The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says the Air Task Force (ATF) of “Operation LAFIYA DOLE” has neutralized Boko Haram terrorist camps at Zanari and Tunbun Rego, in Borno.
Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the operation was carried out on Monday.
"The NAF ATF of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has recorded further gains in the ongoing air interdiction operations designed to wipe out remnants of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) within the fringes of Lake Chad.
"This occurred as the ATF on Aug.20 conducted air strikes on BHT camps at Zanari and Tunbun Rego in Borno State.
"The air strikes at Zanari were planned and executed based on intelligence reports indicating that the BHTs had established a training camp in the village and were converging in an area prior to departing for an attack on own troops locations around the Lake Chad area.
“Accordingly, the ATF scrambled II NAF Alpha Jet aircraft for a pre-emptive strike on two specified locations within Zanari, where the BHTs were assembled,” he said.
Daramola said that the fighter aircraft acquired and attacked both locations, neutralizing several BHTs, with only few survivors seen fleeing the area, adding that ” these were later mopped up by follow-on rocket strikes”.
"Similarly, another identified BHT rendezvous point and staging area on the outskirts of Tunbun Rego was also attacked and destroyed by the Alpha Jets,” the spokesman said.
He said that the NAF would continue to deploy its platforms to conduct intensive Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions in the entire Northeast aimed at discovering the possible locations of remnants of BHTs and neutralizing them.
Some troops of the Nigerian Army, who went missing in action, following the Boko Haram terrorists’ attacks on a military base in Jilli, Yobe State, and Bama, Borno State, have yet to be found, according to reliable military sources on Saturday.
Our correspondent learnt that the army bases in both locations were making frantic efforts to locate the displaced soldiers as well as recover at least three military gun trucks which were still missing.
“I can confirm to you that not all the ‘missing-in-action soldiers’ have been found. We are still looking for several of them. Some gun trucks are also yet to be recovered.
“We have just been promised logistics’ support by the army chief. This means the supply of more war equipment and food items, which were the major things carted away by the insurgents,”
a source said in an interview with COLOSSUS GISTS.
The number of soldiers still missing as of Saturday was uncertain as the army authorities had kept mum on the development.
The army base in Jilli was reportedly attacked last week by the Boko Haram insurgents when at least 20 soldiers were said to have died and about 20 others injured.
This was preceded by a Boko Haram ambush of a military convoy in Bama, Borno State, where hundreds of soldiers were displaced in the ensuing gunfire and some members of the Civilian Joint Task Force said to have been killed.
Some soldiers reportedly died also with conflicting figures from multiple sources.
One of the sources, close to Bama, had said, “About 10 corpses of soldiers ambushed in Borno have been recovered. The army is still looking for the rest of them. The terrorists are said to be from the Al-Barnawi faction.”
The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig Gen. Texas Chukwu, had said on Wednesday that the attack on Jilli was “very unfortunate” while denying that any soldier was killed in the incident.
Chukwu also stated that the terrorist attack on Bama to “cart away operational vehicles” was repelled by troops, adding that only an officer and a soldier sustained injuries.
Our correspondent, however, learnt that the loss in both army locations was so huge that it forced the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, and other top commanders from the army headquarters, Abuja, to visit the North-East and assess the situation on the ground.
The army chief thereafter promised the 21 Brigade in Bama “adequate logistics support” to aid their operations.”
Our correspondent learnt on Saturday that there was still tension in Jilli and Bama over soldiers who had yet to be found, either dead or alive.
Multiple sources confirmed to our correspondent that the gun trucks and other ammunition, carted away by the insurgents, had also yet to be recovered.
“We are trying to boost the troops’ morale to prepare for other assaults. It is clear that the terrorists are trying to remain relevant. They are in search of arms and ammunition and that is why they target our bases. We will not allow them,” a source added.
A journalist said to be well-informed about the sect’s activities, Ahmad Salkida, had taken to Twitter on Wednesday to describe the death toll in the attack on Jilli as “staggering.”
Ahmad said,
“There should be a national mourning. We had never this type of incident before in the Lake Chad crisis that the military been caught on the wrong footing as it’s evident in the latest attack on Jilli.
“There is a grave sense of despair among officers and men. The toll is staggering,” say multiple sources.
The Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole has killed several Boko Haram Terrorists at Bulagaye and Kwakwa areas of Borno State.
Adesanya said upon receiving reports of the attack, the ATF scrambled Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform and the Alpha Jet aircraft to locate the fleeing terrorists.
Consequently, he said the insurgents, who were seen assembling at a staging area in Bulagaye began to disperse upon sighting the attack platforms.
“However, the NAF fighter aircraft acquired and attacked the fleeing insurgents with bombs and rockets. As a result of the air strikes, the terrorists were neutralized while their vehicles and weapons were destroyed, leading to a thick cloud of black smoke,” he stated.
According to Adesanya, intelligence reports later revealed that a smaller bunch of the terrorists had re-assembled in a settlement known as Kwakwa with the ATF conducting a wave of strikes on the location.
He said the ISR platform successfully identified the terrorists’ location and vectored the attack platforms to the target area, which was attacked with bombs and rockets.
The NAF Spokesman also said that some of the terrorists were seen fleeing towards a nearby settlement and further attacked with rockets and then neutralized.
He promised that the Air Task Force would continue to conduct missions in support of the efforts of our troops in the counterinsurgency operations in the Northeast while also providing Close Air Support when requested to do so.
Today Monday mark one of the kidnapped teenage student, Leah Sharibu 15th birthday in the custody of her captors. Miss Sharibu is the only one of the schoolgirls kidnapped from Dapchi still with the terror group, Boko Haram.
It is now almost two months since the Nigerian government negotiated the release of the 105 abducted Dapchi girls.
About 110 students, including Miss Sharibu, were abducted from the Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, after their school was attacked by the Boko Haram on February 19.
Four days after their abduction, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to ensure the safe return of all the abducted students.
Mr Buhari also vowed that his administration would ensure the abductors of the Dapchi girls were apprehended and brought to justice.
“I also instructed the security agencies to deploy in full and not spare any effort to ensure that all the girls are returned safely, and the attackers arrested and made to face justice,” the president had said.
A month after their abduction, the federal government secured the release of 105 of the girls, following what was described by the Director-General of the State Security Service Lawal Daura as a series of ‘behind-the-scene discussion.’
Like the news about their abduction, controversial figures of the number of released girls emanated from official authorities in government, till a final information revealed the total number of freed girls to be 105.
Miss Sharibu, who would have been the 106th girl to be freed, was left behind for refusing to denounce her Christian faith.
The remaining four kidnapped girls were reported to have died at the hands of their captors, who entered freely into Dapchi town on March 21 to return the freed girls.
Miss Sharibu’s mother had fainted and became unconscious after hearing the news about her daughter’s situation.
In a statement shortly after their release, Mr Buhari pledged to ensure that, “the lone girl was not abandoned”.
“The Buhari administration will not relent in efforts to bring Leah Sharibu safely back home to her parents as it has done for the other girls.
“President Buhari is fully conscious of his duty under the Constitution to protect all Nigerians, irrespective of faith, ethnic background or geopolitical location and will not shirk in this responsibility,” the statement signed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu had said.
Three days after the release of the 105 Dapchi girls, the Inspected-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, was quoted as saying that Miss Sharibu may be released by her abductors.
“I am supposed to go to Dapchi today, but because I learnt that that schoolgirl, Leah, may be released today, that was why I have to shelve my trip to the town,” Mr Idris said.
Mr Idris however explained his stance when the girl was not returned.
Speaking also on the floor of the Senate; a senator representing Yobe State, Bukar Ibrahim, said on March 29 that Miss Sharibu, as well as the remaining Chibok girls still held captive would soon be free.
The same terror organisation had abducted 276 girls in April, 2014 at a boarding school in Chibok, Borno State, during the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
About 57 of the girls were later reported to have escaped while 107 girls have so far been freed by the group, leaving 112 of the girls still held captive, four years after their abduction.
Yet 54 days after the negotiated return of the Dapchi girls and 84 days after Miss Sharibu’s abduction, neither the federal government nor its security agencies have succeeded in ensuring the safe return of Miss Sharibu.
Reacting to the continued detention of Miss Sharibu, the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, (CSN) described her situation as a demonstration of increased hostilities against the Christian religion in Nigeria, as well as in other parts of the world.
Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday evening, the girl’s father, Sharibu Nathan, pleaded again with government to ensure the safe release of his daughter.
“Up till now, we have not seen our daughter. I am asking the government to please try and bring my daughter back safe. They should please help us!” Mr Nathan pleaded.
He thanked Nigerians, both Muslims and Christians, for their prayers and called for more supplications to ensure the release of his daughter.
“I thank all those Muslims and Christians who have prayed for us. They should please say more prayers for my daughter,” Mr Nathan added.
In a message by spokesperson for the Bring Back Our girls, (BBOG) group, Sesugh Akumeh, on Sunday night; the group said Miss Sharibu would have been marking her 15th birthday on Monday (today).
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Nathan who confirmed the information to be true. “Yes today is her birthday,” Mr Nathan said.
While Nigerians expect the government to ensure Miss Sharibu’s release, it now appears certain that on May 14, 2018 when she should be celebrating her 15th birthday with family and friends, she is still with her captors.
Four members of Boko Haram have surrendered to Troops waging war against Boko Haram in Borno state.
According to The Cable, this was made known to newsmen by Onyema Nwachukwu, the Deputy Director Public Relations of the Theatre Command.
He said “The terrorists who claimed they are from the Abubakar Shekau faction comprised 3 men, one woman and 3 children.
“Two of the men were Boko Haram Amirs (commanders) while the third man was a Boko Haram medic, who provided medical treatments to wounded insurgents in the field
“The only woman among them is a wife to one of the Amirs and held a position as one of the women leaders amongst the female terrorists, while the children, comprising two girls and a boy are offsprings of the surrendered terrorists.”
Nwachukwu also revealed that they have been transferred to the operation Lafiya Dole Headquarters in Borno state.
Troops repel Boko Haram attack in Gamboru
The Nigerian Army on Saturday said its troops successfully repelled an attack by Boko Haram insurgents at Gamboru-Ngala in Borno.
According to Brig.-Gen. Texas Chukwu, the Director, Army Public Relations, one terrorist was killed while several others fled.
The army spokesman also called on the people to co-operate with troops, provide useful and timely information to security agencies.
The Nigerian Army has approved the promotion for 3,729 troops fighting the Boko Haram terrorist group in the North-east part of the country.
Brig. Gen. Texas Chukwu, Director Army Public Relations, stated this in a statement on Thursday, saying that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai has approved special promotion for the troops for their gallantry.
The troops are contingent of the Operation LAFIYA DOLE, who participated in Operation DEEP PUNCH II in the Sambisa Forest.
The statement read in brief, “This is in recognition of their valour and uncommon commitment to duty during the operation.”
The beneficiaries include 223 Staff Sergeants promoted to the rank of Warrant Officers, 511 Sergeants promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeants while 994 Corporals were promoted to the rank of Sergeants.
The rest are 1064 Lance Corporals promoted to the rank of Corporals, while 932 Private soldiers were appointed Lance Corporals.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said it has intensified day and night aerial bombardments of insurgents’ locations within the North-East region.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
According to Adesanya, on Oct. 26, the fourth day of the ongoing Operation ‘RUWAN WUTA II,’ NAF conducted air interdiction on some structures in Dure, insurgents infested location, 12km East of Sambisa.
“Reports from NAF intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms have revealed the gradual resurgence of insurgent activities in the settlement, particularly at the targeted structures, which were hideouts for the terrorists.
“Five aircraft, namely three Alpha Jets and two F-7Ni, conducted the air interdiction missions.
“The Alpha Jet aircraft and the F-Ni aircraft took turns to attack the location with bombs, destroying the targeted structures and killing the terrorists.
“The Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) conducted after the strikes revealed that some of the structures were razed by the bomb explosions,” he said.
The director added that on the same day, NAF conducted air interdiction missions on insurgents infested settlement in Mangusum.
He said the location was attacked in succession by the aircraft, which dropped bombs destroying structures in the location and sending a few of the surviving insurgents fleeing.
“Thereafter, another Alpha Jet aircraft followed up with rocket and cannon attacks in the target area, strafing the fleeing terrorists in the process.
“Subsequent BDA of the attack indicated some burnt structures and significant casualties inflicted on the insurgents,” he was quoted in the statement.
He said the operation, which was initiated by NAF leadership, as a follow-up to the hugely successful Operation ‘RUWAN WUTA,’ had so far proved to be even more successful.
The Nigerian Air Force has said over N400m was spent to fuel fighter jets deployed in its operations to combat the Boko Haram terror activities in the North-East between July and September 2017.
The Air Component Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Air Commodore Tajudeeen Yusuf, said this in Maiduguri, Borno State, during a briefing to discuss the successes and challenges recorded by the component during the third quarter.
According to him, the air force fighter aircraft flew for a total of 1,551 hours and 39 minutes within the period under review.
Yusuf, who noted that a total of 842 missions were conducted in the period under review, said: “The air efforts in the third quarter of 2017 as compared to the previous quarter show an increase in activities based on the upsurge of day and night Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance as well as Armed Reece sorties to identify targets for interdiction.
“We also conducted several missions in support of ground troops.
“Overall, from July to September 2017, a total of 842 missions were conducted in 1,162 sorties with a total of 1,551 hours and 39 minutes flown by the various platforms. For all these sorties, a total of 1,596,165 litres of Jet-A1 was consumed, which translates to a fuel cost of N399,041,250.”
Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has explained that the issues posed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is more urgent than those by Islamic Sect Boko Haram, and that is why he left his state to visit the South-East governors.
He said this in Owerri, where the delegation from the Northern Governors Forum met with Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, Nation reports.
It was reported on Monday that President Buhari had sent the delegation to meet with South-East governors in an effort to unite the nation.
The delegation, also including governors Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina, Aminu Waziri of Sokoto, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, and Simon Lalong of Plateau, had earlier met with governors of Rivers and Abia States, Nyesom Wike and Okezie Ikpeazu.
Governor Shettima, in Owerri, said the purpose of their travel is to forestall a mass movement of Nigerians from one part of the country to another.
He said the urgency of the crisis was why he left the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in his state, to join the other governors in the visit.
Remember that the Boko Haram sect has so far claimed responsibility for several attacks that have led to thousands of deaths.
They were also behind the infamous abduction of the 276 Chibok girls, over half of whom are still in their custody.
Recently, they attacked an oil exploration team, abducting 4 members of the staff of University of Maiduguri, all of whom are still in captivity.
Shettima, speaking at the meeting, said although, on Tuesday morning, 25 people were killed in his state, he was on the South-East mission because of what it means to the country. He said:
Only this morning, 25 people were killed in my state via explosions carried out by three suicide bombers, but I have to be on this mission because of what it means to the nation.
What we wanted to forestall actually was a mass movement of Nigerians from one part of the country to another. It was a very dangerous signal.
We equally invite our brothers from the South East to visit some of the northern flash points like Kaduna, Kano and Jos, and together we can talk to our Igbo brothers and sisters there to assure them of the safety of their lives and properties.
Make or break, this country belongs to all of us. The population of Syria is a paltry 22 million. Only 2 million Syrian refugees are knocking on the doors of Europe and it is causing reverberation. How then do you perceive a situation where 35 million English-speaking Nigerians are knocking on the doors of Europe?
That is why we have a moral obligation as stakeholders to make things work in this country. We are all part of the leadership challenges we are facing in this country, and none of us can exonerate him or herself from blame.
Like I said earlier in Aba, the hope of the black man rests not with the hard-thinking South Africans or the obsequious Kenyans who are struggling to be more white than the white men, but with the people of this country.
If you see an African walking on the streets of London and would not leave the way obsequiously for the white man to pass, you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that that black man is a Nigerian.
If we allow this country to implode, up is the Sahara Desert, Niger is already a failed state. The population of Niger is only 11 million while Kano has a population of about 30 million. We can eat up the entire food reserve of Niger Republic within a week.
Down is the Atlantic Ocean and the tiny countries of Benin Republic, Togo and Senegal. Maybe some of us will migrate to Gambia. The entire food reserves of those tiny West African countries can be exhausted within two weeks.
Shettima thanked the Imo State governor for the warm reception, while referring to him as a merchant of peace. He said:
In politics, perception counts and symbolism matters. So we are here largely to identify with our governor colleagues; to visit the northern communities in their states and to reassure them that our governor colleagues are equal to the task.
In fact, I had to pay a visit to the governor of Rivers State where we were earlier on, and Chief Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and, of course, the merchant of peace in Imo State (Okorocha) for rapidly responding to the emergency situations in their respective states by declaring dusk to dawn curfews. They equally stopped the nation from reaching the boiling point.
While we were in Rivers, we were not opportune to address the northern community. But in Aba and Umuahia, we were able to do so and thank the governor, because the reports we got directly from the northerners residents in Umuahia, Governor Ikpeazu had solved 70 per cent of their problems; that they had never had it so good of a governor that responded rapidly to the challenges they were facing in their communities.
Okorocha, in turn, thanked the delegation for their visit, and for promoting peace across the nation. He said:
Even between husband and wife, without communication, a break-up is inevitable. And we should not only communicate between ourselves as governors, we should also communicate with the ordinary citizens on the streets.
He added that the unrest in the South-East is a result of people’s perception that President Buhari would abandon that part of the nation, because they did not vote for him. He said:
As untrue as that may be, it remains the general feeling of the people in this part of the world. So, you coming to bridge the gap is a right step in the right direction.
UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson and International Development Secretary Priti Patel, have announced the donation of 200 million pounds to indigenes of the North-East region of Nigeria.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, made the announcement in a statement when the secretaries visited Borno on Wednesday to see how UK can lead international response on the humanitarian crisis in the North-East.
Johnson said that the visit was aimed at assisting indigenes of the North East to avert famine and build stability and security after the destruction caused by Boko Haram in the region.
He said that the UK’s response in the region would include both security and humanitarian efforts on the secretaries’ first joint visit to Nigeria.
He said that both secretaries saw first-hand how British military had been providing training to Nigerian soldiers fighting Boko Haram on the frontline.
“The British military has to date, trained 28,000 Nigerian troops, equipping them with skills to turn the tide against Boko Haram, while our humanitarian aid is alleviating widespread suffering.’’
The 200 million pounds support is an allocation of Department for International Development (DFID)’s budget for four years from 2018 to 2022.
The International Development Secretary Priti Patel had announced that the programme was built on the UK’s existing 100 million pounds of humanitarian support for 2017.
“Boko Haram has generated suffering, instability and poverty on a huge scale with profound knock on effects far from Nigeria’s borders. I am proud of Britain’s commitment to supporting the Nigerian people in tackling terror.
In Maiduguri, I met casualties of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims and saw for myself the displacement of people that brutality and poverty have created.
Our military, diplomatic and development assistance is making a big difference. This is about helping a Commonwealth partner in its time of need as well as addressing the root causes of international challenges such as migration,’’ Patel said.
Patel also stressed the fact that the donation and the dedication of the UK government would serve as a lifeline to over 1.5 million people in the region.
According to the statement, UK’s increased support is expected to extend the DFID humanitarian programme in Nigeria over five years -2017 to 2022, to deliver:
The programme comprise lifesaving food for more than 1.5 million people on the brink of famine will include treatment for up to 120,000 children at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition.
It will include ongoing support to help keep 100,000 girls and boys in school to get a decent education, providing a brighter future for the next generation.
Also, safe humanitarian access to transport brave aid workers and deliver aid to the hardest to reach areas, for example using helicopters where roads are blocked or dangerous to use.
Source
NAN
Photo Credit: Instagram – @buharisallau
Lance Corporal Hillary Joel was reported to have set a Boko Haram suspect ablaze, leading to his death during a cordon and search operation in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State.
The soldier was found guilty of murder by the Army General Court Martial, Punch reports.
The other soldiers who faced the court martial with him include Private Chima Samuel for aiding and abetting the murder of a minor Yakubu Isah; and Sergent Samuel Balanga for desertion and miscellaneous offences.
They were handed sanctions which included demotions and jail terms.
The Leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said that the Party did more to fight Boko Haram insurgency than the present All Progressives Congress (APC).
It also stressed that it was the same weapons the previous PDP administration bought that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government was using to prosecute the anti-insurgency war.
This was stated in a statement signed and issued by the Publicity Secretary of the Party’s National Caretaker Committee (NCC), Dayo Adeyeye.
The party maintained that if the APC had maintained the success achieved during the 2015 Elections in the North-East Region, the deadly group would not have regrouped.
According to the PDP, the prolonged herdsmen attacks on innocent and harmless citizens across the country has worsened the security situation in the country within the past two years than in the 16 years it held sway at the centre.
The statement reads in part:
“The Security Situation in the Country today has worsened with the rampaging herdsmen’s attacks killing innocent and harmless people unabated and sacking communities.
“The scourge of herdsmen attack across the Country under the APC is more than the activities of Boko Haram in the North East.
“The efforts of the PDP in fighting Boko Haram activities still speak volume of its sensitivity towards preservation of citizens’ lives and properties; and if the APC had maintained the success achieved during the 2015 Elections in the North-East Region, the deadly Group wouldn’t have regrouped.
“It is also on record that it was the same weapons bought by previous PDP administration that the present government is still using to prosecute the war on insurgency in the Northeast.”
The man behind the release of all 82 women captured by militant Islamist group Boko Haram has declared that none of the released girls were defiled nor touched by the dreaded terrorist group. Only After The Girls “AGREED” To Marry Them
Zannah Mustapha speaking to BBC’s Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani in an interview revealed that it was only after the women “agreed” to get married that the militants had s*xual relations with them and that before the kidnapping of Chibok girls government and his organisation was already trying to negotiate peace with Boko Haram.
The 57-year-old Mustapha said when he arrived for the handover of the 82 Chibok girls freed from Boko Haram after three years in captivity, a militant read out the girls’ names from a list. One by one, the abducted schoolgirls, now women, lined up along the outskirts of a forest near Kumshe town, on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Each of them was covered from head to ankle in a dark-coloured hijab.
“I went ahead of the Red Cross. They [the militants] brought the girls to me,” said Mr Mustapha, the lawyer from Borno state in north-east Nigeria. He has been mediating between the government and militants for the release of the Chibok girls and for an end to the Boko Haram insurgency.
In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari told the media that his government was willing to negotiate with “credible” leaders of Boko Haram for the release of the girls. More than 200 of them were abducted a year earlier from the north-eastern town of Chibok, sparking global outrage.
Previous attempts had failed, with different groups coming forward, each claiming to be the militants in possession of the missing schoolgirls. It was Mr Mustapha who succeeded in convincing the Nigerian authorities that this particular group should be taken for what they say, presidential spokesman Garba Shehu told me.
“He had dealt with them in the past and they keep to their word,” he said. Mr Mustapha’s role as a mediator dates back to his founding the Future Prowess Islamic Foundation School in 2007, to provide free Islamic-based education to orphans and the poor. When the Boko Haram insurgency erupted in 2009, the school offered admission to the children of soldiers and government officials killed by the militants, as well as those of militants killed by the state.
Mr Mustapha then sought the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which began providing free meals to the pupils. He also encouraged parents to form an association which would reach out to other widows and convince them to send their children to his school. The ICRC soon extended its humanitarian services to the mothers, providing them free food and other items every month.
“This was at a time when the wives of Boko Haram militants were being arrested and their houses demolished, so Boko Haram saw me and the ICRC as neutral parties,” Mr Mustapha said.
During the previous government of President Goodluck Jonathan, former President Olusegun Obasanjo visited Maiduguri, the epicentre of the insurgency, to intervene in the escalating crisis. He then set up a group to discuss peace with Boko Haram. Mr Mustapha was included in it because of the relationship he had forged with the families of Boko Haram militants. After the Swiss ambassador to Nigeria paid a visit to the Future Prowess school in 2012, he arranged for Mr Mustapha to go to Zurich and Geneva to receive formal training as a mediator.
“We were already trying to negotiate peace with Boko Haram before the Chibok girls were kidnapped,” Mr Mustapha said. The initial negotiation was for a batch of 20 Chibok girls to be released. But, as a sign of commitment to their relationship, Boko Haram added an extra woman, whom Mr Mustapha said was their gift to him, hence the number 21.
When they were released in October 2016, she was chosen by Boko Haram to read out the names of the other 20 women from a list. Mr Mustapha said the 21 women were lined up and asked by Boko Haram militants if they had been defiled.
They all said they were not. When a militant approached a woman who was carrying a baby, she said that she was pregnant at the time of her abduction, having got married a few weeks earlier.
The baby girl in her arms, she said, was her husband’s child. For some reason, Boko Haram, a group that has cultivated a reputation for brutality, wanted it to be known that it was only after the women “agreed” to get married that the militants had s*xual relations with them. This process of lining up the women, pointing at each one and asking the same question, was repeated at the beginning of May when 82 more women were released. One of about seven Boko Haram militants, who accompanied them, went from woman to woman asking: “Throughout the time you were with us, did anyone r*pe you or touch you?” Mr Mustapha said, adding that each of them replied in the negative. None of the second batch of 82 captives came with a child.
But one had an amputated limb and was walking with crutches, an injury she sustained, according to what Mr Mustapha was told, during Nigerian military air strikes against Boko Haram. ‘They all ran’ “You are free today,” Mr Mustapha announced to the 82 women after all the names were called out. “They all smiled,” he said.
He believes that their subdued reaction was as a result of the presence of the militants, all armed with guns, some wearing army camouflage uniforms and boots. Mr Mustapha then took some photographs with the women. The militants also had their video camera on hand and recorded the event. ICRC vehicles eventually arrived. “When I told them to go to the cars, they all ran,” Mr Mustapha said. “Immediately they entered the vehicles, they started singing for joy. Some shed tears.”
Mr Mustapha has received a number of accolades for his work with Future Prowess School. He was a finalist for the 2016 Robert Burns humanitarian award, given to those who have “saved, improved or enriched the lives of others or society as a whole, through self-sacrifice, selfless service, hands-on charitable or volunteer work, or other acts”. He was also given a 2017 Aurora Prize Modern Day Hero award, for those whose “life and actions guarantee the safe existence of others”. However, he described handing over the 82 freed girls to the Nigerian government as “the highest point in my life”.
“I felt that I have done something that is worth saying to the world that I have done this,” he said.
The first and second batches of the freed Chibok schoolgirls have been reunited by the Federal Government. 21 of the abducted school girls were released by Boko Haram in October 2016 while another 82 regained their freedom two weeks ago.
Both batches of girls were freed by Boko Haram in a swap deal with the Federal Government.
The reunion took place on Saturday in Abuja where the girls have been kept by the government since their release.
The girls are part of the 276 girls abducted by the insurgents from Government Secondary School Chibok, Borno State in 2014.
Source
Punch Metro
Both batches of girls were freed by Boko Haram in a swap deal with the Federal Government.
The reunion took place on Saturday in Abuja where the girls have been kept by the government since their release.
The girls are part of the 276 girls abducted by the insurgents from Government Secondary School Chibok, Borno State in 2014.
Source
Punch Metro
Perry Brimah, a popular columnists and convener of ENDS [Every Nigerian Do Something], has declared that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan defeated Boko Haram while President Muhammadu Buhari only mopped up.
Brimah in a lengthy expose on Saturday, which he said was to reveal the real truth, revealed all that Jonathan did despite alleged obstruction by the North.
The article reads in parts below:
”For posterity it is important that we are honest in recording accounts of the day. When we are partial and political, we only do injustice to ourselves now and permanently to future generations. The history of Boko Haram is sad and painful and one we wish to soon forget, however it is important we keep accurate records to learn from it for tomorrow.
Boko Haram, real name, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, rekindled as its beta version, or Boko Haram II under Goodluck Jonathan. Like Obasanjo, Jonathan tolerated and enabled the establishment of Boko Haram in the wilderness of the northeast. He did not care and saw it as an opportunity for political slander against his perceived enemies in the north and also as a cash cow for embezzling massive defense allocations. “Let them kill themselves,” he was reported to have once said when given breaking news of terror incidents.
Obstructed By Northern Elite
Jonathan in his political desperation handed over his party to the north. It is on record that his PDP party chairman, Bamanga Tukur, a typical northern elite who President Muhammadu Buhari recently praised on his birthday, said as recorded in the Punch that, “Boko Haram is fighting for justice; Boko Haram is another name for justice.” This was a strong sentiment in the north from when Boko Haram II started in 2011 till late 2013 when Sheikh Gumi and Muslims Against Terror broke ranks and voiced loud condemnations of the group.
In June of 2013, Nation bore the headline, “Buhari faults clampdown on Boko Haram members.” Quoting the article,” He (Buhari) accused the government of killing and destroying their houses while the Niger Delta militants were given special treatment by the government. Buhari who spoke on Sunday on a Liberty Radio programme, Guest of the Week monitored in Kaduna also admitted that the road to the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC) was rough.”
The north did not care about Boko Haram at this point and saw it simply as a tool to prove Jonathan’s ineptness. Any move he made was opposed by the north. At a point when Boko Haram had conquered 23 of 27 local governments in Borno and a ThinkTank I was a part of with a ground-shaking article published May 8th 2013, successfully pushed Jonathan to cut short his South Africa trip and immediately deploy excess battalions to the northeast and declare a State of emergency, the northern elite kicked against it. The Governors’ forum headed by Rotimi Amaechi a founder of the APC, advised him to not listen to us, with the words below as quoted from PremiumTimes of May 13th, 2013:
“We urge the Federal Government to continue to support affected states in the bid to check violence…We also call on the Federal Government to ignore the ongoing agitation for a state of emergency in some parts of the country. These requests are being made by people who do not wish our country well and who are bent on plunging the country into a deeper crisis.”
The weak Jonathan declared a half-baked State of emergency leaving the governors in situ. This was his undoing as Borno Governor Shettima will later violate WAEC order and keep a Chibok school open for exams which paved the way for Boko Haram to abduct over 270 girls in what will be Jonathan’s greatest international embarrassment and partly cost him the presidency.
The same governor admitted to Premium Times last August that he did not even raise alarm over the kidnap of the girls under his domain to the president for a full three weeks.
The United States blocked Nigeria from purchasing weapons to fight Boko Haram. One of former President Jonathan’s blunders which only he can be blamed for, is not telling Nigerians of this serious hinderance in time.
Not only did the US not sell any weapons to Jonathan, but Obama also blocked Nigeria from buying them from various countries. This while several autocratic countries with major human right violations were supplied steady ammo by the Obama admin. We recall that Hillary Clinton resisted labelling Boko Haram a terrorist organisation in spite of it being the most deadly in the world.
This is the uphill battle Goodluck Jonathan faced; waged by internal and external enemies. When Jonathan finally realized that he had set himself up and his re-election depended on defeating Boko Haram, he scrambled in a last minute “6-month war” effort to decisively crush the terrorists. Here I believe is where the controversial aspect of the history begins.
I open with a challenge for anyone to give the list of towns in the northeast liberated under Buhari as against the list of towns liberated in Jonathan’s 6-month campaign. I also would like a list of the number of terrorists the Buhari government killed or captured to compare to Jonathan’s record of thousands.
Equipment
Goodluck Jonathan first bought the weapons Nigeria had not bought since the 80s. Neither Babangida, nor Abacha, nor Abdulsalami, nor Obasanjo, nor Yar’Adua had bought any decent weapons and war machines for Nigeria over a span of 30 odd years. Against obstruction from the US, Jonathan succeeded in bringing in some serious equipment. Nigerians all watched as powerful T72 M1s from Ukraine were driven up north. Beeagle blog, a foremost military conversation website publicized these deadly acquisitions while Nigerians did not care and focused only on politics.
As history was being turned on its head, Dasuki later defended himself and attempted to correct our narrative by making public, images of the sophisticated arms the Jonathan government bought. See: Dasuki releases images of sophisticated weapons acquired under Jonathan [PHOTOS] – DailyPost, August 2015.
In the six months including when Jonathan postponed the elections till March to buy an extra month and half, Jonathan brought in these APCs, MRAPs, tanks, drones and other equipment to capacitate the Nigerian military at the war front.
It must be mentioned that Boko Haram was one of the most motivated, financed and battle hardened armies in Africa at the time. With promises of heaven, laced with hard drugs that made the heaven practically visible, Boko Haram was not only battle-hardened but potentially larger than the Nigerian military. With recruitable mercenary forces across west Africa and to the Congo, the Boko Haram army stood at a high point of as many as 40,000 soldiers.
Mercenaries
Goodluck Jonathan hired mercenaries from South Africa to wage the bloody war, the 72 Mobile Force. These hardened mercenaries did not come to Nigeria to drink tea in Maiduguri. They knew how to operate the REVA MRAPs and other sophisticated machinery and the modified F7 supersonic jets, and that is what they came and did.
Of course, I accept a lot of the blame in the narrative being as inaccurate as it is today. Instead of also acknowledging the triumphs these mercenaries were achieving in record time, we all focused on condemning Jonathan for allowing matters deteriorate to the point where he was paying foreigners as much as $350 a day to fight our war for us.
Chad Troops
Even if we deny what our own military did during Jonathan’s six-month war, can we deny what the “janjaweed” Chadian army did in the northeast? I do not think the inhabitants of the northeast can ever deny and discount the many times they celebrated and gave food and water to Chadian troops as they massacred and pursued Boko Haram from town to town, liberating successive towns and villages in the northeast. There is ample local Chad TV video of these conquests.
Jonathan signed an MoU with Chad’s Idriss Deby and his troops, some of the most battle hardened in Africa, came into Nigeria and competed with a revived Nigerian army liberating cities from various extents of the state. Reuters has one of the typical videos up on Youtube showing the liberation of Damask in March of 2015. It reports that 200 terrorists were killed in that battle. Vice News has “Chad’s war against Boko Haram.” AlJazeera also has its video from March 2015 in which it reports on the Chadian army liberation of many cities including Dikwa where the journalist’s chopper landed.
Cities Jonathan Liberated
Nigeria’s 7 Infantry Division with the assistance of South African 72 Mobile force troops retook Bama as reported in PremiumTimes on March 16th 2015. On 27th March foreign media reported Nigeria’s capture of Gwoza, Boko Haram’s urban headquarters.
Chief Media Consultant to the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response, Agencies, FOSSRA, Yushau Shuaib resigned in protest in March of 2016 after the Buhari government’s Jon Ode-led panel denied the equipment acquisitions and war accomplishments of the Jonathan administration.
In a scathing reaction to the new administration, Shuaib listed major cities liberated by Jonathan’s pre-election push, he said,
“some of the towns recovered before the coming of President Buhari were Abadam, Askira, Baga, Bama, Bita, Buni Yadi, Damboa, Gamboru Ngala, Goniri, Gujba, Gulani, Gwoza, Hong, Konduga, Kukawa, Marte, Madagali, Michika, Monguno, as well as Mubi and many others.
“A clear testimony to some of the accomplishments was the official DHQ release dated March 16, 2015 with reference No: DHQ/ABJ/901/32/DDI and entitled: “Troops finally rout terrorists from Bama and last stronghold in Yobe.”
The onus is on those who deny the achievements of the Jonathan government in its last minute six-month war to provide a list of major cities liberated by the Buhari government. Can Army Chief Tukur Yusuf Buratai deny these accomplishments of the army under the command of former President Goodluck Jonathan? It will do Nigeria good and history a great favor to have a comprehensive response from CoAS Buratai.
Boko Haram was largely pushed out of Nigeria’s major towns back into Sambisa forest and remote villages and settlements. The Buhari government’s major achievement has been the liberation of a good amount of Sambisa forest, though the terrorists are still based in some parts of it. Unfortunately the terrorists have retaken the famous “Ground Zero,” according to ENDS sources.
In praise to Buhari was the discovery of a massive Boko Haram supply barge and 4000 petroleum drums, dealing the terrorists a most severe logistics blow. Again this was in July of 2015, and could be argued to have been under the momentum built by Jonathan.
So where is the evidence of Buhari’s decimation of Boko Haram, other than mopping up and opening up towns liberated by the army under the previous administration? Jonathan could not repopulate the towns due to mine fears. The Buhari government is slowly de-mining them before attempting to restore the surviving inhabitants.
The only time we heard the Buhari government announce the killing of over 200, was when they accidentally bombed an IDP camp in Rann, killing 236.
It is recollected that Jonathan secured the northeast to the extent that peaceful elections could hold. This is irrefutable evidence of the success of his campaign against the terrorist organisation before handing over.
It was based on the momentum built by Jonathan that Buhari could promise to defeat the terrorists by December of his first year in office, and announce that he had pretty much completed that with only mop up operations left. The evidence points out that it was Jonathan who had completed 80% of the strategic defeat and the Buhari government finished the rest 20% by December of 2015 and since then embarked in mop up and negotiations with the terrorists to reintegrate into civilian populations. 40,000 soldiers just don’t disappear.
A lot of what Jonathan did and Buhari has continued is under the counter negotiations with terrorists dropping their arms and silently attempting to lead normal lives. The governor of Taraba state just complained that there are too many of these ex-Boko Haram terrorists in his state now battling an uptick in violent crime.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday hailed the release of 82 abducted Chibok school girls on Saturday, but expressed concern over the “price” reportedly paid for their freedom.
In a statement by Dayo Adeyeye, the National Publicity Secretary of the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party, it said that the capture of the girls by insurgents in 2014 traumatised the entire nation.
According to it, the abduction and detention of the girls in the last three years had brought extreme pain and suffering to their families, the country and people of goodwill across the world.
“What is, however, of great concern is the price paid to secure the release of the girls. According to reports, the girls were released in exchange for the release of suspected Boko Haram terrorists being held by the government. If that is the case, we say it’s a heavy price to pay and an unusual one at that,” the party stated.
It said that it did not think that exchanging the innocent girls for hardened criminals like the terrorists was the right approach.
It pointed out that the implication of the “exchange’’ was the released had escaped justice.
“By releasing the arrested terrorists, all the efforts made by security agencies to bring them to book have come to nothing and a setback for the war on insurgency. Their release is tantamount to releasing terrorists) to resume their war against society.
Many of them can find their ways back to the terrorists’ camps from where they can unleash terror against the country. Others who are allowed to roam freely in society can become veritable recruiting agents and purveyors of suicide bombing and urban terrorism.”
It believed that with such exchange, the Boko Haram terrorists had been emboldened to continue their terror and kidnapping of innocent people.
According to the PDP, the terrorists will continue with their tactics believing that they can always use it to blackmail the government to release their members and to extract other concessions.
It stressed that the piece-meal release of the girls meant that the terrorists wanted to extract more concessions from the government and at the end, prolong the insurgency.
“The release of the girls will increase the agony and high expectancy of the remaining girls still in custody of the terrorists and their families who will be wondering why they have not been as lucky. It therefore would have been better to ensure the release of all the girls at once.”
It said that negotiations were in clear violation of generally accepted international principle of “never negotiate with terrorists”.
It stated that the international principle was sound and logical because negotiation with the terrorists only fueled their urge to continue with their heinous crimes.
“However, we recognize the concern of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the earliest release of the Chibok girls for domestic and international considerations.
“Equally, we are very concerned about the safe return of the girls to their families at the earliest possible time, and will continue to disagree that negotiating with the terrorists is the right approach to achieving the objective.
Meanwhile, we rejoice with the girls and their families and hope that their remaining colleagues will join them in freedom in no distant future.”
Photo Credit
Presidency
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