TheNewsGuru

Tag: Chad

  • Boko Haram: Between Deby’s Political Survival and Our Fake Activists

    Boko Haram: Between Deby’s Political Survival and Our Fake Activists

    By Terrence Kuanum

    There has been an upsurge of praises for the Chadian President, Idriss Deby, for the seemingly fantastic exploits in the war against Boko Haram terrorist operating in the Lake Chad Basin Region. I have read commentaries and epistles with regards to this feat by some supposed enlightened minds that dot the nook and crannies of the country.

    At the initial stages, I almost joined the bandwagon in giving legitimacy to the Idriss Deby abracadabra. However, with the benefit of hindsight, I restrained and instead chose to understand the issues at stake. And I was glad I towed this line because the revelations afterward typified the height of insincerity of heart and purpose.

    I say this for two reasons; one is the fact that Idris Deby of Chad was not fighting terrorism but fighting for his political survival, having held unto power for over 30 years that brought about some form of resentment from Chadian rebels on the Lake Chad islands. Secondly is the fact that some mischief-makers in Nigeria that have either by commission or omission refused to acknowledge the efforts of the Nigerian Military in the fight against terrorism in North-East Nigeria and consequently went to town with disparaging remarks aimed at promoting heroism on the part of the Chadian President and futilely attempting to rub mud on the faces of the Nigerian authorities.

    As a start, I am convinced the Idris Deby war escapades have been politicized and hijacked by those whose stock in trade is to propagate fake news in Nigeria, all in a bid to discredit the government and sell their business in return for a plate of porridge. But they got the plot wrong this time around with the revelations as regards to what transpired in Chad.

    It is thus pertinent to state that what transpired in Chad was the incursion of Chadian Rebels in the North East region of Chad that led to the death of over 90 Chadian soldiers. This was on the heels that there was an initial attempt in 2019 by the rebel group, Union of Resistance Forces (Union des forces de la résistance – UFR), to reach the capital N’Djamena to overthrow President Idriss Déby and “set up a transitional government uniting all of the country’s forces.” This incursion was aborted following the French intervention.

    Accordingly, the Chadian Army stated on 9 February 2019, that “more than 250 terrorists, including four leaders,” were captured, and over forty of their vehicles destroyed. However instructive is the fact that by asking France’s military forces to intervene on his territory for the first time since 2008, President Idriss Déby showed that he took the risk very seriously which was due to a domestic situation marked by growing social upheaval, and also to burgeoning dissent within his ethnic community, which the rebels hope to exploit.

    The events that led to the death of 92 Chadian soldiers happened in the Lac province, on the Boma peninsula, which borders Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon in March. Idriss Deby, the Chadian President, saw this as a threat to his continued hold on power, and he consequently went on a clearance mission that now dots the social media spaces.

    It must be indeed stated the Idriss Deby of Chad didn’t lead his army to clear out Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria as speculated. Credible information indicates that the Chadian President lead a clearance operation of some rebel groups on the Lake Chad Islands plotting to overthrow his government. This is also on the heels that over 80% of the Boko Haram faction of Islamic State of West African Province are Chadian rebels with operational headquarters in the Lake Chad Islands.

    If we recall, Boko Haram’s split occurred in 2016. At the time, due to the counter-offensive launched by the Nigerian Military. Boko Haram – which in 2015 had become a branch of ISIS known as the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) – split in two. One group led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi and Mamman Nur left Boko Haram’s headquarters in the Sambisa forest and reached Lake Chad. There, they successfully rallied the bulk of the rebel fighters in Chad and obtained recognition from ISIS, thereby keeping the name ISWAP.

    So the activities of ISWAP have constituted tremendous security challenges for Idriss Deby in his quest to hold onto power, and these series of confrontation led to the death of over 90 Chadian soldiers. It must also be noted that ISWAP is undoubtedly the most dangerous because of its links to ISIS. ISWAP also has ties in the Lake Chad region with the group formerly known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), an affiliate of the Islamic State, operating in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The group formed as a splinter from Al Mourabitoun, an Al Qaeda-affiliated militant organization, when Adnan Abu Walid al Sahrawi swore allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) and its emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

    Credible intelligence sources had indicated that ISIS had placed ISGS under the banner of ISWAP with operational headquarters in the Islands on Chadian territories in the Lake Chad Basin Region from where they teamed up with other Chadian rebel groups to launch offensives against the Idriss Deby led government and other countries within the triangle.

    For starters, it would make no sense that the Chadian government would carry out an operation in another country without express clearance or participation from that country given the existence of the Multinational Joint Taskforce, a combined multinational formation, comprising units, mostly military, from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria and headquartered in N’Djamena.

    So what this tells us is that whatever exploits that have been credited to Idris Deby with regards to that operation was strictly a Chadian affair and on Chadian soil. This much was corroborated when Idriss Déby stated that he had pushed jihadist troops out of Chadian territory, taken back command posts on the lake from Boko Haram factions, and deployed his men into Niger and Nigeria to hunt down fighters who had fled and to “clean up” the border areas with those countries. On 3 April, he also announced that operations would continue in neighboring countries and called on them to provide troops to prevent rebels from regaining lost ground on the border areas of Niger and Nigeria.

    This is the actual situation in Chad and not what a segment of the population wants us to believe all in the despicable attempt to discredit whatever gains that have been recorded by the Nigerian Military so far.

    I am not concerned with how Idriss Deby is fighting for his political survival. However, I am with the way and manner some of us have elected to turn the truth on its head with regards to national issues, especially the efforts of the government in the fight against terrorism and other militant groups in Nigeria.

    Like I mentioned earlier, this is the era of fake news, and in Nigeria, fake news is propagated by fake activists to the detriment of our collective interest. They don’t care about whatever implication their actions and inactions might have on the psyche of the generality of Nigerians. For them, it’s about their interest and their interest is the money.

    Still using the Chadian example, it suffices to mention that all that praises heaped on Idriss Deby for exploits in the fight against Boko Haram terrorist was deliberate. It was designed to cast aspersion on the efforts of the government. Little wonder why some of these fake activists had the effrontery to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to demonstrate leadership like his Chadian counterpart by physically leading the war against Boko Haram terrorists in North-East Nigeria.

    That was quite a low one, which indeed exposed the mischief behind the news. For whatever it is worth, Idris Deby is fighting for his political survival. The French troops under the code name Operation Barkhane have been on the ground providing him with that military support it needs to keep the rebels at bay.

    I am therefore of the considered opinion that Nigerians must as a matter of necessity disregard the mischievous information been bandied around by these group of people all in a bid to cause disaffection in the polity, which on the one hand might be a ploy to heighten tension in the nation so that their paymasters can take advantage of the accompanying crisis to take over government through the back door.

    We must also admit that indeed these are trying times, and those against the interest of Nigeria are amongst us. They wine and dine with us, and they also sing the national anthem when the need arises. But in their closets, they are hawks that have sold their souls to the devil in return for a plate of porridge. Yes, this is the starkness of reality facing us. It behooves on all well-meaning Nigerians to rise to the occasion and join hands with the government to preserve our country not just for us, but for the generations unborn who would have nowhere to call home.

    For the records, the military expertise of Chad cannot be compared to that of Nigeria. There is no way; it can be said that Chad, under Idriss Deby, is more committed to the fight against terrorism than Nigeria. That is indeed an anomaly. It is fake news, and fake activists propagate it. This is the actual situation of things as it stands.

    Kuanum is
    Field Researcher,
    Global Amnesty Watch

  • Re: Chad’s Idris Derby As Odogo’s Wife, The Incriminator

    Re: Chad’s Idris Derby As Odogo’s Wife, The Incriminator

    By Philip Agbese

    I respect Festus Adedayo as writer, public affairs commentator, analyst and author. Consummating his articles anytime fills the void in knowledge and information. But I read the article captioned, “Chad’s Idris Derby As Odogo’s Wife, The Incriminator,” (published in Sahara reporters dated, April 11, 2020), and was staggered by its unpardonable gaffes.

    Definitely, I want to believe it was not intentional. I sighted the writer’s dilemma in the hanker to speak the truth on the counter-terrorism battles of Nigeria from 2009 between former President Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

    I perceived his desperation to spin the truth he knows on Nigeria’s battles with terrorism these years, but was hamstringed by the deficiency of facts and accuracy. It is understandable because the dreary terrain of terrorism battlegrounds makes access to precise and trustworthy information on the war extremely difficult.

    Nonetheless, Adedayo cannot be permitted to escape with some inappropriate representations, which I have reasons to believe it is not deliberate. It even includes the wrong insinuations which reeks throughout the otherwise nice piece. I concur with the writer religiously that Chad’s President Idriss Deby is one heck of an adulterated and debased military cum civilian dictator on the Chadian political corridors.

    The public commentator upbraided him rightly as treacherous, tyrannical, an excited betrayer and worse enemy of humanity by his overt romance with Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists. I prefer to call them armed criminals anyway.

    An African adage says, “When the wind blows, the fowl’s anus is exposed.” President Deby preposterously exposed himself by hyping “yesterday’s” battles with terrorists in the Chadian enclave of Kelkoua, on banks of Lake Chad in her sovereignty, April 4, 2020.

    Let’s pardon Deby’s empty boasts. But I am yet to understand Adedayo’s wisdom, which figured Deby’s action as heroic or an act of valour! If I properly discerned Deby’s history, he is a rebel himself, as leader of the Patriotic Salvation Movement and ardent student of the Moummar Gaddafi’s tutelage of armed revolutionary radicalism.

    What has baffled me is the writer’s tenders on Deby’s hoax or ruse on fighting terrorism. Adedayo wrote; “it must be said that his rout of Boko Haram has revealed that Nigeria under Buhari is nothing more than a pusillanimous military leadership. The fact must be stated that fighting this insurgency seems to be, for the military Generals in the war theatre, a mercantile activity that must be prolonged for the sake of the belly.”

    This is absolute gibberish! It reconfirms my earlier position about the writer’s desolation in knowledge of whatever terrorism entails in Nigeria and the unrelenting battles which clipped the wings of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists under President Buhari. Its much of bad blood for him to ingeniously infuse the known and politicized campaigns on stampeding President Buhari to sack his Service Chiefs.

    Adedayo finally came in his flawed damaging self. He wrote; “So while Derby may have fought his Boko Haram allies as comeuppance for their “betrayal” of their alliance, the Nigerian government, devoid of cronyism and fired by the leadership and determination of the Derby hue, would have made far greater marks than it is making in the war against the terrorists. The first move in this regard would be for Buhari to sack his expired security chiefs.”

    In whatever disguised manner the commentator has sprouted this issue, we know, it is this overriding interest that has triggered the piece. President Buhari has repeatedly said he is satisfied with the performance of his Service Chiefs and it is needless to over-flog the issue. And I have reason to believe him.

    Very often, Nigerians assume a simplistic understanding of terrorism wars. It is the writer’s first blunder. I believe that is also the conviction of the writer when he submitted that “Nigeria slipped from a country known, before now, for her military prowess, into a hub of global jokes, a sissy if you like. Strategic experts have located a troubling metastasis of the cancer.”

    But the security experts he relied upon for this conclusion have no slightest idea about terrorism and its tempo in Nigeria before the Buhari Presidency. I know, terrorism wars are not easy to crack anywhere in the world because of its asymmetrical nature.

    America with all its sophistry has been in the Middle East fighting terrorism, since 2002, but no end in sight yet. The war has engulfed over a trillion dollars of America’s funds. That Nigeria has been able to decimate and defeat Boko Haram terrorists in four years is enviable and commendable.

    Nigeria has curbed the rage of terrorists to the extent that they are unable to trouble Abuja again; their plots to make ingress into Southern Nigeria has also been guillotined and the push-back of insurgents has confined their operations to the Lake Chad area. How else could Nigeria or efficiency of the Service Chiefs be expressed?

    And so, because of certain partisan motivations, we prefer to condemn the impressive efforts of President Buhari and his Service Chiefs in combating Boko Haram terrorism. Adedayo like some other Nigerians are under the false illusion that President Idriss Deby has done a wonderful job by leading Chadian troops to the battlefield to battle Boko Haram and destroy their armoury bunkers. Nigeria through Gen. Buratai has performed similar feats and posted better streaks of victories against terrorists.

    But terrorists have an amazing resilience. When the battle gets tough, they recoil into sleeper cells, recuperate, replenish and stage greater onslaughts at targets. Deby and anyone else should not be deluded that the “Operation Anger of Boma,” has erased all vestiges of Boko Haram in Chad or the region.

    It is this indefinite character of terrorism that Nigeria is still under the spell of remnants of Boko Haram and with their dislodgment from Sambisa forest. Chadian territories offered them conducive recuperation abodes when they chased out of Nigeria. Deby and his praise singers just have to look further afield.

    So, it is a fluke for Adedayo to say, “The Chadian Army also said with confidence that the terrorists had been driven “out of all the islands of the lake… Chadian soldiers are currently stationed deep on the islands of Niger and Nigeria, waiting for these friendly countries’ soldiers to take over.” No nation has the power to station his army in the territory of another country without a permission. Chadian Army are not stationed anywhere in Nigerian territory. The writer must not swallow hook and sinker or jump at every propaganda reeled by Chad.

    The insinuation that President Buhari should have also personally led Nigerian troops to the frontlines to confront terrorists because he is a retired Army General is misplaced. President Buhari and Deby cannot operate on the same template. Buhari is far older than Deby, no reasonable person would expect that both should have the same physical stamina now.

    It is false conclusion to claim that “Billions of dollars are voted for hardware, software and military welfare yearly which allegedly slip into the bottomless pockets of the Generals and their collaborators in government. Moles within are also alleged to collect fat dividends from the insurgents for revealing tracks of proposed attacks.”

    I cannot refute the problem of moles in the military who frustrate Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operations. It is real! But the problem is bigger and has more more tentacles than envisaged by Adedayo. Former President Jonathan once bemoaned that there are Boko Haram spies everywhere including Aso Rock. Politicians, religious and traditional rulers, and other arms of security agencies have spies who work for Boko Haram. But Gen. Buratai has considerably reduced the influence of moles on counter-insurgency operations and it explains the impact Nigeria has recorded on counter-terrorism.

    But it is blatant falsehood to mouth that billions of dollars voted for hardware, software and military welfare annually are embezzled under the Buhari Presidency. The statement is too generalized and fluid. Military or security budgets are not opaque. It is open to public scrutiny.

    Nigerians are under the mistaken notion that weapons purchased in 2015 for counter-insurgency operations are never exhausted in warfare, but should remain in military armory. Counter-terrorism is a battle which expends and deflates military armoury every day on the battlefield and requires constant replenishment.

    Adedayo claims that Military welfare is ignored is also inaccurate. My understanding of the situation is that the Nigerian Government and the National Assembly have not voted enough funds for military welfare. It is not an issue of embezzlement. In the 2020 budget for instance, just one percent of the national budget is provided for all the arms of Nigeria’s security agencies. And 90 percent of it is for recurrent expenditure, comprising salaries and allowances of security personnel.

    This is grossly inadequate. And parliamentarians never harkened to pleas to increase the budget for security agencies in the age of insurgencies. So, where does anybody get “billions of dollars” to embezzle? And when we talk about welfare, Gen. Buratai has kept faith with soldiers. He pays their approved salaries and allowances promptly. And by his personal initiatives he has launched various economic empowerment schemes for the Nigerian Army, aside the partnership with corporate organizations for the construction of post-retirement housing scheme for the Army.

    It is my honest view that Adedayo overrated and amplified the prowess of President Deby and the Chadian Army. The battle at Kelkoua is nothing spectacular, but the country’s rebellion against its own rebels it has sustained in its territory for years.

    Agbese, an author and human rights activist contributed this piece from the United Kingdom.

  • Deby Itno’s pseudo-heroism and our gang of fake activists

    Deby Itno’s pseudo-heroism and our gang of fake activists

    By Julius Orya

    When the Nigeria police in February announced that it undertook a combat operation that led to the killing of 250 alleged terrorists in Birin Gwari, Kaduna State, many Nigerian activists questioned the announcement saying there were many gaps in the story.

    They demanded picture and video evidence and challenged the police to take newsmen to the scene of the fight to convince them.
    When gallant Nigerian troops repelled a planned invasion on the town of Biu, Borno State, last December and took out quite a number of the insurgents as they tried to escape, cynicism greeted the cheery news from the camp of activists who wanted to reduce the feat as insignificant.

    But last week, when the Chadian President, Idriss Deby Itno, came out and announced that his troops have killed over 1000 of the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists, Nigerian activists did not demand a picture or video evidence from him. He, rather got a standing ovation.

    The same people that tried to fact check the announcement by the Nigeria police and downplay the liquidation of insurgents by Nigerian troops never deemed it fit to subject the claim by the Chadian President to scrutiny.

    Deby Itno had said that while Chadian troops liquidated over 1000 of the insurgents, that only 52 of his men fell in the ‘daring’ operation on the fringes of the Lake Chad, which has been code named ‘Operation Colero de Borno.’

    Those who have bothered to fact check the claim of the Chadian President have however uncovered lots of misinformation, half truths, exaggeration and outright lies in the Deby story.

    The first is the claim by Deby Itno that he is fighting Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists. The second is the claim on the identity of those liquidated and the third is the motive for moving against the militia.

    Of the four countries directly affected by the activities of the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists, that is, Nigeria, Cameroun, Niger and Chad none of them has been so receptive and welcoming of the groups like Chad.

    While the three other countries had committed to a joint multinational task force and were doing all they could to suppress the insurgents, Chad under Deby on the other hand had preferred to play the ostrich.

    Over the years, Chad would pretend to be with the multinational task force in the day, but in the night, when the other countries send troops to go after the insurgents, it will allow them safe abode deep within its borders and beyond the 25 kilometers allowed for penetration by the multinational force. This is why while the other countries have been able to keep the population of insurgents low, Chad has seen to a boom in their population.

    Fact check revealed that since the insurgents began to seize territories in 2013 and hoist their flags, they do not at any one time station more than 300 of their men at a particular location preferring to be itinerant for fear of being subdued.

    When the insurgents seized Gwoza in Borno State and made it the capital of its caliphate, facts on ground showed that it kept only about 400 of its militia to secure and administer the place until they were flushed out by Nigerian troops.

    In other smaller communities that the insurgents manage to capture, residents say after the initial invasion when they come with so many of their men, they quickly retreat leaving about 100 of them to hold on and maintain the siege.

    For any country to have 1000 of the fighting men of the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists, as claimed by the Chadian President therefore, means that either the country is accommodating the two terrorists groups or the claim in number and identity is not entirely true.

    One has a cause to believe that while Chad harboured the terrorists and was using them to extort money from other bigger countries, it also had its own share of rebel militias that are almost indistinguishable from the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists. This is because their activities are known to overlap.

    Militancy in Chad evolved from a series of mutiny that has become part and parcel of the politics of that country over the years since the days of Goukouni Oueddei who was shoved off the throne by Hissen Habre.

    Habre also got a worse treatment from Deby who was his associate and the culture of schemes, betrayal and power tussle has become the order in Chad.
    Deby Itno himself has survived many putsch and in the bid to make himself the life president, removed term limit for the presidency and has been winning elections since then.

    This, needless to say, has set him against a section of the country who are yearning for regime change and for the enthronement of true democracy in the tiny country. A mutiny even arose from within the armed forces which was however quelled and the leader arrested and detained.

    Deby Itno, to sustain his grip on the nation, had to keep political opponents behind bars for several years and under inhuman conditions.
    Despite all that, he has not been able to shake off the fear that he might lose the throne the same way he got it hence never cease to look over his shoulders.

    Matters got to a head last year, when there was an agitation from the civil populace against bad governance. As the agitation grew, Deby Itno decided to move against the largest concentration of armed militia in his country which he by default allowed and which could be used against him.

    The militia, realising they were about to be sacrificed in the political chess game, decided to preempt the Chadian President by moving against his killer squad and succeeded in killing 98 of them.
    This angered the Chadian President who saw the political implication of the liquidation of his strike force and decided to retaliate by giving the militia a bloody nose.

    It was so personal to him and relevant to his survival on the throne that he had to lead the operation himself as he trusted no one else to do that for him given the level of disenchantment and mistrust even in the armed forces . So the Chadian President in leading the troops was basically fighting for his own political survival . Hence on the first fact check, Chad is not fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad.

    One the second fact check, it is equally important to probe the identity of the militia the Chadian troops engaged. It is a well known fact that 80 percent of Boko Haram/ISWAP are Chadian Rebels as virtually all of them are found in Lake Chad Islands within the Chadian Territory. Deby Itno in dislodging his country’s rebels who have grown in number and have mingled with the terrorists across the border for his political survival, has turned his political fight into a propaganda to portray him as a warlord fighting terrorism and insurgency.
    Unfortunately, this is the version our Nigerian ‘activists’ want to believe. Whatever they chose to believe, no one can sell the dummy to us that there was any 1,000 terrorists killed anywhere by the Chadian President who is fighting for his own survival.

    Orya wrote this piece from Karu, Nasarawa State.

  • Boko Haram: God has revealed himself to Idriss Derby, French counterparts to severe relationship with terrorists

    The National Inter- Faith and Religious Organisations for Peace (NIFROP) believes God finally revealed himself to Chadian President Idriss Derby and his French counterparts to prevail against Boko Haram terrorists.

    The now repented Derby was guilty of turning blind eyes to the terrorism around the Lake Chad Basin, especially knowing the Nigerian troops can’t trespass its shores.

    Under the leadership of Lieutenant General T.Y Buratai, the gallant troops repeatedly decimated the Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters, with the remainder fleeing to neighbouring nations where it found solace.

    But in a surprise turn of events, Derby backed by his French allies, recently led an onslaught on the Islamic fighters and NIFROP traced this to a supernatural encounter with God.

    In a statement signed by Chairman Board of Trustees, Arch-Bishop Julius Ediwe on Monday, NIFROP disclosed that “Boko Haram terrorists would have become history by now if Nigeria’s neighbours go beyond paying lip service”.

    NIFROP urged Niger and Cameroon to sustain the momentum and cooperate with Nigeria to separately but simultaneously launch similar operations in their territories.

    The religious group, however, advised authorities to investigate sources of the weapons seized from the Chadian military operation against Boko Haram.

    On its part, NIFROP assured the Nigerian troops of its total support, spiritually and physically as they edge closer towards victory over the terrorists.

  • Boko Haram: Chad President, Idriss Deby leads army to slaughter 100 terrorists, arrest top commander

    Boko Haram: Chad President, Idriss Deby leads army to slaughter 100 terrorists, arrest top commander

    As the onslaught against Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) continue, Chad’s President Idriss Deby has warned the sect’s factional leader Abubakar Shekau to surrender or risk being killed inside his Dikoa hideout.

    Deby issued the warning in a state address to his countrymen shortly after leading his army in an offensive against the terrorists that left about 100 killed.

    According to the President who spoke in French, Shekau has the chance to surrender now or risk being smoked out of his hideout in Dikoa and he would be killed the same way some of his commanders were killed.

    Following a seven-hour ambush on Chadian troops by the terrorists that left 92 soldiers dead recently, Deby who said he would not accept defeat launched Operation Wrath of Bomo to avenge the death of his men.

    Named after the town where the Chadian soldiers were killed, the operation which commenced on Thursday, saw the president leading his armed forces to battle at Kelkoua bank and Magumeri where they fired rockets and 12.5mm rounds ammunition on the criminals.

    The troops were said to have also destroyed several BHTs bunkers, recovered cache of arms and arrested a top BHT commander.

    At Magumeri, a local government in the northern Borno State, the Chadian troops were alleged to have set free some Nigerian soldiers held captive by terrorists.

    According to reports, the Chadian troops have dealt the terrorists massive blow and have advanced into neighbouring countries with a vow to destroy them completely in few days.

    Video footages and pictures of the operation which were shared on social media showed corpses of suspected terrorists littering the floor with hundreds of assorted gun lumped together. It also showed a suspect partly covered in blood alleged to be a top Commander who was arrested while fleeing through one of the bunkers.

    Hours after the victories of the Chadian armed forces went viral, Shekau released an audio message where he appealed to his fighters to stand form.

    Shekau who spoke in Hausa was translated to have said: “People of Chad, leave us alone, this operation is not approved by the Qur’an. It is not the will of the Prophet Muhammed but if you want to continue, God will help us too because he is bigger than you. To my fighters, take heart. It is I, Abubakar Shekau, your leader.”

    Meanwhile, Nigerians on social media have continued to sing the praises of Deby dealing the terrorists massive blows at a time own government was offering them amnesty.

    Many likened the Chadian President to late Gaddafi, commending him for leading his men into Nigerian soil to free Nigerian soldiers held hostage by Boko Haram terrorists.

  • Boko Haram: Chad withdraws all troops from Nigeria

    Boko Haram: Chad withdraws all troops from Nigeria

    Chad has withdrawn its 1,200-strong force who were on months-long mission fighting Boko Haram from Nigeria.

    Chadian Army’s spokesman also confirmed on Saturday that none of their personnel remain in Nigeria.

    “It’s our troops who went to aid Nigerian soldiers months ago returning home. They have finished their mission,” spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa said.

    “None of our soldiers remains in Nigeria,” he added, without specifying whether they might be replaced following Friday’s pullout.

    “Those who have come back will return to their sector at Lake Chad,” Bermandoa said.

    However, Chad’s general chief of staff General Tahir Erda Tahiro said that if countries in the region which have contributed to a multinational anti-jihadist force were in agreement, more troops will likely be sent in.

    “If the states around Lake Chad agree on a new mission there will surely be another contingent redeployed on the ground,” Tahiro said.

  • Buhari arrives Chad for CED SAD meeting

    President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived N’Djamena to participate in the Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential aircraft conveying the President and members of his entourage including some of his personal aides and three state governors landed at the Hassan Djamous International Airport N’Djamena at about 9.40 a.m.

    Those at the airport to welcome the President included Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Mr Jeoffrey Onyaema and retired Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau.

    Others were Minister of Defence, retired Brig.- Gen. Mansur Dan Ali; National Security Adviser to the President, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno and the Nigerian Charge d’Affaire, Mr Nasiru Waje.

    Buhari and other regional leaders would join their host and current Chairperson of CEN-SAD Conference, President Idriss Deby Itno, to deliberate on political and security issues, among others.

    A statement by presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, on Friday, said the leaders would deliberate on state of peace and ways to address multifaceted threats in CEN-SAD area, especially Boko Haram and refugees.

    The leaders would make a declaration on the entry into force of CEN-SAD revised Treaty intended to fast track the realisation of the objectives of the body.

    “During the opening Session of the Conference, special Awards will be given to heads of state and military contingents in Mali, Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic and in the Lake Chad Basin,’’ Shehu further explained.

    Created by the Treaty of Tripoli on Feb. 4, 1998, with six founding members, Nigeria joined the current 29-member regional economic community in 2001.

    The group seeks mainly to create a free trade area in Africa as well as to “strengthen peace, security and stability, and achieve global economic and social development of its members.”

    Delegations from 22 member-countries are expected at the extraordinary meeting of CEN-SAD holding at the Radisson Blu Hotel, N’Djamena.

    Sudan which is a member of CEN-SAD may not be represented at the meeting following socio-political uncertainties in the country caused by the removal of President Omar Al-Bashir from office by the Sudanese military on Thursday.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that Al-Bashir, had earlier indicated interest to attend the CEN-SAD meeting holding from Friday to Saturday.

  • Buhari jets to Chad Saturday for CEN-SAD meeting

    Buhari jets to Chad Saturday for CEN-SAD meeting

    President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Saturday for N’Djamena, Chad to participate in the Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD).

    Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, confirmed the movement in a statement in Abuja on Friday.

    Shehu said Buhari and other regional leaders would join their host and current Chairperson of CEN-SAD Conference, President Idriss Deby Itno, to deliberate on political and security issues, among others.

    The presidential aide said the regional leaders would also deliberate on state of peace and ways to address multifaceted threats in CEN-SAD area, especially Boko Haram and refugees.

    He said that the leaders would make a declaration on the entry into force of CEN-SAD revised Treaty intended to fast track the realisation of the objectives of the body.

    “During the opening Session of the Conference, special Awards will be given to heads of state and military contingents in Mali, Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic and in the Lake Chad Basin,’’ Shehu further explained.

    Created by the Treaty of Tripoli on Feb. 4, 1998, with six founding members, Nigeria joined the current 29-member regional economic community in 2001.

    The group seeks mainly to create a free trade area in Africa as well as to “strengthen peace, security and stability, and achieve global economic and social development of its members.”

    Delegations from 22 member-countries are expected at the extraordinary meeting of CEN-SAD holding at the Radisson Blu Hotel, N’Djamena.

    Sudan which is a member of CEN-SAD may not be represented at the meeting following socio-political uncertainties in the country caused by the removal of President Omar Al-Bashir from office by the Sudanese military on Thursday.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that Al-Bashir, had earlier indicated interest to attend the CEN-SAD meeting holding from Friday to Saturday.

  • FG speaks on Buhari being cloned with Jibrin from Sudan,Chad

    The Federal Government has reacted to those claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari was cloned.

    It described such talk as idiotic and that such people peddling the rumour were not worthy of getting government reaction.

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said these in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Thursday.

    His response followed questions that the Federal Government should clear the air on the allegation.

    Recall that there were insinuations that the President was cloned and that the man who is presiding over the affairs of the country is one Jibrin/Jibril from either Sudan or Chad.

    The rumour followed the miraculous recovery of the President when he was sick about two years ago.

    Mohammed said, “It is idiotic to say the President is cloned. I don’t see any serious government responding to that.

    “So, the same Jibrin that was cloned from Sudan or Chad is in Chad now? Isn’t that stupid?

    “They even said he is from Chad. Yet, the same President is in Chad as we speak. The same Jibrin is remembering what the President did while in Petroleum Trust Fund and he is also remembering what he did when he was head of state between 1983 and 1985.

    “All the ministers do not know who is before them when they attend the Federal Executive Council meeting? The President remembers memos he had seen or heard about in 1985 and we say he is cloned.

    “So, Jibril from Chad or Sudan will now remember all of these? It is too silly for the government to respond to this. It must be ignored.”

  • Soldiers’ killings: Buhari summons service chiefs, sends Defence Minister to Chad

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday summoned Service Chiefs over the recent alleged killing of 44 Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram Insurgents.

    The president also sent the Minister of Defence, Brig.Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali, to neighbouring Chad Republic as part of moves to unravel the mystery behind the gruesome killing of the soldiers by the insurgents.

    According to a report by The Punch, Dan-Ali got a presidential mandate to meet with the President of Chad, Idris Deby, and the neighbouring country’s top military hierarchy to review the deteriorating security situation along the Chad-Niger-Nigeria borderline.

    Recall that Boko Haram attacks have witnessed a resurgence lately along the common borders, with Nigeria said to have paid a costly price with the lives of the 44 soldiers and many villagers between Sunday and last Monday.

    The soldiers were killed in Metele, a village along the Nigerian border with Niger Republic.

    A military source quoted by APF, had disclosed that the soldiers were completely taken unawares and killed.

    The insurgents were said to have arrived in the Borno State village in 20 trucks before launching the deadly attacks.

    “Our troops were completely routed and the terrorists captured the base after heavy fighting”, the military source further stated.

    It was gathered on Friday that after a review of the security situation by the Nigerian authorities, the main cause of the problem was traced to the weakening Multi-National Joint Task Force put in place by the countries to patrol the borders.

    However, Chad reportedly withdrew its own men from the force, leaving its flanks on the borders open for the insurgents to launch attacks freely lately into other countries.

    The source added, “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch attacks.

    “This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

    When contacted for comments on Friday, the Senior Special Assistant to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, confirmed that Dan-Ali indeed travelled to Chad.

    However, he claimed not to know the purpose of the minister’s trip to the neighbouring country.