Politics

Boko Haram Takfiri terrorists have attacked two villages in northeastern Nigerian Borno state, killing at least 30 people. The militants on Thursday (about 0100 GMT) stormed the villages of Thlaimakalama and Gatamarwa, some 15 kilometers from the town of Chibok, and set them on fire, according to Pogo Bitrus, head of the Chibok Elders Forum. “From information coming in from residents of the two villages at least 30 people were killed in the attacks,” he said. Luka Haruna, a Chibok resident, also gave the same death toll saying, “the two villages were completely destroyed.” Chibok gained notoriety last April when Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from their secondary school. Last Monday, the Boko Haram militants invaded two villages on their way as they fled the nearby town of Askira Uba.“The insurgents mowed everything in sight as they fled Askira Uba and these two villages which they passed through became targets,” Bitrus said, adding, “They opened fire on residents and set houses on fire as they drove in a huge convoy.” The Nigerian army announced on Thursday that its fighter jets had bombarded Boko Haram’s stronghold in the forest. In the face of military operations by the Nigerian army, the Boko Haram militants have fled towards Gwoza, on the border with Cameroon, and the nearby Sambisa Forest, where Takfiri militants have camps. Boko Haram militants took control of Gwoza in June 2014 and set up their base in the town. They further declared it part of their so-called Islamic caliphate. The violence fueled by Boko Haram militants, starting in 2009, has killed at least 13,000 people and rendered more than a million others homeless.

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 on 14 February 2015.

The culture of impunity and unchecked state supervised criminality against civilians during military rule under the Northern Military establishment in Nigeria was unprecedented.  This is the culture of impunity that gave birth to claims for Sharia States in some Northern states and coordinated attacks against Christians in Northern Nigeria.  The sharia claims emerged only when Olusegun Obasanjo a Christian from the West was elected as the first democratic President of Nigeria after Military rule. The political motivation for this move using religion a lethal weapon was not lost on keen observers of Nigerian politics nor to the Southern Military establishment and politicians or even Obasanjo. The hidden hand of his military peers from the North behind these acts of destabilization was obvious. This did not happen during the military rule dominated by the Northern Military establishment so also the so-called Fulani herdsmen slaughter of Christians and burning of Christian Churches in the North and the Middle Belt.

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Ngwa Bertrand

20.Feb.2015

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23 alleged accomplices of Boko Haram have been placed under police surveillance in the district of Yagoua in the Far North region of the country. The Divisional Officer Kwenti Ndoh Simon decided to put all 23 under police surveillance and ordered a major investigation. They are believed to have hosted their cousins ​​or brothers from Nigeria mostly members of the Islamic sect.

DO Kwenti has also reacted to concerns from human rights groups over his decision saying his administration does not witch hunt, "we are not in the stigmatization of an ethnic group, it just happens that they are linguistically and culturally close”. The DO added that in as much as they helped them to settle by providing accommodation or hospitality, the Cameroon government has the right to know these Nigerian relatives and their role in the on-going conflict.

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Ngwa Bertrand

19.Feb.2015

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Counter-terrorism and security experts from Cameroon and Nigeria are currently meeting in Yaoundé the nation’s capital. The 3rd session of the Security Committee which started earlier today is expected to run through Friday the 20^th.The Security Committee is a mechanism set up by Cameroon and Nigeria to intensify their cooperation in the field of border security. The main issues being discussed includes inter alia organized crime, customs fraud and smuggling, movement of light weapons and small arms, piracy, narcotics trafficking, uncontrolled movements of cattle, and communal conflicts. Cameroon Concord gathered that this year’s session has been dominated by the emergence of the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

Our chief correspondent in Yaounde reported that the Nigerian delegation was led by General Samuel John Babatundé while the Cameroonian side had René Emmanuel Sadi, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation. Minister Rene Sadi observed during his opening remarks that there was need for Cameroon and Nigeria to strengthen collaboration. Said the Cameroonian minister: "At a time when the atrocities of the Islamic sect keeps multiplying both in Nigeria and Cameroon, I am convinced that this 3rd session will strengthen the relationship between our two countries”. It is important to include in this report that successive Nigerian governments have placed major stone walls on many security agreements involving the Lake Chad Basin Commission-notably the Babangida Administration. The Boko Haram situation seems to have pushed Nigeria closer to Cameroon against the wishes of the French.

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.Feb.2015

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An airstrike by an unidentified aircraft has left as many as 30 people dead during a funeral ceremony in a village in Niger close to the Nigerian border. Local officials and humanitarian sources said on Wednesday that the attack had taken place by an unidentified plane a day earlier. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the strike. Nigeria, which is involved in fighting with Takfiri Boko Haram militants, also denied responsibility. “It's not to my knowledge and there has not been any report from our people of such an incident,” Air Commodore Dele Alonge, a spokesman for Nigeria's air force, said. Local officials put the number of the dead at 31 or 32 with 20 others injured. Niger is a party to a regional operation in the area against Boko Haram militants. The Western African country has so far seen several bomb attacks blamed on Boko Haram, whose militancy has spilled over the Nigerian borders and extended to neighboring countries.

On Tuesday, thousands of people staged a massive demonstration in Niger’s capital city of Niamey to protest against the cross-border attacks by Boko Haram Takfiri militants. Niger’s security forces recently arrested more than 160 people suspected of having links to the militant group in Diffa region, an area bordering Nigeria. The five countries of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin have pledged to create an 8,700-strong force to fight the Boko Haram militancy.  In a meeting on February 16, leaders from Niger and other African countries gathered in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to finalize plans for a joint offensive against the Nigeria-based militants. The meeting, which pledged to create an 86-million-dollar fund to fight the group, called on the international community to provide more support in the fighting against the Takfiri militants. Boko Haram waged its brutal militancy six years ago and the conflict that has killed over 13,000 people. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 650,000 Nigerians have fled their homes due to Boko Haram violence and are displaced inside the African country, while thousands of others have taken refuge in neighboring countries.

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.Feb.2015

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Two separate bombing attacks in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Borno have claimed 38 lives while Boko Haram leader has vowed to disrupt the country's upcoming elections. The first attack was carried out on Tuesday at about 1:00 pm local time (1200 GMT) at a checkpoint in Yamarkumi village, near the town of Biu, killing 36 people and injuring 20 others. “Most of the victims were child vendors and beggars that usually crowd the checkpoint,” a source at the Biu General Hospital said on condition of anonymity. Boko Haram has repeatedly assaulted Biu trying to seize the town, but its attacks have been repelled by troops and local vigilantes. In another attack some four hours later in neighboring Yobe state’s Potiskum, a bomber targeted in a popular chain restaurant, killing the manager and a steward and seriously injuring 13 staff and customers. In a video on released on Twitter hours after the attacks, Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau threatened the upcoming elections. “This election will not be held even if we are dead.” The Takfiri terrorists have already forced a delay in the polls, initially set for February 14. Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission shifted the elections to March 28 while the country’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, announced last week that there would be no further postponement of the upcoming votes. Shekau also repeated threats against Chadian President Idriss Deby and Niger’s leaders, vowing that his militants would outlast an 8,700-strong multi-national force.

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 on 14 February 2015.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

18.Feb.2015

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More than 160 suspected elements of Nigeria-based Boko Haram terrorist group have been arrested near the border with Niger, according to Nigerien police. "We would like to warmly thank the residents of the Diffa region whose assistance has allowed us to arrest more than 160 suspects," said Nigerien national police spokesman Adily Toro on Monday on a local television network. Earlier this month, the border area came under attack by the notorious Takfiri terror group. Toro added that the suspects were being interrogated and face charges of conspiracy and terrorism. The arrests came hundreds of people, displaced by the persisting battles, keep arriving at Zinder, Niger's second largest city. According to local officials, there are numerous elements of Boko Haram militants among the people fleeing the Diffa region, in an attempt to infiltrate into Niger's territory.

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.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

17.Feb.2015

Hits: 1380