Insurgency: GOV. Shettima Moves Office To Bama, Begins Major Reconstruction

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima on Wednesday temporarily ‎relocated his office to Bama town, an urban centre, severely destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents during their nearly two years occupation before it was liberated by the military late, 2015. Bama town, located 74 kilometers away from Maiduguri, is one of the third most populated local government areas next to Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Biu in southern part of the State.

Insurgents had attacked the town killing dozens, destroyed ‎more than 80 percent of the thousands of houses in the town, sacked the Emir and took over his palace after declaring it as sovereign territory with set of laws and ‘constitutional’ leader.  The military toppled the insurgents and recovered the area by the end of 2015, months after President Muhammadu Buhari took over affairs.

To fast track major reconstruction works which was flagged off on Wednesday, Governor Kashim Shettima now lives in Bama town with his close aides. The Governor departed Maiduguri at about 12:10pm and arrived Bama at about 2:18 pm and he went straight to supervising inspect reconstruction works on private residential houses, police stations, stores, schools, hospitals, the Emirs palace among others. The Governor had deployed construction equipment and hundreds of trucks of variety of building materials which are already in Bama for the reconstruction works.

“My office is now here. I decided to relocate here to live here and supervise reconstruction works. I will administer Borno State from here. I am fully prepared to be here for days to come, one week, two weeks or even more. I will not leave until we are able to rebuild a good number of private houses, municipal buildings, markets, schools and clinics. I want the reconstruction work to take proper shape before I leave. We cannot wait till forever before we reclaim our destiny. Bama is the one of the worst affected areas and we will move from here to other parts of the State. While I am here, we have a full structure of Government in place operating in Maiduguri so that activities of managing IDP’S, civil service, implementation of Government policies and programmes will continue while I am here. I will be in constant touch with Maiduguri, I came prepared” Shettima said

The Governor also commissioned 500 newly recruited civilian JTF and vigilantes employed from locals in Bama to use community intelligence in working with the military to strengthen security in the area so as to forestall unanticipated attacks.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Dr Babagana Umara Zulum announced that the reconstruction activities has created nearly 1000 direct jobs beside stimulating the economy of the State through procurements of different building materials and payment for services.

The Commissioner said with the support his Ministry receives from Governor Kashim Shettima, his men were fully ready to make the Governor proud. He gave the indication that Shettima was bound to see new developments every day he goes out for inspection.

SSS releases wanted journalist, Ahmad Salkida

A Nigerian journalist, Ahmad Salkida, who was taken into custody on Monday, weeks after being declared wanted by the army, has been released.
Some sources reported that Mr. Salkida was released on Tuesday evening by the state security service (SSS), more than a day after he was arrested at the airport in Abuja.
Mr. Salkida was declared wanted on August 14 alongside two others. The two turned themselves in the second day and were subsequently granted administrative bail.
The journalist was accused of aiding Boko Haram. Authorities also raised issues about the way he was sourcing video recordings from the sect. He, however, denied the allegations when quizzed by SSS officials.
Mr. Salkida was released without conditions while all documents and devices confiscated from him were returned.

“Boko Haram Terrorists are ready for peace” – Aisha Wakil (Mama Boko Haram)

Aisha Wakil, who is believed to be close to the Boko Haram leadership, says the group is ready for talks with the Federal Government on the fate of the 219 missing Chibok girls, The Nation reports.

Speaking to The Nation over the telephone, Aisha said the leadership of the terrorist sect will make a pronouncement on their plans for the girls soon.

“Since I came back, I have been on their neck. They have now agreed to come out and discuss with the government and bring back the girls. I am for the Chibok girls and all the captives. They are ready for peace. This is what they told me. I think they might post some information on YouTube within 24 hours,” she said.

Escaped Chibok girl: I miss my Boko Haram husband

Amina Ali Nkeki, her husband and their daughter escaped from a Boko Haram camp in May. "I'm not comfortable with the way I'm being kept from him," she told CNN.

 

Escaped Chibok girl Amina Ali Nkeki says she misses her Boko Haram fighter husband and is still thinking about him three months after escaping the militants' camp.

Amina Ali, who was held hostage by the terrorist group for more than two years, says she was married off a year into her ordeal and later had a baby girl, Safiya.

The couple and their daughter were found on the outskirts of Nigeria's Sambisa Forest in May. She says they fled the camp by themselves and were not rescued by the Nigerian military, contrary to reports.

Her husband, identified as Mohammed Hayatu at the time of their escape, told a witness that he too had been kidnapped by Boko Haram.

He was placed in military detention for interrogation by Nigeria's joint intelligence center.

Amina Ali was found with a suspected Boko Haram terrorist named Mohammed Hayatu.

 

Amina Ali says she has no idea where he is now and is keen to be reunited with him.

"I'm not comfortable with the way I'm being kept from him," the painfully shy 21-year-old told CNN in her first worldwide interview, at an undisclosed location in Abuja Tuesday.

Addressing the father of her child directly, she says: "I want you to know that I'm still thinking about you, and just because we are separated doesn't mean I have forgotten about you." 

 

Her statements came two days after the terrorist group released a grisly video showing the dead bodies of young women, taken in the aftermath of what Boko Haram says was a Nigerian airstrike.

Amina Ali says a dozen captives died in a bombing more than a year ago, which suggests that the footage is not new, according to a spokesman for Nigeria's National Security Advisor.

The video also shows a Chibok girl reciting a scripted plea for the release of Boko Haram fighters in exchange for the kidnapped girls.

Amina Ali was one of 276 schoolgirls abducted at gunpoint from their boarding school in Chibok in April 2014, by Boko Haram fighters. As many as 57 girls were able to escape almost immediately, but more than 200 remain missing.

The kidnapping sparked global outrage and prompted global figures, including activist Malala Yousafzai and first lady Michelle Obama, to support the campaign to #BringBackOurGirls.

Amina Ali refuses to talk about the attack, saying only she cannot remember what happened that fateful day.

For a year after they were taken, the abducted girls were kept together, she says. Then some of the teenagers -- including her -- were "given" to the terrorists as wives.

Chibok girl Amina Ali Nkeki (in red), who was kidnapped by Boko Haram, with her baby daughter.

She says she was desperate to see her mother again and that the thought gave her the courage and strength to flee the camp.

Asked how she felt about becoming a mother herself while in captivity, her face clouds over and, speaking through an interpreter, she insists: "I don't want to answer."

 

Her mother has spent the past two months staying with her in the capital. But Amina Ali has still not been back to Chibok and says she wants to go home and return to school.

"I'm not scared of Boko Haram. They are not my God," she said.

Kidnapped Chibok girl meets the President of Nigeria

The whereabouts of the rest of the girls remain a mystery, though they are believed to be somewhere in the Sambisa Forest, a Boko Haram stronghold in the country's northeast.

The current Nigerian government has said via Facebook that it is in touch with Boko Haram and working to secure the girls' release.

Over the past two years, successive Nigerian governments have been criticized for failing to recover the young hostages.

'This is a government which is not only in denial mentally, but in denial about certain obvious steps to take'

Wole Soyinka

"This is a government which is not only in denial mentally, but in denial about certain obvious steps to take," Nigerian author Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate who is often referred to as the conscience of his nation, told CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour in May 2014.

"It's one of those rather child-like situations that if you shut your eyes, if you don't exhibit the tactile evidence of the missing humanity here, that somehow the problem will go away," he said.

Amina Ali remains the only long-held hostage who has escaped.

But she has a defiant message for her "sisters" still being held: Don't lose hope. She managed to get away, she says, and one day they will be able to return to their families too.

"Be patient and prayerful," she said. "The way God rescued me from Sambisa Forest, he will rescue you too."

 

CNN

BOKO HARAM | Bombardment to Continue as Aisha Wakil, Bolori reports to Army HQ

· Wanted Aisha Wakil, Bolori submit selves to military

Nigeria’s top security chiefs met yesterday at the Presidential Villa and declared that the ongoing military op­erations against the Boko Har­am insurgents in the North East will continue.

The meeting came a day af­ter the Boko Haram terrorists released a video of some of the Chibok schoolgirls they kid­napped on April 14, 2014 in Borno State.

The terrorists had in the video demanded freedom for their arrested members as a condition for releasing the over 200 girls abducted from the Government Girls Second­ary School in Borno State.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, which was not at­tended by President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt.-Gen. Gabriel Olonishakin, said the parley also covered other secu­rity challenges outside terrorism.

He said the military was still analysing the latest Boko Haram video before making appropriate comments.

Olonishakin, who chaired the meeting, said that it was about “how we handle crises, all forms of crises – be it flood or terrorism. We are analysing the video released by Boko Haram and we will make appropriate comments at the right time.”

He said whatever demands be­ing made by the terrorists can only be decided on by politicians as the military was going ahead with its operations against the insurgents.

“That is a political decision to be taken. The military decision is that we are going ahead with our operations. The operation is being conducted appropriately,” he stated.

He also denied reports that one of the three persons declared wanted over the video, reported to army authorities in Maiduguri and was asked to go home and return the following day, stating that “no­body reported to my men and was turned back”.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Moham­med, said even before the Boko Haram video surfaced, the Feder­al Government had been negotiat­ing with the terrorists.

He said: “The government’s position is clear – that we are in touch with them. We are just be­ing careful and cautious to ensure that we are talking to the right peo­ple, especially with the news that there is a split in the leadership. But what is important is the safety and security of these girls.”

On the demand for swap of the girls with detained terrorists, Mo­hammed said: “Until you are able to ascertain the authenticity of those you are talking to, you don’t go into details.”

Commenting on the plan by the campaign group, BringBack­OurGirls, to stage a protest march to put pressure on the Presiden­cy over the release of the girls, he said government appreciated their commitment but would not bring to public all that is being done to free the girls.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali, who also attended the meeting, said it was more like a workshop on response to emergencies.

The chiefs of staff for the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the National Security Adviser, Baba­gana Monguno, were also at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Aisha Wakil, a Nigerian lawyer declared wanted by the military on Sunday, has re­ported at the Defence Headquar­ters (DHQ) in Abuja.

Wakil, Ahmed Salkida (jour­nalist) and Ahmed Balori were declared wanted by the Nigerian Army on Sunday for alleged link to Boko Haram.

Wakil, in a twitter post, said that she had arrived at the De­fence Headquarters and was not immediately quizzed by security operatives.

According to an online news medium, Wakil added that the front desk officers at DHQ asked her what she wanted and she told them she was declared wanted. But the officers said they were not aware of such and she asked them to read the newspapers online.

“They told me they will go and read and get back to me,” Wak­il said.

From the Defence Headquar­ters, she has been directed to the Directorate of Military Intelligence.

In a twitter post, @HQNigeri­an Army on Monday, Wakil said that she had several meetings with the Chief of Army Staff on the way forward but they refused to heed to her advice on the Boko Haram saga.

She said: “I understand that the Military has declared me, Ahmed Salkida and Ahmed Bolori want­ed for having links with Boko Har­am. It’s interesting. Now they be­lieve me?

“I know the Boko Haram boys. I have been in the front fighting for peace long before Chibok girls were kidnapped. Nigerian securi­ty operatives know me too well; I am not hiding. Why declare me wanted?

“I have had meetings with the Chief of Army Staff and his peo­ple. I told them the way forward, to allow me come with some Com­manders of Boko Haram and dis­cuss with them, present the re­lease of CBGs but they chose to do things their ways only and never gave considerations to any of my suggestions.”

In a swift reaction, the Army Spokesman, Col. Sani Usman,said  “these people have relevant information but refused to divulge them to gov­ernment, instead, they were de­manding outrageous gratifications. They have been feeding fat at the expense of the Chibok schoolgirls and other Nigerians.”

Also yesterday, Salkida indicat­ed his readiness to surrender to the military authorities as soon as he gets a flight ticket to Nigeria.

Salkida, who is at present on self-exile in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that he is ready to surrender himself if cer­tain conditions are met.

In a statement he issued on Monday, Salkida disclosed his willingness to travel to Nigeria and clear his name on the allegations levelled against him by the Nige­rian Army which he described as “baseless and unjustifiable.”

There were also indications yesterday that Bolori, who turned himself in on Sunday evening but was asked to go back home with­out questioning, has returned to the Army Barracks in Maiduguri.

At about 10am, Bolori post­ed a picture on his Facebook page that showed him signing a securi­ty post visitor’s book with a com­ment that reads: “I have signed the visitors register since and I am still waiting to be taken in. Although the Army guard doesn’t have air­time to contact his heads.”

Buhari’s Government “more clueless” than Jonathan’s – Chibok Parent

Esther Yakubu, One of the mothers of the abducted Chibok girls, Dorcas, has opined that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is  “more clueless than Jonathan’s.”

She lamented after seeing her daughter speak in the new video released by the Boko Haram insurgents demanding swap of their detained members with the Chibok girls.

“The Chibok girls must be rescued, they must have their lives, the future that Boko Haram tries to truncate ”
“I wanted her to have the best of education, I planned to sponsor her education to whatever level she wanted, but she could not sit for her final examinations because she was abducted”.

“Boko Haram in the video asked the government to release their members so that they could release our girls. If the government knows that it cannot handle the insurgency, it should invite other countries. It is not a crime to seek assistance in a war. It is a shame for them to allow our daughters to languish in captivity for over two years.

“I don’t regret sending her to school, but I regret putting her in boarding school. If she was a day student, she would be home with me that night. The abduction affected her because she was in boarding school,” Yakubu added.

She said apart from her daughter, she recognised about 20 other girls.
“I recognised Saratu Ayuba, Awa Ishaiya and others. In that video, Dorcas has grown up a little and she is slimmer. I cried when I saw her in the video. That is only change I observe, but I thank God she is alive.”
Dorcas’ father, Kabu Yakubu, urged the government to release Boko Haram detainees in exchange for the Chibok girls, adding that the demand had boosted his hope that his daughter and others would eventually make it home.

“I will sleep well because since she was kidnapped, I have never seen her in other videos released. But today, I saw her in the video, and my joy was rekindled.
“What we have been telling the government is what Boko Haram demanded in the video. We are appealing to the government to help us to release Boko Haram detainees so they can release our daughters. In the video, my daughter was begging the government to negotiate with the terrorists and they (Boko Haram) said unless the government releases their members who were being detained in Abuja, Lagos and Maiduguri prisons, they won’t release the girls.

Troops kill 16 insurgents in Borno town

Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman

The troops of the Nigerian Army have killed 16 Boko Haram insurgents at Kangarwa, Borno State.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Monday that the 16 insurgents were killed by the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole while repealing an attack by the insurgents at Kangarwa on Sunday.

Usman added that an officer and 11 soldiers were injured during the gum battle with the Boko Haram.

He said that the injured military personnel had all been treated at the unit’s medical facility and were in stable condition.

According to him, the troops recovered ‘one Rocket Propelled Grenade, seven tubes, a Rocket Propelled Grenade bomb, 11 AK-47 rifle, a 60mm mortar tube, a dozen of 60mm mortar bombs, a 36 hand grenade, five AK-47 rifle magazines, a Gionee handset and a bandolier’ from the insurgents.

Usman stated also that some troops on fighting patrol to Dogon Chikun rescued five persons and recovered a vehicle from the insurgents.

He said, “Troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE at harbour in Kangarwa yesterday successfully repelled suspected remnants of  Boko Haram terrorists attack.The attack was launched by the suspected terrorists at about 5:30pm on Sunday 14th August 2016.

“The alert troops rose to the occasion and dealt a decisive blow on the insurgents, by killing 16 of them and recovering arms and ammunition from them.

“Unfortunately, an officer and 11 soldiers were  wounded in action during the encounter. We are glad to state they have all been treated at the unit’s medical facility and are all in stable condition.”