Members of the terrorists group, Boko Haram have reportedly released the over 50 women and girls that were recently kidnapped from Waga Mangoro and Madagali, villages between
Adamawa and Borno states.
Vanguard reports that this was made known in a telephone interview with villagers from their alleged hid-outs. The villagers, who said the exact number of the released captives, could not
be ascertained hinted that about 45 girls were still being held by the sect members.
A deadly bombing in northern Nigeria and new details about kidnappings at the weekend blamed on Boko Haram cast further doubt Thursday on the government's claim that the
militants have agreed to a truce.
As reports emerged that extremists seized dozens more women and girls from the remote northeast
leaving a few dollars behind as a so-called 'bride price' fresh violence rocked the town of Azare in Bauchi state.
A police spokesman for the state, Mohammed Haruna, said a bomb blast at a bus station in Azare killed five people, with their bodies "burnt
beyond recognition," and injured 12 others.
No-one claimed responsibility, but Bauchi has been attacked repeatedly throughout Boko Haram's brutal five-year uprising, which has left
more than 10,000 people dead.
Also read: Doubts surrounding Boko Haram deal Azare resident Musa Babale said the explosion on Wednesday "shook buildings" and sent locals rushing for shelter.
"The whole place was a mess," he told AFP after visiting the site.
Several witnesses said they believed the bomb had been planted in a parked car, but police did not give details on the nature of the device.
Bus station bombings have become something of a hallmark for the insurgent group after twin
attacks at a terminal on the outskirts of the capital Abuja earlier this year killed nearly 100 people.
The station in Azare, a town roughly 200
kilometres (125 miles) from the state capital Bauchi city, is a widely used transit point for travellers coming from Nigeria's embattled northeast, which has been under a state of emergency since May last year.
$9' per hostage
Reports of fresh kidnappings by the extremists first emerged Saturday near the town of Chibok, where more than 200 schoolgirls were seized in
April in an attack that sparked outrage worldwide.
Details of unrest in the remote region with a poor telephone network often take days to emerge.
Residents of the town of Wagga told AFP
Thursday that 40 females were kidnapped by suspected Islamist gunmen who went door-to-
door, specifically looking for young women and girls.
"They left 1,500 naira ($9, seven euros) and some kola nuts in each home where they seized a woman, apparently as a bride price," said Lazarus
Baushe, an elder of the Wagga community.
Enoch Mark, a priest from Chibok who previously worked in Wagga and has close ties there, told AFP an estimated 40 people were taken, in an
account supported by several others.
Witnesses in the nearby town of Gwarta
separately reported a kidnapping at the weekend involving another 20 female victims, but details were not immediately clear.
Dubious ceasefire
Confirmation that the Bauchi bombing or the latest abductions were tied to Boko Haram would further undermine the government's claim to have negotiated a ceasefire with the extremist group.
The surprise truce was announced Friday by Nigeria's top military officer, Air Marshall Alex Badeh.
A senior aide to President Goodluck Jonathan said Boko Haram had agreed to release the 219 schoolgirls held hostage since they were abducted
on April 14 in Chibok.
But evidence is mounting that both pacts were hollow.
Violence raged throughout the weekend and the credibility of the so-called Boko Haram negotiator has been widely questioned.
There has been no comment so far from Boko Haram's purported leader Abubakar Shekau and hopes voiced by the presidency that the girls would be released by Tuesday came to nothing.
Nigerian negotiators were reportedly set tonresume talks with Boko Haram envoys in neighbouring Chad next week, but further questions will likely be asked about the identities of the purported rebel negotiators
Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, is a fractured group with different commanders controlling rival cells in various regions.
Analysts doubt that the individuals in talks with Nigeria have the influence to enforce a blanket
ceasefire.
- AFP
Abuja - Former Presidential
Candidate of the defunct Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu
Ribadu, has condemned the bomb
blast that rocked a motor park in
Nyanya area of Abuja on Monday
morning.
“This is again another sad day for
Nigerians. I'm completely
devastated by this early morning
news of explosions in Nyanya, a
suburb of Abuja which is host to a
bulk of our workforce. Where
exactly have we, and especially the
reported 200 unfortunate
casualties of the blasts, gone
wrong to have been subjected to
this endless chain of tragedies,”
Ribadu said.
He sent condolences to the family
of all citizens killed in the blast.
“My heartfelt condolences to the
family of all innocent citizens
killed in this dysfunction of a
nation. We are being confronted
by a people who have no
understanding of humanity.”
He called for all to unite against
"a monstrous reality seeking to
terminate our existence as a
people and as a nation."
Scores of people were killed and
various vehicles were also
destroyed in the blast in Abuja.
The explosion blasted through a
busy commuter bus station on the
outskirts of the city as hundreds
of people were preparing to go to
work.
It is suspected the Boko Haram
insurgents are behind the
bombing.
– CAJ News
Leader of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, today said the Nigerian Military should bury itself in
shame because he is alive.
Shekau also claimed responsibility of Tuesday, 17th September, 2013 attacks in Benisheik, Borno State where over 160 people were either shot dead or slaughtered and hundreds of houses burnt.
The then Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesman in Borno State, Lt Col Sagir Musa, had issued a statement on 19th August, 2013
to the effect that “Intelligence report available to the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Restore Order revealed that Abubakar Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted terrorists leader may have died.
He died of gunshots wounds received in an encounter with the JTF in one of their camps in Sambisa Forest on 30th June,
2013.
“Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide-a border community in Cameroon for treatment from which he never recovered,” the JTF statement said.
But in the latest video, Shekau who
appeared in military camouflage uniform, seated and surrounded by hooded insurgents said “Here I am, alive, hale and
hearty. Sagir Musa should bury himself in shame, President Jonathan (of Nigeria)
should bury himself in shame, President Obama (of United States of America) should bury himself in shame, and President Francois Hollande (of France)
should bury himself in shame, Queen Elizabeth
(of England) should bury herself in
shame,” he said.
According to Shekau, “They said I am dead, but here I am. The world should know that I am alive and will only die at the appointed time. Everybody should be
judged according to the dictates of his conscience. What I am doing is written in the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith and I will not stop. I challenge all the clerics of the
world to question my deeds. Those
underrating my capacity should have a re- think. I will never allow democracy to thrive.
“The concept of Government of the
people by the people for the people will
never be possible and will never exist.
Democracy shall be replaced only by the government of Allah, from Allah and for Allah,” he said.
He said the Nigerian military will never subdue his group. “Nigerian soldiers are late. After killing many of them in Monguno and Benisheik, we have snatched their armoured carriers and Hilux van and then hoisted Islamic flags on them. We now move freely with them,” he said.
Souce:Dailytrust
About 20 youths of the vigilante
group populalry known as Civilian JTF were killed in separate attacks in Bama and Damasak towns of Borno State by insurgents suspected to be Boko Haram members.
A local official who attended a mass
funeral for the victims in Bama on
Monday said 14 vigilantes were killed there on Sunday, Reuters reported.
According to a Daily Trust correspondent, in the Damasak incident, 6 vigilantes were killed yesterday. The victims in the Damasak attack were identified as Ismail Alhaji Bunu (36), Malam Goni (27), Buzu Bukar (27), Mohammed Modu (20), Aliyu Jibrin (30) and Bukar Bako (20)..
Local vigilante groups run by youth
volunteers have been instrumental in helping the military capture Boko Haram members, but they have also made them a target for the insurgents, drawing civilians further into the conflict. Alhaji Baba Shehu Gulumba, chairman of Bama local council, told Reuters in Maiduguri that insurgents disguised as soldiers lured the youths into a trap.
"They were on guard duty when the sect members dressed in military camouflage came and told them that they were needed at a meeting nearby," he said.
"When they had been lured away from their duty posts they were then attacked and killed."
Our correspondent gathered that five of the victims in the Damasak raid were jewelry traders and a driver who was conveying them to the town's market.
A member of the vigilante, Kariyama Mohammed, who also went to Damasak but did not pass the night in the same house with the victims said, "We travelled together to Damasak to trade in necklace but I did not sleep in the same house with them. It was in the morning that I learn of their death."
Another resident said the assailants who were four in number shot their victims dead when they were asleep before they fled into the bush.
Daily Trust
Over 40 people suspected to be
members of the Boko Haram sect
have been killed between Saturday
and yesterday, when operatives of
the Joint Task Force (JTF) cordoned-
off Bulabulin and Ngarnam wards as well as Bayan Quarters - three
areas believed to be sanctuaries of
the insurgents in Maiduguri,
witnesses and hospital sources
said.
JTF spkesman Lt Col Sagir Musa
confirmed that JTf forces have
secured the area but was adamant
in not revealing the amount of
casualties but he however advised
the citizens passing through the
zones should go through other
routes pending when normalcy
returns to the area.
Our correspondent reports that for
over a year, most residents of
Bulabulin, Ngarnam and parts of
Bayan Tasha (railway, close to the
house of former Boko Haram
leader, Mohammed Yusuf) have
fled their homes, a development
which security sources said
provided a fertile ground for
insurgents to stay their. Sagir said
the ongoing operation was meant
to reclaim the settlements for the
rightful owners
According to him, "in an effort to
wipe out Boko Haram terrorists
from deserted Bulabulin, Bayan
Quarters and Ngarnam, the JTF has
taken over the areas with
deployment of personnel and
equipment. "Recall that the
inhabitants of the areas were
chased out of their houses by Boko
Haram terrorists and converted
most of the houses to hideouts or
enclaves
"The latest efforts of the task force
led to the dislodgment of the
insurgents and the recovery of
arms, ammunitions, Improvised
Explosive Devices (IEDs) and some
terrorists died during an exchange
of fire with the JTF troops," Sagir
said. He stated that on Saturday
alone, troops recovered 6 RPG
bombs, one sub-machine gun, 4
AK47 rifles, 4 RPG launchers, 7
empty magazines, three army
camouflage uniforms and 2 tricycles
in some hideouts in Bulabulin
"Therefore, in furtherance of the
operation, the JTF wishes to alert
and warn members of the public
particularly those farming or
passing through the above
mentioned areas to keep away as
operation is ongoing," the JTF
spokesman said. Sources at the
State Specialist Hospital said over
25 corpses were deposited there
between Saturday and yesterday
while some people who live around
Galadima Junction and Hausari said
there are about 10 corpses at
Bulabulin and Ngarnam that are yet to to be taken away.
A resident said JTF troops used
Armoured Personnel Carriers
(APCs) to subdue the insurgents
and thereafter destroyed many
houses to pave way for searching
the areas. In another
development, the JTF had
commended what it described as
"the patriotic efforts of citizens and
residents of Borno State
particularly the youth vigilante
groups" that were determined to
assisting security agencies to defeat
Boko Haram terrorists in the state,
Lt Col Sagir, who interacted with
some youth leaders in Gwange and
Hausari areas of Maiduguri
yesterday, urged the youths to
conduct themselves within the
ambits of the law so that their
efforts will be fully appreciated by
members of the public.
Source: Dailytrust
Gunmen believed to be Islamists
from Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgent group killed 42 people, Mostly students, and an English teacher Mohammed Musa was shot in the chest in an overnight attack on a secondary school in restive Yobe state, a medical worker and residents said Saturday.
"We received 42 dead bodies of students and other staff of Government Secondary School (in) Mamudo last night.
Some of them had gunshot wounds while many of them had burns and ruptured tissues," Haliru Aliyu of the Potiskum General Hospital told AFP.
Some of the pupils were burnt alive in the latest school attack blamed on a radical terror group, survivors said.
Parents screamed in anguish as they tried to identify the charred and gunshot victims.
Farmer Malam Abdullahi found the
bodies of two of his sons, a 1em year-old shot in the back as he apparently tried to run away, and a 12-year-old shot in the chest.
"That's it, I'm taking my other boys out of school," he told The Associated Press as he wept over the two corpses. He said he had three younger children in a nearby school..
"It's not safe," he said. "The gunmen are attacking schools and there is no protection for students despite all the soldiers."
Survivors at the Potiskum General
Hospital and its mortuary said gunmen attacked Government Secondary School in Mamudo village, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Potiskum town at about 3 a.m. Saturday. The gunmen are believed to be from the Boko Haram sect whose name means "Western education is
sacrilege."
"We were sleeping when we heard
gunshots. When I woke up, someone was pointing a gun at me," said 15-year- old Musa Hassan.
He put his arm up in defense, and
suffered a gunshot that blew off all four fingers on his right hand, the one he uses to write with.
He said the gunmen came armed with jerry cans of fuel that they used to torch the school's administrative block and one of the hostels.
"They burned the children alive," he said, the horror showing in his wide eyes.
He and teachers at the morgue said
dozens of children from the 1,200-
student school escaped into the bush but have not been seen since.
Some bodies are so charred they could not be identified, so many parents do not know if their children survived or died .
AFP
