Army arrests ex-colonel who led Yobe B’Haram attacks

Click banner for more info

Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Ibrahim Attahiru

A retired lieutenant colonel, who was said to have led the Boko Haram attacks on Damaturu, Yobe State, on Thursday was arrested by security forces during the encounter. The retired army officer is being detained at a military facility. It could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report if he has been moved to Abuja for interrogation or not.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Ibrahim,  had put the casualty figure on the part of the insurgents at 70 in a statement that was silent on the number of soldiers killed in the attack.

It was however, learnt that nine soldiers including a lieutenant and four policemen lost their lives in the attack.

“The retired lieutenant colonel was properly discharged from the Army and it was a big surprise when he was arrested and identified by those who knew him as a former officer,” an Army source said.

180 B’Haram insurgents killed by Camerounian soldiers – Military

Click banner for more info

A fierce gunfight launched  against the fundamentalist Islamist group, Boko Haram, by Camerounian soldiers has led to  the killing   of no fewer than 180 insurgents and two gendarmes  around a Nigerian  border with Cameroun.

It was gathered that during the battle which took place on Tuesday evening, many of  the wounded insurgents   were also arrested.

About 200 rifles, 70 machine guns and heavy military hardware were said to have been  recovered from the insurgents by the soldiers.

Continue

20 killed in fresh B’Haram attack

Click banner for more info

At least 20 people were killed when Islamist group Boko Haram attacked a town in northeast Nigeria, triggering clashes with troops stationed there, the military said on Sunday.

Reuters reported that a spokesman for Nigerian forces in northeastern Borno State, which lies at the heart of a four-year-old Islamist insurgency, said the Islamists crept into the town of Damboa in the early hours of Saturday.

Continue after the break.

US Congress to hold hearing on B’Haram, terrorism

Click banner for more info

The United States Congress will next week hold a public hearing on the militant Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

The leader of American Congress Committee on African Affairs, Mr. Chris Smith, said this in Abuja on Tuesday during a meeting with the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

Continue after the break.

CBN orders banks to report B’Haram, Ansaru transactions

Click banner for more info

Following the recent proscription of the violent Islamic sects, Boko Haram and Ansaru, by the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks to check the activities of the terrorist groups.

The central bank in a letter to all banks on Wednesday, directed them to check their database and report activities of the two sects to the regulator.

The letter read, “The Federal Government of Nigeria, in its effort to stem terrorism in the country, has proscribed the activities of Jamaatu Ahlis-Sunna Liddaawati Wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, and Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan in any part of the country. Their activities are consequently declared as terrorist and illegal.

North kicks against ban on B’Haram, Ansaru

Click banner for more info

Culled from Punch Nigeria

The North on Wednesday disagreed with the National Assembly on the proscription of two Islamic miltant groups – Boko Haram and Ansaru–by President Goodluck Jonathan.

While the North through its two prominent groups, the Arewa Consultative Forum and the Northern Elders Forum, faulted the ban, the National Assembly insisted that it was a welcome development.

To the ACF and the NEF, the Jonathan administration has through the ban thrown a spanner in the works in its efforts to  end   bloodletting in the North  through amnesty for Boko Haram and Ansaru members.

Continue Reading After The Break.