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

Ogar further stated that the suspect claimed the threat messages he sent to Justice Sabo Adamu were scripted and relayed to him by the lawmaker and that the text led to the eventual relocation of the tribunal from Maiduguri to Abuja. The suspect, she said, had also claimed that the legislator had promised to send him some telephone numbers of members of the Galtimari-led committee on security in the North-East before he was apprehended. Similarly, the number and content of the text message sent to the attorney-general of the federation [AFG] and minister of justice, the suspect said, were also given to him by the legislator in order to compel him [AGF] to influence the judgment of the tribunal against Governor Shettima.

She said: "Analysis of Al-Zawahiri’s phone has confirmed constant communication between him and the legislator," even as she reiterated the service commitment to addressing the current threats posed by the Boko Haram sect and similar groups in the country including dimensions of political patronage and sponsorship of such violent groups. In a related development, about 13 suspects have been arrested by the Joint Task Force [JTF] over the Yobe State bombing in early November where over 65 people were killed. The committee of Joint Security Information Managers made this known yesterday in Abuja just as it revealed that 750 illegal refineries have been destroyed by the JTF in Niger Delta Region.

The spokesman of the committee, Navy Commodore Kabiru Aliyu, who briefed journalists, disclosed that the suicide bombing that was targeted at the security personnel on November 4, 2011 was aborted as a result of tight security in Maiduguri by the JTF and other security agencies, while all the suicide bombers died in the failed attempt. He added that, the 13 suspects arrested were currently being held in a detention facility within the country, while mopping up operation of illegally acquired arms, ammunition and improvised explosive devices is ongoing and yielding positive results.

He made it clear that the state of insecurity in Borno and Yobe States as painted by some section of the media was not the true reflection of the situation on ground, saying that normalcy had since returned to these areas and people were going about their normal businesses. He added that though there were still some reported cases of crimes, he said the issues were being addressed.

The spokesperson of the committee said that it was not true that two soldiers were killed in Maiduguri, adding that the JTF did not lose any of its soldiers in the said attack, and commended the good people of Borno State for their resilience in the face of mindless attack by terrorists and other criminal elements in the society.

He also acknowledged that there had been remarkable improvement in the passage of information by members of the public to the security agencies, stressing that they were confident that their collaborative efforts in this fight would usher in sustainable peace and security in the country. Acknowledging the commitment of the Joint Task Force [Operation Restore Hope] in the Niger Delta, and the support of government, he said the problem of insurgency in that area had been laid to rest, adding however, that the main issue was the economic survival of the country. Commodore Aliyu announced that in the last three months, the JTF had continued to intensify its operations against criminals who involve in operating illegal refineries, as well as crude oil thieves and petroleum pipeline vandals.

He disclosed that within a period of three months, the JTF arrested 85 suspects, three vessels, namely: MV Victor I, MV Omiesam and MV Zia, while the suspects and vessels were arrested in connection with illegal dealings in crude oil and illegally refined petroleum products of which the JTF destroyed over 750 illegal refineries. He also announced that the suspension of operations around Imo River by a major oil producing company also drew the attention of the JTF to the area while in the ensuing operation by the JTF, over 100 barges of various sizes and quantities of stolen and illegally refined petroleum products were destroyed on the spot. The spokesperson added that even though no arrest was made, the JTF is determined to sustain the ongoing operation until these crimes are drastically reduced, if not totally eliminated.

On the Plateau situation, Commodore Aliyu noted that for the past few months, the security situation in lateau State has been significantly calm, as law and order are gradually returning to the state as the incidence of wanton destruction of lives and properties has been brought under firm control by the Special Task Force on ground. He added that to further consolidate on its overall mission of bringing about peace and security in the state, the Special Task Force, under the supervision of the Chief of Defense Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin has within the period organized several peace meetings with various community leaders and heads.

Also, the special task force presence on the streets has remained conspicuous as it has maintained active patrols throughout its area of responsibility to ensure the sustenance of peace, but added that in spite of these efforts, there are still pockets of reported cases of armed robbery attacks, car snatching arrests and recovery of arms and ammunitions. Answering questions on the presence of foreign security operatives assisting their Nigerian counterparts in the war against Boko Haram, the director of defense information, Colonel Muhammad Yerima said that the Defense Headquarters is not aware of any foreign security operatives in Nigeria.

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

Nigeria: Boko Haram 'Spokesman' Claims Al-Qa'ida Links

AFP20111124646026 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1347 GMT 24 Nov 11

["Boko Haram 'spokesman' claims Al-Qaeda links"]

KANO, Nigeria, Nov 24, 2011 (AFP) - A purported spokesman for Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed on Thursday that the group, blamed for attacks including the suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Nigeria, has links with Al-Qaeda.

"It is true we have links with Al-Qaeda," the man identifying himself as Abul Qaqa told reporters in a phone conference in the Hausa language spoken throughout Nigeria's mainly Muslim north. "They assist us and we assist them."

Abul Qaqa has claimed to speak on behalf of Boko Haram on a number of previous occasions. He did not provide further details on the supposed link.

There has long been speculation, particularly among Western nations, over whether Boko Haram has formed links with outside extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda's north African branch.

Boko Haram has carried out scores of attacks in Nigeria, including the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja that killed at least 24 people.

The group is believed to have a number of factions with varying aims. Nigeria's secret police alleged this week that some Boko Haram members have links to politicians following the arrest of another alleged spokesman for the group.

Abul Qaqa refuted the secret police claims during the phone conference.

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

Nigeria: Islamic Sect Pledges To Attack Offices of Political Parties Nationwide

AFP20111125565001 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 2300 GMT 24 Nov 11

[Report by Lemmy Ughegbe, Njadvara Musa and Isa Abdulsalami: "20 Die in Fresh Plateau Crisis; Boko Haram Disowns Ndume, Sheriff, Konduga, Threatens More Attacks"]

Fresh violence in Plateau State yesterday led to the death of 20 people and the destruction of property as Berom natives and Fulani herdsmen clashed at the Barkin Ladi Local Council of the state.

And from the fundamentalist Islamic sect Boko Haram came yesterday what was far from a whimper of a cringing, defeated foe. It was rather an expression of a steely resolve yesterday as the sect vowed to attack the offices of political parties nationwide.

In the sect's first public statement since the court convicted its alleged spokesman, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, it denied any links with politicians and disowned Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff and Konduga.

The conviction of Konduga on Tuesday was expected to weaken the sect. But from indications yesterday, that expectation is far-fetched.

Speaking in a phone interview with reporters yesterday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) press centre in Maiduguri, a spokesman of the sect, Abu Darda said: "What we have been reading on the pages of newspapers, are not true, because the State Security Service (SSS) is employing Ali Sanda Umar Konduga to smear the image and reputation of the sect by associating its activities and members with politicians and parties in the country."

He said that the association of the sect with politicians and political parties was against Islam and the full implementation of the Sharia legal system in the 12 states in the North.

He said that to prevent further association of the sect with politicians and their parties, the sect would attack all political party's buildings at the federal and ward levels in the North. It further warned that failure to revoke the agreements on renting out such offices could lead to the possible assassination of their owners by the sect before the end of this week.

The Special Adviser to the Plateau State Governor on Media, Mr. Pam Ayuba said that one Inspector of Police who was dressing for work at Barkin Ladi Police Division was shot dead in his house. A councilor, Pam Choji Pam, lost four children and his car to the violence.

Since the security agencies could not just shoot at people at random especially when the two warring sides refused to sheathe their swords, the Special Task Force (STF) immediately imposed a 24-hour curfew on Barkin Ladi until further notice.

A brief statement by the STF spokesman, Captain Charles Ekeocha, said the measure had become necessary in order to forestall further destruction of lives and property. "Lives have been lost. Houses have been burnt. The casualty figure and the number of burnt houses are not yet known. Residents of Barkin Ladi, by this curfew, are advised to remain indoors as STF has taken this measure to prevent further loss of lives and property," he said.

Yesterday's attack was a fall-out of the Sunday attack where about seven people were killed in Razat village of the same Barkin Ladi. There has been tension since that incident.

According to a resident in Barkin Ladi, "I saw armed civilians in the morning who mobilised themselves and stormed the town. They started burning houses and killing people they met on the road. I don't know who the people are. But right now, Fulani people are mobilising themselves towards Gashish and Kurra Falls villages in Barkin Ladi. One Islamiyya school in Barkin Ladi, which belongs to the Hausa/Fulani, was burnt while about three churches were also burnt."

The Commander of the STF, Maj.-Gen. Olayinka Oshinowo, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni and other security chiefs have shifted their offices to Barkin Ladi. Cars and pedestrians going to the town were all turned back because of the curfew.

It was also gathered that the government's project, African Training Centre (ATC) was nearly burnt by the hoodlums but were prevented while a mobile policeman was allegedly wounded in the encounter.

An eyewitness said that since Sunday, there had been an upsurge of indiscriminate stabbing of people l eading to heightened tension. People were witnessing casualties being carried to the hospital, prompting questions as to where the dead were coming from.

According to the eyewitness, "on Wednesday, two people who rode on a motorcycle on Barkin Ladi Road shot at three passers-by, killing two and wounding one while a stray bullet hit a man who went to charge his cell phone nearby."

Although the STF spokesman said that there was an uncountable number of burnt houses, the casualties were not as many as burnt houses. The Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent Apev Jacob said that he did not have the details about what happened in Barkin Ladi because he had not been briefed.

But Ayeni said that "there is an emergency."

Briefing journalists yesterday evening, Commissioner for Information, Mr. Yiljap Abraham, said that casualty figures were still being collated and would be made known at the end. He added that 60 arrested hoodlums had been brought to Jos, pointing out that the cause of the attack was still being investigated.

He disclosed that the Police Inspector who was killed was Dalyop Pinda.

Meanwhile, the trial of Shuaibu Abubakar and five others accused of complicity in the bombing of the Suleja Office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been adjourned till today.

At the resumed trial, a former suspected member of Boko Haram, Ahmed Hassan Ezimakor, revealed how he assisted six members of the sect to procure detonators and cables allegedly used for the bombing of INEC and the All Christians Fellowship Mission also in Suleja, Niger State.

Another witness, Mohammed Dalhatu also known as Zimbo also testified before Justice Bilkisu Aliyu that he procured the detonators and delivered them to Malam Shuaibu Abubakar who is the first accused person.

Under cross-examination, Malam Dalhatu, however, told the court that he did not know the purpose for which the detonators and cables were bought by Abubakar and the five other accused persons.

Eleven people, mostly National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members died in the bomb explosion at INEC's Suleja office on April 8, 2011.

[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/]

French Commentary Notes AQIM's 'Inexorable Expansion' in Sahel Region

EUP20111125029012 Paris Le Figaro in French 25 Nov 11

[Commentary by Thierry Oberle: "The Inexorable Expansion of Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb"]

The kidnapping of two French nationals at a location near the area where Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is active has brought back to the forefront a terrorist organization that seems to have experienced a period of hibernation during the Libyan revolution. No action against Westerners had been reported since the capture in January of two young French nationals at a bar in Niamey, Niger. That kidnapping ended in the hostages' death during an assault carried out by French special forces to prevent the kidnappers from reaching their safe haven in Mali.

AQIM, which has several hundred combatants grouped into katibas (columns,) however pursued a discreet but very real expansion in the Sahel during the fighting between Al-Qadhafi supporters and the rebels of the TNC [Transitional National Council]. Its leaders have tried to do develop their strategic depth debts by forging alliances in black Africa. Ties have been established with the extremists of the Boko Haram Islamist sect, present in northern Nigeria, where recurrent clashes take place between Muslims and Christians. Corridors have been established to Somalia, which is prey to civil war, and to Senegal to facilitate the cocaine trade, one of AQIM's sources of revenue.

The war in Libya has been a most welcome a windfall with a view to strengthening its military capabilities and establishing political contacts. The looting of the former regime's weapon stockpiles has created prospects of an attack on an airliner above an airport in the region. A large quantity of portable ground-to-air Sam 7 missiles has disappeared. These weapons apparently sell for 500 euros each on the black market. The disappearance of stocks of explosives, and particularly Semtex, could also facilitate attacks on French interests. "The acquisition of armaments in Libya is entirely normal," Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of the leaders of AQIM's Sahel branch recently confirmed to a Mauritanian news agency.

Half-terrorists, half-bandits

Thanks to ransom payments, these jihadis, half-terrorists, half-bandits, have several tens of millions of euros to finance their arsenal. This money is also used to buy complicity among the population but also among officials. "In Mali, anything can be bought -- even a barracks-full of soldiers," according to one Sahel businessman. Groups travel in small convoys of vehicles across a territory larger than France. The Tessalit plateau in northern Mali is their currently impregnable stronghold. They have recently installed fixed armed bases there. But the combatants can travel freely from Chad to Mauritania, without hindrance.

In September 2010 seven people were kidnapped at Arlit, Areva's uranium extraction facility in northern Niger. Since then four French hostages -- Daniel Larribe, Thierry Dol, Pierre Legrand, and Mark Ferret -- have been held in the foothills of the Sahara. These prisoners are the subject of discreet negotiations. On Tuesday a former French soldier involved in these negotiations was shot in the shoulder in mysterious circumstances. AQIM is demanding, apart from the departure of French troops from Afghanistan, the release of armed Islamists in several countries and a ransom of 90 million euros. Yesterday's kidnapping could further complicate the equation.

[Description of Source: Paris Le Figaro in French -- leading center-right daily]

Nigeria: Politicians Flee From Borno State Following Islamic Sect' Threat

AFP20111126565003 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 26 Nov 11

[Report by James Bwala: "Boko Haram: Politicians Flee, Party Offices Deserted; Customs Impound Military Uniforms at Airport"]

Most politicians have fled their party offices in Borno State following a threat by members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, to attack all political party offices from national to states levels in the country.

Majority of the party offices in the state capital, Maiduguri, were deserted on Friday.

Saturday Tribune correspondent, who went round the offices, noted that the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) secretariat along Polo Road and former Governor Sheriff Campaign Office along Kumshe, which had always been a beehive of activities, had been deserted.

Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Wulari and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) office at Kofa Biyu where party supporters always converged on, witnessed an unusual calm except for the few old women selling groundnuts.

Some of them declined comments when our correspondent visited the place, while one lady simply told Saturday Tribune that, "You know why there are no people, because you are a journalist. What do you want us to tell you again? Everybody is aware of the reason. So, there is nothing to say."

A stalwart of ANPP in Maiduguri, who did not want his name in print, told Saturday Tribune that "You are in this state, you know that no political activity is going on. Therefore, it is usual that you cannot find anybody in the party offices now. When there is a political activity going on in the state, politicians and party supporters would have to be in the party offices, what you observed is not as a result of the threat, but a normal trend in political life circle."

But asked on whether the threat by Boko Haram meant anything to them, he said, "Let me tell you the truth, these our brothers, never mince words. So, if for anything, to comply is the beginning of wisdom, because nobody can tell anybody that is living in Borno State today what these people are capable of doing. We live in fear everyday because of their activities," he claimed.

It will be recalled that during a phone interview with journalists in Maiduguri, the spokesman of the sect, Abu Qaqa, said that whoever tried to stand on their way would surely die.

He also said that the sect had on their death list: President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark and former Information and Communications Minister, Professor Jerry Gana, amongst others.

Meanwhile, our correspondent also observed that some buildings in Bullumkuttu, Dala Alemderi, Kumshe, Gwange within the Maiduguri metropolis, which carried political party colours are beginning to wear a new look, as their owners had ordered re-painting of the properties in compliance with the warning by the sect on Thursday.

Many houses, where party flags were seen before the warning had gone down at half-mast or completely removed from poles.

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

Nigeria: Report Analyses Confession of Spokesman of Islamic Sect

AFP20111126565008 Isheri Nigerian Compass Online in English 2300 GMT 25 Nov 11

[Report by Emmanuel Enyinnaya Appolos: "Boko Haram:And the Plot Begins To Unfold"]

Emmanuel Enyinnaya Appolos, in this report, x-rays the confession of the spokesman of the Boko Haram that Senator Ali Ndume is one of the financiers of the Islamic terrorist group. He also ties the confession to the comment of President Goodluck Jonathan that the government knows those behind the bombings that have claimed hundreds of innocent souls in the Northern part of the country.

"Let me use this occasion to reassure Nigerians and members of the international community that we now have strong leads as to those involved in this terror war on Nigeria and Nigerians. I have directed security operatives to go after them no matter where they may be hiding.

"Also, I am using this opportunity to warn that those who choose to hide under our new freedom to perpetuate evil against our people shall have no hiding place.

"As President and Chief Security Officer of the nation, I will employ every means and instruments at my disposal to secure this nation against forces of evil which seek to divide and sabotage our country.

"There shall be no sacred cows in our efforts to expose, contain and defeat this network of terror. I have directed the review of our national security architecture to lay greater emphasis on intelligence and citizens' participation in security surveillance."

Those were the words of President Goodluck Jonathan, when he visited the premises of the United Nations (UN) building in Abuja, after it was bombed by members of the Northern-based Islamic group, known as Boko Haram.

Although Jonathan never told Nigerians those behind the Boko Haram and its terrorism activities, which he (Jonathan) said he knows, months after, the spokesman of the group, Ali Sada Umar Konduga, has named one person as an alleged sponsor of the gang. He is Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who is representing Borno South Senatorial District in the Senate.

Konduga, who is also known as Usman Al-Zawahiri, was paraded before the press in Abuja, last Monday, by the Department of State Security Service. He alleged that Ndume is not justly only one of the financiers of the Boko Haram, but that the Senator masterminded and scripted the threatening text messages he (Konduga) sent to some prominent Nigerians, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, among others.

After Konduga's confession, Ndume was immediately arrested by the operatives of the SSS and was charged to court on a one-count of felony the next day.

Now, the question is: With the latest development from Konduga's confession, and the earlier statement by Jonathan that the government knows those behind the killings of innocent people by Boko Haram, how ready is the Federal Government under the watch of Jonathan in the fight against terrorism?

Known or unknown to Jonathan that Ndume is part of the Boko Haram as alleged, he appointed him into the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North-East zone, headed by Ambassador Usman Gaji Galtimari. After the assignment, Ndume even granted interviews, urging the President to wake up in the fight against terrorists.