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

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

Nigeria: Specialist Comments on Possible Link Between Boko Haram, Niger, AQIM

AFP20110825617001 London BBC World Service in English 1706 GMT 24 Aug 11

[From "Focus on Africa" hosted by Peter Okwoche]

[Okwoche]There are reports that the Islamist militant group operating out of Nigeria, Boko Haram, is spreading into neighboring Niger and forging links with Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Maghreb. To find out what this means for the region, I spoke to Ali Bahaijoub, who edits North-South Magazine and is an analyst on Islamic militancy. I asked him why Boko Haram would want to move into Niger.

[Begin recording] [Bahaijoub] Niger, actually, is part of the Sahel region and the Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb actually operates in the Sahel region and Niger and Chad are parts of that region and it is a vast territory as big asthe size of Europe and it is uncontrollable by any of the neighboring states. It is more or less just desert. And of course, to them, it gives them the opportunity to hide whatever they want and of course, to expand in any in any neighboring countries. So, we are talking here about Mauritania, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Mali -- all of them are affected by the operations of Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb.

[Okwoche] And you mentioned this connection with Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb. I mean, should this be taken seriously?

[Bahaijoub] Well, of course. They have been kidnapping a lot of foreigners going in the area, in Mauritania, in Mali, in Niger, in southern Algeria, in southern Tunisia as well. They are actually expanding and apparently, they are trying to link their activities with the Al-Shabab in Somalia who are now obviously growing in size and growing in activity as well. So, that is a threat, not only to Nigeria but the whole region and particularly to the surrounding countries of the Sahel region which has been rather uncontrollable and a vast region that needs the cooperation of all the states concerned to make sure that their expansion is actually nipped in the bud.

[Okwoche] I mean, the reason why I asked you whether this connection should be taken seriously is because, I mean really, Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Maghreb, when you hear about them, okay, they have kidnapped one or two or three people or even four people in the last one year - you talked about Al-Shabab has now been driven out of Mogadishu. I mean, when we hear about the things that go on in Pakistan and Afghanistan concerning Al-Qa'ida, surely, it is not the same in the Sahel region.

[Bahaijoub] That is true. It is not the same, but their activities are actually expanding because of their disenchantment with the local authorities, and particularly in the Sahel and they have grievances against the authorities and these grievances are actually being marginalized. Nobody is answering them and as long as their grievances have not been met with any satisfaction or any positive response from the local authorities, their activities will just grow and grow.

[Okwoche] Now, we have all been witnesses, since the beginning of the year, to the Arab spring. I am talking about the events in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Do you think these revolutions would have strengthened Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Maghreb or weakened it?

[Bahaijoub] Actually, it has weakened it because these revolutions are initiated by the younger generation. The younger generation, all they are asking for is freedom of expression, freedom of movement, and democratic principles to be implemented by their leaders. Al-Qa'ida, actually, has been eclipsed and even the Islamic radicals, who, in the past, posed a threat to the regimes in North Africa and the Middle East, they have been totally eclipsed by the younger generation and the adults, obviously, will eventually get on the band wagon when the elections take place in Egypt or in Tunisia. [end recording]

[Okwoche] That is Ali Bahaijoub, the editor of North-South Magazine.

[Description of Source: London BBC World Service in English -- External radio service of the United Kingdom's public service broadcaster]

Nigeria: Suspected Islamic Sect Members Reportedly Kill 32 in Adamawa State

AFP20110826581011 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 2300 GMT 25 Aug 11

[Report by Abiodun Fagbemi and Emmanuel Ande: "Banker, 31 Others Feared Killed by Boko Haram in Adamawa; Robbers Attack Kwara Bank, Kill Student"]

Barely two months after suspected members of Boko Haram sect threatened to attack Adamawa State, the group yesterday carried out the threat as its members attacked Gombi Local Council headquarters, allegedly killing 32 people, including a bank manager and several police officers.

The incident occurred as more than15 suspected armed robbers allegedly swooped on two second generation banks in Offa, Kwara State, killing a student customer who had gone to the bank to withdraw N1, 000 with an ATM card.

The sect members carried out the attack at the same hour.

Governor Murtala Nyako was donating relief materials to Boko Haram victims in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

An eyewitness told The Guardian that the suspected Boko Haram members invaded the Gombi Council headquarters in four buses and launched their first attack on the police station, where several police officers and personnel were killed. The eyewitness maintained that the group seized arms at the Gombi police headquarters. The Guardian further gathered that the group moved to the bank in Gombi and killed the manager and others for notreciting a portion of the holy quoran.

Sources at the bank told The Guardian that when the suspected Boko Haram invaded the bank, they killed those that failed to recite a particular portion in the holy quoran as they directed their victims.

It was learnt that the hoodlums, after their bloody operation at the bank, moved to another bank, but they could not gain access into premises as a result of the security doors installed by the bank.

Adamawa State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Daniel Altine, confirmed the incident, but said that the command was yet to receive the details of the attack in Gombi.

The PPRO promised to call back for more details, but did not call at the time this report was filed.

The robbers in Kwara said to be in their 30s, shot sporadically into the air with sophisticated guns to scare customers by the gate of the banks along Ibrahim Taiwo Road and passers by, moving into the banking halls in a commando-like manner.

More than seven customers of the banks were seriously injured in the operation that lasted for over 50 minutes, according to an eyewitness accounts. The security operatives stationed at the banks, afraid of the superior firepower of the robbers, were said to have taken "cover" throughout the duration of the operation.

The incident said to have occurred between 11:30 am and 12:20 noon, allegedly turned the scene a hitherto beehive of activities into a deserted area.

[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: Deadly Bomb Blast Rocks UN Building in Abuja, Causes Heavy Damage

AFP20110826670008 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1128 GMT 26 Aug 11

["Deadly bomb blast rocks UN building in Nigeria capital" -- AFP headline]

ABUJA, Aug 26, 2011 (AFP) - A bomb rocked the UN building in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Friday, killing a number of people, leaving others trapped and causing heavy damage, officials and witnesses said.

Some witnesses reported that the bomb occurred after a suspect rammed a car through the front gate.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of bombings in recent months.

"A number of dead people and injured have been moved in ambulances to the hospital," police spokesman Yemi Ajayi said. "We don't have the exact figures yet and we don't want to guess."

A member of security personnel speaking on condition of anonymity spoke of "many dead."

"It looks like a suicide bombing," the source said at the scene. "A guy drove a Honda car, forced his way through the gate and rammed into the building, and then the bomb exploded."

One UN staff member said people were still trapped in the building that sustained heavy damage.

"I don't know what is going on. Many people are still trapped upstairs and we need a crane to bring people down," said the UN staffer who did not want to give her name.

Police said there was an explosion and UN officials said it was caused by a bomb.

"We spoke to our colleagues in Lagos, who confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb. But we have no further information for now," a UN spokeswoman in Geneva told AFP.

A spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs meanwhile told AFP that a colleague on site had sent an SMS message to say that the explosion "appears to have come from the gate entrance to the building."

The UN building is located in Abuja's diplomatic zone, not far from the US Embassy.

A bomb blast that rocked national police headquarters in Abuja in June was claimed by Boko Haram.

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

Nigeria: Islamic Sect Claims Responsibility for 26 Aug Bombing of UN Office

AFP20110826651003 Paris rfi.fr in Hausa 26 Aug 11

[Report by Awwal Janyau Ahmad: "Bomb Blast at UN Headquarters in Abuja"]

A bomb has exploded at the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. Authorities are still working to determine the number of casualties. Nigerian police have surrounded the UN headquarters, where the bomb exploded.

Reporters of RFI Hausa have revealed that emergency workers have been pulling out dead bodies from the damaged section of the building.

Meanwhile, the Islamic sect Boko Haram has informed Radio RFI that they are responsible for the attack.

[Description of Source: Paris rfi.fr in Hausa -- Website of the government-owned Radio France Internationale, under the management of the Ministry of Culture, aimed at an international audience; URL: http://www.rfi.fr/]

Alleged Islamic Sect 'Spokesman' Claims Deadly Attack on UN in Nigeria

AFP20110826678008 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1752 GMT 26 Aug 11

["Boko Haram 'spokesman' claims deadly attack on UN in Nigeria" -- AFP headline]

KANO, Nigeria, Aug 26, 2011 (AFP) - A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Nigerian Islamist group known as Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on UN headquarters in the country's capital Abuja Friday.

"Through the wisdom of Allah, we have launched the attack with absolute precision," the man who identified himself as Abu Darda said in a telephone call to AFP.

"The attack was carefully scripted and executed. We have said it several times that the UN is one of our prime targets."

The veracity of his claim could not be verified.

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

Nigeria: UN Deputy Chief Vows To Fight Terrorism as Death Tall Hits 23 in Abuja

AFP20110828539008 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1333 GMT 28 Aug 11

["UN Vows Terrorism Fight as Toll Hits 23 in Nigeria Bombing" -- AFP headline]

ABUJA, Aug 28, 2011 (AFP) - The UN's deputy chief met Nigeria's president Sunday after vowing a renewed fight against terrorism in the wake of a suicide bomb attack at the world body's headquarters here that killed at least 23.

Deputy UN Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro laid wreaths at the UN compound in Africa's most populous nation and made her way past crushed debris and what looked to be blood stains during a tour of the badly damaged building.

"It is a shocking incident," she said afterward. "This attack is against global peace. It is also against humanity because those who work here come from different countries."

She later visited victims at the national hospital and held talks with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Migiro said after her 20-minute meeting with Jonathan that "we are currently doing a thorough assessment of what happened and how it happened and how we should strengthen whatever measures we have that are of a security nature".

"We will never be deterred," she said.

Friday's attack that saw the bomber make his way through two gates at the heavily guarded compound before slamming his car into the entrance of the building was among the bloodiest targeting the UN globally.

Migiro said earlier that "this act of terrorism will only rekindle our resolve to fight terrorism in all of its ramifications".

Her trip came as the death toll climbed and the investigation into the bombing in Abuja deepened, with FBI agents from the United States and the UN's security chief also in the country.

UN spokesman Martin Dawes said the toll was now 23 dead with 81 wounded. Some 400 people with a variety of nationalities worked in the UN building.

Questions swirled over how the bomber managed to pass through two gates in the exit lane of the compound as well as over who was responsible for the blast in the continent's largest oil producer.

A purported spokesman for the Nigerian Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attack, but there has been no proof and police say they are considering all possibilities.

Analysts have cautioned that while at least one faction of the sect may indeed be involved, it was too early to draw any firm conclusions.

Boko Haram has previously focused on targeting symbols of Nigerian authority, but its attacks have grown increasingly sophisticated and concerns have grown over whether it has formed links with Al-Qaeda's north African branch or other extremist groups.

The United Nations had earlier said nine of its staff were among the dead and "many dozen hospitalised", but warned it was still assessing the toll.

"We have lost motivated, bright, selfless people who were working only for the good of Nigeria and the world," said Agathe Lawson, the UN's acting resident coordinator in Nigeria.

"Our priority now is to ensure those who are injured and the families of those who died are cared for."

She added that "our second and urgent priority is to ensure the UN operations continue. We will not be deterred in our mission to work to improve the lives of Nigerians. This is why we are here."

A bomb blast that rocked a car park at national police headquarters in Abuja in June and killed at least two people was claimed by Boko Haram. Police first said it was the result of a suicide blast before later retracting their statement, saying they could not be sure.

Most of the attacks blamed on the sect have occurred in the country's northeast, but a number have been carried out elsewhere, including the previous explosion in Abuja as well as several in Suleija near the capital.

The Islamist sect launched an uprising in 2009, put down by a brutal military assault that left hundreds dead.

It went dormant for about a year before re-emerging in 2010 with a series of assassinations of security personnel and politicians, as well as religious and community leaders.

Nigeria's 150 million population is roughly divided in half between a mainly Musli m north and predominately Christian south.

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

Nigeria: Group Says Islamic Sect's Attacks Aimed at Destabilizing Government

AFP20110829598007 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 2300 GMT 28 Aug 11

[Report by Kelvin Ebiri: "Boko Haram, Tool To Destabilise Govt, Says SSPA"]

The South South Peoples Assembly (SSPA) has described the fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, as a political tool in the hands of some powerful Nigerians who have resolved to destabilise President Goodluck Jonathan's government.

SSPA which is an umbrella body of people of the Niger Delta, cautioned all the sponsors of the recent spates of terrorism to bear in mind that those who stand to lose the most should not be the ones pushing the country to the brink.

Piqued by the bombing of the United Nations office in Abuja, a group, the Jonathan Project has canvassed the overhaul of the entire security structure in Nigeria due to the prevailing security challenges in the country.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday and endorsed by Amb. Mathew Mbu, Justice Karibi Whyte (rtd) and Dr. Kalada Iruenabere, SSPA described the terror tactics adopted by the Boko Haram sect as orchestrated plots by some disgruntled persons to make Nigeria ungovernable during the reign of President Jonathan.

They said: "Let all those sponsoring these acts of terrorism know that while it is easy to tell the beginning of a war, no one can tell its end. Those who stand to lose the most should not be the ones pushing this country to the brink."

The elder statesmen described the Boko Haram sect as a political tool in the hands of persons who they tagged "power merchants and economic parasites" who are merely seeking to achieve their earlier threat to destabilise the country.

An excerpt of the statement declared: "The SSPA does not believe that the Boko Haram of today is the offshoot of the one crushed by the Yar'Adua administration. Rather, we are convinced that the name has become a metaphor for a more sophisticated struggle for political power. We dare say that it is a tool in the hands of those who threatened to make this country ungovernable and those who lectured us on the inevitability of violent change in the heat of the struggle for the Jonathan presidency."

It continued: "Boko Haram cannot be pursuing a religious agenda, for, it should be obvious to its ideologues that exploding bombs in Abuja will do very little to advance the cause of its fanatical Islamic ideology. On the contrary, we are convinced that the group's agenda, which clearly is that of its urbane sponsors, is to make the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan unworkable."

SSPA commiserated with the United Nations, the Federal Government and families of those who lost their loved ones. The group charged President Jonathan to fish out those behind the dastardly attack and prosecute them.

While condemning the dastardly attack on the UN office in Abuja on Friday, the coordinator of the Jonathan Project, George Kerley said the overhaul of the security apparatus had become imperative to tackle the menace of Boko Haram sect.

"We call on our dear President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, who has showed great leadership at this time, and his National Security Adviser General Andrew Owoye Azazi to immediately activate the relevant security agencies to bring to book all those who perpetrated these dastardly acts. Security agencies who have refused to live up to the calling of the new order should be re-organised and re-structured. Corrupt members of such agencies should be brought to book immediately," Kerley said.

He noted that not too long ago, two members of the misguided Islamic sect were allowed to escape from a military facility. According to him, all those responsible for this grave breach of security in such a top level military facility should not be treated with levity.

According to him, the attack represents an affront to world peace and an attempt to undermine the efforts of the UN and the international community in their resolve to bring peace and unity to the world.

He suggested that all the masterminds of the Friday gruesome act should be punished appropriately. "They cannot be allowed to continue to maim and kill members of other families and then return to the comfort of the ir own families," he said.

[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: Abuja Attack by Boko Haram Underlines Threat to West Africa's Security

AFP20110829670001 Alexandria Maliweb in French 29 Aug 11

[Editorial by Adam Thiam, taken from Bamako's privately-owned French-language daily Le Republicain, close to the opposition National Renaissance Party, Parena: "Boko-Haram and AQIM: A Matter of Franchises"]

An out-of-control car with a fanatic at its wheel, dreaming of paradise while inflicting hell on others: deafening explosions, the same characteristic debris and smoke, followed by the signature. This time, it was neither the Global Al-Qa'ida nor its Sahelian franchise, but Boko Haram [education is sinful], the Muslim extremist movement that has declared a fight to the death against schooling, except for that based on the Koran.

A horrific toll: some 20 dead, dozens injured, plus trauma that takes time to heal for survivors of the butchery. It is true that, with 19 deaths, the United Nations in Abuja deserves far less pity than Baghdad, when the UN headquarters was blasted by a kamikaze attack, or Port au Prince, with the tragic losses inflicted by the earthquake. Nevertheless, despite its humanitarian purpose, the United Nations has become an out-of-the-ordinary jihadist target.

It is their response to what fundamentalists consider the militarization of the multilateral institution by Westerners, and America in particular. Another observation: Although AQIM [Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb] is a franchise, the operational relations between it and Boko Haram make the latter a dangerous protectorate in a Nigeria that is more than exposed, with the grinding poverty of its people, its corrupt elites, venal law enforcement forces, and a collective sense of racketeering that transcends understanding.

The Abuja attack proves that which we all feared: the regionalization of the jihadist virus with its unjust havoc. It is indeed the suicide attack method characteristic of Al-Qa'ida that Nigeria has just experienced for the second time, following the attack targeting the French Embassy in Nouakchott.

Inasmuch as the country headed by Jonathan Goodluck, who truly needs all his luck and forces to halt the scourge, never acts with moderation, it has also imported Somali expertise in piracy on the high seas. As is currently the case of a Cameroonian ship seized off Nigerian waters. Recent events in Nigeria are undeniably the source of additional worries about the security of West Africa.

[Description of Source: Alexandria Maliweb in French -- Independent US-based Malian web portal; URL: http://www.maliweb.net]

Observer Says Islamic Sect's Attack at UN HQs Show Future of Terrorism in Nigeria

AFP20110830492005 Pretoria Institute for Security Studies in English 29 Aug 11

[Commentary by Martin A. Ewi: "A New Phase for Boko Haram as UN Deplores Attacks in Abuja"]

Boko Haram's suicide attacks on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, last Friday, 26 August, which killed 19 people (9 of them UN staff) and injured scores of others, represent a new phase for the terror group that has become increasingly deadly in recent months. The history of Boko Haram is as illusive as the group itself and studies on the group remain inconclusive about its origins. According to some sources, the group has evolved from various efforts by extremist elements dating back to the 1940s through the end of the 1990s that sought to radicalise various segments of northern Nigeria.

It is largely believed that the current form of the group has evolved from the so called, 'Nigerian Taliban' founded in 2003, with foreign operatives from neighbouring countries such as Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The group went underground following a massive security crackdown by the then government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Boko Haram, which means Western education is profane or sinful is formally known as 'Jama'atu Ahlis-Sunnah Lidda'awati Wal Jihad'. It emerged in 2006 with the aims of establishing sharia all over Nigeria. It opposes secular governments and a Western system of education, which it believes is not founded on moral religious teachings.