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03 May 2012

Gunmen Attack Potiskum Cattle Market In Yobe State, Killing 34 People-AFP

 

An attack on a cattle market in northeastern city of Potiskum by gunmen armed with explosives has left at least 34 dead and the toll is likely to climb, an emergency source said on Thursday.

“Thirty-four bodies were deposited at the hospital,” the official said on condition of anonymity of the attack late Wednesday in Potiskum because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

He said the toll was likely to be more than 50 dead because families were also burying relatives’ bodies without bringing them to the hospital.

A gang of gunmen with explosives have attacked a cattle market in the city of Potiskum, burning it down and leaving a number of people dead, residents and police said Thursday.

The attack late Wednesday was said to be in reprisal for an incident earlier in the day, when the gang sought to rob the market but were fought off by traders who caught one of the attackers, a police source said.

The man who was caught was doused in petrol and a tyre was placed around his neck before he was burnt to death, according to the source and residents.

“There was an attack on Potiskum cattle market yesterday by suspected armed robbers who threw explosives and burnt down the market with all the livestock,” the police official said on condition of anonymity.

“It is too early to say how many people were affected in the attack, which happened at night.”

Residents reported seeing bodies being taken away, but the number of casualties was unclear.

(AFP)
caption: A chaotic scene after a militant attack in northern Nigeria

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03 May 2012

Honduras murders: Where life is cheap and funerals are free

By Linda Pressly BBC Radio 4, Crossing Continents

Ramon Varela's family and friends lowering the coffin into the ground

Honduras has the world’s highest homicide rate. Many victims are poor, which led one politician campaigning for election to make an unusual vote-winning promise – free funerals for anyone unable to give a loved-one a dignified burial. It worked.

Early one Saturday morning the phone rings at the People’s Funeral Service on a noisy main street in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.

On the phone is one of the workers from the city’s mortuary. A family needs help. Another young man was gunned down in the street the previous day, and his relatives do not have the cash to give him a decent funeral.

At the back of the building there is a stack of new coffins, some beige, some grey.

Ricardo Alvarez

“I found that people were being buried in plastic garbage bags”

Ricardo Alvarez Mayor of Tegucigalpa

Within hours, a black pick-up truck with Funeraria del Pueblo painted in orange on its sides is on its way to the mortuary, with an empty coffin on board.

The vehicle is also carrying a stand for the coffin, curtains and candles, and coffee and bread for mourners at the wake.

This will be held in the family’s local church, before 26-year-old Ramon Orlando Varela is buried in a plot also provided by the People’s Funeral Service.

It is a comprehensive service offered free of charge to the poor of the city by the office of the mayor of Tegucigalpa, Ricardo Alvarez.

“When I was campaigning to be mayor, nearly seven years ago, I found that people were being buried in plastic garbage bags,” he remembers.

“I said, ‘That cannot happen in my country, in my city.’ So I’ve been running the funeral service for the last six years, and this is my seventh year.”

Bar chart showing murder rates in selected countries

Tragically, this is a service that is needed now more than ever in Honduras.

Ramon Orlando Varela Ramon Orlando Varela had just dropped his children off at school when he was shot

The National Commission for Human Rights has calculated that there is a violent death every 74 minutes in this small nation of about eight million people.

Last year Honduras recorded the highest murder rate in the world, with 86 people killed for every 100,000 inhabitants, up from 82 in 2010.

In the UK the rate is just over one, in Mexico, 18.

The majority of those who die a violent death in Honduras – like Ramon – are killed with a gun.

But the reasons for the explosion of killings – almost a doubling of the murder rate since 2005 – are complex.

Graph showing murder rates in Central America

Corruption, gangs and guns have been around for decades.

In 2009, the coup against the government of President Manuel Zelaya brought a wave of political killings. And now Hondurans must contend with the presence of Mexican drug cartels that have pushed south and gained a foothold.

Why so many murders?

Six dead in a Honduran shooting
  • The 2009 coup brought a wave of political killings
  • Mexican drugs cartels now operate in Honduras
  • It’s estimated that 79% of all cocaine flights from South America to the US stop in Honduras
  • There is one gun in Honduras for every 10 people, according to the UN
  • Police corruption allows violent crime to go unpunished
  • Two-thirds of Hondurans live in poverty

No-one is safe. And activists, journalists and lawyers all continue to be the targets of assassins.

But it is not just victims of violence who are helped by the People’s Funeral Service.

Miguel Antonio Bueso Redondo arrives early one morning.

“My wife gave birth to twins by Caesarean section,” he says.

“We thought everything was fine, but then one of the babies was bleeding… The baby died.

“I didn’t have any money for a coffin… One of the nurses at the hospital told me about this service, and did all the paperwork for me. That’s why I’m here.”

After completing the formalities, Miguel Antonio leaves carrying a small white coffin on his shoulder.

The People’s Funeral Service is open every day, 24 hours a day. Calls come in day and night from the city’s mortuary, the hospital and from people who have heard about it from friends and relatives.

Eighteen staff work shifts, and there are two funeral homes. Both are equipped with everything families need for a wake which usually lasts 12-14 hours.

In the poor barrio of Los Laureles in the north of Tegucigalpa, the workers from the People’s Funeral Service carry Ramon’s coffin into the simple, wooden Evangelical church. Then they serve coffee to the many mourners who have gathered.

For Erica Fuentes, the mother of Ramon’s two daughters, the People’s Funeral Service has relieved her of a lot of stress – a private funeral service would cost around $1,000 (£620).

She was with Ramon when he was killed, and is struggling to come to terms with his death.

The hearse carrying Ramon's coffin

“We were coming back from dropping the girls at school when it happened,” she says. “I think Ramon was shot because of a mistake. At the time we were very close together, arm in arm, so maybe God helped me and saved me.”

The next day, the pick-up truck returns to Los Laureles to take Ramon’s body to the cemetery for the burial service.

Yoni Alexander Osorio Hernandez, one of the staff from the People’s Funeral Service, makes sure everything runs smoothly for the final journey.

“We also hurt for the families – especially because there is so much violence in our country.

“Most of the families who come to La Funeraria del Pueblo are very poor indeed.

“This is a service based on solidarity – solidarity with those families at a very difficult time for them

 

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03 May 2012

#Nigeria Accident: Driver found with N4m escapes

The money and Onyenora.
By May 3, 2012 by Eniola Akinkuotu

Christian Onyenora, the driver of a blue Honda Accord 2003 from which Federal Road Safety Corps recovered huge sums of money on Saturday, is presently on the run, police sources have said.

Onyenora was involved in an accident in the Badagry area of Lagos on Saturday. The FRSC, RS 2.11, Badagry Unit Command, on getting to the accident scene, recovered the sum of N4.09m.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Onyenora, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, was taken to the Badagry Police Division by FRSC officials where the money recovered was handed over to the Divisional Crime Officer, identified simply as Mr. Oni, a superintendent of police.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Onyenora, who complained of body pains as a result of the accident, was taken to Badagry General Hospital for check-up.

According to reliable sources, the police had yet to begin investigations on the source of the money found in the car.

A senior policeman, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said the driver was to be investigated for robbery.

The police were however shocked on Monday when on getting to the hospital to interrogate Onyenora, he was said to have fled.

Our source said, “When the driver was brought to the division, he was conscious but later started complaining that he was not feeling too well. So, we took him to the general hospital so that he could be checked in case he had internal bleeding.

“However, on Monday, when we got to the hospital, the medical staff told us that he had left the hospital. We were already suspecting him of robbery but we wanted to make sure he was in good health.

“He was probably pretending to be ill and had actually planned to escape all along. We have his picture and we have intensified the search.”

 

-The Punch

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03 May 2012
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Terrorism: IG orders CPs to secure media houses

Acting Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed
May 3, 2012 by Adelani Adepegba, Mustapha Salihu and Eniola Akinkuotu

Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, has directed all state commissioners of police to beefup security around media houses in the country.

This is just as the training of 100 policemen in the handling of Explosive Ordinance Disposal has begun.

The IG’s directive followed the threat by Boko Haram to attack PUNCH and some other South-based newspapers in the country.

The sect made the threat in a Youtube video on Tuesday, in which it justified last Friday’s suicide bomb attack on ThisDay Newspapers office in Jabi, Abuja.

Speaking at a dinner with crime correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday, Abubakar stated that the police would provide security for media outfits.

He also gave the assurance that efforts would be made to protect journalists from harm.

“I’m aware of the threat to media houses by the group of criminals causing trouble in parts of the country. I have directed all commissioners of police in charge of state commands to provide security for journalists and media houses. We won’t allow any harm to befall them,” the IG said.

He also vowed that security agencies would continue to combat terrorists in their areas of operation.

He urged Nigerians to support the security agencies in their efforts to deal with security threats across the country by providing useful information.

Also on Tuesday, the State Security Service said it was investigating the sect’s threat to attack media houses.

SSS Deputy Director, Media and Publicity, Marilyn Ogar, said the agency was working to thwart any plot against the media.

She dismissed the report of a bomb scare in Abuja on Tuesday, adding that the “stop and search” operation conducted on persons and vehicles by security agencies was a proactive measure led by the Brigade of Guards to assure the public of their combat readiness.

She said, “There was no bomb scare in Abuja as reported by some newspapers. The stop and search conducted on Tuesday was a show of force by the Brigade of Guards to show that they are alert to any security issue.”

Meanwhile, the training of the 100 policemen in EOD techniques began on Wednesday in Lagos, in a bid to address the rising level of insecurity in the country as well as incessant bombings.

The training is in response to the IG’s order that the EOD should intensify security in all states where it has units and should also endeavour to establish its presence in states where it has none.

The training was formally opened on Wednesday in Lagos by the Commissioner of Police in charge of the EOD, Mr. Folusho Adebanjo, who represented the IG.

The spokesperson for the EOD, Mr. Gbolahan Moronfolu, said it was meant to strengthen the capability of the police in the handling of explosives.

He said, “The 100 participants are conventional policemen from various police commands and formations who were successful in an aptitude test previously conducted by the EOD. The course is for one month and will centre on the basic training module.

“The actual aim is to strengthen the workforce of the EOD command throughout the federation in view of the incessant bombings. The training aims to increase personnel and use them to create more units in states where there is no EOD unit.

“Many embassies, media houses, police divisions as well as other possible targets will now have more EOD presence.”

On Wednesday, the Lagos State Police Command summoned all area commanders that have media houses under their jurisdiction to its headquarters.

The command’s spokesman, Mr. Joseph Jaiyeoba, who confirmed this to one of our correspondents on the telephone, explained it was in response to the Boko Haram threat.

He said, “The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Mr. Tunde Sobulo, is presently having a meeting with area commanders who have media houses within their areas of operation.

“Since the April 26, 2012 attack on some media houses in Abuja and Kaduna, the Commissioner of Police for the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Umar Manko, had ordered that security should be beefed up in the state. But with the recent threat, we have to restrategise.”

Jaiyeoba said he would inform our correspondent about the security measures being implemented by the command.

The SSS command in Kano State has arrested a middle aged chemical merchant, Ayuba Usman, suspected to be dealing in chemicals for the production of explosives to Boko Haram members.

Usman, who is a native of Dala Local Government Area in Kano metropolis, was paraded before newsmen by the Director of SSS in the state, Mr. Bassey Eteng, on Wednesday.

The alleged merchant was found in possession of 35 big drums of highly combustible chemicals and substances used for making bombs and other Improvised Explosive Devices.

Eteng said, “Chemicals are controlled items and they are supposed to be sold to people legitimately for economic use. But when we then find some individuals selling them to other individuals, then these individuals turn them to harmful use on innocent persons.”

He stated that the arrest of Usman, whose shop is located in one of the main markets in the state, was effected through information provided by a suspect in custody.

The director, however, refused to name the market where the suspect’s business place was located for security reasons. He stated that Usman’s arrest followed Tuesday’s successful raid by the Joint Task Force on a suspected Boko Haram factory/house located at Bubugaje in Sharada Phase 111 Industrial Estate in Kano metropolis.

“The suspect brought before you is a suspect whom we found from investigations to have links with some extremist elements.

“And what I believe, based on statements made by the high profile suspect the service is dealing with, we were able to know that the suspect, Ayuba Usman, has been providing very combustive chemicals to the extremist group.

“These are the chemicals being used in making Improvised Explosive Devices and other types of explosive devices. He was arrested yesterday (Tuesday) in Kano. He is the owner of all the (chemical) substances found in his shop. These substances are controlled items.

“Suspects in custody were able to identify their main link of where, from whom they are getting the above materials and who provides them the materials in Kano. This happened to be Ayuba Usman They (terrorist bombers) mix this thing with fertiliser and other inflammable substances.

“He was not just picked because he is selling these materials, but because information from those in custody, who identified him, who described him, where his shop is; led us to his arrest.

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03 May 2012
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Kano: SSS Operatives Arrest Suspected Supplier of Bomb Making Chemicals

210312T.recovered-weapons-by jtf.jpg - 210312T.recovered-weapons-by jtf.jpg

The JTF shows off some explosives recovered from an earlier raid

 

By Ibrahim Shuaibu

State Security Service (SSS) operatives in Kano have arrested a middle aged man, Ayuba Usman suspected to be the chief supplier of chemicals used in making IEDs by Boko Haram members .

State Director of the SSS, Mr Bassey Eteng said in Kano on Wednesday while parading the suspect before reporters, that “based on investigation the suspect is believed to have links with some extremist elements in the state.

“Also based on statements made by some of the suspects in our custody, the suspect has been providing chemicals being used by the terrorists to make IEDs.”

According to him, the suspect was apprehended on Wednesday with 35 drums of chemicals and other materials which were highly inflammable in one of the markets in Dala Local Government Area.

According to the director: “Chemicals are controlled or sold to individuals to make economic gains.

“But when we find individuals selling such materials to individuals who turn to harm innocent people, the security will be concerned and that is why we are concerned.”

He said the SSS operatives in the state would dig deeper in order to know their network with a view to tracking down their accomplices, adding that investigation would continue until the perpetrators of such illegal activities were arrested.

-Thisday

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03 May 2012

Businessman posts $1.5m bail but authorities hold onto $40m assets

A MILLIONAIRE businessman charged over a $63 million tax evasion and money laundering scheme has been allowed to return to his Gold Coast mansion after posting bail of $1.5 million. But more than $40 million in luxury assets, including houses, cars and yachts owned by Michael John Issakidis, 67, and an associate will remain in the hands of the authorities after being seized in raids last month. The Australian Federal Police and Australian Tax Office say the seven-month investigation into Mr Issakidis is the largest under Project Wickenby, the federal government’s pursuit of wealthy alleged tax evaders. Advertisement: Story continues below Prime real estate in Sydney and on the Gold Coast as well as several Rolls-Royces, a Lamborghini, an Aston Martin, a Mercedes-Benz and yachts have been seized under the new federal proceeds of crime laws, the AFP said. Mr Issakidis faced Central Local Court last week charged with dealing in the proceeds of crime of more than $1 million and conspiring to cause loss to the Tax Office. Magistrate Antony Townsden granted him bail on the condition he live at his Paradise Point home on a $1 million bail. Rhonda Laraine Issakidis and Nance Beverley Toope also agreed to each post $250,000 with the court. Earlier this year, Mr Issakidis sued ”Baby” John Burgess for $30,000 in unpaid rent the former TV host owed on his sub-penthouse in the Gold Coast’s Q1 building. Greek-born Mr Issakidis is the managing director of NeuMedix Health Group, a group of investment and health technology companies. His bail conditions prevent him from contacting NeuMedix’s co-founder and director Anthony James Dickson. NeuMedix is involved in a program at Griffith University‘s botanical medicine for population health, which is developing herbal medicine to treat dengue fever. Wickenby investigators allege from 2006 Mr Issakidis, through a complex unit trust structure, over-inflated the prices of Australian patents once they were transferred offshore and claimed corresponding depreciation expenses of $63 million. They further allege these funds were laundered through an account in Britain and accounts in Hong Kong before being transferred back into Australia. Mr Issakidis will reappear in the Downing Centre Local Court on August 7.

Courtesy: Sydney Morning Herald

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02 May 2012

13 killed, 30 houses burnt in fresh attack in Plateau

No fewer than 13 persons were confirmed killed when armed Fulani invaded six Berom villages in Riyom Local Government of Plateau State.

Riyom is one of the four local governments under the state of emergency in Plateau and has been under frequent attacks by armed Fulani within the past two weeks.

Those killed between Monday night and yesterday morning, were from Tahoss, Bangai, Sopp, Angwa Werem, Danjol and Gwom.

Residents of the villages have fled their homes to take refuge at police stations and primary schools in Riyom, headquarters of the council area.

A resident of Gwarim village, Dauda Gyang, who lost his younger brother in the night raid, said: “Fulanis came in large number. Their mode of attack is that they will start shooting from distance to scare the villagers and as soon as the villager run out of fear, they will come and set our houses ablaze. From my village alone they burnt more than ten houses last night”

Gyang said, “I swear to God, these Fulanis who are attacking us are doing this in collaboration with men of the Special Task Force (STF). In the day time, the soldiers will come and raid our village and seize dane guns from villagers and at night the armed Fulanis will come in for attack; this is what has been happening for about two weeks now.

“Last weekend, a mobile police shot one youth three times and the guy died. The mobile officer called it accidental discharge. How can you shoot three times and call it accidental discharge?“

When The Nation visited one of the primary schools in Tahoss, no fewer than 200 displaced persons mostly women and children were there.

A former member of the Plateau State House of Assembly from the area, Emmanuel Jugul, said: “Governments at the federal and state level are not doing enough to protect its citizens. It is bloodletting everyday in Riyom and we have government shoulder with the responsibility of protecting lives and properties.

“Apart from government, the security agencies in charge of the area are not sincere. It is either they are not doing their job, or they are conspiring with the attackers, because they securities did nothing to stop the killings and the council is under state of emergency.”

STF Spokesman Capt. Mdhayelyah Markus, who confirmed the incident, said he was not aware anyone was killed. He said houses were burnt.

Markus said: “As a result of the incident, the STF commander has mobilised troops from other places as reinforcement to Sector 9 so as to be able to handle the situation. The commander himself has visited the area and addressed the refugees. He asked them to return to their houses with promise of adequate security. So, we are in control in the area.”

However, the lawmaker representing Riyom Constituency in the House of Assembly, Daniel Dem,  told The Nation on phone: “The crisis is affecting my constituency directly. The truth is that five people were killed in the night raid, several others who sustaind injuries from gunshots are receiving treatment in various hospitals. There are thousands of displaced persons whose houses were set ablaze.

“I cried to the security agencies on ground and they were telling me there is nothing they can do to stop the attackers because they are short of man power while the attackers are coming in hundreds.”

Dem appealed to the Federal Government to send in more troops to salvage the situation. He said: “This is beyond the state government because Riyom is currently under the  state of emergency; the Federal Government should show more commitment in saving lives”

Sunday Madaki, one of the displaced persons, said the state lawmaker only counted the corpses in one village.  He said: “From the list of casualties I have from all the six villages, there are 13 people killed already and over  20 others who were injured are in the Vom Christian Hospital and over thirty residential houses have been burnt. All these displaced persons have no home to return to.”

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02 May 2012

#Nigeria: Bin Laden had contact with Boko Haram, says report

A new report in The Guardian of London says slain Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, had regular contact with Nigerian militant sect, Boko Haram, before he was killed on May 2, 2011.

The information was gleaned from documents recovered from the house where bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan by United States Navy Seals.

A Washington D.C source familiar with the documents told the paper bin Laden appeared to have been in direct or indirect communication with Boko Haram as well as many other militant outfits.

But the paper said it remained unclear whether Boko Haram, which has been responsible for a series of suicide attacks and bombings in the last year, is in touch with al-Qaeda or one of its affiliates, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

But documents in the cache show that leaders of the Nigerian group had been in contact with top levels of al-Qaeda in the past 18 months – confirming claims made to the Guardian in January by a senior Boko Haram figure.

Other papers in the haul are now likely to be declassified, the paper says. They include memos apparently dictated by bin Laden urging followers to avoid indiscriminate attacks which kill Muslims and pondering a rebranding of al-Qaeda under a new name.

The documents include memos stating broad strategic aims but little “hands-on” planning, according to sources.

The papers also show a close working relationship between top al-Qaeda leaders and Mullah Omar, the overall commander of the Taliban, including frequent discussions of joint operations against Nato forces in Afghanistan, the Afghan government and targets in Pakistan.

The communications show a three-way conversation between bin Laden, his then deputy Ayman Zawahiri and Omar, who is believed to have been in Pakistan since fleeing Afghanistan after the collapse of his regime in 2001.

They indicate a “very considerable degree of ideological convergence,” the source told The Guardian.

-The Nation & The Guardian

 

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02 May 2012
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Insecurity: El Rufai cautions FG

By OLA AJAYI

FORMER Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday, warned the Federal Government to review its stance on the security situation in the country,  but if it fails, “they will not be in government for too long”.

He also disabused the minds of many Nigerians that the insurgence of the sect was the handiwork of some Northern leaders to make the nation ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan.

Specifically, he exonerated the former military rulers, General Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammad Buhari from the bloody confrontations of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram which have led to the death of more than a thousand people since its emergence.

The ex-minister who was the guest speaker at the 2012 annual May Day lecture organized by the Silver Knights, Lead City University spoke on the topic entitled “Between Terrorism and Corruption: Implications for Nigeria.”

While ruling out the use of force to silence the aggrieved sect, el Rufai said: “There is nowhere insurgencies like Boko Haram have been defeated purely through military force and occupation. Those who are saying “crush them” should know that recent history of the war on terror is not on their side. We want a country that works for everyone, and this senseless loss of lives must end soon. The government that has the responsibility for our security must bend over backwards to deliver it. If they continue to fail in this regard, they will not be in government for too long”.

Explaining the reason why he exonerated the former military leaders from the activities of the sect, he said the insurgence of the sect started when the late President, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, who was a northerner and a muslim was at the helms of the affair and that there was nothing like Boko Haram during the tenure of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who is a Christian and a Southerner.

He said: “Those who are saying crush Boko Haram have not got the true picture of the situation. You can only kill and crush those you know. Give me the roadmap of where it was done anywhere in the world. I am not an apologist for Boko Haram.”

In addition to reviewing what he described as failed military strategy now in place and scaling back what has become militarization of the North, he called on the government to  “work with community leaders in Borno, Yobe, Plateau, Kano and Kaduna States to identify interlocutors that would enable honest discussions with Boko Haram to establish what they really want.”

I don’t think that anybody really knows what they want. The government knows what they want, but they do not want us to know”.

The former government officer who said at the beginning of the speech that he was not representing his political party-Congress for Progressive Change(CPC) but would speak from his own personal view further noted, “Terrorism is a harder nut to crack. I am of the view that a multi-track approach is necessary to increase the chances of its success. First, the prevailing narrative in the in the Jonathan camp must be discarded. This narrative is what the national security adviser tried to communicate at the Asaba summit of South-South leaders, but he was misunderstood by the media. Jonathan and his inner circle believe that Boko Haram is a Northern conspiracy to prevent Jonathan enjoying his presidency. And Northern political leaders like IBB and General Buhari aare the sponsors and financiers of Boko Haram”.

This narrative, he added, was the belief of most Niger Delta leaders because of their own experience in organizing, training and arming the militants and providing funding for Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta(MEND) during the period of resource control agitations of the Obasanjo administration. Because theirs was a conspiracy of the political elite, they think the North must be doing the same and they also feel that Boko Haram largely kills northerners or “parasites” as one presidential aide allegedly tweeted.

He traced the genesis of the insurgence of the sect to rewarding those who take up arms against the state with the cash hand-outs called amnesty programme has to be reviewed.

Any society, he continued, that rewards bad behavior with cash creates a moral hazard that may consume that society. “Those giving out the cash should know  that they are doing no favours to anyone. Indeed, they are fostering an entitlement culture that would be ultimately be the undoing of that part of the country. Boko Haram does not appear to be motivated by money, so those thinking of an amnesty-like program may need to go back to the drawing board.

According to him, there are four variants of Boko Haram. He clarified that there are normal Boko Haram members who operate in the North East and North West of the country, this group, he said, is very few.

He second variant, he said, is the criminal Boko Haram who mainly attack banks and the third one is the political Boko Haram which the politicians use to attack perceived opponents and the fourth, he noted, is the security Boko Haram who are being sponsored by the fifth columnist.

“But, each time, we hear of bombings, people say they are Boko Haram. But, those of us who keep records know that not all of them are Boko Haram. There are bombings that Boko Haram disclaimed, but the media keep saying it is Boko Haram even when the sect did not claim responsibility, we overlook that”, he noted.

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02 May 2012
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#Nigeria #BokoHaram: JTF arrests prime suspect in BUK attacks

May 2, 2012 by Mustapha Salihu, Kano
Joint Security Task Force

The Joint Security Task Force in Kano has arrested a Boko Haram member, Ibrahim Mohammed Ali, a prime suspect in Sunday’s coordinated attacks on Christian worshippers at the old campus of Bayero University, Kano in which 20 persons, including two professors, were killed.

Ali had escaped the early dawn raid on Tuesday by the JTF.

JTF spokesman, Lieutenant Ikedichi Iweha, told newsmen that Ali, a diploma holder from Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, Borno State, was nabbed by security operatives who had been on his trail when he escaped after blasting the walls of a factory/house around 4a.m on Tuesday.

Acting on information, the JTF had surrounded the house located at Bubugaje, Sharada Phase III Industrial Layout in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State.

During the three hour shoot-out between the JTF and suspected members of the Boko Haram, one civilian was killed.

Ali is alleged to be the husband of the Camerounian-nursing mother, Fati Mohammed, arrested by the JTF in the dawn raid yesterday.

The Camerounian nursing mother, aged about 20 years, was among the three females, comprising two wives and a teenager, who served as house-girl to one of the sect members.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Mohammed had been arrested before in a similar raid by the security operatives, but was freed.

According to her, she was nabbed alongside Lami Idris, who is a maid and Habiba Mohammed.

She was holding a two-month old baby when she was paraded alongside the others.

The bomb factory also used as residence by the deadly sect members had been razed down on the orders of the Commander, 3 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Illyasu Abbah.

Also demolished was the adjoining building used as escape route by one of the sect members.

Intelligence report reveals that the terrorists were among the several others that attacked Christian worshippers at BUK.

Over three bombs already primed exploded in the house, just as a gunfight raged between the JTF and the Boko Haram members.

The walls of the building had hundreds of bullet holes in them when newsmen went to inspect the scene.

About five unexploded bombs already primed for attack were also recovered.

Some of the items recovered from the bomb making factory are one AK 47 rifle, 35 Improvised Explosive Devices, one motorcycle, 5 cylinders already wired with high-calibre explosives, bags of fertiliser and 400 rounds of ammunition.

Others are two laptops, several batteries, remote car keys and other items used as bomb timers, 35 knives and other dangerous weapons.

Addressing newsmen at the scene, Brigadier-General Illyasu Abbah said, “I don’t need to say much, the picture on ground do not tell lie.”

He added, “The information reaching us now is that the one that was killed was among those who attacked Christians while worshiping at BUK last Sunday.”

He disclosed that one dead sect member, two wives, maid and two children, including a two-month old and seven year-old, were professionally brought out unhurt.

According to him, the dead sect member was the only one that was armed and prepared to confront the security forces. “Nemesis caught up with him; that is the dead body lying down there.”

Asked if the house could be referred to as a bomb factory, the Commander said, “If you call it a bomb factory, I can say yes. You can see most of those things have been prepared, ready for a mission, suicide mission of course. These are the IEDs they normally throw around.

“Well let me tell you, the most difficult fight you can have is with terrorists. They know us and we don’t know them. And the way they operate, is in one or two, they don’t permanently reside in a particular place.”

“Today, if we have routed them out from one place, tomorrow you will hear they are somewhere else. So, it is a very, very difficult battle to confront terrorists. But I assure you with the cooperation of the public and the enlightenment of the teeming members of the public, I think we would overcome this ugly incident.”

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