OPERATION NO MERCY: Nigerian Troops Move To Capture Sambisa

While the battles rage in Chibok and Gwoza, a large number of soldiers were seen in Maiduguri yesterday moving towards the dreaded Sambisa forest, the fortress of the terrorist Boko Haram sect in Borno State, thus signaling the commencement of an operation, which military sources said was aimed at recovering the forest from the insurgents.

The push for Sambisa forest started early in the morning with hundreds of soldiers seen on Damboa Road, Maiduguri, in several military trucks driving military equipment towards the forest which has been a no go area for sometime now.

Although no military personnel was ready to give information on the deployment which held traffic up for hours within the Maiduguri metropolis, the looks of the soldiers showed that they were battle ready.

Checks revealed that following the Mubi debacle, the military had vowed to adopt more aggressive but tactical and effective approach to strike back at the heart of the terrorists.

A top intelligence source disclosed that the Mubi attack was a total shock to the military, especially as they lost many soldiers including some respected officers with others fatally wounded in the incident.

“The first priority was to liberate Mubi because of its strategic nature and its symbolic importance as the town of the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh. Consequently, our next target is Sambisa forest to strike back at those boys. You know we lost some officers and others were injured including a Lieutenant-Colonel. So, we have mobilised our air and ground forces for an attack. Air crafts have been mobilised and we are ready to dislodge them from their enclave”, the source said.

The source lamented that the constant intervention from the political class and as well as barrage of criticisms from Amnesty International and other human rights groups affected military operations, citing how the former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika was maligned for his aggressive approach, which was effective.

“The moment you are suspected and later confirmed of being a terrorist or their sponsors, you are gone. The moment you are aiding and abetting terrorism or found with weapons, you are gone within 12-24 hours because the military are being provoked.

“We no longer care about what the Amnesty international or politicians say. You cannot harbour criminals/terrorists that harm the country and expect the military to spare you”, the source said early this week.

Source

#BringBackOurGirls: Boko Haram Overruns Town of Chibok Again

The Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram attacked and seized the town where it kidnapped more than 200 girls in April, officials said Friday. The militant group returned to Chibok and launched a deadly assault to overrun the town on Thursday night, Borno State Senator Ahmed Zanna told NBC News. The kidnap of the girls sparked a global campaign centered around the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, but attempts to rescue them have proved fruitless.

Boko Haram has already overrun swaths of Nigeria's northeast and conducted countless attacks and kidnappings in its bid to establish an Islamic state. In addition to seizing Chibok, the militants also attacked and overran the towns of Hong and Gombi in neighboring Adamawa state on Thursday, Zanna said by telephone. "There were many killings but it is impossible to say how many at this stage," he said. The attacks were first reported in the Nigerian press and by the AFP news agency.

Source

Premium Times: Police investigation fails to link Kabiru Sokoto with Madalla bombing

The Nigerian government may have knowingly, in a bid to stem growing international outcry, misled the public into believing that rearrested Boko Haram suspect, Kabir Sokoto, was the mastermind of the Christmas day bombing that killed dozens in Madalla, according to highly classified details available to Premium Times.

The killings, one of the group’s deadliest before the recent Kano attacks, drew wide international attention which in a way fostered government’s crackdown that led to Mr. Sokoto’s arrest in Abuja weeks later, supposedly, as the brain behind the plotting and the execution of the blast.

But the new details, provided by multiple security sources who are well-informed about operations that have targeted the extremist Islamic sect’s members, and feedbacks passed onto key government officials, cast serious doubt on the administration’s position pinning Mr. Sokoto as the central character behind the attacks.

In all, the details shed light on the high-wired intrigues that surround the Jonathan administration’s dilemma at contending an elusive and deadly radical group that has proven  unbeatable, and at the same time winning a diminishing public trust that becomes further alienated with each wave of new attacks.

Mr. Kabiru, acknowledged by the sources as a sponsor of known members of the sect and by extension, a member himself, is only identified in security circles/records as a Boko Haram militant that operated from Kogi State flank.

In the months preceding the Madalla bombings, officials believe that he masterminded some robbery operations in Kabba, Kogi state and led a daring assault on the police station there killing, and carting away ample quantity of arms and ammunition.

He is also known to be the sponsor and host of a certain Suleiman Gambo, alias Babangida, a well marked member of the group who was arrested last year during a joint police operation in Sokoto State.

But besides those connections, no security record or operation has firmly established any link between Mr. Sokoto and the killings at St. Theresa Catholic church, the officials who all spoke under anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, say.

“Although the guy himself is a notorious member, there is no report seen of him that cites him as that mastermind,” one official said. “The police knows that, and the government knows that too; but it seems government was desperate to find a face for the crime.”

The church car bomb just outside Abuja, which claimed 44 lives and left many more injured on a Sunday morning millions of Christians across the country were attending church service marking Christmas, startled the nation and sparked global condemnation.

It turned out to be the most widely reported, and known of the group’s attacks across the world, fetching the country and the government in particular, an intense dose of international attention.

In the days that followed, according to the sources, implementing a soothing response would prove intricate for government operatives and policy makers fighting a murky organization with declared targets and tactics, but no known faces, as President Goodluck Jonathan has recently affirmed.

More so, the reliable government’s list of suspects for that crime, compiled from testimonies of captured suspects, targeted intelligence and informants, included just four names that clearly remained outside the radar of law enforcement agents.

Those mentioned were one Suleiman(different from Suleiman Gambo, who is already in police custody), Muhtari Kafanchan, Mohammed, and Bashar.

As of yet, none of the four has been captured.

Any arrest such as that of Mr. Sokoto therefore, would put an identity to the atrocity and help the Jonathan administration ward off mounting pressure that criticized its approach to the crisis, the sources said.

As it turned out, Mr. Sokoto’s initial arrest in January after operatives trailed his mobile phone signal to the Borno state lodge, and his subsequent escape, served a purpose more than envisaged.

For one, it proved the authorities were at work and progress against the sect was being made. However, with the lead actor in the crime at large, investigators could easily proffer justification why a conclusive probe of the case could not be actualized.

Then more importantly, the sacking of the police Inspector General, Hafiz Ringim, and the decision to punish Assistant Commissioner Zakaria Biu - both in connection with the escape- stood to demonstrate the administration’s steadfastness at acting when necessary.

Calls to the police force spokesperson, Olusola Amore, on Tuesday were not answered. He also did not respond to a text message sent to him seeking comments. 

via premiumtimes

Suspected suicide bombers attack Kaduna Army, Airforce bases

Suspected suicide bombers have attacked two military formations in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.

The attacks occurred at the First Mechanized Division of the Nigerian Army on  Zaria road and the Air Force Base in Kawo, both on the outskirts of Kaduna.

Both attacks occurred almost within five minutes interval. While one of the suspected bomber gained entrance into the First Mechanized Division of the Nigerian Army the other detonated his explosive under the Kawo overhead bridge in front of the gates of the Air Force base.

There are also reports of a third explosion but could not be immediately confirmed.

Spokesman of the police in Kaduna, Aminu Lawan, confirmed two blasts but could not give casualties rate.

“We have dispatched our men to the scenes to assess the situation,” he said.

He was also unable to confirm if the attacks were carried out by the deadly Boko Haram sect which has been attacking government security installations in northern Nigeria.

NEMA said its rescue team have been alerted to the explosion at the military formations. They could not also confirm the nature of explosion or casualty.

The Red Cross which also mobilised swiftly for rescue operations say the true nature of the blast is still unclear.

Eye witnesses however say three people were killed by the blast at the Airforce base Kawo. “One of them is the suicide bomber,” they said.

An eyewitness at the Zaria road scene said the explosion shattered several glasses on buildings around the First Mechanized Division area.

"Virtually all the glass has been shattered,” the eyewitness said. “I saw soldiers with glass cuts on their bodies being taken out, but it's difficult to say if there were any (more serious) casualties."

Spokesman of the First Mechanized Division of Nigerian Army Lt. Col. Abubakar A. Edun said the casualty figure is being ascertained and would soon be made available through an official statement concerning the attack.

The affected areas have been cordoned off and the busy Kaduna/Zaria road highway – location of the First Mechanized Division - has been closed to traffic.

Witnesses say the blast at Kawo was loud enough to be heard in Malali, 10 kilometres away from the scene.

The streets are filled with police and military officers as well as anti-bomb squad combing for undetonated bombs.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. But security agents says they have the imprimatur of the Boko Haram sect attacks.

The sect, whose attacks have killed over 1000 Nigerians since July 2010, is infamous for beating heavy security blockades to attack government security formations

via premiumtimesng

Boko Haram Begins Manhunt For Members That ‘Betrayed’ Abul Qaqa

Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, has started a manhunt for their sect members whom they accuse of conspiring in last week’s arrest of Abul Qaqa.  The punishment is beheading.

As fear has spread within the group, many of its members have fled from such places as Kaduna, Kano and Maiduguri.

Sources say the manhunt began with discreet investigations in Maiduguri, Damaturu, Kano and Kaduna, where Qaqa was captured.

It is focusing particularly on those members who have pitched tent with the splinter group, ‘Ansaru,’ which has empathetically expressed disgust with the manner of operations of Boko Haram, especially the multiple bomb explosions and killings in Kano.

Boko Haram leadership, a source said in Kano, is indeed convinced that Qaqa’s movement to Kaduna was leaked there and subsequently concluded there on account of several disagreements Qaqa encountered in that city from the fall out of the multiple blasts that killed almost 200 people.

Qaqa, it was learnt, was in Kaduna for several reasons, chief of which was to receive reports from Boko Haram’s Kaduna cells, as well as re-strategize and coordinate in response to the fissures within the group.

The three women who were arrested with Qaqa are still being held and interrogated.

Qaqa was born and bred in the North-East by Egbira Muslim parents from Kogi State.

via saharareporters 

Confessions Of A Repented Terrorist

While terrorism and wanton acts of destruction go on unabated in Nigeria, another can of worms has been opened regarding the identities of the real sponsors of the deadly Boko Haram group.

Sheikh Haliru, a founding member of the dreaded jama’aful Ahlul sunna wal Liddawati wal Jihad also referred to as the Boko Haram sect who has since found a new faith made startling revelations recently when he named some well placed Nigerians as the financial backbone of the sect.

Sani Haliru who was born to a Nigerien father and a Nigerian mother grew up in Wulari, in Borno State where his mother hails from. Like most boys, he became an Almajiri at the age of ten and was trained for four years. At 14, he was sent to Kano where he studied at Sheikh Abubakar Gumi School of Arabic Studies. Apart from being studying at the feet of the popular Sheikh Gumi, Haliru prided himself as a mentee of the late Al Quaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.

Incidentally, as revealed by Haliru, his new faith is in Jesus Christ who he hated and persecuted for 44 years. Before he became a born-again Christian, Haliru saw fire and blood as a jihadist.  Narrating his past experience, he said “I took part in the Kaduna riot of 1992 and in several northern states of Nigeria, but the state I operated more from was Borno, where I was the State Commander/Chief Strategist.

In the early months of May 1986, I was among the 36 Jihadist hardliners, who went on a rampage to attack Christian students of the University of Sokoto. In that same week, the Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of General Babangida mobilized us and provided some military vans and Army uniforms which our men used and started killing innocent and defenceless Christians all over the Northern states. I and the son of the Emir of Kano, who is now a Christian by name Rev. Paul Ado Bayero, were among the Muslim fanatics who pulled down the sculpture of Jesus at the University of Ibadan .

The following year, March 5, 1987 to be very precise, the “Evil Genius” General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida secretly armed us through one of his close aides by the name of Captain Hassan Abubakar (now a Pastor with a fast growing church in Lagos). We went to go and kill some targeted Christians including Rev. Nuhu Kure (Throne room founder) after the destruction we committed at the College of Education in Kafanchan, Kaduna State And of recent, I was the leader of the team of soldiers of Allah that destroyed Church buildings and properties in Bornu State”

The former jihadist claimed to have been to eight different countries namely Sudan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Egypt and Niger Republic. And when he was asked if he received any training in those places, he disclosed that he was trained as an Attack Strategist in Libya and Pakistan alongside Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike. One of the proofs of the training as he disclosed was a mark which he carries with him till date. The mark is in form of a sword held in a hand. That is regarded by those who went through the training as the “license to kill for Allah”.

When Sani Haliru was asked about the identities of the fellow Nigerians who were his course mates in Libya and Pakistan, he said “they are scattered all over the country and we were not too many then”. He however gave a few names, those he mentioned included Ali Baba Nur, Asari Dokubo, Jasper Akinbo, Mohammed Yusuf, Salisu Maigari, Danlami Abubakar, Cletus Okar, Ali Qaqa, Maigari Haliru and Asabe Dantala. He spoke further that Asari Dokubo of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force was a year ahead of him in the Libyan training camp in Benghazi.

But who financed the training in Libya, Haliru was asked. From his response, it was obvious that the person was obviously a highly placed Nigerian as he said “you will not believe me and only God will judge the Chief sponsor of terrorism in Nigeria whose name I will not mention because he is so powerful and even the president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, is so much afraid of the man”.

And to prove that he harbours no fear about unveiling his sponsor, the erstwhile extremist dropped the bombshell. He said “the man is no other person than the man they call IBB. As I am talking to you now, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida has more than 600 men and women Jihadists on his payroll. They are scattered all over the Country and he can use them to destroy Nigeria”. He disclosed that the former military President still has his agents in the Nigeria Army, the Police, the Air Force and in strategic economic positions.

He alleged that Babangida’s loyalists can still be found in top political positions, in the National Assembly, in both the print and electronic arms of the media and even in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of power.”

While describing General Babangida’s influence, the repented Boko Haram pointman revealed that he attempted to divulge some of the information at his disposal to the State Security Service, he however said it was the unimaginable that happened. “I was arrested and detained for two days because IBB’S men are so many in SSS  as well. After I was released by the grace of God, they (the Police) warned me never to blow up the polity or provoke violence and I should keep my so-called-born-again with me or else I will go to jail”, Haliru said.”

He also gave indications that IBB might not be alone in financing terror in the country as he alleged that he has the names of six traditional rulers and seven present and former Governors as well as several top military and security officers who are co-sponsoring the Boko Haram sect. Speaking further, he said “I have documented evidences to prove that General Mohammadu Buhari, Alhaji Abubaka Atiku and other top politicians and traditional rulers are some of the people behind Boko Haram”.
When Haliru was asked if it meant that General Babangida, the Muslim traditional rulers and Governors that he accused of sponsoring Boko Haram to kill Christians and burn churches in the North are not aware of the passage in the Qur’an that says there must not be compulsion in Islam as Mohammadu Buhari asserted in a widely publicized interview on Saturday, the 21st of April, 2011, Haliru’s reply went on to reveal more. “: I have worked so closely with Mohammadu Buahri for five years, and I can prove it that General Buhari is the most notable outspoken jihadist hardliner in Nigeria who is also strategically sponsoring Boko Haram”, he said. He said with Buhari;s statement, it was evident that the former Head of State was being hypocritical. He based his submission on Surah Al-Baqarah Chapter 2:195, it is written here that you must use your wealth to champion Jihad of all kinds or else destruction is waiting for such a person on the last day.

“And spend in the Cause of Allah (i.e. Jihad of all kinds) and do not throw yourselves into destruction (by not spending your wealth in the Cause of Allah), and do good. Truly, Allah loves Al-Muhsinun (the good-doers).”

Haliru also indicted Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State as an ally of the Boko Haram sect. Narrating his experience when he was arrested and detained years ago, Haliru said “ soon after my immediate boss Mohammed Yusuf was killed in 2009,  about 23 of us were arrested in one of our hideouts in Bauchi. But when Governor Isa Yagiuda heard about it, he immediately arranged for me to be free. Even before his official broadcast in 2010 that he was using his position as the executive Governor of Bauchi State to free 28 prisoners from Bauchi Central Prison, I was already a free man along with several of my colleagues”.

via http://thestreetjournal.org