Shaky Ceasefire: Soldiers Kill 25 Boko Haram, Recover Arms In Fresh Attack on Damboa

At least 25 members of the Boko Haram terrorists group were on Sunday night killed by troops of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno state, Security officials have said.

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

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

Nigeria's First Lady - Mrs Patience Jonathan Donates Relief Materials To Boko Haram Victims

The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has donated three truck loads of relief materials to displaced victims of Boko Haram in Borno and Gombe states. The Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil, who represented Mrs Jonathan, visited several camps of displaced people on Saturday.

Boko Haram: Nigerian Troops Kill 50 Insurgents, Lose Two Soldiers To Reclaim Damboa

Troops moved swiftly at the weekend to regain Borno State town Damboa from Boko Haram insurgents. In the process, troops killed 50 insurgents and lost two soldiers.

The troops survived five ambushes to reclaim the town which had been held by the insurgents for about one month.
The Special Forces and more troops have been deployed in Gwoza where more than 150 people had been killed by the insurgents, it was gathered.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki has said that the government had blocked all the source of fund for Boko Baram, thereby making it difficult for the sect to get funding for its nefarious activities.

The Defence Headquarters has also said neither soldiers nor their wives could reject deployment to Gwoza and the Sambisa Forest.

The protest in Maiduguri on Saturday by wives of some soldiers was being regarded as “indiscipline.”
According to a top military source, who gave insights into how Damboa was reclaimed, said: “The troops survived five deadly ambushes by the insurgents to recapture Damboa, Delwa, Mustafari, Manga, Wanga and secure all routes leading to these places.

“We have completed the mop up operation in Damboa and environs. So far, the troops succeeded in killing 50 insurgents and lost two of their colleagues.
“Many arms and ammunition were also recovered from the insurgents including vehicles and  anti – aircraft RPG.
“We are doing our best to restore normal life and business activities to these areas. The target is to clear the areas completely of insurgents and ward off further threats.”

On Gwoza where over 150 had been killed, the highly-placed source added: “Special Forces have been sent to the  Emirate, including surrounding hill tops.
“We will dislodge the insurgents from the town within the next one week. “The reality is that the insurgents had been taking advantage of the terrain in Gwoza to abduct, maim and kill innocent ones. The battle of Gwoza is expected to cover a lot of air strikes.”

There were indications yesterday that the Defence Headquarters has said that soldiers or their wives cannot reject posting to either Gwoza or Sambisa Forest.
Another military source said: “The soldiers or their wives cannot turn down deployment to Gwoza or Sambisa Forest or anywhere there is a security challenge.

“We are going to engage in massive deployment of troops to these places and other flashpoints in the country. Contrary to insinuations, our troops are well-kitted because we know that curtailing insurgency requires being sufficiently armed.

“What the wives of some of the soldiers did in Maiduguri at the weekend was strange to military ethics and orientation. Right from the time of enlistment, it is made clear that no soldier can reject posting.
“The so-called protest amounted to indiscipline in the Armed Forces., we will not condone such.

“Maybe some of the wives of these soldiers need more orientation and enlightenment. We will not hesitate to guide them accordingly.
The source added: “There is no Army General that has not paid his or her dues by serving in frontline zones or managing security challenges. All our Generals are tested.”

The National Security Adviser(NSA) said the nation’s educational system will be overhauled in the light of the security challenges facing the country.
He said the recent abduction of Chibok girls had compelled the government  to place the protection of schools high on national security agenda.

Dasuki made the submissions in a paper at the Nigeria Security Summit at Harvard University, Cambridge, in the United States.
He said: “When we started to deal with the Boko Haram threat, our laws were not so clear on a number of fundamentals. Through the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, significant progress has been made.
“It has allowed us to not only define terrorism, but block avenues of financing for their activities while putting in place structures to deal with our current threats. This has included the establishment of a Counter terrorism Centre and, working with key stakeholders, we have developed a National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST).

Dasuki said the nation’s educational system will be overhauled to serve our current security and economic interests.
He said: “Further to this, the threat that we face has drawn our attention to the need to overhaul our educational system. We are struggling with an educational system that does not currently serve our security, political and economic interests and as we revisit our national security policy, education has remained a top priority.

While we grapple with education reform to ensure the right kind of education is available for all, the recent abduction of girls from their school in Chibok has compelled us to place the protection of schools high on our national security agenda.
“Working with traditional institutions, community based organizations and the police, local governments must be proactive in building community resilience and good governance.

“It is time we leverage on our democratic processes to increase access to decision making for a majority of our citizens. Inclusive, non-discriminatory and participatory governance is more likely to detect discontent before it erupts.
“The goal of politics must be to lift our people out of poverty and provide them with the enabling environment to compete favorably.
“This may not eliminate the possibility of misguided individuals or groups rising up against the nation, but will address some of the underlying factors leading to recruitment into groups prone to violent extremism.
“We must also address environmental pressure from climate change that results in increased competition for limited natural resources, leading to increased herdsmen, farmer conflicts, inter-ethnic and communal clashes.
“The youth bulge is both a challenge and an opportunity which the federal government has recognized and initiated programs to increase job opportunities.

“Insurgents seek to force fundamental changes on society, operating with impunity; they violate all decent human values in an effort to draw a commensurate response from authorities. Terrorists win when states respond to their attacks in ways that are incompatible with their values.
The NSA assured that Nigeria will abide by international practices in curtailing the prevalent insurgency.
He said the Armed Forces had been undergoing a series of training on human rights.

The Nation

Boko Haram: Nigerian Military Set To Reinforce 'Special Forces' To Damboa, Borno State

The leadership of the Nigerian military has concluded arrangement to deploy 600 specially trained commandos in the troubled area of Damboa, Borno State.

A security source said on Tuesday that the military personnel were specially trained within the country for the purpose of strengthening the security presence in Damboa, which is considered as one of the most volatile areas in the North-East.

It was gathered that the military and the soldiers deployed in that part of Borno State had become very skeptical about the sincerity of the people following the ambushing and killing of an army officer, who was commanding the troop.

It was said that the leadership of the military was shocked that the lieutenant-colonel, a Muslim, who was on mission to convince the people to prevail on the insurgents to embrace peace could be killed in an ambush by the same people he was protecting.

The source said that the military leadership had to take the step to send the specially trained forces to the area to replace some of the soldiers with affected morale in the area.

The source said, “The Army is sceptical about the sincerity of the Damboa people. The situation is such that it has become difficult to separate the people of the area from Boko Haram elements in the area. The place is completely infested.

“And that was responsible for the ambushing and killing of the officer, who was in charge of the troops in the area.

“The morale of the troops is seriously affected, with the killing of their commander and there is the need to prevent them from acting irrationally, to boost their morale.

“The officer, who was killed went there to protect the integrity of the nation. Being a Muslim, he had to tell them they were damaging the image of the North.

“He led that soft approach, to plead with the leaders to talk to them about the importance of peace, and to warn anybody who refused would be dealt with.

“A specialised team has been trained to take over from some of the guys on the ground. Six hundred of them are ready for deployment now. It is a strong force that would boost the morale of those in the area.”

Investigations revealed that the Federal Government had embarked on massive procurement of military hardware from the United States and Russia to address the incessant Boko Haram attacks in the North-East.

It was learnt that the government had imported 40 helicopter gunships from the US and Russia. They are expected to arrive the country first week of August.

The government was also said to have imported mine-resistant tanks required for some planned operations in areas taken over by the insurgents.

The source added that the military had also embarked on massive recruitment of troops in the bid to strengthen the nation’s security forces against the threat of terrorism.

“The Federal Government has purchased some fighter helicopters for this operation; about 40 helicopter gunships have been imported out of which over 30 are from the US while the rest are from Russia.

“They are scheduled to arrive the country in August; the government is embarking on a massive purchase of equipment and recruitment of troops in preparation for the threat. They are doing a lot of recruitment this year,” the source added.

Punch

Abubakar Shekau’s Growing 'Caliphate': Boko Haram Control More Than Half of Borno State

Boko Haram insurgents are daily becoming more daring in their attacks, moving into strategic towns and villages, killing, maiming and sacking residents in northeast Borno State.

The militant group has widened its tentacles and is now in control of more than half of the entire communities in the state.

“The more we thought the security situation would become better, the more the attacks on communities,” says Abba Kakami, Borno State chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Kakami’s view only captures the feelings of Borno residents and others in the two North-east states of Adamawa and Yobe where Boko Haram exert more presence. “Each day is like traveling on a long lonely road in apprehension with a faulty vehicle that could break down anytime,” a resident of Maiduguri who did not want his name in print told Sunday Sun, adding that residents had been living in perpetual fear.

“About a year ago, our hope was brightened when young men with sticks arrested Boko Haram militants. We thought the end has come but it is clear now we haven’t seen the end,” he added. The residents lamented that their initial optimism was gradually waning especially as Boko Haram had found safe havens in southern part of Borno and neighbouring Bauchi state to launch more attacks.

Strategic attacks/movement

Boko Haram insurgents have been very strategic in their operations since 2010 when full scale insurgency was launched in Borno, its birthplace. While in Maiduguri, its initial operational base, the sect expanded its base and camps to Marte, a border community in northern Borno, hilly Gwoza area, southeast of the state, Mubi area in north of Adamawa and Gujba, eastern part of Yobe where it occasionally attacked communities. By late 2011, it began full scale attacks in northern Borno, sacked almost all the communities and by early 2013, it took on the central part of the state, starting from Alao near Maiduguri, Borno State capital. It moved gradually to Konduga, Kawuri, Bama, Pulka junction, to Gwoza. The insurgents burnt down almost all the towns and villages around the area and subsequently moved to the southern part of the state. Residents believed the hilly and good vegetation of the Savannah southern part of Borno provides a fertile ground for Boko Haram activities including establishment of camps and operational base. It stepped up its attacks on communities and educational institutions in Borno and Yobe late 2013 and early 2014, leading to the massacre of over 40 students of College of Agriculture Gujba, Yobe State, over 60 students of Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, St Joseph Seminary School, Shuwa, Adamawa State and then, the April 14 abduction of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls, which attracted international outrage. Gujba and Gulani in Yobe and Mubi as well as Madagali in northern Adamawa share border with southern part of Borno where Sambisa Forest, a major Boko Haram camp and Chibok are also situated.

Boko Haram’s new-found haven

Until now, residents of Borno believed the Christian dominated southern part of the state was insulated from Boko Haram attacks but with the kidnap of the schoolgirls in April and subsequent attacks with less restriction from military forces, it became obvious that the terrorists have found a new haven in the friendly southern area. A security source told Sunday Sun that the insurgents shifted their activities to the southern part because of persistent pressure on them and killing of their fighters by Nigerian military troops. “We didn’t give them breathing space. We smoked them out and rooted their camps in Marte. So they decided to move to southern Borno where they can get cover with the vegetation there,” the source explained. He also disclosed that all the nine local governments areas in that axis are easily linked from Sambisa. “I think it was a clear operational strategy by the terrorists. They simply established their camp at Sambisa, a very large area, to continue their terror in the area having been chased out of the northern and central parts. From this point too, they can easily move to Adamawa by the north and Yobe-Bauchi axis by the east,” he stated.

He, however, admitted that the attention of the military “was actually on Sambisa and communities  around the general area,” adding that they “did not consider possible attacks” in places like Chibok, Hawul or Askira-Uba “because of the understanding that their children are not easily recruited into the sect due to their level of education.” That purported wrong assessment of the Boko Haram activities, gave the sect opportunity to plan and execute attacks on communities in the area.

Boko Haram’s newly captured areas

A recent daring attack on a newly established military base in Damboa, also in southern Borno, about 85 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital by Boko Haram, presumably gave away the control of the muddy town to the insurgents. Just last week, the insurgents sacked the town, burnt down almost all the houses and killed over 25 people. The northeast zonal office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 15, 204 people have been displaced. Damboa, mostly peopled by peasant farmers and traders, has a population of about 231, 573, according to 2006 Nigeria census. Fleeing residents of the area said two-third of the total 6, 219 km2 landmass that made up Damboa Local Government, have been taken over by Boko Haram with unverified claims of the sect hoisting its flags in the area. Other communities in the local government taken over by the insurgents include Kimba, Madaragrau, Chikwar Kir, Mandafuma, Bomburatai and Sabon Kwatta.

In Hawul local government area, most communities around the Kwajafa district have been largely deserted after incessant attacks.

Chairman of Hawul Local Government Area, Dr Andrew Malgwi told Sunday Sun on phone that the residents of Gaggirang village are now taking refuge on a road around the area after the insurgents took over their homes last Sunday.

“The attackers burnt a woman in her house, shot many and set the whole village ablaze after carting away their food items and livestocks,” he disclosed.

Boko Haram have also sacked half of communities at Askira-Uba, another major local government area, in the southern part of the state. The insurgents killed over 40 people in Dille recently after previous attacks on five villages while Biu, headquarters of Biu Local Government Area, about 100 kilometres to Damboa, remains the only major town still standing in the area, although it has equally witnessed deadly attacks in the past.

The insurgents have ravaged Gwoza Local Government Area, about 135 kilometres from Maiduguri as all the autonomous communities behind the hill are deserted. These communities, which are located along the Cameroon borders include Attagara, Aghapalawa and Aganjara. Over 2,000 residents of the area are now in two camps in Maiduguri at present.

Only Shani, Bayo and some parts of Kwaya Kusar local government areas out of the nine council areas in the southern Borno are enjoying relative peace.

More than half of the communities in Konduga, Bama, Dikwa and Mafa local government areas in the central district have been destroyed.

So how large is the area destroyed and/or taken over by the insurgents? A lecturer at the University of Maiduguri who preferred anonymity, said Boko Haram have destroyed more than half of the communities in the state. “Geographically, Boko Haram’s presence can be seen and felt in almost all part of the state though with more control of the southern and central districts, which translate to more than half of the state.” He also said there are isolated communities in some instances, which are not attacked by the insurgents because they offer some gifts to Boko Haram to pacify them. He declined to mention the villages. “Mentioning them could be counter-productive because the insurgents may go back there to attack them again for leaking what ought to be an agreement between them but of truth, such accord for protection actually happens in some villages,” he stated.

Military Efforts

Many residents said they believed the military was capable of tackling Boko Haram insurgency but expressed concern over what they described as unwillingness of the authority to nip the terror act in the bud. “The Nigeria military is capable of handling the situation but it appears there is conspiracy on the part of the leaders not to do so,” Abdullah Ahmed, a social crusader said. There is military presence in most of the major towns in Borno but residents said they often said they have not received instruction from their superiors when alerted to Boko Haram attacks in nearby communities. “We found this very awkward because it looks like an excuse not to act and that is why Boko Haram often attack people and communities for hours without resistance from any troops. It happened at Dille in Askira Uba at Chibok Local Government Area and lately in Damboa,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters has stepped up actions against the Boko Haram, while assuring that it would not allow any group to annex any part of Nigeria.

The Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said the military had ordered troops to up the ante against the sect in Damboa and other vulnerable areas.

He said: “We have put in place necessary machinery, including the patrol of vulnerable areas, to check the insurgents. Activities are being stepped up to curtail the menace.”

Olukolade, however, declined to explain the military activities, saying: “I won’t go into details on the actions we have taken. I cannot disclose military plans.

“We will not say when troops will take charge of Damboa to avoid a repeat of the last ambush of these committed and loyal soldiers. But we are firming up deployment of troops to Damboa and other places.

“We are ready for the insurgents but we will prefer to keep our strategies to ourselves because of the nature of the battle ahead.”

The Sun