Boko Haram Denies Dialogue With Gov’t-PREMIUM TIMES

Abubakar Shekau

 The leadership of Jamaatu ahlis sunnah lil daawati wal jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, has again, denied engaging in talks with the Nigerian government, contrary to widespread reports that the sect had re- entered into dialogue with the government.
The group made this denial in an email to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday evening.
The sect not only denied talks with the government, but also described the purported press statement by one Abu Muhammad, who claimed to be the second in Command to the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, as the creation of the media.
The sect said its position on dialogue was made clear in a recent video address by its leader, where Mr. Shekau foreclosed any possibility of dialogue with the government, but which it said many media houses ignored, but were quick to publicise the “purported Meccah meeting”.
The sect recalled that it was because of such misrepresentations by the media that it attacked Thisday Newspaper, adding that as far as it is concerned, “those who fight us with guns and those who use pen are one and the same”.
The sect also said it is aware that many people were using its name to get huge sums of money under the pretext that they would “arrange dialogue with us”.
It called on such fake intermediaries to “fear Allah before they get into the hands of Allah’s army”.
In the statement, the sect said since the Federal Government “lured and arrested one of our leaders, Abu Darda who was sent to dialogue on our behalf and also frustrated the one facilitated by a journalist, Ahmad Salkida and headed by Dr. Ibrahim Datti, we have foreclosed any possibility of talks with the government”.
The group says it is aware Mr. Datti had entered into a fresh round of talks with the government.
It therefore warned Mr. Datti to “respect his age and desist forth with”.
The sect added that the only guarantee to peace is the full implementation of Sharia in Nigeria.
“As long as the government has not put aside the constitution and embrace the Holy Quran as the final law in the land, government should stop dreaming of peace because we will never stop fighting,” it said.

No genuine talks between FG, Boko Haram – Sani

A coalition of civil rights organisations in the  North  under the aegis of the Civil Rights  Congress  have said the Federal Government may be deceiving Nigerians about the dialogue between it and Boko Haram.
National President of the CRC, Mallam Shehu Sani, noted that the talks might have been designed by the government to give Nigerians  false belief that the government was on  the verge of combating  insecurity in the country.
The CRC boss, while reacting to the  said talks between the sect and the government on Sunday in a telephone interview insisted that the leadership of the Islamic sect had not come out categorically to the public through its channel of communication, on such decision to enter into round-table talks.
Sani said, “I am not aware of any talks going on. No credible talks are going on. If there is going to be any genuine talks, there should be confirmation from the leadership of the group and not the government. The only channel of communication by the group is through YouTube posting by the leader, Mallam Shekarau. And as far as I am concerned, I do not think or believe that there is any dialogue going on because it has not come from the usual source.”
Sani argued that the reported talks between the government and the sect  were raising a false sense of hope while on the ground there  was  no credible evidence to establish what the government had claimed.
The CRC boss said, “The talks between the Federal Government and Boko Haram is not impossible, but it must be done honestly and sincerely and through channels that are credible. From my own understanding, the Federal Government must have been drawn into dubious talks or it is more of ‘arranged’ talks.
“I am of the belief that this arrangee talks will only undermine the search for peace. And then I will add that this senseless killings and bombing going on in the North should be ended by honest and sincere commitment and not by  seizing, misinforming and misdirecting the conscience of Nigerians.
“A genuine talk can only be recognised by a cease-fire and cessation of all hostilities and that can only be believed if it comes from the leader of the group. So, what we should understand is that Nigerians are tired of this violence, and many innocent lives have been lost; and the solution to it must not be through bogus peace talks or concocted dialogue.”

12 cars vandalised gunshots in Jos, Kano clashes

Eid-el-Fitr celebrations were disrupted in Kano and Plateau states on Sunday after gunshots were heard in Kano metropolis and in Farin Gada, North Jos Local Government, where 12 cars were also destroyed.

A policeman was reportedly injured when suspected Boko Haram members fired at a military roadblock along Maiduguri Road, Kano, while the police foiled a violent confrontation between Muslim youths and some residents of Farin Gada.
Trouble was said to have started when some Muslims youths, while returning from the Eid prayers  ground, allegedly hauled stones at residence of Farin Gada, Jos.
It was learnt the youth, who also allegedly brandished guns,  stopped at the Redeemed Christian  Church of God  at Farin Gada and allegedly destroyed no fewer than 12 cars parked on the church premises.
Their action angered youths of the predominantly Christian area, who poured out to revenge. It took the intervention of the Special Task Force who shot into the air to scare them away.
The Plateau State Police Command, in a  statement  by the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Danjuma Azikiti,  condemned the act which it  described as “unfortunate”.
While confirming that no life was lost and no church or mosque was burned, the police  urged leaders of both Christians and Muslims to caution their members.
Army spokesman, Lt. Ikedichi Iweha, said the attack on the military checkpoint in Kano was repelled.
After shooting the policeman, the gunmen were said to have aimed at other security personnel who returned fire.
The gunmen resorted to shooting sporadically into the air before escaping into the Kundila Estate from where they said to have emerged from.
Immediately they  escaped, the entry and exit points of the estate as well as the neighbouring Daurawa Quarters were condoned off  by soldiers.
An eyewitness also said that the gunmen opened fire at the security personnel when stopped to be searched.

Boko Haram: JTF Killed Innocent People And Not Our Members

Following claims by the Joint Task Force in Maiduguri that it killed 20 members of the Jama’atu Allus Sunnah Lilda wati Wal Jihad, aka Boko Haram at the weekend, the group said today those killed were innocent people, not its members.
Through its spokesperson, Abul Qaqa, Boko Haram described the JTF claim as a ruse and serial lies, and insisted that the combined squad, which comprises soldiers as well as secret police and conventional police killed innocent people.
Qaqa, who spoke in Hausa, said, “The JTF only brutally killed innocent poor people. There is no way our sect members up to 20 will gather in such environment and hold a council sitting. It is a lie and blatant lie. We are committed and have vowed until a Muslim State is formed in Nigeria and not going back on this.”
Col. Victor Ebhaleme, the Field Operations Officer of JTF in Borno State, told newsmen yesterday that the Saturday night shootout followed an intelligence report that some suspected Boko Haram terrorists were having a meeting at a certain location in the metropolis.
He did not say how the tip was confirmed, but stated that when the JTF approached the area, the terrorists “immediately opened fire on the team.
Twenty of the suspects and one soldier were reportedly killed.

Jonathan should resign – Northern CAN

President Goodluck Jonathan

Christians in the North have asked President Goodluck Jonathan to resign over his comment on Boko Haram.
Jonathan was quoted to have said he could not crush the Islamic sect because “they are our siblings and you cannot set the army to wipe out your family”.
In a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Sunday Oibe, the Northern Christian Association of Nigeria said the comments credited to Jonathan was an indication that the country  was in a helpless situation as the President “does not seem to understand the aim of the sect to destabilise his administration.”
According to the CAN, it is shocking   for  the President to say he will not deploy the military to deal  with terrorist who have  been killing other Nigerians and threatening the corporate existence of the country.
The body argued that it was clear that the President has been shielding the group at the expense of the lives of innocent people, urging Nigerians to have a rethink on the type of president that is governing the country at the moment.
The statement read in part, “What he is telling us now is that there is nothing he can do about it, but we know that the Federal Government has the capacity to stop the madness being unleashed on Nigerians. However, it is now obvious that the President will rather shield criminals.
“Every Nigerian can recall how former President Olusegun Obasanjo reacted when the Niger Delta militants attacked soldiers in Udi.  Even though the militants were asking for their legitimate right, Obasanjo dealt with them squarely for resorting to criminality in agitating for their right. No country in the world will allow its soldiers, trained to defend the territorial integrity of the nation to be killed by a gang of criminals and get away with it.
“Nigerians can also recall that in Zaki – Biam, Benue state, the same  Obasanjo as President sent troops to deal ruthlessly with the people there for allegedly killing soldiers.
“Now on a daily basis soldiers, police and other security personnel are being killed by Boko Haram members and the President has the effrontery to tell us that these murderers are members of the family and he cannot mobilise the army to deal with them.
“Jonathan has failed us Christians, he has failed Nigerians and he should resign because by this statement, it is very clear that he is not capable of handling the danger pose by the Boko Haram insurgency.”
Also, the Anglican Communion, Kaduna Diocese  said illiteracy, unemployment and poverty  in the North  were not responsible for various crises in the region.
In a  10-point – communiqué issued  at the end of the 1st session of the 19th Synod of the Diocese and signed by the Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Rev Josiah Idowu –Fearon, insisted that illiteracy, poverty and unemployment were never the cause of the sundry crises in the region as many were wont to believe.

We Killed 20 Boko Haram Sect Members In Maiduguri - JTF

The Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri, Borno State says it shot to death in a gun duel on Saturday night 20 members of the Boko Haram sect.
JTF also lost one soldier during the fight with the sect in Maiduguri on Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday, while two members received injuries.
Col. Victor Ebhaleme, the Field Operations Officer of JTF in Borno State who confirmed the events to newsmen, said the fight followed a tip off.
"We got intelligence report that some suspected Boko Haram terrorists were having a meeting at a particular location in the metropolis,” he said.
“When we approached the venue of their meeting, the terrorists immediately opened fire on the JTF which led to the killing of 20 of the sect members while we lost one soldier and two others sustained injury."

NIGERIA: A nation Charred by insurgency

Just take a look; and then imagine.
Take a very long, hard look; and then imagine that your brother, or sister or any member of your extended family had been a victim or had been lost to the insurgency in those areas marked on the face of the map of Nigeria as areas of insurgent attacks.
To understand the magnitude of the crises confronting the Nigerian nation, just imagine for how long this had gone on and the attendant magnifying spectre of extremism and criminality, as well as the increasing helplessness of many a people.
Then try to make sense of the ridiculous spat between a former military President and Commander-in-Chief in the person of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, and an Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Pa Edwin Clark, over who is not speaking out loud enough in condemnation or who is making a senseless statement and ask:  To what extent would their show of shame solve the problem? You can add to this the seeming shambolic approach of government in containing what is turning out to be an insurgency of extremism, clearly far from politics and poverty that some people are reading into it.
Last week, the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, demonstrated to President Goodluck Jonathan that it can be very audacious.  Having called on Jonathan to either resign or convert to Islam, the sect went to town to inflict maximum terror:  an attempt on a Muslim leader, an Emir, to planting bombs in the domain of the caliphate in Sokoto, the killing of soldiers via ambushing, visiting terror on fellow Muslims during Ramadan lecture and the slashing of the throats of Christians, is President Jonathan still wondering what the insurgents are asking for.  Even the dreaded Maitatsine bunch was dealt with decisively by the Shehu Shagari administration in the early 1980s.
But it must be admitted that these are different, complicated and more dangerous times.
With the advent of Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda In The Islamic Magreb, AQIM, Al Shabab and the linkages which terror groups have established and are establishing, the training received by Boko Haram members in North Africa and the increasingly glaring reality of the sophistication of the insurgency in the North, it does not need rocket science to understand that the check point approach of this administration merely fits the expectations of the insurgents – avoid the areas of checkpoints and ‘carry go’.

And to the United States of America, USA, the number one global terror policeman, Nigeria must look.  In looking up to the Americans, this administration had flip-flopped between seeking assistance and condemning public terror alerts issued by the same Americans.
Well, Sunday Vanguard has been reliably informed that an ambassadorial encounter at a very high level which brought home the realization of why shambles have become this administration’s approach, “left the Americans with no option but to go public with terror alerts”.
Whatever the encounter was, with whom, where, when, why and how it happened was not disclosed by the diplomatic source.  But the source maintained that “the encounter was very, very, embarrassing”.
And whereas the Americans have labeled three leaders of Boko Haram terrorists, it has refused to tag the group a FOREIGN TERROR ORGANISATION, FTO.
There are so many issues involved here.  If the administration of Barack Obama has decided that it can not just intervene in Syria where an average of over 80 people are killed everyday, with strategic partnership interests at stake and likely to suffer if it makes a false move, why should it dabble into the controversy over tagging Boko Haram an FTO?
The first interest to be protected is American and America’s.
If Nigeria likes, she can continue to fiddle while insurgency takes over the entire land, why should America “give a damn”?
If the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, continue to allow itself to be seen as an appendage of the presidency, but would like Nigerian Christians and peoples of other faiths in the country to see it as fighting the good cause, why should America’s Obama “give a damn”?
The leadership of CAN was in America to attend a congressional hearing where it pushed the FTO agenda. Yet, Johnnie Carson, America’s Under-Secretary of State for African Affairs, who was in attendance, and the State Department, have their logic. But the logic is grandly illogical and incongruous because how do you label three leaders of a group as terrorists and refuse to tag the group an FTO?
It is either because of the coming elections in November, or just a statement of criticism of Nigeria’s handling of the state of insecurity that has become so pervasive.  By the admission of a General Officer Commanding, there are joint military operations being carried out in 33 states in a country of 36 states – this represents over 90% of the entire country.
During the congressional hearing, Carson’s understanding of Nigeria as a largely Muslim nation and that the country stands to surpass other Arab nations in terms of the faith in less than a decade, was laid bare.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that Carson had had a running against the Yar’Adua administration over some issues of national security over biometrics.  He has found acceptance which verges on messianic accommodation by the present administration and, therefore, is entitled to wax pontifical about Nigeria. (READ ENCOUNTER AT THE CONGRESSIONAL HEARING)
Well, Hon. Smith, who chaired the sub-committee hearing, would not allow himself to be hoodwinked if members of Nigeria’s government engage a slavish mentality in their dealings with America. Smith sought clarity from Carson on why leaders of a group are tagged terrorists and the group is not deemed to be a terrorist organization (Details of the hearing will shock you).
Meanwhile, last week Thursday, at the State House Abuja, Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, was in a closed door meeting with President Jonathan and his security chiefs and the main discussion of the day was centred around Boko Haram and FTO status, as well as – you guessed right – CORRUPTION. Still, there is also the increasing theft of crude oil in the South South region to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
In this package, you will read the widening scope of Boko Haram’s activities and some contradictions in America’s perception of the crises in Nigeria. Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s plea to the Americans and the letter written to Hillary Clinton by some scholars who insist that designating Boko Haram an FTO would not solve Nigeria’s problem but would, rather, embolden and further radicalize the group – that, in fact, such a designation would be an endorsement of the might of Boko Haram; these would come up in subsequent series and would enlighten you the more. But before the next series you will also read about the carnage in Damaturu, Yobe State; and the killings in Okene, Kogi State – all by Boko Haram
This is a multi-series package that would run for a while in every edition.