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Tag: boko haram

  • Boko Haram terrorists kill 19 Fulani herdsmen

    Boko Haram terrorists kill 19 Fulani herdsmen

    Boko Haram jihadists gunned down 19 cattle herders Saturday in Nigeria, civilian militia sources and residents confirmed on Sunday.

    Ethnic Fulani herders, besieged by a spate of armed attacks targeting their cattle, pursued Boko Haram, sparking a fierce gunfight outside Fuhe village, near Ngala close to the border with Cameroon.

    “The insurgents killed 19 of the herdsmen in the fight,” anti-jihadist militia leader Umar Kachalla said.

    Bodies of the slain herders were brought to the police by militiamen, Kachalla said.

    The herders had earlier repelled an attack by Boko Haram fighters who invaded the village to steal livestock, killing one of the militants, Mada said.

    The herders then decided to pursue the jihadists and fight them “once and for all”, Mada said but were overwhelmed.

    “The herdsmen were subdued by the better-armed Boko Haram gunmen,” he said.

    Jihadists then returned to Fuhe village and burnt homes and food supplies while herds fled, according to Ngala resident Abubakar Yusuf, who saw the dead bodies at the police station.

    Boko Haram has increasingly targeted farmers, herders and loggers, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.

    They have also been raiding herding communities, seizing cattle — a valuable commodity in the region — to fund their operations.

    Boko Haram and rival Islamic State West Africa Province are known to operate in areas around Ngala and the neighbouring town of Gamboru.

    ISWAP has focused on targeting military installations and troops since 2018 while Boko Haram faction is notorious for indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

    However, ISWAP has been blamed for a recent increase in attacks on civilians.

    In August 2014 Boko Haram seized Ngala and Gamboru, a trading hub, but Nigerian troops retook both towns in September 2015 with the help of the Chadian military.

    Despite the recapture of the area, jihadist fighters continue to launch sporadic attacks, ambushing troops and vehicles, as well as attacking and abducting farmers.

    In November last year, Boko Haram abducted around 50 loggers at Bulakesa village outside Gamboru.

    The decade-long conflict has killed 35,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes.

    The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting the formation of a regional military coalition to fight the jihadists

  • DSS queries Sowore over alleged links with Boko Haram, IPOB, IMN

    DSS queries Sowore over alleged links with Boko Haram, IPOB, IMN

    The Department of State Services has interrogated the detained publisher of Saharareporters, Omoyele Sowore, over alleged links with Boko Haram, Indigenous People of Biafra and Islamic Movement of Nigeria.

    His lawyer, Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, disclosed this in a statement, amidst reports that the Attorney-general and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami had asked for Sowore’s case file.

    Falana said the interrogation on Thursday lasted four hours and was witnessed by Abubakar Marshal, one of Sowore’s lawyers.

    Falana suspected that the DSS, which he called by its old name of SSS, possibly wanted to charge Sowore with terrorism.

    Falana wrote:

    “Convinced that the pending case would collapse like a pack of cards the SSS is currently fishing for evidence to nail Sowore. In spite of the directive of the AGF to take over the case the SSS subjected Sowore to a 4-hour interrogation yesterday (12/12/19).

    “The entire interrogation pertained to Sowore’s alleged links with the proscribed Boko Haram sect, IPOB and IMN which he vehemently denied. At Sowore’s instance a member of the legal defence team, Mr. Abubakar Marshal witnessed the marathon interrogation. The plan of the SSS is to charge Sowore with terrorism in line with the unsubstituted allegations of presidential media aides.

    “It is not a take over because it was the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, that filed the Sowore’s case and farmed it out to Dr. Hassan Liman SAN. But in view of the violent invasion of the court by armed operatives of the SSS the AGF has decided to sack the prosecution team and have the case prosecuted by the DPP.

    Having been advised that Sowore cannot be convicted on the basis of the proof of evidence filed in court the SSS has refused to make the statements of the prosecution witness available to the defendants as ordered by the trial court. Hence, hearing in the case has been adjourned till February 20, 2020 at the instance of the Prosecution.

    “In view of the foregoing we urge the AGF to file a nolle prosequi motion without any further delay to end the macabre dance which has exposed the country to avoidable embarrassment”.

  • Boko Haram faction kills four kidnapped aid workers

    A Boko Haram faction has killed four aid workers it kidnapped in July, a journalist with access to the terror group has said.

    The aid workers are officials of the Action Against Hunger, Ahmed Salkida said in a tweet on Friday.

    A fifth aid worker among the kidnapped, Grace Taku, who was the only female, has not been killed but condemned to “life of slavery,” Mr Salkida said quoting the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), a breakaway faction of Boko Haram.

    The journalist quotes the terror group as saying the execution was a result of a breakdown in talks with the government.

    Recall the TheNewsGuru had earlier reported how the six aid workers were kidnapped on July 19 in Borno when armed gunmen attacked the vehicles used by AAH.

    The victims later appeared in a video six days later, begging the Nigerian government to ensure their release.

    One of them was killed in September by the terror group before today’s murder of four others.

    Neither the AAH nor the Nigerian government has reacted to the killing of the aid workers.

    The AAH was recently reinstated into Nigeria after the Nigerian army controversially suspended its activities in the Northeast. The army accused the international aid organisation of assisting the terrorists, a charge the organisation denied.

  • IPOB denies doctoring video of Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram

    The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Thursday, rebuffed the allegation that the group was responsible for the release of the video portraying the killing of some Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram terrorists.

    According to the Nigerian Army, the recent viral video was the fabrication of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, in a statement on Wednesday, also said the video was not an occurrence that took place in Nigeria.

    Reacting to the allegation, IPOB’s media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful described the accusation as unguarded, shameful and thoroughly unsubstantiated.

    The spokesman said the video of Boko Haram torturing and humiliating the Nigerian Army was real and verifiable. He added that the IPOB has more important things to do than venture in such activities.

    Powerful, however, added that the Nigerian Army should hire forensic experts to provide evidence that the video was fabricated.

    He said: “This recent statement from the thoroughly disgraceful, undignified institution called Nigerian military accusing IPOB of being behind the recent trending video where Boko Haram members torturing and humiliating Nigerian army personnel is laughable.

    “This unguarded, shameful and thoroughly unsubstantiated accusation is very typical of an army that specializes in attacking civilian populations in the south but cringe at the sight of a well-armed opposition in the north.

    “It is quite pathetic how the Nigeria army would belittle themselves so shamelessly in the eyes of the world by involving IPOB in their futile attempt to deflect attention from their impotence and failed effort to fight a terrorism menace they themselves created in Nigeria.

    “IPOB has more important things to do than engaging in doctoring a video that is so clear for all to see. Maybe the Army thinks the world is as undiscerning as their typical Nigerian. Rather than coming out in public to make a complete fool of themselves; Buratai and his Nigerian Army should invite forensic experts to corroborate their claim if they are confident they are speaking the truth.

    “The video of Boko Haram torturing and humiliating the cowardly Nigerian Army that specializes in committing crimes against unarmed populations in Biafra is real and verifiable. IPOB has nothing to do with the trending video and cannot involve itself with this brotherly spat between Boko Haram and Nigeria Army because they have the same Fulanisation agenda for Nigeria.

    “Nigeria Army and Boko Haram are both terrorist organisations pursuing the same goal with the only difference being that Nigerian army specialise exclusively, in attacking civilians in the east.

    “This shameful statement from Nigeria Army proves that the Nigeria Army and her sisters’ security outfits in Nigeria have lost control of their phony war against Boko Haram and as usual are looking to blame IPOB for their pitiful plight.

    “Northern elders (allegedly) formed and sponsored Boko Haram to perfect their plans to islamize and Fulanize Nigeria and to make Jonathan’s government ungovernable which they succeeded in doing. We must not forget that Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was named the chief negotiator by Boko Haram for the failed talks in Saudi Arabia in 2014.

    “Nigeria soldiers should leave IPOB alone and focus on fighting the monster they created.

    “We pity Nigeria Army and gullible Nigerians who cannot see the inevitable violent collapse of Nigeria. What is happening today in Nigeria is the worst form of organized state-sponsored hypocrisy.

    “Nigeria is imploding gradually and no amount of lies against IPOB will avert the impending doom of the failed British contraption.”

  • Air operation aims to degrade Boko Haram – CAS

    The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, says the service has fully begun air operation code named “Operation Rattle Snake’’ to finally wipe out remnant of Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.

    Abuabakar stated this on Wednesday during an operational visit to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), 105 Composite Command in Maiduguri.

    He said the visit was to appraise the progress of the operation, interact with personnel and encourage them in the execution of the air campaign against the insurgents.

    “The idea of the operation Rattle Snake is to further deal with the issue of terrorism in the northeast and give necessary support to the ground troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD) and Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF).

    “From the briefs; I am happy with the progress so far made, we have identified a number of targets, neutralised them and it will continue.

    “The rate of efforts now is much more than what we used to have in other operations. We have quite a number of airplanes and many more will be deployed to support the operation.

    “The idea is to take full advantage of the situation on ground to degrade Boko Haram insurgents and ensure a secured country,” Abubakar said.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NAF on Dec. 10 launched the operation Rattle Snake against Boko Haram terrorists hibernating in the fringes of Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad basin.

    The campaign targets selected locations in the region to further degrade remnants of the insurgents.

  • Video of Boko Haram killing soldiers fabricated by IPOB – Army

    Video of Boko Haram killing soldiers fabricated by IPOB – Army

    The Nigerian Army says the recent video clip allegedly released by Boko Haram terrorists portraying capture and killing of some Nigerian soldiers was the fabrication of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, in a statement on Wednesday said that the video was not an occurrence that took place in Nigeria.

    He urged the public and personnel of Nigerian army, especially those in the North East theatre of operation, to disregard the video.

    According to him, it is a video concocted to cause disunity and fragmentation of Nigeria.

    “Accordingly, the call by one Simon Ekpa, (the principal actor in the clip), calling on soldiers of South East extraction presently serving in the North East to desert the Army and return to Biafra proved it.

    “Also, the call on South Easterners not to join the Nigerian Army is an obvious indication of the essence and objective of the masterminds of this fake video which should be discountenanced by the public.

    “Meanwhile the leadership of the Nigerian Army wish to also reiterate its unflinching commitment to sustain the war against terrorism.

    “It shall not be deterred by the evil machinations or propagandist activities of mischievous persons whose main interest is the disunity of our beloved nation,” he said.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a video purportedly released by the terrorists portraying the stage showing the capture and killing of some Nigerian soldiers by the terrorists group went viral on social media on Tuesday.

  • Boko Haram kills 275

    Amnesty International revealed Wednesday that Boko Haram militants have killed at least 275 people this year in Cameroon´s Far North region despite government claims back in January that the Islamic extremist group had waned in the area.

    More than 80 percent of those victims between January and November were civilians, the international human rights group said following a two-week mission to the volatile area.

    People in Cameroon´s Far North “are living in terror,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International´s Acting Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

    “Many of them have already witnessed Boko Haram attacks and lost family members or friends,” she said. “They no longer ask whether there will be further attacks but when they will take place – they feel completely abandoned by the authorities.”

    Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency began in northeastern Nigeria and has spilled across borders into Cameroon, as well as Niger and Chad. The group has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

    In recent years some fighters have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, creating a new threat.

    Amnesty said the resurgence in northern Cameroon comes after longtime President Paul Biya had called the group “a residual threat” back in January. There was no immediate comment from the government though in the past it has sharply criticized reports from international human rights groups.

    In 2014, Boko Haram drew the world’s attention with the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls from Chibok. While many of the schoolgirls have since been freed, countless other people abducted over the decade remain lost to their loved ones.

    Amnesty International said it interviewed women in northern Cameroon who also had been abducted by Boko Haram and had later escaped. They recounted having been forced to convert to Islam under threat of death.

    “They were told that their villages could live in peace if all the inhabitants did the same and that they would be able to go home to collect their children,” Amnesty said, citing two women who had managed to get away in July.

    Biya, who has been in power since 1982, has had to deal not only with Islamic extremist violence in Cameroon’s north but also with attacks by separatists in the country’s English-speaking regions.

    Nearly 3,000 people have died since 2017 in fighting in those regions where English-speaking separatists say they have been been marginalized by the federal government. The violence has forced more than 500,000 people from their homes.

  • Boko Haram releases new video, kills soldiers, policeman

    Boko Haram has released a video showing the execution of two soldiers and a policeman, posted online late Monday by the Islamic State group propaganda agency, Amaq.

    The video, dated Sunday, was made by a branch of Boko Haram that has sworn allegiance to IS known as the Islamic State Group in West Africa.

    Its release came days after the terrorists announced the kidnapping of 14 people including two aid workers and, according to them, six members of the security forces.

    It shows three men in plain clothes kneeling in a field, introducing themselves as members of the Nigerian security forces before masked men in fatigues open fire on them shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).

    “We tell the Nigerian army that we will never spare those fighting against the people who follow Allah’s religion,” one of the executioners said in Hausa, a language widely spoken in the north of the country.

    “We will attack your bases and confront you on your routes,” the terrorists added, shortly before the execution.

    One of the three victims introduced himself as a police sergeant, saying the terrorists had “captured” him when he was on his way to Maiduguri.

    Those abducted last Wednesday included two Red Cross workers.

    ISWAP claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, saying six members of the Nigerian security forces were among the hostages.

    The group was taken on the highway outside Maiduguri at a fake security checkpoint set up by the militants disguised as Nigerian soldiers.

    ISWAP focuses on military targets, while Boko Haram mainly attacks civilians.

    The splinter group has released several grisly execution videos of security personnel, with the victims dressed in orange jumpsuits mimicking IS-style executions.

    The decade-long insurgency in Nigeria has claimed some 35,000 lives and displaced about two million from their homes in the northeast of the West African country.

  • Starving Boko Haram terrorists abduct 18 in Cameroon, steal foodstuffs

    Several security sources on Friday said eighteen civilians have been kidnapped by the terror group Boko Haram in raids in Cameroon’s Far North region.

    Sources said the terrorists stormed several localities of the region, looted foodstuffs, and abducted 18 men and women.

    According to local authorities, the Cameroon army is conducting a rescue mission to secure the safe release of the hostages.

    The Army also said that on Thursday, Boko Haram killed 4 civilians in the Far North region.

    About 2,000 Cameroonians have been killed since Boko Haram since 2014, according to security reports.

    Also from Cameroon came the report that 122 Boko Haram fighters have surrendered, since January 2019 till now.

    Fai Yengo, national coordinator Cameroon’s National Committee on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) said on Thursday that 130 separatists in the country’s troubled two English-speaking regions have also surrendered.

    Yengo made the revelation during a briefing with Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.

    He said the ex-fighters were at NCDDR centres to receive vocational training in agriculture, livestock, business and handicraft.

    The NCDDR was created by President Paul Biya last year “to avoid the use of extreme measures” and supervise and manage the disarmament and reintegration of ex-combatants of Boko Haram and armed separatists in the Anglophone regions

  • FG’s negotiator, Mama Boko Haram Aisha Wakil charged with N66m fraud

    Aisha Alkali Wakil, a lawyer, better known as Mama Boko Haram, has been charged before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri on a three-count charge of conspiracy and cheating to the tune of N66million.

    The woman who had performed several liaisons between the government and the insurgent Boko Haram, was charged by the EFCC along with Tahiru Saidu Daura, programme manager of Wakil’s NGO, Complete Care and Aids Foundation.

    The prosecution of the duo followed a petition written by Ali Tijjani, the CEO of AMTMAT Global Ventures against Complete Care and Aids Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), run by Wakil and Kumaliya.

    Tahiru Saidu Daura, charged with Mama Boko Haram

    The petitioner alleged that, on September 7, 2018, Complete Care and Aids Foundation awarded his company a contract to supply it processed maize grain, referred to as “biski” in native language, worth N15million, which the second defendant, Wakil received on behalf of Complete Care and Aid Foundation upon delivery.

    According to Tijjani, his company upon the request of the defendants equally processed and funded their trip to Morocco to the tune of N51million, a cost they refused to defray.

    Count two of the charge reads: “That you Tahiru Saidu Daura, while being a programme manager of Complete Care and Aid Foundation, and Aisha Wakil, being the CEO of Complete Care and Aid Foundation on the 7th September, 2018, in Maiduguri within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, dishonestly induced Ali Tijjani, the CEO and alter ego of AMTMAT Global Ventures to deliver to you, processed maize grains (biski), valued at N15,000,000.00 (Fifteen Million Naira) which you are yet to pay and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320(a) and punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code Cap 102 Laws of Borno State.”

    The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges, upon which prosecution counsel, Fatsuma Muhammad applied for a trial date and for the remand of the defendants in the custody of Nigerian Correctional Centre (NCS), pending the determination of the case.

    However, counsels for the defendants, H. Waziri and B.G Zanna made oral bail applications for the defendants, on the ground that there is a subsisting administrative bail, earlier granted to them by the EFCC.

    Justice Kumaliya granted them bail in the sum of N30million with two sureties in like sum. One of the sureties he said, must be someone at the level of a permanent secretary in the civil service, who owns a landed property in Maiduguri GRA, and must submit the title document of the property to the registry of the court.

    The judge further declared that the bail will be revoked on the failure of the defendants to attend trial.

    She adjourned the matter till 13 January 2020 for the commencement of trial.