British Government Probes Nigeria's Opposition Party- APC’s Alleged Link with Boko Haram

Opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) may have come under the spotlight of the British government over allegations that it has links with the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group. Feelers from the British parliament gave this indication at the weekend.

Reports had it that the United Kingdom (UK)’s Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (otherwise known as foreign secretary), Mr William Hague, was, last week, questioned by an influential member of the British parliament, Mr Andrew Rosindell, on the UK’s engagement with the APC over the Boko Haram problem confronting Nigeria.

Information pieced together by Sunday Tribune from the website of the British parliament, www.parliament.uk, indicated that Rosindell, a conservative representing Romford, listed numerous questions regarding terrorism in Nigeria and some other affected countries of the Commonwealth for the foreign sectary, under “notices for written answers” section of the House of Commons Business Paper.

Some of the questions Rosindell, who is also a member of Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, want Hague to answer, according to the Business Paper, are: “To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the rise of Islamic terrorism in Northern Iraq. 

“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the rise in Islamic terrorism in Nigeria. (204387)

“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department plans to offer to Nigeria in tackling the threat of Boko Haram. 

“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of links between Boko Haram and other Islamic extremist groups in Africa.

“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with his counterpart in Cameroon the need for constructive dialogue between that country and Nigeria in tackling Boko Haram; and if he will make a statement.

“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on tackling the threat from Islamic extremism in Northern Africa.

“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had with leading members of the Nigerian opposition party, the All Progressives Congress; and if he will make a statement.

“ To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will commission an inquiry into the international support network for Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon; and if he will make a statement.”

Reports added that the development came after a debate in the parliament in which a Labour member, Sandra Osborne asked the House to examine allegations of links between APC and the insurgents.

It was also noted that increasing questioning of the government of the UK by legislators over the issue may force an enquiry into the allegations.

Sunday Tribune also learnt that at a recent meeting of the parliamentarians, led by Henry Jackson Society and chaired by John Glen, who is a close adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, similar allegations were raised that key APC members were supporters and financiers of Boko Haram “for ideological and political means.”

The UK is now said to be showing more interest in the Boko Haram menace, especially after the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in April.

Hague, at an international summit on rape in warzones held in London in June, was said to have reaffirmed the UK’s “strong and united commitment to defeat Boko Haram and to end the scourge of terrorism in Nigeria.”

When Sunday Tribune contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, for reaction, he said the party was still studying the development, adding that it would react to the allegations appropriately in due course.

Courtesy:
Tribune Newspaper

Terror Attacks Timed to Frustrate Jonathan's Administration — FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria has declared that there is a disturbing nexus between major terror attacks in the country and the development landmarks of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

A pattern, the government said, has emerged whereby almost always when there is need to collectively celebrate an important landmark recorded by it, appears to be the time when the insurgents find pleasure in attacking and making their statement of terror.
Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, made this claim in Lagos during an interview.
Maku lamented that what had been happening in the past two years was that terrorism had taken the front pages and deprived the country of news of development and social issues.
He said it was becoming very disturbing that “anytime the current administration had cause to celebrate an achievement, bombs explode to distract  Nigerians and portray the government in bad light.
“I can tell you”, he continued, “that almost every milestone recorded by this government is accompanied by bomb blasts,” pointing at the World Economic Forum which was preceded by bomb attacks in Abuja, and the widely acclaimed Ekiti State governorship election victory of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,” as examples.
The Minister said “immediately we announced the re-basing of our economy and it was now confirmed that Nigeria was the largest economy in Africa, there were bombs at Chibok.

Immediately they learnt we were going to hold the World Economic Forum, WEF, there were bombs in Abuja and its environs to make sure that Nigeria does not get the economic benefits of hosting the World Economic Forum and to discourage the world from coming here so as to make the attack the center point of international and local media…
“We also noticed that immediately after our victory in Ekiti, the bombs started raining again.”
He then concluded that, “there is a correlation between the exposure of development efforts in the media and the  insecurity in the northern part of the country.

Labaran Maku
“That is why most times I have continued to insist that the media should have a change of strategy , I wouldn’t say change of attitude. Because, as you know, with terrorism, once its takes hold, it takes very long for it to be dealt with. Because the terrorists themselves are looking for the opportunity to be exposed, to sell their ideology,  to use the media to frighten the society, to give themselves some invincible image, so they keep doing those strikes mainly because they want those headlines to be celebrated, they want the society to be afraid,” he said.
He again lamented that terrorism has exploited the liberal tendencies of democracy and  free press  to sell its own ideology to the world, and “I believe frankly that the media should, side by side, while reporting incidence of terror attacks, where they unfortunately occur, focus on development and deepening of our democracy. That is the only way we can defeat them.”

Courtesy:
Vanguard Newspaper

Boko Haram: Nigeria Immigration Service Deports 182 Illegal Aliens

Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Lagos
State command has deported not fewer
than 180 illegal immigrants from different African nations to their various countries.
LEADERSHIP Weekend investigations
revealed that the immigrants were
apprehended from different parts of
Lagos, following incessant threats by
terrorists in some parts of the country.

The controller in charge of Lagos State
command, Comptroller Julius Ogbu said
community leaders from various parts of African nations were told to advise their nationals to go to their countries and obtain all the necessary documents that could qualify them to stay in Nigeria.
Ogbu said, “Few weeks ago we had a
meeting with heads of the non-Nigerian
nationals intimating them on the need to
adhere strictly to the ECOWAS protocol
which requires that non-Nigerians must
come in through the recognised gateways and obtain ECOWAS travel certificate in their countries. By recognised routes, we mean the places where you have immigration, customs and all those security agents who are to screen you and ensure that you have good intentions before you come into the country.

Courtesy:
Leadership Newspaper

Nigeria Police Warn of Possible Terrorist Attacks on Abuja

ABUJA (AFP) – Nigerian police warned on Saturday of a new wave terrorist attacks on the capital Abuja,
where more than 100 people have been killed in bombings since April.
Officers claimed they had “credible intelligence reports” of suicide attacks being planned on the city’s transport system, with terrorists also plotting
to detonate improvised explosive devices concealed in luggage, bags and cans.

The Islamist Boko Haram sect claimed responsibility for killing 75 people in the bombing of the main bus station at Nyanya, on the outskirt of Abuja, on April 14.
A car bomb at the same spot two weeks later killed 19 and left 80 others injured, while 21 people were killed on June 25 at a crowded Abuja shopping centre in other attacks blamed on the sect.
“The terrorists have perfected a plot to carry out attacks on the Abuja transport sector,” the police said in a statement on Saturday.
It urged people to be vigilant, and said that security forces were working to “deal with the threat”.
The Nigerian government has been under intense international pressure since the abduction of 276 girls by Boko Haram from a secondary school in Chibok in the north of the country in April.

Parents and local leaders have accused the military of doing almost nothing to secure the release of the hostages. Fifty-seven of the girls escaped within days of the night-time raid on the school in Borno state but local officials have said that 219 are still being held.

Courtesy:
TheNews

Preventing Extremist Violence: Views From a Peacebuilder

Countering violent extremism has
traditionally involved tactics undertaken by outsiders aimed at preventing individuals from engaging in ideologically-fueled violence. USIP Senior Program Officer Georgia Holmer explains the increasing intersection with peacebuilding and how that can strengthen local communities to identify and address the drivers of radicalism and ultimately develop a more effective means of preventing extremist violence.

Holmer, who leads USIP’s project on Women Preventing Extremist Violence (WPEV), presented her views July 8 during the latest Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum, a monthly event conducted in Washington since 1999 to highlight innovative and constructive methods of conflict resolution. USIP is one of nine co-sponsors of the forum. Holmer’s remarks have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

I would like to start with two key assertions: First, the fields of peacebuilding and Countering Violent
Extremism (CVE) are two distinct domains, but with increasing overlap, as the field of CVE evolves and expands. Second, the practice of peacebuilding can inform CVE work in ways that makes it more effective, relevant, conscientious and enduring.
CVE is a diverse and evolving field, but I think it is helpful to start with a working definition. I offer this one: CVE refers to a realm of policy and strategy that aims to prevent individuals from becoming engaged in violent extremism and terrorism. It is non-kinetic, it is “upstream,” it is a soft tool. It is not – and this is an important point for the purposes of this discussion –an alternative to other counterterrorism approaches.
Although there are many who feel it is a more viable approach to mitigating terrorism, certainly from a policy perspective, CVE is understood as a
corollary to other interventions, as one important tool in a larger Counterterrorism (CT) toolkit, and as
part of a broader security strategy.
Although there are multiple ways to think of CVE both within the U.S. and internationally, there are identifiable streams of work and trends in the field, and there has been a clear evolution in approach.
When CVE first emerged a few years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it was foremost an effort to counter the appeal of extremist ideology. I call this: early iteration CVE 1.0.

Countering ideology had been understood to be a missing element of counterterrorism strategy, and when identified and refined as a tactic, it was quite a brilliant evolution in policy. Counter-ideology or
counter-narrative efforts aimed to muffle the call to jihad, to make the message less inspiring, less compelling, less attractive. The aim was to challenge the veracity, credibility or logic of recruitment appeals, call attention to the hypocrisy or limitations of the extremist leaders, dispel myths about them and as a result, one hoped, reduce the numbers of recruits.

Many more questions:

In the era of al-Qaida’s Inspire magazine and before Abbottabad (the Pakistani town where U.S. forces found and killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden), and focused very heavily on al-Qaida, the tactic of countering extremist ideology characterized CVE work.
But it gave rise to many more questions: what about those with a superficial attachment to the ideology but a strong need for revenge, or those who had financial incentives to participate, or those who were manipulated or shamed into participation, or whose activities were tied more to the realities of local politics or the absence of other
opportunities than to the inspiration of a set of radical beliefs?

Certainly, anyone focused on Al-Shabab in Somalia and Kenya and on Boko Haram in Nigeria knows that the extremist ideology that is used to justify the violence of these groups is only part of the explanation for why a man or woman would join.
This more complicated understanding of the drivers of violent extremism and the changing nature of the groups perceived as significant threats to security led to an expansion of work under the umbrella of CVE. The field now represents a broad spectrum of approaches. They range from development work that aims to address the structural conditions giving rise to violent extremism (such as poverty, lack of education, political marginalization) to the promotion of local community policing models to the counter-messaging and counter-narrative programs.
This growing realm reflects numerous
methodologies and actors. It is not just the U.S. government that promotes and funds CVE programs.

A number of other national governments do, as do other international organizations such as the United Nations, and regional bodies such as the European Union and the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Where peacebuilding comes in

In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis on promoting and empowering non-governmental actors, including civil society, in developing their own CVE capacity. The CVE realm is now populated internationally with many non-governmental, community and faith-based organizations that work to counter extremist ideology and narratives and that provide options for employment to youth at risk.
A new wave of CVE programming attempts to support and develop such skills and awareness among local media, communities, religious leaders and teachers. This reflects the reality that effective CVE programs must be conceptualized and implemented locally.
This is where the overlap with peacebuilding comes in.
Peacebuilding traditionally engages local actors and communities and has deep experience in working with civil society.
Peacebuilding also represents a broad range of methodologies that cross sectors - religion, media, economics, gender, and justice and security reform– in order to prevent violence. Peacebuilding, when done effectively, is also rooted in a nuanced
understanding of the drivers of conflict and violence.
This is not to suggest that all peacebuilding is CVE.
Peacebuilding works to prevent violence and conflict, writ large, not just extremist violence.
A program to reform curricula in a madrassa, or to promote tolerance through interfaith dialogue, or to
promote rule of law in a post-conflict environment or the role of women in constitution making, or to teach democratic principles through radio drama --all might contribute to, and are relevant to, efforts to prevent violent extremism. But they also serve
broader agendas of stabilization and reform, and should not be conflated with efforts explicitly focused on extremist violence.

What can the peacebuilding community bring to CVE?

Local solutions:
Local is the mantra of the CVE community. It is widely accepted that good CVE work must be locally derived, conceptualized and implemented to be truly effective. Peacebuilding approaches have always included an emphasis on building capacity among local stakeholders, and to this end, the
peacebuilding community houses a well-tested library of teachable skills to empower people in fragile or conflict environments to build resilience and prevent violence.

Peacebuilders know also that working within existing local mechanisms, networks, and practices ensures the sustainability, relevance and impact of any conflict.
This suggest the need for an important shift and reframing of CVE work, from something that is done to others or employed as an offensive tactic to something we can enable and support others to do for themselves. That requires an effort that has teachable skills associated with it, and a role for the implementers as facilitators rather than orchestrators. Peacebuilders can ensure local ownership of CVE.

More inclusivity: A central tenet of peacebuilding is that sustainable
peace is achievable only with the engagement and consideration of the rights and needs of both men and women. CVE policy and practice have been criticized for failing to consider the pivotal role women can play in preventing extremist violence.
Because of the significant influence of socialization and relationships in the process of radicalization, both men and women arepart of the dynamics that push and pull an individual toward and away from violent extremism. Peacebuilders appreciate the need to examine the role gender plays in both mitigating and fostering trajectories of violence, and can ensure an inclusive approach.

Engagement of civil society:

Civil society actors are critical stakeholders in peacebuilding and play a pivotal role in building good governance in conflict or post-conflict societies. They contribute to reform and transformation in powerful ways. In weak and fragile states, civil society organizations are often substitute service providers and, in this way, are significantly positioned to help prevent conflict and violence.
CVE programs that focus on building capacity in civil society can be truly effective if it’s undertaken in a way that ensures the safety of these civic
activists and ensures they’re not treated as simple tools. Civil society has a role in the prevention of extremist violence regardless of any engagement with the security sector or other state actors. In certain fragile environments, it may be dangerous or counterproductive or inappropriate to collaborate with police in identifying groups of individuals who are at risk of radicalization or who pose a security threat. Peacebuilders can help create space for CVE that isn’t necessarily laden with the risks of
association with security apparatuses.
In this way, peacebuilders are well-positioned to help advance a new approach to CVE, one rooted in a paradigm of human security. This approach actively engages and enables civil society, supports local and relevant programs rooted in a deep understanding of the drivers of violent extremism, and reaches into profound expertise in facilitating, training and promoting mechanisms to prevent violence and conflict. In this way, it offers more sustainable solutions to the problem of violent extremism.

Last year, I chaired a working group at USIP that explored the intersection of CVE and peacebuilding. One of the issues that we wrestled with was whether and how an affiliation with
counterterrorism strategy impacted our effectiveness and neutrality in the field.
The reality is that many working on CVE projects in places like Pakistan call it something else to dissociate it from the counterterrorism agenda. Our working group argued that if CVE work is approached with a peacebuilding ethos -- by supporting others to develop organic solutions, working from an inclusive human security paradigm, with sensitivity to partners’ vulnerability and safety, promoting full transparency in objectives-- then we minimize the reason or need to rebrand the effort.
A peacebuilding approach to CVE suggests a commitment to reframing CVE, not just rebranding or using peacebuilding as camouflage for externally determined interventions. A peacebuilding approach to CVE should be understood as a distinct
contribution and a potential way forward in the prevention of violent extremism.

Courtesy:
United States Institute of Peace

Germany Pledges To Support, Collaborate With Nigeria in Combating Terrorism

The German Government has promised to support Nigeria in intelligence, police and military training to combat terrorism.

This is contained in a joint communiqué signed by Martin Uhomoibhi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German State secretary, Dr Markus Ederer in Abuja on Thursday.

It said Germany also agreed to collaborate with Nigeria in crisis prevention and control of small arms and light weapons.

"Both countries were seized with the issue of terrorism and agreed that it is an international scourge rather than a national phenomenon.

"The countries recognised the importance of regional cooperation in combating the scourge and the need to address the proliferation of arms and light weapons in West Africa’’, it added.

On multilateral issues, the communiqué noted that Nigeria and Germany agreed to continue to support each other’s candidates at the UN Security Council and the entire UN system.

Germany’s last term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council ended on Jan. 1, 2013.

Courtesy:
TV Continental

United States Intelligence Officials Want ISIL Fighters to Keep Tweeting

Radical Islamists in Iraq are using social media to spread fear and propaganda in a way no terrorist group has done before.
Fighters from the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) have shared Instagram pictures of gory executions, YouTube videos showing a beheading, tweeting ''This is our ball. It’s made of skin #WorldCup.'' Seemingly without break, their Twitter accounts spews a mixture of carnage and preaching, peppered with weird jokes and gruesome taunts.

And American officials want them to keep it up.
An employee with a major social media company told Mashable that U.S. intelligence officials approached
the company and asked that the ISIL accounts not be taken down, despite the often bloody and threatening content.
"U.S. intelligence prefers for these accounts to stay up, rather than come down," the employee said on condition that he and his company not be named.

The reason? American intelligence officials are monitoring the ISIL accounts, trying to glean information about the deadly group and its strengths, tactics and networks.
Social media "is one of the many sources" American analysts monitor when "assessing the fluid ISIL
situation," a U.S. intelligence official told Mashable on condition of anonymity.
"Whether or not it makes more sense to be trying to quash this kind of communication so they can’t get
their message out, intel folks would always want them to have it more open," said Jason Healey, a founding member of the Pentagon's first joint cyber war-fighting unit and now director of the Atlantic Council's Statecraft Initiative.

ISIL is the first international terror group to have embraced social media as a vital part of its identity.
When they are not fighting, the militants tweet no end, sharing pictures of captured weapons, taking over popular memes and tweeting about about their battle plans. In fact, their social media presence is so energetic, experts believe they are either quite naive about their exposure or their messages are part of a plan to inflate the group's power and popularize themselves amongst potential recruits.
"These guys are so busy promoting themselves online, you’d think they were Justin Bieber," Clint Watts, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Mashable.

Certainly, the group appears to have a coordinated social media strategy, according to experts on intelligence gathering and the Middle East. As Kalev Leetaru, a fellow at Georgetown University, put it: ISIL is the first group to use "social media as an actual
weapon of war."
Even so, social media is a double-edged sword since it allows U.S. analysts to discover things about the fighters they might not want to reveal.
"Right now I could get online and I could watch ISIL on social media and tell you where they are operating, which countries they’re from and who they’re working with," Watts said.
Being blind did not stop me. What is your excuse for staying behind? #Tawheed #Hijrah #Jihad #IS #Khilafah pic.twitter.com/gQiv9cIFbj
— Taymullaah (@Taymullaah) July 8, 2014

By studying social media feeds, American intelligence analysts can better understand what motivates ISIL fighters, the hierarchy of the organization and the ultimate aims of the group. As Watts told Mashable,
ISIL fighters tweet about their plans and their leaders, and different factions of the group have ideological debates on Facebook.
If analysts know where to look, all they have to do is watch.
"There’s a lot of information that is being spread by ISIL accounts which could be used if the U.S. opts for drone attacks on Syria or Iraq," said intelligence expert Pieter Van Ostaeyen, who has been following ISIL tweets which, he says, reveal a stunning amount.

"They don’t seem to be afraid of anything being put out in the open. Or maybe they just don’t realize what
they’re doing."
He cited an example from a few weeks ago, involving five British-born ISIL fighters, who went on Twitter to chat about meeting at a specific Syrian Internet cafe.
When some of the other militants didn't show up as agreed, one of the fighters complained to the others on Twitter as if they were "in some private chatroom," Van Ostaeyen said.

Beyond such analysis of "open source" intelligence, U.S. officials are likely to have approached companies such as Facebook and Twitter to try to gain access to individual accounts, terrorism experts say. With that kind of access, agents could get information including the individual computer's IP address, using that to pinpoint the exact location of a fighter. Access to someone's Twitter account might also reveal an email address, which could lead to a new contact list for analysts to monitor.
Twitter and Facebook declined to comment for this article. YouTube, for its part, said that the company complies "valid court orders and subpoenas," but declined to answer specific questions about ISIL.

Though they might collect such information, the U.S. doesn't currently have a way to put it to use.
“Even if we were able to use the IP addresses, we’d have to be willing and able to deploy cyber tools, special ops and drones. And all three of those are
currently imperfect responses to ISIL," said Tom Sanderson, a terrorism and intelligence expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Though the U.S. could pass information to the Iraqi government or even militias preparing to fight ISIL, Sanderson said he doesn't think the American government is about to do that. Information leaks to the ISIL or an unfriendly government are too great a risk.

Spreading fear and propaganda, of course, is nothing new. The terror of Genghis Khan's campaign across
Mongolia in the 12th century was a language of sorts: heads on spikes communicated a clear message of pitilessness that helped crush opponents' spirits. Much later, al-Qaeda would found Inspire magazine to spread propaganda and its off-shoot in Iraq would turn to televised beheading to signal their willingness to commit unspeakably brutal acts.

During the late 2000s, as al-Qaeda in Iraq was losing ground, decimated by both American forces and local Sunni tribes turning against them, the group clung to life — in part through social media, according to Watts. And just as the Internet was evolving from a
series of static websites to a digital sphere fueled by connectivity, al-Qaeda was evolving as a network. The group took lessons learned about fighting, recruitment and propaganda in Iraq with them into Syria, where they emerged some years later as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
An influx of often young and tech savvy volunteers from the west has helped the group translate its message — not just linguistically but technologically and culturally through the appropriation of memes, for example — to a western audience. Yet there is something paradoxical about a group that wants to return everyone to the Dark Ages, yet uses high-tech
American companies to disseminate that message.

In terms of how to respond, some terrorism experts in think it might be worthwhile trying to shut down some
of the more prolific accounts. But few really think it's a feasible task.
"These guys can move to so many new accounts on Twitter and Facebook," Sanderson told Mashable . "It’s just going to be an endless game of whack-a-mole."
"Extremists are on social media to stay," J.M. Berger, a researcher who focuses on extremists' use of social media, told Mashable. "And there's no putting the genie back in the bottle."

Courtesy:
mashable.com

Apple's iPhone Branded a 'National Security Concern'

Apple's iPhone has been labelled a "national security concern" by Chinese state broadcasters as relations between the country and US over cybersecurity worsen.

The influential state-sponsored China Central Television broadcast declared the iPhone a "national security concern" as part of its national noon broadcast on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. CCT criticized the "frequent locations" function present on Apple's iOS 7 operating system, declaring that researchers believe data points recorded by the service could give those with access to this data knowledge of Chinese concerns and even "state secrets."

Found in Settings , the "frequent locations" function is an opt-in feature which allows users to grant their
devices permission to record places they often go, in order to provide useful location-based information.
The relationship between China and the US in relation to cybersecurity has never been close, but became far more strained following the leak of
confidential documents by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden earlier this year.
Out of all the leaks which showed the widespread surveillance activities of the intelligence agency, the NSA's secret tapping of networks belonging to Chinese telecom and internet giant Huawei were of interest to the country, as were disclosures which suggest the NSA hacked major telcos in China to mine text messages - as well as sustained attacks on Tsinghua University networks.

The broadcast touched upon the Snowden leaks, and according to the WSJ called the US technology firms'
databases a "gold mine." In addition, the broadcast quoted Chinese officials who insisted that Apple would need to "take on any legal responsibilities" if data leaks caused by the firm's devices caused harm.
In addition, the recent arrest of five "military hackers" who allegedly stole US corporate data by US law
enforcement is not likely to have improved matters. Following the arrests, China's defence ministry
said:
"From 'WikiLeaks' to the 'Snowden' case, US hypocrisy and double standards regarding the issue of cyber security have long been abundantly clear."

Apple is the latest in a string of US companies to be facing backlash over tense relations between China and
the United States, following questions raised by Chinese media in June over the security of Microsoft's Windows
operating system and an earlier ban of the use of Windows 8 in government computers by the Chinese Central Government Procurement Centre.

Courtesy:
ZDNet.com

Security Agencies Want To Set Us Up, Say BringBackOurGirls Campaigners

The BringBackOurGirls campaigners yesterday alleged that security agencies, who accused them of being on “franchise”, planned to set them up.
They said the “plot” might be the climax of incessant harassment and intimidation of the group in the last
two months.
They however said in spite of threats from security agencies, they would not give up the agitation for the rescue of the 219 Chibok girls, who were snatched off their dormitory on April 15.
The group, in a statement in Abuja by two of its coordinators, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and Mrs. Hadiza Bala
Usman, asked the military and security agencies to take action against terrorists who have abducted the girls instead of hounding its members.

The statement said: “For over two months, security agencies have harassed and sought to intimidate our movement incessantly. The latest was the statement yesterday accredited to the Deputy Director of Department of State Security, Mrs. Marilyn Ogar, who described the #BringBackOurGirls campaign as a
franchise.
“She made the comment in Abuja while responding to questions from journalists at the press briefing of the National Information Centre (NIC).
“This is a dangerous and unprecedented attack because as is well known in security circles, the term ‘franchise’ is used to refer to inter-related terrorist cells. She is reported to have said that if indeed our movement was a protest group, it would not need to force members to register and wear tags.
“Mrs. Ogar also affirmed security forces know about all the activities of the group. We know that they have a bank account,” she said.
“We know that they visit prominent individuals to solicit funds; we know that they have split themselves into
groups; we know that they want to simulate a protest march in Abuja to make it look like they went to Chibok.”
“There is a clear attempt to smear our work with a link of our work with Chibok and Sambisa forest. It is clear
from these comments that the security agencies are setting up the movement for a crackdown based on trumped up accusations.
“Our activities are open and our meetings are in a public space, the Unity Fountain. There is no compulsion to membership and our symbols, such as the red t-shirts, fez caps and pins are donated voluntarily by members.
“We are motivated by empathy and the need to search and rescue these girls. We are shocked that all we get from our security agencies is harassment, vilification, innuendoes and threats. This must stop.
“Security agencies have the responsibility to protect rather than intimidate citizens trying to do a good turn.

“It will be recalled that on 8th May, the Director of Defence Information of the Defence Headquarters had alleged that we distorted the report of what was for us constructive engagement with them two days previously. He claimed that we were trying to pitch public opinion against the armed forces and to project the Nigerian military in bad light and further heat up the polity.”

Courtesy:
The Nation Newspaper

Soldiers Raid Aba Central Mosque, Arrest Chief Imam, Others On Suspicion of Stockpiling Guns and Planning to Manufacture Bombs

Soldiers in Aba on Sunday carried out an early morning raid at Aba Central Mosque and the residence of some
Muslims in the town and arrested the Chief Imam of the mosque, Idris Bashir; his deputy, Mohammed Hassan; and eleven others over suspicion of stockpiling guns and planning to manufacture bombs.

The Chief Imam informed PREMIUM TIMES over the telephone that the soldiers came to their area at about
2 a.m., where they arrested four persons at the mosque while he and the others were picked from their houses.
“They took us to the 144 Battalion Barracks at Asa where their commander informed us that we are being suspected of stockpiling guns and manufacturing bombs. However, after sometime, the officer said since nothing was found after their search of our houses, mosque and shops we should be released,” he said.
He also said only eleven of them were released.
“The other two, who are the Director and Principal of New Horizon Academy, are still with the military,” Mr. Bashir said.
He said the soldiers in their raid saw some bottles of chemicals at the science laboratory of the school and accused the school officials of using them to manufacture bombs.
Mr. Bashir said the bottles were used for practical studies for students of the school.
“The bottles were not hidden and were kept aside in the lab because there were only five students offering the subject and three of them are already married and the other two appear to lose interest in the subject, so the bottles are even empty,” he said.
The cleric said he was re-invited by the military for further interrogation at Ngwa High School, on Wednesday.
“They interrogated me and released me just before we broke our fast and told me that they may re-invite me
again,” he said.

The Chief Imam said their major concern now was the fate of two of their colleagues who have been moved from Asa, where they were initially kept, to Ohafia.
“Right now we don’t know the state they are in, and these are innocent Nigerians struggling to live in the current prevailing circumstances. My appeal is for the military authorities to, please, carry out all their investigations thoroughly so that innocent persons will
not suffer for just being Muslims,” he said.

Soldiers had last month arrested 486 northerners travelling through Abia State to Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Many of them were eventually released after being detained for weeks, while the military said it was still investigating others.
The House of Representatives had on Tuesday rejected a motion that sought to investigate and put a stop to the series of arrests of northerners by soldiers in Abia State.
The motion which came under matter of urgent national importance and sponsored by Aminu Suleiman (APC,
Kano) suffered a setback when put to vote for consideration, Daily Trust reported on Wednesday.
The paper said when the deputy speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, who was presiding, put the question to a voice
vote, only few voices were heard supporting it.
The mover of the motion, Mr. Suleiman told the paper that he was not happy with the way the motion was killed by his colleagues, saying it was a dangerous precedent they set for Nigeria.
“You cannot use the excuse of the insurgency to place a particular ethnic group, people or region on security spotlight. It is nonsensical and unacceptable,” he said.
“This is a process that is capable of setting ethnic group against one another and where this is predominant is in the south-east. That is what I had wanted to read and as you know, the people that travelled a lot in this country are the south-easterners.
If some people try to apply reprisal, it will be too bad for the country.”
When contacted, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Olajide Laleye, said he was yet to get the full details of
the operation. He said he would provide the details as soon as he got them.

Courtesy:
Premium Times

United Nations Adopts New Strategy Against Boko Haram

The United Nations (UN) said yesterday that it has adopted a new strategy for assisting Nigeria in tackling the menace constituted by the Boko Haram sect.
This was disclosed by the special
representative of the United Nations
secretary-general for West Africa, Mr Said Djinnit, at the opening of the 45th ordinary session of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, and a two-day summit in Accra, the Ghanaian capital.

President Goodluck Jonathan left Abuja on Wednesday evening to Accra where he is also attending the ECOWAS summit.
Djinnit, who said the support of the sub-regional body to the counter-terrorism efforts of the federal government in tackling the Boko Haram scourge was satisfactory, noted that the strategy known as integrated support package was targeted at complementing ongoing
efforts by Nigeria which can only achieve results through a multi-dimensional approach.
According to him, the current support
from ECOWAS was also a reflection of the solidarity of the countries of the region and their legitimate concern about the spread of violent extremism.
The UN Envoy said, “The United Nations has adopted an integrated support package to complement Nigeria’s efforts, since we are convinced that only a multi-dimensional approach can bring lasting solution to the crisis.
“Our primary and immediate concern is the plight of children including in
particular those that are being held in
captivity by the terrorists, Boko Haram group, as well as the fate of the civilian population in the north-east where human rights and humanitarian conditions are distressing.”

Also, the heads of state and governments of the ECOWAS have promised that they would not rest on their oars in supporting Nigeria to combat the excesses of members of the sect. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, who is currently chairman of the authority of heads of state and government of ECOWAS region, commended the establishment of peace operations in Cameroon and Chad to defeat the Boko Haram sect in north-eastern Nigeria. He said great opportunities lie ahead of the region for creating prosperous life for citizens but only when its leaders can achieve peace and security.
He said, “Less than two months ago,
precisely on 30th May, 2014, we met at this same venue for an extraordinary summit. The main purpose of that gathering was to review the security situation in our sub-region, specifically in northern Mali and some parts of northern Nigeria.
“Let me take the opportunity to thank all who are involved in the efforts to bring peace to our sub-region. We welcome the role of Algeria and Mauritania and others to bring peace to Mali. We acknowledge the peace operation from Cameroon and Chad to defeat the Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria.”

Other issues discussed at the opening
session of the meeting included the
proposed biometric identity cards for
ECOWAS citizens to aid easy identification and movement for trade purposes.
The lingering difficulty in doing business by citizens in the region was one of the concerns raised by the leaders.
At the meeting, they identified Illegal
checkpoints, unnecessary documentation requirements, substantial informal payments at borders and transit fees as some of the huddles inhibiting free trade.

Courtesy:
Leadership Newspaper

Maimalari Barracks Mutiny: Nigerian Army Court-martials 18 Soldiers

The Nigerian Army has court–martialed 18 soldiers for attempted murder and mutiny in Maimalari cantonment, Maiduguri.
In an internal memo seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the Commander, Army Headquarter Garrison, B.T Ndiomu, ordered the General Court Martial, GCM, to be presided by C.C Okonkwo, a Brigadier General.
Mr. Ndiomu, who is also a Brigadier General, had ordered that a GCM be assembled at the garrison’s conference hall on June 26.
The GCM is made up of seven members, two waiting members, a judge advocate and two prosecuting officers.
Others include: a liaison officer, a contact officer, two officers authorized to sign any amendment convening officer and eight other soldiers who form a court secretariat.
The 18 soldiers are to be court-martialed for an incident that occurred in May at the barracks On May 14, some soldiers, angered by the death of 12 of their colleagues in a Boko Haram ambush, opened fire on the vehicle of the
General Officer Commanding, GOC, 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Ahmadu Mohammed.
The soldiers blamed Mr. Mohammed for the death of their colleagues killed in the ambush.
Sources had told PREMIUM TIMES that the soldiers were ambushed while on a special operation in Kalabalge Local Government Area where locals on the Tuesday morning killed about 150 insurgents and arrested 10 others.
After the operation, during which some military equipment were recovered from the insurgents, the soldiers who had arrived the council, at night were asked to return to Maiduguri.
The soldiers reportedly pleaded to be allowed to return to Maiduguri the next morning, as the night trip would be too risky.
Their request was allegedly turned down and the troop had to drive to Maiduguri at night.
“Those commanding the troop declined their request to pass the night in one of the villages on the grounds that the top ranks at the headquarters of the 7 Division would not be pleased if they don’t go back to Maiduguri that night,” said a ranking soldier, who sought anonymity.

The 7 Division, recently formed, is located in Maiduguri, the capital of the troubled Borno State.
But half way through their journey, they ran into a Boko Haram ambush and 12 of them got killed while some others were injured, sources said.
The military later claimed that only four soldiers died in the ambush, before it increased the figure to six.
The survivors, in what seemed a vengeance mission, opened fire on their commander, Mr. Mohammed, when they eventually arrived in Maiduguri.
Mr. Mohammed, a Major General, was immediately redeployed to another command which the military did not reveal.

However, in its version of the attack on the GOC, the military said the soldiers did not shoot at their commander.
“The fact of the matter is that troops on patrol around Chibok were ambushed by insurgents yesterday. Troops engaged the insurgents in a fierce combat and extricated themselves from the ambush killing several insurgents.
“Four soldiers however lost their lives during the ambush.
“On evacuation of the remains of the fallen troops, the General Officer Commanding addressed the troops who registered their anger about the incident by firing into the air,” the military spokesperson, Chris Olukolade, a Major General, had said in a statement.
The Nigerian Army, however, instituted a military board of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the conduct of soldiers who fired some shots.
In a charge sheet signed by Mr. Ndiomu on June 28, it was specified that 11 of the soldiers are being charged with criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny among others.

These eleven soldiers are facing a six-count charge of committing mutiny, criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny, attempted murder, disobedience to particular orders, insubordinate behaviour contrary to and punishable under the law, and false accusation.
The charge sheet read that the soldiers inspired other military personnel of the 101 battalion to commit mutiny and also accused E. Azenda, a Lieutenant colonel who is the Second in Command of the 101 battalion of conspiring with other officers to kill the soldiers.

One of the charges read “that you between 13 and 14 May 2014 at Maimalari cantonment in Maiduguri fired sporadically with the intent to incite other personnel of 101 battalion against the authority of 7 Division.”

Punishment for the offences under the Armed Forces Act include; death, imprisonment, dismissal with ignominy from the Armed Forces, a fine of a sum not exceeding the equivalent of three months’ pay among others.
The accused soldiers are entitled to a defence counsel of their choice. However, the convening officer must be informed of the defence counsel 24 hours before trial commences.
The convening officer is also expected to appoint a counsel if the accused persons fail to secure one.
The president of the GCM is expected to submit six bound copies of the proceedings of each case to Mr. Ndiomu not later than six weeks after the end of the trial.

Below are names of the accused soldiers, their ranks and service numbers:
96NA/ 42/6235 Cpl Jasper Braidolor
96NA/ 43/ 10277 Cpl David Musa
05NA/ 57/ 3451 LCpl Friday Onun
09NA/ 64/ 4905 LCpl Yusuf Shuaibu
09NA/ 62/ 1648 LCpl Igono Emmanuel
09NA/ 64/ 4214 Pte Andrew Ngbede
10NA/ 65/ 8344 Pte Nurudeen Ahmed
10NA/ 65/ 7084 Pte Ifeanyi Alukhagbe
13NA/ 69/ 2898 Pte Alao Samuel
13NA/ 69/ 2907 Pte Amadi Chukwudi
13NA/ 69/ 2898 Pte Allan Linus

The other seven soldiers also court-martialed but yet to be charged are:
93NA/ 36/ 1542 Cpl David Luhbut
97NA/ 45/ 7423 Cpl Muhammed Sani
03NA/ 53/ 816 Lcpl Stephen Clement
09NA/ 62/ 1648 Inama Samuel
09NA/ 64/ 5858 Iseh Ubong
10NA/ 65/ 6912 Ichocho Jeremiah
10NA/ 65/ 7343 Sabastine Gwaba

Courtesy:
Premium Times

Boko Haram: FG Floats N30bn 'Victims Support Fund', Inaugurates 'Safe Schools Initiative Committee'

President Goodluck Jonathan announced yesterday that the federal government has concluded plans to float a N30 billion support fund for victims of Boko Haram attacks across the country.
LEADERSHIP gathered that, while the
victims support fund got the endorsement of the Council of State on Tuesday, the federal government would be approaching Gen. Theophilus Danjuma to chair the fund, with Mr. Fola Adeola serving as his deputy.

President Jonathan who confirmed the floating of the fund when he inaugurated the Steering Committee for the Safe Schools Initiative at the presidential villa, Abuja.
He said, “We are also coming up with a package. Because we know that we need to intervene to cushion the effect of Boko Haram. So many people have been killed, we have widows and orphans. Properties have been destroyed, schools burnt.
Government is also coming up with what we call Victims Support Fund.
“We believe that government alone cannot cushion the effect. We want to mobilise resources within and outside Nigeria just like we did during the flood of 2012. We are trying to get somebody that will head that fund. We are looking at the 16th of this month to formally launch the fund.
Government will put something and
individuals will do too”.

The Safe Schools Initiative is being
implemented in collaboration with the
international community led by the
Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy on Education and former British Prime Minister and a true friend of the nation.

Steering Committee for the Safe Schools Initiative inaugurated by the president yesterday is co-chaired by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Gordon Brown. Other members include Governors of Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Aliko Dangote and Nduka Obaigbena, Women affairs, Wike, rep of NSA, DG NEMA, NCWS, civil society.

After inaugurating the committee,
Jonathan said in tackling insurgency,
government was deploying a three-point strategy that focuses on security to enhancement the country’s intelligence and military capability”.
He added that the federal government is also “seeking political solution by working with local governments and communities as well as economic solution through various economic empowerment and job creation programmes all directed at
combating insecurity.
“The safety of our children and the
security of their education must be
paramount to all of us. Tragic
occurrences like the kidnapping of the
Chibok girls must not rise again anywhere in this country”, he noted.
Jonathan continued: “This country is
passing through stress within this period caused by the excesses of the Boko Haram sect and our government has been approaching it from different fronts. We always insist that the defence or security does not end terror but we need to stop collateral damage on innocent people.
“For us to win the war, we need to look at it holistically: economic issues, educational issues, religious issues, socio-cultural issues etc. At the federal level, we have the Presidential Initiative in the North East (PINE). They are looking at the totality of what the Federal Government can do in collaboration with stakeholders.
He said, “Some states are fairly okay with one or two percent. But some states are as high as 70 percent. If the dropout rate of students at the basic level is as high as 70 percent, that means that only 30 percent only goes to school. That is
terrible.

Courtesy:
Leadership Newspaper

Scores of Nigerian Soldiers Ambushed, Killed In a Failed Bid To Recapture Damboa Barracks From Boko Haram

Nigerian soldiers deployed to recapture Damboa military base suffered huge casualties as Boko Haram militants ambushed them, killing at least 15 soldiers, a security source has disclosed to SaharaReporters.

The source stated that 200 soldiers had been sent on the operation to reclaim the base from the Islamist insurgents who overran it and took it over a few days ago. Our source stated that the militants, who had hoisted their flag on the base, had dug a trench where many of their heavily armed gunmen lay in ambush awaiting what they knew would be the inevitable arrival of a contingent of soldiers to retake the base.

As soon as the soldiers approached, the Islamist militants surprised them by opening fire from their trenches, killing as many as 15 soldiers and wounding many more, said the source. “Some of the injured soldiers said that they lost 15 soldiers, but the full extent of those who died is even unclear now,” he told our correspondent.

“I went to the MRS Hospital in Maimalari barracks in Maiduguri. The hospital is filled to capacity with injured soldiers,” said the source. He added that the hospital was so stretched that some of the wounded soldiers were on the bare floor to receive treatment. “There’s a lack of space and facilities to accommodate the injured victims.”

Our source said the injured soldiers were enraged that they were sent on such a high-risk operation without enough firepower and troops to take out Boko Haram insurgents. “They are very angry and the atmosphere is tense,” said the source.

Courtesy:
SaharaReporters

Exclusive: Iraq Tells U.N. that 'Terrorist Groups' Seized Nuclear Materials

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to "stave off the
threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad."
Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University, Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the July 8 letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.
"Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," Alhakim wrote, adding that such materials "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction."
"These nuclear materials, despite the limited amounts mentioned, can enable terrorist groups, with the availability of the required expertise, to use it separate or in combination with other materials in its terrorist acts," said Alhakim. He warned that they could also be smuggled out of Iraq.

A U.S. government source familiar with the matter said the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium and therefore would be difficult to use to manufacture into a weapon. Another U.S. official familiar with security matters said he was unaware of this development raising any alarm among U.S. authorities.

A Sunni Muslim group known as the Islamic State is spearheading a patchwork of insurgents who have
taken over large swaths of Syria and Iraq. The al Qaeda offshoot until recently called itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
"The Republic of Iraq is notifying the international community of these dangerous developments and asking for help and the needed support to stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad," Alhakim wrote.

Iraq acceded to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material on Monday, said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The convention requires states to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage and transport.
"It also provides for expanded cooperation between and among states regarding rapid measures to locate and recover stolen or smuggled nuclear material, mitigate any radiological consequences of sabotage, and prevent and combat related offences," according to the IAEA.

Courtesy:
Reuters