Boko Haram: African Military Chiefs meet in Abuja

The Chief of Defence staff of Nigeria, Cameron, Chad, Niger Republic as well as heads of Intelligence and Security Agencies of the African countries met in Abuja today to discuss the successful operation of the modified version of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in the fight against Boko Haram in the region. More photos from the meeting after the cut...

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Boko Haram: African Military Chiefs meet in Abuja

The Chief of Defence staff of Nigeria, Cameron, Chad, Niger Republic as well as heads of Intelligence and Security Agencies of the African countries met in Abuja today to discuss the successful operation of the modified version of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in the fight against Boko Haram in the region. More photos from the meeting after the cut...

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Soldiers in gun battle with Boko Haram suspects in Kaduna

A soldier was feared killed in the early hours of Monday during a gun battle between the military and two Boko Haram suspects at Ungwan Keke-B, near Danbushiya suburb in Chikun Local Government area of Kaduna, residents of the area reported on Monday morning.

Witnesses who pleaded anonymity said the suspects, two brothers, moved to the area and lived in a rented apartment three years ago.

“We never knew that they are Boko Haram people.

“We just sighted a team of military personnel cordon the house, then gun shots filled the air at about 11:56 p.m. which led to their escape and the killing of one soldier after several hours of shooting.

According to witnesses, although the two Boko Haram suspects, whose names could not be ascertained, escaped, their wives were arrested by the security operatives after the gun battle that left their building shattered.

“One of the suspect got married to his wife who is from Bauchi eight days ago and brought her to Kaduna. Two of the wives have been taken away by the soldiers,” the witnesses said.

The Village Head of Keke B, Suleiman Mohammed, ‎who confirmed the incident to journalists said he started hearing gun shots at about 1 a.m.

“The team of security operatives later announced that the neighbours should all come out of their houses and ordered them to leave the area,” he said.

The house was completely deserted, there were blood stains on the floor, but the security operatives had left the area when a  correspondent left the vicinity Monday morning.

Efforts to reach the Deputy Director Army Public Relation  of the 1 Army Division Kaduna, Abdul Usman, failed as his phone lines were unavailable. He is yet to respond to a text message sent to him.

The Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria has caused the death of over 20,000 people with hundreds of thousands still displaced mainly in the north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa.

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UN: Nigeria president must investigate crimes by Boko Haram, military

[JURIST] The United Nations [official website] High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on new Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari [JURIST news archive] to investigate reports of both military abuses and crimes committed by the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram [BBC profile]. The top human rights official, Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein [official profile], in a statement said [Reuters report], "Civilians in northeast Nigeria have been living through horrifying acts of cruelty and violence by Boko Haram. These include wanton killings, summary executions, forced participation in military operations - including the use of children to detonate bombs, forced labour, forced marriage and sexual violence, including rape." There have also been reports that many civilians have suffered abuses by military forces, who have been detaining them in what Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] has called a "witch hunt" to locate and fight members of Boko Haram. AI also called on Buhari [JURIST report] earlier this week to investigate into any possible crimes committed at these detention camps.

Boko Haram [JURIST news archive], which means "Western education is a sin," has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government in the interest of creating an Islamist state. Two weeks ago the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, reported that Boko Haram militants in Nigeria have been murdering women and girls [JURIST report] previously taken captive by the group. At the end of March Nigeria held its presidential and gubernatorial elections in spite of violent attacks directed towards voters [JURIST report] by Boko Haram. The elections, originally scheduled for February 14, were postponed [Washington Times report] as Nigeria attempted to eradicate Boko Haram after reports that the group had acquired military-grade weaponry, including armored personnel carriers. In February the UN reported that girls have been attacked [JURIST report] and been subjected to gender oppression in at least 70 countries for seeking an education. In January the UN Security Council condemned attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria [JURIST report] and called for an end to terrorist attacks and the release of abducted child soldiers. The hostilities included mass killings, destruction of civilian homes and suicide bombings where children where induced to carry out the attacks.

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Yola blast: Hospital urges public to donate blood

The Federal Medical Centre Yola, has called on members of the public to donate blood to victims of Thursday’s bomb blast that occurred at Yola MARKET.
The spokesperson of the centre, Mohammed Dodo, made the call Friday in Yola in an interview.
Mr. Dodo said the hospital blood bank and other facilities such as drugs had been overstretched as a result of the incident.
“As I am speaking to you, we have 31 dead and 22 people seriously injured,” Mr. Dodo said.
The chief medical director of Yola Specialist Hospital, Bala Saidu, said 44 people were admitted to the hospital with various degrees of injury, out of which 25 have been treated and discharged.
“We only have 19 people now on admission,” Mr. Saidu said.
He said all bodies from the incident had been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre.
Meanwhile, the Lamido of Adamawa, Barkindo Mustapha and Adamawa Deputy Governor, Martins Babale, have visited the scene and victims of the incident.
They condemned the blast and urged the public to be more vigilant.
The Thursday night blast, which is the first in Yola town according to the spokesperson of the Adamawa Police Command, Othman Abubakar, was carried out by two suicide bombers who are among the dead.
(NAN)

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Boko Haram is a fraud - Buhari

A statement from Gen Buhari signed by his media aide, Shehu Garba.

"The fraud called Boko Haram can be defeated by denying it a recruitment base," General Buhari told visiting leaders of Nassarawa State who came to congratulate him on his emergence as President-elect. No religion allows for the killing of children in school dormitory, in markets and places of worship. They have nothing to do with religion. They are terrorists and we are going to deal with them as they deal with terrorists anywhere," he announced.

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BOKO HARAM: 43 Boko Haram child soldiers rescued in Borno state

43 Boko Haram child soldiers have been rescued by the Chadian army in Damasak, Borno state. Spokesperson of Chadian Army, Col. Azem Agouna, while revealing this yesterday April 22nd, said the children, all aged between 12 and above and of Chadian nationality managed to escape during the clashes between insurgents and soldiers, while local families helped them to hide from the militias.

He explained that when it was certain that Boko Haram had been defeated and would not return to the town, the children came out of their hiding places and asked Chadian security forces for help. The spokesman said the children have been repatriated back to Chad while a full scale investigation into how they were abducted will be launched.

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