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

The government warned people to evacuate the area before the attack on the compound on 29 July, then shelled the compound and stormed the group’s mosque inside, setting off a raging firefight with retreating militants armed with homemade hunting rifles and firebombs, bows and arrows, machetes, and scimitars. The bodies of barefoot young men littered the streets of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, on 30 July morning as the army pursued the manhunt on the outskirts of the city. Police said most of the dead were fighters with Boko Haram. Army Col. Ben Anahotu said three police officers were killed.

Officials said at least 4,000 people have been forced from their homes by 29 July afternoon, but it was not known how many have been killed, wounded, and arrested.

[Description of Source: Abuja African Independent Television in English -- privately owned independent Television station]

Nigeria: More Islamist-Led Violence Likely

FEA20090731878182 - OSC Feature - Nigeria -- OSC Report 30 Jul 09

[For assistance with multimedia elements, contact OSC at 1-800-205-8615 or oscinfo@rccb.osis.gov.]

Nigerian security forces have been widely blamed for their perceived failure to act on information received and threats against the government made by the obscure Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram.[a] The sect's coordinated attacks against police, government buildings, and churches began on 26 July in northern Nigeria. The leader of the group -- which advocates the institution of a strict Islamic society -- has threatened more attacks. Influential Muslim organizations in Nigeria have condemned the group as "an embarrassment" to Islam.[b]

Government Failed To Prevent Violence

Media and police reports prior to the latest outbreak of violence, which has left more than 150 dead, indicate that police had prior indications that the Islamic fundamentalists -- who claim they are fighting against Western values -- were preparing for attacks but that the police did not act in time to prevent it.

In mid-June, the leader of Boko Haram, Muhammed Yusuf, declared "guerrilla warfare" against the Borno State Government and security agencies, following a skirmish with police that injured Boko Haram members. Yusuf also vowed to bring "the Somalia experience" into the state through kidnapping and other violent acts, according to the Lagos-based independent Daily Independent.[ 1]

A 25 July article in the Lagos-based independent daily The Guardian online noted that the Borno State Police Command on 24 July in the Biu area "arrested nine persons suspected of belonging to an Islamic sect with explosives, allegedly to be used to attack security agents and the state government."[ 2]

Katsina state-run radio, Radio Katsina, reported on 24 July that the Katsina State Police Command had launched a search for a religious leader whom they claimed "was preparing his adherents for a jihad."[ 3] The publicly funded BBC World Service reported on 27 July that, based on a tip by locals, police found weapons and ammunition when they raided buildings used by the followers of Yusuf.[ 4]

The BBC reported on 28 July that there has been widespread criticism in Nigeria of the security forces for their perceived laxness in monitoring the group. The BBC quoted Mannir Dan Ali, a journalist from the Abuja-based Trust newspaper, as saying that "the whole situation seems to be a failure of intelligence, a failure of the security forces to act before matters reached the point that they have now reached." Another Nigeria-based journalist quoted by the BBC said that "it is widely believed that the authorities have been reluctant to deal with the militants because some of them come from rich families with connections to the government."[ 5]

Fighting Likely To Spread to More Northern Cities

The Islamic fundamentalists' past behavior, recent threats, and their stated willingness to continue their attacks indicate that more violence is likely. Five northern states have already been affected, including Borno, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, and Yobo.

More than 700 people died in November 2008 in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, when a feud over a local election "degenerated into bloody confrontation between Muslims and Christians." In addition, "sectarian clashes" between Muslims and Christians in Bauchi State killed 14 people in February, and one of the Nigerian Islamist leaders, Aminu Tashe n-Ilimi, in a 2005 interview with AFP, said that the group intended to "lead an armed insurrection" and rid society of "immorality" and "infidelity," according to a 27 July AFP report.[ 6]

The privately owned, pro-North Daily Trust on 27 July quoted Yusuf as saying that his group would "not take kindly to the killing of dozens of its supporters in Bauchi." He added: "We will not agree with this kind of humiliation, we are ready to die together with our brothers."[ 7]

A leader of the fundamentalists who carried out the attack at the Wudil police station in Kano, Abdulmumuni Ibrahim Mohammed, said that "the attacks were aimed at elites who had embraced western values." Mohammed also called for the "implementation of the Sharia legal code," according to The Guardian online on 28 July.[ 8]

[a] Boko Haram, which is Hausa for "Western education is forbidden," also calls itself the Nigerian Taliban but appears not to have direct ties to the Afghanistan Taliban, according to a BBC profile of the group on 29 July (AFP20090729950089). Boko Haram's members are largely drawn from disaffected youth, university students, and jobless graduates in Nigeria's mostly Muslim north (BBC, 28 July).

[b] Some Muslim groups have condemned Boko Haram, including Jama'atul Nasril Islam, the most influential Muslim organization in Nigeria, which called the violence "an embarrassment" to Islam (Kano Daily Triumph online, 29 July; Paris AFP, 29 July).

[ 1] [OSC | | AFP20090614565007| 14 June 2009 | | Nigeria: Islamic Sect Declares 'Guerrilla Warfare' Against Borno Government | | (U) | (U) | Lagos Daily Independent in English -- privately owned independent daily; URL: http://www.independentngonline.com]

[ 2] [OSC | | AFP20090725565008 | 25 July 2009 | | Nigeria: Borno State Police Arrest 9 Suspects of Islamic Sect With Explosives | | (U) | (U) | Lagos The Guardian Online in English -- Website of the widely read independent daily, aimed at up-market readership; URL: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/]

[ 3] [OSC | | AFP20090726667004 | 24 July 2009 | | Program Summary: Katsina Radio Katsina in Hausa 1200 GMT 24 Jul 09 | | (U) | (U) | Katsina Radio Katsina Hausa -- Katsina State-owned radio]

[ 4] [Internet Site | Martin Plaut | BBC | Nigeria's Anti-Education Preacher | 27 July 2009 | | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8170496.stm | 29 July 2009 | London BBC News Online in English -- Website of the publicly-funded BBC carrying up-to-the-minute UK and international news and breaking news, politics, and analysis]

[ 5] [Internet Site | Joe Boyle | BBC | Nigeria's 'Taliban' Enigma | 28 July 2009 | | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8172270.stm | 29 July 2009 | London BBC News Online in English -- Website of the publicly-funded BBC carrying up-to-the-minute UK and international news and breaking news, politics, and analysis]

[ 6] [OSC | | AFP20090727642001 | 27 July 2009 | | Nigeria: About 65 Killed as Police Battle Islamists | | (U) | (U) | Paris AFP (World Service) in English -- world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse]

[ 7] [OSC | | AFP20090728651002 | 27 July 2009 | | Nigeria: Islamic Sect Leader Vows To Resist Authorities | | (U) | (U) | Abuja Daily Trust Online in English -- Website of the privately owned pro-North daily; URL: http://www.news.dailytrust.com/]

[ 8] [OSC | | AFP20090728568001| 28 July 2009 | | Nigeria: Sectarian Violence Spreads, Claims 157 Lives | | (U) | (U) | Lagos The Guardian Online in English -- Website of the widely read independent daily, aimed at up-market readership; URL: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/]

[This item was originally filed as AFP20090730049001]

Defense HQ Says Army in 'Total' Control of Sectarian Crisis in Northern Nigeria

AFP20090731565020 Lagos Daily Sun Online in English 31 Jul 09

[Report by Molly Kilete: "Military in Control  DHQ"]

The Defence Head Quarters (DHQ), has said the military is in total control of the religious crisis that engulfed some parts of the northern states in the country and asked people there to go about their normal and lawful duties.

This is coming just as the Assistant Director in charge of Public Relations at the State Security Service (SSS), Marilyn Ogar, revealed that Boko Haram, the group responsible for the mayhem actually started its operations in the state way back in 1995.

The group, led by a young man Mohammed Yusuf, and opposed to all forms of western education and civilization was said to have been operating under different names since inception such as Ahlulsunna wal'jama'ah hijra and later transmuted to other names when they realized they were being monitored by security agencies.

Yusuf, leader of the group, according to Ogar, is a Nigerian citizen and hails from Girgir Jakuso village in Yobe State. He was born on January 29, 1970 and has four wives and 12 children.

At a joint press briefing by both the Director, Defence Information, Colonel Mohammed Yerima, Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanual Ojukwu and the Assistant Director, Public Relations, Marylin Ogar, held at the Defence Head Quarters yesterday, Col. Yerima said the Internal Security Operation being conducted by the military in the affected states is in progress and that Maiduguri town in particular has been cleared of the fundamentalists in the state as at Tuesday.

Yerima, who refused to give the casualty figure so far recorded on both sides in the crisis that has entered the fifth day, said the military will today in Maiduguri, carry out a 'show of force' where it intends to display its equipment and men on the streets of the affected states to assure not just the people of the North eastern region but the generality of Nigerians that the military is capable of protecting the territorial integrity of our great country.

"I want to assure you that with the directive of the Chief of Defence Staff, from tomorrow (today), 'Show Of Force' will be implemented in all states of the affected areas. The military will come out to show their level of preparedness and assure the citizens that everything is in place to protect them, their lives and property."

The DDI, who took time to explain the ugly development that erupted in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and also in some parts of Kano and Katsina states snowballed into the current situation, said the group perpetrated their evil works with dangerous weapons which include Improvised Explosives Devices (IED), AK-47 rifles, dane guns, pistols, daggers, machetes, catapults and clubs.

According to him, "a certain group of Islamic fundamentalists, led by one Mohammed Yusuf had in the recent past been engaging in some suspicious activities with security implications. The group named Boko-Haram is rabidly opposed to all forms of western education and civilization. They consider as their primary target for attacks, law enforcement agents, critical public infrastructures and centres of worship which in their view are opposed to their doctrines. It has been ascertained that the group did not emerge just of recent.

They have been in existence as far back as 1995 under different names such as Ahlulsunna wal'jama'ah hijra. Security agencies have over this period been monitoring and containing their activities even when they transmuted to other names but with the same doctrine of intolerance. For instance, on November 13, 2008, the group's leader, Mohammed Yusuf and quite a number of his followers were arrested by the security operatives and handed over to the Inspector General of Police for prosecution.

However, they were subsequently granted bail by an Abuja High Court on January 20, 2009. Before then, in 2007, one of his ardent disciples, Al-amin who was also the Kano State leader of the group was arrested along with some of their members after an attack on a police station in Kano, he was also handed over to the police for prosecution. Similarly, between Fe bruary and April 2009, Yusuf's second in command named Kilakam, a Nigerien, was on two occasions arrested and repatriated to his country.

"In furtherance to their violent tendencies, the extremists sometime in June 2009 launched an attack on a police station in Bama, Borno State but the police was able to contain their violence which left about 17 of their members dead, the leader of the group vowed to avenge the death of his members and ordered his followers to stockpile arms. Based on intelligence report, all security agencies were put on alert, which led to the discovery of a hide out where members of the sect were preparing bombs in Maiduguri.

"Following security reports on the activities of Boko-Haram, the group's hideout located at Dutsen Tanshi area of Bauchi town was raided on July 26, 2009 by a joint security team and nine of them were arrested and materials for bomb making and other weapons were confiscated. About two hours later, the group launched another deadly attack on police formations in Bauchi State. Unfortunately for them, they were met with heavy casualty. They subsequently struck in Potiskum, Yobe State where they bombed police stations and set inmates free. Between July 26 and 29, these violent extremists had launched sporadic suicide attacks in Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states. Their weapons of offence include Improvised Explosives Devices (IED), AK-47 rifles, dane guns, pistols, daggers, machetes, catapults and clubs.

"Gentlemen of the press, let me take a moment to give you an insight into the crisis management procedure in internal security operations. First of all, you may wish to note that the Nigerian Police is responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the country. It is only when the NPF is unable to contain the situation that the military might come in. This, notwithstanding, the military cannot intervene or deploy unless so directed by the president. It is against this background that the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Federal Republic of Nigeria, having assessed the situation on ground, directed the Chief of Defence Staff to take over the operation of restoring law and order in the affected states.

"Consequently, the Chief of Defence Staff ordered the military to conduct internal security operation which is already in progress. We, however, assure the public that the military is in control. In fact, Maiduguri town was cleared of the fundamentalist as at yesterday.

"We implore the public to give security agencies accurate and timely information that will assist in ending the crisis. The issue of religious extremism is not peculiar to Nigeria as it has become a global challenge. Countries including Nigeria are not resting on their oars; we, therefore, enjoin you the press and members of the public to partner with us to tame this monster. The time to act is now," Yerima added.

He denied allegation by some human rights groups that some civilians caught up in the enclave of the sect who surrendered willingly were blindly shot and killed.

"How can somebody raise up his hands and say he has surrendered and you will kill him? It's not possible. Even the militants, if they raised their hands to surrender they will not be shot, let alone innocent citizens. It is not true."

On the statement by League of Human Rights that the security forces killed many civilians who had nothing to do with the sect, Yerima again replied, "the human right group are not being fair to the security agencies because there is no mark on the faces of those killed that differentiate a Taliban from a civilian. We concentrated on their enclave, they have a specific place where they all converge and before we attack their enclave almost all the civilians living there were evacuated to our knowledge. And those who remained in that enclave are loyalists and members of the group, so the issue of whether we have killed innocent civilians is not true.

"Just yesterday (Wednesday) women and children who have been held captive by Muhammed Yusuf were rescued by the security operatives. So we are rescuing civilians who are trapped in the enclave and else where.

"We have used the barest minimum force because you can see the caliber of weapons they are carrying, MPG 7 Rocket Launcher, AK 47, improvised explosive devices and those are heavy equipment and in that case we use the barest minimum force. As for the humanitarian situation, those displaced are being taken care of by the agencies concern including the government of the state."

Answering reporters question on whether the group's target of police stations is to vandalize the armoury, the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, responded this way: "You may never know the actual motive of this group until the operation is over and investigation is concluded. But we want you to know that this is a group of people who are anti-democracy. They don't want anything to do with democracy. They are against the constitution, they are against established government and the police is one of the most visible forms of government, most visible forms of law and order.

And that is why the police is their prime target and they believe once you target the police, you destabilize the institution, destabilize the democracy. Aside from Potiskum where they destroyed police station, they have failed in other areas and their time is up because they will be smoked out, I can assure you," Ojukwu added.

[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]

Nigeria: Security Force Kills Fleeing Islamic Sect Leader, Yusuf

AFP20090731606002 Abuja NTA Television Abuja in English 2000 GMT 30 Jul 09

After nearly two days of military bombardment of his Maiduguri, Borno State base, the leader of the Islamic fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed today in a shootout with security forces along Potuskum/Damaturu road. Lidia Samson has the report.

[Begin recording][Samson] The military action which had been on for two days finally yielded fruits. Yusuf’s Maiduguri enclave was finally leveled by the Nigerian security forces today afternoon. The attack on the stronghold resulted in heavy casualties mostly on the side of the fundamentalists. Though the military men had taken control of the headquarters of the sect, the fleeing members of the group set ablaze the Makera Police Station in the suburb of Maiduguri. Governor Ali Modu Sheriff was conducted round the destroyed enclave of the militants. The governor in a broadcast to the people of the state, said the victory against the fundamentalists was achieved with the help of God and that of President Yar’Adua, who he said intervened quickly by deploying troops in the state. The governor promised to come out with a bill which will be presented to the state House of Assembly to regulate religious sermon in the state.

It also emerged last night that the sect had been in existence since 1995 and had operated under different names one of which was Ahlulsunna wal’jama’ah hijra. The Director of Defense Intelligence, Col. Mohammed Yerima, said at a joint press briefing by Defense Headquarters, Force Public Relations, Nigerian Police, ACP Emmanuel CS Ojukwu, and Assistant Director Public Relations, State Security Service, Marilyn Ogar that the militant sect had been in existence since 1995. He said intelligence reports showed that members of the sect were not only in the north-east but also in some states outside the area.

Tracing the history of the group, Yerima disclosed that it had operated under different names one of which was Ahlulsunna wal’jama’ah hijra. He also said the sect leader was first arrested in November 2008 and taken to court but was freed by an Abuja high court in January 2009. Yusuf and members of Boko Haram, meaning Western education is sin, have been tormenting some parts of the North since 26 July. [end recording]

[Description of Source: Abuja NTA Television Abuja in English -- state-owned, government-controlled television]

Nigeria: Cross River State Intensifies Security To Avert Sectarian Violence

AFP20090731578016 Lagos This Day Online in English 31 Jul 09

[Report by Ernest Chinwo, Jaiyeola Andrews, Augustine Osayande and Hammed Shittu: "C'River, Ogun, Taraba Beef Up Security NSCIA Flays Crisis"]

Cross River State Government has called on the people and residents of the state to be on security alert to check possible infiltration by the religious fundamentalist Boko Haram, into the State.

This is coming on a day the Ogun State police command said it had put all machinery in motion to forestall the spill over of the violence to the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Salisu Hashimu Argungu who, in a telephone conversation with THISDAY, bemoaned the activities of the fundamentaliss, said his command was ready to prevent the violence from spilling over to the state.

Taraba State Government, on its part, has banned public preaching in all parts of the state.

A press release signed by the Special Adviser on Security to the state governor, Mr. Charles Maijankai, said preaching by both christians and muslims in the state should be restricted to churches and mosques only. He said that the state government will deal with violators of the directives.

The Cross River State Government, in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Edet Okon Asim, said the security alert was a preventive measure to protect the tourism drive of the state.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Council for Islamic Affairs (NCIA) yesterday condemned the ongoing religious crises, describing such development as wrong and unfortunate and could have reverberating implications on the security of the country.

Deputy Secretary-General of the NSCIA and Vice Chancelor of University of Ilorin, Professor Ish'aq Oloyede, who stated this in Ilorin while speaking with newsmen after the commissioning of ultra modern office complex built by the institution Academic Staff Union said that the wanton destruction of lives and property occasioned by the weekend eruption of religious crisis was uncalled for and unacceptable to muslim Ummah.

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

Commentary Attributes Sectarian Crisis in Nigeria to 'Failure' of Governance

AFP20090731581010 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 31 Jul 09

[Commentary by Reuben Abati: "Boko Haram and the Evil of Ignorance"]

The current sectarian crisis in parts of Northern Nigeria highlights many of the fault lines in Nigerian politics; it further re-enacts a familiar Nigerian story about religious violence, poverty, ignorance and unemployment. Poverty and unemployment have combined to create a large army of angry youths in virtually every part of the country which can be employed for any kind of sinister task. For a small fee or even without paying a fee, you can recruit idle young men and women, give them arms and ammunition and ask them to do your bidding.

For as long as Nigeria remains underdeveloped and the leadership elite remains selfish, this pattern is bound to subsist. We must be worried about the increasing population of young men and women who are prepared to defy the state and sabotage it. The main promoters of the current crisis in the North are secondary school students, clerics, university drop outs and a former university lecturer.

Young people inflicting pain on the country and doing so brazenly are saying something much deeper about the Nigerian state: the impunity with which people readily take the laws into their hands, the proliferation of small arms, the inefficiency of the security agencies, and the near-absolute disregard for human lives. The Boko Haram fundamentalists insist that there must be the rule of the Sharia in every state of Nigeria and that Western education must be abolished because it is evil.