Curfew in Bauchi, North East Nigeria Over Religious Clash afp20090727614002 Abuja Hot fm in English 26 Jul 09

"The Boko Haram violence and the incessant sectarian crisis in Nigeria call for a different, pro-active approach by the government. It is now clear that whatever approach the government has been adopting to stop these crises is not working.

"The sect did not just emerge on the scene. It has been around under various names since 1995, and between then and now its members have launched several attacks against law enforcement agents and government infrastructure. Security agencies have also been monitoring and writing reports on the activities of the group," it said.

"Despite all this, the sect was still allowed enough space to destabilise five states within a week and cause the death of hundreds. This is a blot on Nigeria's image, and a great disincentive to foreign investors, especially considering the massive media coverage of the Boko Haram violence," AC said.

The party reiterated its stand that President Umaru Yar'Adua's decision to jump into his plane and fly off to Brazil on an official visit, even as his country was burning and hundreds of its citizens were dying, did nothing to advance his fatherly and leadership role.

"What kind of a father is that who will abandon his children in times of crisis?" AC queried.

[Description of Source: Lagos Daily Sun Online in English -- Website of the privately owned daily close to former Abia State Governor Orji Kalu; URL: http://www.sunnewsonline.com]

Sahara Sahel militaries to discuss Nigeria events, Al-Qa'idah  says paper

GMP20090803950016 Algiers El-Khabar Online in Arabic 02 Aug 09

Sahara Sahel militaries to discuss Nigeria events, Al-Qa'idah - says paper

Text of report by privately-owned Algerian newspaper El-Khabar website on 2 August

Libya has called for an emergency meeting of the representatives of the armies and intelligence of six of Sahel and Sahara countries to discuss the recent developments in northern Nigeria. The coming meeting whose date and venue have not been specified yet will discuss the isolation of the militants of the Desert Branch of Al- Qa'idah in the Maghreb from the Islamist rebel group in northern Nigeria and the inclusion of Nigeria in the counter-terrorism military initiative of the Sahel countries.

Algeria accepted Libya's invitation to call for an emergency meeting to which Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria had been invited after the security situation in northern Nigeria had deteriorated, and the fears of its transformation into a guerrillas with the serious risks of support that the Islamist rebels could provide to the Desert Brach [of Al-Qa'idah], and the possibility of providing another safe haven for Al-Qa'idah in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb -AQLIM in a location outside the traditional activity of the terrorists of Abdelmalek Droudkel's Organization.

According to an informed source, the fears had been reinforced several months ago when repeated recordings and statements were issued and which were attributed to Abu Yahya al-Libi, the terrorist who escaped from the American base Bagram [in Afhgnaistan], and who supported the actions of Al- Qaida Maghreb.

A few months ago, the possibility that Abu Yahya al-Libi and members of international Al-Qa'idah had infiltrated into northern Mali was raised. Then the fears increased of a possible geographical expansion of the activity of the Desert branch after the kidnapping of Western hostages some eight months in a place located less than 300 km from northern Nigeria.

The next meeting, which is prior to a routine gathering of representatives of the Sahel countries' armies, will discuss the opposition of Algeria and Libya to Western intervention in Mali, after a limited military intervention of France in Mali through the provision of air cover by providing equipment to the army of Bamako.

Algeria and Libya are afraid of the deterioration of the situation in sub-Saharan Africa, with hundreds of Islamic extremists who wish to take up arms against the authorities in northern Nigeria, and the rapprochement of Al- Qa'idah Maghreb with the Nigerian group called ''Boko Haram" which has been active in areas very close to the common borders between Nigeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, and at less than 700 km from the strongholds of the branch of terrorist Yahia Djouadi in Adghagh Afougares. There are growing concerns about the transfer of AQLIM's combat expertise to ''Boko Haram".

According to an informed source, the command of US forces in Europe has decided to put long-range air forces in the bases of Rota, Spain, and Mildenhall in the UK, on alert in preparation for carrying out air operations to support Nigeria if it is necessary. This development has prompted the Sahel countries to discuss the situation. Algeria and Libya are trying through a joint security committee to prevent any communication between the terrorists of northern Mali and Niger with the Islamic extremists from Central Africa, and to prevent any Western military intervention in the region.

As for the situation on the ground, the regions of Kourou Tatali and Dontzat Mopti on the borders between Mali and Nigeria have seen security reinforcements to prevent the infiltration of Boko Haram movement's rebels into Mali. Also, the regions of Zinder and Petit, and Doukondouch Tahoe in Niger that are close to the areas of tension in northern Nigeria have seen the arrival of security and military reinforcements according to a source that follows the activity of anti-Terrorism in the Sahel.

[Description of Source: Algiers El-Khabar Online in Arabic -- Website of privately-owned, mass circulation newspaper. With a circulation of 459,180 copies, it is Algeria's biggest-selling "independent", with editorials critical of the government and a pro-demoracy slant; URL: http://www.elkhabar.com/accueil]

Nigeria: Niger Governor Says Ignorance Responsible for Emergence of Islamic Sect

AFP20090803583011 Abuja Daily Trust Online in English 03 Aug 09

[Report by Terkula Igidi: "Ignorance Responsible for the Emergence of Boko Haram Gov Aliyu"]

Deterioration of educational standards in the north, occasioned by infrastructural decay and low teaching standards has increased the level of ignorance among the youth in the region, which the Niger state governor, Alhaji Mua'azu Babangida Aliyu has said is responsible for the emergence of Boko Haram.

He said that as the Chairman of Northern Governors' Forum, he was concerned about the standard of education in the north, stressing that the rot in the system is such that 200 pupils or students could be crammed in a classroom with many squatting on the floor. "Many of the teachers in our schools are not competent. I have entered many classrooms where I had to correct on the blackboard more than 20 spelling mistakes in just about four five sentences. So we benchmarked and said every governor should be able to renovate infrastructure so that by the time he finishes his four year tenure, there would have be enough on ground to at least improve the standard," he said.

Speaking during an interactive session last Friday with a team from Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), led by the Director General, Mr Asishana Okauru, governor Aliyu decried that some states were still unable to access the conditional grant scheme under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in order to develop infrastructure in schools, adding that by peer reviewing states, the under performing ones would be challenged to work.

Earlier, Mr Okauru said that he was impressed with the level at which the state government has been able to access MDG funds to improve infrastructure in education and health sectors. "There are a few unique things I have found out here.

[Description of Source: Abuja Daily Trust Online in English -- Website of the independent pro-North daily; URL: http://www.news.dailytrust.com/]

Nigeria: Police Discover Islamic Sect's Arms' Storehouse in Bauchi State

AFP20090803583013 Lagos Vanguard Online in English 02 Aug 09

[Report by Innocent Anaba, Olasunkanmi Akoni, Victor Ahiuma-Young, Abdulwahab Abdulah, Godwin Oritse & Patience Ogbodo: "Police Uncover Boko Haram Arms Depot in Bauchi"]

Bauchi -- The Bauchi State Police Command yesterday said it has uncovered a house in the town owned by the Boko Haram Islamic sect opposed to western education stocked with ammunition, bales of fake military and police uniforms, three sowing machines and other sophisticated weapons.

This is in the wake of wide condemnation of the killing of the sect's leader, Mohammed Yusuf, by groups including the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Action Congress (AC), and the Yoruba Pan-social organisation, Afenifere.

Speaking to newsmen, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in Charge of Operations, Water Inyang, while speaking to newsmen said the weapons and other items were recovered from a house in Kandaha in the state capital adding that the police had earlier arrested a boy and girl in that compound.

He said based on intelligence report, the police obtained a search warrant to enable them conduct the operation noting that "In the course of our assignment, sophisticated weapons were discovered in the house but no arrest has been made so far, except for a boy and girl seen in the compound."

According to Inyang, "It is not certain whether the weapons belonged to Boko Haram or are in preparation for another religious crisis in the state," adding that police investigation is still ongoing to know the truth of the whole matter.

Speaking further, he said one of the members of the sect that escaped during the hostility was disturbing policemen along the airstrip area.

He added that his men mounted a surveillance for him and when he surfaced, he attempted to escape but fell to the superior firepower of the police.

NBA condemns extra-judicial killings

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, weekend, condemned the recent massacre of innocent citizens by the religious extremists and the destruction of properties in the Northern part of the country, but added "we must however, hasten to equally condemn the reported extra-judicial killings of some of those captured by the security operatives".

According to the association, "we note the effort of the security operatives for rising to the occasion and nipping the horrific incident in the bud. We must also strive to unmask the real sponsors of these deviants and punish them appropriately".

Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), NBA President, in the statement said, "we must however, hasten to equally condemn the reported extra judicial killings of some of those captured by the security operatives. It was widely reported that the leader of the Islamic extremist group, one Yusuf, was captured alive. The killing of this man in the police custody, however reprehensible his deeds must have been, must not be encouraged in a civilized society".

NLC blames government

On its part, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said government should be blamed for the rise of the fanatical Islamic sect, "Boko Haram" which deadly assault on parts of Northern Nigeria last week led to the death of hundreds of people.

President of NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, who spoke in Lagos faulted some aspects of the controversial executive Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the National Assembly that has attracted strong opposition from people of the Niger Delta region and other concerned Nigerians in recent time.

Comrade Omar, who was responding to questions from Journalists, also said government should be held responsible for the ongoing strikes by unions in the nation's university education and declared that only the government could resolve the crises.

He said: "Most of the blames should go to the government. There were reports that the group had been existing for a long time. What we know about security operatives is that because of preventive measures, these security operatives are made to infiltrate into suspicious groups to find out whether they are dangerous groups or not and then make appropriate reports. If this was done and government followed it and did the right thin g, those innocent citizens would not have been wasted.

There is no doubt that innocent people were killed and valuable properties destroyed during the violence. But today in Nigeria, all the security agencies in the country are concentrated around politics and politicians while other segments of the society are left unattended to."

Be pro-active, AC tells FG

The Action Congress (AC) said the violence that swept across some states in northern Nigeria last week, leaving hundreds dead, could have been avoided if the federal government had been pro-active in dealing with the crisis.

According to AC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said beyond the usual knee-jerk reaction to such crisis, the government must work hard to end the conditions that make it possible to attract and brainwash youths into joining such senseless, cult-like religious groups like Boko Haram.

"An idle mind is the devil's workshop. When millions of our youths are unemployed and there is no hope of a better tomorrow, they become easy targets for apocalyptic preachers and mindless religious zealots.

The fact also that the alleged second-in-command of the sect is a Nigerien also speaks volume about the security of our borders and the nation's internal security. That is why this federal government must shake off its lethargy and address the myriad of problems facing this nation, so that our youths can channel their energies to productive ventures instead of becoming killing machines,'' it said.

AC also condemned the extra-judicial killing of the leader of the 'Boko Haram' sect, Muhammed Yusuf, and the sect's alleged financier and former Commissioner for Religious Affairs in Borno state, Alhaji Buji Foi, after both had been arrested.

The party said the reported execution of the leaders of the sect is a blow to Nigeria's image.

Afenifere Group condemns killing

Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) also condemned the killing of Mohammed Yusuf, leader of the Boko Haram sect in police custody in Maiduguri hours after he was arrested. ARG stated it may be a cover up of some backers of the group.

In a statement by ARG spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin made available to Vanguard in Lagos, it said the killing of Yusuf is an extra-judicial one which it said may probably be a ploy to cover some of his backers from being exposed.

It said "Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) unequivocally condemns the extra-judicial murder of the leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf.

"We fear that his murder could have been a cover-up to shield his backers from justice. This has again exposed Nigeria to the sane world as a country founded on deceit and being sustained by siege."

FG should ensure normalcy -- UBAA

On its part, the University of Benin Alumni Association (UBAA) condemned the recent spate of sectarian killings in the Northern part of the country and called on the Federal Government to do everything possible to bring normalcy to the affected areas. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the 59th Council meeting of the Association.

[Description of Source: Lagos Vanguard Online in English -- Website of the independent daily; URL: http://www.vanguardngr.com]

Nigeria: Security Service Deploys Special Squad in Sect Violence Affected States

AFP20090803578009 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 03 Aug 09

[Report by Taiwo Adisa and Ishola Michael: "Sectarian Violence: SSS Deploys Special Squad in Flash Points, - We'll Investigate Death of Boko Haram Leader - Police Affairs Minister"]

Following the outbreak of violence in states of the North as a result of the activities of the Boko Haram sect, the State Security Service (SSS) is said to have deployed special forces in the troubled states across the country.

The special squads are to work alongside the anti-terrorism squads already unleashed in the frontline states, including Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and Kano.

Sources in Abuja confirmed that the Service is fully tracing elements of the Boko Haram sect in view of the widespread nature of their activities in last week's violence.

A source said however that the SSS had always been on the trail of such dissident groups but that the usage of the intelligence information had always been the deciding factor.

It was gathered that the task of the new squad is to ascertain the source(s) of funding of the sect and its basic aims and objectives.

"It is true that the group's name is Boko Haram, which means, Western Education is bad, but its leader displayed some level of sophistication and it shows that this group cannot be working as an isolated group in Nigeria. While there are no such groups popularly canvassing against acquisition of Western education, it is important to know whether there are further ulterior motives," a source close to the security agencies said on Sunday.

It was gathered that the security networks have decided to ensure that all affected areas are properly combed, while space is not yielded to surprise attacks.

"We have to watch out for possible attacks on Abuja, Lagos and Sokoto, because there are insinuations that some runaway leaders of the group might want to embark on retaliatory attacks, following the killing of their leader."

The police are said to be holding hundreds of inducted members of the sect, including women and children who have so far refused to renounce the sect.

Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that while the security agencies are taking pre-emptive measures against the recurrence of the violence, another effort aimed at determining the identities of the arrested sect members had been flagged off by the police.

While some Nigerians have blamed the outbreak of the Boko Haram-inspired violence on breakdown of intelligence, the SSS has proved that it was up and doing in this case.

The Service had arrested the leader of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf in November 2008, when he spent three weeks with the SSS in Abuja.

He was subsequently handed over to the Police, which charged him before an Abuja high court. But the court granted him bail and he was set free to join his associates in January 2009.

A source said that the tons of evidence prepared by the SSS against Yusuf overwhelmingly linked him with activities of the group and the threat to peace in states of the North.

The source wondered how the man was freed of the charges preferred against him by the police.

"The job of the Service ends with gathering intelligence and when he was handed over to the police, there were enough evidences, we do not know how the prosecution went and he was set free," a source said, adding that the special squads now in operation in the affected states will further uproot the remnants of the violent sect.

In a related development, the Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Yakubu Lame has declared that government is still investigating the cause of the death of Mohammed Yusuf, leader of the Boko Haram sect in order to ascertain what actually led to his death considering conflicting stories trailing his death. Yusuf was killed in Maiduguri last Thursday.

Lame, who made the declaration while fielding questions from journalists in Bauchi on Saturday, said that in view of the controversy generated by the death of the sect leader as well as the invasion of some states in the Northern part of the country by the group, a decision would be taken after studying the report of the security agencies saying, "Government is studying the situation to really find out the root cause of the entire episode ."

According to him, the President Umaru Yar'Adua-led PDP government is taking the issue very seriously and once it is able to study the report of the security agency, a decision would be taken by government on what must be done, explaining that, "We are asking for vigilance on the part of the community, religious leaders and all Nigerians, we are asking for Nigerians to understand that doing the correct thing and following the law is the best way to live, also we are looking inwards into our security system to see how we can best perfect its functions and how we can make it respond to this kind of situation effectively.

He, however, assured that, "We believe there is no substitute to that, the orientation about security must be looked into and we believe we need to sensitise the Nigerian society to be vigilant and to understand that this kind of happenings do happen because society itself has decided to withdraw being the controller of its own problems."

Lame said further that, "Society must partake in controlling the problems that confront the society, not necessarily the government alone. Government is an agent of the society, society is the area where security is provided, government is an agent and as agent of society, we make sure that we keep our services as best as we can, to ensure legal processes, constitution process are put in place and executed to the best we can."

[Description of Source: Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English -- Website of the privately owned daily; URL: http://www.tribune.com.ng]

Opposition Says Government 'Mismanaged' Sectarian Crisis in Northern Nigeria

AFP20090803583014 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 03 Aug 09

[Report by Njadvara Musa, Nkechi Onyedika, Auwal Ahmad: "'Sectarian Crisis, Symptom of Failed State'; Parties Fault Execution of Sect's Leaders"]

Leaders across the divide yesterday lamented that Nigeria was steadily moving towards and manifesting symptoms of a failed state.

Some political parties and religious leaders, who reacted to last week's sectarian violence in some northern states, said with the Federal Government's seemingly non-commitment to eradicating illiteracy among Nigerians, especially the youths, it was exposing the country to danger as groups like Boko Haram would always find recruits into their fold.

In fact, Islamic leaders in Borno State accused the nation's security agencies of failing to act on their reports that the Boko Haram and its leaders constitute threats to national stability.

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and the Action Congress (AC) said yesterday that the Federal Government mismanaged the mayhem.

And for executing the sect's leader, Mohammed Yusuf and his alleged financier, Alhaji Buji Foi, the opposition parties said Nigerians had been robbed of the opportunity of knowing the real masterminds of the recurring religious violence in the North.

The CNPP described the uprising as a signpost to the dangerous slide of Nigeria to a failed state.

While it consoled the victims' families, the coalition called for the investigation of the origin, metamorphosis of the sect, the extra-judicial killings and police alleged execution of Yusuf after his capture by the Nigerian Army.

The AC said the violence, which claimed hundreds of lives, could have been avoided if the Federal Government had been pro-active in dealing with the crisis.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the AC said: "Beyond the usual knee-jerk reaction to such crisis, the government must work hard to end the conditions that make it possible to attract and brainwash youths into joining such senseless, cult-like religious groups like Boko Haram."

Also, the CNPP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said the killing of the sect's leaders, especially Yusuf, had "denied Nigerians the opportunity to unravel his masterminds, financiers, foreign contacts and his network profile. Thorough investigation is germane when reports show that the group has been around for over a decade.

"The investigation the CNPP envisages is an independent inquiry, capable of exposing the underbelly of such anti-establishment group, plugging the fault lines, indicting the judges who did not serve the cause of justice and making public its findings. Till now, we have not been told after government's inquiry who were the masterminds of the petrol tanker stationed at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters before the announcement of 2007 presidential election result nor the outcome of the Ukraine aircraft alleged to be carrying arms to Equatorial Guinea that was arrested in Aminu Kano International Airport. Do we allow the prediction a few years ago by the United States (U.S.) intelligence that Nigeria will disintegrate to come to pass?"