Politics

Boko Haram Takfiri militants have been cleared from Nigeria’s northeastern state of Yobe, following the reclaiming of the town of Goniri, military says. "We announced the reclaiming of Goniri today," AFP quoted defense spokesman Chris Olukolade as saying on his Twitter account on Monday. He added that Goniri was the Takfiri militant’s last strong hold in Yobe. Last week, the army announced that the state of Adamawa had been cleared of the ISIL militants. "Adamawa is free, Yobe is free, Borno is soon to be freed by our able military," Olukolade added via a separate tweet.  

Earlier in the day, following days of intense fighting the ISIL Takfiri militants were forced out of from Bama in Borno State, said defense authorities. Before retaking the town, the militants torched residents’ homes. The fire forced large numbers of residents to flee to state capital Maiduguri. Bama fell into the hands of the militants on September 11, 2014. The town of Gwoza is now the only town under the control of Boko Haram in Borno. The three Nigerian states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, located in Nigeria’s northeastern regions, have been the core of six years of Boko Haram violence, which has claimed over 13,000 lives and displaced a further 1.5 million people. In May 2013, all three states were put in a state of emergency while troops and civilian forces pushed the militants out of urban centers into remote rural areas. In November 2014, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (pictured below) attempted to extend the state of emergency for a third time but the country’s parliament blocked his move.

The violence intensified to a point where the Nigerian army lost control of the situation and failed to stop the takeover of scores of villages and towns in all three states.  The Boko Haram violence and a four-country military operation set back Nigeria’s presidential elections by six weeks. Over the past weeks, Nigerian troops backed by soldiers from Chad, Niger, and Cameroon have been carrying out operations to secure and stabilize the northeast before the presidential vote, slated for March 28. Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

The Nigerian/Biafra War was a curse on the conscience of the nation but a blessing to the Northern Military establishment. Many of these Generals made fortunes from the war and took the opportunity to entrench themselves in power. Olusegun Obasanjo like Good luck Jonathan came to power during that period as a beneficiary of the sad spoils of death. They were considered outsiders or trespassers to their god ordained power. For this reason, the country had to be made ungovernable to prove them and any person outside the North unfit to defend the constitutional order, national cohesion and republican values.  Under these dire circumstances, the Northern Military establishment, their feudal and religious confederacy would step in and take back power through democratic or other means. This is the rationale of the unfolding drama in the election taking place in this March general elections.

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Ngwa Bertrand

17.Mar.2015

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Boko Haram Takfiri militants have torched homes in Nigeria's northeastern town of Bama, forcing residents to flee, witnesses say. "They came into the town around 12:00 pm (1100 GMT) warning that anyone who wanted to leave should leave the town and soon after they began torching homes," AFP quoted resident Umar Kaka as saying on Sunday. The fires forced large numbers of the residents to flee to the Borno state capital Maiduguri. On Saturday, the militants told residents of the city, which is in control of Boko Haram, to leave before they set fire to their homes ahead of the arrival of Nigerian troops attempting to retake the city. "Not all residents could leave because some are too sick or old to leave and we are afraid they were burnt in the homes," Kaka added. "We learnt soldiers were coming. They advanced on Bama on two fronts and met some resistance at Boboshe and Yale but succeeded in crushing the Boko Haram gunmen," said Ibrahim Kyari, another Bama resident. Bama has been in control of the militants since early September when it was seized along with several towns and villages in northeastern Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states on the border with Chad, Cameroon and Niger. The Boko Haram militants killed large number of the town’s population, forcing hundreds of residents to seek escape. Over the past weeks, Nigerian troops backed by soldiers from  Chad, Niger, and Cameroon have retaken most of the towns.

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Mar.2015

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Two Nigerian refugees were killed by Boko Haram militants as they left Fotokol in the department of Logone and Chari en route to Gambarou in Nigeria. The two were heading home on Saturday, March 14, 2015, and met their end on the other side of the river El Beid.  Since the withdrawal of Chadian troops from Gambarou, Nigerian refugees cross the border daily to repatriate their property from Fotokol. A military source who spoke to Cameroon Concord at the time of writing this report revealed that the situation is under control and that the bullets that eventually took the lives of the two Nigerians were fired from the Nigerian side of the river El Beid. The Far North region of Cameroon is hosting several thousands of Nigerian refugees and internally displaced Cameroonian citizens. The UN has estimated that over 40 000 Nigerian refugees fleeing the atrocities of the Nigerian Islamic sect have taken refuge in Cameroon.

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Mar.2015

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Nearly 1000 Boko Haram prisoners of war are to face trial soon in Cameroon, a security source, who sued for anonymity, has told Cameroon Concord. The fighters from the Nigerian Islamist sect were captured during fighting in various areas of the Far North region. Cameroon has suffered more than 120 attacks from Boko Haram and Cameroon as a nation can boast that the Nigerian Islamic sect could not occupy an inch of its territory. Cameroon has killed many Boko Haram assailants, captured dozens, and seized war material.

The Yaounde regime has promised justice despite all the atrocities committed on Cameroonian territory. Facing the media on Friday,  Issa Tchiroma, Cameroon's Minister of Communication said that all Boko Haram detainees will be tried according to the laws of the Republic . Said Minister Tchiroma “Several hundred Boko Haram terrorists captured by our defense forces, are currently being held in our prisons, without any exaction or any act of torture committed to their detriment. Many were arrested with arms. Some had smart phones on which you could see disturbing images of atrocities they had committed. Yet they have not been summarily executed. They are in our custody and will be judged according to the laws of the Republic”. The minister added that Cameroon is badly in need of substantial financial resources devoted to their monitoring, feeding and maintenance before their trial process begins soonest.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Mar.2015

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Boko Haram is carrying out ethnic reprisals against Arabic speakers in northern Nigeria accusing them of aiding Chad's army fighting against the Islamist group, military officers and residents say. Cameroonian military authorities say these attacks against Shuwa Arabs, an ethnic group speaking the form of Arabic common in Chad, have forced some 10,000 refugees from Nigeria across the border into Cameroon in recent weeks. Chad has deployed about 2,500 troops to Nigeria's border regions with Cameroon and Niger as part of a regional effort to tackle Boko Haram's six-year insurgency, which is threatening the stability of the impoverished region. Chad's battle-hardened troops have won a series of clashes, seizing towns and pushing back Boko Haram fighters from the border region with Niger and Cameroon. 

But in border villages near Cameroon, Boko Haram militants have singled out many Shuwa Arabs for reprisals, a Cameroon military officer said. "Boko Haram has branched into a sort of massacre strategy against the Arab population suspected to be collaborators with the Chadian forces," Cameroon Special Forces Major Belthus Kwene told Reuters. Chadian Arabic, also known as Shuwa Arabic, is spoken by over a million people spread across southern Chad, northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic and Sudan. Most of the refugees who settled in the Cameroonian villages of Amchoukouli, Wangara, Djabrari and Nigue were women and children. They said Boko Haram militants had massacred the men in their villages. "They killed 25 men," Fanne, a Nigerian refugee in Djabrari, told Reuters television. Boko Haram fighters forced the whole village to assemble before embarking on a killing spree, she added. "Nobody escaped. They shot some and slaughtered others with machetes and axes," she said.

Boko Haram, which translates roughly as 'Western Education is Forbidden', has killed thousands of people in a bloody campaign to carve out an Islamic caliphate in the north of Africa's largest oil producer. Fanne, like the hundred others who managed to escape the group's reprisals, sleeps under a tree with the few possessions and domestic animals she brought when she fled to Cameroon. Most refugees have declined to be moved further south to the main refugee camp in Minawao, already overcrowded with over 33,000 people. "These people are hoping that peace will return soon so that they can go back to their communities. They prefer to wait here," said Hayatou Oumarou, administrative head of the border town of Fotokol.

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Ngwa Bertrand

14.Mar.2015

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Members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have drafted a resolution to financially and logistically support a five-nation regional African force to fight the Takfiri Boko Haram militant group, which is based in Nigeria. According to the draft resolution, which was obtained by AP on Thursday, the 15-member UN Security Council will provide financial aid, equipment, troops and intelligence “for the successful deployment of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF)” to “create a safe and secure environment in the areas affected by the activities of Boko Haram.”

The text also calls for the immediate release of anyone abducted by Boko Haram, described as “one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.” The resolution is expected to be approved as early as next week, one of the Council members, Chad, said. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (pictured below) is to establish a trust fund to receive contributions from the international community to help the regional force ahead of a UN-backed benefactor conference scheduled for next month. The UNSC draft resolution does not specify the figure of the aid that would potentially be granted to the African force.

The development comes about a week after the African Union (AU) approved the creation of the five-nation force to fight Boko Haram. Nearly 10,000 forces from Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Benin make up the force to fight the extremist group, which has recently launched atrocious cross-border assaults in Nigeria’s neighboring countries. The draft by the Security Council also threatens to impose sanctions on individuals and groups that arm, support, or finance the Boko Haram terrorists. Part of the new regional offensive against Boko Haram is meant to stabilize Nigeria before the March 28 presidential elections.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Mar.2015

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