15 killed in fresh attack on Fulani settlements in Mambila

At least 15 people were killed and several others injured in fresh attack on 15 Fulani settlement on Mambila Plateau by suspected Bachama militia.

A victim of the attack, Abubakar Ardo, who escaped with his family, told NAN in Gembu that the attacks started at midday on Thursday and most of the killings occurred in the night.

He said almost all houses in about 15 Fulani communities were torched by the assailants.

Mr Ardo said the timely arrival of both army and police prevented further killings and destruction of property.

He said about 15 people were killed during the violence on Thursday evening, adding that five of those killed were buried in Gembu on Friday.

Mr Ardo also confirmed that security personnel have been drafted to the trouble areas leading to restoration of peace.

He called on the state government and security agencies to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators to serve as deterrent to others.

But the Police Command in Taraba however said only five people were killed and several others injured in the attacks on Fulani communities.

The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, David Misal, told NAN on Saturday that the crisis erupted in Nyiwa and Yerimaru areas on Thursday as a result of a misunderstanding between a farmer and a herder.

He said units of mobile policemen and soldiers from the 20 battalion in Serti have been deployed to the area to maintain law and orderMr Misal, an assistant superintendent of police, added that the situation, which led to the burning of several homes and killing of many cows, has been brought under control

Credit :NAN 

Rann attack: ‘Yesterday, we evacuated 52 aid workers, deceaseds’

Humanitarian work has been suspended until next weekend in a remote town in northeast Nigeria after a Boko Haram attack killed three aid workers, the UN said on Saturday.
The attack happened on Thursday evening in Rann, near the border with Cameroon, where nearly 80,000 people depend on emergency food aid and medical care.
                                 

Following the attack in Rann on 1 March 2018, in which three aid workers were killed and one injured, UNHAS has assisted with the evacuation of the wounded.



At least one other aid worker was critically injured and another three were missing. Eight Nigerian soldiers were also killed.
A UN spokeswoman in Abuja, Samantha Newport, told AFP: “Operations in Rann were temporarily suspended for one week from yesterday morning (Friday).
“Yesterday, we evacuated 52 aid workers and the three deceased, in addition to 300 kilos (661 lbs) of medical supplies that were going to go bad.”
The aid workers are not believed to have been specifically targeted but were caught up in an attack on the military.
Those killed were Nigerians working for the International Organization for Migration and the UN children’s fund Unicef. The injured and missing are also locals.
Newport said an assessment would be conducted in the coming days about damage caused to facilities used in the relief effort, as well as security.
But she said there would be “extremely minimal impact” on people in Rann, where 55,000 people displaced by the Boko Haram conflict are housed in a camp.
Operations elsewhere in the region were also continuing as normal, she added.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has worked in Rann since January 2017, announced on Friday it had suspended medical activities and withdrawn 22 staff.
It said it would return “as soon as the conditions allow”.
In January 2017, a botched Nigerian air strike intended to hit jihadist fighters killed at least 112 people in Rann as aid workers distributed food.
Six Nigerian Red Cross workers were among the dead.
At least 20,000 people have been killed and more than two million others made homeless in Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency since 2009.
The conflict has also caused a humanitarian crisis in northeast Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region, particularly chronic food shortages.
The UN said it needs $1.05 billion (805 million euros) this year to provide help to 6.1 million people in Borno and the neighbouring states of Yobe and Adamawa.
Credit :Vanguard Newspaper

Dapchi: How insurgents abducted our school girls-Residents.

One week after insurgents attacked their community and abducted more than 100 of their school girls, residents of Dapchi, the headquarters of Bursari Local Government Area of Yobe state were gradually recovering from the shock as they recounted how the insurgents carried out the attack.

                                      Prsident Buhari and Dapchi school girls
 The residents also narrated how the girls were deceived by the terrorists who pretended to be soldiers who had been sent to rescue them. According to one of the residents who witnessed the attacks but declined to disclose his name, he said the gunmen who were dressed in military fatigues and turbans arrived Dapchi unchallenged and started firing indiscriminately shouting “Allahu Akbar “ (“God is greatest “). Another resident, Safai Maimagani , a herbal medicine vendor in Dapchi, said the militants headed towards the school, Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi, Borno State on Monday, February 19 and that “not long afterwards they returned, and I heard the cries of the girls from their lorry .” Muhammad Kabo, a tea seller, gave a similar account: “They were here for less than an hour. I heard girls wailing in the truck and it was clear that they abducted some girls from the school. “ A school security guard who gave his name as Baa- Kolo said the gunmen tried to stop the girls from fleeing and deceived them into believing they had come to rescue them. According to him, “ Some of the girls believed them and climbed up into the lorry. Many others just kept running. Hadiza Makinta, one of the students who escaped unhurt said, she was fasting on that very day of the incident, and thanked God for sparing her life while she ran to the bush for safety”. Meanwhile, following the false information of the rescue of the girls, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State did not expect the kind of reaction that greeted his visit to Dapchi by the residents of the community last Thursday. It will be recalled that before the attack on the GGSTC Dapchi the insurgents had attacked Government Girls Secondary School GSS Damaturu, GSS Mamudo, Federal government college Buni Yadi, College of Agriculture Gujba and GSTC Potiskum leaving scores of students dead and injured in the past The residents of Dapchi, headquarters of Bursari Local Government Area which is 100 km drive from Damaturu, the state capital, and which also shares a porous border with Niger Republic, did not only boo the number one citizen of the state but threw stones and dangerous objects at his convoy, resulting in the destruction of some vehicles. The governor was at Dapchi to tell the people that the kidnapped girls from GGSTC had not been found contrary to earlier information that they had been rescued by gallant Nigerian soldiers. The governor, who attributed the conflicting statement to his inability to get accurate information from the right source, blamed the military who left the area one week before the attack, for the abduction of the girls. One of the parents, Inuwa Mohammed, whose 16- year- old daughter, Falmata , was missing, said he was “ devastated by this twist of events” and that his wife fainted on hearing the news and was in hospital. “ I woke up with the strong hope of meeting my daughter and my wife had been making preparations for a warm welcome, only for us to receive this shattering news that the story was a rumour ,” he added . Speaking on the abduction, Idris Abdul, Executive Director of Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR), described it as a national embarrassment, and blamed the federal and state governments for leaving the girls vulnerable. He said “I expected that the government must have learned from what happened in Chibok by providing adequate security for the girls in the school. He urged Governor Gaidam to intensify efforts by providing adequate security for all schools, especially the female institutions in the state. Also lamenting, Spokesman of the North East Youth Initiative For Development NEYIF, Mallam Dauda Gombe in an interview, called on the federal government to ensure that all communities which were not covered by adequate security should be given enough military personnel to protect them from the insurgents. He said that the increase of military personnel in the war theatre was the only way wanton killing and abduction can be avoided. According to him, “if there were adequate military personnel to go round, the army commander in the state would not have been under any pressure to remove the soldiers protecting Dapchi at that material time” adding that some tactical mistakes would have been avoided if a mobile strike force was within five minutes reach. Gombe expressed worry in the lack of coordination between the government and the military such that it took two hours before the mobile troops arrived the scene to save an already bad situation. Gombe then requested that “all communities in the local government areas be assigned adequate military men to ensure the security of lives and property of the citizens. In his own reaction, a security experts based in Damaturu Mr. Ali Abubakar Goni said the abduction in Dapchi was not only a national disaster, but an embarrassment to the Buhari-led Federal Government. He advised that, “a more effective mechanism should be deployed to manage and close the gap between the time of postings and shifting of military duties”. Goni also called for a more technical mobile strike force to be established to go round the local councils not only in Yobe but the entire council areas of the north east of Nigeria to fight insurgency. He argued that “all schools be given adequate security men as it was done for commercial banks and many other public places. Above all, as it is clear that the insurgents have insatiable thirst for ladies, the government should upgrade the status of most boarding girls secondary schools urgently so that large number of kids would not be placed in a position where the insurgents would easily pounce on them”. A veteran Journalist based in Maiduguri, Mr. Gbenga Akingbule also submitted that both government and the security agencies were to be blame for not living up to their constitutional responsibilities. Another parent who gave his name as Mohammed Audu in Dapchi said, “the government have to sit up and be up and doing, looking at what happened in Chibok in the past four years. “ One of the constitutional responsibilities of government is to protect human lives, anything short of this, it is better for those in government to resign, rather than shifting blames to the military or the police. “Secondly, the issue of deploying, redeploying and withdrawal of the military to a vulnerable school like that of Dapchi was most unfortunate which I will describe as a fire brigade approach, so our security operatives should do the needful. “ I therefore advise the government and security agencies to punish whoever was found to have neglected his/her duty that led to the abduction of the school girls to serve as deterrent for others”, Audu stated. Credit :Vanguard Newspaper

Fulani Herdsmen: We Will Not Leave Benue Community.

Just when it seemed respite was coming the way of Benue farming communities from the incursions of marauding herdsmen after the flag off of Exercise Ayem A’ Kpatuma, or Cat Race, a military spike operation to end herdsmen killings in the state, armed herdsmen early in the week stormed Mbatoho, an Island community at Mbalagh council ward of Makurdi local government, sacking over 5,000 inhabitants of the vast Island. The invaders who were reported to have quietly ordered the locals to vacate their ancestral homes without putting up any resistance warned that their intent was not to shed blood. Scared stiff of the threat, the locals immediately fled their homes to the mainland after which the well armed herdsmen razed several homes on the island and occupied the territory which is less than five kilometer on sea from the Wadata area of Makurdi town. Majority of the victims caught refuge in homes of relatives and friends on the other side of River Benue while a handfull of others staged a peaceful protest to Benue Government House, seeking the intervention of the state government to save them from being homeless. It was gathered from some of the displaced persons that the armed herdsmen started the action of attacking and taking over the island some days ago. According to the Community Leader of the Island and tax collector of the inner segment of the Island, Chief Peter Tachie, “the armed herdsmen who are usually dressed in black started their action four days ago in our community. “They came in their numbers with their cattle into island from Guma local government area and other places on foot some weeks ago because the water level of River Benue has dropped significantly so they could easily assess the island on foot. “Four days ago they started destroying our houses, farmland and food barns and also taking over the LGEA Primary school in the island and converting same for personal use. “As we speak no Tiv person is on that island at the moment, they have taken our farms and also uprooted our cassava from our plantation to feed their cattle which are also grazing freely on our farmland. “They have destroyed all that we spent years to acquire, so we have all moved into Makurdi main town with our families to seek government’s attention. “You know that we do a lot of dry season farming on the Island and as we speak all that we planted in this dry season have all been destroyed by the herdsmen and their cattle.” On his part, the tax collector of the outer segment of the island, Chief Stephen Guntu, said the invaders had warned that it was in the best interest of the locals to vacate the island in order to avert a major crisis. “They warned that we should leave the island quietly in our own interest. And since we know that they could be ruthless we all fled with our families. “Some of us are currently taking refuge in the houses of friends and relatives while John Kyuka who is a politician that comes regularly to campaign in the island also offered to accommodate very few of us. “We need urgent intervention of the government because they have taken over our farmlands and all the food we harvested during the last farming season. “Moreover, we do a lot of dry season farming and as I speak all the crops we planted this season are now food for the cattle.” Head Teacher of the only Primary School on the Island, the LGEA Primary School, Daudu, Mr. Ephram Otave told Saturday Vanguard that close to 400 pupil of the school had been chased out of school by the invaders. “All my pupils who are close to 400 have been chased out of school and displaced due to the activities of the herdsmen who have occupied the entire island and chased out our people.” Confirming the development, the Benue state Information Commission, Lawrence Onoja Jnr. said the invaders had completely taken over the Island adding that the government had also directed security personnel to push them out of the community before the crisis would escalate. According to the Commissioner “our findings when the Security Adviser to the Governor, Lt. Col. Paul Hemba(Rtd.) led a team to Island indicated that for sometime in the last few days there has been serious influx of herdsmen into Benue especially along Agatu, Guma, Logo, Katsina/Ala local government areas and communities bordering Nasarawa state especially. “It was in the course of this influx that groups of herdsmen some days ago went to Mbatoho Island, at Mbalagh council ward of Makurdi local government area and sacked the locals from their homes. “The people fled from Island and the herdsmen took over the community. When the team got there it was discovered that the herdsmen were feeding their cattle on the farm produce of the people and all they had in their barns. “Governor Samuel Ortom has been in constant touch with security personnel who have mobilized to the Island and have been directed to to push back the herdsmen. “Unfortunately the Exercise Ayem A’ Akpatuma recently launched by the military in the state to end the herdsmen incursion in the state does not cover that area because it is an Island completely surrounded by water. “However, security personal have been mobilized to the island to move the herdsmen out so that the people can move back to their community.” When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent, ASP, Moses Yamu confirmed that the Special Forces of the Police had moved into the Island to restore order. “Just today, the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni held meetings with some Ardos (Fulani Chiefs) and Chiefs from Agatu, Gwer West and others, after which they went on a visit to the Island. As we speak they are yet to return to Makurdi mainland.”

Dapchi girls: Boko Haram contacts female negotiator, Aisha Wakil

Wakil, who is popularly called Mama Boko Haram, was a member of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, which was set up during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Wakil made the claim in a video interview with the News Agency of Nigeria that has gone viral on the social media, saying the terrorist group had made contact with her on Thursday. She is believed to have communication links with the leadership of the sect and also believed to have played some roles in negotiations between the Federal Government and Boko Haram insurgents that resulted in the release of persons kidnapped by the group in the past. Earlier in the week, Wakil had pleaded with the abductors of the schoolgirls to release them so that they could reunite with their families. But in the fresh video, Wakil said, “They are even the ones that called me and said Mama, we heard what you have said and told me that they are with the girls and they are going to release them. “I begged of them and said please let this not be another 1,000-plus days of Chibok girls, and they laughed and said no. I asked them where I can come and stay with them (girls) for two days, but they did not say anything. “I can assure Nigerians that so far they are with my son, Habib, and his friends; Habib is a nice guy, he is a very nice boy. He will not harm them, he will not touch them, and he will not kill them. He is going to listen to us, and so far, he indicated interest that he loves peace. And I love them for that and believe what they said on this. “They will definitely give us the girls. All I am begging Nigerians is to calm down, be prayerful, everything will be over in God grace (sic).” Credit:Punch newspaper

Breaking: Four aid workers killed in Boko Haram attack in Borno

Four aid workers were killed in a Boko Haram attack in Rann, in northeast Nigeria, the UN said on Friday, in the latest violence to hit the remote town. Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai looks on at the headquaters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, Borno State in northcentral Nigeria, on October 4, 2017. The United Kingdom is providing expert training to the Nigerian military in helping to develop the skills necessary to tackle the terror threat of Boko Haram in North East Nigeria. Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency began in 2009 and has killed at least 20,000 and forced more than 2.6 million from their homes. / AFP The attack happened “after dark” outside a camp housing some 55,000 people displaced by the conflict and appeared to target the military, said UN spokeswoman Samantha Newport. A civilian militia source in Rann, which is some 175 kilometres (110 miles) from the Borno state capital of Maiduguri, and a senior military source gave an identical death toll. They also said eight soldiers were killed in the attack but there was no immediate official confirmation. Newport said: “Four aid workers were killed, one aid worker was injured and one aid worker is missing, feared abducted. “Of the aid workers that were killed, two worked for the IOM (International Organization for Migration) in camp management; and one was a medical doctor working as a third party consultant for UNICEF,” the UN children’s agency, she said. No details were immediately available for the fourth but Newport said the injured and missing were both women. All those involved were Nigerian, she added. Boko Haram fighters killed nine people from the Rann internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in September last year, as they worked on farms just outside the town. In January last year, a botched Nigerian air strike intended to hit jihadist fighters killed at least 112 people as aid workers distributed food. Commanders at the time called the bombing a mistake and blamed “the fog of war”. An air force board of inquiry later blamed “lack of appropriate marking of the area” for the bombardment and an unexpected gathering of people at the location.

No fewer than 1,000 shops and several vehicles were torched in the violent clash that occurred between Christian and Muslim youths in Kaduna on Monday over girls, as the death toll rose to 12 yesterday. When Vanguard visited the scene yesterday, the large scale destruction that trailed the clash which engulfed Kasuwan Magani town in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state was benumbing. Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Austin Iwar, who disclosed the new death toll yesterday, said 18 people had also been arrested. Addressing journalists after a fact-finding and assessment visit to the area, the Police Commissioner vowed that no stone would be left unturned in unravelling the immediate and remote causes of the crisis. The Police Commissioner, in company of the General Officer Commanding I Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Major-General Mohammed Mohammed and state commandant of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps, Modu Goni, expressed shock at the scale of destruction. He said: “It is unfortunate. As we can see, the level of destruction is very high, some people were killed and properties were destroyed. This is not what we wish for our state, Kaduna. Some burnt cars during the crisis that took place at Kasuwan Magani town in Kajuru Local Government area of Kaduna state Tuesday. Photos Olu Ajayi. see more photos here “Let me say that we will not leave any stone unturned in investigating the remote and immediate causes of this problem. We will talk to the stakeholders here and try to find out what the problem is and through civil problem solving approach and conflict resolution, we will deal with that.” Police recover petrol bombs, other items “We will also look at the criminal aspect of it. So far, we have arrested eighteen people we suspect were involved in the crisis. We are working round the clock to ensure that we get to the root of the matter. “We have recovered a number of dangerous items, including petrol bombs. We believe this is a planned thing and we will get to the root of the matter. We will do a thorough investigation to ensure that it does not happen again.” He said the police was aware of “skirmishes” in the area two weeks ago and had made some arrests “but we did not know that there was a grand design to carry out massive destruction as it happened.” He defended police response to the crisis, saying he mobilized his men and deployed to the area as soon as the Police received reports of the crisis. “The most important thing to us is, when was it reported to us? Travelling from Kaduna to this place takes about forty minutes. We needed to prepare and mobilize our men. Police officers are not like items sitting on the shelves of supermarkets. “We needed to bring people from other places. We took necessary steps to check the crisis. We brought in military reinforcement, Civil Defence and Police reinforcement,” he added. The Police commissioner said 11 victims of the crisis were “buried around12 midnight”, while one person who sustained injuries later died in the hospital yesterday. Crisis started on Monday, when a Christian girl who was allegedly engaged to a Muslim man was about to convert to Islam, a development that angered youths of the predominantly Christian settlement. Senate warns against hate speech Meanwhile, the Senate has cautioned religious, political, community leaders against hate speech to avoid hate actions. It also said any conflict with religious colouration would be the fastest way to liquidate Nigeria as a country. Speaking yesterday, in Abuja during plenary when Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) raised a point of order on the killings, destruction of property in Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary, said if all Nigerians, irrespective of class, religion and status, treat themselves as brothers and sisters, those following them would follow. Ekweremadu, who urged the leaders to try as hard as they can to avoid escalation of religious crisis in Nigeria, said: “This is one incident too many. This is becoming very worrisome. What is even more worrisome is the religious colouration to the killings, based on what Senator Shehu Sani has said. This is something we need to avoid. “That is, any conflict that will have religious colouration, that will be the fastest way to liquidate this country. As leaders, we must understand that leadership comes with responsibilities. It is our job to keep preaching to those who are leading through our actions and words that we belong to one God. “The fact that somebody is a Christian or Muslim does not mean that he should hate another person. I have not seen any religion that preaches hate killings. It is the way we behave that promotes that. “We are talking about hate speech. The worst of it is hate action. If we treat ourselves as brothers and sisters, those following us will follow us. We must try as hard as we can, not to have any religious escalation in Nigeria.” Credit: Vangauard Newspaper