God Help Us!! Boko Haram Militants Kill 29 Students And A Teacher In Yobe School!!!

Armed Islamic militants have killed 29 students and an English teacher in an attack on a boarding school in Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria.

Survivors being treated for burns and gunshot wounds said some students were burned alive in the attack, which allegedly took place early Saturday and which is believed to have been carried out by the radical Boko Haram Islamic group.

Gunmen stormed the premises of Government Secondary School in the town of Mamudo in Yobe State at around 3am, setting fire to parts of the complex.

Dozens of children from the 1,200-student school escaped into the bush and have not been seen since, reports Sky News.

Incidentally, Yobe is one of the three northern states in which President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in an effort to stem the insecurity ravaging the area. Adamawa and Borno are the other two states effected by emergency rule.

Parents rushed to the school and screamed in anguish as they tried to identify the charred and dead bodies of the victims.

Mohammed Musa, who taught English at the school, died after he was shot in the chest.

One 15-year-old who survived the attack told of how he awoke to find one of the attackers pointing a gun at him.

Speaking at Potsikum General Hospital, Musa Hassan said: "We were sleeping when we heard gunshots. When I woke up, someone was pointing a gun at me."

He put up his hands in defence and was shot in his right hand, the one he uses to write with, and lost four fingers.

Soldiers rescue women, children abducted by Boko Haram

The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said on Friday that women and children abducted by suspected Boko Haram militants have been freed.

They were freed by soldiers deployed for special operations in the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

Olukolade said the special forces stormed one of the camps located within the Sambisa Forest, where the women and children were being held and rescued nine of them – three women and six children.

The defence spokesman said the soldiers were still combing the forest in a frantic search for a woman and two of her children believed to be missing in the 16-kilometre long forest.

He explained that the women were abducted from a police formation during the attack on some security establishments in Bama, Borno State, on May 7, 2013.

“Troops of the special operations have rescued three women and six children after overrunning three terrorists’ camps in the notorious Sambisa Forest of Central Borno in the ongoing onslaught against terrorists.

“The women and children, who were kidnapped from police barracks and environs during the May 7 attack on Bama, had been held in the camp since their abduction and were featured in the video by Abubakar Shekau recently.

US Drones Spying On Boko Haram?

Nigerian troops fighting Boko Haram insurgents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states may have been bolstered by United States drones stationed in Niamey, Niger Republic.

The Nigerian government had deployed thousands of troops to the three states after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in their territories on May 14, 2013.

A top intelligence official, who declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the issue, told Saturday PUNCH that US drones had been spying on Boko Haram bases in the forests and plains around Nigeria’s borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The source said this was part of assistance provided by the US Government, in its bid to destroy terror bases in West and North Africa.

Boko Haram Tops Agenda At UN Security Council Meeting

AFRICA’S informal war against terrorism was the highlight at the United Nations (UN), as top diplomats around the world warned about the dangers to international peace posed by groups such as Boko Haram.

This is even as the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, told the security council that the international community must do more to help affected member states like Nigeria overcome, Empowered Newswire reported.

Speaking also at the special Security Council session on Monday, in New York, were the president of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, who presided over the council meeting and other top diplomats from around the world, many of whom mentioned both Nigeria and Boko Haram, raising different perspectives and ideas on how to best deal with the security menace.

Gnassingbe observed that the UN and the global community must strengthen the capacity of affected African countries in the fight against terrorism.

According to him, “If we don’t give African governments the means to carry out an effective and sustainable counter-terrorism strategy, there is every reason to fear the creation of a ‘terrorist arc’ from Mauritania to Nigeria.”

Speaking on the same subject at the meeting, US Ambassador to the UN, Ms Susan Rice, restated the American government’s oft-stated position that terrorist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria, “were taking advantage of poor economic conditions to challenge state authority.”

Ban noted that “terrorism is a threat to Africa’s peace, security and development.”

Court orders ‘secret’ trial for Kabiru Sokoto

An Abuja Federal High Court on Monday granted the Federal Government’srequest to prosecute in ‘secret’ Kabiru Sokoto, an alleged Boko Haram leader suspected of masterminding the December 25, 2011 bombing of St. Theresa’sCatholic Church in Madalla, Niger State.

The Federal Government had in an application dated April 24, 2013, askedthe court to exclude persons other than the parties, their legal representatives and members of the press from witnessing the trial.

Baga Town Blood bath Cover-Up. Satellite Images Emerge

Human Rights Watch (HRW),international rights crusader, has punctured military’s claim that the fires that razed thousands of buildings in Baga, Borno State were caused by rocket-propelled grenades fired by members of Boko Haram, Islamist militant group.

This is coming as new evidence reportedly obtained by Al Jazeera, the international news media suggested that the number of people killed during recent fighting in the state may be much higher than officially reported.

But HRW said that satellite images, showed that soldiers may have set the fires that razed “2,275 buildings and left 125 others” in the town severely damaged.

In a statement Wednesday, the international rights group called on the federal government to impartially probe the incident adding that the military was covering up something going by the fact that it had vehemently refused to allow journalists access into the troubled community.

There had been reports that 187 persons were killed and about 2,000 houses torched during the April 16, 2013 clash.

Elsewhere, Al Jazeera claimed in a report Wednesday that in the violence's aftermath, the number of people killed during the clash between Nigerian security forces and the armed group Boko Haram was subject to wildly conflicting reports.

According to Al Jazeera the Nigerian army is standing by its claim that no more than 36 people died during the fight in Baga, a town in Borno state, and that the vast majority of victims were members of Boko Haram.

Boko Haram Sacks Adamawa Governor's Hometown

Members of Boko Haram have sacked the hometown of Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, Mayo Belwa, damaging a prison, police station and a bank.

The state police command confirmed the Thursday night attacks but made no statement on the casualty figure.

This is coming a week after a clash between the Joint Task Force in the North and Boko Haram militants left 187 people dead.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ibrahim Mohammed, confirmed the incident. He, however, could not provide details.

Since the April 19 clash between the JTF and Boko Haram in Baga, Borno State, at least nine policemen have been killed in separate attacks in Borno and Yobe states.

The Commissioner of Police in Yobe State, Sanusi Rufai, said five policemen were killed during an alleged attack by Boko Haram terrorists in Gashua on Thursday, while four other policemen were killed in Bama, a border town in Borno State, the same day.

France, Cameroun Paid N500m Ransom For Release Of Hostages?

French and Cameroonian negotiators may have paid the equivalent of $3.15m (about N500m) to Boko Haram for the release of a family of seven French hostages.

Reuters quotes a confidential report by the Nigerian government as saying that the ransom was paid to the group to secure the release of the family on April 19.

The memo does not say who paid the ransom for the family of seven, although it says Cameroon freed some Boko Haram detainees as part of the deal.

France and Cameroon reiterated denials that any ransom was paid. Nigerian authorities declined to comment.

Armed men on motorcycles snatched Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife, brother and the couple’s four young children, the youngest of whom was four years old, on February 19 while they were on holiday near the Waza national park in north Cameroon, some 10 kilometres from the Nigerian border. They were believed to have been held in North-East Nigeria.

Bloodbath In Borno State. 185 Killed in Army/Boko Haram Clash

What may rightly be considered the worst bloodshed since terrorism became real in Nigeria a few years ago has been recorded in Borno State where a clash between gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members and the military left 185 dead in a single day.

Two WAEC Officials, Police Escort Killed By Gunmen In Borno

Two officials of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and a policeman were last Friday shot dead while transporting examination papers to Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

It Wasn't Me!! Kabiru Sokoto Denies Masterminding Catholic ChurchBombing...

An alleged Boko Haram commander suspected of masterminding the December 25, 2011 bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, Kabiru Sokoto, on Friday pleaded not guilty to an amended two-count terrorism charge brought against him by the Federal Government.

JTF kills 14 Boko Haram terrorists in Kano

Operatives of the  Joint Task Force on Sunday averted another  major attack  by  terrorists  in Kano by raiding  their  hideouts  at  Unguwa Uku area of the ancient city.

The operatives, acting on a tip off,  were said to have raced to the area around 4am  and intercepted a Volkswagen Golf, primed with explosives, which  some terrorists had wanted to use and wreck havoc during the Easter celebration in the city.

Residents of the area  said  the soldiers thereafter  invaded a compound housing the suspected terrorists but were greeted with  explosions.They added that the operatives who were not deterred exchanged gunfire with the terrorists for about four hours.

The spokesperson of JTF in Kano, Ikedi Iweha, was quoted as saying that the task force killed 14 Boko Haram suspects in the raid.

  One of the residents said   it was unclear if most of the terrorists were killed by the Improvised Explosive Devices  detonated by them or by the operatives.

He added that bodies  were seen being  carried out of  one of the   buildings in the compound raided by the operatives while 14 AK 47 rifles, 10 peak milk-size  IEDs, four drums of 50- litre  primed explosives  and   51 other items  in small drums were recovered.

The houses  were  thereafter  demolished while the corpses were  taken  to a morgue.

Soldiers Storm Terror Suspects' Houses In Lagos!!!

Fear gripped many residents of Lagos on Thursday when news filtered in that troops numbering about 100 stormed terror suspects’ hideouts in Ijora, a densely populated part of the city.

The soldiers, who were assisted by men of the State Security Service, were believed to have acted on a tip-off. They were said to have arrived in the area around 7am in search of the suspects said to be members of an Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram.

It was learnt that their search yielded fruits when two persons were arrested at 24 Aromire Street and three others at a location in an adjacent street.

The soldiers then ransacked the building at Aromire Street where one of the arrested persons, Ibrahim Musa, occupies five rooms. A bomb kept in a cooler and hidden inside the ceiling of one of the rooms in Musa’s apartment was recovered by the soldiers.

Musa, who a security source described as an illegal alien from Chad, was said to be leader of the suspects.

Other items found were AK-47 rifles, cartridges and daggers.

The security source, who craved anonymity, added the raid was as a result of an investigation which began a month ago.

He said, “Security agents got information a month ago that there was a terrorist hideout in the Seven-Up area of Ijora. Although we were not sure if they were Boko Haram members or not, we did not want to take any chances so we decided to go and raid the place.

“It was discovered that the place was being run by a Chadian and arms were recovered during the raid, including AK-47 riffles. Investigations are ongoing and those who are found not culpable will be released.”

Ni99a wuh?!: Tinubu Backs Amnesty For Boko Haram

Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Thursday in Kano called for the granting of amnesty to Boko Haram militants, insisting that they are not ghosts as alleged by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Tinubu, the National Leader of Action Congress of Nigeria, who was in Kano to commiserate with the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, over the attack on him and his convoy recently, explained that the amnesty must be based on justice, particularly for those with no blood stains on their hands.

He however said those involved in criminal activities among them must be made to face justice.

He said, “For the innocent ones among them, there must be amnesty. We cannot fight a war in our own country against minor crimes and minor people. We would only end up multiplying these people by trying to use force against our own citizens.

Bomb blasts kill 30 at Kano motor park

Monday  was  yet another bloody day in Kano as  over 30 passengers, drivers and visitors  lost their lives to explosions at an inter-state  luxury bus park in the city.

Hours before the  blasts, an Islamic militant group, Boko Haram members laid siege to some schools in Maiduguri,  Borno State, killing  four  teachers and injuring several others, including pupils.

OMG!!! JAMBS kills hostages •Briton, Greek, Italian, Filipino, 3 Lebanese dead...

A splinter group from the Boko Haram Islam sect, Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan, otherwise known as JAMBS, on Saturday announced the murder of seven foreign expatriates that were abducted in Bauchi State, on February 16, 2013.

The leader of JAMBS, Abu Usamatal Ansary, stated in a message posted in a Islamic website that the decision to execute the expatriates followed reported attempts by British and Nigerian Forces to storm the area where the hostages were being kept and release them, contrary to earlier warnings issued by the sect.

JTF Kills 2 Gunmen In Kano

Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, Kano State Governor

The Joint  Task Force (JTF)  in Kano State shot dead two members of the  Boko Haram group,while several others sustained varying degree of gunshot at Gunduawa in Hadeja Road area of Kano on Saturday.

According to a military source, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, the incident occurred at  a JTF checkpoint at Gunduawa, when gunmen in a Sienna bus attempted to attack the checkpoint but were repelled by security operatives.

 The source disclosed that the bus, which had nine occupants, including a woman, was singled out from a long queue for screening by the JTF personnel, when  two  of the men in the bus immediately pulled out their pistols in an attempt to shoot at the security men, who responded promptly  by opening fire on their assailants and gunning down two  of the suspects.

Speaking with Sunday Tribune, an  eyewitness, who did not want his name in print, disclosed  that: “Our vehicle was behind the Sienna bus in a queue caused by the checkpoint. Immediately the military men sighted the vehicle, they moved near it and immediately ordered everyone in the vehicle out in an attempt to screen the occupant. In fact, it was only the Sienna vehicle which was ordered out of the queue, suggesting that they might be working on a tipoff.”

While speaking  with the JTF  spokesman  Captain Ikedici Iweha, by telephone, he confirmed the death of two of the occupants of the Sienna bus and the arrest of four persons, saying  they would face interrogation.

FG Has No Case Against Us - Suleja Bombers

Six suspected Boko Haram members accused of carrying out multiple bombings and killings in parts of the Federal Capital Territory and Suleja, Niger State in 2011, on Wednesday told a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday that the Federal Government had no case against them.

The six suspects — Shuaibu Abubakar, Salisu Ahmed, Umar Babagana-Umar, Mohammed Ali, Musa Adam and Umar Ibrahim — are facing a five counts bordering on sundry acts of terrorism.

The State Security Service maintained that its investigations revealed that the accused persons participated in various terror attacks between March and July, 2011.

However, at the continuation of the trial on Wednesday, counsel for the suspected Boko Haram members, Nuraini Suleiman and Kevin Emeka Okoro, while adopting their written addresses in an application for a ‘no-case submission,’ argued that the “prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused persons.”

Mali-trained terrorists in Nigeria –Army chief

In spite of the Boko Haram insurgency in the country, Nigerian security agencies   now have a fresh challenge to contend with.

The new task, according to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubike Ihejirika, is the presence of  suspected terrorists  believed to have been  trained by  Malian rebels, in Nigeria.

Boko Haram terrorists, like the Malian Islamist rebels, have  for  years held  the Northern part of  Nigeria by the jugular, killing and maiming people, especially Christians in their quest to Islamise Nigeria.

 Ihejirika however,  told  journalists at the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre (NAPKC), Jaji, Kaduna State  on Thursday, that  internal security was being intensified to track them down.

Dialogue With Boko Haram - OBJ to GEJ, You're A Hypocrite - Abati to OBJ

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday said the President Goodluck Jonathan administration had not been reaching out enough to the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, and canvassed what he described as a “carrot-and-stick” strategy to address the sect’s menace.

Obasanjo told the CNN in an interview that Jonathan had been applying less of dialogue and more of force in solving the Boko Haram issue.

“To deal with a group like that, you need a carrot and stick. The carrot is finding out how to reach out to them. When you try to reach out to them and they are not amenable to being reached out to, you have to use the stick,” the ex-President said.

He said Jonathan was “just using the stick.”

“He’s doing one aspect of it well, but the other aspect must not be forgotten,” he added.

But the Presidency, in a reaction to the ex-President’s submission, said Obasanjo’s position on the Boko Haram issue had been contradictory.

Jonathan’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, told The PUNCH that it was surprising that the same Obasanjo who said recently that his presidency applied force when he was confronted with similar situation in Odi, Rives State, has now turned round to accuse Jonathan of applying only the stick against Boko Haram.

“It is surprising. That means the former President contradicted himself. Were you not in this country recently when he said that when he was confronted with a similar issue in Odi, he applied force? Where exactly does he stand on this matter?” Abati said.