Members of the dreaded Boko Haram continued to dare the government as the insurgents struck at a central market in Gombe on Thursday.
The attack happened around 5pm.
According to a resident, the insurgents struck as people were shopping ahead of the Sallah celebration.
“They planted bombs in a vehicle and another one in a very busy section of the market,” he said.
“The market is one of the biggest in the state and the casualty is certainly going to be high because people were preparing for tomorrow’s Sallah.”
Since President Buhari took over, the insurgents who were on the run after the previous government invaded their hideout in Sambisa forest, suddenly made u-turn and more deadly ever.
The numbers of casualties unknown at the time of filing this report
The Gombe State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Monday expelled the senator representing Gombe-Central senatorial district, Danjuma Goje, from the party.
State chairman of the party, Magaji Doho, disclosed this at the party’s secretariat in Gombe.
He said the former Gombe governor was expelled with effect from July 1, 2015 for his engagement in anti-party activities.
Doho said, “Having gone through the rigours of campaigns and the 2015 general elections, some of our members, led by Senator Danjuma Goje, have decided to have parallel state executives of the party.
“Secondly, one of our senators representing Gombe-South, Danjuma Goje, is grossly involved in anti-party activities and we have, therefore, decided to expel him from the party from the first day of July, 2015, to instill discipline in our great party.”
The APC chairman said the state executive council had written a comprehensive report to the national secretariat of the party, indicting Goje.
“We have expelled Goje from the APC because of his activities, disloyalty and going contrary to the constitution of the party,” the party chairman said.
He said that some members of the state executive council of the party that decided to support Goje by operating a parallel executive council were relieved of their positions but could remain as members of the party.
He said the party could not fold its arms and allow bad eggs among its members and supporters to destroy the good reputation the party had built over the years.
Doho emphasised that whoever was out to destroy the party in the state and Nigeria at large would be put to shame because the APC would succeed at all levels.
The Nigerian soldiers have arrested two persons behind the last year bombing at the Gombe Line Transport Service.
According to tweets by the Defence Headquarter on Tuesday, the two masterminds were arrested after a shootout with the troops on Sunday.
“Two masterminds of last year bombing at the Gombe Line Transport Services have been arrested after a shootout with troops on Sunday.
“The two suspected high profile terrorists were eventually arrested following surveillance and intelligence operations that tracked them to a check point at Bajoga in the state. Interrogation of the suspects has started”, DHQ said.
One of them, according to the tweets, sustained serious injuries during the encounter and is being treated at a military medical centre.
Legal action has been taken to declare the Nigerian military’s detention of two Al Jazeera journalists as “illegal and unconstitutional.”
The Motion on Notice filed today in Abuja’s high court seeks the enforcement of Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustafa’s “fundamental rights to personal liberty and human dignity” under the Nigerian constitution.
It also seeks a court order for their immediate release from the “illegal military custody” that began on 24 March 2015.
The move comes as concern for the pair grew after they were denied access to their phones and contact with the outside world. Al Jazeera said it was extremely concerned about the situation and was seeking guarantees regarding the safety and wellbeing of their journalists.
It is hoped that the legal action will help bring an end to the impasse where Idris and Mustafa have been held by military forces in Maiduguri for no apparent reason for the last ten days.
Salah Negm, director of news for Al Jazeera English, said, “We want the military to bring this situation to a close, and call on all parties involved in this capture of our journalists to end this now. Nobody appears to be taking responsibility for this grave action and we hope this legal action will help to cut through the haze.”
Al Jazeera English is one of the most-watched news channels in Nigeria, with millions of viewers every day.
Idris is an experienced journalist who has over thirty years of broadcasting experience. He started working for the Adamawa Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 1983. In 2006 Idris joined the BBC in Abuja and in 2007 until 2010 he was the Bureau Editor. Since 2010 Idris has served as a producer/reporter for Al Jazeera. In 2014 he was the first international journalist to reach Chibok and interview families affected by the mass kidnap of schoolgirls by Boko Haram.
Mustafa has been a cameraman with Al Jazeera since 2011. He graduated from the National Film Institute, Jos, Plateau State in 2000 as an Independent Film Maker, majoring in scripting producing and directing.
An explosion near a bus station in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe killed at least five and injured 15 others, witnesses told AFP on Thursday, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram.
“We had an explosion outside the motor park (bus station) this evening around 8:30 pm (1930 GMT) which killed five people and injured 15 others,” said Muhammad Garkuwa, a drivers’ union official.
“The explosion was from an explosive left by a woman in her handbag beside a bus waiting to convey passengers to Jos,” he said in an account supported by a nearby food seller.
The attack is the latest in a string of similar explosions against so-called “soft targets” such as busy bus stations and crowded markets in the restive northeast, which has been hit for the last six years by Boko Haram Islamists.
The group has been pushed out of captured territory in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states since February by a four-nation coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Since then, the group has reverted to guerrilla tactics, including suicide bombings and attacks on civilians in urban centres.
Garkuwa said he loaded the casualties into a vehicle while Yusuf Darazo, who sells food near the bus station, said the female suspect left her bag after being told the bus’s destination.
“No-one suspected her. People around assumed she was making calls before the bus filled up,” he said.
“As she was talking in the phone she moved away from the bus towards a row of kiosks, as if she wanted to buy something, leaving her bag where she was standing.
“She disappeared and the bag exploded soon after, setting the bus on fire. I saw five dead and several injured.”
Boko Haram fighters were suspected at the weekend of attacking a number of polling stations in Gombe state as Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president.
At least seven people were killed and there was a wave of attacks on Saturday and Sunday in neighbouring Bauchi state, prompting a an indefinite round-the-clock curfew, including in the capital, Bauchi city.
The lock-down has now been lifted.
Residents in Kasheri, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Gombe city, and nearby Pindiga and Tumu, reported seeing suspected Boko Haram fighters and that they were firing in the air.
Some were barefoot and appeared disorientated, asking for directions, they added.
Nigeria’s military insists that it finally has Boko Haram in the run, after more than 13,000 people have been killed and some 1.5 million left homeless.
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday vowed to crush Boko Haram, vowing to rid Nigeria of the scourge of “terrorism”.
Eight suspected Boko Haram fighters were killed on Monday during fighting in Gombe and Bauchi states, northeast Nigeria, police, residents and local hunters said.
Gunmen believed to be Islamist militants have been roaming Bauchi and neighbouring Gombe since the weekend, when there was a series of attacks on polling stations open for Nigeria’s general election.
Boko Haram have been increasingly operating in both states, as the military forces it out of captured territory in the three northeastern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa.
On Monday, Babakarami Sunusi, who lives in Gombe Abba, about 10 kilometres (6.25 miles) from Dukku, in Gombe state said four gunmen were killed.
According to him, gunmen in several vehicles arrived in the village around 4:30 am (0330 GMT) and were intercepted by soldiers who engaged them in a gunfight.
“The soldiers killed four of the gunmen and captured one,” he said. “The rest of the gunmen fled.”
Idi Male, a local hunter in the area gave a similar account, adding: “They (the gunmen) went into the hills outside the village but they were pursued by local hunters. The hunters are yet to return.”
Bauchi state police spokesman Haruna Mohammed said police and local vigilantes “got wind of the approaching hoodlums (and) engaged them in a fierce gun battle” at about 7:30 am in Tafawa Balewa.
Four gunmen were killed and four of their 18 four-wheel drive pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machineguns were seized, along with empty shells and ammunition.
“Meanwhile, (the) same hoodlums went back to Jitar village in Bauchi LGA (local government area) and killed three vigilante members,” Mohammed added.
“The entire surrounding has been cordoned off by combined security forces and (an) intensive patrol is ongoing to flush out fleeing miscreants.”
Three people were killed as voters queued up at polling stations in Dukku, Gombe state, on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Bauchi state government imposed an indefinite, 24-hour curfew on three areas, including the state capital Bauchi city, as troops fought battles with scores of Boko Haram fighters nearby.
But the local All Progressives Congress opposition blamed the unrest on its political opponents and linked it to the election.
Nigerians headed to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president in a knife-edge vote against a backdrop of security fears but new technology delayed the process, affecting even the outgoing president.
Boko Haram appeared to carry through their pledge to try to disrupt the vote, attacking two polling stations in the northeastern state of Gombe, leaving at least two voters dead.
One election official said after the shootings in Birin Bolawa and Birin Fulani: “We could hear the gunmen shouting, ‘Didn’t we warn you about staying away from (the) election?’”
Polling stations had earlier opened at 0700 GMT across the country but the late arrival of officials and materials delayed the accreditation process before voting proper from 1230 GMT.
Handheld technology to read biometric voter identity cards is being used for the first time, which the country’s electoral commission hopes will cut voter fraud that has blighted previous elections.
An apparent card reader malfunction forced President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife Patience to hang around in the scorching heat in his hometown of Otuoke then leave while the problem was resolved.
“Maybe it’s me?” Jonathan joked to reporters in the southern state of Bayelsa but pleaded for calm as reports filtered in of similar delays around the country, including the capital Abuja.
The 57-year-old, in his trademark fedora hat and black suit, later returned and was accredited using the old manual system.
Jonathan’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has voiced concerns at the technology, calling it untested, while the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has backed its use.
APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari, in a white robe topped with a traditional Muslim cap, was accredited without a hitch using the card reader in his hometown of Daura, in northern Katsina state.
Fourteen candidates are contesting the presidential poll, while 2,537 hopefuls from 28 parties are vying for 469 seats in the National Assembly at the same time.
- Partisan support
Jonathan’s PDP has been in power since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 but the result is far from clear this time, with the opposition in its strongest position ever.
The president’s inability to tackle Boko Haram — until recently — has dominated his tenure and while Nigeria became Africa’s largest economy on his watch, global oil shocks have hit the country hard.
Even Jonathan has admitted that the election is close.
“I cannot recall an election more important than this in the history of our nation,” he said on Thursday.
There was clear evidence of traditional support along regional lines, with Buhari hailing from the mainly Muslim north and Jonathan a son of the largely Christian south.
But political analysts say such backing is far from guaranteed at the election, of which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the international community had “high expectations”.
Voters were however annoyed at delays in authenticating fingerprints and other data, which the electoral commission said should take only 10 seconds under the new system.
“I was in the queue for almost two hours, and when it was my turn the officials spent close to 20 minutes before they could be through with me,” said Isu Sylvanus, a 38-year-old farmer, in Otuoke.
“They should discard with the card reader for this election because we are yet to master how to use it.”
– Tight security –
Security was tight nationwide, with fears running high of Boko Haram attacks on polling stations and a repeat of poll-related violence that saw some 1,000 people killed in 2011.
Streets were largely devoid of traffic as an eight-hour ban on vehicle movements began. Shops and businesses were shuttered while military helicopters were seen overhead in Abuja.
In the southeastern city of Enugu, a vehicle loaded with suspected homemade bombs exploded outside a polling station at a primary school but no one was killed or injured, police said.
The attack in Gombe, which has been repeatedly targeted by the militants, also saw election materials burned.
In the northeast, blighted by six years of Boko Haram violence that has left more than 13,000 people dead and 1.5 million homeless, voting was taking place in and around camps for the displaced.
Civilian vigilantes swept voters in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, with hand-held metal detectors as a precaution after a string of suicide attacks on “soft” targets in recent weeks.
Many of the thousands of voters were women widowed by the violence or separated from their husbands.
“I am ready to cast my vote at whatever cost,” said Tandalami Balami, who fled the recently liberated town of Gwoza to a camp in Maiduguri.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as revealing, the attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to politicize the circulation of anti-election leaflets in Gombe state.
Olisah Metuh
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Tuesday alerted that the rush with which the APC started raining accusations was “suspect and betrays a subterfuge; a spirited attempt to cover-up, divert attention and distract the security forces from getting to those behind the threats.”
“Ordinarily, many Nigerians saw the statement by the APC as merely political, but looking beyond the veneer of politics undoubtedly is a bigger picture of an opposition party deeply involved but craftily deploying a smokescreen to divert attention through a hurried attempt to politicize a very serious security issue.
“Whereas it is incontrovertible that Gombe remains a stronghold of the PDP with the soaring popularity of President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, we urge Nigerians to make their deduction as to which party stands to gain from any anti-election threat in the state.
Is it the PDP for whom Gombe is a stronghold or the APC, which has been seeking to turn the state into a theater of violence owing to its dwindling popularity?
“Furthermore, the manner with which the APC in its statement described the convoy of the insurgents and their said movements from Maiduguri to Gombe raises an issue. Is it that the APC has their members among the insurgents or is it part of its fabrication and lies to score cheap political point?
“Nigerians are aware of series of attempts by the APC to cause mayhem in Gombe as a means to dislodge the PDP in the state. The December 18th 2014 ambush and attack on the convoy of Governor Dankwambo by APC thugs is still fresh in the mind.
“We therefore demand a thorough investigation into the matter as it might assist in unraveling other knotty issues regarding the security challenges in the country.
“This is especially as the APC has shown the capacity to find a voice and thrive whenever Nigerians come under attack or threat, as well as the proclivity for actions and utterances that tend to cause confusion, distract security agencies and embolden insurgents and their supporters”, the PDP said.
The party therefore urged Nigerians to be wary of the APC, stating that its fabrications may not only be for propaganda but also for more sinister agenda.
Noting that it will not be distracted but continue to focus on its campaign, the PDP restated its readiness for the March 28 and April 11, 2015 general elections adding that with its record of performance and support of Nigerians across board, it will receive a sweeping victory not only in Gombe but also in all the states of the federation.
By Jimitota Onoyume, Caleb Ayansina & Ndahi Marama
ABUJA—A blast, yesterday, ripped through a car park outside Gombe Stadium where President Goodluck Jonathan had addressed a campaign rally barely three minutes after he left. A suspected female bomber and another woman died in the blast while six other persons sustained various degrees of injury, according to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Fwaje Atajiri.
PDP lagos, President Jonathan
Atajiri, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the blast occurred near a carpenter’s shop in Kashere Street at the Water Board area in Gombe city and not at the campaign rally.
Coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri, who confirmed the blast also disclosed that the African Union Peace and Security Council had approved the mobilization and immediate deployment of 7,500 troops to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram.
The blast occurred in Gombe on a day explosion rocked three court premises in Rivers State with one of the affected courts burnt down by fire.
An eyewitness to the blast in Gombe, Mohammed Bolari, who was at the rally, said the explosion happened at 3:10 pm, three minutes after President Jonathan’s departure.
According to him, “the President had just passed the parking lot and we were trailing behind his convoy when the explosion happened, just 100 metres from the bus we were driving in.”
Jonathan’s appearance in the city came just a day after two blasts in the city, including one that targeted a military checkpoint. At least five people were killed.
There was no claim of responsibility for Sunday’s attacks but the city has been hit by suspected Boko Haram militants in the past.
Bolari said of the latest blast: “It is difficult to say how many people were affected because of the confused struggle by the huge crowd leaving the venue to escape for fear of another blast.”
He added that “the explosion led to unrest in the city, with crowds of angry youths attacking anyone seen with any PDP sign. They were shouting and denouncing the President’s visit which they blamed for the attack. We had a difficult time passing through these crowds. At one point a crowd threw stones at our vehicle. Some reporters sustained cuts from smashed window screens.”
Also confirming the blast while updating newsmen on the security situation in the country in Abuja, Omeri said: “We got confirmation that there was actually a blast at the Water Board Junction in Gombe town. The incident took place soon after the President and his entourage left the stadium in Gombe. However, casualty figure is yet to be ascertained,” he said.
Army gets 7,500 AU troops boost
Omeri also disclosed that the African Union Peace and Security Council had approved the mobilization and immediate deployment of 7,500 troops to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram.
According to him, the recent regional and continental synergy and resolutions to establish a multinational military force by Nigeria’s neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon as well as the AU decision on the matter is point of reference.
“The African Union Peace and Security Council, at the recently concluded 24th ordinary session approved the mobilization and deployment of 7,500 troops to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram.
“Consequently, the AU Peace and Security Council is billed to begin to meet in Cameroon on Monday to authorize and finalize the concept of the operation in the fight against “Boko Haram” a decision which has been welcomed by the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon.”
Determination
Speaking on the recent breakthrough recorded by Nigerian Army, Omeri noted that there had been a commendable determination by various stakeholders to tackle the menace of Boko Haram.
“In the couple of days the effort of Nigerian military in checking insurgency in the north east has continued to yield result. On Sunday, February, 1 2015, government troops from 7 Division of Nigerian Army stationed in and around Maduguri, the Borno State capital, successfully repelled a multi-pronged attack launched by Boko Haram from various fronts including Malwa Damboa, Mafa among others.”
He added that “the situation in Adamawa showed that Nigeria military are making remarkable success; many towns under Boko Haram presence have been liberated while towns like Madagali, Gulak, Wagga-mildo, Shelini Sambo-Gari and Gubia are still under Boko Haram presence. Other areas such as Kirachinga, Pallam and Mayo-Wandu have remained calm and peaceful.”
Explosions rock 3 court premises in Rivers
Meanwhile, explosions, yesterday, rocked three court premises in Rivers State. One of the affected courts was burnt down by fire.
The courts are in Port Harcourt, Degema and Isiokpo. The explosions occurred barely 48 hours after the national leadership of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, announced suspension of the eight-month old strike of the Rivers State chapter of the body in Port Harcourt .
National Publicity secretary of JUSUN, Mr Kayode Igbarago had last weekend in Port Harcourt declared suspension of the strike by the state chapter, saying it was a decision taken by the National leadership of the body.
Confirming the explosions that rocked the three court premises yesterday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad said dynamite were hurled into the premises by unknown persons in the early hours of the day.
He said the explosives razed down the court in Degema, destroying valuables which included documents, adding that minimal damages were recorded at the court premises in Port Harcourt and Isiokpo.
According to the Police, the timely intervention of the Police reduced impact of the explosives in Port Harcourt and Degema.
DSP Muhammad said the Police had intensified effort to arrest those behind the attack on the properties.
“The Rivers State Police Command wishes to confirm that in the early hours of Monday 02/0/2015 coordinated attacks were launched on judiciary court premises at Degema, Isiokpo and Port Harcourt with explosive devices suspected to be dynamite by unidentified and unpatriotic assailants. Minimal damages were recorded in Port Harcourt and Isiokpo scenes without affecting the court building and documents while at Degema the court building was razed down and documents burnt. No life was lost. Areas are now under Police control while Police Bomb Disposal Unit has commenced discreet investigation in earnest.”
Scores of insurgents killed in Borno
Meanwhile, scores of suspected Boko Haram insurgents were again killed in Tungushe village of Konduga local government area of Borno state, when the terrorists attempted to invade the village with the intention of sacking over 1,000 soldiers stationed in the area.
Vanguard gathered that the attack took place less than 12 hours after the insurgents attempted to take over Maiduguri and were successfully repelled by the combined efforts of military, youth vigilante and residents, leaving hundreds of the insurgents dead on Sunday morning.
A resident of the area Mallam Ishaku Yerima said the insurgents who tried to invade the town were successfully repelled by soldiers stationed in the village, resulting in the death of scores of the insurgents.
Another resident, Mallam Abubakar Usman in a telephone conversation told Vanguard that “the insurgents came at about 5:00pm on Sunday and engaged the military in a gun battle, throwing explosives and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), but were successfully repelled by the soldiers resulting in the death of hundreds of terrorists.
“A lot of corpses of the insurgents littered the streets and the in the village, as the military seriously dealt with them. The military has done a good job,” Abubakar Usman stated.
He said: “If the soldiers will maintain this tempo, I believe very soon the Boko Haram insurgency will end as they were all defeated in all the recent attacks, while Cameroonian and Chadian troops were also doing a good job worthy of commendation.
A military source who does not want his name in print confirmed the incident, saying that “our men seriously dealt with the insurgents as over 100 of them were killed”.
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside an evangelist church in Gombe on Thursday injuring several people, witnesses and a rescue worker said.
“There was an explosion outside the ECWA church this morning. A suicide bomber who was restrained from getting into the church blew himself up,” said Abubakar Yakubu, who heads the Nigeria Red Cross in Gombe. “Luckily no one was killed but some people were mildly injured,” he added.
At least 19 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded on Monday when a female suicide bomber detonated explosives at Dukku motor park in Gombe, Gombe State.
Double bombing rocks Jos, 13-year-old with suicide vest held
The bomber was said to have disguised herself as a passenger with the lethal weapon hidden in a sack, which she used in deceiving other passengers at the park.
Eyewitnesses said the incident happened at about 10.50am when the park was said to be filled with passengers, who were eager to travel out of the state capital to their respective destinations for the Yuletide.
The female bomber was said to have detonated the explosives on her near a Sharoon bus that was already filled with passengers.
“The bomber chose her target carefully because she timed when the bus was fully loaded with passengers. It appeared she was standing by and observing before carrying out her nefarious act,” an eyewitness said.
Two buses were completely burnt, while majority of the victims were said to be hawkers and passengers.
One of the visitors to the park believed the bomber would not have succeeded if there had been serious screening at the gate.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state command, Fwaji Atajiri, confirmed the incident.
He said 19 people died while 25 were injured, adding that the police had already condoned off the area.
The police spokesman said the casualties had been taken to mortuary, adding that the injured were being treated at the Gombe Specialist Hospital.
Atajiri called on the general public to assist security agencies by ensuring that they report suspicious movements in their midst.
The Terrorists attack that took place in Ashaka in Gombe on Friday resulted in casualties from both the military and the Boko Haram terrorists.
Boko haram in Borno
The Boko Haram members numbering hundreds attacked Ashaka from Bajoda in Gombe state to possibly, take over as they have been in charge of Bajoga community, were repelled leading to the death of 10 soldiers.
Though in a statement posted on the military website, monitored by NAIJA CENTER NEWS, the military said that there were heavy casualties on the side of the insurgents, adding that they ran away with loads of dead members.
It said “Terrorists fleeing Ashaka on Thursday managed to retrieve 3 truckloads full of their dead members following the defeat & heavy casualty they suffered after a fierce battle with troops in the area.
“The terrorists who had come in large number with heavy equipment & convoy of over 30 vehicles & a number of motor cycles, were on a mission to take control of Ashaka town, after they had operated in Bajoga & environ in Gombe state. Troops who got wind of their intention to overun other towns pursued the terrorists while some also laid ambush for them.
“The terrorists were forced to abandon the mission when the troops proved unyielding. Most of the vehicles & equipment used by the terrorists for their mission, were destroyed before they chose to flee the location.
“Over 10 soldiers however died in the battle while those who were wounded are being treated in military hospitals.”
A man suspected to be a suicide bomber in Gombe on Tuesday met his waterloo after been accosted by a group of vigilante.
The man was said to have carried a black pastic rubber bag with an explosives in it. The boys who suspected his movement accosted him and ordered him to show the content of the bag, which he refused.
Scene of jungle justice in Gombe today Photo Credit: Sahara Reporters Media
Information gathered showered that the bomber was planning to bomb headquarters of state-run Gombe transport line before he ended up blowing himself up.
According to an eyewitness, the man carried a bomb in his bag and was waiting suspiciously to enter the Central Gombe motor park in the afternoon around 2.pm.
His suspicious movement attracted the vigilantes who accosted him and he refused to open his black bag containing the explosives.
One of the vigilante out of patients hit him with stick and the bomber immediately denoted the bomb, but luckily, he was the only one injured in the process. The crowd gathered around him, spray him with gasoline and burnt him to ashes.
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