Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau reportedly flees Nigeria

Saturday, May 09, 2015

As the military deploys its special force units to track the lead­er of the Boko Haram sect, Abuba­kar Shekau, there are strong indi­cations that the terror kingpin may have fled Nigeria through the help of Islamic State (ISIS) groups operating in East and North Africa.

Saturday Sun gathered that with the recent loss of his group’s caliphate headquarters, Gwoza to the Nigerian troops and the invasion of Sambisa forest by a detachment of the na­tion’s special force units deployed from their base in Makurdi, Benue State, the Boko Haram leader saw his capture as imminent.

According to dependable military intelli­gence sources, Shekau had to send emissaries to ISIS affiliates with strongholds in East and North Africa to pave the way for his escape to their region from where he intends to coordi­nate his group’s activities or ultimately relocate to ISIS headquarters
in the Middle East.

One of the sources revealed that:

“having discovered that he was being tracked through his Thuraya satellite phone, Shekau recently dropped the line and handset totally to evade capture. But the last satellite image of him and other intelligence pieced together by forces on the battle frontline show his desperation to es­cape from the country to parts of East Africa or North Africa where ISIS is having some foot­holds.”

The source, a red neck military chief further told Saturday Sun that:

 “As part of moves being made by Shekau, he now relocates with few­er guards and limited number of lieutenants knowing his movement schedule. This is to frustrate intelligence gathering efforts by se­curity forces and avoid attracting the focus of satellite image capturing technology deployed by some foreign super powers and shared with the Nigerian security forces.”

It was gathered that as part of his bid to es­cape the heat of ongoing military operations in the Northeast Nigeria, Shekau has in the last few weeks changed his look and physical ap­pearance dramatically.

“A recent intelligence from one of our foreign partners shows the Boko Haram leader clean shaven which total­ly alters his look. That heightens our curiosity about his motive, before we got other evidence that pointed to the fact that he was trying to cross the border”, the source added.

The militant group had on March 7 pledged allegiance to the leadership of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. A week after the pledge, ISIS leadership in a statement accepted the militant group into its fold, with a promise to work with it to establish an ISIS cell in West Africa.

As earlier exclusively reported by Saturday Sun, Shekau had stayed in crisis-ridden Northern Mali to coordinate the training and opera­tions of the militant group before they were flushed out of there by a joint French and Af­rican forces, including Nigerian troops. He thereafter crossed the porous borders to join his foot soldiers in Borno State.

“He may not find it easy to return to Mali this time round but we suspect he may be targeting East Africa or parts of North Africa such as Libya and Egypt where some islamist groups are causing instability now”, a senior military chief involved in the prosecution of the war against the militant group told Satur­day Sun, adding that he cannot categorically say whether Shekau had indeed escaped or still in the country.

“On whether he has successfully escaped from Nigeria, I have no such information but at the same time I cannot rule that out because of his level of desperation to flee and his links with some other groups with­in the region and even beyond”, the source stressed, adding: 

“What we strongly believe at this moment is that he is still within our reach or that of our neighbours; especially Niger and Chad. He may find it difficult to move beyond these borders and may end up returning to one of our remote villages in the North-East to hide.”

The source also stated that Shekau had told some of his close lieutenants that he would rather die from gunshot from his guards than being killed by the Nigerian troops whom he regards as “infidels.”

“One of his captured commanders once disclosed that Shekau had given instructions to his personal guards to shoot him dead in the face of a confrontation with our troops who he calls infidels. He believes that makes him a martyr”, the source added.

When contacted on the information that Shekau had fled the country between the last week of March and the first two weeks of April, the acting Director of Public Rela­tions, Nigeria Army, Colonel Sani Usman said,

“We have an ongoing war against ter­rorists in this country and we are determined by all means and what it takes to eliminate, capture all terrorists and destroy all their known camps. 

If in the process, any of their leaders is captured, so be it because the whole war is not about an individual. We are also deter­mined to arrest all of them dead or alive.”

Boko Haram: 203 girls rescued from Sambisa forest pregnant - UNFPA

Monday, May 04, 2015

The United Nations Population Fund has, yesterday, indicated, that a sizeable number of the rescued girls were visibly pregnant, even as unofficial reports put the latest number of pregnant girls in one of the camps in Borno as at last Saturday at 203.

Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, The Executive Director, UNFPA, also disclosed that in the last one year, the organization had taken deliveries of over 16,000 pregnancies in the troubled North East part of the country.

Osotimehin, while giving an update of the response to the rehabilitation of the rescued women and children, said that in anticipation of the magnitude of the problem on hand, the organization had put in place a formidable team in collaboration with the Federal and state governments, to first restore the dignity of the girls, who, he said, are facing severe psycho-social trauma.

He said that many were raped and impregnated. While some has delivered babies, he claimed that over 200 of the newly found girls are at different stages of pregnancy.

He explained that most of the girls, due to the long period spent in captivity, required a special set of services that would facilitate their integration into society.

“What we found is that some of the women and girls that have come back actually have much more in terms of the stress they have faced, so the counselling has to be more intense and working with them one-on-one.
“I’m glad the communities are not excommunicating them and are taking them back. That is an important therapy too. We anticipate this is going to escalate because the military intervention is continuing, we find that more people are now needing our services and we will continue,” he stated.

Women rescued from Sambisa Forest narrate their ordeal in Boko Haram captivity

The Nigerian Army rescued hundreds of women and children last week from Boko Haram in Sambisa Forest in a major operation that has turned international attention to the plight of hostages.

After days on the road in pickup trucks, hundreds of the women and children were released on Sunday into the care of authorities at a refugee camp in Yola, to be fed and treated for injuries.

They have spoken to reporters for the first time about their ordeal and according to what they told Reuters, Boko Haram fighters killed older boys and men in front of their families before taking women and children into the forest where many died of hunger and disease.

“They didn’t allow us to move an inch,” said one of the freed women, Asabe Umaru, describing her captivity. “If you needed the toilet, they followed you. We were kept in one place. We were under bondage. 

“We thank God to be alive today. We thank the Nigerian army for saving our lives,” she added.

Two hundred and seventy-five women and children, some with heads or limbs in bandages, arrived in the camp late on Saturday. Nearly 700 kidnap victims have been freed from the Islamist group’s forest stronghold since Tuesday, with the latest group of 234 women and children liberated on Friday.

“When we saw the soldiers we raised our hands and shouted for help. Boko Haram who were guarding us started stoning us so we would follow them to another hideout, but we refused because we were sure the soldiers would rescue us,” Umaru, a 24 year-old mother of two, told Reuters.

The prisoners suffered malnutrition and disease, she said.

“Every day we witnessed the death of one of us and waited for our turn,” Mrs. Umaru added.

Another freed captive, Cecilia Abel, said her husband and first son had been killed in her presence before the militia forced her and her remaining eight children into the forest. For two weeks before the military arrived she had barely eaten.

“We were fed only ground dry maize in the afternoons. It was not good for human consumption,” she said. “Many of us that were captured died in Sambisa Forest. Even after our rescue about 10 died on our way to this place.”

Amnesty International estimates the insurgents, who are intent on bringing West Africa under Islamist rule, have taken more than 2,000 women and girls captive since the start of 2014. Many have been used as cooks, sex slaves or human shields.

The prisoners freed so far do not appear to include any of more than 200 schoolgirls snatched from school dormitories in Chibok town a year ago, an incident that drew global attention to the six-year-old insurgency.

Umaru said her group of prisoners never came in contact with the missing Chibok girls.

Meanwhile, the 23 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army based in Yola, Adamawa State, has handed over 275 women and children rescued from insurgents in Sambisa Forest to the National Emergency Management Agency for rehabilitation.

The statement quoted the Commander, 23 Armoured Brigade, Col. Aba Popoola, as saying that:

“on behalf of the Nigerian Army, I want to hand over 275 rescued women and children that we rescued from Sambisa Forest to the National Emergency Management Agency for care and welfare.”

Receiving the rescued persons, the Director-General, NEMA, Sani Sidi, said the rescued women and children needed special attention and that the agency had made all the necessary arrangements with relevant stakeholders for trauma counselling.

Ghuluze noted that the ministry had ensured regular supply of drugs to the clinics.

SAMBISA FOREST: Another set of 234 women, children rescued

Friday, May 01, 2015

After last week's victory recorded by the Nigerian Army in the dreaded Sambisa Forest, another set of 234 women and children have been rescued, bringing the total number to 687.

A statement from Defence headquarters said the women and children have been evacuated to join others at the screening center.

“This set is in addition to the previous individuals earlier rescued during the ongoing operation in the area” it said.

The assault on the forest is continuing from various fronts and efforts are concentrated on rescuing hostages of civilians and destroying all terrorists camps and facilities in the forest.

293 rescued women, girls are indigenes of Bumisiri village

Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Borno State Government on Wednesday said the 293 women and girls rescued from the Boko Haram stronghold in Sambisa Forest, were from Bumsiri Village in Damboa Local Government Area of the state and not from Chibok.

State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Mohammed Bulama, told journalists that the profiling of the 200 girls and 93 women, rescued by the military on Tuesday, showed that they were abducted from Bumsiri village.

Bulama commended the Nigerian Army for rescuing the 293 women and girls from captivityadding that the government has started making plans to put in place all the necessary structures to rehabilitate and integrate the freed 293 females back into the society. PUNCH reports that he said:

 “These girls and women rescued are still our daughters as much as the Chibok girls and we have to commend the military for liberating them, hoping that the rest will equally be liberated. 

Though everyone had thought they were the Chibok girls because of the hype surrounding the abduction of the girls, but we should not lose sight of the fact that they are as important as the Chibok girls and those that are still in captivity, which we hope would be liberated soon. 

But at the moment, we are looking up to the time the 293 women and girls would be handed to us so that we can begin the process of rehabilitating and reintegrating them back into the society.”

The Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mallam Isa Gusau, said the military’s operation that led to the liberation was “gratifying regardless of whether or not the rescued women were part of the over 200 schoolgirls stolen by insurgents at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014.”

Boko Haram allegedly heading to South Africa to bomb them for killing Nigerians

The dreaded Boko Haram insurgents have been spotted in Zimbabwe on transit to South Africa, according to reports by UK-based news outlet, ZimEye, which cited Zimbabwe’s national intelligence agency.

According to the Zimbabwean news website, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) issued an intelligence report warning that the Islamist militant group is in Zimbabwe en route to neighbouring South Africa.

ZimEye added that the South African intelligence service has alerted police officers in Zimbabwe’s Matebeleland region about Boko Haram’s intentions to infiltrate South Africa.

Other Zimbabwean media outlets have picked up the story. One outlet, Harare24, claims, “Officers were yesterday called for duty at around 9pm and are now temporarily stationed at selected police stations where they camp.”

iHarare reports that police spokespersons have not responded to a request for clarification on the original ZimEye report, and official statements from the government of Zimbabwe regarding Boko Haram’s potential presence in Zimbabwe do not appear to exist.

The Matebeleland region borders South Africa, where the jihadist group may seek to “carry out revenge attacks for the ill-treatment of several Nigerian nationals in the ongoing xenophobic attacks” that have left seven people dead and displaced thousands more from their homes, notes the news website.

Boko Haram released a propaganda this month threatening to kill South Africans in retribution for the wave of xenophobic violence affecting Nigerians and others in that nation, though it was believed that Boko Haram members would find and kill South Africans in the areas where they operate: Northeast Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon.

Boko Haram reportedly released a video nearly two weeks ago urging South Africa to end the xenophobic attacks taking place within its borders.

Zimbabwe’s online news outlet iHarare reports that in the video, which has not yet been verified as authentic, Boko Haram warned that it would execute all South Africans in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and other surrounding countries if the government of South Africa failed to contain the situation.

Nigerian military says girls rescued from Boko Haram camp not from Chibok

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Nigerian Army spokesman Sani Usman has said that the girls rescued from Boko Haram terror camps in Sambisa Forest on Tuesday are "not the Chibok girls".

Nigerian troops yesterday rescued 200 girls and 93 women in the Sambisa Forest which is a stronghold for the militant Boko Haram group and is not far from Chibok. However, one official did not rule out that captives from other Boko Haram camps that were raided might include some of the 200 girls abducted in April 2014 from a school in Chibok.

In recent weeks, Nigerian troops and vigilantes moved into the Sambisa Forest. Last Wednesday the troops had to retreat because of explosive devices Boko Haram planted in the forest, according to 
military sources and a vigilante who was with the troops.

On Monday, troops re-entered the forest and on Tuesday afternoon they raided Boko Haram camps and rescued scores of girls and women. CNN reports that Usman said:

"We stumbled on the girls and may find more." 

The Tokumbere, Sassa and Tlafa terror camps were raided and destroyed, said a source close to the military. The Tokumbere camp is the most notorious, where the training of small children by Boko Haram is said to have occurred. Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the operation, but the military did not say how many.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said the rescued girls and women are still being screened and none has spoken to their families yet.

Troops rescue 200 girls, 93 women from Sambisa forest

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

In a daring and precise operation, the Nigerian troops have reportedly stormed the Sambisa Forest and rescued about 300 women and girls. 

Three major terrorists camps have been destroyed in the well-coordinated attacks that included the destruction of the notorious Tokumbere camp in the Sambisa Forest.

While confirming the operation, the Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said he could not confirm the identity of the freed victims and their origins and he could not state if any of them was from Chibok until after thorough screening and proper investigations.

He said:

“I can only confirm the rescued this afternoon of 200 girls and 93 women in different camps in the forest. We are yet to determine their origin as all the freed persons are now being screened and profiled. Please don’t misquote me on their origin. We will provide more details later.”

Army acquits 57 soldiers sentenced to death in December

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

There is news that a special court martial of the Nigerian Army has discharged and acquitted 57 soldiers who were charged after they lost their weapons and went AWOL while battling insurgents last year.

It will be recalled that in December 2014, the soldiers were charged with conspiracy to commit mutiny after their revolt led to the death of some of their colleagues in a duel with insurgents. They claimed that their weapons were inferior to the enemy’s at the time.

The court martial, which sat at the Army Headquarters Garrison in Abuja, however convicted 15 other accused soldiers sentencing them to one year prison sentences each.

A source in the office of the National Security Adviser who spoke with Post Nigeria reportedly confirmed the report.

Boko Haram has abducted 2,000 girls, women since 2014

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

It is 365 days today since more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted by the dreaded Boko Haram sect in Chibok; Amnesty International has however released a report detailing how many women and girls have been abducted by the sect since 2014. The report below...

At least 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since the start of 2014 and many have been forced into sexual slavery and trained to fight, said Amnesty International on the first anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok school girls. 

Based on nearly 200 witness accounts, including 28 with abducted women and girls who escaped captivity, a new 90-page report, 'Our job is to shoot, slaughter and kill': Boko Haram’s reign of terror, documents multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Boko Haram, including the killing of at least 5,500 civilians, as it rampaged across north-east Nigeria during 2014 and early 2015. 

The Amnesty International report sheds new light on the brutal methods used by the armed group in north-east Nigeria where men and boys are regularly conscripted or systematically executed and young women and girls are abducted, imprisoned and in some cases raped, forcibly married and made to participate in armed attacks, sometimes on their own towns and villages.

“The evidence presented in this shocking report, one year after the horrific abduction of the Chibok girls, underlines the scale and depravity of Boko Haram’s methods,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. 

“Men and women, boys and girls, Christians and Muslims, have been killed, abducted and brutalized by Boko Haram during a reign of terror which has affected millions. Recent military successes might spell the beginning of the end for Boko Haram, but there is a huge amount to be done to protect civilians, resolve the humanitarian crisis and begin the healing process.”

Abductions
The 276 schoolgirls abducted from Chibok gained global attention with the help of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. But the missing schoolgirls are only a small proportion of the women, girls, young men and boys abducted by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram would take the women and girls they abducted directly to camps in remote communities or to makeshift transits camps such as one established in Ngoshe prison. From transit camps Boko Haram would move them to houses in towns and villages and indoctrinate them with their version of Islam in preparation for marriage. 

Aisha, aged 19, spoke to Amnesty International about how she was abducted from a friend’s wedding in September 2014 along with her sister, the bride and the bride’s sister. Boko Haram took them to a camp in Gullak, Adamawa state, home to approximately 100 abducted girls. One week later, Boko Haram forced the bride and the bride’s sister to marry their fighters. They also taught Aisha and the other women and girls how to fight. 

“They used to train girls how to shoot guns. I was among the girls trained to shoot. I was also trained how to use bombs and how to attack a village,” Aisha told Amnesty International. “This training went on for three weeks after we arrived. Then they started sending some of us to operations. I went on one operation to my own village.” 

Aisha said that during the three months that she was held captive, she was raped repeatedly, sometimes by groups of up to six fighters. She also saw more than 50 people killed by Boko Haram, including her sister. “Some of them refused to convert. Some refused to learn how to kill others. They were buried in a mass grave in the bush. They’ll just pack the dead bodies and dump them in a big hole, but not deep enough. I didn’t see the hole, but we used to get the smell from the dead bodies when they start getting rotten.”

In it's reports, it also explained, in explicit details, the way of life of people who were under the rule of Boko Haram

Life under Boko Haram
The report documents the reign of terror for those under Boko Haram rule. Soon after taking control of a town, Boko Haram would assemble the population and announce new rules with restrictions of movement, particularly on women. Most households became dependent on children to collect food or on visits by Boko Haram members who offered assistance, distributing looted food. 

Boko Haram enforced its rules with harsh punishments. Failure to attend daily prayers was punishable by public flogging. A woman who spent five months under Boko Haram control in Gamborou told Amnesty International how she had seen a woman given 30 lashes for selling children’s clothes and a couple executed publicly for adultery. 

A 15-year-old boy from Bama, spared by Boko Haram due to his disability, told Amnesty International that he had witnessed 10 stonings. “They stone them to death on Fridays. They will gather all the children and ask them to stone. I participated in the stoning… They will dig a hole, bury all the body and stone the head. When the person dies, they will leave the stones until the body decays.”

Follow this link to read the full report.

Chibok girls seen in Gwoza - BBC

Monday, April 13, 2015

A woman has told the BBC that the Chibok girls abducted by militant Islamists in Nigeria last year were seen alive three weeks ago. She said that she saw the girls in the north-eastern Gwoza town before the Boko Haram militants were driven out of there by regional forces.

Boko Haram sparked global outrage when it seized more than 219 girls from Chibok town a year ago.

The US, China and other foreign powers promised to help find the girls.

The Nigerian woman, who lived under Boko Haram's rule in Gwoza, told the BBC she saw the girls in Islamic attire, being escorted by the militants.

"They said they were Chibok girls kept in a big house," said the woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. 

"We just happened to be on the same road with them," she added.

Three other women also told the BBC they had seen the girls in Gwoza.

Another woman told the BBC she last saw some of the girls in November at a Boko Haram camp in Bita village, also in the north-east.

"About a week after they were brought to the camp, one of us peeked through a window and asked: 'Are you really the Chibok girls?' and they said: 'Yes'. We believed them and didn't ask them again," the woman said. 

"They took Koranic lessons, cleaned their compound, cooked for themselves and they braided each others' hair. They were treated differently - their food [was] better and water clean."

Boko Haram was believed to have turned Gwoza into its headquarters after it captured the town in August 2014. Nigeria’s military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, recaptured the town last month.

The militants were suspected to have fled to the nearby Mandara Mountains, near the border with Cameroon. It is unclear whether the girls are with them there.

Bomb blast hits secondary school in Yobe, 47 confirmed dead, 79 injured

Monday, November 10, 2014

Many students are feared dead after a bomb went off during assembly this morning at Government Science & Technical Secondary School, Potiskum Yobe State. A teacher and a medic told AFP:

"The students had gathered for the morning assembly when something exploded in their midst with a thunderous sound‎ at exactly 7:50 am (0650 GMT). The explosion has affected many students but I can't say how many because we are now evacuating the victims to the hospital which is just 100 metres (yards) away," the teacher added, sobbing.

A medic at the Potiskum General Hospital where the victims were taken said scores of students had 
been admitted.

"We are still receiving casualties from the school which is a stone's throw from here. Our priority now is to save the injured, so we have not started a headcount of the victims."

A local resident, Adamu Alkassim, said there was confusion in and around the school but the scene was a mass of abandoned footwear and blood. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Boko Haram militants are likely to be the prime suspects.

No ceasefire agreement yet with Boko Haram – FG

Thursday, November 06, 2014

The Federal Government yesterday said it was yet to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Boko Haram sect.

NationalMirror reports that briefing State House correspondents after the Council of State meeting at the Presidential Villa, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio said that the National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) presented a report to the Council on the current war against the insurgents as well as efforts to rescue the Chibok girls abducted in April.
He said:

“The NSA was of the opinion that high level contact with the Republic of Chad was made and that some persons who acted on behalf of Boko Haram and who claimed tohave authority also had discussions with them and there are some Nigerian officials with them and of course, no agreement has been reached yet, it is just that the press probably misunderstood what was reported, the discussions are on-going.”

Akpabio noted that what came out of the NSA briefings was that the President would do everything possible to ensure the release of the Chibok schoolgirls and the protection of lives and property. That Council was satisfied that the defence ministry and all the security agencies have taken the right steps to combat insurgency in the country.

According to him, the Council urged Nigerians to be patient, stressing that the issue of insurgency could be easily resolved.

Boko Haram warns Christians to relocate or be killed

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have instituted the Shara law in Mubi, Adamawa State, captured by the insurgents last week.
And according to Punch, advised all Christians in the Mubi Local Government Area to relocate to other areas except they were prepared to be islamised or be killed. The insurgents also amputated the hands of 10 residents said to have been found guilty of sundry offences, including looting of property
of fleeing residents.

Sources in Mubi town said they saw the terrorists parading 10 persons whose hands were said to have been amputated. The victims were said to have been amputated in the presence of residents the insurgents asked to converge to witness the enforcement of Sharia law. An eye witness account indicated that two imams were dragged out from a mosque and beheaded for allegedly preaching against Boko Haram.

The source further said that the Emir’s palace in Mubi had been converted to the residence of the ‘Amir’ and that the insurgents hoisted their flags to signify that they were in control of the palace.

PUNCH adds that the most affected by the development in Mubi were students of the Adamawa State University and the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. The students were said to have gone through torture before some of them reportedly escaped through the border between Nigeria and Cameroun. Some of them were said to still be in the bush.

“I must give thanks and praises to God almighty for spearing my life; I saw as people were being slaughtered like goats. I am too happy to see myself alive,” a female student of the Federal Polytechnic, told Punch correspondent in Yola on Sunday.

The insurgents said their mode of prayer was different from what Muslims in the town were used to and that they were “in Mubi to restore Islamic independence to the people and anybody who does not follow us must be killed.”

“We are not to hurt anyone but to free the people from religious slavery,” a source quoted the insurgents to have said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Zanna Mustapha, has said that the Federal Government needs to adopt more stringent measures against Boko Haram in the North-East.

Mustapha told journalists on Monday at the Government House, Yola, that the state governments of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe had raised the alarm over the future of their states as a result of rising occupation of towns and villages by Boko Haram.

Video and full transcript of Shekau’s speech on ceasefire and abducted Chibok girls

Saturday, November 01, 2014

His words;

I am using this opportunity to send this message to the infidels in Nigeria and their rest infidels in the world in Hausa vernacular, the tongue that many understand and if the need arise, I will explain in Fulani and Kanuri, but let us explain to you briefly.

People should know that it is Allah that we are serving, the Prophet of Allah SWT. This is what we put ahead of us; we are praying to die in this path and see heaven and begging Allah to grant us inner most part of heaven and may Allah shield us.

You followers of the constitution, have you forgotten your what you said in your constitution when we were preaching in Maiduguri town? In you constitution, you cite section 8 verse 1, 2 to 3 in that your cursed document referred to as the constitution, that it is a law and not reversible. You came out in your radio and newspapers and say we are fighting for Islamic Caliphate, it is that constitution that stops us preaching in Maiduguri, and we move out because of exile Allah tasked us to embark.

Have you also forgotten? And you are now seating down and say you have reached ceasefire with us, with who? That your infidel Danladi Ahmadu, if he is our hands today he will not pass the day because we will slight his throat. When did we even know him? Who is Danladi in this world? Allah is the knower of everything.

Because of this, there is no any ceasefire or dialogue with anyone instead it is a war with beating and killings, and guns that we are hungry for like food with Maggi cubes. We are on course; our focus and determination is to see that only Quran is being use in running the world, with Allah this is what we put ahead of us.

That President Idris Deby of Chad and one Ambassador of Nigeria, with Cameroon that we are doing ceasefire, where did they see us? Your white man from Germany is with us presently, he is crying and if we like we will cut him into pieces, or gun him down. We are not afraid of anyone except Allah; this is our job.

Who have freed girls from Chibok whom we abducted in their school? Those girls that Shekau abducted and took them to place of his choice about six months today. Allah passed infidels; Allah is ahead of America, Allah is ahead of a plane called drone, nonsense, Allah is supreme ahead of everyone.

If parents of Chibok girls will know the condition of their children, they will not be worry; it is either to be with their conversion to Islam or you die with pains. You don’t know that the over 200 Chibok girls have convert to Islam, they have memorized several sections of Quran, they have finished in the midst of John, Luka and others, they have realized that Christians have filled old testament with lies.

Small girl from Chibok insisting that Islam is the true religion, just form six. We have married them off, and they are in the house of their husbands. To hurt people is Shekau, they are saying Shekau is a throne; it is me Shekau whose father is Muhammadu, Shekau the man that hurts infidels, staying in the world will be difficult for you, you are just misbehaving in the world.

Who created you? We have not done any ceasefire with anyone; we did not, we did not do ceasefire with Chad, we did not do same with Cameroon and we did not do same with Niger and Nigeria. We did not do same with Ambassador of Chad, and we did not do any dialogue with Africa. We did not do same with Europe and Asia; we did not do with America and the useless United Nations of nonsense.

We did not, who is dialogue? It is a lie; it is a lie, we will not do it, Allah said no to it. We are working with Quran, and no infidel will threaten us. You lacked what to do; you want to please your leaders, and you are lying, the likes of Solomon Darlung, Abdullahi Wase, the likes of Senator Ndume. The people are tired, whether you like it or not we are working for others to convert Islam.

What is my business with you? Me that left my parents in our house; I left my mother and father. I came out to team up with those that want to promote Islam; you are just deceiving people with ceasefire.

It is with a single knife that I started and today with more than 20 vehicles I ceased from you, and they are saying Shekau is not a person but a special name. I greet you SSS; I greet you that went to study in Israel, I greet you a member of psychology origin; I greet you descendants of biology. I greet you fools that pledge to Nigeria.

You pledge to Nigeria your country, I  Shekau pledge to Allah my God. If you don’t know, today you will know, I pledge to Allah to be faithful. This is Shekau, nonsense like you people. This is my brief talk; this one is okay for you, and you should convert to Allah and follow Quran.

You are unlucky to have missed Quran and stopping those doing it; it is a lie anyone that refuse will see. 

Thanks.

Boko Haram denies ceasefire, says Chibok girls are already married off

Boko Haram have denied that they had agreed to a ceasefire in a new video obtained yesterday by AFP, describing the Nigerian government claims as a lie, and apparently ruling out future talks.

The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, also claimed the 219 schoolgirls kidnapped from the remote northeast town of Chibok, in Borno state, in April had converted to Islam and been married off.

The video comes after a surprise Nigerian military and presidency announcement on October 17 that a deal had been reached with the militants to end hostilities.

A senior presidential aide to Goodluck Jonathan also said agreement had been reached to free the schoolgirls, whose abduction sparked global anger and demands for their release.

There was immediate scepticism about both claims because of previous assertions of ceasefires and the identity of the purported Boko Haram envoy at the supposed talks, Danladi Ahmadu.

Violence — and fresh kidnappings — have continued unabated since the announcement, including a triple bombing of a bus station in the northern city of Gombe on Friday that killed at least eight.

Nigeria’s government maintains that talks were ongoing in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena.

But Shekau, speaking in Hausa, dressed in military fatigues and boots with a black turban, and flanked by 15 armed fighters, said: “We have not made ceasefire with anyone…

“We did not negotiate with anyone… It’s a lie. It’s a lie. We will not negotiate. What is our business with negotiation? Allah said we should not.”

He also denied knowing Danladi.

There was no indication of when or where the video was shot but it was obtained through the same channels as previous communications from the group.

In it, Shekau mentions the Chibok girls for the first time since a video obtained on May 5, when more than 100 were shown in a rural location dressed in the hijab and reciting verses from the Koran.

Then, the militant leader said many of the girls had converted to Islam but in the latest, he indicated that all of those held had become Muslims.

“Don’t you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have now memorised two chapters of the Koran,” he said.

Shekau previously threatened to sell the girls as slave brides and also suggested that he would be prepared to release them in exchange for Boko Haram prisoners.

In the latest message, he said while laughing: “We have married them off. They are in their marital homes.”

Human Rights Watch said in a report published this week that Boko Haram was holding upwards of 500 women and young girls and that forced marriage was commonplace in the militant camps.

One former hostage said she saw some of the Chibok girls forced to cook and clean for other women and girls who had been chosen for “special treatment because of their beauty”.

Vanguard 

'Boko Haram raped and beat us' - abducted girls

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Girls and women abducted by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram have described their shocking life in captivity in a harrowing new report by Human Rights Watch which was published yesterday.

In the 63-page report, entitled "'Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp': Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in Northeast Nigeria,"47 witnesses and victims, including some of the 276 Chibok girls kidnapped in April described forced marriages and, if they were Christian, orders to convert to Islam or be executed. 

A 15-year-old girl who was held in a Boko Haram camp for four weeks in 2013 spoke of how she was forced to marry a militant more than twice her age:

“After we were declared married I was ordered to live in his cave but I always managed
to avoid him. He soon began to threaten me with a knife to have sex with him, and when I still refused he brought out his gun, warning that he would kill me if I shouted. Then he began to rape me every night. He was a huge man in his mid-30s and I had never had sex before. It was very painful and I cried bitterly because I was bleeding afterwards.”

A 19-year-old who was raped said:

“I could not tell anyone what happened, not even my husband. I still feel so ashamed and cheated.”

 Another woman with her, who was also raped, “vowed never to speak of it again as she was single and believes that news of her rape would foreclose her chances of marriage”.

The majority of abductions by Boko Haram were of Christian women and girls, and many of HRW’s interviewees described being threatened with death or violence if they refused to convert to Islam. One woman said:

 “I was dragged to the camp leader who told me the reason I was brought to the camp was because we Christians worship three gods. When I objected to his claim, he tied a rope around my neck and beat me with a plastic cable until I almost passed out. An insurgent who I recognised from my village convinced me to accept Islam lest I should be killed. So I agreed.”

Some abducted women and girls described forced labour and participation in military operations. A 19-year-old said:

“I was told to approach a group of five men we saw in a nearby village and lure them to where the insurgents were hiding.” She told the young men that she needed help. “When they followed me for a short distance, the insurgents swooped on them. Once we got back to the camp, they tied the legs and the hands of the captives and slit the throats of four of them as they shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’. Then I was handed a knife to kill the last man. I was shaking with horror and couldn’t do it. The camp leader’s wife took the knife and killed him.”

Many of those interviewed by HRW showed signs of stress and anguish, according to the report, although only the Chibok girls had been offered limited counselling. One 15-year-old girl said:

“I could not stop crying even when the insurgents threatened to kill me if I did not keep quiet. I kept on thinking, is it not better to die now than to face whatever terrible things they could do to me when we get to their camp? Even after I escaped from them and live far away from my village, I am still afraid. I think of death many times. My father tries. He encourages me to forget everything, but it is not easy for me. I have terrible dreams at night.”

All of those interviewed by HRW said more could have been done by government security forces to prevent abductions and respond more quickly when they happened. The organisation calls on the Nigerian authorities to investigate and prosecute those who commit serious crimes, to protect schools and the right to education, and ensure access to medical and mental health services for victims of abductions.

Boko Haram abducts 30 boys, girls in fresh attack

Monday, October 27, 2014

According to a breaking news report on AFP, around 30 adolescents -- some of them girls aged as young as 11 -- have been abducted in northeast Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram rebels.

"The insurgents... grabbed young people, boys and girls, from our region," said Alhaji Shettima Maina, who is in charge of the Mafa village around 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

"They took all boys aged 13 and over... and all girls aged 11 and more. According to our information, 30 young people were abducted in the last two days."

Another village elder, Mallam Ashiekh Mustapha, confirmed the account. Both men said 17 people were also killed in recent days in a Boko Haram attack on the nearby village of Ndongo. Boko Haram, which has been waging a bloody insurgency since 2009, has been responsible for waves of attacks and abductions.

In April, the Islamist rebel group snatched more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in northeast Nigeria, triggering an international outcry. Kidnapping young women and girls -- as well as forcibly conscripting young men and boys to fight for Boko Haram -- is a well-established tactic by the militants. Some estimates put the number of women held by the group in the high hundreds. Most are believed to be forced into marriages with rebels.

The latest kidnapping comes despite the Nigerian government declaring a truce with the insurgents and the army retaking control of Abadam in the north-east on Saturday, according to a senior security official in the region. But local chief Maina said his village and areas around it were targeted in nearly daily raids by Boko Haram, and many residents have fled to Maiduguri "for fear of being killed or losing their children". He said he had pleaded for help from the Nigerian government but that so far none had been forthcoming.

Boko Haram releases abducted Adamawa women

Friday, October 24, 2014

There are reports that Boko Haram insurgents, who abducted about 60 women and girls from two border villages between Adamawa and Borno states have freed the women among their captives.
This was disclosed in an interview by villagers, who spoke on the issue with newsmen on the telephone from their hide-outs. They however, said that the exact number of those released could not be ascertained, but that no fewer than 45 girls were still being detained.

Vanguard reports that according to the villagers, the women and girls were abducted from Waga 
Mangoro which was between Gwoza in Borno and Madagali in Adamawa states. Relatives of some of the abducted women who were later released by the insurgents also, told newsmen in Yola that some of the girls have been turned to cooks while others were married off immediately to some of the insurgents.

A relative to the one of the women who spoke on the condition of anonymity said...

'Initially, the insurgents captured 80 girls and women whom they later loaded into their vans and zoomed off into the bushes.

Later in the night, the insurgents separated the elderly women from the girls and released the women, who are now languishing in the forest because they could not relocate the towns because they were razed down by the insurgents.

We are confused that hours after the so called cease fire agreement between the Federal Government and Boko Haram insurgents, our girls are still being abducted by the insurgents.

We are at a loss about government’s insincerity on the whole issue and we urge them to rescue our daughters without further delay as we are ready to die searching for our missing ones.'

Explosion rocks bus station in Bauchi

Thursday, October 23, 2014

A bomb blast has occurred in a popular bus station in Bauchi. The explosion which is suspected to be a Boko Haram attack has been reported to have left five people dead and twelve injured.

The State Police confirmed the incident, making it known that it occurred at about 9:45pm yesterday in Azare town.The bomb was planted in a parked car which denoted remotely.