Switzerland on Wednesday said it had not given any funding to military operations against Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamist insurgents, after a senior African Union official said it was among donors to an international intervention force.
Boko Haram, facing the heat of a military onslaught in Nigeria, has in the past year stepped up cross-border attacks in Niger, Chad and Cameroon, while continuing shooting and suicide assaults on markets, mosques and other mostly civilian targets within Nigeria itself.
At a donor conference in Addis Ababa on Monday, AU Peace and Security Council chief Smail Chergui said Switzerland had contributed to funding for the force battling Boko Haram in the Lake Chad basin.
“As a neutral actor in conflict situations, Switzerland has never given financial support to military interventions and will abstain from doing so in the future,” the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement sent to AFP by its embassy in Paris.
The statement said Switzerland had given around $12 million to alleviate the suffering of people affected by the Boko Haram crisis, but claims it was funding the military force were “incorrect”.
“Switzerland’s action in the Lake Chad region consists solely and exclusively in the financial support to the major humanitarian agencies,” it said.
Donors at the meeting in the Ethiopian capital pledged $250 million for the fight against Boko Haram, with major contributions made by Nigeria, Britain and the European Union.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that Nigeria has made significant progress towards ending Boko Haram insurgency since his assumption of office.
President Buhari
Speaking at a meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki Moon on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, Buhari said in collaboration with the Multinational Joint Task Force, the Nigerian Armed Forces have driven the terrorist group from Nigerian territory into “fall-back positions”.
In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said: “They are currently not holding any territory today as we speak.”
He told the United Nations Secretary-General that Nigeria would persistently pursue global action to reverse the drying up of Lake Chad and save the lives of those who depend on it for survival.
“With all due respect to our neighbours, Nigeria has been worst hit by the drying up of the Lake Chad and we are hoping that the global community will support the process of halting the drying up of the lake, ” Buhari said.
Ban hailed the President for his courage in fighting terrorism and corruption.
The secretary-general said Nigeria has made amazing progress against terrorism since the President assumed office.
He added that Buhari’s war against corruption has boosted global confidence in the Nigerian economy.
He urged the President to integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into Nigeria’s economic and environmental vision.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that Nigeria has made significant progress towards ending Boko Haram insurgency since his assumption of office.
Speaking at a meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki Moon on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, Buhari said in collaboration with the Multinational Joint Task Force, the Nigerian Armed Forces have driven the terrorist group from Nigerian territory into “fall-back positions”.
In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said: “They are currently not holding any territory today as we speak.”
He told the United Nations Secretary-General that Nigeria would persistently pursue global action to reverse the drying up of Lake Chad and save the lives of those who depend on it for survival.
“With all due respect to our neighbours, Nigeria has been worst hit by the drying up of the Lake Chad and we are hoping that the global community will support the process of halting the drying up of the lake, ” Buhari said.
Ban hailed the President for his courage in fighting terrorism and corruption.
The secretary-general said Nigeria has made amazing progress against terrorism since the President assumed office.
He added that Buhari’s war against corruption has boosted global confidence in the Nigerian economy.
He urged the President to integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into Nigeria’s economic and environmental vision.
•Many have given births to children against their will •Others carrying VVF, other diseases
By Kingsley Omonobi
There were indications weekend that many of the 200 girls of the Government Secondary School, Chibok abducted in April 2014, are alive and holed up in the Lake Chad region of the North-East epicentre of the battle to dislodge Boko Haram terrorists from Nigeria.
Chibok girls
Sources disclosed to Saturday Vanguardthat the girls who were relocated from the initial Sambisa Camps of the terrorists, following unrelenting bombardments by air and land operations, have been relocated to Lake Chad area with some of the girls spread along border communities.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that about two weeks ago, one of the abducted girls who was formerly kept in a Sambisa forest camp, escaped from the hands of the abductors and ran into the hands of some Fulani herdsmen. It was the Fulani herdsmen having confirmed that the girl was a Chibok girl, who assisted her to get to the Baga military base of the multi-national Joint Task Force.
At the Baga base, the escapee girl was said to have confessed that many of them were forcefully married to the terrorists who not only impregnated them but infected some of them with different diseases. On her part, she was not only impregnated, but she got the VVF disease from one of the terrorists.
According to the escapee, at the camp where she escaped from there were about 60 of the girls while others were shared and moved to border communities. Narrating more tales of woes on what the Chibok girls went through and are still going through in the hands of the terrorists, the source said though the Chibok girl had just put to bed, the VVF (Vesicant Virginal Fistula) disease with which she was infected by the terrorist had made her uncomfortable hence her decision to flee to seek for medical help, as she was repeatedly passing solid waste uncontrollably.
Continuing, the source said, “When the Fulani herdsman saw the girl in the bush and questioned her about her mission, she narrated her experience, which made the herdsman to take her to the soldiers in that area. With her escape, there are now 59 of the girls left in her camp.”
Emphasizing that almost all of the girls have been married out to the Boko Harram terrorists while quite a number of them have delivered babies, the escapee told security agencies that the girls were always moved from place to place in the Sambisa forest during the bombardments but that when the heat was too much, they were all moved out of the forest.
The escapee further disclosed to security agencies that Boko Haram terrorists have been seriously weakened and are now moving from place to place aimlessly like lost sheep, planting mines and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) which some security forces have mistakenly fallen prey to.
“All of us were forced to become Muslims but kept in camps far from each other”, she revealed. “You can only see and recognize those in your camp as any of us who refused being Islamized was either beheaded or shot at point blank range.”
She revealed further that the camps where the Chibok girls are now kept are in Kangoora, Mallam Fatori, Damasak, Tunbun Kaka and Tumbum Gira. Many of these towns are located in the border communities around Lake Chad with some in Nigeria and others in Chad.
Military chiefs from the Lake Chad Basin Commission have perfected plans to deploy 8,700 troops of the Multi National Joint Task Force against the Boko Haram insurgents.
Minmah, Soldier
The Acting Director, Defence Information, Col. Rabe Abubakar, said in a statement on Tuesday that the move was made during a meeting of the military chiefs in Ndjamena, Chad.
The meeting was attended by military chiefs from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin Republic, the Commander of the MNJTF and other senior military officers.
Abubakar said, “The Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, has visited Chad Republic where he joined other regional military chiefs to deliberate on the agreement to accelerate the deployment of the 8,700 strong Multi-National Joint Task Force.
“The Chiefs of Defence Staff from the Lake Chad Basin Commission member- countries met in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad and finalised details of the deployment of a joint force to fight the Boko Haram which has sworn allegiance to ISIS and has killed hundreds of people through suicide bombings in the last three months.”
He said that the CDS had been working hard to carry out the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to conclude the counter-terrorism operation against the Boko Haram in three months.
He added that the meeting discussed modalities for the deployment of the troops of the MNJTF to two command posts in Nigeria and Cameroon.
Abubakar added that a directive had been issued to officers on secondment to the MNJTF to report immediately to their duty posts.
He stressed that the Force Headquarters of the Task Force had commenced operations.
Meanwhile, President Buhari on Tuesday did a critical assessment of the ongoing anti-terrorism war and concluded that his administration was on course.
Buhari said this during a joint press conference he had with visiting President Boni Yayi of Benin Republic inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said his administration had identified its top priorities to include security and economy.
Niger authorities have urged people living on islands in Lake Chad to leave to avoid new attacks by Boko Haram, after an assault by the Islamists last weekend left at least 74 dead.
The weekend attack was the country’s heaviest loss since it joined a regional offensive against the militants, and saw authorities declare three days of mourning from Wednesday.
“The governor of Diffa invites people living on the islands in Lake Chad to rejoin the mainland,” a statement Thursday said, citing security reasons.
“Measures will be taken to ensure their safety and resettlement,” the statement added.
Diffa is the provincial capital of south-eastern Niger, which borders north-eastern Nigeria, considered the jihadists’ stronghold.
Niger has several islands in Lake Chad, a vast body of water between it, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, the regular site of deadly Boko Haram raids.
Niger lost at least 46 soldiers and 28 civilians in the Boko Haram attack on the island of Karamga Saturday.
Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said Wednesday that “156 terrorists” were also killed in the assault on an army base on the island, and that 32 troops were missing.
He said Niger had since retaken control of Karamga.
Niger, along with Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria, has recently launched a joint offensive to end Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency, which has claimed 13,000 lives and caused about 1.5 million people to flee their homes
Boko Haram militants driven out of strongholds in Nigeria by a regional military offensive are increasingly taking refuge on remote islands in Lake Chad, terrorising locals or recruiting others.
The lake is where borders meet for Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, which are leading the fight against the Islamists and their bloody six-year insurgency that has prompted an armed international response.
“You see those islands, toward Nigeria? I used to go there to sell my harvest,” said Mustapha, a farmer from Ngouboua, a Chadian village near the border with Nigeria.
“But with Boko Haram it’s become too dangerous. We don’t move without a military escort,” he added.
Though Nigeria‘s military — with major help from its neighbours — has since February retaken a series of towns and villages held by the rebels, the insurgency that has left 13,000 dead has not been crushed.
Some of the fighters scattered by the government victories have instead fallen back to the sanctuary of remote or inhospitable areas around the lake.
“Boko Haram are under pressure and some of them are taking refuge in the middle of the lake,” on islands with swampy forests that are difficult for the army to reach, said a Chadian security source.
“Because they are hungry, they are attacking villagers for food,” the source added.
The theft of cattle, rice and corn have become common on the Chadian islands and mainland near Nigeria. Boko Haram fighters have been blamed for at least two attacks on a village near Chadian market town Tchoukou Telia.
“They stole up to 500 steers,” said Al Hadji Mbodou Mai, a shopkeeper in Ngouboua.
That town was victim of Boko Haram attacks in recent months, but now is “secured” by a heavy military presence, said local police commander Saleh Ali.
“There are a lot of problems on the surrounding islands,” he added.
Fighting the Islamists in the remote, swampy areas is sure to get more difficult when the rainy season arrives in June.
Also, experts have warned that hit-and-run attacks by the group could increase amid the added military pressure.
- Chadian recruits -
The aggressive campaign against Boko Haram came ahead of elections that saw incumbent Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, often criticised for his failure to stamp out the insurgency, fighting a close re-election race he ended up losing.
Nigerian president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, who does not take charge until late May, has already vowed to be a more effective commander-in-chief than Jonathan, in part by ensuring that the military is properly funded and equipped.
Authorities in Chad are also worried about signs that locals are being recruited to help and even fight alongside the Nigerian insurgents.
Chadian Boko Haram members were blamed for an ambush that left seven civilians dead on Friday, some with their throats cut. According to a local official the victims were killed after rebuffing the Islamists’ recruitment efforts.
However, authorities do not have a clear picture on the number of Chadians who have taken up arms for Boko Haram and what is motivating those who have done so.
In the span of a month about 30 suspects were arrested around Ngouboua on suspicion they were informants for the Islamists, police said. Most of those taken into custody were motorcycle taxi drivers.
Authorities have also picked up for questioning young men who disappear from their families for days at a time.
“We interviewed a boy who was hardly 16 and who has spent two weeks in a camp at the border… He was promised money, but especially Tramol,” the source said, referring to a pain medication popular among poor local youths.
“The authorities try to deal with the problem by talking with their parents and making them understand there be any trouble if the boys come back,” the source said.
– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/routed-boko-haram-fighters-hiding-recruiting-others-on-lake-chad-islands/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.2R2V4yUC.dpuf
