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

The federal lawmaker also gave a vivid description of the kind of organisation Yusuf established and the strength of the army he had assembled. He said that the Boko Haram group was an assemblage of youths, some of who are school dropouts and unemployed university graduates. They have been indoctrinated to believe that their state of hopelessness was caused by government which imposed western education on them and failed to manage the resources of the country to their benefit.

He said that the group was also taught to believe that the only way out was to attack the government and its institutions and that whoever dies in the process would go to heaven. Members of the group were said to be armed with such modern sophisticated weapons as rocket propelled grenades, RPGs, and AK 47 rifles. They were trained in guerrilla warfare and had support from rebels from neighboring states.

"One of the unit commanders said that they had evidence that they had strong support from foreigners. But you see, the boys also had one other advantage; they were not afraid to die because of what they were taught to believe," Ndume said.

The strength of the religious fundamentalists is widely believed to be responsible for the high degree of success they achieved before they were flushed out in the respective towns they attacked. In Maiduguri, for instance, Newswatch learnt that the group mounted roadblocks and engaged a combined team of policemen and soldiers for three days. The situation was so unpredictable that the security agents had to call for reinforcement from the army formation in Jos and Bauchi.

Ndume told Newswatch that corpses of people killed in the process littered the streets without anybody picking them up for three days. He also expressed concern that epidemic might break out as the corpses decomposed and that hunger may also kill people as banks and market places remained closed. "The situation is getting critical.

"For three days, people could not come out because of the raging battle. Markets and banks remained closed. Supplies are running out and hunger will soon take over," he said. He expressed anger that President Umaru Yar’Adua who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces travelled out of the country to Brazil at a critical time when major cities in the North were under attack and people were dying.

In Wudil, a town located about 45 kilometers from Kano, security operatives battled relentlessly with members of Boko Haram. Fifty five of them had been nabbed by Wednesday, July 29. This followed an attack by the sect on the police station in the town the previous day. Among those arrested was 14-year-old Aisha Abbas, a female junior secondary school student of Maidoki Junior Girls’ Secondary School, who said that she was advised by her uncle to join the sect.

Salisu Al-Amin Aljasawi, believed to be the leader of the Yusufiyya sect in Kano State, however, escaped and was believed to have fled to Maiduguri to join forces with Yusuf, the overall leader of the movement.

Findings by Newswatch in Wudil showed that the sect members, numbering more than 300, mobilized in the Sabon Gari part of the town at about 2 am on Tuesday morning and headed for the police station located about two kilometers away from Aljasawi’s mosque and residence which served as the operational headquarters.

Using firebombs and other assorted weapons, they attacked the police facility, shattering the early morning peace of the chilly town. The attack was, however, repelled because the police had been in a state of readiness following security reports about the impending attack.

Baba Muhammed, public relations officer of the Kano State Police Command, showed Newswatch Wednesday, July 29, an assortment of weapons discovered when the police searched Aljasawi’s residence as well as his mosque. These included bows and arrows, daggers, knives, locally manufactured guns as well as materials for making bombs.

He said that the bomb disposal squad of the Nigeria Police Force, after proper analysis reported that the materials were made up of 75 per cent potassium nitrate, sulfur, 15 and charcoal 10, a composition powerful enough to cause extensive damage.

Newswatch learnt that three of the five sect members were killed during the assault on the police station while the two others, who had been injured in the fracas, died in police custody.

Sager Idris, the divisional police officer in charge of Wudil, was shot in the leg. Another mobile police officer sustained injuries. Muhammed said that the state government had ordered the immediate demolition of the residence of the sect leader as well as his mosque in Wudil. Barely two hours after his disclosure, a team of policemen, accompanied a bulldozer descended on the buildings and reduced them to rubbles.

Newswatch learnt that Aljasawi came from somewhere in Plateau State to settle in the town about nine years ago. Described as a very friendly person with an imposing presence, he set up his operational headquarters on a piece of land given to him by a wealthy woman resident in Kano.

Musa Adamu Garki, chairman of Wudil local government area, disclosed that Aljasawi’s mosque was a meeting place for adherents of the sect who used to stop over in Wudil on their way from Maiduguri to Kano. He said that the motive for attacking the police station in the town was to acquire weapons with which to launch a bigger offensive on other targets.

While in the town, Aljasawi was known for his penchant for making trouble. He had last year attempted to change the Friday Jumat prayers hour usually held at 2 pm. He was said to have summoned his followers to hold the prayers at 10 am. The attempt was frustrated through the intervention of the local government authorities as well as traditional leaders of the town. This fact as well as the attack in Wudil brought into question the seriousness of the Kano State Government to secure the state against such violent eruptions which have been recurrent in the state.

Adebayo Mikhail, special adviser on inter-community relations to Ibrahim Shekarau, the governor of Kano State, however, disagreed with such insinuations. He told Newswatch that the fact that the plan to attack the police facility had been discovered was a pointer to the readiness of the state government to forestall any outbreak of violence in the entire state.

On the dimension of the crisis, Mikhail said that he had been in contact with all the religious and community leaders in Wudil and that the attacks were not motivated by ethnic or religious sentiments. He argued that the sect members were simply misled in their opposition to western education since Prophet Mohammed himself had admonished his followers to seek knowledge to whatever length they could.

Throughout last week, Kano metropolis remained peaceful. The police had given an assurance that they were on top pf the situation. Adamu Abdullahi, the acting deputy governor of the state, condemned the sect for the violence in Wudil which he described as unwarranted and uncalled for. He commended security agencies in the state for promptly arresting the situation.

The situation was, however, different in Katsina State where members of the sect attacked a police station in Danja local government early Tuesday morning. The police rebuffed the attacks, and forced the invaders to flee and abandon a large quantity of petrol with which they had planned to burn down the station. Some of the sect members were arrested. Abdulmajid Ali, deputy commissioner of police, confirmed the development and said that arrangements were being made to fish out other members of the sect.

In neighboring Kaduna State, security agencies were put on red alert following the outbreak of the violence in Bauchi. Men of the Operation Yaki, the security outfit set up by Namadi Sambo, the state governor, immediately made their presence felt with the arrest of 21 persons suspected to be members of the sect.

Most of them were arrested in Badarawa, a thick populated suburb of Kaduna. Governor Sambo condemned the violence, saying that it was capable of truncating the nation’s democracy. He said that the federal government would do everything necessary to stem the tide.

The police in Sokoto State also arrested five persons on Tuesday, July 28, for allegedly planning to attack members of the public and security outfits in the state. Muhammed Umar, the state police public relations officer, said that the arrests followed the beefing up of security in the entire state in the wake of the violence. The five persons were arrested in the residence of one Kabiru Atiku, while holding a meeting during which they hatched plans to carry out the attacks. One of them is a former lecturer in the department of Islamic Studies, Katsina State University.

Shamsu Atiku, 16, another suspect, said that they were part of a group called Dawah, but added that he had withdrawn his membership of the organisation on his father’s advice. He said that he had come to the meeting to inform the other members of his decision to quit the group when he was nabbed.

Abdulrahman Abdullahi, 29, said to be the deputy leader of the group, disclosed that Dawah had 27 members. He admitted that they were against a secular state. Magatakarda Wamakko, the governor of the state, warned those who would breach the peace to stay away from the state. He said that the state was the most religiously tolerant in Nigeria.

Sources in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, said that the situation in the state remained calm. Security has been beefed up all over the state. In Bauchi, the curfew imposed in the state capital from 9 pm to 6 am by Yuguda remained in force throughout last week. The governor said that such a measure was necessary to sustain security after the group was flushed out of the state capital.

Yuguda described the recent militancy in the northern part of the country as an act of terrorism that cannot be allowed to continue. He stressed that the problem was not regional but a national one and that there was the need for collaboration by all the 36 states in the federation to curb the problem. Describing members of the group as lunatics and people who have psychiatric problems, the governor said: "I alerted all the governors, particularly those in the north-eastern states because the fanatics have the capacity to threaten the peace of the country if allowed to continue or treated with soft gloves.

"Very soon, the Northern Governors Forum will meet to discuss the issue. I have discussed the problem with the chairman of the 36 governors’ forum and he will call for an emergency meeting. We are taking it up at the zonal and national levels and very soon, it will be a solved problem."

The governor added that the plan of the militants was to attack churches first so as to give an impression that it was a crisis between Christian and Muslims." By the time we demolished their houses, there was no single Holy Qur’an found there or in their possession."

The government announced that it had uncovered a plot by the terrorists to poison some major water sources in the Bauchi metropolis as part of their efforts to destablise government. Mu’azu Badara, the commissioner for special duties, who raised the alarm in a statement, said that the government discovered that the fanatics dropped a chemical substance in a well whish serves as source of water in times of pipe borne water scarcity to a rural community close to the metropolis. He revealed that the well was discovered during the demolition exercise of some houses belonging to the suspected fanatics at Fadaman Mada area within the Bauchi metropolis.

He said that the government had taken samples of the substance and water from the well for laboratory analysis. He added that the owner of the house where the contaminated well was located was at large. He, however, advised residents of the affected area not to use the water from the affected well and other sources of drinking water near the scene until thorough investigation is concluded.

There was pandemonium at the scene of the demolition exercise at the Fadaman Mada area when a substance suspected to be a hand grenade exploded while bulldozers were trying to pull down a house belonging to one of the suspected fanatics.

Sanusi Mohammed, a journalist who witnessed the incident, told Newswatch that people around the area took to their heels when the substance exploded, while mobile policemen who had accompanied the demolition team short randomly into the air, apparently to scare the fanatics and their sympathizers.

Moses Anegbode, assistant inspector general of police of Zone 12, told journalists that no fewer than 176 suspects were arrested in connection with the Bauchi mayhem.

Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, north central Nigeria, remained peaceful last week as residents went about their businesses normally. Bukola Saraki, the governor, on Wednesday, summoned an emergency security council meeting where additional measures were ordered to prevent the spread of the crisis to the state. Saraki, Newswatch learnt, called on the security operatives, particularly the police to be extra vigilant particularly during the Jumat prayer last Friday.

Ben Duntoye, the state commissioner for information and orientation, told Newswatch that he did not envisage the spread of the crisis to the state. "As you can see for yourself, the state is peaceful and we have put in place measures to ensure that it did not spread to Kwara. While we commiserate with those who have lost their lives, we plead with those causing the problem to have a rethink and embrace peace," he said.

He is not the only one calling for peace. Ishaq Akintola, the director of Muslim Rights Concern, urged the perpetrators of the crisis to lay down their arms in the interest of peace. "As a religion of peace, Islam has spelt out in unambiguous terms acceptable modes of expressing dissent. Violence is not one of the options open to dissatisfied Muslims. On the contrary, those who engage in excessive display of aggression are condemned as associates of Shaytan (Devil)," he said.

In a statement issued on July 27, the national headquarters of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, dissociated Islam from what it described as the "anti-Boko misguided group." It denounced the wanton killing of innocent persons as well as the destruction of property perpetrated by the group. "We call on all Muslims in the country to condemn these criminal activities and give maximum support to security agencies in preventing these misguided youths from attacking anybody or agencies in the country," Abdulkarim Mu’azu Palladan, acting secretary general of the organization said in the statement.

The Christian Association of Nigeria also condemned the violence, saying that the attacks were obviously premeditated. Jon Joseph Hayab, the publicity secretary, blamed security agencies for not detecting the plan. "If this is the way our security agencies work, we will continue to have multiple problems because they are not doing anything," he said.

Yinka Odumakin, national publicity secretary of the Afenifere renewal group, however, said that the sectarian violence in some northern states was a confirmation that the rating of Nigeria as a failed state is not an exaggeration. He said that for the perpetrators to have carried out their activities for so long without security agencies detecting them has "exposed the porosity of Nigeria’s intelligence network, the failure of governance and the escalation of the unresolved nationality question in Nigeria."

Odumakin said that his group had no problem with any section of the country opting for any civilization that suits them. "That is why we have been at the forefront of the campaign for the restructuring of Nigeria along federal lines in a conference of all ethnic nationalities. Every section of the country should be able to self-determine in line with the preference of their people. If any section of the country chooses nudity as its dress code in 2009, the rest of the country should accept their choice for as long as they are not forcing others to follow suit."

He said that his group was against people using weapons of death to canvass their civilization. "The challenge today for the hegemonies running Nigeria is to know that they can no longer run from renegotiating Nigeria. We must sit down and talk now." He called on the Talibans to lay down their arms and join others to press for a conference of all ethnic nationalities to determine the future of Nigeria.

[Description of Source: Lagos Newswatch in English - independent weekly news magazine]

Nigeria: Radio Tasks Leaders To Be Up and Doing To Curb Sectarian Crisis

AFP20090807614007 Abuja Radio Nigeria-Abuja in English 2100 GMT 05 Aug 09

[Commentary Examining the recent sectarian Clashes in the Northern part of the country written by Mohammed Bello -- presented by Nourah Mohammed]

Last week, a militant religious sect known as Boko Haram unleashed havoc on innocent citizens, public facilities, schools, and some police stations across some states in the North.

Worst hit were Bauchi, Borno, and Yobe States. In the wake of that violence, quiet a high number of people mostly followers of the sect died, casualties were also recorded among law abiding citizens and security agents.

The quick and prompt presidential directive to the security outfits brought normalcy to those areas.

Though, there have been strong condemnations from many quarters on Boko Haram act of terrorism, many Nigerians are still apprehensive that such occurrences have been happening rather too frequently.

Apart from Maitasine crisis in the 80’s in Kano, there had been other violent eruption of crisis of religious nature.

Members of the Boko Haram sect claimed to be Muslim and practicing the religion of Islam. Their names, places of worship do suggest that.

Their grouse is against western education and culture.

Many Muslims have asked some pertinent questions. Is the Islam been practiced by the Boko Haram sect, the same with the Islam practiced from the time of Prophet Ibrahim to the time of Prophet Mohammed?

Is the sect believed in conformity with Islam’s tradition of been a religion of peace, tolerance, compassion, knowledge-based, and a complete way of life?

Does fighting a Holy war in the cause of Allah involve unprovoked attacks against others? The Holy Quran is unambiguous about religion. It says in Chapter 2 Verse 256, "There is no compulsion on religion, verily the right path has become distinct from the wrong path."

Prophet Mohammed was quoted to have advised Muslim in the early days to seek knowledge at all cost at all times, and even far away locations.

In fact, the first Quranic verse revealed to Prophet Mohammed in the cave of Hirah was "read in the name of your Lord who created all that exists, who though man, writing by the pen."

It is not surprising therefore that [words indistinct] Islamic history from Middle East to Central Asia and sub Saharan Africa as well as some parts of Europe was a world where Muslim scholars and men of learning flourish.

They contributed in no small measures to science, astronomy, law, arts, architecture, algebra, and other sphere of human endeavor.

Islam as a religion had nurture and preserve the quest for learning for many centuries. The recent events in Northern Nigeria poses a great challenge to the Muslim community. Collectively, they owe it a duty to Islam and all Nigerians to maintain peace in the country.

It is incumbent on the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to intensify its efforts to [words indistinct] and understanding in Islamic practices by generating goodwill from Muslims scholars, Friday sermons and teachings in Islamiyah schools.

The Boko Haram saga has underscored the need to further re-invigorate the nation’s intelligent services and also address the poorer security boarder posts in view of the suspected involvement of some foreigners in the sale and proliferation of arms in the country.

By and large, a nation’s marching quest for development is in the platform of seven point agenda cannot afford any form of instability with just 11 years to realize the Vision 2020, every citizen owes a duty to live a letter of his life under the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has left no one in doubt as to his sincerity of purpose and forthrightness to put Nigeria on the path of development, the much we can do is to contribute positively, that is obviously not through sectarian radicalism or religious fanaticism.

[Description of Source: Abuja Radio Nigeria-Abuja in English -- Federal government-owned, independent radio]

Nigeria: Taraba State Police Intercept 50 'Suspected' Islamic Sect Members

AFP20090807578003 Lagos Daily Sun Online in English 07 Aug 09

[Report by Ossie Sunday: "Boko Haram 50 Suspects Arrested in Jalingo"]

Taraba State Police Command has intercepted about 50 people suspected to be members of the Islamic Fundamentalists, Boko Haram in Jalingo.

Daily Sun investigation on Thursday revealed that the suspects who include men, women and children and conveyed in a truck, were intercepted around Jalingo main market when trying to uphold some of their members before moving ahead at about 4:00pm by the joint patrol of soldiers and mobile police.

According to a reliable source at the police headquarters who pleaded anonymity the suspected sect members may be among those who fled from Borno after participating in the recent mayhem in Maiduguri and other northern states.

Confirming the arrest, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Taraba State Command, Usman Isa Baba, revealed that recovered from the suspects were military uniforms, knivies and different charms. Though, he said as of now he cannot conclude whether they are members of Boko haram or not but the police are busy screening them to know their mission in the state.

He further added that some of them during the investigation confessed that they are coming from Jigawa State to Jalingo in search of odd jobs to enable them survive the present hardship.

He said already his command has alerted the office of the Inspector-General of Police about the development and it will continue to feed him with necessary information especially the outcome of their investigation for further action.

The DCP, therefore, appealed to members of the public to cooperate with the police in the state especially during the stop and search exercise in order to fish out the bad eggs in the society.

[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: Religious Body Says Northern Governors 'Badly Managed' Sect Violence

AFP20090807578013 Isheri Nigerian Compass Online in English 2300 GMT 06 Aug 09

[Report by Abu-Sadeeq Amokpa and Stephen Osu: "Boko Haram: CAN Accuses Governors, Security Agents of Cover Up Fifty Suspected Members Arrested in Jalingo"]

Days after Northern governors threatened fire and brimstone against prospective perpetrators of sectarian violence in their domains, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Northern chapter, has descended heavily on the governors.

They were not the only people tongue-lashed yesterday over the Boko Haram mayhem that led to the death of over 700 persons and massive destruction of valuables in some Northern states.

The angry CAN leaders also blasted security agents for their conduct before, during and after the violence.

To them, the governors and security agents acted hypocritically over the bloodbath.

The leaders of the association bared their minds on the unpleasant development in an interview with newsmen shortly after their "appreciation visit" to the Niger State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, at the Government House, Minna, the state capital, yesterday.