Boko Haram: DSS Raises Alarm Over Possibility of Female Suicide Bombers Disguised As Catholic Reverend Sisters

The Department of State Service (DSS), has raised alarm over the possibility of Boko Haram terrorists, using a female suicide bomber disguised as a Catholic Reverend Sister to attack a church.

This warning was given by Deputy Director, Public Relations, DSS, Ms Marilyn Ogar, who said that the
timely information is to prevent such terrorists disguising themselves in order to gain entrance to tomorrow’s Sunday services.

According to Ms Ogar, some unidentified persons had on August 20, 2014, about 0400 hours, broken into a tailoring shop located at No.55 Odutola Street, Sabon Gari, Kano, and stole about 13 pieces of Catholic Church Reverend Sisters’ regalia.

She said that with the recent trend of female suicide bombings in the country, the theft of these regalia heightens concerns about the possibility of terrorist elements using same to perpetrate acts of terror.

Consequently, she added that the Department of State Service wishes to draw the attention of the public to this development and to call on all citizens to be more circumspect and exercise greater vigilance with users of such peculiar attires.
"We therefore enjoin all to continue to cooperate with law enforcement agencies through the provision of
useful information on suspicious activities within their immediate environment".

"This Service will continue to collaborate with all stakeholders as we strive to keep our country safe", she assured.

Source:
ThisDay

Gunmen Kill 3 Policemen At Checkpoint In Bauchi

Unknown gunmen have killed three Policemen at check point after Tilden Fulani Village in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

The Bauchi State Police command Public Relations Officer DSP Haruna Mohammed said "I am yet to get
details of the attack, but as soon as I do so, I will let you know please." THISDAY gathered from security sources and Toro local Government Officials that the incident occurred Thursday in the night between 10:30pm to 11:30pm.

Our correspondent gathered that the slain Policemen were killed at their regular check point in the area. Our
source explained that on the fateful night," five Policemen went out for duty, unfortunately it was rainy, three of them remained at check point in their vehicle and two of them went to eat in the town; before they came back the Gunmen attacked and killed all the three policemen and took away the rifle of one of them, their corpses were evacuated to Hospital in Bauchi".

Source:
ThisDay

Boko Haram On The Brink Of Creating A Caliphate In Northern Nigeria

Daring advances by Boko Haram suggests the Islamic Sect may be on the brink of achieving its goal of creating an Islamic Caliphate in northern Nigeria. Analysts are however of the view that comparisons to the Iraq crisis are premature and the military can reverse the group’s gains.

The conflict in the Islamists’ northeastern stronghold remains in flux even as witnesses, security sources and experts report that the insurgents have seized several areas and towns since April.

Precisely mapping the areas captured by the extremists— who are blamed for more than 10,000 deaths since their uprising began in 2009 — is near impossible.

The northeast, under a state of emergency since May last 2013, has poor mobile phone coverage, travel is
dangerous and the military has restricted the flow of information.

The United Nations has confirmed reports that the towns of Damboa and Gwoza in Borno State were under
rebel control earlier this month, although Damboa may have since been retaken.
On Thursday, witnesses and an official in Buni Yadi in neighbouring Yobe state said that town had also been seized.

Ryan Cummings, chief Africa analyst at the South Africa-based crisis management group Red 24, described Boko Haram’s shift from guerrilla-style hit-and-run tactics as “a significant evolution” and predicted the trend would continue.

Virginia Comolli of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London added that the group was “in control” of northern Borno, which is consistent with residents’ accounts.
She said that the group had captured and held territory before but “now we are looking at a more extended area”.
“They have a real shot of achieving their goal” of creating a strict Islamic state in the north, she added.

Military Weakness -
While the rebels have grown stronger, secured powerful new weapons and refreshed their ranks with new conscripts, military failures are largely to blame for the worsening crisis, multiple sources said.
“For whatever reason, our soldiers, who are capable of defeating Boko Haram terrorists, were starved of the
necessary weapons,” said a senior security source in Borno’s capital Maiduguri.
He noted that Boko Haram had taken over larges swathes of northern Borno before May last year.

When the state of emergency was declared, the military launched a massive offensive which temporarily flushed the rebels from their strongholds. But said the security source, top brass failed to sustain the pressure.

Boko Haram “would have been completely crushed had the tempo of the offensive been sustained”, he told AFP.
“I assure you it will not take much effort to crush them if provided with the needed weapons,” he added.
Lack of arms for troops has become a flashpoint issue, and soldiers this week refused to deploy to Gwoza without better weapons in an apparent mutiny.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and top economy and some observers have put the defence budget at roughly $6 billion (4.5 billion euros) per year.
If troops are chronically ill-equipped, corruption and inefficiency are the likely causes, rather than a lack of
resources, experts say.

Most agree that force alone cannot end the five-year conflict and must be coupled with major economic
development in the desperately poor northeast.

Not ‘Islamic State’ -
In a July video, Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau voiced support for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of
the Islamic State (IS) extremists who have captured parts of Iraq and Syria and claimed the grisly execution
of US journalist James Foley.
The mention of Baghdadi was unusual for Shekau, who in videos often appears completely detached from current events.

Jacob Zenn, an analyst at the US-based Jamestown Foundation, said there were similarities between IS and Boko Haram, notably their shocking levels of brutality.
Boko Haram has among other crimes massacred thousands of defenceless civilians, opened fire on students sleeping in their dorms, kidnapped hundreds of children, including more than 200 schoolgirls from the
town of Chibok in April.

But while the United States has described IS as “beyond anything” it has seen in terms of funding, weaponry and strategic sophistication, Boko Haram is largely made up of poor, uneducated youths with almost no tactical training. Though the group is thought to have ties to outside jihadi groups but the extent of those links is not clear.

Boko Haram “has not reached that level of sophistication”, Comolli told AFP, referring to IS, but said Shekau’s mention of Baghdadi was noteworthy.
Boko Haram, she said, is “watching what is going on”.

Vanguard Newspaper

Defence HQ Encourage Nigerians To Report Deserters, Malingerers To Security Agencies

Nigerian military hierarchy have started going after soldiers deserting from the Armed Forces.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said that the Nigerian military would ensure the arrest of all deserters from the Army because deserting is a grave crime in the military.

Olukolade made this assertion while speaking on issues involving the on-going counter terrorism operation at
Nigeria News Info, monitored by our correspondent.

He called on members of the public to ensure that deserters were reported to the military authorities for prompt action. According to him, any soldier found roaming about without being on leave or an authorised pass would
most likely be a deserter and should be reported to the appropriate authorities.

The Defence Spokesman urged Nigerians to avoid the temptation of
glorifying soldiers for displaying cowardice, involvement in inglorious conducts.

The military spokesman emphasized that the authorities would go after and arrest any deserter no matter how long it would take them to have him.
“In any case indeed, there are deserters, yes there are deserters definitely, and the deserters are being arrested.
“In fact, we call on the public, if you see a deserter, bring him, it is a crime.
“If you see somebody who ought to be in the front and he is roaming around, he is not on leave, he is not on a legitimate pass, there is every likelihood, he is a deserter.
“And in any case even deserters are supposed to be reported to security agencies and arrested; it is a crime
to be a deserter; if you are a deserter, that is the worst form of military service.
“And I think it is time the public knew some things that should not be glorified about the soldier; if a soldier is a mutineer, if a soldier is a deserter, when a soldier demonstrate cowardice, such a person is not doing anything glorious. Such a person is a disgrace and is actually operating in the realm of crime; and there is no heroism whatsoever in it.”

“Now the way people are presenting this attitude, makes it look as if they want to feel heroic; you desert your unit, you go about telling lies of what is happening in the front; so that you would look gallant. Such a person should be reported and if possible arrested and presented to the authorities. If it takes 20 years, a deserter is a deserter, we will get him."

Olukolade who also spoke on the issue of the attack on the former General Officer Commanding the 7th Division of the Nigeria Army, Maiduguri, Major General Ahmed Mohammed, said that some of the soldiers were facing trials as a result of the incident.
He said that the military authorities would speak on it at the conclusion of the trial.

Source:
Punch Newspaper

Nigeria Police Promotes, Redeploys Officers: DCP Ojukwu Replaces ACP Frank Mba As PRO

The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has appointed DCP Emmanuel Ojukwu as the new Force Public Relations Officer to replace ACP Frank Mba who has been redeployed to Lagos State Command as an Area Commander, Area J, Ajah.

ACP Mba was the Force Public Relations Officer from February 2012 to August, 2014.
Until his new assignment, DCP Emmanuel Ojukwu was the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of
Criminal Investigations Department at Zone 7 Headquarters, Abuja.

The new spokesman is stepping into a familiar terrain, having distinguished himself as the Force PRO from
December 2008 to October 2010.
He holds B.Sc degree in Psychology from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and M.Sc in Psychology from the
University of Lagos. He is a member of Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Chairman Association of
Nigerian Authors, Abuja, President of the University of Nigeria Alumni Association, Abuja.

ACP Mba while handing over the baton, thanked the IGP for the new assignment given to him and urged the media and the public to extend maximum cooperation to the new spokesman.
Responding, the new Force PRO promised to work to increase the tempo of good relationship between the Police and the public in line with the policy thrust of the Nigeria Police Force.

He called on members of the public and the media to grant the same level of goodwill and cooperation necessary for his success in office. The new Force PRO harped on the slogan “The Police is your helper and friend.”

Also the Police Service Commission, in continuation of its resolve at repositioning the Nigeria Police Force for optimal productivity has approved the deployment of AIG Bala A. Hassan, formerly AIG from Zone 10, Sokoto to the Force Headquarters as the new Force Secretary.
He takes over from Dan’Azumi Job Doma who was recently elevated to the rank of Deputy Inspector –General of Police. The deployment is with effect from 19th August, 2014.

The appointment of the Force Secretary follows Tuesday’s promotion of 19 new Assistant Inspectors General of Police by the Commission. They are CP Ambrose O. Aisibor, formerly CP Kwara state, CP
Adebayo Ajileye, one time CP Legal, Umaru Abubakar Manko, formerly CP Lagos state, CP Joel Kayode Theophilus, formerly CP Jigawa state, CP Wilfred Eje Obute, and CP Felix Osita Uyanna.
Others are CP A. J. Abakasanga, CP Jubril Olawale Adeniji, CP Ibrahim M. Maishanu, CP Godfrey E. Okeke,
CP Chintua Amajor-Onu, formerly CP Homicide, CP Lawal Tanko, CP Usman Akila Gwarry, CP Kalafite Helen Adeyemi, CP Yahaya Garba Ardo.

Also promoted are CP Irimiya F. Yerima, formerly Commandant Police College, Ikeja, CP Olufemi A. Adenaike, formerly CP Kaduna, CP Mbu Joseph Mbu, formerly CP in charge Rivers and FCT and Patrick Dey Dokumor, formerly CP in charge Federal SARS.

Disclosing that all the appointments are with effect from 20th August, 2014, the PSC said the promotions became necessary to fill the vacancies created by recent retirements/promotions in the Force and to re-invigorate and reposition Zonal and other Commands headed by AIGS, to help tackle the country’s current security challenges.

The promotion of the new AIG’s assigning of positions to the new Deputy Inspectors General with DIG Dan’azumi Job Doma appointed DIG 2i/c to the IGP.
DIG Solomon Arase is the DIG in charge Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), DIG Hilary Opara is the DIG in charge Administration and Finance, DIG Sotonye Wakama is the DIG in charge of Operations, DIG
Mamman Tsafe is the DIG in charge Works and Logistics.

Others are DIG Christopher Katso, DIG in charge of ICT (InfoTech), DIG Salihu Argungu, DIG in charge of Training while DIG David Omojola is DIG in charge Research and Planning.

Source:
Vanguard

Boko Haram: 'Mutinous' Soldiers Set For Court Martial; Insurgents Overrun Police Training School Near Gwoza

Mutinous soldiers of newly created 7th Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri have been relocated to another division for trial, it was learnt yesterday.

The military is said to have taken the step to avoid the trial constituting a distraction to the Division in its fight against the Boko
Haram insurgency and to avoid “spiral effect” on the morale of other soldiers.

A source revealed that Buni Yadi in Yobe State is constantly exposed to attacks from Boko Haram because of the “thin presence” of troops in the area as a result of manpower challenge. The troops deployed in the area are only on patrol duties.
Although the military is silent on the number of the affected soldiers, the figure is said to be between 18
and 50.

Some of the soldiers were fingered in the alleged shots fired at a car carrying the former General Officer Commanding the 7 Division in Maiduguri, Borno State, Maj.-Gen. Ahmadu Mohammed while others were said to have violated the Army Act on issues bordering on redeployment to flashpoints in parts of Borno State.

A military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “The mutinous soldiers have been taken away from Maiduguri to some Divisions where court martial had been ongoing.
According to him, “We do not want the trial to distract the focus of the 7 Division in curtailing Boko Haram. It can evoke emotion and generate more reactions. Already, you can see the wives of soldiers protesting against deployment of their spouses to flashpoints.” The source was however not forthcoming on the location of the court martial.

Another source cited security reasons for the shifting of the trial from Maiduguri to other divisions.
The source said: “Actually, based on security reasons, it will not be safe to put the soldiers on trial in Maiduguri.
They do not want it to have contagious effects.
“And the good thing about court martial is that its jurisdiction covers all parts of the country. The soldiers can be tried anywhere.”

On a related note, it was learnt that the Police Training Academy near Gwoza in Borno State had been overrun by Boko Haram insurgents.

A witness was quoted by the BBC as saying that he heard shots after the insurgents arrived in three armoured vehicles and on dozens of motorcycles.

A police spokesman confirmed the attack and a senior security source said it had not been possible to
establish communication with the academy since Wednesday, the BBC reported.

The Liman Kara College is near Gwoza town, which has been seized by Boko Haram since the beginning of this month.

The militants have stepped up their attacks after being pushed out of their bases in Maiduguri, the capital of
Borno state, and have been targeting towns and villages in deadly raids.
In recent weeks, the militants have been moving from their rural camps and taking over substantial towns such as Damboa and Gwoza.

Attempts by the security forces to retake Gwoza have not succeeded so far – and a group of about 40 soldiers is now refusing to fight, saying they are too poorly equipped to take on the heavily armed insurgents.

Residents of Liman Kara, which is about 15km from Gwoza, told the BBC Hausa service that police recruits
were seen running from the college after the attack began at dawn on Wednesday. He said he was unable to confirm if there were casualties as he had joined other residents and fled the town to nearby hills.

A security official who craved anonymity told the BBC that the militants had “entered the school” but said he could not confirm they were in control of the college as it had not been possible to contact it.

A similar attack on the college was repelled by officers undergoing training there two weeks ago.
BBC Hausa’s Mahmud Lalo said the Liman Kara academy is one of only two riot police training colleges in Nigeria and the militants are likely to find weapons there.

Several hundred militants were reportedly involved in the raid on the college, which there were reportedly more than 290 police trainees at the time.

Source:
The Nation

Arise Nigerians, Unite Against Insecurity, Terrorism and Insurgency!

Written by: Don Okereke

Agreed Nigeria has never been the most peaceful country in the world but the current spate of insecurity, terrorism and insurgency is unprecedented in the annals of this country. What started like a child's play has metamorphosed into one of the world's deadliest terrorist organizations. Prior to now, the concept of suicide bombing was alien to Nigeria, now it is becoming voguish even to females (mothers and potential mothers!) One is amazed how Nigeria snowballed to this ignoble position within a short period of time.

Britain 'To Send Tornado Reconnaissance Jets to Nigeria' To Find Abducted Chibok Girls

The RAF is sending three warplanes to help locate the Nigerian schoolgirls taken by an Islamist terror group, it has been reported.

Four months ago Boko Haram, which is fighting to reinstate a medieval Islamic caliphate in religiously mixed Nigeria, abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from the village of Chibok and they remain missing.

Four MASSOB Members Feared Dead As Commanders Battle Uwazuruike

Four people were feared dead yesterday and scores injured when the commanders of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) ‘toppled’ the embattled leader of the group, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and took over the national headquarters of the movement at Okwe in Onuimo Local Government Area of Imo State.

Lebanese Businessman Kidnapped By Gunmen in Ibadan

THE General Manager of Black Horse Industries Limited, Mr. S. Sakalawi, has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The Lebanese was seized and whisked away by three gunmen, who stormed the factory premises located along Old Lagos Road, Podo area of Ibadan at about 9:30p.m last Tuesday, according to reliable sources.

United States Donates High Tech Bomb Disposal Robot, Equipments to Nigeria Police

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle, has donated a bomb disposal robot and other equipment to the Nigerian Police and assured that his country would continue to support it in the war against insurgency in the country.

British Extremists Fighting For 'The Islamic State' (ISIS) Are The 'Most Vicious and Vociferous' - Expert Says

British extremists are among the "most vicious and vociferous fighters" in Islamic State (Isis) ranks in Syria and Iraq, a jihadism expert has said.
Sunni Muslims from the UK are taking part in the conflicts "in every way", according to Shiraz Maher from King's College London's International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.

Mutiny Attracts Death Sentence, Chief of Army Staff Warns Soldiers

THE Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Kenneth Minimah, on Tuesday, warned  that any soldier or officer convicted of mutiny would be court marshalled and sentenced to death.

Boko Haram: Nigerian Soldiers 'Mutiny Over Insufficient Weapons'

A group of soldiers in north-eastern Nigeria is refusing to fight Islamist Boko Haram militants until they receive better equipment, one of the mutineers has told the BBC.

The soldier, who requested anonymity, said at least 40 of his colleagues would refuse orders to deploy.

A defence ministry spokesman said the incident was being investigated.

Boko Haram Suspect Arrested Near Lagos Airport Confesses He Was Sent To Bomb Murtala Mohammed Int'l Airport

The Boko Haram suspect who was arrested at National Airport Management Authority (NAMA) annex in Lagos yesterday, confessed last night that he was sent along with other Boko Haram members to Lagos to bomb various parts of the city.

The physically challenged 22-year-old suspect who was caught with canisters around his neck, in his confession, told security operatives that his two other colleagues were assigned the task of bombing Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), as well as the densely populated Lagos Island and Apapa areas of the megacity.

A Security source, who spoke exclusively to THISDAY, said the suspect (name withheld) had confessed that he alongside several others were recruited from Niger Republic and were trained extensively before their deployment.

The suspect said the plot to bomb Lagos would not be simultaneously done, a clear deviation from the planned simultaneous attacks last year March, when the sect tried to bomb various designated places across the state at the same time.

According to him, the attempt by the
physically-challenged suspect was the first attempt to bomb Lagos after the twin bomb blasts in Apapa two months ago that claimed no fewer than five persons including the suicide bomber.

A security official, who spoke to THISDAY on the strict condition of anonymity, said the attempt would have been successful but for the inability of the explosives to detonate when they were supposed to.

He said: “He was caught because when he tried to set off the explosives, there was a hitch. He ran back to an obscure place to check it out and fix it.

His suspicious movement and the frustration evident on his face aroused the suspicion of security operatives attached to NAMA.”
Also speaking, another source from the state security department said already, investigations had kicked off in full gear to round up other suspects who were said to have been deployed to wreak havoc in the state.

The suspect was arrested at the NAMA annex facility, known as CENTREX, about 300 meters from the international terminal of the airport, opposite the airport cathedral.

THISDAY learnt that the suspect was making frantic phone calls, and looked frustrated and restless. His mannerism and slovenly conduct aroused the suspicion of security personnel who were watching him and subsequently arrested him.

He was taken to the MMIA police station at Beesam junction. Shortly after his arrest, the police had initially pleaded for more time to undertake the investigation to confirm the identity and mission of the suspect.

The police also said that the suspected explosive device found on the suspect would be examined and confirmed later, adding that it would be hasty to describe it as an explosive.

A police officer, however, described the device found on the suspect as locally made explosives.

Reacting to the incident, the General Manager, Public Affairs of NAMA, Supo Atobatele, said the suspect was within the vicinity of the airport making phone calls along the Airport Road when the agency’s security personnel accosted him.

He said his incoherent explanation aroused further suspicion, especially with the suspicious looking canisters on his person.
“The attention of NAMA has been drawn to insinuations that a suspected suicide bomber was arrested at one of the agency’s facilities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Monday.

“The basic truth however is that the said suspect was on the ground making phone calls along the Airport Road close to CENTREX, an annex office of NAMA when the agency’s security personnel accosted him.

“His incoherent explanation exposed him to the security personnel who later found on him some devices suspected to be explosives. He was subsequently handed over to the Airport Police Command for further investigation.

“The Managing Director, Ibrahim Abdulsalam, in reaction, commended the security personnel for their vigilance and prompt arrest of the suspect,” Atobatele said in a statement.

The suspect who wore brown shorts and a white T-shirt was prevented from speaking to reporters about his mission to the airport.
But another policeman told THISDAY that the suspect was not willing to talk initially, having concealed his age but later said that his father was from Kano while his mother was from Cameroon and that he lived in Nasarawa quarters in Kano.

Yet, another senior security official with one of the aviation agencies told THISDAY that enquiries had revealed that the suspect was from Niger Republic, arrived Lagos on Sunday
and was asking people for the location of the airport before he was arrested.
The official alleged that the suspect was on a mission and was sent by somebody, dismissing the initial statement from the police that he was a lunatic.

“I don’t think that the suspect is a lunatic. If the police say that he is a lunatic let them prove that he is one.
“From my own assessment, the suspect was on a mission; he was sent by somebody, but the police have not given us more information.
I went to see him and the young man spoke both in English and in Hausa. The police said they should be given time to investigate the suspected devices, so let me give them time,” the official said.

Source:
ThisDay Newspaper