credible evidence" that more than 600 people were summarily executed in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, after a Boko Haram jail break.

Concerns have also been expressed about atrocities perpetrated by vigilantes, who have assisted the military against Boko Haram.

Last Friday, vigilantes in the Borno town of Biu said they and troops had decapitated 41 Boko Haram fighters who were planning a raid in the village of Sabon Gari, in the south of the state.

Two residents said the heads were put on spikes and paraded through the town.

"It was like hunters displaying their game after a hunting expedition," said one, Silas Buba.

Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said they were aware of the reports.

For HRW's Nigeria researcher Mausi Segun, the alleged beheadings were consistent with the vigilantes' recent conduct.

"They boldly admit to extra-judicially killing and mutilating bodies of suspected members of Boko Haram," she told AFP, calling for a full investigation.


Source : Sapa-AFP /aa
Date : 06 Nov 2014 14:41
 
SUMMARY EXECUTION, BEHEADING, AMPUTATION CLAIMS IN BOKO HARAM FIGHT
by Aminu Abubakar

Nigerian troops were on Thursday accused of killing 16 Boko Haram suspects, after vigilantes claimed to have beheaded dozens of Islamist fighters in the country's far northeast.

Boko Haram was meanwhile reported to have begun enforcing strict Islamic law by amputating the hands of thieves and razing churches in a captured town it renamed as part of its self-styled caliphate.

And 21 civilians were killed after Boko Haram fighters clashed with troops in the restive northeast of Nigeria on Wednesday, a local lawmaker said on Thursday.

The incidents raised fresh concern about the conduct of the military and the civilians supporting it and undermined repeated government claims of a ceasefire and peace talks.

In Potiskum, 16 men who were arrested after morning prayers on Wednesday were found dead in a morgue with bullet wounds just hours later, community leaders and hospital staff told AFP.

Locals in the Dogo Tebo area of the city believed the men were picked up and killed because all of them were from the Kanuri ethnic group that forms the bulk of Boko Haram's membership.

"All the bodies have gunshot wounds on them," said a nurse at the Potiskum General Hospital, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The bodies had been brought in by soldiers and were formally identified by community leaders, he told AFP.

On Monday, at least 15 people were killed and some 50 others were injured in a suicide bombing targeting a major Shia Muslim festival in Potiskum, which is Yobe state's commercial capital.

A number of others were killed when troops deployed to the scene opened fire, the head of the Shia community, Mustapha Lawan Nasidi, said at the time.

The latest deaths were described by another community leader as "cold-blooded murder" while residents expressed concern about the fate of a Muslim cleric and three others who were also detained.

Neither the military in Yobe or the capital, Abuja, responded to AFP when asked for comment and there was no word either on claims from Biu in neighbouring Borno state about the beheadings.

A member of the civilian vigilante group, Umar Hassan, said they and troops ambushed Boko Haram fighters last Friday as they prepared a raid on Sabon Gari village in the south of the state.

"We killed 41 of them and decapitated them and brought the heads to Biu, which we displayed to people to demystify Boko Haram," he said.

Two Biu residents said the vigilantes put the heads on wooden spikes and drove around the town, telling people the Islamists did not have magical powers.

"It was like hunters displaying their game after a hunting expedition," said, one, Silas Buba.

The incidents will add to concerns of human rights groups about the response of the military and the vigilantes, both of whom have been accused of atrocities in the past.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said they were aware of the reports and were investigating the authenticity of the claims.

"This is the latest in a string of abuses in which pro-government vigilante groups have been implicated," said HRW's Nigeria researcher Mausi Segun.

Boko Haram took over the town of Mubi in Adamawa state last week and residents who fled the town in recent days said they had now renamed it Maidanatul Islam, or "City of Islam" in Arabic.

In Mubi, Boko Haram chopped off the hands of 10 men accused of theft last Friday and burnt down churches, said Ahmad Maishanu, who fled Mubi on Wednesday.

In a video released on October 2, Boko Haram showed the stoning to death of a man accused of adultery, a man having his right hand cut off for theft and a young man and woman given 100 lashes each for sex outside marriage.

The group, which wants to create a hardline Islamic state in Nigeria's northeast, is now thought to control at least two dozen towns in the region.

The Nigerian government and military made a surprise announcement on October 17 that it had secured a ceasefire deal with the militants and peace talks were being held.

But there has been no let-up in the violence since then and last Friday the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, dismissed claims of an end to hostilities as "a lie".


Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 07 Nov 2014 04:56
 
BOKO HARAM SAID TO SEIZE ANOTHER TOWN IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has seized control of a Nigerian town near the Niger border, leading soldiers to flee and adding to its expanding reach in the region, an official said Saturday.

The insurgents were said to have taken control of Malam Fatori in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state after fighting on Wednesday and Thursday, a senior official in the Niger town of Diffa near Nigeria told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The fighting killed dozens and wounded about 30 people in the a commercial hub known for fishing and farming, the Anfani radio station in Diffa reported.

"The town of Malam Fatori was taken by Boko Haram after violent fighting with the Nigerian army overnight Wednesday to Thursday," said the official in Diffa, where thousands of refugees from the conflict have fled to.

According to the official, 315 Nigerian soldiers fled over the border to Diffa. Thirteen who were wounded were treated in a Diffa hospital, while the others have been repatriated.

The official's version of events differed from the one given by a Nigerian senator, who on Thursday spoke of the attack but did not say that the town had been taken.

Senator Maina Maaji Lawan said the insurgents met stiff resistance from soldiers from a multi-national task force in the region that includes troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger.

Lawan however also said that soldiers were later forced to flee after being overpowered by the insurgents. He said that 21 civilians were killed.

Boko Haram has killed thousands in its five-year insurgency in Nigeria, and it has in recent months taken control of a growing number of areas in the country's northeast.

It has occasionally carried out cross-border attacks, and another such raid occurred on Saturday in Cameroon.

In that attack, Boko Haram members attacked a Cameroon border town, leading to six hours of fighting that killed a soldier and several insurgents, authorities said.

The attack occurred in Kerawa, near areas of Nigeria recently taken over by Boko Haram. The nearby Mandara mountains have been used as a hideout by Boko Haram members.

"Boko Haram attacked Kerawa around 4:00 am (0300 GMT)," a police officer in the region said on condition of anonymity.

"A man from the BIR (elite army unit) was killed. Several assailants were also killed."

He said gun battles between the extremists and soldiers rocked the area until around 10:00 am.

Cameroon has reinforced its military presence in the region in a bid to stop an escalation in attacks by Boko Haram. On October 17, the military claimed to have killed 107 Islamists during intense fighting that also left eight soldiers dead.

Ten Chinese and 17 local hostages were kidnapped earlier this year in Cameroon in raids blamed on Boko Haram. They were released last month.


Source : Sapa-AFP /aw
Date : 08 Nov 2014 19:50
 
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