Canadian Government Advocates Continued Dialogue With Boko Haram

The Canadian government has called for continued use of dialogue in the north east and other conflict zones across the country in other to achieve peace and security as well as protect the lives and human rights of all Nigerians.

Boko Haram Child Suicide Bomber Kills Six in Borno, NE Nigeria

A child suicide bomber detonated hiexplosives, killing himself, two other bombers and six people in Nigeria’s northeast, in the latest bloodshed blamed on Boko Haram Islamist group, the army said on Monday.

Boko Haram Ambush Nigerian Troops, Kill Lt. Colonel, Others Injured

Daily Post reports that a Lieutenant-Colonel on Wednesday lost his life during a battle between troops and members of the Boko Haram sect.

200 Boko Haram Members Surrender to Nigerian Military in Banki, Cameroon Border

The Nigerian Army has said that more than 200 insurgents have surrendered to the military following the capture of the strategic town of Banki along the nation’s border with Cameroun on Thursday.

United States Boosts Education of IDPs in Adamawa State, North-East Nigeria With $801,000 Grant

The United States of America has signed a grant agreement of 801,000 dollars with the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, to improve access to education services for internally displaced persons in Adamawa.

Boko Haram: Emergency Agency Evacuates 5,000 Displaced Persons from Dikwa LGA, Borno State

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday said it had evacuated 5,000 starved persons from liberated interland communities in Dikwa Local Government Area (LGA), Borno.

Two Top Boko Haram Commanders Arrested in Gaidam, Yobe State

Nigerian troops have arrested two top Commanders of Boko Haram in Gaidam town of Gaidam local government area of Yobe state, Northeast Nigeria.

Boko Haram Militants Kill 7 in Awonori Village, Near Damasak, Borno State

Boko Haram militants on Monday raided a village in restive northeast Nigeria's Borno state near the border with Niger, killing seven people, community leaders told AFP.

Updated: Boko Haram: Abubakar Shekau Hale And Hearty, Calls The Shots - Salkida

Ahmad Salkida, the Nigerian journalist known to have access to top commanders of the Boko Haram sect, says Abubakar Shekau is alive and still presiding over the affairs of the notorious group. Salkida dismissed the view of President Idriss Deby of Chad, who said Shekau had been replaced by one Mahamat Daoud. 

At a press conference to mark Chad’s 55th independence anniversary, Deby had said: “There is someone apparently called Mahamat Daoud who is said to have replaced Abubakar Shekau and wants to negotiate with the Nigerian government.” But Salkida accused the Chadian president of lying, saying that was how he misled former president, Goodluck Jonathan into entering a botched peace deal with the sect. “Idris Deby is wrong now as before when he deceived former president Jonathan in phantom negotiation. Shekau is alive and leads ISWAP or BH,” he wrote on Twitter. Idris Deby is wrong now as before when he deceived Fmr President Jonathan in phantom negotiation. Shekau is alive and leads ISWAP or BH.

The fallout of the so-called deal with Boko Haram was one of the low points of the immediate-past administration. However, Shekau’s absence in the group’s video in recent times has fueled speculations of his death even before Deby’s comment. He was last heard of in March when he announced Boko Haram’s alliance to the Islamic State (IS). Until Deby spoke last week, the authorities had been silent about Shekau apparently because the issue of his death had been an embarrassment. 

The unrepentant Boko Haram leader has refuted the reports of his demise on three separate occasions that security forces claimed to have silenced him. In a video he released in October, Shekau taunted the military saying he has “one soul”. “Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath. I am running our… Islamic caliphate and administering sharia punishments,” he had said. “Nothing will kill me until my days are over… I’m still alive. Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah. It is propaganda that is prevalent. I have one soul. I’m an Islamic student. I’m the Islamic student whose seminary you burnt… I’m not dead.” Shekau took control of the group after its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in police custody in July 2009. Under his leadership the group became more radical and carried out more killings.

To confirmm Salkida's assertion, 

Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram sect broke his five months silence, refuting the report of his death in an audio posted on social media on Sunday.

Describing President Idris Deby of Chad as a “hypocrite”, the notorious militant said infidels were behind reports of his death.

“It is indeed all over the global media of infidels that I am dead or that I am sick,” he said.

“It should be understood that this is false. This is indeed a lie. If it were true, my voice wouldn’t have been heard, now that I am speaking.

“I have not disappeared. I am still alive and I will not die until my time appointed by Allah is up.”

Last week during a press conference to mark Chad’s 55th independence anniversary, Deby said Shekau had been replaced with one Mahamat Daoud.

“There is someone apparently called Mahamat Daoud who is said to have replaced Abubakar Shekau and wants to negotiate with the Nigerian government,” he had said.

Culled from:

TheCable

Boko Haram: Nigerian Air Force Commences Bombardment of Sambisa Forest

Barely Forty-eight hours after President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Military High Command to ensure the end of Boko Haram in the next three months, Nigerian Airforce fighter jets recently deployed to the North East, have commenced air bombardments of Sambisa forest to decapitate the remaining terrorist’s camps and bunkers of the group.

Youth Vigilante Kill 17 Boko Haram Insurgents in Borno

Seventeen members of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, were killed on Wednesday afternoon by a youth vigilance group in Lahou village in Borno State.

Abubakar Shekau 'Ousted' As Leader Of Boko Haram - Chadian President

The Chadian President Mr Idriss Deby has claimed that Boko Haram's leader - Abubakar Shekau has been ousted by his deputy who is willing to enter peace talks.

Boko Haram Militants Kill Four Abduct Two People In Borno Highway Attack

Suspected members of Boko Haram sect on Sunday ambushed commercial motorists on a Borno State highway, killing four persons, injuring three others and kidnapping two, a member of the youth vigilance group said on Sunday.

Boko Haram Insurgency: Nigerian Air Force Set To Deploy More Platforms To Yola

Sequel to the increased onslaught against Boko Haram militants, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar assures that more platforms will be moved to Yola, the Adamawa State capital next week.

BREAKING: 8 Boko Haram Members Denounce Membership Of Sect

Eight members of the terror group, Boko Haram, have denounced their membership of the sect, in a town around Mussa in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, the Chairman of the youth vigilance group in the town, Apagu Istifanus, told journalists on Friday.

U.S. Says Boko Haram May Have Benefitted From Oil Theft Spoils

The Boko Haram terrorist group could be beneficiaries of the money made from crude oil theft in Nigeria, members of the United States Congress said on Tuesday.

Boko Haram Recaptures Border Town of Marte in Borno State

The Boko Haram terrorist group on Friday recaptured Marte, a border town in the northern part of Borno State.

Security sources said members of the terrorist group, who fled Sambisa forest, had now regrouped in Marte.

Borno State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, also confirmed the recapture of the town by Boko Haram terrorists during a press conference in Maiduguri.

“It is sad as we have been made to understand that Marte is today (Friday) completely fallen under the control of the insurgents, which to us is a very huge setback,” he said.

Mustapha raised the alarm that 600 women and girls had been dispatched by the terrorists as suicide bombers with the aim of causing multiple explosions in Maiduguri.

The deputy governor urged residents to be patient with the security agencies in spite of the attendant hardships caused by the dusk to dawn curfew imposed on Maiduguri.

He said, “It is unfortunate that we are experiencing yet another attack in Maiduguri at this time that we are thinking that the insurgency should have subsided following the taking over of Sambisa forest by the military.

“Our thinking was that every other place should have been blocked so that the insurgency would be curtailed to a restricted area, but that has not been the case because the insurgents have been fleeing to other communities.

“Initially, we were opposed to the suggestion by the military, but when we received a security report that about 600 women have been kitted as suicide bombers and are to be sneaked into Maiduguri during the attack, couple with the gory pictures of some of the women who detonated themselves during the attacks, we had no option than to okay the curfew.

“But the curfew has been relaxed from noon to about 5pm to ease the hardship and afterwards it may be reviewed. Our government is going to do everything possible by supporting the military to ensure that Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State are not attacked or taken over by the insurgents.”

The capture of Marte happened as soldiers sustained the 24-hour curfew imposed on Maiduguri, the Borno state capital on Thursday after Boko Haram terrorists attempted an invasion of the city on Wednesday night.

Source:
Punch Newspaper

'Heavy Toll' Feared After Boko Haram Attacks Niger Army

Niamey (AFP) - Boko Haram militants attacked troops from Niger on an island base in Lake Chad, the government said on Saturday, in a raid believed to have taken a heavy toll on the army.

"At dawn on April 25, fighters from the terrorist group Boko Haram riding motorised canoes attacked the island of Karamga, a position northwest of of the town of Bosso held by our defence and security forces," the ministry of defence said.

"Operations are ongoing with the support of partners to counter the ambitions of this terrorist group," the ministry added in a statement broadcast on television.

The ministry did not indicate if there were any casualties as a result of the raid.

An official from Diffa, the capital of the southeast, however warned the death toll was "very heavy in the ranks of the Nigerien army," without providing further details.

State television reported that Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou had called a meeting of the national security council after the Islamists' attack.

Niger, along with Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria, has recently launched a joint offensive to end Boko Haram's six-year insurgency, which has claimed 13,000 lives and caused about 1.5 million people to flee their homes.

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Source:
Yahoo News

South Africa's Ageing White Mercenaries Who Fought Boko Haram

Battle-hardened soldiers, many of them paramilitary leftovers of the apartheid regime, have pursued private wars simply to put bread on the table. Leon Lotz was once a member of the Koevoet – “crowbar” in Afrikaans – a paramilitary police unit created by South Africa’s apartheid regime to root out guerrillas in what is now Namibia.

Nigerian Military In 'Final Phase of Wiping Out Boko Haram' - Defence Spokesman

Maj. Gen Olukolade

The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade,Thursday said the military was in the final phase of wiping out terrorists from the North-east.