Monday, May 20, 2013
Video - Nigerians react to Manchester United Alex Ferguson's retirement
Nigerians react to the announcement of Alex Ferguson retiring as Manchester United's manager.
Video - Baby trafficking syndicate arrested in Imo state
Nigerian police say they have rescued six pregnant girls from child traffickers who were planning to sell their babies Two men and a woman have been arrested in the case, which is the second so-called baby factory to be uncovered in a week. Last Friday, 23 girls and four babies were found in a baby factory in Umuaka, Imo State in eastern Nigeria and are now being looked after in a state care home.
Video - Battle for Northern Nigeria
The Nigerian army is back on the offensive. Its target: the armed group Boko Haram. And this time it is determined to defeat them. Nigerian troops have deployed fighter jets, helicopter gunships and thousands of soldiers to take back territory the group seized in northeastern Nigeria.
This week, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states. The offensive has been welcomed by many who have seen Boko Haram's violent campaign kill around 2,000 people since it began in 2009. But rights groups have called for restraint.
They say they have documented cases of abuse by Nigerian forces in the past, including summary executions and random shootings. So, just how much of a danger is Boko Haram to Nigeria? And is military action the best answer? To discuss this, Inside Story, with presenter Jane Dutton, is joined by guests: Doyin Okupe, a senior special assistant to President Jonathan on Public Affairs; Vicki Huddleston, former US ambassador to Mali and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs; and Lucy Freeman, the deputy director for Africa at Amnesty International and author of the report Nigeria trapped in the cycle of violence.
Related story: State of emergency declared in Nigeria
Boko Haram has access to anti-aircraft weaponry
The Nigerian military said on Friday that it destroyed weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, owned by insurgents in Borno State.
The military said in a statement that advancing troops of the Special Task Force have destroyed some terrorists' camps sited in the forests of Northern and Central Borno.
The statement was issued in Abuja on Friday and signed by Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, the Director of Defence Information.
In his nationwide broadcast on May 14 while declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, President Goodluck Jonathan directed the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, to deploy more troops to the three states. The president said the insurgents were not only carrying out violent acts but had commenced the process of excising some part of the Nigerian territory for themselves, and were mounting strange flags.
Mr. Olukolade noted that heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, were also destroyed in the process.
He said the special operations, which preceded troop movement, resulted in the destruction of many of the insurgents' weapons.
Logistics, it added, such as vehicles, containers, fuel dumps and power generators were also destroyed.
It said that "the casualties inflicted on the insurgents in the course of the assault will be verified during a mop up."
According to the statement, the Defence Headquarters is quite satisfied with the progress of the operation and the fighting spirit of participating troops. It urged the Special Task Force to sustain the tempo.
Meanwhile, border posts have all been manned by security personnel to prevent escape or infiltration by the insurgents.
Security sources earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that at least 20 members of the insurgents were killed in the Sambisa forest operation.
Sambisa, a forest that spreads over a distance of 300sq km from Damboa up to Gwoza, Bama and the Cameroon border, has been a hideout and training camp for the extremist Boko Haram sect. The camp was first discovered early this year when a military raid was launched there.
The military said in a statement that advancing troops of the Special Task Force have destroyed some terrorists' camps sited in the forests of Northern and Central Borno.
The statement was issued in Abuja on Friday and signed by Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, the Director of Defence Information.
In his nationwide broadcast on May 14 while declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, President Goodluck Jonathan directed the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, to deploy more troops to the three states. The president said the insurgents were not only carrying out violent acts but had commenced the process of excising some part of the Nigerian territory for themselves, and were mounting strange flags.
Mr. Olukolade noted that heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, were also destroyed in the process.
He said the special operations, which preceded troop movement, resulted in the destruction of many of the insurgents' weapons.
Logistics, it added, such as vehicles, containers, fuel dumps and power generators were also destroyed.
It said that "the casualties inflicted on the insurgents in the course of the assault will be verified during a mop up."
According to the statement, the Defence Headquarters is quite satisfied with the progress of the operation and the fighting spirit of participating troops. It urged the Special Task Force to sustain the tempo.
Meanwhile, border posts have all been manned by security personnel to prevent escape or infiltration by the insurgents.
Security sources earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that at least 20 members of the insurgents were killed in the Sambisa forest operation.
Sambisa, a forest that spreads over a distance of 300sq km from Damboa up to Gwoza, Bama and the Cameroon border, has been a hideout and training camp for the extremist Boko Haram sect. The camp was first discovered early this year when a military raid was launched there.
Military shut down telecommunications in Maiduguri as part of attack on Boko Haram
Residents lamented the collapse of telecommunications services in Maiduguri.
There has been a partial telecommunications shut down in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital over the State of Emergency declared in the state by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital woke up on Friday to realise that what they thought was a minor problem with mobile telephone services the previous day was actually a deliberate action by the mobile networks, who are believed to be complying with directives from the Nigerian military.
Though the Nigerian military has officially kept mum on the telephone shut down, a top security official said the networks were put off as part of strategy to demobilize the insurgents in the state.
He said the reprieve the residents got, as telecommunications were restored late on Friday morning, will be "for some few hours."
He said the grounded GSM networks were part of the military strategy to slow down the communication of the Boko Haram who are spread in camps in the forest of Sambisa, Mafa, Wulgo and Kirenowa axis of Borno State.
All major national telecom carriers, MTN, GLO, ETISALAT and AIRTEL were grounded, leaving residents confused especially as there was no official information either by the network providers, the state government, or the military. Many of the residents would not speak officially for security reasons.
The Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Sagir Musa, declined comments as he told journalists that he would not be making comment on the military operations in Bono for now.
Meanwhile, troops were, up to Thursday night seen arriving the town via roads and air; even as jet fighters were also said to have been deployed to the state.
Though the State of emergency situation has not changed the normal life of the residents, there seems to be apprehension in the state as to how the soldiers would conduct themselves.
Babagana Alkali, an accountant with Borno State Government told PREMIUM TIMES that his fear is the soldiers' conduct.
"The State of Emergency is a welcomed development, but our problem here in Nigeria is soldiers don't adhere to the rules of engagement. If soldiers can discharge their duties professionally to ensure that peace is restored in Borno and Nigeria at large, no one would complain.
"But the problem is when soldiers are attacked and one of them got killed, they start harassing innocent people, maiming and killing them, while the culprits go free," he said.
Also, some schools in Maiduguri have remained close since Wednesday.
"We are keeping the children at home to study the state of emergency situation. We can't guarantee their safety until we study the way soldiers conduct themselves, then we can open by next week Monday," a proprietor of one of the schools in the Borno capital said.
There has been a partial telecommunications shut down in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital over the State of Emergency declared in the state by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital woke up on Friday to realise that what they thought was a minor problem with mobile telephone services the previous day was actually a deliberate action by the mobile networks, who are believed to be complying with directives from the Nigerian military.
Though the Nigerian military has officially kept mum on the telephone shut down, a top security official said the networks were put off as part of strategy to demobilize the insurgents in the state.
He said the reprieve the residents got, as telecommunications were restored late on Friday morning, will be "for some few hours."
He said the grounded GSM networks were part of the military strategy to slow down the communication of the Boko Haram who are spread in camps in the forest of Sambisa, Mafa, Wulgo and Kirenowa axis of Borno State.
All major national telecom carriers, MTN, GLO, ETISALAT and AIRTEL were grounded, leaving residents confused especially as there was no official information either by the network providers, the state government, or the military. Many of the residents would not speak officially for security reasons.
The Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Sagir Musa, declined comments as he told journalists that he would not be making comment on the military operations in Bono for now.
Meanwhile, troops were, up to Thursday night seen arriving the town via roads and air; even as jet fighters were also said to have been deployed to the state.
Though the State of emergency situation has not changed the normal life of the residents, there seems to be apprehension in the state as to how the soldiers would conduct themselves.
Babagana Alkali, an accountant with Borno State Government told PREMIUM TIMES that his fear is the soldiers' conduct.
"The State of Emergency is a welcomed development, but our problem here in Nigeria is soldiers don't adhere to the rules of engagement. If soldiers can discharge their duties professionally to ensure that peace is restored in Borno and Nigeria at large, no one would complain.
"But the problem is when soldiers are attacked and one of them got killed, they start harassing innocent people, maiming and killing them, while the culprits go free," he said.
Also, some schools in Maiduguri have remained close since Wednesday.
"We are keeping the children at home to study the state of emergency situation. We can't guarantee their safety until we study the way soldiers conduct themselves, then we can open by next week Monday," a proprietor of one of the schools in the Borno capital said.
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