Nigeria: Report Gives Details, Says Terrorist Groups Gaining Foothold in Nigeria

Police insist that Yusuf's deputy, Abubakar Shekau, was also killed last year, though a video appeared recently in which he was shown issuing new threats. Police say it was a digital mock-up. (AFP)

[Description of Source: Caversham BBC Monitoring in English -- Monitoring service of the BBC, the United Kingdom's public service broadcaster]

Nigerian Authorities Suspect Attackers Had 'Overwhelming Firepower'

AFP20100908678015 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 2048 GMT 08 Sep 10

[AFP Headline: "Jail attackers had 'overwhelming firepower': Nigerian"]

ABUJA, Sept 8, 2010 (AFP) - Nigeria's interior minister said Wednesday suspected Islamists who freed hundreds of inmates in an attack on a prison had "overwhelming firepower" and guards were unable to stop them.

"Due to the overwhelming firepower which the attackers deployed on their mission, they were easily able to overcome the stiff resistance which was put up by the gallant prison officers who attempted to block the progress of the assault on the prison," Emmanuel Ihenacho said.

Suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year attacked a prison in Nigeria's north on Tuesday night, freeing more than 700 inmates and sparking a fierce gun battle with authorities.

The inmates who escaped included alleged members of the extremist group, known as Boko Haram, and authorities say the attackers' aim was to free them.

A police statement late Wednesday said some 200 "suspected Boko Haram fanatics" armed with machine guns and homemade bombs were involved in the attack.

Four people were killed and 721 inmates were freed, including 105 suspected sect members, it said.

"During this attack, the administrative block, the armoury and a van were set ablaze," the statement said, adding 35 inmates had since been re-arrested.

The head of Nigeria's prisons said earlier Wednesday that more than 120 inmates had returned on their own.

Last year's uprising was put down by a brutal military and police assault, with hundreds eventually killed.

"We also wish to warn any potential troublemakers that the federal government will not fold its arms and allow the situation to degenerate unchecked," the interior minister said.

"The government has a responsibility to protect the lives and properties of its citizenry and it would not shirk this responsibility."

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English -- world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse]

Nigeria: Members of Islamic Sect Broke Bauchi Prison, Release Prisoners

AFP20100908614009 Abuja NTA Television in English 2000 GMT 08 Sep 10

Four people have been confirmed dead in last night Boko Haram attack on Bauchi Prison.

Abubakar Aliyu Wunti reports that among the dead are a soldier and a policeman.

[Begin recording] [Wunti] The state commissioner of police, Danlami Yar’Adua said six people have also been wounded among them a solider who is receiving treatment at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital.

He explained that about breaking fast time, group of suspected Boko Haram members attacked the prisons, broke and freed 105 of their members awaiting trial while 120 other prisoners escaped.

[Yar’Adua] They engaged the soldiers and prison warders in shoot out and released as man y 121 inmates as well as their members.

In the process one soldier and one policeman was shot dead and another prison warder was wounded and some civilians were hit by stray bullet.

[Wunti] Governor Isah Yuguda who inspected the prison described the incident as unfortunate promising more security in the prison.

[Yuguda] It is an unfortunate incident. The government would fortify the security of the prison henceforth.

[Wunti] He also visited the wounded, hospitalized and wished them quick recovery.

The situation has been brought under control. People are going about their normal businesses while movement in and out of the state is on without hindrance.

In Bauchi, I am Abubakar Aliyu Wunti. [End recording]

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

Nigeria: Police Say Islamic Sect Prison Attack Claimed 5 Lives in Bauchi State

AFP20100909565001 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 09 Sep 10

[Report by Ishola Michael and Clement Idoko: "Bauchi: 5 Confirmed Dead After Boko Haram Attack; 759 Inmates Escape From Prison; FG Warns Trouble Makers"]

Five people-a soldier, a policeman, two prison warders and a civilian - have been confirmed dead following the prison break by members of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, while six others are receiving treatment at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) following gun shot wounds from stray bullets.

Confirming the attack to newsmen in his office, Bauchi State Police Commissioner, Danlami Yar'Adua, said that, "as I am talking to you, the attackers killed one soldier, one policeman and two civilians, who were hit by stray bullets. Two prison warders, two civilians and four others are currently receiving treatment following the attack."

Meanwhile, Governor Isa Yuguda has described the incident as "most unfortunate and regrettable."

Yuguda, who was the first caller at the prisons, lamented the incident, saying, "all of us were caught unawares by the attackers because they came at the time nobody was expecting, considering that we are in the holy month of Ramadan, when all true Muslims are expected to be fasting and not engage in anything that could lead to the shedding of blood."

The governor further said that, henceforth, adequate security measures would be put in place across the state in order to ensure safety of life and property of innocent citizens of the state, saying, "government will prioritise the issue of security in the state to ensure that innocent lives are not lost again as well as to check the activities of all criminals in the state."

Yuguda lamented that the attackers orchestrated their operation in a commando-like manner, beating every security arrangement put in place at the prisons and said that anybody found to be involved in the attacks in whatever manner, no matter his or her status in the society, would be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land.

The Commissioner of Police, Danlami Yar'Adua, however, said that from records available, 759 inmates at the prisons were released, among them 123 Boko-Haram sect members awaiting trial following their arrest last year, adding also that at the time of the briefing, 10 of them had returned to the prisons on their own.

Yar'Adua said that his command had commenced investigations, while a number of those who had a hand in the attack had already been arrested.

While assessing the extent of the damage done to the prison facilities, the Controller-General of Prisons, Olushola Adigun Ogundipe, who was in Bauchi, described the attack as most unfortunate, saying that it was a surprise package by the attackers, whom he said overpowered the few armed warders around.

While saying that more security measures would be taken around all the prisons in the country to forestall future occurrence, the prisons boss said that, "there are a few vulnerable prisons in the country, including Maiduguri, Gombe and Azare; we have increased the presence of armed security operatives there in order to ensure that there is no repeat of what happened here at these places.

We are working in conjunction with other security operatives who are really complementing our security efforts."

The Emir of Bauchi, Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu, who also reacted to the attack, described it as an unfortunate happening at a period when Muslims were observing the compulsory fast of the holy month of Ramadan, as well as barely hours to the celebration of the successful ending of the 30-day fast, calling on the people of Bauchi to regard it as an act of Allah.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government, on Wednesday, condemned the resurgence of Boko Haram that launched a fierce attack on the Bauchi State Central Prisons and freeing about 721 inmates in the melee.

Minister of Interior, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho, reacting to the development in Abuja at a news briefing, warned all troublemakers in the country to steer clear, as there would be no hiding place for anyone that incurred the wrath of the law and breached the peace and security of the nation.

Ihenacho said: "We take this opportu nity to address the Nigerian public, to reassure them that their safety and security remain paramount to us."

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

Nigeria: Islamic Sect Reportedly 'Hinted' Police of Plan To Attack Bauchi Prison

AFP20100911581002 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 2300 GMT 10 Sep 10

[Report by Ali Garba: "Boko Haram: How Attackers Outwitted Security Agencies; Sect Threatens To Strike in Jos Soon"]

Had the Nigeria's security agencies taken the threats by members of the Boko Haram sect seriously, the recent invasion of the Bauchi Prisons and other killings in some parts of the North would have been averted.

Before the Islamic group launched their attack, The Guardian learnt that its leadership wrote a letter to the police of its intention. Security personnel, who confirmed this, said they even indicated the time they would carry out the threat.

According to sources at the Bauchi Prisons, the sect had in a letter and pamphlets, hinted that it would launch the attack before the end of Ramadan during Sahur (morning prayer) between 4.30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

It was learnt that when report got to the sect that security had been fortified at the prisons, it changed the timing of the strike to evening during the Magrib prayers.

The Guardian also got details of the inmates freed by men of the Islamic sect when they attacked the Bauchi Prisons last Tuesday.

A breakdown of the figures showed that the group freed 157 male and 17 female inmates in the prison during the attack. The prison also harboured 123 men and four women, who were already convicted while there were 130 males and nine females on the awaiting trial list and 140 armed robbery suspects, all men. The inmates on capital charges were 333 males, two females, two males on life jail term, two males to be stoned to death, 11 male detainees for amputation; six male lodgers and one male hospital attendant.

The sources said the extremist group "sent several letters, warning security agencies and the Bauchi State government of their intention that their members would not celebrate the Eid-el Fitr (Sallah) in prison. We thought it was a joke but now the reality has dawned on us."

A senior prison official said: "When we got the letters, action was taken. It led to the drafting of armed mobile policemen to guard the prison. There was a daily security report to the prisons' authorities at 12 mid night."

He lamented that "what happened last Tuesday was unfortunate because according to reports, the Boko Haram were set to attack the prison during Sahur in the morning between 4: 30 a.m. and 5 p.m. but they were informed by their own informants that their secrets had been revealed to the appropriate authorities and heavy security measures had been taken to deter them from carrying out their mission, they changed the time of the attack from morning to evening during the Magrib prayers."

In the pamphlets, written in Hausa, which they left behind, the sect explained that its name is not Boko Haram but Jama'atu Ahlissunnah Liddaawati Wal Jihad.

The members commiserated with the Moslem community in Jos, Plateau State capital over the recent crises, saying that for the past eight years they had been preaching peacefully until the present government attacked them.

"When we were praying our morning prayers they killed a number of people they wanted to kill, so, we will continue to fight this government because it is obligatory. Whoever does not want to participate, Allah will question him. If you cannot participate, close your mouth," they warned Moslems.

They also warned in the pamphlets that whoever had a hand in punishing their members would not go free, adding "if you want your wife, children to become widows and orphans, get ready and we will not forget the way our members were killed in Dutsen Tanshi Police Station and Yankari Park. Whoever had a hand in the killing of our members from the state governor down to district and ward heads, we have not forgotten and you will see what it will look like in the future."

The fundamentalists also said they are fighting to bring back the full implementation of Sharia law, freedom of Moslems and takeover of power from Christians, adding that Plateau State capital, Jos will soon be attacked for the killing of its members.

The Deputy Comptroller of Prisons, Bauchi, Ali Akida said the gunmen broke 29 cells of the prison, which accommodated 765 inmates, of which 732 escaped.

He explained that the suspected members of the Boko Haram targeted the hour when Moslems were breaking the fast while some were still observing their Magrib prayers at the Central Mosque, opposite the prison.

Akida said the invaders attacked the main gate of the prison yard, noting that they came with a power generating set and a cylinder, which they used to break the main gate.

"The members of the sect came at 6:35 p.m. and joined the sunset prayers at Bauchi Central Mosque. After the prayers, they blocked the Tina Junction and all the roads leading to the prison yard and opened fire.

"They killed one mobile policeman on the spot and badly injured six of our wardens on duty," he added.

Akida further said the attackers overpowered prison officials and forced themselves into the yard to accomplish their mission.

The prison boss explained that the marauders carried various weapons including AK 47 rifles, cutlasses and sharp knives and broke into the prison cells to free 173 of their members awaiting trial, adding that about 127 inmates that escaped for fear of their lives, had returned on their own.

"Three of our officials were shot and are responding to treatment at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBU). We recovered empty shells of bullets, cylinders used to light up locally made bombs and weapons used by the sect members to break the cells and the prison gate," he said.

The state Police Commissioner, Danlami Yar'Adua, at a press conference, said the attackers took the command unawares. He, however, said the police had arrested 11 suspected members of the group and over 20 inmates, who escaped from the prison during the attack.

Governor Isa Yuguda, who visited the prison to access the level of damage said: "All of us were caught unawares by the attackers because they came at the time no body expected it, considering that we are in the month of Ramadan when true Moslems are fasting and not to engaging in anything that will lead to bloodshed."

According to him, "henceforth, adequate security measures will be put in place across the state in order to ensure safety of life and property of innocent citizens of the state. Government will give priority to security issues in the state to ensure that innocent people are not lost again as well as to check the activities of all criminals in the state."

[Description of Source: Lagos The Guardian Online in English -- Website of the widely read independent daily, aimed at up-market readership; URL: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/]

Nigeria: Police Reportedly Arrest 2 Islamic Sect Suspects in Plateau State

AFP20100912581011 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 2300 GMT 11 Sep 10

[Report by Isa Abdulsalami and Njadvara Musa: "STF Arrests Two Boko Haram Suspects, As Police Ban Religious Processions"]

The Special (Military) Task Force (STF) in Jos, Plateau State, has arrested two Boko Haram suspects, who escaped from Bauchi Prisons and took refuge in Jos. This is coming as the Police in Yobe State have imposed a ban on religious processions to prevent the sect from using the festive period as opportunity to perpetrate mayhem.

Spokesman of the STF, Lt-Col. Kingsley Umoh, paraded the suspects, Ahmed Adamu and Yusuf Daniel, before journalists around 6:20pm on Friday.

Umoh explained that men of the STF arrested the suspects, following a tip-off. The suspects claimed to be from Darazo Local Government council of Bauchi State, and all admitted to having been released by Boko Haram members at Bauchi prison on Tuesday, September 7.

Umoh, while appreciating the effort of the people of the state, urged them to report any suspicious movement to appropriate authorities. He also urged them to continue to give useful information to security agencies.

The suspects have since been handed over to the police for further investigation.

In Yobe State, the Police have imposed a ban on all religious processions, during and after Sallah celebration, in order to ensure a peaceful celebration of Eid-el-Fitr.

In an interview with The Guardian yesterday, Police Commissioner, Mamman Sule, said the ban on processions is inevitable in order to protect lives and properties. He said, besides the ban, the Police are providing security at all the praying grounds in the state.

"We don't want to take chances. More of our officers and men have been deployed to strategic locations across the state for close surveillance and monitoring of the movement and hideouts of the armed sect members in the state and border areas with Borno, Gombe, Bauchi and Jigawa states," he said.

Prior to the ban, two policemen, attached to the private residences of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam and Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, were shot and killed by suspected sect members in the months of March and August.

Meanwhile, Gaidam has appealed to traditional and religious leaders and the Muslim community to emulate the life and teachings of Prophet Mohammed, by eschewing violence and religious intolerance.

Gaidam made the call on Friday, in a radio and television broadcast to residents of the state.

He said the administration would continue to ensure there is security in the state.

[Description of Source: Lagos The Guardian Online in English -- Website of the widely read independent daily, aimed at up-market readership; URL: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/]

Nigerian Police Arrest 10 Boko Haram Suspects

FEA20100914009300 - OSC Feature - AFP (World Service) 1612 GMT 14 Sep 10

["Nigeria Police Arrest 10 Radical Sect Members" -- AFP headline]

KANO, Nigeria, Sept 14, 2010 (AFP) - Ten people suspected of belonging to the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram have been arrested in northern Nigeria in recent days, a regional police chief said Tuesday.

Seven of them are suspected to be behind a spate of murders targeting policemen and three are among the hundreds of inmates that escaped when suspected Islamists attacked a jail last week.

"We arrested seven suspected members of Boko Haram that we think were involved in hit-and-run killings of policemen in the city in the last few weeks," Ibrahim Abdu told AFP in a phone interview from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

"Similarly our men were able to arrest three members of Boko Haram that escaped from Bauchi prison last week following an attack by their comrades," he said.

More than 700 prisoners, including around 100 alleged sect members, were freed in a daring attack staged last Tuesday by suspected Boko Haram on Bauchi state prison in northern Nigeria.

The Islamist sect last year launched an uprising in and around Borno's capital Maiduguri before it was put down by a brutal military and police assault.

At least nine people including police personnel have been slain by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Nigeria's north -- mostly in Maiduguri in recent weeks.

Abdu said the seven were suspected members of the sect arrested after last year's assault but later freed in the absence of tangible evidence.

"We believe the seven suspects were among members of the sect that were discharged and acquitted by the courts for lack of evidence to link them with last year's riots," he said.

The sect, also known as the Nigerian Taliban, had fought for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria, whose 150 million population is divided roughly in half between Christians and Muslims.

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English -- world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse]

Nigeria: Borno State Police Arrest 10 Suspected Members of Islamic Sect

AFP20100915565001 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 15 Sep 10

[Report by James Bwala: "10 Boko Haram Suspects Arrested in Borno"]

Following the jailbreak in Bauchi and the release of over 700 inmates by members of the Boko Haram sect, the police in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital have arrested 10 suspected members of the sect, who were said to have allegedly attacked and killed nine policemen and ward heads in Maiduguri and Bama in Borno State.

Even though the suspects were not found with any arms and ammunition, one Jidda, who is still at large, was said to have been involved in the production of local arms and ammunition for the Boko Haram sect members.

The state Commissioner of police, Ibrahim Abudu, in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri, at the police headquarters, disclosed that the 10 suspects were picked up and arrested at the weekend in Gomari, Gwange, Limanti and Bulunkutu wards of the Maiduguri metropolis.

He said that all the suspects confessed to the police that they actively participated in the attacks and killings of policemen and ward heads in the had Maiduguri metropolis.

On the arrest of two inmates who escaped from the Bauchi prison, he said: "The joint police and military task force on security, Operation Flush II was on routine stop and search in Maiduguri, when the two Boko Haram suspects were picked up last Sunday, four days after they escaped from the Bauchi prison."

He said with the restrictions on the move ment of motorcyclists from 6pm-7am in the state, the police intensified the 'stop and search of all vehicles and motorcycles at strategic locations in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

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

Nigeria: 283 Escapees From Bauchi Prison Return

AFP20100918606009 Kaduna New Nigeria in English 16 Sep 10 p 2

[Report by Rabiu Sambo: "Bauchi Prison Break: 283 Escapees Return"]

About 283 prison inmates that escaped from the jail break alleged to be initiated by the suspected Boko Haram members in Bauchi have returned to the prison to continue their various sentences.

This was revealed by the Comptroller of the prison, Muhammad Ahmad in an interview with newsmen in Bauchi yesterday. Some of the returnees were those that have nearly completed their terms and those rated as good behaved.

Meanwhile the Bauchi state governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda has directed security agencies in the state to commence a house-to-house manhunt of all suspected Boko Haram members. Yuguda, who gave the directive in an interview with newsmen in Bauchi, said the exercise would continue until all suspected members of the Boko Haram sect are fished out and arrested.

He said members of the Boko Haram sect who killed and maimed innocent citizens without any moral justification for doing so, will be punished for their sinful acts and that this time around they will not escape.

"We are embarking on this exercise because the members of this sect must be brought to justice. We cannot fold our arms and allow these people continue to disrupt the peace of the state. We want issues regarding crisis to cease in this state and if they say we will know no peace, they too will not experience peace," the governor said. The governor also gave the assurance that the recent unfortunate invasion of Bauchi prison by the sect members would never repeat itself in the state, adding that the recent episode took everybody unawares. He appealed to the federal government to assist the state in its determination to flush out all suspected Boko Haram members residing in and outside the state, stressing that it is the responsibility of the government to provide security of lives and property.