A group of 158 women and children abducted by Boko Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria in December have been reunited with their families.
They were kidnapped during a raid on Katarko village in Yobe state and spent about a month in captivity.
The circumstances of their release are unclear but they were eventually handed over to the state authorities for counselling and rehabilitation.
Officials said the reunion in the state capital, Damaturu, was jubilant.
In April last year, the Islamist insurgents caused worldwide outrage when they kidnapped more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok in Borno state, which borders Yobe.
The schoolgirls have yet to be rescued despite military assistance from countries such as China, France, the UK and the US.
'Very happy'
Of the 158 people reunited with their families, 62 were married women and the rest were children, Musa Idi Jidawa, the secretary of Yobe's State Emergency Management Agency (Sema), told the BBC.
He said husbands of 16 of the women had been killed by Boko Haram during the attack.
Muhammdu Katarko said he was very happy to see his two daughters at the reunion on Thursday.
"I had given up when they were kidnapped; my hope was to see even their dead bodies," he told the BBC Hausa service.
"But fortunately I have now seen them alive, health and hearty."
One of the abductees, who requested anonymity, told reporters in Damaturu that they were treated humanely by the militants.
She said the insurgents did not rape or abuse the women during their stay.
The BBC's Ishaq Khalid reporting from neighbouring Bauchi state says there were conflicting accounts about how the abductees gained their freedom.
Some reports suggested the insurgents released them voluntarily and took them to the outskirts of Damaturu, he says.
But Mr Jidawa said the militants had come under attack from the security forces and they had run away, leaving behind their captives.
The reunited families will stay in Damaturu until it is safe to return to their village, which is still occupied by Boko Haram fighters and is in an area where the military is carrying out operations.
BBC
Friday, February 20, 2015
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Air Strike in Niger kills 37 civilians
Thirty-seven people have died in an air strike in southern Niger, local officials say.
They were attending a funeral ceremony in Abadam village on the border with Nigeria when an unidentified plane began dropping bombs.
The incident came as the Nigerian army said more than 300 militants were killed in nearby north-east Nigeria during operations targeting Boko Haram.
Two soldiers lost their lives and 10 more were wounded in Borno state.
Nigerian defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said that a number of Boko Haram fighters had been captured and weapons and equipment seized.
The number of militant deaths has not been independently verified.
'Three bombs'
A military official told AFP news agency that an air strike had hit a mosque in the village of Abadam.
The deputy mayor of Abadam, Ibrahim Ari, told the BBC that a plane had dropped three bombs. One struck a group of mourners sitting in front of the residence of a local chief.
He added that more than 20 people had been injured during the incident.
It is not yet clear who was responsible for the bombardment, but Nigeria has denied responsibility.
"It's not to my knowledge and there has not been any report from our people of such an incident," said Dele Alonge, a spokesman for Nigeria's air force.
'Desperate response'
Niger has been the target of bombings in the past, blamed on Boko Haram since it widened its brutal insurgency.
Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed during the group's campaign for a breakaway Islamic state.
Niger, Chad and Cameroon have recently formed a military coalition with Nigeria to help combat the threat.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
But the two-day operation against militants in Borno State had inflicted "massive casualties", Mr Olukolade said.
He told the BBC he was not surprised Boko Haram was continuing to carry out attacks despite "heat" from coalition troops.
"What you see are elements of their desperate response to the ongoing onslaught on their various camps and locations.
"It is expected and it will be contained accordingly," he added.
BBC
They were attending a funeral ceremony in Abadam village on the border with Nigeria when an unidentified plane began dropping bombs.
The incident came as the Nigerian army said more than 300 militants were killed in nearby north-east Nigeria during operations targeting Boko Haram.
Two soldiers lost their lives and 10 more were wounded in Borno state.
Nigerian defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said that a number of Boko Haram fighters had been captured and weapons and equipment seized.
The number of militant deaths has not been independently verified.
'Three bombs'
A military official told AFP news agency that an air strike had hit a mosque in the village of Abadam.
The deputy mayor of Abadam, Ibrahim Ari, told the BBC that a plane had dropped three bombs. One struck a group of mourners sitting in front of the residence of a local chief.
He added that more than 20 people had been injured during the incident.
It is not yet clear who was responsible for the bombardment, but Nigeria has denied responsibility.
"It's not to my knowledge and there has not been any report from our people of such an incident," said Dele Alonge, a spokesman for Nigeria's air force.
'Desperate response'
Niger has been the target of bombings in the past, blamed on Boko Haram since it widened its brutal insurgency.
Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed during the group's campaign for a breakaway Islamic state.
Niger, Chad and Cameroon have recently formed a military coalition with Nigeria to help combat the threat.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
But the two-day operation against militants in Borno State had inflicted "massive casualties", Mr Olukolade said.
He told the BBC he was not surprised Boko Haram was continuing to carry out attacks despite "heat" from coalition troops.
"What you see are elements of their desperate response to the ongoing onslaught on their various camps and locations.
"It is expected and it will be contained accordingly," he added.
BBC
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Boko Haram says postponed Nigerian Presidential elections will not take place peacefully
Nigeria's presidential election on March 28 will not take place peacefully, AbuBakr Shekau, leader of Boko Haram, has said in a new video purportedly released by the group.
In the video, released on social media on Tuesday and obtained by US based SITE intelligence group, Shekau issued a warning to the Goodluck Jonathan's government that next month's elections would be disrupted with violence.
"Allah will not leave you to proceed with these elections even after us, because you are saying that authority is from people to people, which means that people should rule each other, but Allah says that the authority is only to him, only his rule is the one which applies on this land," he said.
"And finally we say that these elections that you are planning to do, will not happen in peace, even if that costs us our lives.
In the video message, titled "A message to the leaders of the disbelievers", the contents of which Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify, Shekau also takes aim at the leadership of regional countries who are co-ordinating efforts against the group.
"You are claiming that we don't know how to fight, but we forced your forces to flee from their bases and we freed our imprisoned brothers from the prisons that you oppressed them in, only praise be to Allah."
Nigeria's presidential election was to be originally held on February 14, but was postponed due to security concerns.
Speaking before Shekau's threat, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou vowed that his country would herald the end for the rebels, whose six-year insurgency has cost more than 13,000 lives.
Renewed attacks
"Niger will be the death of Boko Haram," he told a cheering crowd after a protest against the insurgents in the capital Niamey.
But Boko Haram has proved resilient and experts question whether the group can be overpowered in the short-term.
On Tuesday, two suicide attacks ripped through northeast Nigeria, killing at least 38 people and injuring 20 others.
In a separate development, the United States military said on Tuesday they would be providing communications equipment and intelligence to help African nations in the fight against Boko Haram.
Major General James Linder said that, as part of the annual US-backed 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United States would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.
The renewed attacks on Tuesday came as heads of states from Central African countries were ending a meeting in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to plan the creation of a joint military response to the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram.
The 10 member states announced that they had contributed more than 50 percent of the $100m needed to fight Boko Haram. They also called on Nigeria to cooperate by allowing the multinational joint task force to attack Boko Haram in its strongholds in Nigeria.
Boko Haram has fought a five-year insurgency, has recently begun stepping up its attacks against neighbouring countries after Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin agreed to contribute troops toward a regional military effort.
The violence has forced some 157,000 people to seek refuge in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, the UN said.
Almost one million Nigerians are internally displaced, according to the country's own statistics.
Aljazeera
In the video, released on social media on Tuesday and obtained by US based SITE intelligence group, Shekau issued a warning to the Goodluck Jonathan's government that next month's elections would be disrupted with violence.
"Allah will not leave you to proceed with these elections even after us, because you are saying that authority is from people to people, which means that people should rule each other, but Allah says that the authority is only to him, only his rule is the one which applies on this land," he said.
"And finally we say that these elections that you are planning to do, will not happen in peace, even if that costs us our lives.
In the video message, titled "A message to the leaders of the disbelievers", the contents of which Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify, Shekau also takes aim at the leadership of regional countries who are co-ordinating efforts against the group.
"You are claiming that we don't know how to fight, but we forced your forces to flee from their bases and we freed our imprisoned brothers from the prisons that you oppressed them in, only praise be to Allah."
Nigeria's presidential election was to be originally held on February 14, but was postponed due to security concerns.
Speaking before Shekau's threat, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou vowed that his country would herald the end for the rebels, whose six-year insurgency has cost more than 13,000 lives.
Renewed attacks
"Niger will be the death of Boko Haram," he told a cheering crowd after a protest against the insurgents in the capital Niamey.
But Boko Haram has proved resilient and experts question whether the group can be overpowered in the short-term.
On Tuesday, two suicide attacks ripped through northeast Nigeria, killing at least 38 people and injuring 20 others.
In a separate development, the United States military said on Tuesday they would be providing communications equipment and intelligence to help African nations in the fight against Boko Haram.
Major General James Linder said that, as part of the annual US-backed 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United States would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.
The renewed attacks on Tuesday came as heads of states from Central African countries were ending a meeting in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to plan the creation of a joint military response to the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram.
The 10 member states announced that they had contributed more than 50 percent of the $100m needed to fight Boko Haram. They also called on Nigeria to cooperate by allowing the multinational joint task force to attack Boko Haram in its strongholds in Nigeria.
Boko Haram has fought a five-year insurgency, has recently begun stepping up its attacks against neighbouring countries after Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin agreed to contribute troops toward a regional military effort.
The violence has forced some 157,000 people to seek refuge in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, the UN said.
Almost one million Nigerians are internally displaced, according to the country's own statistics.
Aljazeera
300 Boko Haram fighters killed by Nigerian army
More than 300 Boko Haram fighters have been killed in military operations in north-east Nigeria, the army says.
A number of militants had also been captured and weapons and equipment seized, defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said.
Two soldiers had lost their lives and 10 others were wounded during the operation over the last two days in Borno state, he added.
The deaths have not been independently verified.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
Boko Haram attacks on civilians and the military have killed thousands since the group launched its violent campaign for a breakaway Islamic state in 2009.
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have recently formed a military coalition and have claimed gains against the group.
BBC
A number of militants had also been captured and weapons and equipment seized, defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said.
Two soldiers had lost their lives and 10 others were wounded during the operation over the last two days in Borno state, he added.
The deaths have not been independently verified.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
Boko Haram attacks on civilians and the military have killed thousands since the group launched its violent campaign for a breakaway Islamic state in 2009.
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have recently formed a military coalition and have claimed gains against the group.
BBC
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
FMR Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo quits ruling party PDP after criticising President Goodluck Jonathan
Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo has quit the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 28 March elections, tearing up his membership card in public.
Mr Obasanjo has been fiercely critical of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election on a PDP ticket.
Mr Jonathan is facing a strong challenge from opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari.
The elections, due on 14 February, were postponed over security concerns.
BBC Nigeria analyst Ibrahim Shehu Adamu says Mr Obasanjo's decision is a major blow to the PDP, showing the divisions that have hit the party as it battles to extend its 15-year rule.'Serious embarrassment'
In a statement, the PDP described Mr Obasanjo as a "revered leader of our party" and said it was "deeply saddened" by his resignation.
It added that it was "bewildered" by the former president's choice to tear up his party membership card in public.
Mr Obasanjo, 77, was a founding member of the PDP and led the party to two resounding victories after military rule ended in 1999.
So, his decision to quit the PDP may knock the morale of some party activists and persuade undecided voters to back the opposition in the hard-fought presidential and parliamentary elections.
But Mr Obasanjo's move does not come as a complete surprise. His influence within the party has been declining for quite some time and he probably found it difficult to see President Jonathan - whom he once mentored - ignoring his advice.
More worrying for Nigerians will be the role of the military. There are growing suspicions that it is backing Mr Jonathan, raising doubts about its impartiality and the credibility of the elections.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo raised fears of a coup. Many Nigerians will be hoping that his fears are misplaced and that Nigeria holds a free and fair election in which the losing candidate gracefully accepts defeat.
The Nigerian military issued its own statement, calling Mr Obasanjo, a former military ruler as well as an elected president, "a serious embarrassment" after he criticised its role in the postponement of the elections.
Our correspondent says the military's statement has raised concern among many Nigerians that it is taking sides in a political dispute rather than remaining neutral.
Prior to tearing up his membership, Mr Obasanjo told local media outside his residence that he was expecting to be ejected from the party.
"They said they want to expel me from PDP, although I have not been told, but I have my ears on the ground," he said.
'Going for broke'
Mr Obasanjo said he would not be joining another party.
"I will only be a Nigerian, I'm ready to work with anybody regardless of political affiliation. Why would some people say they want to send me away, they don't need to bother themselves, here's your membership card, take it," he added.
Despite his pledge not to defect to another party, Mr Obasanjo has been vocal in his support for Mr Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), although he has fallen short of offering an outright endorsement.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo told London's Financial Times newspaper that he hoped the president was "not going for broke and saying: 'Either I have it or nobody has it'".
Mr Jonathan hit back at Mr Obasanjo, accusing him of threatening "national security" by whipping up opposition to his rule.
"It is very regrettable that in your letter, you seem to place sole responsibility for the ongoing intrigues and tensions in the PDP at my doorstep, and going on from that position, you direct all your appeals for a resolution at me," Mr Jonathan said.
Nigeria's election commission postponed the presidential and parliamentary election after the military said it would not be able to guarantee security at polling stations while it fought militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-east.
Mr Jonathan is contesting his second presidential election. His presidency has been marred by powerful PDP members defecting to the newly formed APC, fuelling speculation that he could be defeated in the election.
He has also been strongly criticised for failing to curb Boko Haram's insurgency.
Thousands of people have died as a result of the conflict over the past six years, while more than three million people have been forced from their homes.
The militants control a large stretch of land in north-eastern Nigeria and have stepped up attacks on neighbouring countries.
BBC
Mr Obasanjo has been fiercely critical of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election on a PDP ticket.
Mr Jonathan is facing a strong challenge from opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari.
The elections, due on 14 February, were postponed over security concerns.
BBC Nigeria analyst Ibrahim Shehu Adamu says Mr Obasanjo's decision is a major blow to the PDP, showing the divisions that have hit the party as it battles to extend its 15-year rule.'Serious embarrassment'
In a statement, the PDP described Mr Obasanjo as a "revered leader of our party" and said it was "deeply saddened" by his resignation.
It added that it was "bewildered" by the former president's choice to tear up his party membership card in public.
Mr Obasanjo, 77, was a founding member of the PDP and led the party to two resounding victories after military rule ended in 1999.
So, his decision to quit the PDP may knock the morale of some party activists and persuade undecided voters to back the opposition in the hard-fought presidential and parliamentary elections.
But Mr Obasanjo's move does not come as a complete surprise. His influence within the party has been declining for quite some time and he probably found it difficult to see President Jonathan - whom he once mentored - ignoring his advice.
More worrying for Nigerians will be the role of the military. There are growing suspicions that it is backing Mr Jonathan, raising doubts about its impartiality and the credibility of the elections.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo raised fears of a coup. Many Nigerians will be hoping that his fears are misplaced and that Nigeria holds a free and fair election in which the losing candidate gracefully accepts defeat.
The Nigerian military issued its own statement, calling Mr Obasanjo, a former military ruler as well as an elected president, "a serious embarrassment" after he criticised its role in the postponement of the elections.
Our correspondent says the military's statement has raised concern among many Nigerians that it is taking sides in a political dispute rather than remaining neutral.
Prior to tearing up his membership, Mr Obasanjo told local media outside his residence that he was expecting to be ejected from the party.
"They said they want to expel me from PDP, although I have not been told, but I have my ears on the ground," he said.
'Going for broke'
Mr Obasanjo said he would not be joining another party.
"I will only be a Nigerian, I'm ready to work with anybody regardless of political affiliation. Why would some people say they want to send me away, they don't need to bother themselves, here's your membership card, take it," he added.
Despite his pledge not to defect to another party, Mr Obasanjo has been vocal in his support for Mr Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), although he has fallen short of offering an outright endorsement.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo told London's Financial Times newspaper that he hoped the president was "not going for broke and saying: 'Either I have it or nobody has it'".
Mr Jonathan hit back at Mr Obasanjo, accusing him of threatening "national security" by whipping up opposition to his rule.
"It is very regrettable that in your letter, you seem to place sole responsibility for the ongoing intrigues and tensions in the PDP at my doorstep, and going on from that position, you direct all your appeals for a resolution at me," Mr Jonathan said.
Nigeria's election commission postponed the presidential and parliamentary election after the military said it would not be able to guarantee security at polling stations while it fought militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-east.
Mr Jonathan is contesting his second presidential election. His presidency has been marred by powerful PDP members defecting to the newly formed APC, fuelling speculation that he could be defeated in the election.
He has also been strongly criticised for failing to curb Boko Haram's insurgency.
Thousands of people have died as a result of the conflict over the past six years, while more than three million people have been forced from their homes.
The militants control a large stretch of land in north-eastern Nigeria and have stepped up attacks on neighbouring countries.
BBC
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