We’ ll Confront Security Challenges With All Our National Endowment — Pres. Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday in Abuja said that the nation would confront its present security challenges with “ all our national endowment ”.
Jonathan, who was represented by the Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Aliyu Gusau (Rtd) said this at the graduation ceremony of Course 22 Participants of the National Defence College (NDC).

“We have made some gains against the adversary, we face an unspeakable evil and we must confront it with all our national endowment .
“And as government we will not compromise our sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria.
“And we will not allow the authority of Nigerian state to be challenged.

Education is a human right which is
invaluable transformational value and is the bases of our development progress.
“We shall not give up that right for some faceless, misguided, self-styled using the means of terror,” he said.
Jonathan called on the populace to close ranks with government to end to insurgency saying: “there is no
challenge that can divide the collective will of the Nigerian .
“May I also use this opportunity to assure all Nigerians that we are committed to bringing back the
Chibok girls alive . ”

He called on the Armed Forces, intelligence and security agencies in the expanded security approach was crucial and urged them to take proactive measures in the discharge of their responsibilities .
“On the part of the government, we are committed to improving institutional capacity, platform and equipment , human and resources endowment of our security agencies to meet these challenges .
“Let me use this opportunity to salute the gallantry of men and women of the armed forces , the police , intelligence and the security agencies and emergency services for their loyal and patriotic service to the nation,
“My heart goes to all the service men that had paid the supreme sacrifice, so that other Nigerians may continue to live in peace and security.

“I wish to convey my personal sympathy to Nigerians, who had in one way or the other suffered human and material loss on account of terrorism, ” he said.

Earlier in his welcome address, Commandant of the NDC, Rear Admiral Patrick Agholor , said that the
graduation of Course 22 marked the end of another successful academic journey at the NDC.
Agholor said during 44- weeks duration of the course, the participants received series of lecture on a wide range of subjects.
“I therefore, implore you to use the learning experiences, skills and values acquired here as enablers to drive your creativity and innovativeness to
meet challenges, you will face.
“I urge you, therefore, to prepare your minds and be ready to discharge your duties and responsibilities with utmost professionalism, ” he said.

The best graduating participant, Col. Joseph Chima, attributed the success of the participants to hard work.
“It was a very intense course and to have gone through it and top the class was challenging, ” he said.

Col. Cosmas Alhassan a foreign participants from Ghana who emerged as the best foreign participant said the course was educative . He said the knowledge he acquired would come handy in the discharge of duties in Ghana.

PM News

USB Devices Can Secretly Infect, Hijack Computers - Researchers

Berlin-based cyber-security experts Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell demonstrated how malicious code on
hardware connected via USB could "hijack" a PC, and gather private data.
The duo said there is no practical way to defend against the vulnerability.

The body responsible for the USB standard said manufacturers could build in extra security.
It is not uncommon for USB sticks to be used as a way of getting viruses and other malicious code onto target
computers.
Most famously, the Stuxnet attack on Iranian nuclear centrifuges was believed to have been caused by an
infected USB stick.

However, this latest research demonstrated a new level of threat - where a USB device that appears completely empty can still contain malware, even when formatted.
The vulnerability can be used to hide attacks in any kind of USB-connected device - such as a smartphone.
"It may not be the end of the world today," Mr Nohl told journalists, "but it will affect us, a little bit, every day,
for the next 10 years".

'Chip' exploited USB -
which stands for Universal Serial Bus - has become the standard method of connecting devices to computers due to its small size, speed and ability to charge devices.

USB memory sticks quickly replaced floppy disks as a simple way to share large files between two computers.
The connector is popular due to the fact that it makes it easy to plug in and install a wide variety of devices.
Devices that use USB contain a small chip that "tells" the computer exactly what it is, be it a phone, tablet or
any other piece of hardware.
It is this function that has been exposed by the threat.

Smartphone 'hijack'
In one demo, shown off at the Black Hat hackers conference in Las Vegas, a standard USB drive was inserted into a normal computer.
Malicious code implanted on the stick tricked the machine into thinking a keyboard had been plugged in.
After just a few moments, the "keyboard" began typing in commands - and instructed the computer to download a malicious program from the internet.

Another demo, shown in detail to the BBC, involved a Samsung smartphone. When plugged in to charge, the phone would trick the computer into thinking it was in fact a network card. It meant when the user accessed the internet, their browsing was secretly hijacked.

Mr Nohl demonstrated to the BBC how they were able to create a fake copy of PayPal's website, and steal user log-in details as a result.
Unlike other similar attacks, where simply looking at the web address can give away a scam website, there were no visible clues that a user was under threat.
The same demo could have been carried out on any website, Mr Nohl stressed.

'Trust nothing'
Mike McLaughlin, a security researcher from First Base Technologies, said the threat should be taken seriously.
"USB is ubiquitous across all devices," he told the BBC.
"It comes down to the same old saying - don't plug things in that you don't trust.
"Any business should always have policies in place regarding USB devices and USB drives. Businesses should stop using them if needed."

The group responsible for the USB standard, the USB Working Party, refused to comment on the seriousness of the flaw. But in more general terms, it said: "The USB specifications support additional capabilities for security, but original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) decide whether or not to implement these capabilities in their products.
"Greater capabilities of any product likely results in higher prices, and consumers choose on a daily basis
what they are willing to pay to receive certain benefits.
"If consumer demand for USB products with additional capabilities for security grows, we would expect OEMs to meet that demand."

Mr Nohl said the only protection he could advise was to simply be ultra-cautious when allowing USB devices to be connected to your machines.
"Our approach to using USB will have to change," he told the BBC.

BBC

Ebola Outbreak: Nigerian Government Install Infrared Thermal Detectors At Entry Points

The Nigerian government says it has
installed infrared thermal detectors in two of its international airports and land borders all aimed at preventing the spread of Ebola virus.

In a meeting with the diplomatic corps and heads of international agencies in the country, top Nigerian officials assured the> international community of its readiness to contain the viral disease.

The Nigerian government says it is undertaking high- level measures to contain the spread of the ebola virus which is still restricted to one of its cities, Lagos.

As such most entry and exit points into Nigeria are now to have infrared thermal detectors which are meant to detect high body temperatures.
Nigerian authorities also say they are not contemplating border closures or banning flights from some affected countries in the west African region as it will be counter-productive.

The Liberian and Sierra Leonean ambassadors complained of stigmatization of their citizens in
some Nigerian cities and are asking for the government’s intervention.
Most diplomats and international organisations pledged to support Nigeria and ECOWAS countries to curtail the Ebola virus but want African governments to step up public health campaigns.

TV Continental

Three Students Shot As Unical Student Union Government (SUG) Election Turns Violent

Three Students of the University of Calabar were on Wednesday evening shot by stray bullets discharged from the riffle of a security officer of the university.

The shooting occurred sequel to an inconclusive Student Union Government election contested by four candidates: Emmanuel Akobi, Ajang Emmanuel, Ilefa Austin and Afo Nelson.

According a student who functioned as observer in the election, Ekere Sylvanus, a year three political Science Student, trouble started when some of the students who registered to vote but could not find their names in the electoral register were not allowed to vote.
“Some students who registered during the registration exercise could not find their names on the Voters Register and the Electoral Officer who was assigned to conduct the election by the Vice Chancellor asked them to wait in a queue and the number rose to about three hundred and when it was 3pm when the election was scheduled to end, the Electoral Officer said the election
had ended prompting those students to insist they should be allowed to vote”.

NigerianEye

Boko Haram: Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Donates N125m To Victims of Terror, Insurgency

Indigenous Automobile giant, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd (PAN), has donated the sum of N125m to victims of terrorism attack in the country.
This is in line with the response to the call by President Goodluck Jonathan on all corporate bodies to donate to the “Terrorism Victims Support Fund” (VSF), according to the Chief Executive officer of the company, Mr. Ibrahim Boyi.

In a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, PAN stated that it will provide N25m worth of cars to the secretariat of VSF headed by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.

The CEO further disclosed that PAN will provide free tuition, valued at N100m to 100 qualified family members of the victim that will be nominated by the VSF foundation for technical skills acquisition in automobile repair and maintenance training.

Daily Times

Boko Haram: Solution Lies With Northern Elders - Aliyat Yakub

A friend wanted to visit the north, and she was so scared of coming that she had to consult her pastors on whether to come or not. It is so unfortunate that this is the situation our region finds itself today.

Gone are the days when everybody in the country wanted to have a feel of the northern culture. That was in the good old days. The security situation has left the North in ruins. As a result, northern political leaders, traditional rulers, elders and religious leaders should not sit by and watch Boko Haram destroy the region completely. It is unfortunate that the group, created by some selfish politicians for their political gains, has grown into a monster they can no longer control.

Today, people are being killed on a daily basis in Borno State. Although majority of Boko Haram’s atrocities are being carried out in Borno and Yobe states, the whole region is suffering from this madness.

Our economic life has been ruined by Boko Haram. Poverty is at an all- time high. Even before the advent of Boko Haram, we were trailing the other regions in terms of economy, education, among others, but today, the gap has
been widened to the extent that if Boko Haram cease all hostilities today, it would take about 50 years to return to the level we were before.
When we finally get back to that level, we will now start working towards running after the other regions, which would have gone far ahead of us.

Many businesses have been ruined, and others have simply relocated to the more stable regions in the country.
It is now time for our leaders in the North to come together and look at ways through which they can encourage the leadership of the sect to stop all its evil activities.

While they are waging a war against the
Nigerian government, and the President
Goodluck Jonathan-led administration, it is the people of the North who are suffering.
Those being killed on a daily basis are not the president’s kinsmen. They are northerners. The Christians being killed are also northerners.
These killings affect Jonathan in no way, and it won’t stop him from completing his term as president, or even from securing another term in office. If there is anybody losing from this heinous crime, it is the northerners.

I hope our leaders can finally convince Mr. Abubakar Shekau and his evil foot soldiers to stop wasting innocent peoples’ lives.

Boko Haram Retakes Military Camps in Gujba Local Govt Area, Yobe State

Military camps in Buni Yadi, Buni Gari and Goniri, all in Gujba Local Government area of Yobe State have
now been allegedly occupied by the Boko Haram insurgents, according to residents of the area.

It was also gathered that the recent bombing of the Katarko Bridge by the insurgents has temporarily cut-off both vehicular and human movement between Buni Yadi, the capital town of Gujba local government area and the Yobe state capital, Damaturu.

It was however gathered that some bold travellers going into what has become the den of the insurgents have to break their journeys at Katarko and cross over River Katarko to join a waiting vehicle to Buni Yadi or Buni Gari and vice versa.

One of the residents of the area, speaking to journalists anonymously in Damaturu after a ride from the "danger zone", disclosed that members of the Boko Haram sect "now move freely in the area brandishing their guns and weapons."
He lamented that the insurgents "now occupy locations that were previously manned by military in the areas."
“I am just coming from Buni Yadi. I came with my bicycle all the way to this place. I did not use any bush path. I followed the main road.
“We are facing a very terrible situation. There is no single security in our area.

The same in Buni Gari and Goniri. In fact the boys ( yaara in Hausa referring to Boko Haram) have taken over the military camps in the areas."

Details to follow

ThisDay Newspaper

Suspected Boko Haram Militants Kill 10 In Cameroon

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Suspected members of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram killed 10 people and
kidnapped one in a raid on the village of Zigague in remote northern Cameroon on Wednesday, state radio reported.

The heavily armed gunmen arrived in a pick-up truck and on motorcycles at around 2 p.m. local time and stormed the house of a local chief, kidnapping one of his children and stealing a car, an army commander told state radio.
“On their way back, they came face-to-face with Cameroonian soldiers but succeeded in shooting to death nine villagers and a soldier of the Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR)," Albert Mekondane Obounou, senior divisional officer for the Logone and Chari region, told state radio.

Cameroon has introduced measures to increase security on its long jungle border with Nigeria, deploying more
than 1,000 soldiers, but has failed to stop Boko Haram raids.

President Paul Biya dismissed two senior army officers last month following Boko Haram attacks in which at least seven people were killed and the wife of the vice prime minister was kidnapped.

Reuters

Russian Gang 'Steals' 1.2 Billion Usernames and Passwords

A Russian group has hacked 1.2 billion usernames and passwords belonging to more than 500 million email addresses, according to Hold Security - a US firm specialising in discovering breaches.
Hold Security described the hack as the "largest data breach known to date".

It claimed the stolen information came from more than 420,000 websites, including "many leaders in virtually all industries across the world".
Hold Security did not give details of the companies affected by the hack.
"They didn't just target large companies; instead, they targeted every site that their victims visited," Hold Security said in its report .

"With hundreds of thousands of sites affected, the list includes many leaders in virtually all industries across the world, as well as a multitude of small or even personal websites."

The New York Times, which first reported the findings , said that on its request "a security expert not affiliated with Hold Security analysed the database of stolen credentials and confirmed it was authentic".
"Another computer crime expert who had reviewed the data, but was not allowed to discuss it publicly, said some big companies were aware that their records were among the stolen information," the paper said.

The paper added: "Hold Security would not name the victims, citing nondisclosure agreements and a
reluctance to name companies whose sites remained vulnerable."

The Wall Street Journal later revealed that Hold Security intended to offer website owners the ability to check
whether they had been affected, but only if they paid a fee.
The firm has since posted a message on its site saying it will charge $120 (£71) a month for a "breach notification service".

One computer security expert said he was surprised by this approach.
"This situation is quite unusual in that the company has decided to charge for this information," Dr Steven Murdoch from University College London's computer science department told the BBC.
"Usually they would do an initial disclosure [of who had been affected] for free and then offer their services for a fee at a later stage.
"The company rightly points out that there is going to be a huge amount of work to securely contact all the
affected websites, but a common solution to this is to partner with a government or industry-funded
organisation to help with that."

Despite the large amount of credentials said to have been compromised, Dr Murdoch added that it would be premature to advise the public to reset all their passwords.
"Although there's a large amount of passwords involved, a lot of them could be irrelevant and many of the
websites tiny," he said.
"It's not necessarily the case that a large proportion of internet users have been affected. Until we get more statistics we won't know that.

"So, there's no reason to panic now, but perhaps it's a good reminder to follow best practice of not using the same password on multiple websites, because this will not be the last time such a breach happens."

Multi-pronged attack?
Hold Security, which has previously reported about hacks on Adobe and Target, said it took more than seven months of research to discover the extent of the latest hack.
Other security experts are surprised by the way Hold Security is sharing its information.

The firm claimed the gang initially acquired databases of stolen credentials from fellow hackers on the black market.
"These databases were used to attack e-mail providers, social media, and other websites to distribute spam to victims and install malicious redirections on legitimate systems," Hold Security said.
The hackers also got access to data from botnets - a network of computers infected with malware to trigger online fraud.

Hold Security said the botnets helped the hacking group- which it dubbed CyberVor - identify more than 400,000
websites that were vulnerable to cyber attacks.
"The CyberVors used these vulnerabilities to steal data from these sites' databases," the firm said.
"To the best of our knowledge, they mostly focused on stealing credentials, eventually ending up with the largest cache of stolen personal information, totalling over 1.2 billion unique sets of e-mails and passwords."
The firm is now marketing its breach notification service as a way to "stay ahead of the hackers ".

But one of its rivals expressed surprise at this approach.
"For a long time the security industry has freely shared information on breaches within its own community,"
said Vanja Svajcer, principal security researcher at Sophos.
"Researchers discovering credentials breaches usually help end users either by making the information about
compromised accounts public or by working with the company whose servers were compromised to inform all affected users.
"In this case, the credentials were harvested from thousands of servers and it would be difficult to work
with every server owner to inform the compromised users. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to expect the company to make the information freely available so everybody can check that none of their email addresses have been compromised."

Password tips:
The University of Surrey's Prof Alan Woodward suggests the following rules should be observed when picking a new password.

Don't choose one obviously associated with you:
Hackers can find out a lot about you from social media so if they are targeting you specifically and you choose, say, your pet's name you're in trouble.

Choose words that don't appear in a dictionary:
Hackers can precalculate the encrypted forms of whole dictionaries and easily reverse engineer your password.

Use a mixture of unusual characters:
You can use a word or phrase that you can easily remember but where characters are substituted, eg,
Myd0gha2B1g3ars!

Have different passwords for different sites and systems:
If hackers compromise one system you do not want them having the key to unlock all your other accounts.

Keep them safely:
With multiple passwords it is tempting to write them down and carry them around with you. Better to use some form of secure password vault on your phone.

BBC

Nigeria Declares Ebola Outbreak 'National Emergency'

The Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Wednesday described the Ebola outbreak in the country as a “national emergency”.

Mr. Chukwu made the statement at an emergency meeting convened by the House of Representatives Committee on Health over the Ebola outbreak in Abuja. He said that out of six Nigerians diagnosed with Ebola virus, one had died on Tuesday, adding that the other five patients were receiving treatment.
The minister said that everyone in the world now was at risk, adding that the experience of Nigeria had opened the “eyes” of the world to the reality of
Ebola.

Mr. Chukwu faulted a report on the curative powers of Bitter Kola on Ebola. According to him, there was no empirical evidence to show that bitter kola will prevent or cure Ebola.
Commenting on the issue, the Project Director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abdulsalami Nasidi, disclosed that 70 Nigerians were currently under surveillance for the disease.
Mr. Nasidi said that Patrick Sawyer arrived Nigeria about two weeks ago, had 70 primary and secondary registered contacts of which 39 were
hospital contacts and 22 airport contacts.
Mr. Sawyer’s contacts, it was disclosed, comprised officers of the State Security Service, Nigerian Immigration Service, airport support personnel and medical personnel that attended to Sawyer.

The Director, Port Health Services in the Health Ministry, Sani Gwarzo, said that restrictions had been placed on the repatriation of corpses of Nigerians abroad into the country.
He said that this was part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria.
Mr. Gwarzo said that more personnel were required by the health ministry to man and screen travelers at the country’s several travel entry.

Earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Ndudi Elumelu, said the committee reconvened to find out how many Nigerians were infected with.Ebola.
He explained that the committee also sought to know what the ministry had been doing to curb the spread of the virus.
According to him, Ebola is what most Nigerians are currently worried about; measures must be taken to protect Nigerians.

News Agency of Nigeria

Boko Haram Insurgency: MASSOB Leader Asks Ndigbo Living in The North To Return

Chief Ralph Uwazuruike who is the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, has again requested Ndigbo residents in any part of northern Nigeria to relocate to Igboland with immediate effect so as not to fall prey to the raging Boko Haram insurgency in the region.

Uwazuruike who expressed worries over the constant killing of innocent Igbo sons and daughters doing legitimate businesses in the north, told reporters that, although it was painful for them to abandon their life-time investments in the north to relocate home, their lives were more precious than their wealth.

Speaking at the MASSOB headquarters, Okwe, near Okigwe, Imo State, the MASSOB leader regretted that his previous calls for his kinsmen to return at the beginning of the insurgency were not heeded, stressing that this accounts for why many Igbo sons and daughters have been killed by the insurgents.
He stressed that since the lives of Ndi-Igbo could no longer be guaranteed by the Nigerian security forces, the only option left for them was to return
home for now, warning that this might be his last time to make such a call.

Uwazurike recalled that the late Biafran war hero, Chief
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, had similarly warned Ndigbo to return home before the outbreak of the Nigerian/Biafran civil war, adding that those who heeded the warning returned and saved their lives, while those who disobeyed perished with their investments.

DailyPost

Boko Haram Renders 650,000 Nigerians Homeless - United Nations

Attacks by Boko Haram in the crisis-hit northeast have forced nearly 650,000 people from their homes, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said Tuesday, an increase of nearly 200,000 since May.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on its part reported that about 1,000 people trying to escape the fighting had fled to an uninhabited island on Lake Chad across northeastern border. "The group, mainly women and children, is in urgent need of food, water, shelter and
medical care," the UNHCR said. They reached the remote island of Choua on Thursday after fleeing a Boko Haram attack in their hometown of Kolikolia,
according to the refugee agency.

Chad has pledged to send two helicopters to the island to help evacuate the Nigerian refugees to a nearby area where they can be temporarily settled with host
communities, the UNHCR added. The refugee agency said it was sending staff to the area to coordinate the relief effort. Thousands have fled over Nigeria's borders into Cameroon, Chad and Niger seeking refuge from Boko Haram's relentless violence, which has killed more than 2,000 civilians this year and left scores of villages destroyed.

Relief workers have avoided setting up refugee or internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, but some fear camps may soon become necessary, especially in
Nigeria, as the security forces struggle to contain the escalating Islamist violence. OCHA said 436,608 people have been displaced in the three states - Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe -- that were placed under emergency rule in May 2013.

The agency put the IDP figure at 250,000 in May this year. Another 210,085 have fled their homes in areas neighbouring the state of emergency zone, bringing the total number of people displaced by Boko Haram unrest to nearly 650,000, OCHA reported.

ThisDay

Boko Haram Trails Nigerians To Chad, Kills 6

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect Monday crossed over to a village in Chad and killed.six Nigerians who were taking refuge there.

Sources said the insurgents stormed Dubuwa village in Chad from Kirenowa, a border town in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State.
About two weeks ago, the Boko Haram assailants attacked Kirenowa, killed some residents and burnt public and private houses, a development which forced the locals to seek refuge in Chad.

Mohammed Yusuf, a farmer from Kirenowa told our.correspondent in Maiduguri yesterday that the insurgents pursued the fleeing residents to Dubuwa and killed six.
“After the attack on our village two weeks ago, many crossed over to Chad, some to Cameroon and many others to other places in northern Borno. Sadly, the attackers pursued those in Kirenowa and succeeded in killing six people,” Yusuf said.

Some security sources that spoke off record confirmed that like in southern part of the state, the Boko Haram
fighters are attacking villages in the northern part.
“Our troops are intensifying efforts to contain the situation but the truth is that the locals must always volunteer information on the movements of the
terrorists. This is key to achieving positive results,” one of the security officials said.

Kirenowa was the first place that Nigerian forced dislodged a Boko Haram camp in 2013, shortly after the
declaration of a state of emergency.
“From all indications, the insurgents are fully back in Marte and other local government areas along the shores of the Lake Chad. We pray something urgent would be done so that we would not have a repeat of what happened last year when the Boko Haram fighters hoisted their flags in our villages and indoctrinated our children,” Abba Kolomi, a fisherman said.

Courtesy:
Daily Trust

United States Surveillance Planes Searching for Boko Haram Abductees Spot Girls in Nigeria

Recent U.S. surveillance flights over northeastern Nigeria showed what appeared to be large groups of girls held together in remote locations, raising hopes among domestic and foreign officials that they are among the group that Boko Haram abducted from a boarding school in April, U.S. and Nigerian officials said.

The surveillance suggests that at least some of the 219 schoolgirls still held captive haven't been forced into
marriage or sex slavery, as had been feared, but instead are being used as bargaining chips for the release of
prisoners.

The U.S. aerial imagery matches what Nigerian officials say they hear from northern Nigerians who have
interacted with the Islamist insurgency: that some of Boko Haram's most famous set of captives are getting special treatment, compared with the hundreds of other girls the group is suspected to have kidnapped. Boko Haram appears to have seen the schoolgirls as of higher value, given the global attention paid to their plight, those officials said.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces re- election in February, is under political pressure to secure the girls' release, with some people urging him to agree to a prisoner swap.
His government has ruled out a rescue operation, saying it is unwilling to risk the girls' lives, or a prisoner swap.
"We don't exchange innocent people for criminals. That is not in the cards," said Mr. Jonathan's spokesman, Reuben Abati, last week in an interview.

In early July, U.S. surveillance flights over northeastern Nigeria spotted a group of 60 to 70 girls held in an open
field, said two U.S. defense officials. Late last month, they spotted a set of roughly 40 girls in a different field.
When surveillance flights returned, both sets of girls had been moved. U.S. intelligence analysts say they don't have enough information to confirm whether the two groups of girls they saw are the same, they said.

They also can't say whether those groups included any of the girls the group has held since April. But U.S. and Nigerian officials said they believe they are indeed those schoolgirls.
"It's unusual to find a large group of young women like that in an open space," said one U.S. defense official.
"We're assuming they're not a rock band of hippies out there camping."

A wave of intermediaries acting on their own has tried to negotiate the girls' release, Mr. Abati said, adding that the president has neither authorized nor discouraged those efforts. Several of those intermediaries have said Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has ordered his fighters to treat the girls as valuable hostages—not sex slaves—one senior Nigerian security adviser said.

"He gave a directive that anybody found touching any of the girls should be killed immediately," the adviser said.
"If true, it is cheering."
It would also show that Boko Haram is trying to follow an al Qaeda tactic of swapping hostages for money and
political gain.

Boko Haram has used hostages in the past to demand the exchange of its prisoners held in both Nigeria and
Cameroon, which was one of the conditions for the release of a French family from captivity last year.
Now, the group appears to be testing the bargaining power of a group of girls who had been ordinary teenagers at a school—until their abduction on the night of April 14. That night, fighters with the Islamist insurgency—which is opposed to modern education—stormed a boarding school and drove 276 girls away hours before their final exams. Fifty-seven later escaped.

The captivity of the rest became a cause célèbre, prompting a Twitter campaign, #BringBackOurGirls, that was joined by notable figures including Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. It also spurred Boko Haram's latest effort to get its captives released from crowded Nigerian prisons—a long-standing grievance. Three months after seizing the girls, Boko Haram's leader, Mr. Shekau, appeared in a video demanding a prisoner exchange. "You are saying bring back our girls," thundered the bearded gunman, before firing his AK-47 into the air. "We are saying bring back our men!"

Dozens of demonstrators still gather in the capital each day to press for the girls' freedom. Their rallies have become a referendum on whether Nigerian women particularly poor, young, Muslim girls— are valued by a government of mostly wealthy, elderly, Christian men.
Mr. Abati said Mr. Jonathan has worked tirelessly to win the girls' freedom.

It isn't clear how many of the girls Boko Haram can deliver. A former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who has a history of contact with the group, has said some of the girls are likely dead or pregnant. Only about 130 of them—out of 219 missing— appeared in the sole video of the girls that Boko Haram has ever provided.

Meanwhile, the international effort to find the girls has waned: The U.S. military is now carrying out just one
surveillance flight a day, mostly by manned aircraft, totaling only 35 to 40 hours a week, said U.S. defense
officials, as drones have been shifted back toward other operations.

Some accounts suggest the burden of providing for scores of girls has become a point of dissension in Boko Haram's ranks.
In July, four girls and women aged 16 to 22 hid in their bedrooms as Boko Haram fighters broke into their home in the town of Damboa, they each said in an interview last week. They feared they would be kidnapped.
When their aunt, Fatima Abba, argued on their behalf. The roughly 20 Boko Haram insurgents decided not to
kidnap them—and instead began to complain about the scores of schoolgirls they already have.
"They are always crying. They behave like children," Ms. Abba quoted the Boko Haram fighters as saying of the
schoolgirls. "We don't want them around."

Source:
WSJ

Nigeria’s 1,479 Illegal Porous Borders May Hamper Efforts To Curtail The Spread Of Ebola Virus

There are fresh fears that porous Nigerian land borders may thwart the Federal Government’s efforts to check
the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the country.

Saturday PUNCH’s investigations revealed that the porosity of Nigerian land borders exposed the country
to the risk of the deadly disease.
At the last count, there are about 1,479 illegal routes into Nigeria through which smugglers, undocumented immigrants and terrorists have been infiltrating the
country.

Checks also show that port health officials, who are usually deployed by the ministry of health in border points, are not available at many of the unauthorised routes where individuals infected with Ebola virus could access the country without let or hindrance.

Findings revealed that the 114 regular border posts manned by immigration and health officers, were inadequate to protect the country from Ebola virus
which could be imported into the country through infected migrants and even documented visitors.

Although visitors to Nigeria are expected to possess the International Health Certificate (Yellow card), investigations show that most foreigners using the
international land borders do not have the document.
Investigations by Saturday PUNCH indicated that the Nigerian Immigration Service, with 23,000 workers, and other security agencies do not have the manpower, material resources and capacity to secure even the normal legal and massive borders and prevent
infiltration of the country by immigrants infected with Ebola disease.

Thus, infected persons, who do not show symptoms of the virus can easily enter through the land borders as the deadly Ebola disease may not be obvious to the
health officials and immigration personnel at land borders.

Nigeria, being a hub of economic activities in the West African sub-region, is an attractive destination for illegal migrants from Chad, Mali, Niger, Cameroun, Togo, Benin Republic and other countries.

Though the Federal Government had issued a health advisory to port health officers and the immigration service personnel, Saturday PUNCH’s investigation showed that they were not given enough equipment that could assist them in the task of identifying and
isolating infected persons coming into the country.

Ebola is an acute viral illness and often characterised by fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and
sore throat. These are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

Experts, including the Medical Director, Clinical Research Physician, United States, Dr. Hezekiah Adesanya, said that Nigeria was at the risk of the disease through land borders.

Adesanya said the Federal Government should set up Ebola quarantine centres at land borders like it did in airports.
He stated that the possibility of the disease spreading through land borders is worse than air and sea ports because more people preferred roads as a mode of transportation.
“Due to the long travel from Liberia to Nigeria in cramped and close proximity, potentially infected people have more time to interact and opportunities to
“touch” and therefore spread to co-travellers,” he stated.

Advising Nigerians going through land borders, he said, “Be careful and observe the same care; no touching of
anyone. If anybody manifests any of the symptoms, inform the driver, evacuate the bus and get the person to the nearest health facility which is to be isolated
immediately.”
According to him, the Federal Ministry of Health should liaise with ECOWAS and the WHO to set up health posts along the ECOWAS highway.

On his part, the Vice -President of the Commonwealth Medical Association and former President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, said, “Indubitably, there is a possible risk of Ebola Viral Disease spreading to Nigeria on account of the highly active migration activities at all of Nigeria’s land borders, including the active and unrestricted movements of immigrants from afflicted African
countries such as Guinea, Sierra-Leone, Liberia and Ghana.”

He called for the re-orientation of the Nigerian border patrol and health staff as well as the strengthening of the disease surveillance mechanisms at the land borders.
Enabulele stated, “The spread can further be buoyed through contact by uninfected persons with persons
infected with the Ebola Virus following contact with infected bodily fluids, blood and blood products or the consumption of infected animal meat products by
unsuspecting persons migrating through Nigeria’s land borders.”

Courtesy:
Punch Newspaper