Boko Haram Insurgents Seize Sasawa Community in Yobe State

Daily Post Newspaper reports that suspected Boko Haram insurgents took over Sasawa town in Yobe State on Sunday after fierce battle with the Nigerian troops.

Breaking: Bomb Blast At Buhari Housing Estate Damaturu, Yobe State, 16 People Dead

Reports say that there has been a bomb blast at Buhari Housing Estate, Damaturu, Yobe State.

Channels News reports that about 16 people have been confirmed dead.

Two Top Boko Haram Commanders Arrested in Gaidam, Yobe State

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

Update: 19 Killed, 47 Injured By Female Suicide Bomber on Crowded Damaturu Market On Sunday

Damaturu, the Yobe State capital came under attack again on Sunday morning, as a suicide bomb tore through a crowded market, killing 19 people and wounding 47 early morning visitors.

Update On Boko Haram Attack On Yobe: 300 Militants, 33Police Officers, 6 Soldiers Killed

Hundreds of  Boko Haram members may have been killed in Damaturu, following Monday’s deadly attack on the Yobe State capital.

That number could be even higher, as the Hausa service of the BBC is reporting over 300 members of the militia to have died in the battle.

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

Boko Haram kills 2,053 Civilians in Six Months - Human Rights Watch

The Islamist insurgency Boko Haram in Nigeria killed no fewer 2,053 civilians in an estimated 95 attacks during the first half of 2014.
The figures are based on detailed analyses of media reports as well as field investigations. The killings and
other abuses were part of widespread attacks on civilians in over 70 towns and villages in northeastern Nigeria, in the federal capital, Abuja, and elsewhere that are apparent crimes against humanity.

There has been a dramatic increase during 2014 in the numbers of casualties from bomb blasts, including several apparent suicide bombings.
Since January, at least 432 people have been reported killed in 14 blasts in crowded marketplaces, a brothel, a
technical college, and, on two occasions, places where people were watching soccer matches.
Three of these attacks were in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital; two in Kano; two in Jos, the Plateau state capital; and three in Abuja, the federal capital.
The Abuja attacks may demonstrate a southward trend of Boko Haram operations, Human Rights Watch said.
“Boko Haram is effectively waging war on the people of northeastern Nigeria at a staggering human cost,” said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Atrocities committed as part of a widespread attack on civilians are crimes against humanity, for which those responsible need to be held to account.”

The bulk of the attacks and casualties credibly reported and investigated by Human Rights Watch took place in
Borno State, the birthplace of Boko Haram, where 1,446 people died. Attacks killed 151 in Adamawa state and 143 civilians in Yobe state.

Human Rights Watch compiled the figures by analyzing credible local and international media reports, and the
findings of human rights groups, as well as interviewing witnesses and victims of numerous attacks. The media reports generally quoted villagers, hospital and morgue workers, police and military officials, and local leaders who had observed, registered, counted or buried the dead. In the vast majority of cases, Boko Haram forces appeared to deliberately target civilians.
Since 2009, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal- Jihad, Nigeria’s Islamist insurgency popularly known as Boko Haram, has waged a violent campaign against the government to impose its authority under Sharia (Islamic) law. Widespread poverty, corruption, security force abuses, and longstanding impunity for a range of crimes have created a fertile ground in Nigeria for militant armed groups like Boko Haram.
The pace of attacks has dramatically intensified in remote villages since May 2013, when the federal government imposed a state of emergency in the northern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe.

In many of the attacks Boko Haram gunmen fired on civilians, such as people gathered in busy marketplaces, places of worship, and residential neighborhoods. In three villages in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State, in early June, Boko Haram fighters impersonated military personnel to round up hundreds of villagers, then opened fire on them, media reports said. Two local chiefs from Attagara, one of the villages, told journalists they had buried 110 people killed in the attack.
On May 6, Boko Haram fighters allegedly killed 336 villagers in the twin towns of Gamboru-Ngala during an attack in which they used two armored personnel carriers they had stolen from the Nigerian military several months earlier. Residents reported that the villages had been burned to the ground.
Boko Haram’s kidnapping of 276 girls from a school in Chibok in April was not its only attack on schools in the
northeast. In February, Boko Haram militants locked the doors to a boys’ dormitory of the Federal Government
College of Buni Yadi, a secondary school near Damaturu, Yobe State and set the building on fire, killing 59.

Boko Haram forces have abducted and otherwise abused hundreds of women and girls during the attacks.
Human Rights Watch will release a report in coming weeks on abuses by Boko Haram against girls and women, based on interviews with victims and witnesses in June. The report will also examine the deficiencies in the Nigerian government’s response to these abuses.
The killings and other abuses by Boko Haram appear to rise to the level of crimes against humanity. The Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Nigeria is a party, defines crimes against humanity as
various criminal offenses, including murder, torture and rape that are “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.” Such crimes can be committed by a government or a non-state group. They must be widespread or systematic, but need not be both. “Widespread” refers to the scale of the acts or number of victims. A “systematic” attack indicates “a pattern or methodical plan.”

Since 2009, and increasingly since mid-2013, Boko Haram has carried out several hundred attacks against
civilians and civilian structures in schools, marketplaces, and places of worship in villages, towns and even cities.
The nature and frequency of the attacks indicate the actions of an organized movement. This is evidenced by the presence of convoys of trucks, motorbikes, and occasionally armored personnel carriers with well-armed gunmen; the fashion in which gunmen were seen deploying in and around the target or setting up checkpoints; and the planning required to infiltrate the
cities in which attacks took place.
Human Rights Watch and other national and international human rights groups have also documented abuses by the Nigerian Security Forces since 2009 as they responded to the attacks by Boko Haram.
These include excessive use of force, burning homes, physical abuse, and extrajudicial killings of those suspected of supporting Boko Haram.

Amnesty International found that following a March 14 Boko Haram attack on Giwa Barracks that led to the escape of hundreds of detainees, the security forces executed hundreds of the unarmed recaptured detainees.
Security forces have rounded up hundreds of men and boys suspected of supporting Boko Haram, detained
them in inhuman conditions and physically abused or killed them. Many others have been forcibly disappeared. The Nigerian government should account for the “disappeared” and ensure that all law enforcement operations are conducted in full accordance with international human rights standards.
“No matter how egregious the violence, Nigerian security forces engaged in operations against Boko Haram may not operate outside the law,” Dufka said. “The Nigerian government should recognize that it needs to protect its population both from Boko Haram and from abusive members of its own military and police.”

Courtesy:
The Nation

#BringBackOurGirls: Gordon Brown, President Jonathan Meet As Nigerian Government Flags Off 'Safe School Initiative'

The Nigerian government’s 'Safe School Initiative' has received a boost of N3.2 billion.

The sum is made of two parts of N1.6 billion released by the federal government and another N1.6 billion donated by the private sector.

Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala made the disclosure on Tuesday after a meeting of stakeholders of the initiative with President Jonathan in Abuja.

The Safe School Initiative is expected to accommodate children displaced from their schools due to the present insurgency rocking the country. The over 200 girls who were kidnapped in Chibok two months ago are to benefit from these funds.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, “We are intent on trying to make sure that our children in the states have an environment in which they can come back to school and not have their education truncated.”

Special Envoy to the UN Secretary General for Global Education, Gordon Brown said the reconstruction of the secondary school in Chibok is paramount to the United Nations.

“I am here to say that we wish as an international community to do everything we can to back up the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan and the governors of the states to make sure these girls are returned to their families and at the same time to make sure, that every parent feels that they can send their children to school knowing that they will be safe in the future.”

Yobe and Borno governors said they are committed to making the initiative a huge success.

Ibrahim Geidam, Yobe state governor, said, “I promise to give him all the necessary cooperation to ensure that the programme succeeds.”

Kashim Shettima, Borno state governor, said, “Times like this calls for sobriety, for maturity, for unity of purpose. At the appropriate time we are going to play politics, but this is not time to play politics with the lives of the people.”

The federal government and the international community are bent on encouraging displaced students back to school.

Africa Independent Television

Popular Football Viewing Centre Bombed In Yobe State; 7 Killed, 40 Injured

A bomb blast yesterday rocked a viewing centre in Nayinawa ward of Damaturu, Yobe State capital, where followers of FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 were watching Brazil and Mexico match, killing seven while 40 others were injured.

A resident of the area told LEADERSHIP last night that the incident occurred around 8:40pm during the first half of the match, although details of the attack were sketchy as at the time of filing this report.

The state police command was yet to confirm the incident, but efforts made to reach the state police commissioner, Patrick Egbuniwe, for his comment proved abortive.

Leadership Newspaper