Boko Haram: Nigerian soldiers shoot at commanding officer’s vehicle

“The 7 Division of the Nigerian Army is to institute a military board of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the conduct of soldiers who fired some shots.”

Angered by the death of 12 of their colleagues in a Boko Haram ambush, some soldiers, Wednesday, opened fire on the vehicle of the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Ahmadu Mohammed, reliable security sources have told PREMIUM TIMES.
The military has however claimed the incident was an ‘unfounded rumour’ and narrated its own version of events.
“The fact of the matter is that troops on patrol around Chibok were ambushed by insurgents yesterday. Troops engaged the insurgents in a fierce combat and extricated themselves from the ambush killing several insurgents.
Four soldiers however lost their lives during the ambush.
“On evacuation of the remains of the fallen troops, the General Officer Commanding addressed the troops who registered their anger about the incident by firing into the air,” military spokesperson, Chris Olukolade, a Major General, said in a statement.
The military’s version of events contrasts with what reliable sources in the military in Borno told PREMIUM TIMES.
The 7 Division, recently formed, is located in Maiduguri, the capital of the troubled Borno State.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the aggrieved soldiers blamed the death of their colleagues on the military hierarchy in the division.
Sources said the dead soldiers and the survivors were ambushed while on a special operation in Kalabalge Local Government Area where locals had on Tuesday morning killed about 150 insurgents and arrested 10 others.
After the operation, during which some military equipment were recovered from the insurgents, the soldiers who had arrived the council, were asked to return to Maiduguri.
The soldiers reportedly pleaded with their superiors to pass the night and return to Maiduguri the next morning, as the night trip would be too risky.
Their request was allegedly turned down and the troop had to drive in the night back to Maiduguri.
But half way through their journey, they ran into a Boko Haram ambush and 12 of them got killed while some others were injured, sources said.
This development angered the soldiers who felt their superiors, including the GOC, had deliberately allowed them drive at night to be slaughtered by the Boko Haram.
“Those commanding the troop declined their request to pass the night in one of the villages on the grounds that the top ranks at the headquarters of the 7 Division would not be pleased if they don’t go back to Maiduguri that night,” said a ranking soldier, who insisted not being quoted in this report.
The officer added that “when the corpses of the slain soldiers were brought to Maimalari barracks in the morning, the GOC had to go there to address the troops. As soon as they spotted the vehicle of the GOC driving into the barracks, some of the vexed soldiers suddenly started shooting at the approaching vehicle; it took an extra effort by the GOC’s driver to retreat back and luckily helped the GOC survive by the whiskers.”
Another top security personnel in Maiduguri who spoke to selected journalists off the record said, “The action of the soldiers was misplaced and unprofessional because, the time of the day does not determine when soldiers or troop should move from one point to the other.
“Perhaps the officers that insisted that the troops should return back to Maiduguri at that time may have considered the nocturnal trip as the best; but no one plans for ambush; It was unfortunate, and the GOC should not have been the one to blame, because they are not directly under his command.
“Thank God the GOC is hale and hearty, nothing happened to him.”
In his statement, Mr. Olukolade said “the situation has since been brought under control as there is calm in the cantonment and all normal operational activities are ongoing. “
“Meanwhile, the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army is to institute a military board of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the conduct of soldiers who fired some shots,” he added, a confirmation that the soldiers’ actions were unprofessional.
The Nigerian soldiers battling the Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa are believed to be under-equipped and are usually overrun by better-armed insurgents.
In many of the attacks on villages and towns by the Boko Haram, residents confirmed that the soldiers present would initially try to confront the insurgents, but would run away when they see they are faced with superior weaponry.
Basic equipment like communication gadgets, night vision goggles, etc. are either unavailable or not provided to the soldiers, many of who are believed to have low morale.

Goodluck Jonathan Rejects Deal To Swap Schoolgirls For Imprisoned Militants

Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has rejected talks of a swap for the Chibok school girls with imprisoned militants, according to British minister Mark Simmonds.

“He (Jonathan) made it very clear that there would be no negotiations with Boko Haram that involved a swap of abducted schoolgirls for prisoners,” Simmonds told reporters after meeting Jonathan.

“What he also made very clear to me was that he wanted his government to continue a dialogue to make sure a solution could be found and that security and stability could return to northern Nigeria for the medium and the long term,” he added.

It’s been a month since the girls were abducted, with foreign powers sending teams and equipment to hep find them.

Why Boko Haram seem Unstoppable

Exactly a year after Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a "state of emergency" in north-eastern Nigeria, it seems to have had little effect in curbing the Islamist insurgency.

Attacks by the Boko Haram group that provoked the move included an assault on a military barracks, detonating a bomb at a bus station in the northern city of Kano and the kidnap of a French family, including four children, which grabbed the world's attention.
The declaration would bring "extraordinary measures" to bear against the insurgents in order to "restore normalcy" to the region, the president said.
"The troops have orders to carry out all necessary actions within the ambit of their rules of engagement to put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists," President Jonathan said.

"The trouble with the Nigerian government is that they want a big red button, which you can press and it will fix everything”

James Hall Former British military attache to Nigeria

Now, after 12 months of state of emergency powers being in force, in the past few weeks Boko Haram has attacked several military bases, bombed a busy bus terminal in the capital, Abuja - twice - and launched an audacious kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok which has set the world on edge.

"When they declared it I thought it had to be tried," says Habeeb Pindiga, editor of Nigeria's Daily Trust newspaper, "but honestly it has not succeeded."
In the year leading up to the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe state, there were 741 civilian death reported, according to data collected by the University of Sussex in the UK.
In the 12 months since the figure of civilian causalities has more than tripled to 2,265.
Catch-22 Mr Pindiga says the military has not dealt with big problems it faces.
Because of the military's human rights record people do not trust them, plus they lack modern equipment, training and motivation.

Attacks in the three states have increased since the emergency rule was brought in last year

Civilians do not trust the security forces deployed to the north-east

A UK military officer who has worked closely with the Nigerians says they are stuck in a Catch-22 situation.
"The trouble with the Nigerian government is that they want a big red button, which you can press and it will fix everything," says James Hall, a retired colonel and former UK military attache to Nigeria.

Continue reading the main story

Boko Haram

• Founded in 2002, name means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched violent struggle in 2009, ostensibly to create Islamic state
• Thousands killed, three million affected, mostly in north-east
• Declared terrorist group by US in 2013

• Profile: Abubakar Shekau
• Who are Boko Haram?
• Abduction timeline

"I was asked by a senior commander if we could sell them the machine that can tell if a car driving down the road contains a terrorist," he added.

"I tried to tell them that such a machine doesn't exist, but then they just thought we were hiding it from them."
The UK is very wary in giving training assistance, and sales of better equipment are also problematic, he says.
"We have reduced dramatically the types of training and equipment we're willing to provide."
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both criticised the Nigerian military for their tactics.
Amnesty reported that some 600 people were killed by the military after an attack on Maiduguri's Giwa barracks in March.
The sale of lethal weapons to Nigeria is prohibited by UK law because of such concerns.
"Without the training, they won't be able to get the equipment, and we aren't giving them the training either," Mr Hall said.

Conflict leads to exodus

Although Nigeria's military has enjoyed a good reputation internationally because of its involvement in several peacekeeping missions in Africa, it has not quite escaped the legacy of its past.
"What they say about former military regimes is true," Mr Hall said.

Continue reading the main story

"People around the president, his closest allies, all tell him this Boko Haram is manufactured by the northerners to play politics”

Ledum Mitee Former activist in the Niger Delta

"They cripple their militaries so that there can't be further coups."

The Nigerian military rejects such criticism.
Speaking to the press on 7 May in Abuja, Brigadier-General Olajide Laleye told journalists that the military were doing what they could to stop the insurgency.
"Prosecuting large-scale counter-insurgency operations as well as numerous other operations in aid of civil authority in virtually every state of the federation has put pressure on the personnel and resources of the army," he said.
In a bid to improve morale, he was announcing soldiers' salaries would be paid to their families after their death for longer than currently allowed.
Payments usually stop a regulation three months after a soldier is killed, it was reported.
But observers say that there are other factors at work beyond just military capacity.
"There's a lack of trust all across the board, politically," says Ledum Mitee, a former activist from the oil-rich southern Niger Delta.
'Playing politics' He has followed closely the career of President Jonathan, who is also from the Niger Delta.

The world is watching to see what Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will do next

At the moment, the political leadership of the three states in the north-east are aligned with the opposition All Progressive's Congress ( APC).
"People around the president, his closest allies, all tell him this Boko Haram is manufactured by the northerners to play politics," Mr Mitee says.
"This leads him to distance himself from the whole affair."
Military commanders on the ground also have to play politics, he said.

Reports last year that Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau had been killed were proved wrong when he appeared in videos

It is not clear if President Goodluck Jonathan (L) is being given the full the picture about the security situation

International teams have arrived to hunt for the schoolgirls but not to train the military in counter-terrorism

"If they give the impression it is a very bad situation, they risk being branded incompetent, so they give a less bad picture to their bosses."
Then when crisis erupts no-one is able to deal with it effectively because it is so confused, Mr Mitee said.
It is international pressure over the girls from Chibok that has forced the government to change.

Continue reading the main story

Nigeria in Hot soup? Hear What Boko Haram’s Shekau Said.

Abubakar Shekau seem to know what we all did not know about Nigeria’s security system and he’s bent on using it to tear the country apart and the government is very quiet about it. Read what Shekau said below:

“I am going to marry out any woman who is 12 years old, and if she is younger, I will marry her out at the age of nine, just like how my mother, Aisha, the daughter of Abubakar, was married out to Prophet Mohammad at the age of nine.
“You are all in danger, I mean all of you.
“I am the one who captured all those girls and will sell all of them. I have a market where I sell human beings because it is Allah that says I should sell human beings. Yes, I will sell women, because I sell women.
“I captured and abducted girls in a Western school, and it became a worrying issue for all of you. You have forgotten that I have said that it is not only girls’ education I am against. I am against everyone who attends a Western school. Girls should go and marry.
“Slavery is allowed in my religion, and I shall capture people and make them slaves.
“Don’t think we are done yet because we are not. We are on our way to Abuja and we shall also visit the South, not to look for Jonathan but to destroy the nation’s refineries.
“Talking about human rights and democracy. Nonsense. People that are doing same-sex marriage and saying they are leaders.
“I will imprison Jonathan’s daughter. Anyone who turns to Islam will be saved. For me, anyone that embraces Islam is my own. Stupid Jonathan, you will be surprised. Until the land is soaked with blood.
“You said you want to capture me. Surely, you will one day. But I will also haunt for Jonathan, and if I catch him, I will kill him.
“Do not think I am indispensable, I am not. Anybody can kill me. Even the smallest of creature can kill me. But when you kill me, somebody more deadly will rise, and you will cry that you will rather have me than him, just as you now say that Yusuf Mohamed is more lenient that me.
“I am a leader, I don’t have any president; I am my president.
“Late Aminu Kano, Late Tafawa Balewa are not Muslims, they are all pagans. I am going to kill all the Imams and other Islamic clerics in Nigeria because they are not Muslims since they follow democracy and constitution. Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is a pagan, Senator Ali Ndume is also a pagan and they are all inclusive. I am against democracy and you should better get prepared.
“It is Allah that instructed us, until we soak the ground of Nigeria with Christian blood, and so-called Muslims contradicting Islam. [We will kill and wonder] what to do with smelling of their corpses, smelling of Obama, Bush and Jonathan. Then we will open prison and imprison the rest. Infidels have no value.
“This is a war against Christians and democracy and their constitution. Allah says we should finish them when we get them.
“In fact, you are supposed to wash and re-wash a plate Christian eats food from before you eat as Muslims. Are Christians the people we should play with? They killed us in Shendam, Zangon Katab and all the places. It is either you are with us or you are with them, and when we see you, we will harvest your neck with knife

BOKO HARAM LEADER RELEASES VIDEO OF NIGERIAN KIDNAPPED GIRLS

Islamist militants Boko Haram have released a video apparently showing about 130 girls kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria on 14 April.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the children would be held until all imprisoned militants had been freed.
Interior Minister Abba Moro rejected the deal, telling the BBC that it was "absurd" for a "terrorist group" to try to set conditions.
Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them.

The BBC's John Simpson in the northern city of Maiduguri says Boko Haram's comments show signs that the group is willing to negotiate.

Three of the girls - wearing full-length cloaks - are shown speaking in the 27-minute video, obtained by French news agency AFP.
Two girls say they were Christian and have converted to Islam, while the other says she is Muslim.
"These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with... we have indeed liberated them. These girls have become Muslims," Abubakar Shekau says in the video.
He said his offer to swap the girls for imprisoned militants only referred to the children who had not converted to Islam.
It is thought the majority of the abducted girls are Christians, although there are a number of Muslims among them.
A man who is related to three of the abducted girls said the video at first gave him hope, but then made him anxious and tearful.
"Maybe they are converted into another religion by force, so it truly is a kind of terrifying situation," said the man, who did not want to be named.Some 136 girls are shown in the video, just under half of the 276 pupils abducted from their school in the northern state of Borno.

Our correspondent says this could mean those abducted had been split into smaller groups to help avoid detection.

Local officials said they had started making copies of the video to show relatives and friends of the abducted girls in an attempt to identify them.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden", had previously said the girls should not have been at school and should get married instead.
The militants have been engaged in a violent campaign against the Nigerian government since 2009.
The militants have been engaged in a violent campaign against the Nigerian government since 2009.
The government has faced heavy criticism of its response to the mass abduction.
President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday that assistance from abroad had made him optimistic of finding the girls.
The UK and US already have teams helping on the ground in Nigeria and an Israeli counter-terrorism team is also on its way to the country.

#Bring Back Our Girls: Why the World Is Finally Talking About Nigeria's Kidnapped Students

The girls were relaxing in their dorms at the Government Girls Secondary School in the northern Nigerian town of Chibok when gunmen arrived in trucks, cars and on motorcycles.
There were dozens of them — suspected jihadis with the Boko Haram Islamic group — and they were heavily armed. After shooting the guards, and setting fire to houses, the terrorists kidnapped nearly 300 of the girls and drove off into the woods.
That was on April 15. The girls haven't been heard from since.

And the media, for the most part, has remained largely silent. Coverage of the missing girls has been dwarfed by the other major stories of late — the South Korean ferry, the racist NBA owner and the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
"Maybe if the more than 200 Nigerian girls abducted from their school weeks ago were on a ferry in Korea, a jet liner in the Indian Ocean, in the owner's box at a Clippers basketball game, or were white, the world would pay more attention," Boing Boing blogger Xeni Jardin said, echoing the thoughts of many.
"If it had happened anywhere else, this would be the world's biggest story," said CNN's Frida Ghitis.
But now, three weeks later, a hashtag associated with their disappearance has been tweeted nearly 1 million times.
There is a petition calling on the Nigerian government and all enabled international parties to rescue them, and more than 250,000 people have signed it. There are tumblr blogs, Facebook pages, and — finally, some would say — mainstream media coverage.
But getting to this point was no mere accident. It was the direct result of a semi-coordinated campaign to make world leaders, the media — and you — aware of the plight of Nigeria's missing girls.

By: Christian Pascal Ukegbu

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