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

With that, they will stay out of trouble. This is the social aspect of it. If you go to the political angle, some politicians used them during elections. We have some big people backing them. Those people also believe that they can destabilize the government.

Then the religious aspect of it, this is where the Imans and Mallams who teach the Holy Koran should come in. These people have been brain-washed that they are fighting for Allah and that everything Western education is bad.

So, we must re-orientate them. The Islamic scholars have big job in their hands now for this country. If they are patriotic to this nation, they should move in now. I know that other Mallams are afraid to go into the matter seriously because of the dangers involved.

The security agents must rise to the occasion. It is not enough to start playing politics with security now. I noticed when I was governor that the State Security Service and the police hardly collaborate.

This is not the time for it. The office of the national security adviser must stand up and be useful. And the job of that office is the coordination of all the arms of security and the enforcement of all security laws is very necessary.

The politicians who are doing this should be fished out because they want to destabilize both the state and federal governments. Again, schools, skill acquisition centers should be opened everywhere. This is the reason why there is kidnapping everyday in the Southeast. Politicians recruit such people because they are idle.

Above all, the government and the elite should know that we are all sitting on a keg of gunpowder. If we do not do something to make majority of Nigerian people to be happy, things will go bad, we might lose Nigeria and we don’t pray for that.

The government must encourage education, it is a weapon against poverty, and it is a weapon against ignorance. Once you have gotten education, you have fought poverty, disease, and ignorance.

So, this is the cardinal thing. People should be treated for malaria free of charge and pregnant women must get the same free treatment. These are social security issues we need to tackle.

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

Nigeria: Borno Police Chief Says Task Force not Replacement for Police

AFP20110804686004 Port Harcourt The Tide in English 04 Aug 11 p 13

[Unattributed report: "JTF in Borno not Replacement for Police, Says Commissioner"]

The newly posted Commissioner of Police in Borno State, Simeon Midenda, on Wednesday said the police command would not be intimidated from carrying out its functions of protecting life and property, adding the police would defend themselves if they were attacked.

Speaking on Wednesday in Maiduguri at his maiden press briefing on the challenges of security in Borno State, Midenda said," We are not at war with anybody or group but we are empowered under the law to defend ourselves if attacked".

Midenda, who was posted to the state two weeks ago, also said that the Joint Task Force [JTF] drafted by the federal government to quell the Boko Haram insurgency was not a replacement for the police in the state.

The Police Commissioner stated that the police are still in charge of keeping law and order in the state, stressing that JTF, which is a conglomeration of all security outfits, including the police, was set up to tackle a specific task and once that is over, it will cease to exist.

"The police are important component in the JTF; we shall continue to play the roles expected of us in that regard as mandated by the federal government in restoring peace to Borno State. Our functions are beneficial to all; if people understand our duties as enshrined in the law, they would realize that it is pointless fighting us", he said.

The former Commissioner of Police in charge of Federal Operations urged every one in the state to assist the police to restore peace to the state. His words; "the challenges of safety of life and property in Borno State have been on the front burner for quite some time. That is the more reason we solicit the support and cooperation of everyone and every shade of opinion in our quest to provide a safe and secure environment for all and sundry".

Meanwhile the Borno State Police Command have arrested 14 suspected Islamists linked to bomb attacks on a church and police stations that killed 14 people early this week in Maiduguri.

Borno State police spokesman, Lawal Abdullahi confirmed the arrests and said on-going investigations would determine the level of complicity of the suspects in the attacks while the police are still on the lookout for other suspects. "We have made 14 arrests of suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect in connection with Tuesday’s attacks," declared Abdullahi.

Several bomb explosions and gunshots rocked the city on Tuesday in attacks suspected to have been staged by members of the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for other attacks targeting soldiers and policemen, community and religious leaders as well as politicians.

A Pentecostal pastor with the Church of Christ in Nigeria was among those killed in Tuesday's blasts while a Catholic Church targeted in the attacks was badly shattered.

The Tuesday blasts rocked the Borno fire service headquarters, Ramat Square parade ground and the central Dandal area of Maiduguri. The suspected Boko Haram members also attacked three police stations and hospital and sources said five bodies were brought in from one of them. "I am still receiving reports from the various divisions but I can confirm that Gwange and Dandal police stations have been attacked," Borno state police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi said.

Boko Haram sect launched an uprising a little less than two years ago, but it was brutally put down by security forces.

Members of the radical group, which says it wants a wider application of sharia in Nigeria, has carried out almost daily attacks in and around Maiduguri in recent months. An unnamed influential cleric critical of the sect was shot dead as he left a mosque in Biu, some 200 km south of Maiduguri, on Monday afternoon.

A spokesman for the group also claimed responsibility on local radio last week for co-ordinated bombs that killed at least 16 people.

The government and security agencies have made no public comment on who might have been behind the 29 May attacks beyond saying that investigations are underway.

[Description of Source: Port Harcourt The Tide in English -- Daily owned by the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation]

Nigeria: Muslim Brotherhood Frowns at Boko Haram's Stance on Western Education

AFP20110805606002 Abuja Leadership in English 04 Aug 11 p 2

[Report by Samuel Aruwan: "There's No Boko Haram in Islam - Muslim Group"]

The Association of Muslim Brotherhood of Nigeria [AMBON] has argued that there is no prohibition of Western education in Islam. In a communiqué issued in Kaduna at the end of its meeting, which was signed by its national president, Abu-sufyan Ibn Abubakar, and national publicity secretary,

Aminu Tahir Tinau, they said there was an urgent need to put across the true teaching of Islam to avoid misrepresentation. AMBON said: "First and foremost, the public, especially the Ummah, is not being fair to this group called Boko Haram. As for our own assessment, there is no Boko Haram in this country. Their concept must be understood. Let us all be fair in our utterances to them. And for Ulama, they should do their best in engaging them in discussions and understanding. They are our brothers. Let them be brought back to the correct Islamic religious teachings."

It further appealed to the sect to halt its violence on the nation and embrace peace and dialogue.

"Boko Haram which has become a menace to the people and security agents should sheathe their sword. While we appreciate the federal government's commitment to resolving the issue amicably by arresting and prosecuting security agents who carried out extra-judicial killing of the leader of the group and other members - which shows remorse by the government - the continued bombing of, most times, innocent citizens must be stopped and the group should accept the olive branch extended to them by the government in the spirit of Islam."

The communiqué also frowned at some practices they considered un-Islamic: "A new innovation which is now taking a new dimension is the Walima graduation of Islamiyya School. Instead of the normal call together of friends and relations for these occasions, it has reached a stage of sewing of dresses, which is now introduced, and groups now carry out their celebration. They go overboard in their excitement and happiness and, not only that, there is a tremendous waste of time, food and money

[Description of Source: Abuja Leadership in English - Privately owned daily]

Nigeria: Report Says Suspected Islamic Sect Members Arrested in Niger State

AFP20110808581009 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 08 Aug 11

[Report by Taiwo Adisa: "SSS Arrests Lagos-Based Boko Haram Kingpin in Minna"]

Some operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) were said to have swooped on key chieftains of the dreaded Boko Haram sect in Minna, Niger State at the weekend where they effected the arrest of seven chieftains.

It was gathered that the lead suspect is a Lagos-based businessman, whose name was given as Yusuff.

He was said to have made Minna his operational base in recent times and was said to have been present in the state on two occasions when bombs went off in Suleja.

Sources in the administration told the Nigerian Tribune that six other loyalists of the said kingpin were arrested in a swoop by the security forces.

Sources further confirmed that serious surveillance had been mounted on the said Yusuff for sometime now, especially when it was confirmed that his visits to Niger State coincided with the two bomb blasts that rocked the state in recent past.

"The man claims to be a businessman in Lagos but he comes into Niger State on occasions. In recent times, his lifestyle has changed and he was around in the state during the bomb blast in Suleja before the election and the one that happened recently in a church," a source said.

The arrest was said to have been effected on Saturday, with six others linked to the Boko Haram sect also arrested the same day in the state.

The suspect is said to have been linked with another highly placed person, whose identity is being kept under wraps, a source said.

"The said Yusuff is usually in the state when bombs explode and he promptly returns to Lagos afterwards, so people watched him overtime and they discovered some strange movements. The close watch led to the arrest of the kingpin and six others," a source stated.

It was learnt that security chiefs have commenced further investigations to possibly link the man with operations of Boko Haram not only in Niger State but across the states of the North.

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

Bomb Blast Wounds Four Policemen in Northern Nigerian City of Bauchi

AFP20110808539003 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1144 GMT 08 Aug 11

["Blast Wounds Policemen in Northern Nigeria" -- AFP headline]

KANO, Nigeria, Aug 8, 2011 (AFP) - A bomb blast near a patrol team wounded four policemen in the violence-hit Nigerian city of Bauchi, where suspected Islamists have launched a string of attacks, a Red Cross official said Monday.

"The bomb, which from all indications was planted along the pavement close to where a police patrol van was stationed, went off and four policemen on duty were injured from shrapnel," Adamu Abubakar told AFP.

He said the incident happened around 11:30 pm on Sunday around Bauchi's central market and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in northern Nigeria in recent months.

Bauchi state police spokesman Mohammed Barau said a policeman and a bystander were injured in a separate attack on Saturday when gunmen opened fire on a patrol team in the city.

"A joint military-police patrol team was ambushed in the Dutsen Tenshi area of the city by unknown gunmen who opened fire on them, injuring a policeman and a bystander," he said.

He said no arrest was made as the attackers quickly fled the area, notorious for allegedly harbouring members of the radical Islamist Boko Haram sect, which launched a failed uprising in 2009 brutally put down by the military.

Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of deadly bomb attacks and shootings in recent months, most of which have occurred in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

In July, police raided a house in the Dutsen Tenshi area said to be a hideout for sect members, killing three and recovering arms.

Boko Haram staged a prison raid in September last year in Bauchi, freeing more than 700 inmates, and claimed to be behind bomb attacks on an open air beer garden at a military barracks on May 29 when President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in.

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

Religious Leader Urges Nigeria To Resolve Islamic Sect Crisis Through Dialogue

AFP20110809598005 Lagos This Day Online in English 09 Aug 11

[Report by Mohammed Aminu: "Boko Haram: Sultan Advocates Dialogue"]

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar 111, has called on the Federal Government to identify individuals behind the Boko Haram debacle and engage them in dialogue with a view to resolving the issue.

Speaking during a dinner with journalists in his palace in Sokoto on Sunday, the monarch maintained that by identifying the leadership of the sect, it would enable the Committee on Security Challenges in the North-east set up recently by government to urge the military and the sect to stop hostilities and embrace dialogue.

He noted that many innocent people were killed in Borno State in the last few months, pointing out that, dialogue is very critical because even wars are fought to keep peace.

The monarch chided those individuals who are calling on the federal government not to dialogue with the sect, saying they don't want peace to reign in the country.

According to him, the situation in Borno is very complex because those behind the violence are not known and as such the onus is on the committee to look out for the leadership of the sect and engage them in talks in order to identify their demands.

"The situation in Borno is very complex; you cannot dialogue with somebody you don't know, so the committee should look out for the leadership of the sect and find out what are their terms. They should try to find who are their leaders and spokesmen and reach an accord with them in order to have a ceasefire,'

"In fact, the committee should find a way to appeal to the leadership of the sect to stop bombing and come out from their hiding place while the Joint Task Force should also ceasefire in order to stop the bloodshed. Talking is very important and is critical to finding an amicable solution to the violence," the monarch advised.

The Sultan observed that field operation was the most difficult aspect of military operations due to the fact that the members of the religious sect are not known.

He described the wanton killing of innocent citizens as pathetic and stressed the need for the JTF to adhere to the rules of engagement in order to minimise casualties.

On Islamic banking, the monarch emphasised that most people are struggling to meet up with their basic needs and lack the money to patronise such banks.

He described Islamic banking as an economic venture and wondered why Nigerians are dissipating their energy on the matter while at the same time ignoring myriad of problems bedeviling the polity.

"We have a lot of problems and most people cannot even have three square meals. There are problems of electricity, lack of food, poverty and increase in price of food items. Let us face the real problems and try to tackle them. Forget about Islamic banking, catholic banking or Jewish banking and leave it to those who want it,"

"Actually, I don't see it as any issue that will generate controversy and what I know is that so many political leaders who happen to be Christians are not even against Islamic banking," the monarch averred.

He, therefore, urged journalists to be professional and patriotic while discharging their assignments by refraining from acts capable of tarnishing the image of the country.

The Sultan added that the role of the media is very critical in the economy of any nation, hence the need for journalists to avoid reports that will create disharmony and conflict in the polity.

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

Residents of Nigeria's Northern City of Kano Discover Bomb Near Pub

AFP20110810642004 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1048 GMT 10 Aug 11

[AFP headline: "Bomb found in Nigerian city causes stampede"]

KANO, Nigeria, Aug 10, 2011 (AFP) - The discovery of a bomb led to a stampede in an area of the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi, but authorities were able to defuse it before it exploded, police said Wednesday.

Residents discovered the bomb planted on a street near an open-air pub on Tuesday, causing people to flee in panic, Bauchi state police commissioner Ikechukwu Ayo Aduba said.

Bauchi has been hit by a string of attacks blamed on an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.

"It was a time-bomb device made from an air-conditioning compressor," Aduba said, adding that it could have caused a powerful explosion.

"We still do not know who was behind the bomb and for what motive because no arrest has been made."

A bomb blast targeting a police patrol team in the city injured five policemen on Sunday night, according to Aduba. A Red Cross official had earlier told AFP four policemen were injured.

Unknown gunmen also ambushed a joint military-police patrol team Saturday night, injuring a policeman and a bystander before fleeing, said the police commissioner.

The ambush was launched in an area reputed to have been a hideout for Boko Haram members, but the police commissioner said it was too early to say who was behind the attacks.

Most attacks blamed on Boko Haram have occurred in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, but the sect has also been active in Bauchi.

It claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a beer garden in a military barracks in the city on the day of President Goodluck Jonathan's inauguration in May which killed 13 people and injured 30 others.

The sect was behind a prison attack in the city in September last year, freeing more than 700 inmates, including around 100 of its members.

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

Riots Break Out in Northern Nigerian Town After Military Shooting of Woman

AFP20110811309001 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 2159 GMT 10 Aug 11

["Rioting hits northern Nigerian town after woman shot" -- AFP headline]

KANO, Nigeria, Aug 10, 2011 (AFP) - Riots broke out in a northern Nigerian town on Wednesday after soldiers were accused of shooting a protester, with churches and the traditional leader's palace set alight, residents said.

The riot in the town of Biu followed a protest over the arrest of several teachers from an Islamic school on suspicion of belonging to an Islamist sect that has been blamed for scores of attacks, residents said.

"The soldiers then began shooting into the air to disperse the protesters outside the palace," said one of the residents, Babagana Ali. "A bullet hit a woman in the head. She died instantly, but her two-year-old baby survived."

Another woman was shot in the shoulder and taken to hospital, he said. According to Ali, the protesters numbered around 1,500.

Protesters further angered over the shooting set part of the emir's palace ablaze and burnt two nearby churches, he said. Part of a local government building also burned.

One of those arrested, Abubakar Ibrahim Musa, said a total of seven teachers were detained by soldiers on Wednesday morning.

"We were told at the barracks that we were arrested because some of us were suspected of belonging to Boko Haram sect," he said by phone.

"They said it was not expedient to pick the suspects from among us at the school but to bring all of us along and sift the suspects and release those of us not on the list."

Three of the teachers, including Musa, were later released and brought to the emir's palace to "douse tension," he said, while the other four remained in custody.

A military spokesman in Maiduguri, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Biu, said he received "information from Biu that a woman was shot and killed during a protest which led to rioting by residents in which the palace of the emir was affected."

The spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed, however said the town was outside his jurisdiction and referred further questions to his counterparts in the Biu area. A military spokesman there declined comment.

The country's northeast has been hit by scores of attacks blamed on the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram. Most of the attacks have occurred in Maiduguri, but a number have also taken place in Biu.

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

Unknown Armed Men Kill Prominent Muslim Cleric in North-Eastern Nigeria

AFP20110813678011 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1528 GMT 13 Aug 11

[AFP Headline -- "Prominent Muslim cleric assassinated in Nigeria: residents"]

KANO, Nigeria, Aug 13, 2011 (AFP) - Gunmen suspected to be members of an Islamist sect have shot dead a prominent Muslim cleric in Nigeria's northeast, hit by scores of attacks blamed on the extremists, residents said Saturday.

A military official said they had received word of the Friday night attack in the town of Gamboru Ngala, near the border with Cameroon, but could not yet comment since a full report had not yet been made.

The cleric, Liman Baana Ngala, was the former chief imam for the town. He was said to have been resting outside his home after breaking his Ramadan fast on Friday night when two motorcycle-riding gunmen arrived.

"One of them approached the cleric who was sitting outside his house and, after a short conversation, he shot him twice before fleeing," said resident Hafiz Ahmad.

Referring to the Islamist sect, he said, "from all indications, it is the usual Boko Haram attack."

Another resident gave a similar account of the shooting. It was unclear why the cleric would have been targeted.

The sect has been blamed for scores of bomb blasts and shootings in Nigeria's northeast. Such attacks have targeted figures of authority, including police, politicians and soldiers, as well as religious and community leaders.

It claims to be fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of some 150 million people roughly divided in half between Christians and Muslims.

Nigeria's government recently inaugurated a committee to look into the violence in the northeast and recommend solutions, including whether to negotiate with the sect.

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

Nigeria: Suspected Islamic Sect Gunmen Kill Cleric in Borno State