Boko Haram: Surrender And Embrace Amnesty Now, Jonathan Warns

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The military, yesterday, extended the curfew in some parts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, to 24 hours, in continuation of the emergency rule imposed on the state alongside Yobe and Adamawa States, on Tuesday, to curb Boko Haram insurgent activities.

The curfew extension came on a day President Goodluck Jonathan told the insurgents to surrender and embrace the amnesty proposed for them by the Federal Government.

Northern governors also warned against civilian casualty in the implementation of the emergency rule in the three north-eastern states.

Reports, yesterday, said residents of a community in Borno State, Marte, were fleeing air strikes by the Nigerian Airforce jets and helicopter gunships on suspected Boko Haram camps.

The spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, listed 12 neighbourhoods in Maiduguri where a 24-hour curfew was being imposed.

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) also said troops arrested 65 suspected Boko Haram members trying to enter the Borno State capital after fleeing aerial bombardment elsewhere.

The DHQ insinuated that the insurgents were trying to infiltrate Maiduguri.

The imposition of the curfew in the Borno State capital was said to pave the way for the troops deployed to the state to embark on a house- to- house search, as well as face insurgents still residing within the metropolis and Jere council area.

Army condemns use of fake military camouflage by Boko Haram members

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The Nigerian Army on Friday in Abuja decried the rate at which the Boko Haram insurgents have been using fake military camouflage to attack civilians.  Maj.-Gen. Mobolaji Koleoso, the Chief of Civil Military Affairs of the Nigerian Army, said this while briefing newsmen on the security situation in the country.  He said the Army had observed with dismay the illegal possession and abuse of military camouflage by the Boko Haram insurgents.

 “This trend is indeed worrisome, hence the need to enlighten the public to be cautious and report suspicious persons using illegal camouflage, to relevant security agencies.  “A recent exchange of gun fire with the insurgents in the North Eastern part of the country which resulted in a large number of causalities on their side showed that the insurgents were dressed in fake military camouflage.

 “For the unsuspecting populace, these insurgents would have been misconstrued as soldiers of the Nigerian Army,’’ he added.

Jonathan’s Aide Wants Dialogue With Boko Haram Sustained

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The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku has called for a continuation of dialogue with members of the Boko Haram sect despite the declaration of a State of Emergency in three northern states.

Mr Kuku said this while addressing past and present leaders of the National Association of Nigerians Students.

Recently, President Jonathan said the growing insecurity in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states had compelled him to declare a state of emergence, exercising his powers as enshrined in Section 305 Subsection 1 of the Nigerian Constitution.

Borno: Troops capture Boko Haram’s camp

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Early reports of military operations in the three North-East states under emergency rule, on Thursday, indicated that Nigerian soldiers had recaptured three of the local government areas where insurgents had been in control in northern Borno.

The names of the recaptured councils could not be confirmed out of the lot in possession of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram. The areas where the insurgents were said to have been in total control before the military operation launched on Thursday were Marte, Magumeri, Mobbar, Gubio, Guzamala, Abadamin, Kukawa, Kaga, Nganzai and Monguno.

Also, the troops reportedly invaded and took over a training camp of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, known as Sambisa on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in the early hours of Thursday.  Borno as well as Adamawa and Yobe states fell under emergency rule by presidential proclamation on Tuesday.

President Goodluck Jonathan said all efforts to bring the violence in the area under control had failed hence the need to use force to force insurgents out of the states, especially Borno where the President said insurgents had taken control of the northern part.

Jonathan Meets Boko Haram Amnesty Panel

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President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo
 with members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue
and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday, met with members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North.

President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo with members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North
The Chairman of the committee, Karibu Turaki, said his team decided to call the meeting to ask President Jonathan the government’s position after speaking with different stakeholders and Boko Haram members.

“We feel that having interacted with most of the security agencies, we have come to the critical stage where we also need to hear what the government’s side is. That was what we came to discuss with Mr President,” he said.

Prison Break: Boko Haram Kills 55, Frees 105 In Borno

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uspected members of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram raided the northeastern town of Bama on Tuesday, leaving 55 people dead, the military said.

Boko Haram gunmen killed 22 police officers, 14 prison officials, two soldiers and four civilians, while 13 of the group’s own members died the spokesman for the military Joint Task Force (JTF), Sagir Musa said.

Gunmen freed 105 prison members during the raid, which began at around 5am and lasted almost five hours, Mr Musa said.

Abuja Prison Rejects Boko Haram Bomber Because He's Too Dangerous

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday issued an order relocating Mr. Kabiru Sokoto, the suspected operation arrow-head of the dreaded Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, from Kuje prisons to the custody of the State Security Service, SSS.

The order to relocate the suspected bomber of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, on Christmas day, followed a request by the lead counsel to the Federal Government, Mrs. Chioma Onuegbu, in the matter yesterday.

The prosecution relied on a letter emanating from the Office of the Comptroller General of Prisons stating that there was a major work ongoing at the prison formation, which was stressing the facility.

Satellite images show 2,275 burnt houses in Baga, Boko Haram destroyed mobile telephone towers – HRW

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An international rights crusader, Human Rights Watch, on Wednesday described as hogwash, 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 the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.

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

Calling on the Federal Government to impartially probe the incident,   it said 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.

VIDEO: Boko Haram Militants Showing Off Weapons “Captured” From An Army Barack Raid

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Islamist militants of the dreaded Boko Haram sect display weapons they purportedly captured from the Monguno Barack after they carried out a raid. The militants spoke in Hausa language.
Watch video After the break

Youths Urge FG To Forget Amnesty For Boko Haram

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Barely 24 hours after President Goodluck inaugurated a 25-man committee to work towards disarming members of the Boko Haram sect and granting them amnesty, thousands of unemployed youths have asked the Federal Government to jettison the idea or risk their wrath.

The youths, who converged in Abuja, yesterday, described the attempt by the government to dialogue and settle violent groups in the country as a step in the wrong direction capable of truncating the fragile peace in the country.Although the angry youths drawn from the 774 local government areas of the country, did not say what the form of their action would be, their leader who gave his name as Okey Felix Nwachukwu, warned that they would take steps to compel the government to address their plight.

Pres. Jonathan sets up committees on Boko Haram & other security challenges

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See the State House press release below

Following the consideration yesterday by the National Security Council of the report of the technical committee it set up to review fresh modalities for addressing security challenges in the North, President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of a Presidential Committee to constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country.

The Committee’s terms of reference will include developing a framework for the granting of amnesty; setting up of a framework  through which disarmament could take place within a 60-day time frame; the development of a comprehensive victims’ support programme, and the development of mechanisms to address the underlying causes of insurgencies that will help to prevent future occurrences.

“Boko Haram Will Stop Killing, If Jonathan Doesn’t Run For Presidency In 2015″

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The President of Ondo State Unification of Cherubim and Seraphim, Primate Ademisokun Turton has stated that the incessant killings by the outlawed Islamic sect,Boko Haram will come to an end as soon as President Goodluck Jonathan discloses his 2015 political ambition.

The cleric said this in Akure, Ondo state capital at the inauguration of the Unification of the Churches in the state that the insecurity situation in Nigeria will come to an end the moment President Goodluck Jonathan makes it public that he is not re-contesting in 2015.

 According to him, “amnesty or no amnesty, the activities of the sect will continue until our President speaks out on his political ambition come 2015.”

Amnesty: Boko Haram Gives FG Conditions

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A leader of the Boko Haram sect, Muhammad Marwan, has said that if the Federal Government would not blackmail or deceive them as was done in the past, they will be  ready to avail themselves for dialogue as was initiated by the Northern Elders Forum.

 Marwan spoke  in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) monitored in Kaduna on Tuesday, adding that  he was speaking on behalf of members of Jamatul Ahlus Sunnati lil Daawati wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, on the call by Northern Elders Forum for amnesty for the sect members.

Boko Haram Members Behind The Mask

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The Governor of Borno State had had several meetings with Boko Haram members. I am not sure how he contacted them or made the arrangement. What am I saying here?

If the governor makes contact with them he should know some of them. Let's assume he doesn't know because they all wore mask as they appeared for these several meetings.

Now that we are talking about 'amnesty', will Boko Haram members pull off the mask? It is going to be interesting.

We Are Yet To Decide On Amnesty – Boko Haram

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Islamic sect, Boko Haram has said that the Shura Council, the highest decision-making organ of the sect led by Imam Abubakar Shekau, which has the power to decide whether the sect will accept the offer of amnesty being planned by the Federal Government is yet to take a decision on the offer even as another faction of the sect has publicly rejected the amnesty saying the group did not ask for it.

The Federal Government last week set up a committee to look at the feasibility or otherwise of granting amnesty to the sect members in a bid to put an end to the spate of violence in the North.

Why Boko Haram targets Lagos

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More facts emerged yesterday on the plot by Boko Haram to bomb Lagos. The main reason for the planned attack on Lagos, the “commercial nerve centre of Nigeria,” is its booming economy. The motive is simple: Attack Lagos and Nigeria grinds to a halt. One of the service chiefs reportedly confirmed at the Executive Session held with the Senate last Wednesday on the state of insecurity in the country that the threat to bomb Lagos was real.

He listed five reasons for the plot. The sect, it was gathered, reckons that the economy of the North is already in ruins with the incessant bombing of its major commercial cities including Kano, Kaduna and Maiduguri in Borno State. Kano is no longer the thriving commercial nerve centre of the North, while the Joint Task Force (JTF) occupies every 10 kilometres in Maiduguri, making commercial activities difficult.

Nigeria: Northern Elders Insist On Amnesty for Boko Haram

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The Northern Elders' Forum has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to consider granting amnesty to insurgent groups in Northern Nigeria in order to overcome security challenges in the country.

The main insurgent group in the North, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for or is suspected of masterminding several attacks

across the northern states causing the death of hundreds of people.

The Elders' Forum made its position known on Wednesday at a closed-door late night meeting held with the President at the State

Boko Haram Is Your Baby, Buhari Fires Back At Jonathan

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Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, slammed President Goodluck Jonathan, describing the virulent sect, Boko Haram, as a creation of the present administration.

President Jonathan, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe had on Tuesday challenged General Buhari to persuade members of the sect to accept dialogue as a means of ending the orgy of violence in the North.

General Buhari, who apparently was angered by the Presidency’s attempt to link him with the sect, asked Jonathan to leave him alone and find ways of resolving the Boko Haram crisis, which he said, was borne out of the failure of his government.

Boko Haram Begin Mass Recruitment

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The Jihadist violence which is ravaging the Northern region of the federal republic of Nigeria appears to show no indications of letting up. This is according to information received by 247ureports.com from a competent source within the top echelons of the security structure stationed in Kano.

As gathered, the Jihadist group who had recently ramped up their violent attacks in selected States of Northern Nigeria – particularly Kano, Bauchi and Borno State.  Our source pointed to the continued talk of amnesty by stakeholders within the federal government of Nigeria – as the principal cause for the increased level of attacks.

Security Agents, Not Boko Haram Behind Bombings – Uzor Kalu

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Former Abia state Governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, yesterday absolved Boko Haram of some of the bombings in the northern part of the country blaming it instead on government security agents.

Kalu, who spoke in Abuja when members of the FCT chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) visited him, said the security agencies do this to attract more funding from the federal allocation.

Kalu said people are aware of this but refuse to speak out for fear of being victimized even as Nigerians continue to die as a result of the activities of unpatriotic public officers.