#BringBackOurGirls: Kidnapped Chibok Girls Moved to Ashaka Forest, Gombe State

The kidnapped Chibok girls have been moved from the Sambisa forest towards the forest around Ashaka in Gombe State, a top security official has told PREMIUM TIMES.
The security official, who sought anonymity as he was not authorised to speak, also denied the rumor that some of the girls were rescued on Saturday.
He, however, said there were high hopes for the quick rescue of the girls based on the ongoing cooperation between Nigerian officials and their counterparts from the U.S. and U.K. on the rescue efforts.

“It is not true that they have been rescued yet, but we noticed and observed movement of some of the girls from the Sambisa region towards Ashaka forest in Gombe state”, said the security personnel.
The officer added that efforts are being put in place to “carefully track” the abductors and get the girls freed.
“We have not, even for once, lost hope that these girls would be freed. This is a delicate matter which must be handled with all professionalism and absolute care”, the source added.

For almost a month that the over 250 girls were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, the Nigerian military has decided not to provide information on details of its rescue efforts. The military has, however, said it is doing its best to free the girls.
Efforts to speak to the military spokesperson, Chris Olukolade, on the latest report of the girls’ sighting were unsuccessful as he did not pick or return calls nor respond to a text message sent to his phone.

Source:
Premium Times

US First Lady Michelle Obama Condemns Abduction of Chibok School Girls

US First Lady Michelle Obama has said the mass kidnap of Nigerian schoolgirls is part of a wider pattern of threats and intimidation facing girls around the world who pursue an education. She said she and her husband Barack Obama were "outraged and heartbroken" over the abduction on 14 April of more than 200 girls from their school.
She was speaking instead of her husband in the weekly presidential address.

Recall that Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abductions.

'Call to action'
Mrs Obama, who was speaking ahead of Mother's Day in the US on Sunday, said the girls reminded her and her husband of their own daughters.
"What happened in Nigeria was not an isolated incident. It's a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions," she said.

She cited the Pakistani schoolgirl and campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot and wounded by the Taliban for speaking out for girls' education.
It is unusual for a US first lady to make outspoken foreign policy remarks, but Mrs Obama has campaigned for the girls' release.

Michelle Obama has often appeared alongside her husband during the weekly address, but this is the first time she has delivered the speech alone. Earlier this week, she tweeted a picture of herself in the White House holding a sign with the message "#BringBackOurGirls".

The UN Security Council expressed outrage over the abductions, saying it would consider "appropriate measures" against Boko Haram. The US is seeking to have UN sanctions imposed on the group.
Western help.

US and British experts are in Nigeria to assist with rescue efforts. A senior US official said Washington was also considering a Nigerian request for surveillance aircraft.
British High Commissioner Andrew Pocock said drones could help gather intelligence but urged caution.

Source:
BBC

Survivors Allege Nigerian Military Committed "Genocide" In Birnin-Gwari Communities of Kaduna State

Communities in the Birnin-Gwari Local Government area of Kaduna State allege the Nigerian Military committed 'genocide' on their areas in a recent clampdown on armed gangs that the military spokesperson had announced was “huge success” during the week.

The communities of Kwalakwangi, Maikyasuwa, and Dokan-ruwa were over a four-day span, from Monday to Thursday of this week, under siege by the military. The Nigerian military was deployed in the area to uproot a series of armed bandit ‘safe heavens’ and safe houses, under the military tactics called, "Operation Restore Peace."

According an eyewitness from the Kwalakwangi village, the military had burnt down the village, and killed all the able-bodied men caught in the cross hairs of their guns. Several of the people shot were not connected to any of the gangs military officials sought.
At least 43 people were buried in Kwalakwangi village on Friday, including the chief imam, and the district Ward head. Apart from the Mosque located in the center of the village, no single building composed of mostly mud houses, was left standing in the village.
In both the Maikyasuwa and Dokan-ruwa villages, women and children are now refugees at Tabanni, Layin-Lasan, and kuyello. Tabanni Alh, the District Head of Abdulhamid Mahuta confirmed the story, but declined further comment, saying he has informed the Birnin-Gwari emirate. Some of the refugees, numbering roughly 123 people, are seeking shelter at the District Head residence.

Community heads in the area have called on the National Human Right Commission, and Human Rights activists to come to their aid, and they seek justice with the threat of the lawsuit to the atrocities committed by soldiers of the Nigerian military.

Source:
SR

Nigeria's Minister of Information Promises Probe into Amnesty's Allegation That Army 'Ignored' Advanced Warnings.

Nigeria's Minister Of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku said on Friday that Federal Government will investigate the Amnesty International report which indicated that the Nigeria’s military had advance warning of an attack on the town of Chibok where  some 270 girls were kidnapped but failed to act.
Nigeria’s military had advanced warning of the April 14 attack by Boko Haram that led to the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls but failed to take immediate action, Amnesty International said Friday.

“Damning testimonies gathered by Amnesty International reveal that Nigerian security forces failed to act on advance warnings about Boko Haram’s armed raid on the state-run boarding school in Chibok which led to the abduction,” the rights group said.
Amnesty said it had verified the information about the abduction with “credible sources”.
“Amnesty International has confirmed… that Nigeria’s military headquarters in Maiduguri was aware of the impending attack soon after 7:00 PM (1800 GMT) on 14 April, close to four hours before Boko Haram began their assault on the town,” the group said.

The military however could not assemble the troops needed to suppress the attack, “due to poor resources and a reported fear of engaging with the often better-equipped” Islamists, according to Amnesty.
The 17 army personnel based in Chibok were overpowered by the attackers and had to retreat, the London-based group further said.

“The fact that Nigerian security forces knew about Boko Haram’s impending raid, but failed to take the immediate action needed to stop it, will only amplify the national and international outcry at this horrific crime,” said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International’s Africa Director for research and advocacy.

Source:
Vanguard Newspaper

Protests in Katsina, Nigeria Over Foreign Intervention in the Abducted Chibok Girls Crises

A coalition of civil society organisations in Katsina State, Northern Nigeria staged a peaceful protest yesterday rejecting foreign intervention sought by Nigeria in addressing its security challenges.
During the protest which held in the state capital, spokesman for the coalition, Bashir Dauda, described the intervention as counterproductive.
“What is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia are indications that foreign countries could not offer any remedy,” he said.
The protesters also registered their grievances over the state of insecurity in the country and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to improve his relationship with state governors from the Boko Haram-prone areas and also asked for tight security across the country’s borders. “It is a disgrace if the almighty federal government fails to rescue the abducted students and others who are in the captivity of Boko Haram as sex slaves,” Dauda said.

Source:
Daily Trust

Boko Haram Bombs Bridge Linking Nigeria To Cameroon

The bombing and destruction of a small bridge linking Nigeria to Cameroon in Borno State has caused mass destruction and confusion. The bombing occurred on the outskirts of Gamboru Ngala, site of a Monday Boko Haram attack that claimed the lives of over 300 village residents.

At least 30 people were said to have been killed during the late Thursday afternoon bombing incident. The bridge links the immigration check points of both Cameroon and Nigeria.
The bombing event took place on the same day of a mass burial in the town of Gamboru Ngala. A Boko Haram-led raid on Monday on the small village claimed the lives of over 300 residents, nearly ten per cent of the population.

It was reported that 315 people of the 336 who died in the Monday attack were buried in a solemn ceremony led by civic and religious leaders. 
Boko Haram is yet to claim responsibility for this latest bombing attack, but residents of Gamboru Ngala said there is deep suspicion that the Islamist group is behind this latest attack in this vulnerable area.

Since the Monday attacks many of the local Gamboru Ngala youth have joined an anti-Islamist vigilante force in the smoldering village. It was created and scores of young people are helping Nigerian military forces in the area.

Source:
SR

Boko Haram Plans To Exchange the 300 Kidnapped Schoolgirls for ‘Comrades’ Imprisoned in Nigeria

Nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants could be released in exchange for jailed comrades, a former Boko Haram negotiator has reportedly said. 

A former mediator of the group has told the Telegraph he believes the video, where Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatens to sell the girls as slaves, shows he plans to use them as ‘bargaining chips’ rather than kill them.

Shekau claimed responsibility on Monday for the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls during a raid in the village of Chibok in northeast Nigeria last month.

Shehu Sani says he believes that the footage, released on Monday, was an attempt to persuade the Nigerian government into a prisoner trade.

He told the newspaper: ‘From my knowledge of the group, to have him saying that he will sell them is proof that this issue can be resolved.

‘The group is most likely to want to attach some kind of conditions to the girls being released, such as the freeing of some of their own prisoners.’

Source:
Mail Online

Nigeria Police Offers N50m Cash Reward For Information On Location Of Chibok Girls

The Nigeria Police has announced a cash reward of N50 million for credible information leading to “the location and rescue” of the female students abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

A statement by Nigeria Police Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba said any such information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality. It gave the following numbers: 09-2914649;08081777309;
08055547536; 08032125050; 08034617591 and 08035969731.

The statement offered no clues as to what would happen to the cash reward if the police received credible information leading to an unsuccessful or partly successful rescue effort.

Source:
SR

Report Claims Boko Haram Has Benefited from $70m Overseas Funding

By Senator Iroegbu  with Agency Report  

The deadly militant sect, Boko Haram, has received over $70 million from overseas between 2006 and 2011 to organise its campaign of violence, a media report has said.

The report, which quoted retired Major Chris Moghalu of the US military, also claimed that the sponsors of the insurgency in Nigeria were closely linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
It noted that in the collaboration with AQAP and AQIM, members of the militant sect had been receiving regular support in cash and kind to maintain the momentum of their sporadic attacks across Nigeria from the two foreign terror groups.

Quoting Major Moghalu, it said trans-national criminal activities including kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and armed robbery were being used by Boko Haram militants to raise funds to plan and execute attacks in the North-east, an area which has been under constant campaign of violence of the deadly sect.

Though the activities of the violent sect had substantially been restricted to the Northeast,  two recent bomb blasts in Nyanya in the outskirts of Abuja,  have shown how daring the group had become.

The first bomb blast at the Nyanya motor park claimed 75 lives, while the second bomb attack around the vicinity last week claimed 20 lives.

Source:
ThisDay Newspaper

Breaking News: Suspected Boko Haram Gunmen kidnap 8 More Girls in Bornu State

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have kidnapped eight girls aged between 12 and 15 from a village near one of their strongholds in north-east Nigeria, police and residents say.

"They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army colour. They started shooting in our village," said Lazarus Musa, a resident of Warabe, where the attack happened on Monday night.

"Many people tried to run behind the mountain but when they heard gunshots, they came back. The Boko Haram men were entering houses, ordering people out of their houses."

A police source, who could not be named, said the girls had been taken away on trucks along with looted livestock and food.

The Islamist rebels are still holding more than 200 girls they abducted from a secondary school on 14 April. The Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatened to sell those girls "on the market" in a video released to the media on Monday. He said Allah had told him to sell the girls.

Source:
Guardian UK

Boko Haram Sect Attack Cameroonian Barracks, Kill Two Officers And Free Detained Members

Suspected Boko Haram sect, launched an attack on a Cameroon Gendarmes barracks and killed two personnel in a gun duel in the Northern part of the country. A Cameroonian journalist told SaharaReporters that the militants carried out the attack in the barracks located in Kousseri town.

The Boko Haram insurgents after killing two security personnel freed two of their high profile fighters being held in the barracks detention facility.
The source said that the country’s military are presently strategizing on waging a war on the insurgents operating around its border with Nigeria.

In another development, Nigerian troops this morning had a serious confrontation with the sect militants around the Nigerian border with the Republic of Chad.
A military source in Borno State confirmed the story to SaharaReporters, he did not provide further details.

Source:
SaharaReporters

Boko Haram Admits Abducting Chibok School Girls, Threaten 'To Sell Them Off'

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau sent a video obtained by the AFP news agency, in which he said for the first time that his group had abducted the Chibok  School girls three weeks ago.

God instructed me'
In the video, Abubakar Shekau said the girls should not have been in school in the first place, but rather should get married.

"God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instructions," he said.

However, BBC Hausa Service editor Mansur Liman points out that the Boko Haram leader did not state the number of girls abducted, nor where they were taken or are now.

Recall that over 200 girls, aged between 16-18 were taken from their boarding school in Chibok, in the northern state of Borno, on the night of 14 April.

The Associated Press news agency says it is unclear whether the video was made before or after reports last week that some of the girls had been forced to marry their abductors, who paid a nominal bride price of $12 (£7).

Source:
BBC

US Embassy Warns of Plausible Terrorist Attack In Lagos.

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Nigeria and recommends that U.S. citizens avoid all travel to Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states because of the May 14, 2013 state of emergency proclamation for those three states by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of late April, groups associated with terrorism allegedly planned to mount an unspecified attack against the Sheraton Hotel in Nigeria, near the city of Lagos. There was no further information regarding which of the two Sheraton Hotels in Lagos was the possible target, or if both of the Sheraton Hotels are possible targets. There is no further information regarding the timing or method of attack. U.S. citizens are cautioned to avoid these hotels at this time.

The security situation in the country remains fluid and unpredictable. The U.S. Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens in Nigeria to keep personal safety and health in the forefront of your planning. We remind U.S. citizens to review your personal security plans; remain aware of your surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates. Maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.

The Department strongly advises U.S. citizens who travel to or reside in Nigeria to enroll in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). U.S. citizens without internet access may enroll directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate to contact you in an emergency.

Current information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada, or a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444 if calling from other countries. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). You can also stay up to date by bookmarking our Bureau of Consular Affairs website, which contains the current Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts, including the Travel Warning for Nigeria as well as the Worldwide Caution. Follow us on Twitter and the Bureau of Consular Affairs page on Facebook to have travel information at your fingertips.

The U.S. Embassy in Abuja is located at: Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive, Central District Area. The Embassy is open Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The U.S. Consulate General in Lagos is located at: 2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island. The Consulate is open Monday - Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday 7:00 a.m. to 1:014. U.S. citizens should contact the U.S. Embassy in Abuja or the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos for up-to-date information on any restrictions. The U.S. Embassy in Abuja can be reached by telephone, including afterhours emergencies, at 234(9) 461-4000. The U.S. Consulate General in Lagos can be reached by telephone, including after-hours emergencies, at 234(1) 460-3600 or 234 (1) 460-3400.

Source:
United States Diplomatic Mission Nigeria

Suicide-Bomb Attack Foiled In Damaturu…Suicide-Bomber Arrested

An attack by a suicide bomber operating in a pickup vehicle laden with IEDs was this morning foiled in Damaturu, the Yobe State Capital.

The target of the attack was ‘A’ Division of Police Command situated by the main round-about in the heart of the town.

The attempt was however foiled as the culprit was arrested by the police personnel on duty.

A total of 6 already constructed turbine containers loaded with explosives as well as 20 liters of petrol and 11 bags of beans chaff have been recovered from the scene.

The recovered materials are in the custody of the Joint Taskforce Headquarters in Damaturu.

The police anti-bomb squad has safely detonated the explosive.

Press Release By:
CHRIS  OLUKOLADE
Major General
Director Defence Information/Coordinator

Another Bomb Blast Hits Abuja, Many Feared Dead

A car bomb attack has killed at least 19 people and injured 60 more in the Nigerian capital Abuja, officials say.

The explosion happened in the suburb of Nyanya, close to a motor park where at least 70 people died in a bomb blast on 14 April.

Witnesses said the explosion targeted a police checkpoint near a bus station.

No group has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack. The Islamist militant group Boko Haram said it was behind the fatal explosion last month.

The BBC's Will Ross in Abuja says Nyanya is a religiously mixed area and it is not clear why the area has been targeted.

Charles Osueke, who was in the area at the time of the blast, told the BBC that it was just 200m (650ft) away from the 14 April explosion.

"People in the crowd were saying that a man parked his car, walked away and the next thing they know, the car blew up," he said.

There was heavy traffic on the road at the time of the blast, with many commuters waiting for buses

"I'm worried about our security here. After the last explosion the president said he would increase security," Mr Osueke added.

"There were policemen around when this explosion happened and they didn't manage to stop it."

The head of Nigeria's Emergency Management Agency, Abbas Idriss, told the BBC that 19 people were killed in the blast and 60 others were injured.

The latest attack comes just days before Abuja is set to host the World Economic Forum on Africa after becoming the continent's biggest economy last month.

Insecurity will be a major concern with several world leaders, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, due to attend the event.

Correspondents say the blast comes at a terrible time for Nigeria, which is also dealing with the abduction of 230 schoolgirls that happened hours after the previous Nyanya attack.

Source:
BBC