TheNewsGuru

Tag: boko haram

  • Shekau, Boko Haram not responsible for crashed helicopter – NAF

    The Nigerian Air Force on Saturday debunked claims by Abubakar Shekau; leader of the terrorist sect, Boko Haram in a recent video he (Shekau) released that he (Shekau) and other members of the sect shot down the Mi-17 helicopter, which crashed during an operation in the North-East.

    The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya stated this in an interview with The Punch, describing Shekau’s statement as a “bare-faced lie.”

    It would be recalled that the Air Force’s Mi-17 crashed on January 8, 2018, while in the North-East during a counter-Boko Haram insurgency operation.

    Although no life was lost during the incident, the Air Force noted that the helicopter suffered a “significant damage.”

    The Air Force had said that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the cause of the incident.

    The board had yet to submit its report.

    Boko Haram insurgents, had on Monday, released a video, claiming that they were responsible for the crashed helicopter.

    Shekau had said, “We hold unto the Chibok schoolgirls; we still have the policewomen. Among the Chibok schoolgirls that insisted on following the ways of their parents’ religion, we allowed them to go back and join their people. The military have come to us, but it did not end well; that is why your helicopter went down; that is why your armoured tanks got destroyed.”

    But reacting to the claim by the insurgents, NAF Spokesperson, Adesanya, said, “The Boko Haram did not shoot down the NAF’s Mi-17 helicopter. If that were the case, the public would have been duly informed.

    “The NAF remains accountable to the citizenry. This is why we issued a statement immediately after the crash landing of the helicopter, which was on a routine mission in the North-East.

     

  • Boko Haram invades Adamawa town, kills five

    Five people were feared killed Friday by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in an early morning attack in Kaya village of Madagali in Adamawa, residents and local officials have said.

    Kaya is one kilometer drive from Gulak, the administrative headquarters of Madagali.

    The attack came two days after a similar incident in Pallam where Boko Haram militants killed three people.

    Residents say soldiers and local hunters who chased the insurgents were able to shoot two of them dead.

    A fleeing resident, Baba David, said, ‘’the rampaging Boko Haram attacked Kaya village, at about 10 p.m. and had a field day for almost three hours, no response.

    ‘’They killed five people before fleeing to their hideouts unperturbed. It’s so sad that no response from security personnel deployed to man our areas.

    ‘’Kaya is just one kilometer away from Gulak, where soldiers and other security stations. Though local vigilantes later came and pursued the insurgents,’’ he said.

    The chairman of Madagali, Yusuf Muhammad, also confirmed the incident but said he had no details yet.

    Mr. Muhammad said information reaching him was that people lost their lives, while security and local hunters were in pursuit of the terrorists.

    Confirming the attack, a member of the House of Representatives, Adamu Kamale, said: ‘’I got a distress call early morning that they (Boko Haram) struck again in Kaya village, killing at least five people and others injured.

    ‘’The recent attacks indicate the group is still able to carry out major attacks and has not been defeated despite the successes achieved by Nigerian soldiers in the war.

    ‘‘You know our communities are a stone’s throw from the boundary of Sambisa Forest, the insurgents’ safe haven from where they launch attacks on us,’’ he noted.

    Mr. Kamale, who spoke on telephone on Friday, said while the military continued to make claims of ‘decimating’ the insurgents, the situation in Madagali had been “seriously underreported” in a series of security reports filed by the military to Mr. Buhari.

    “The truth remains that the group is still very active in our areas,” the lawmaker said.

    ‘’We are calling on Mr. President not only to match words with actions but should endeavour to come and see our plight, because the insurgents are truly killing more people than he is even aware of, particularly in Michika/Madagali local government areas of Adamawa State.”

    Madagali is one of the frequently attacked major towns in the northeastern state of Adamawa by Boko Haram insurgents.

  • 95 repentant Boko Haram fighters set for release – CDS

    Ninety five ex-Boko Haram terrorists that have been rehabilitated under the Deradicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) programme are now set to be reintegrated into the society.

    The Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonisakin, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja when he declared open a stakeholders meeting to work out modalities for the reintegration of rehabilitated ex-Boko Haram fighters.

    Mr. Olonisakin recalled that in January 2017, six cleared suspected terrorists successfully underwent the programme and were reunited with their families in Borno, Kaduna and Kogi states.

    He also recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had at a National Security Council meeting in September 2015, directed the establishment of “Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC)”.

    The corridor was to create opportunity for willingly surrendered and repentant Boko Haram fighters to undergo a deradicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration programme.

    The programme was to facilitate their return to normal life.

    The CDS said that following the directive of the president, a committee comprising the governors of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police was constituted under his chairmanship.

    Other members of the committee, he said, were: the Director General of NEMA, Chief of Intelligence Agency and a Director from the Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA.

    Mr. Olonisakin said that the 95 ex-fighters had undergone a 16-week DRR programme involving various social and spiritual counselling, introductory elementary formation education and vocational training, among others.

    He said that he was satisfied they were fit to be reintegrated into the society.

    “I have followed keenly activities in the camp since the ex-fighters arrived therein and I believe that they are different from who they were six months ago.

    “The ex-fighters have been transformed, made to imbibe good characters and habits, and have also learnt vocational trades to empower them.

    “The next stage of the programme, re-integration is the most important and complex aspect of the DRR programme.

    “It requires painstaking planning and careful execution.

    “Hence the need for our gathering here today to work out modalities for the smooth transfer of the ex-fighters to their respective state authorities and eventually to their relations,’’ he said.

    The CDS advised the stakeholders to “carefully examine all issues and come up with workable recommendations’’ to facilitate their hitch-free re-integration, resettlement and empowerment.

    Giving the breakdown of the 95 ex-fighters, Adegoke Adetuyi, the Commandant of the DRR, said 91 of them hailed from Borno, two from Yobe and one each from Adamawa and Bauchi states.

    Bamidele Shafa, the Coordinator of the OPSC, said that so far the body had facilitated the rehabilitation of 750 cleared men, women and children, who had been released to their states.

    According to him, the operation formally began its activities at its camp in Gombe state on April 22, 2016.

    According to him, at the moment, there are 254 ex-fighters in the camp undergoing the DRR programme among which the first set of 95, who have completed their programme are due to be transferred to their respective state authorities for reintegration into the society.

  • Army calls on Boko Haram insurgents to surrender

    Maj.-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, the Theater Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, has called on Boko Haram insurgents to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

    Nicholas made the call when he visited troops at the front line in Damasak, Kareto, Gubio and Magumeri.

    He said that the call was imperative to encourage remnants of Boko Haram insurgents to surrender in order to end insurgency and guarantee lasting peace in the region.

    “I call on the insurgents in the bush to surrender to the Nigerian Government and embrace peace.

    “A great number of the insurgents have surrendered; we take good care of them, insurgents in the bush should come out and surrender.

    “There is no need of killings and the only option left for them is to surrender,” he said.

    Nicholas said that the military had recorded successes in the ongoing clearance operation, noting that: “we have determined and courageous soldiers to crush the terrorists and bring peace to the North-East”.

    He urged the media to shun sensational reportage and work toward awareness creation on de-radicalisation of the sect ideologies, to promote peace building and social cohesion.

    He reiterated the readiness of the military to work with the media to ensure successful campaign against insurgency and enhance security in the country.

    “The Nigerian Army will provide enabling environment for the media to access information on our operations.

    “You should ensure accurate, factual and balance reportage on military operations,” he added.

    The commander also called on the people in the region to cooperate with military to enable them to win the war against the terror group, adding that the war against insurgency was a collective responsibility.

    While commending the troops for their gallantry, Nicholas urged them to be dedicated and display high sense of professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

    Nicholas disclosed that the government had adopted practical measures to ensure provision of logistics and improvement of soldiers’ welfare.

    TheNewsGuru reports that about 1, 000 Boko Haram insurgents have so far surrendered, several of them were killed and many others wounded including its factional leader, Mamman Nur.

    The troops also rescued about 1, 000 persons, recovered high caliber weapons, food items, animals and other items from the insurgents in the military offensive in the Lake Chad region in the past four weeks.

     

  • BREAKING: Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers kill 12, injure 48 in Maiduguri

    Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers killed 12 people and injured 48 others in an attack on Wednesday in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, officials from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for Borno said.

    In recent weeks, Nigeria’s military has embarked on an offensive against the Islamist insurgency in the northeastern state of Borno, the epicenter for much of the conflict, which began in 2009.

    That has not stopped Boko Haram’s attacks, which target both civilians and the military.

    Two bombers struck a market in the Muna Garage area on the outskirts of Maiduguri late on Wednesday afternoon, the SEMA officials said.

    Muna Garage is the site of a camp for displaced people and a frequent target of Boko Haram attacks.

    In the wake of the attack, the smell of burned blood lingered while parts of the market were still ablaze, according to a Reuters witness.

    On Monday, a Boko Haram faction released a video purporting to show some of the girls kidnapped from the town of Chibok nearly four years ago, as well as a downed Nigerian military aircraft and a group of policewomen abducted last year.

  • Boko Haram leader Shekau debunks Army’s fragile health claims, says ‘I am strong…’

    Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau has debunked claims by the Nigerian Army that he is ‘in a terrible state of health.’

    The army in a statement last week by its spokesperson, Sani Usman insisted that the notorious insurgent leader was truly alive but in a terrible state of health.

    “There is no doubt that the main Boko Haram terrorists group factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, is in a terrible state of health and not much a threat as he is now a spent horse, waiting for his waterloo,’ the Army spokesperson said last week.

    However, barely a week after releasing the statement, Shekau released a new video on Monday insisting that the Army’s claim about his health status were false and unfounded. where he debunks claims made by the Army.

    The video also showed more than a dozen girls who identified themselves as the abducted Chibok girls.

    Many of them had babies, an indication they had been sexually abused by the militants.

    A young woman who spoke on behalf of the girls said the captives were doing well and were unwilling to return to their families. The speaker wore full face veil and could not be identified.

    Mr. Shekau said the parents of the girls should consider himself and his men as their in-laws because their daughters were “happily married” to his fighters.

    The 36-minute video which the Boko Haram leader claimed was recorded on Sunday, January 14, also faulted the claims of the Nigerian military that he was “unhealthy” and “a spent horse”.

    Mr. Shekau said the 107 girls that had so far regained their freedom were released by his group because they refused to convert to Islam or get married.

    He said he also had in custody 10 policewomen that were abducted along Damboa-Maiduguri Road when his men ambushed a military convoy in 2017.

    Mr. Shekau, who spoke largely in Hausa, said the latest attempt by the Nigerian military to invade his enclave and rescue the policewomen was met with severe resistance that caused the government heavy losses including an helicopter, armoured tank, armoured personnel carrier and trucks.

    Mr. Shekau said his group would not give up the fight because they are devoted to the cause.

    He also claimed responsibility for most of the suicide bombings that took place recently.

    The video later showed the abducted 10 policewomen, many of who wept as they looked into camera.

    Read Shekau’s comments as transcribed below:

    “Oh you people of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, here is my message to you all . The God that created all of us and enjoined us in His holy book, just as he sent it through our holy prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave him the instruction to say that Allah has sanctioned mankind this straight path and make clear this path that does not lead one astray. This path is the only path prescribed to all mankind in the world. May God take our lives on this path.

    “The government of Nigeria cannot end what we are doing; they can only die trying.

    Particularly you the people of Nigeria and government of Nigeria; please stop deceiving yourselves about what you cannot achieve. You cannot stop us. And stop following the path that is not right.

    “God has instructed us to catch whoever that is not following our path and detained such persons in our prisons, or we could set him free and let him go ; or we could as well take our revenge on their lives. Whatever we see in the holy book is what we do. We don’t look elsewhere.

    “That is why we hold unto the Chibok girls; that is why we still have the police women. Among the Chibok schoolgirls that insisted on following the ways of their parents’ religion, we allowed them to go back and joined their people. And here with us we have the police women who have not converted to Islam and we are not going to force them to do so. They are here begging for you to come release them.

    “But for the remaining Chibok girls, you can’t get them again because they have all accepted and understood the religion of God. They did not accept Islam because of us; who are we to force them? That is why we say our ways is not that of the mortal being, but that of God.

    “You have said that I, Abubakar Shekau, is tired and unhealthy. But you forget that no one gets tired on the path of God. I am still strong and ready to carry on the work of God. That is why the Chibok schoolgirls, who have gone through the western education, are today following the book of God, because they have come to understand that the constitution is not the right path but a deception. They have now realised that your laws in Nigeria is not for good for them. It is written in the first article of your constitution that the constitution takes precedence over and above any other law book including the holy books. But how come these Chibok girls still come to accept the laws and constitution of God?

    “You use to teach children in your schools to say ‘I pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faithful loyal and honest, to serve Nigeria with all my strength, to defend her honour and glory’. Is that not what you teach your pupils?

    “It is still the same you that ask the children to sing “Arise O’ Compatriots, Nigerians call obey. To serve our father land, with love and strength and faith, the labor of hour heroes past shall never be in vain…”. Is that not what you teach our young children in school that they should not allow the labour of past leaders to waste in vain.

    Do you think all the prophets of God will allow that to happen? Never!

    “President Buhari you are now 76 years old, but let me tell you that many like you have attempted fighting the soldiers of God in the past and they are destroyed. I swear by Allah that you cannot defeat us. That is how you come to tell all kinds of lies. But God knows that his faithful servants cannot be ridiculed before his enemies.

    The Chibok girls that have become Muslims, and got married peacefully, are even calling on your parents to come accept Islam. May God bless you all. And we call on the parents of the Chibok girls that have become good Muslims to accept our ways and be part of us. You have become our in-laws by the virtue of your daughters marrying us. We are now in-laws. We are not fighting with the people, but those that stand against God’s commandment. That is why we reject your books and constitution. That is why I have said it in the past that ‘No rule and regulation in the world rather than Quran’.

    “We still have the policewomen and here are they crying for help. For all that we do, we do for the sake of God. That is why various of our brethren who go out to detonate bombs do so for God’s sake and not for our sake.

    The government should stop telling all these lies, especially the elders of Nigeria. Many elders have lied and did not end up well.

    “The military have come to us but did not end well. That is why your helicopter went down, that is why your armoured tanks got destroyed, that is why your armored trucks from Cameroon did not return. We killed many of you and you took their corpses to conceal the truth.

    “This message is from me Abubakar Shekau and it was released on the day that coincides with the Sunday 14th day of January 2018 in the Islamic calendar”.

    The speech by a representative of the abducted girls is as transcribed below:

    “Oh you our parents in Nigeria, I call on you to repent and worship Allah. We are very happy because we have found a way to Worship Allah. It is Him alone that we worship here; do repent and come to worship your creator. We pity you our parents that you have not accept the ways of Allah. You are only worshipping the country and its constitution. What a pity. It is ignorance.

    “It is even funny that you want the government to come and set us free and take us away. If you come to take us, where will you take us? Back to the land of infidels? God forbid! May God spare us from that your land of infidels. Don’t ever hope that we will ever go back to you. Our hope is to go and join our creator. We are the Chibok schoolgirls and we have come to stay here because here is where we belong, so don’t ever think you will see us again.

    “We pity the other girls who refuse to accept but rather chose going back to Nigeria, after God has given them His grace and brought you to the caliphate. You chose to return to infidelity. You girls will come to regret your actions. You will surely regret it on the day of judgment. Any persons that is in Nigeria and worships the constitution has only one destination which is hell fire. Repent today and worship God.

    “Finally we thank our father, Abubakar Shekau, he is the one that got us married to our husbands. We are all living here with dignity; we lack nothing because he gives us everything that we want. We never lack anything here. May God accept his devotion; may he die as a faithful Muslim. May God give him the ability to continue leading his followers upon the injunctions of holy book and the traditions of the prophet.”

    Read the speech by a representative of the policewomen is transcribed:

    “Assalamu alaikum to the people of Nigeria, here we are in the captivity of Boko Haram. Since our abduction we have been kept alive and well. But our plea is to the president of Nigeria and his vice president to have mercy on us and help us out of here.

    “We are Nigerian citizens and we plead with you to come and rescue us just as you had promised to do in the past.

    “We want you to rescue us in the same manner you rescued the Chibok girls. The other day that your troops invaded this place, was it meant to rescue us or to kill us. We want you to kindly deploy safe means of rescuing us all. We are 10 of us that are held here.”

  • Boko Haram strikes again in Adamawa, many feared dead, several injured

    There was pandemonium in Adamawa on Tuesday as many people were feared dead and kidnapped by the Boko Haram insurgents in a fresh attack.

    The insurgents Boko Haram wreaked the havoc at Pallam community in Madagali Local Government Area of the state.

    The attack came barely a week after the terrorists launched a similar attack on neighbouring Wanu, Kamale and Kafin Hausa communities of Michika and Madagali areas.

    Pallam is the hometown of the Deputy Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Emmanuel Tsamdu.

    Fleeing residents said the onslaught lasted for about five hours.

    “They sneaked into our town Pallam, midnight at about 11 p.m., and started shooting sporadically, killing and burning houses. They (Boko Haram) abducted some of our people mostly men.

    “I escaped by the whiskers and fled into a nearby hiding place before escaping; no soldier came to our rescue. For now I can’t tell the exact figures of the casualty. It was terrible!’’ a fleeing resident, Abamu Japhet, said.

    Confirming the night attack, a member representing Madagali, Michika at the House of Representatives, Adamu Kamale, said the terrorists, ”killed even livestock, looted and burnt many houses.”

    “I had a distress call that they have again launched night attack at Pallam. As I am talking to you now, the casualty figures is yet to be ascertained but they killed and abducted people and also burnt houses. Even before this attack, the terrorists had earlier ransacked Wanu, Kamale and Kafin Hausa communities. Infact, hardly a day will pass without attack, let the government wake up.

    “We want President Buhari to visit us and see the horrible scenario being meted on our communities,’’ he said.

    When contacted, police spokesman in the state, Othman Abubakar, said he is yet to be briefed on the development.

    “I am yet to get details of the attack but I will get back to you later,” he said.

    Boko Haram appears to have intensified its onslaught in recent weeks in its eight-year bloody insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives in the North-east.

  • Army releases 244 ‘rehabilitated’ Boko Haram suspects to Borno Govt

    The Nigerian Army on Monday released over 244 ‘rehabilitated’ Boko Haram suspects to the Borno State Government.

    The handing over of the suspects was in commemoration of the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

    The suspects comprise 56 women, 118 adult male, 19 underaged persons and 51 children.

    Presenting the suspects at the Military Cemetery in Maiduguri, venue of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Rogers Nicholas, a major-general, said the release of the repentant Boko Haram members was approved by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, a Lieutenant-General.

    He said the suspects had been properly screened and confirmed to have sincerely repented of allegiance to the group.

    The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, commended the military for its ongoing de-radicalisation efforts in the war against the almost nine-year-old Boko Haram insurgency.

    Mr. Shettima took time to speak with some of the insurgents who assured him of their readiness to be absorbed into the society and promised to be law-abiding citizens.

    The high point of the Remembrance Day event was the laying of wreaths by the governor and top military officers.

  • Army warn against Boko Haram insurgents on the run

    The Nigerian Army on Wednesday warned against providing sanctuary to fleeing Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.

    The army also called on the people to report suspicious persons in their communities to security agencies nearest to them.

    Brig.-Gen. Sani Kukasheka, the Director, Army Public Relations, gave the warning in a statement issued in Maiduguri.

    Kukasheka said intelligence reports indicated that the insurgents were taking refuge in dry wells and other hideouts to avoid the ongoing military offensive against them.

    “This is to warn residents in the North-East not to harbour the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists who are trying to flee from their waterloo.

    “Credible intelligence revealed that several of the insurgents have resorted to taking refuge in dry wells and other hideouts in some communities along their escape routes from the Sambisa Forest in order to evade the sustained bombardments from air and ground troops of Operation Lafiya Dole.

    “Any unpatriotic and unscrupulous persons especially in the North Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe found providing safe sanctuaries or any assistance to the criminals will be treated as accomplices and given same treatment as terrorists,” he said.

    The director appealed to the people to cooperate with the military by reporting any fleeing terrorists immediately to the nearest security agency or call the Nigerian Army Information Call Centre Number 193.

     

  • News Hour: Nigerian Army have defeated Boko Haram, says Buratai I TNGtv