ISIS: Immigration deploys electronic devices to nab terrorists

As part of the worldwide manhunt for suspected terrorists, the Nigerian Immigration Service has deployed an electronic device in the nation’s airports to identify, take a headcount of travellers and aid security agencies to arrest suspected terrorists.

boko Haram and ISIS

The technology, known as Electronic Advance Passenger Information System, is a web-based application that facilitates the collection of electronic manifest information for international travellers, going into or travelling out of the country.

The NIS Public Relations Officer, Ekpedeme King, disclosed this to our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday while responding to enquires on efforts by the service to beef up security in the nation’s borders against the backdrop of the ISIS attacks on Paris on Friday, where no fewer than 128 people were killed.

The eAPIS, which collects and passes electronic manifests, has been in use at international airports in the United States since May, 2009, when all general aviation pilots, conducting international flights departing from or arriving to the United States, were requiries to provide passenger manifest and aircraft information to government agencies.

King told our correspondent on Sunday that the eAPIS would soon be extended to all the land borders across the nation, noting that the system had assisted the immigration service to have a record of people coming in and leaving the country.

He said, “The Nigerian Immigration Service has already deployed technology (in the airports) to prevent infiltration of foreign terrorists.

“We now use a system called Electronic Advance Passenger Information System which has been deployed in all our airports nationwide. We are working to extend the system to all land borders.

“For the illegal routes, especially in the northern part of the country, we have trained 4,000 officers in border patrol duties and 2,000 personnel of the border patrol corps working with the Department of State Services, have been deployed to patrol the illegal routes.”

Asked how many illegal immigrants had been arrested in recent times, King said he did not have the figures, but added that illegal migrants, entering the country through unapproved routes, were usually not allowed to enter the country.

“What we do is when you enter into the country illegally, through the unofficial routes, we send you back; we don’t allow you into the country, and we do this every day, but those that had entered the country through the regular routes without the necessary documentation are deported to their country,” he explained.

The NIS in September, 2015, arrested two accomplices of Ahmed Al Assir, the Lebanese terrorist, who obtained a Nigerian visa in Beruit, Lebanon.

The accomplices were apprehended in Kano and handed over to the National Security Adviser for further investigation.

Assir, who had been on the wanted list of the Lebanese security forces, was arrested at the airport while attempting to board a Cairo, Egypt-bound flight en route Nigeria with a forged Palestinian passport in August.

Assir became one of the most wanted men in Lebanon after his militia went to battle with the Lebanese army in the port city of Sidon in 2013, resulting in the death of 18 soldiers and dozens of his gunmen.

ISIS was reported to have mentioned Nigeria in one of the French attack tweets on Saturday.

The message read, “When you deploy forces in order to control the city of Saladin and dreaming of Mosul, Sinjar, Haul, Tikrit or Huwaijah or dreaming Mayadin or Jarablus or Karmah or Tel Abyad or Al Quaim or Darnah or dream to reclaim wilderness in the interior Nigeria or masters ‘Asy’asy Sinai desert sand, then surely we just want Rome and Paris Insyaallah before Andalusia.”

Also, Nigeria has been rated as the country most worried about the rise of ISIS, according to a chart compiled by Statista, an online statistic portal.

The data shows the countries most worried about the rise of the terror group, whose British militant member, Jihadi John, was believed to have been killed in a US air strike last week.

Police heighten security nationwide

The police and other security agencies have heightened security nationwide following the Friday’s terror attacks on Paris.

Our correspondent gathered that the Force Headquarters had directed zonal police formations and state commands to step up patrol of critical public infrastructure, including public places like shopping malls and worship centres.

It was learnt that the police leadership had instructed their personnel to focus more on intelligence-gathering in order to pre-empt terror plots and other criminal acts.

In the Federal Capital Territory, police patrol teams were observed on Saturday and Sunday at many parts of Abuja engaging in ‘stop and search’ of vehicles and motorists.

The Safer Highway patrol units were also observed along the Umaru Yar’Adua Expressway, Kubwa-Zuba Expressway, Nyanya-Keffi Expressway and other parts of the FCT carrying out random searches on vehicles.

Patrol teams from the FCT Police Command were also active at various street junctions, market areas, including Wuse and Garki Markets, AYA Roundabout and Area 1 Roundabout as well as at residential areas of the city.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, stated that the police had always been alert to their duty of protecting lives and property of the people, adding that the police had deployed personnel in critical areas across the country.

Kolawole added, “The police have deployed its personnel in critical areas in view of the security situation in the country. Our men and officers have been directed to secure critical public infrastructure, lives and property.

“The police are working with other security agencies to protect lives and property nationwide and we want to solicit the support of members of the public to give useful information to the nearest security agency.”

Meanwhile, security experts have said the world should expect more terror attacks that might be in the mould of the Paris carnage.

They observed that unless security agencies collaborated and strengthened their intelligence-gathering capabilities, terror groups like ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram, would continue to beat security personnel to stage blood-curdling attacks on innocent citizens.

A former Director, Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, noted that what the ISIS terrorists did in Paris was not different from what Boko Haram had been doing in Nigeria.

Though Boko Haram had been weakened by the security agencies, the security expert said the sect had been attacking soft targets, stressing that the security forces must not relent in their bombardment of the violent sect.

He said, “It’s (Paris-type attack) been happening here; it calls for vigilance from everyone. Boko Haram has been doing exactly the same thing. The world must condemn it and work together to combat terrorism headlong, we should expect more of this attack globally.

“Though Boko Haram has been pushed to the fringes of Sambisa Forest, it is still carrying out attacks on soft targets; this calls for extra vigilance. People in crowded places need to be careful and security agencies must continue to degrade the capabilities of members of this group until they are vanquished.”

Another security analyst, Ben Okezie, stressed the importance of intelligence gathering to prevent the likes of Paris terror attacks from taking place in the country, adding that security agencies must continue to collaborate to frustrate terror plots.

Okezie stated, “The terrorists are always monitoring security agencies, they have done their research and they know where they want to attack. They monitor their targets and once the security agencies are not alert or distracted, the boys will strike; they don’t have any other job, all they are interested in is to create fear in the mind of the populace and kill the people.

ISIS: Immigration deploys electronic devices to nab terrorists

Must Read: How Obama, West frustrated Jonathan"s effort to end Boko Haram insurgency

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

As President Muhammadu Buhari inquires into the Boko Haram war expenditures under the last administration, it has emerged that Nigeria’s traditional allies in the West deliberately frustrated former President Goodluck Jonathan’s efforts towards ending terrorists’ activities in the country.

Obama and Jonathan

A security source disclosed in Abuja that Nigeria, under the leadership of Jonathan, wrote 25 letters to the United States of America and other Western nations, seeking to acquire state of the art weapons to deal decisively with the terrorists.

However, they all turned down the requests, the source said.

“What was most painful was the fact that Nigeria was not begging to be given those weapons as gifts.    We were ready to pay for them but they turned their backs on us when we needed them most.

“The same people who made all the promises about assisting us to bring an end to the Boko Haram attacks and bring back the abducted Chibok girls did everything they could to frustrate our efforts”, he added.

According to him, the scandal that broke out over the botched South African arms deals was the culmination of the worst that a frustrated sovereign nation could face.

Two attempts by foreign contractors engaged by the nation’s highest security authorities to buy arms from South Africa and Israel were stopped and over $24 million of Nigeria’s hard earned foreign exchange seized by South African authorities in two separate instances in that country.

It was learnt that though the funds were eventually released to Nigeria, the harm had been done and the purpose stopped mid-stream.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that when it became very clear that the nation’s long-standing traditional allies were not prepared to assist, Nigeria had to turn to Eastern Europe and Asia for weapons.

“A conclusion was reached that the nation would suffer more devastation should she continue to beg those we regarded as our friends when things were going on well with us.    It was at that point that the nation had to look elsewhere, especially towards the East and Asia”, the source said.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the US who died in Washington, last week, Prof Adebowale Adefuye,  captured the mood of the then government and most Nigerians when he addressed the American Council    on Foreign Relations, in November last year.

“The US government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time,’’ “We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the US presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly.

“There is no use giving us the type of support that enables us to deliver light jabs to the terrorists when what we need to give them is the killer punch.    A friend in need is a friend indeed. The true test of friendship is in times of adversity,” he said.

America’s only excuse for refusing to sell the much-needed weapons to Nigeria was that Nigerian troops were reportedly not adhering to the fundamental human rights of the terrorists, in the prosecution of the Boko Haram war.

The security source who spoke with Vanguard said the alternative arms sources in Eastern Europe and Asia did not only receive Nigeria with open hands, “we also got other forms of ‘technical assistance’ as those who provided some of the equipment also entered into agreement with us to have some of their military personnel join our troops for the purposes of ensuring optimal performance of all the equipments.

“We didn’t want a situation where we would get to the war theatre and have any of the equipment breakdown without the expertise to promptly fix it”.

The source said that Some of the expatriates seen among the troops were with them to provide such    requisite technical assistance.    According to him, the successes recorded from the last months of Dr. Jonathan in office and the current onslaught against the terrorist were due mainly to the arrival of various equipments from countries other than Western nations that call themselves Nigeria’s traditional allies.

He observed that President Buhari’s panel would discover at the end of its sitting that it was not possible for the Jonathan administration to have reduced Boko Haram to the level it left it without having to bend backwards on several fronts to secure the right weapons and technical expertise.

 

Must Read: How Obama, West frustrated Jonathan"s effort to end Boko Haram insurgency

Why U.S shunned Jonathan"s administration - Okorocha

The Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has explained why the United States Government was not keen on supporting the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, especially in the fight against the Boko Haram sect.

Okorocha

Okorocha said the US government shunned Jonathan because it (the US) could not establish confidence and trust in the former President’s administration.

He, however, said the American government had promised to assist Nigeria in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency.

The governor, who was among the few individuals who accompanied President Mohammadu Buhari to the US recently, added that the American government had pledged to rebuild the states destroyed by the activities of the terror gang.

Okorocha said, “The US made it clear that it could not support the government of Jonathan because it was not comfortable with it.

“Now the American government has promised to help us fight the Boko Haram sect and provide for the Internally Displaced Persons.”

The governor, who spoke while interacting with journalists in Owerri, the Imo State capital, said the meeting between Nigeria and the US would enhance robust relationship.

While describing Buhari’s visit to the US as the best so far made by any government, Okorocha said he was delighted when the US President, Barak Obama, described Buhari as a man of integrity and honour.

He said, “I felt like singing the national anthem when Obama described our President as a man of integrity and honour; the trip to America is the best outing any President has made outside Nigeria.”

Why U.S shunned Jonathan"s administration - Okorocha

We don’t need foreign aid – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari believes Nigeria does not need foreign aid if the world powers can help her plug all the loopholes that had been used by government officials to steal her assets.

A Presidency official on Buhari’s four-day visit to the United States (US), which ended on Wednesday, quoted the President, yesterday, as telling US officials that Nigeria has the resources to stand on her feet, and that the world powers should help her.

Buhari and Obama

In the meantime, Nigeria is to draw down investments and cash worth $13.6 billion following negotiations and understanding reached by Buhari with the American government during the visit, Sunday Vanguard learnt, yesterday.

 

The President met with US President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, among many other top functionaries, during the visit.

“Buhari did not go to the US with a begging bowl. We don’t need foreign aid, he told everyone, so long as the world powers can help us plug all the loopholes that had been used to steal our assets,” Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Publicity, disclosed to Sunday Vanguard.

Whereas the President said, during the visit, that about $150 billion is stolen annually from Nigeria and many other African countries, the Presidency official said, ”Americans hold the view that between $10 billion and $20 billion dollars is lost annually through the crude oil sector alone.”

He quoted his boss as saying: ”There is no organisation or government (across the world) that can give us (Nigeria) $5 billion. If we plug our loopholes and recover stolen money stashed abroad, Nigeria will do well by herself.”

A breakdown of the $13.6 billion earmarked for Nigeria, courtesy of the Buhari US visit, shows that $5 billion is coming for investments in the power sector, another $5 billion is to fund investments in the agricultural sector, $1.5 billion is from the Bill Gates Foundation while $2.1 billion is being provided by the World Bank.

Of particular interest is the discovery that the huge sums being brought for investments into the country, according to the Presidency official, attract no counterpart funding.

Similarly, in its efforts to assist Nigeria eradicate polio, the Bill Gates Foundation, which is revving its support with additional $1.2 billion, is extending its areas of coverage to four more states – Kaduna, Sokoto, Borno and Yobe.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President described Buhari’s outing in the U.S as a monumental success.

According to him, no Nigerian leader ever achieved that kind of success in one visit.

Shehu said: ” From our point of view, no past President of this country has ever netted these for Nigeria from a single U.S. trip. Overall, it is a resounding success.

“The clamour for President Buhari was astounding. He was gone after by every member of the United States establishment. He met Secretary of State John Kerry, Vice President Joe Biden and the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

“I am not sure there was any past Nigerian President who met as many a number of Secretaries of U.S. Departments as Buhari did and, in all of these meetings, the personal integrity of President Buhari came through.”

 

We don’t need foreign aid – Buhari

I didn’t indict US over Boko Haram, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said there was no truth in claims in  the local and international media that he accused or indicted the United States Government of helping the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President described the reports as widely off mark.

He described the reports as unfortunate misinterpretation and distortion of his remarks at the United States Institute of Peace during his official visit to Washington DC.

Buhari and Obama

He said he made it clear in those remarks, copies of which were circulated to the media, that he was convinced that the United States could never support groups such as Boko Haram.

The statement read in part, “The regrets expressed by  President Buhari at USIP about the impact of the application of the Leahy Law on Nigeria’s war against  Boko Haram and terrorism cannot be construed as an indictment of President Barack  Obama and the United States Government who have publicly and privately declared their preparedness to give the Buhari Administration the fullest possible support and assistance.

“Within the context in which they were made, President Buhari’s comments on the adverse effect of the Leahy Law on Nigeria’s efforts to contain Boko Haram’s  atrocious acts of terrorism should only be taken as a passionate appeal for even greater understanding and support from  a very powerful and longstanding ally.

“President Buhari has nothing but the highest possible regard for President Obama, the United States Government, the people of the United States, their laws and institutions.

“The President had very successful and useful talks with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, other high-ranking US government officials and members of United States Congress during his visit to Washington DC.

“It is his expectation that those talks will lead to better mutual understanding and a further deepening of bilateral relations between Nigeria and the United States, especially in Nigeria’s current priority areas of  defence and security cooperation.”

 

I didn’t indict US over Boko Haram, says Buhari

APC hails President Buhari’s successful U.S. tour, rejection of gay marriage

…Backs probe of Jonathan’s Ministers;

…Wants indicted ones banned from politics

The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has felicitated with President Muhammadu Buhari and his entourage on their successful three days successful tour of the United States of America which ended with their return to the country this morning. Rivers APC said in a statement in Port Harcourt signed by the Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, that the trip and President Buhari’s sterling performance during all his outings while in the United States have restored Nigeria’s pride in the comity of nations.

“The tour and the sparkling performance of President Muhammadu Buhari and his team while in the United States is yet another proof that Nigerians did not make any mistake in overwhelmingly voting him President in the March 28th presidential poll. For those of us from Rivers State, we are doubly happy and proud that Buhari’s great feats in the first two months of his administration vindicate our leader, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, who correctly foresaw our great country’s political future and wholeheartedly mobilised us and the entire nation to support the candidature of President Buhari during the polls,” Rivers APC said.

The party showered President Buhari with praise for rejecting the immoral gay marriage proposal by US Congress, “thereby putting to shame our detractors who thought that Buhari is a weak President who can easily succumb to the great influence of the USA to act against the general interest of our nation.” “We are overwhelmed with joy that we at last have the President of our dreams and we are convinced that by the end of Buhari’s tenure Nigeria will be placed among the great nations of this world,” Rivers APC said.

The statement expressed strong support for President Buhari’s proposal to probe the Ministers of the immediate past Goodluck Jonathan administration “who were exporting our crude oil and pocketing millions of dollars into their private pockets.” “We wish to state that these wicked criminals should not be prosecuted accordingly but that the National Assembly should also enact a law banning them from further participation in our political space as they never mean well for our nation. We should use the recommended ban on these evil elements to serve as a deterrent for any political leader who may be thinking in the same direction of liquidating the treasury of our nation,” the party said.

It explained that Rivers APC fought hard to sack the Jonathan administration because it knew that Dr. Jonathan and his team looters never have the interest of this nation at heart.

Rivers APC appealed to President Buhari ensure that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sets in motion a machinery to implement the findings in the Ministry of Education where Chief Nyesom Wike as the then Minister of Education supervised the massive looting of both the UBE funds and other funds of the Ministry under the prompting of erstwhile first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. “Anything less than ensuring the prosecution of this duo and their prohibition from further participation in the politics of Nigeria will not auger well for the future of our nascent democracy,” the party stated.

APC hails President Buhari’s successful U.S. tour, rejection of gay marriage

Obama wants Nigeria to shift emphasis from oil to non oil

The Nigeria’s Ambassador and Head of Mission in the United States of America, Prof. Ade Adefuye, on Sunday evening listed some of the changes the US authorities expected to see in Nigeria henceforth.

Buhari and Obama

Adefuye spoke with journalists at the Embassy of Nigeria Building in Washington DC shortly before the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari is currently on a four-day official visit to the country.

The ambassador listed one of the priority areas to include Nigeria’s shift of emphasis from oil to non-oil exports.

“America will want to see a shift of the emphasis from oil to non-oil exports, agriculture, power, infrastructure and solid materials and all the things that will help Nigeria to diversify,” he said.

Adefuye added that the US would also want to see a world where there would be consultations rather than confrontations.

He said since that was also the objective of Nigeria, the two countries had to complement each other.

He expressed the optimism that Buhari’s visit would bring about an improvement in the quality of relations between Nigeria and the US.

He said the visit would also strengthen relationship between Nigeria and America and a renewed commitment to protection of Nigeria’s territorial integrity in terms of stopping the offensive of Boko Haram.

He said the commitment of Nigeria to the development of the democratic process, rule of law and good governance was also important to the US.

Adefuye was optimistic that by the end of the visit, many political watchers would see concrete steps towards achieving those objectives.

Obama wants Nigeria to shift emphasis from oil to non oil

John Kerry Breaks Leg While Riding Bicycle

The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, was on Sunday in Geneva flown to a hospital with a broken leg following a bicycle accident in the French Alps.

The spokesperson at the U.S. mission in Geneva disclosed that the secretary had broken his leg.

Kerry’s Spokesperson, John Kirby, also confirmed that 71-year-old Mr. Kerry was taken by helicopter to Geneva University Hospital, where he was conscious and in stable condition with a leg injury.

He said the accident occurred in Scionzier, a town near the border with Switzerland, around 9.40 a.m.

Mr. Kirby said the secretary was attended to by a physician and paramedics travelling in his motorcade.

Mr. Kerry had conducted talks on Saturday in Geneva with Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Zarif, as part of ongoing efforts to forge a comprehensive agreement about Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme ahead of a June 30 deadline.

He had been due to fly to Madrid later on Sunday to meet with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and King Felipe VI. on Tuesday.

Mr. Kerry was also scheduled to travel to Paris to hold talks with counterparts from the countries participating in the military coalition targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

(dpa/NAN)

John Kerry Breaks Leg While Riding Bicycle

U.S. predicts challenge in protecting Nigerian citizens

The U.S. Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, has predicted that the new government in Nigeria might face the challenge of protecting its citizens against terrorism threats. Kerry made the assertion in a statement by the African Regional Media Hub of the United States Department of State on Tuesday in Lagos. The statement quoted Kerry as making the prediction after signing a Memorandum of Cooperation to support disease control and prevention in Africa with the African Union (AU) in Washington D.C.

“One of the principal challenges facing the new government in Abuja will be that of protecting Nigerian citizens from the terrorism threat. “The U.S. endorses the effort by the AU and its partners to establish a multinational taskforce to halt Boko Haram’s campaign within and beyond Nigeria’s borders.

“We will also continue generally to help African governments to improve their counter-terrorism and border security capabilities,’’ it stated. The statement expressed the U.S. government’s commitment to promoting cordial relationships with African countries. It added that the government had learnt that diplomatic and peacekeeping initiatives in Africa work best when they were African-led.

“And there are opportunities and challenges at the same time. “In recent years, we have learned that diplomatic and peacemaking initiatives in Africa work best when they are African-led. “But the U.S. and the broader international community can still help and we are prepared to do so,’’ the statement added.

 

U.S. predicts challenge in protecting Nigerian citizens

US condemns postponement of Nigeria elections

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The United States government has expressed ‘deep’ disappointment by the decision to postpone Nigeria’s presidential election, which had been scheduled for February 14.

President Goodluck Jonathan and United State Secretary of State, John Kerry

A statement by U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, shortly after the announcement of the poll shift by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, on Saturday, said political interference with INEC is unacceptable.

Mr. Jega, while announcing the shift, said INEC’s decision follows a letter from security agencies informing the commission that security cannot be guaranteed if the elections go ahead as scheduled.

He said the Nigerian military is currently engaged in operations against Boko Haram insurgents in the north-eastern part of the country.

“Last Wednesday…the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) wrote a letter to the Commission, drawing attention to recent developments in four Northeast states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe currently experiencing the challenge of insurgency.

“The letter stated that security could not be guaranteed during the proposed period in February for the general elections,” Mr. Jega said.

But the U.S. government in its reaction said “it is critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process”.

Mr. Jega had also on Saturday announced new dates of March 28 and April 11 for national and state elections.

The US said the international community would be watching closely as the Nigerian government prepares for elections on the newly scheduled dates.

“The United States underscores the importance of ensuring that there are no further delays.

“As I reaffirmed when I visited Lagos last month, we support a free, transparent, and credible electoral process in Nigeria and renew our calls on all candidates, their supporters, and Nigerian citizens to maintain calm and reject election-related violence,” Mr. Kerry said.

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US condemns postponement of Nigeria elections

Nigeria not comfortable with US role in fight against Boko Haram

By KINGSLEY OMONOBI-ABUJA

Indications emerged yesterday that the leadership of the nation’s security agencies are not comfortable with the role of the United States in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism following the constant blockade of plans to purchase arms from other willing countries.

Obama and Jonathan

A top security personnel who spoke to Vanguard under condition of anonymity, noted that the same American who told the world they were coming to Nigeria assist in the fight against terrorism, in the wake of the abduction of the Chibok girls, last year and were granted free access to Nigeria’s security facilities, have only ended up sabotaging efforts to procure arms to end the war on terror.

“When they came, they were given access to the nation’s military control centre. Since they refused to sell us arms and equipment for whatever reasons, we thought they will provide us with intelligence reports on the movements of these terrorists because they have drones and satellite tracking systems which would have assisted us a lot”.

“But as I am talking with you, they are not providing us the information we need. They say they are gathering information. What are they doing with the information?

If they were helping us with information, the movement of Boko Haram terrorists in the night because it is a terrain they understand very well, would have been tracked and the intelligence made available to Nigerian military.

“What is surprising to us is that the same United States is sending fighter aircraft to support the fight against ISIL in Syria; supporting the fight against terrorism in Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan.

Why is the fight against Boko Haram which they have tagged a terrorist organization different?

 

Nigeria not comfortable with US role in fight against Boko Haram

US to quarantine Nigerian doctors on medical mission

The United States – based Nigerian health professionals comprising medical doctors, nurses, and pharmacists on medical mission in Abia State said they would be quarantined for 21 days for Ebola virus when they returned to the US.

A picture taken on July 24, 2014 shows staff of the Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse putting on protective gear in the ELWA hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia. An American doctor battling West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has himself fallen sick with the disease in Liberia, Samaritan’s Purse said on July 27. AFP PHOTO

Leader of the 75- man team and the National President of Abia State Nationals Association of North America , Dr. Christian Ike disclosed this at a press conference in Umuahia after the teams’s one week free medical services in Abia State.

He decried the stigmatization of Ebola – infested countries by the West, wondering why visitors to Nigeria would still be isolated even when the country has been certified “Ebola – free.”

Dr. Ike said members of the team who are Abia indigenes and health experts made a lot of sacrifices to sponsor the medical mission but noted that their passion for the people was their driving force.

He said the gesture was part of their contribution towards the development of the state and to complement the efforts of the state government in the health sector.

Dr. Ike said the team had committed over $420,000 on drugs alone besides transport fare, accommodation and other logistics, adding that all members of the team comprising 24 doctors, 21 pharmacists , and 30 nurses were all volunteers.

His words, “Our joy is that we are privileged to be at the giving end, and we want our people to have access to quality medical care.”

Dr. Ike said over 6200 patients diagnosed with various ailments received treatments at the exercise while 74 surgeries were conducted.

According to him , malaria, diabetes , high blood pressure and eye-related problems were discovered to be the commonest of the cases they handled.

He decried the high rate of these killer diseases especially diabetes and high blood pressure which he said were discovered to be common even among youths, and called for improved diets and regular medical check – ups as a remedy.

” People should reduce their intake of starch and eat more of fruits,” he advised.

Ike said that the team also disclosed to the patients the names of drugs prescribed for them and gave them instructions on local hospitals to go for follow-up treatments.

The Atlanta Georgia- based Pharmacist said the association had initiated talks with the state government for some health facilities in the state to be taken over and run by medical experts of Abia origin based overseas so that the people could be offered the kind of medical services equivalent to what is obtainable abroad.

He lauded the efforts of government in the health sector but called for more expansion and improvement on the available facilities and access roads to hospitals.

The team which grouped itself into three for wider coverage, conducted services at well publicised and strategic hospitals and public institutions at all three senatorial districts in the state. It also extended the gesture to the state’s police command.

US to quarantine Nigerian doctors on medical mission

Boko Haram: America not Nigeria’s friend, says Gowon

A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.), has taken a swipe at the United States on its refusal to sell arms to Nigeria to fight the insurgency by the Islamic group, Boko Haram.

Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon

Gowon, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, criticised the US for not selling military hardware to Nigeria, saying if the US was truly a diplomatic friend to Nigeria, it should do everything possible to keep the corporate existence of Nigeria.

This, according to him, includes assisting Nigeria to fight aggression from any quarter.

The US had on November 12, 2014, defended its refusal to sell cobra helicopters to Nigeria, saying the Federal Government was free to buy fighter jets from any other country.

The State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said, “Nigeria has purchased helicopters that originated in countries other than the US and nothing in our decision prevents Nigeria from obtaining weapons and equipment from other sources,”

Psaki had reacted to the allegation by the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, that Washington declined to sell arms to Nigeria.

Adefuye had told members of the Council on Foreign Relations on November 10 that Washington was not doing enough to assist Nigeria in combating the Boko Haram insurgency in North-East geopolitical zone of the country.

He said, “The U.S. government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time on the basis of the allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or arrested.

“We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria, with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly.”

But Psaki had stated that the US refused to sell the helicopters to Nigeria due to concerns about the ability of the military to use and maintain them.

The cobra is a combat aircraft with the ability to climb at the rate of 8.2metres per second. It is equipped with a 20 mm M197 3-barrelled Gatling cannon in the A/A49E-7 turret (750 rounds ammo capacity).

The spokeswoman also said there were ongoing concerns about Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when conducting military operations, adding that these had been discussed with the Nigerian authorities.

Gowon, while speaking to one of our correspondents, however, alleged that the US did same to the Nigerian government during the Civil War, when it refused to sell fighter jets to Nigeria to stop Biafra’s bomber jets.

As the military Head of State, Gowon had prosecuted the Nigerian civil war, aka Biafran War, which began on July 6, 1967 and ended on January 15, 1970.

The war was declared after an attempted secession by the Eastern Region of the country, which declared itself the ‘Republic of Biafra.’

Gowon said, “The same thing happened during the Civil War. The Americas refused to sell arms to us. I wanted them to help me with some modest aircraft so that I could chase out Ojukwu’s (Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu) B52 or B56 as they called it. That was all I wanted; not to shoot it down but to chase it away so that it does not drop bombs and kill innocent people.

“But the Americans refused to help us and they even refused to sell arms and ammunitions and the spare parts of the equipment that we got from them. And at the same time, they (America) were shipping aircraft and loads of arms and ammunition to Zaire. What sort of friends are they?

“You call them your friends and they say that they are helping us to fight terror. We don’t want their people (Americans) to come and fight the war (against Boko Haram) for us but, at least, we need the equipment.

“During my time (as Head of State), I had to go to the Russians to get the equipment we wanted in order to prosecute that war. If they cannot help us, they should allow us to go elsewhere and get what we want to ensure that we deal with this particular problem.”

A former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd.), corroborated Gowon, while decrying that Western allies, who were paying much attention to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the Middle East, “have decided to turn a blind eye to what is happening in Nigeria.”

He pointed out that Boko Haram is to Nigeria what ISIS is to the Middle East, saying they both threaten global peace and security.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also backed Adefuye’s position on arms purchase from the US.

The Director, Public Communication Division, Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmedu Ogbole-Ode, said the Nigerian ambassador had said it all on the relationship between Nigeria and America.

“Our ambassador to the US has spoken. He did not send himself there, so there is nothing more for me to add,” he said.

The US, however, said despite its insistence on not selling arms to Nigeria, it was committed to helping the country address the threat posed by Boko Haram and other violent extremist organisations.

The Press Attache, US Embassy, Abuja, Sean McIntosh, in his response to SUNDAY PUNCH’s enquiry on why the US avoids supporting Nigeria internal wars, said his country had been working and continued to work with Nigerian authorities to provide assistance with humanitarian programmes, intelligence and strategic communications.

When asked to also explain the US policy that states America’s non-committal posture to Nigeria and to name other West African countries affected by the policy, McIntosh said the US had continued to advise the Federal Government to adopt a comprehensive approach to violent extremists.

He said such approach emphasises respect for human rights including the freedom of religion, prioritises civilian security, and responds to the needs of victimised communities.

McIntosh listed the assistance rendered to Nigeria by the US to include the provision of $19m for the vulnerable and conflict-affected households in Nigeria by the American government in 2014.

He said, “More than $7m from the US Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance supports health, water and sanitation services; the delivery of emergency relief supplies and protection activities for women and children in north-eastern Nigeria.

“USAID/Food for Peace has provided nearly $7m in emergency food assistance and the US Department of State has provided more than $5m to fund protection activities in affected areas.

“In addition, the US government provided more than $54m in humanitarian assistance in Cameroon, Chad and Niger, targeting refugee populations from neighbouring countries, including Nigeria.”

The American embassy spokesman explained that the USAID was also in the process of starting two new programmes that would address critical educational needs for both boys and girls in northern Nigeria.

These, according to McIntosh, include a ‘crisis response’ programme to be funded with about $20m to $30m. He said the programme would reach out with basic education to internally-displaced persons and others affected by the violence in the north-east, including Bauchi, Gombe, and Adamawa states.

“The programmes also include a ‘flagship’ five-year education programme that will strengthen systems to provide greater access and learning (increasing reading skills) for primary school children, principally in Sokoto and Bauchi, and other states of the North as conditions allow,” he explained.

McIntosh stated that two additional large USAID projects focused on maternal and child health and democracy and governance are geographically co-located in Bauchi and Sokoto states in an effort to maximise their developmental impact. He added that expansion into additional post-conflict states would be considered as conditions and resources allow.

Boko Haram: America not Nigeria’s friend, says Gowon

Nigeria Ambassador blasts US for thwarting Nigeria"s effort to fight Boko Haram

The Federal Government has accused the United States of frustrating its efforts in the war against the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria.

The Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye, blasted the US in a 19-paragraph speech on the Nigeria embassy website on Tuesday.

Obama and Jonathan

Adefuye alleged that the US government refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment “that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time.”

He said, “Our people are not very happy with the content of America’s support in the struggle against the Boko Harm sect. The terrorists threaten our corporate existence and territorial integrity. There is no use giving us the type of support that enables us to deliver light jabs to the terrorists when what we need to give them is the killer punch. A friend in need is a friend indeed. The true test of friendship is in the times of adversity.”

According to the remarks on the Nigeria embassy website, Adefuye delivered the speech at a meeting with the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, on Monday at the Embassy of Nigeria, Washington D.C.

The Nigeria envoy faulted the US government for not providing the necessary support, saying the US allegations of human rights violation in Nigeria cannot be substantiated by facts.

According to him, these allegations were the basis of America’s refusal to sell to Nigeria the necessary lethal equipment to use in the fight against Boko Haram.

He said, “We find it difficult to understand how and why in spite of the US presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology the Boko Haram sect should be expanding and becoming more deadly. At first, we had problems with the manner in which intelligence was being shared. The allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or arrested are not true.

“I am sad to inform you that the Nigerian leadership: military and political, and even the general populace, are not satisfied with the scope, nature and content of the United States’ support for us in our struggle against terrorists.

“The US Government claims that the problem has been addressed, but it is still there. This is based largely on reports submitted by human rights groups and sections of the Nigerian media that have sympathy for the opposition parties and are prepared to use whatever means possible to embarrass the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. The Americans claim that Leahy law forbids the sale of lethal equipment to governments that violate human rights.”

Adefuye stressed that the allegations of human right violation, the US excuse for not granting Nigeria’s request for lethal equipment, were based on rumours, hear-says and exaggerated accounts of clashes between the Nigerian forces and Boko Haram fighters.

According to the Nigeria envoy, video reports of human rights violations involving attacks on women and children purported to have been carried out by Nigerian soldiers in Boko Haram affected areas, were the handiwork of the terrorists.

He said, “We pointed out to our American friends that those activities were carried out by Boko Haram members wearing stolen Nigerian Army uniforms. Disguise and subterfuge are standard practices of insurgent groups. The Chibok abduction of our school girls by Boko Haram succeeded because the girls thought that they were being carried to safety by soldiers of the Nigerian army.

“There was a case of an incident in Baga in 2013 when human rights groups and the opposition press said that, based on pictures taken from the satellite; over one thousand six hundred houses were destroyed in a village that has less than 600 houses.

Justifying the Federal Government, the Nigeria envoy said although the FG declared a state of emergency Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, the democratic structures were left in place.

“The parliament, judiciary, and the civilian executives continue to function as in normal times. Nigeria did not establish an extra judicial body to try Boko Haram suspects. All those who were arrested on suspicion of collusion with Boko Haram are being tried in the civilian courts; some of them are currently out on bail,” he added.

Adefuye called on the Council on Foreign Affairs to put pressure on the US State Department and the Department of Defence to re-examine the basis of their refusal to sell the equipment to Nigeria.

He observed that the Boko Haram war has been politicized as the 2015 general elections approach.

He said, “We have implored our colleagues in the embassies of Western nations based in Nigeria to check and re-check the facts, and not use half-truths and rumours as the basis of their reports and recommendations to their capitals. A famous philosopher said that ‘facts are sacred; opinion is free.’ I hereby assert as a fact opinions on human rights violations by Nigerian defence forces are biased, were not subjected to the necessary verification.

“A stable and secure Nigeria is an invaluable asset to America. It was the democratically elected, stable and secure Nigeria, under President Goodluck Jonathan, that ensured the triumph of democracy in Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry, Mali, and has prevented the collapse of Guinea Bissau. Even in spite of our present challenges, President Jonathan is taking the lead in ensuring a quick return to democracy in Burkina Faso. America’s strategic global objective aims for a stable and secure Africa as an integral part of a peaceful and stable world. A peaceful, stable and secure Nigeria, free from the ravages of Boko Haram, is a necessary pre-requisite.”

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Nigeria Ambassador blasts US for thwarting Nigeria"s effort to fight Boko Haram

Ebola: Second Texas health worker tests positive

By CNN

A second health worker in the US state of Texas has tested positive for Ebola, health officials say.A 26-year-old female nurse is already receiving treatment after becoming infected by a Liberian man who died from the deadly virus last week.

Ebola

Meanwhile, the UN’s Ebola mission chief says the world is falling behind in the race to contain the virus.

The World Health Organisation says 4,447 people have died from the outbreak, mainly in West Africa.

Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have been hardest hit by the outbreak, which began in December 2013 but was confirmed in March.

Anthony Banbury told a special session of the UN Security Council on Tuesday that if Ebola was not stopped now, the world would “face an entirely unprecedented situation for which we do not have a plan”.President Barack Obama is due to hold a video conference with British, French, German and Italian leaders to discuss the Ebola crisis later on Wednesday.

Nina Pham was exposed to Ebola at a Dallas hospital when she treated Liberian Thomas Duncan, the first person diagnosed with the virus on US soil.Doctors at the Health Presbyterian hospital said she was in good condition on Tuesday.

The identity of the second health worker has not yet been revealed, however, the person also cared for Duncan while he was in hospital.

The health worker was immediately isolated after reporting a fever on Tuesday, the Texas State Department for Health said in a statement.”Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored,” the department said.

US officials previously said they were monitoring 48 contacts of the Liberian national and the healthcare workers who treated him.

The US Centers for Disease Control expressed concern over the latest development in a statement, but added that it was “not unexpected that there would be additional exposures”.

It has announced new measures to improve hospital preparedness for Ebola treatment, including an immediate response team that will travel to the site of any future Ebola diagnoses to hit the ground “within hours”.

Nurses at the Dallas hospital say they worked for days without adequate protective clothing and received little guidance on how to prevent the spread of the virus.

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Ebola: Second Texas health worker tests positive

Ebola: Health care worker tests positive at Texas hospital

A Texas health care worker who treated US Ebola victim Thomas Duncan before his death has tested positive for the virus, officials say.

A picture taken on July 24, 2014 shows staff of the Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse putting on protective gear in the ELWA hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia. An American doctor battling West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has himself fallen sick with the disease in Liberia, Samaritan’s Purse said on July 27. AFP PHOTO

“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” said Dr David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, died at a Dallas hospital on Wednesday.

The health worker has not been named.

Duncan tested positive in Dallas on September 30, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via Brussels.

He became ill a few days after arriving in the US, but after going to hospital and telling medical staff he had been in Liberia, he was sent home with antibiotics.

He was later put into an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas but died despite being given an experimental drug.

It is not clear at which point the health worker, who has tested positive in a preliminary test, came into contact with Duncan.

The current Ebola outbreak, concentrated in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, has resulted in more than 8,300 confirmed and suspected cases, and at least 4,033 deaths.

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Ebola: Health care worker tests positive at Texas hospital

What Ebola outbreak would look like in U.S.

By LEO HOHMANN

According to a senior health fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, the world has no strategic plan to contain the worst Ebola outbreak in history while scientists are saying an outbreak on U.S. soil would require sweeping measures.

Total quarantine of cities or sections of infected cities and restrictions on air travel could be expected.

Ebola

“We’re now in a perfect storm,” Laurie Garrett said in a CFR conference call Thursday in which she described the United Nations World Health Organization as “bankrupt” and drowning in debt. “There is no strategic plan for how this epidemic will be brought under control.”

The same term, “perfect storm,” was also used to describe the Ebola outbreak Thursday by the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Tom Frieden, in testimony before Congress.

If the statements are true, each nation must come up with its own plan to protect its people.

In the United States, that job falls to the CDC in Atlanta. As Frieden testified Thursday, the CDC raised its emergency operations center to Level 1, the highest possible alert in an effort to better coordinate a CDC-organized surge of health professionals and equipment being rushed to West Africa in an effort to contain the Ebola outbreak.

Nearly 900 people have died of Ebola in four west African countries since February.

Frieden also told Congress that it’s “inevitable” that someone with Ebola will get on a plane and fly to the United States, risking an outbreak here.

If, or when, Ebola does show up in the United States, the only way to combat the virus is through strict quarantines, said Dr. Arthur Robinson, a biochemist with Oregon-based Doctors for Disaster Preparedness.

“I don’t want to contribute to scaring everybody but at the same time, you’re dealing with total quarantine,” Robinson said. “You might have to quarantine entire small cities. Hopefully that doesn’t happen but it could.”

Robinson, who stresses that he has no inside knowledge of the government’s plans other than what he’s already seen play out, says he doubts the United States would be adequately prepared for a major outbreak of Ebola on its soil.

“I’ve spoken to people who are experts on African diseases and they are not very sanguine about CDC’s ability to deal with things like this,” Robinson said. “Their experience in dealing with bacterial warfare is almost zero, but that’s almost what you have here.

“We know almost nothing, this is a world we’ve barely scratched the surface in,” he continued. “We are probably not prepared. We have nothing that stops a virus other than quarantine and hoping it dies out. It has its own DNA, a code that is also able to penetrate a living cell. The virus takes over the living cell. The cell pops and then those viruses infect other cells. But by itself it is inert. It has the DNA but it does not have the machinery to reproduce itself without a living cell (as its host).”

Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, sweat, vomit or feces. The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, high fever and diarrhea and there is no known cure. The death rate of the strain now infecting people is about 70 percent.

The disease has up to a 21-day incubation period and the virus can live outside of an infected CDC-Quarantinable diseasesperson’s body for hours, possibly days. As a viral hemorrhagic fever, it is one of nine diseases which the federal government has the authority to forcibly quarantine.

A living victim of Ebola “is alive with viruses and their cells are making more virus-infected cells at a tremendous rate,” Robinson said. “If you have contact with the bodily fluids of that person you’re getting a big dose. You get little tiny assaults with viruses all the time and your body is able to overcome them but once it’s in the body it’s a huge dose. People rubbing their eyes or putting their hands in their mouth, it breaks out. And a person infected is just a huge reservoir of the virus and cells that are supporting that virus.”

The very nature of a virus makes it hard to combat without a vaccine and Robinson pointed to the polio virus as an example.

“The thing that worries me is this is a virus and viruses are notoriously hard to combat, very difficult to beat because they are not alive most of the time,” said Robinson. “It does not live by itself, but it uses the living thing in which it is embedded to wake up and do its damage. There are viruses all over the place, we live in a sea of viruses, but when one wakes up you’re in a lot of trouble.”

According to a CDC statement released Wednesday, U.S. hospitals can safely manage patients with Ebola. “The key factors are isolation of patients, diligent environmental cleaning and disinfection, and protection of healthcare providers,” the statement said. “Providers in U.S. hospitals should wear gloves, fluid resistant/impermeable gown, and eye protection. In certain situations involving copious body fluids, additional equipment may be needed (for example, double gloving, disposable shoe coverings, and leg coverings).”

The CDC has 20 known quarantine stations throughout the U.S. but it is not known if those would be adequate to contain a full outbreak. A CDC press officer told WND she would have someone “get back with you” Thursday on this issue but no one from the agency followed up.

And other questions abound: Would there be enough testing sites, testing labs and hospitals capable of handling an outbreak? Screening stations would likely be set up at all international airports. For more details on how an Ebola outbreak might affect the United States, see this White House document drafted by the Clinton administration during a less severe Ebola scare in Africa.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced in July it was issuing $840 million to upgrade the emergency preparedness of state and local medical facilities.

But Dr. Jane Orient, M.D., a practicing physician in Tuscon, Arizona, and member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, wonders if it will be too little, too late.

“The fear is they would put people suspected of being infected, but who are actually healthy, in with people who do have the virus, so the threat is you would get it once you’re in quarantine (even if healthy to begin with),” Orient said.

She said the more sensible strategy would be to quarantine people in their homes.

“That is what was done with my grandfather’s generation, and then the family members can take their precautions and watch their symptoms,” Orient said.

She said recent articles about Obama’s executive order giving him authority to quarantine sick people and those suspected of being sick “is really nothing new.”

The U.S. has used governmental quarantine powers dating back to 1878.

“We always have to be worried about government overreacting and quarantining healthy people with sick people and people quarantining themselves and not going to work,” Orient said. “The situation is always going to be exacerbated CDC-history of quarantineif the population thinks their government is not telling them the truth, or is covering up.

She said the vast majority of citizens living under the old Soviet Union believed in UFOs “and the reason they did was because the government said UFOs didn’t exist and the government must be lying like it always does. So the risk is that even if the government is telling the truth, for a change, the people just won’t believe it.”

Orient said there is no evidence the Ebola virus can be spread by airborne germs such as a sneeze, but nor is there any proof that it can’t, “so maybe we’ll find out late in the game.”

She said body fluids such as sweat or saliva could be found on any city surface.

“I don’t know (about Ebola) but some viruses can live for a couple weeks, and then the question arises, is it possible Ebola could develop air-born mutation,” Orient said. “So I would say, don’t panic, but people need to be aware this is a possibility. Unfortunately it starts off like a bad case of the flu.”

She said the CDC has put out communications that the disease can only be spread by direct contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids, “but that looks so contradictory to the way they transported these two patients to Atlanta, with extreme caution. When people in space suits are telling you ‘oh don’t worry, there’s no danger of this spreading,’ they have no credibility.”

Frieden, meanwhile, continues to try to tamp down any concerns. He exuded confidence that everything is under control in his latest press release, issued on Wednesday.

“The bottom line with Ebola is we know how to stop it: traditional public health. Find patients, isolate and care for them; find their contacts; educate people; and strictly follow infection control in hospitals. Do those things with meticulous care and Ebola goes away,” Frieden said in the release. “To keep America safe, health care workers should isolate and evaluate people who have returned from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in the past 21 days and have fever or other symptoms suggestive of Ebola. We will save lives in West Africa and protect ourselves at home by stopping Ebola at the source.”

Robinson is less cheery about the CDC’s capabilities. He said there is no denying the fact that there are some cultural practices in west Africa that help the disease spread that are not present in American culture. That’s the good news.

“A person dies in Africa and the culture of poverty helps a disease like this spread because they don’t bury their dead right away, they don’t take certain precautions,” he said. “But if it appears in the U.S., if we get a couple of cases I think people would be looking for places to hide. These things are not trivial. We’ve just scratched the surface there’s so much we don’t know about these diseases.”

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What Ebola outbreak would look like in U.S.

US tries to calm fears as Ebola virus spreads

US health officials are monitoring the Ebola outbreak in Africa but say the risk of the deadly disease spreading to the US is remote.

The Centres for Disease Control on Monday sent a health alert to US doctors about the outbreak. There are no travel restrictions to the West Africa region hit by the disease, The Associated Press reported.

But last month, the CDC issued a mid-level travel advisory for health workers.

Susan Rice, US national security adviser, said in a televised interview on Monday the outbreak was of “grave concern”.

“We are very much present and active in trying to help the countries of the region and the international authorities like the World Health Organisation address and contain this threat. But it is indeed a very worrying epidemic,” Rice told MSNBC News.

Two American aid workers in Liberia have contracted the Ebola virus and it has killed the Liberian husband of an American woman who said he could have easily brought the disease home to the US.

The family of Patrick Sawyer, who died on July 24, recently returned to the US for a visit. The CDC said they were not affected.

Officials stressed people are not contagious until they show symptoms, and the Sawyer’s family left Liberia days before he fell ill.

Sawyer, a consultant for Liberia’s Finance Ministry in his 40s, collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport.

He was put in isolation at the First Consultants Hospital in Obalende, one of the most crowded parts of a city that is home to 21 million people.

Nigeria on alert

Lagos shut and quarantined the hospital where he died, the first recorded case of the highly-infectious disease in Nigeria.

“The private hospital was demobilised [evacuated] and the primary source of infection eliminated. The decontamination process in all the affected areas has commenced,” Jide Idris, Lagos state health commissioner, said.

He said the hospital would be closed for a week and staff would be closely monitored.

Accoring to the Lagos state Health Ministry, authorities were monitoring 59 people who were in contact with Sawyer, including at the airport – although the ministry said the airline had yet to provide a passenger list for the flights Sawyer used.

Derek Gatherer, a virologist at Britain’s University of Lancaster, said anyone on the plane near Sawyer could be in “pretty serious danger”, but that Nigeria was better placed to tackle the outbreak than its neighbours.

“Nigerians have deep pockets and they can do as much as any Western country could do if they have the motivation and organisation to get it done,” he said.

Nigeria’s largest air carrier, Arik Air, has suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone because of the Ebola risk, Ola Adebanji, the airline’s spokesman, said in an email on Monday.

Ebola has killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since it was first diagnosed in February.

The fatality rate of the current outbreak is around 60 percent although the disease can kill up to 90 percent of those who catch it.

Highly contagious, its symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding.

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US tries to calm fears as Ebola virus spreads

United State reveals Boko Haram source of funding

says Boko Haram uses weapons stolen from Nigerian Army

When Washington imposed sanctions in June 2012 on Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, he dismissed it as an empty gesture.

Two years later, Shekau’s skepticism appears well founded: his Islamic militant group is now the biggest security threat to Africa’s top oil producer, is richer than ever, more violent and its abductions of women and children continue with impunity.

As the United States, Nigeria and others struggle to track and choke off its funding,Reuters interviews with more than a dozen current and former U.S. officials who closely follow Boko Haram provide the most complete picture to date of how the group finances its activities.

Central to the militant group’s approach includes using hard-to-track human couriers to move cash, relying on local funding sources and engaging in only limited financial relationships with other extremists groups. It also has reaped millions from high-profile kidnappings.

“Our suspicions are that they are surviving on very lucrative criminal activities that involve kidnappings,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in an interview. Until now, U.S. officials have declined to discuss Boko Haram’s financing in such detail.

The United States has stepped up cooperation with Nigeria to gather intelligence on Boko Haram, whose militants are killing civilians almost daily in its north-eastern Nigerian stronghold. But the lack of international financial ties to the group limit the measures the United States can use to undermine it, such as financial sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury normally relies on a range of measures to track financial transactions of terrorist groups, but Boko Haram appears to operate largely outside the banking system.

To fund its murderous network, Boko Haram uses primarily a system of couriers to move cash around inside Nigeria and across the porous borders from neighboring African states, according to the officials interviewed byReuters.

In designating Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation last year, the Obama administration characterised the group as a violent extremist organisation with links to al Qaeda.

The Treasury Department said in a statement to Reuters that the United States has seen evidence that Boko Haram has received financial support from al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), an offshoot of the jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden.

But that support is limited. Officials with deep knowledge of Boko Haram’s finances say that any links with al Qaeda or its affiliates are inconsequential to Boko Haram’s overall funding.

“Any financial support AQIM might still be providing Boko Haram would pale in comparison to the resources it gets from criminal activities,” said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Assessments differ, but one U.S. estimate of financial transfers from AQIM was in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. That compares with the millions of dollars that Boko Haram is estimated to make through its kidnap and ransom operations.

Lucrative kidnapping racket

Ransoms appear to be the main source of funding for Boko Haram’s five-year-old Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims, said the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In February last year, armed men on motorcycles snatched Frenchman Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife and four children, and his brother while they were on holiday near the Waza National Park in Cameroon, close to the Nigerian border.

Boko Haram was paid an equivalent of about $3.15m by French and Cameroonian negotiators before the hostages were released, according to a confidential Nigerian government report later obtained by Reuters.

Figures vary on how much Boko Haram earns from kidnappings. Some U.S. officials estimate the group is paid as much as $1m for the release of each abducted wealthy Nigerian.

It is widely assumed in Nigeria that Boko Haram receives support from religious sympathisers inside the country, including some wealthy professionals and northern Nigerians who dislike the government, although little evidence has been made public to support that assertion.

Current and former U.S. and Nigerian officials say Boko Haram’s operations do not require significant amounts of money, which means even successful operations tracking and intercepting their funds are unlikely to disrupt their campaign.

Boko Haram had developed “a very diversified and resilient model of supporting itself,” said Peter Pham, a Nigeria scholar at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington.

“It can essentially ‘live off the land’ with very modest additional resources required,” he told a congressional hearing on June 11.

Low cost weapons

“We’re not talking about a group that is buying sophisticated weapons of the sort that some of the jihadist groups in Syria and other places are using. We’re talking AK-47s, a few rocket-propelled grenades, and bomb-making materials. It is a very low-cost operation,” Pham told Reuters.

That includes paying local youth just pennies a day to track and report on Nigerian troop movements.

Much of Boko Haram’s military hardware is not bought; it is stolen from the Nigerian army.

In February, dozens of its fighters descended on a remote military outpost in the Gwoza hills in north-eastern Borno State, looting 200 mortar bombs, 50 rocket-propelled grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Such raids have left the group well armed. In dozens of attacks in the past year Nigerian soldiers were swept aside by militants driving trucks, motor bikes and sometimes even stolen armored vehicles, firing rocket-propelled grenades.

Boko Haram’s inner leadership is security savvy, not only in the way it moves money but also in its communications, relying on face-to-face contact, since messages or calls can be intercepted, the current and former U.S. officials said.

“They’re quite sophisticated in terms of shielding all of these activities from legitimate law enforcement officials in Africa and certainly our own intelligence efforts trying to get glimpses and insight into what they do,” a former U.S. military official said.

U.S. officials acknowledge that the weapons that have served Washington so well in its financial warfare against other terrorist groups are proving less effective against Boko Haram.

“My sense is that we have applied the tools that we do have but that they are not particularly well tailored to the way that Boko Haram is financing itself,” a U.S. defense official said.

Source: Reuters

United State reveals Boko Haram source of funding

US Court, Buruji Kashamu Disagree Over Extradition

Disagreeing with the recent ruling of the United States District Court judge, Mr Charles Richard Norgle which saw him as indicted for drug peddling charges, chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West, Prince Buruji Kashamu, has said that the US authorities had no right to call him a fugitive, just as he said that America had no case against him. This reaction which was personally signed by Prince Buruji and made available to journalists by his attorney’s chambers in the United States came as a result of the April 24 ruling of a Chicago District Court judge, Mr Charles Richard Norgle, who said that the PDP chieftain was still indicted for drug peddling.

In the April 24 ruling, the Chicago District Court Judge Norgle who apart from faulting the British government’s handling of an extradition case filed against Prince Buruji Kashamu, claimed that it was the testimony and evidence produced by the Nigerian government that led to his release in England. The judge also said that Kashamu’s status as a political figure in Nigeria and his relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan would not make an extradition attempt against him successful.

When contacted by our correspondent for reactions, an administrative staff of the Chicago, IL Judiciary, Mr Roberto Cornej, said that the ruling had been made and the US would be waiting for an appeal from Prince Buruji who had always been claiming to be innocent of all charges against him.

Mr. Cornej added that it was unclear if the United States would make a fresh appeal to the federal government for the extradition of the defendant.

It would be recalled that Ms. Patricia John of the British Judiciary during findings had said that Kashamu whose innocence was proven and affirmed by the Royal Court of Justice in England presided over by Lord Justice Pill and Mr. Justice Bell in 2003 was unconditionally released when it became clear to the UK authorities that the US Justice Department could not substantiate its claims that he was the most wanted Ahlaji who was allegedly mentioned by others arrested as their principal conspirator.

The UK official further said that it was discovered that Buruji’s case was a case of mistaken identity, stressing that the Chicago prosecutors at that time had also tainted their eyewitness identification evidence by failing to disclose that one Mr. Nicolas Fillmore, one of the co-defendants, failed to pick him (Kashamu) out of a photo lineup.

Checks by our correspondent at the Department of Immigration of the Federal Republic of Benin also revealed various documents that indicate that a drug trafficking group existed in Cotonou in 1994. One of the documents with reference number 157MISATDGPNDPJBCNIPSPC which was signed by the then Inspector General of Benin National Police, Mr. Raymond Fadonougbo, on the 3rd April, 2001, fingered Mr. Alhaji Adewale Kashamu, Emmanuel Ugbade, Mrs Toun. Nicolas Fillmore, Cleary Wolters, Ellen Wolters, Oumiou Samadou, Gbenga Giwa and Akim Shokunbi as the conspirators behind the network that was dealing in suspicious activities majorly in drug trafficking.

Another document from the Benin Telecommunication and Postal Agency which contained various payments made for telephone bills by Mr. Adewale Adeshina Kashamu between January 1992 and February 1993 was also obtained. The telephone number 301258 was one of the telephone numbers that the then Inspector General of Benin Police listed in his April 3, 2001 letter to the British Police as the major line being used by the conspirators to transact the drug deals.

LEADERSHIP’s checks at the Bank of Africa through a document with reference number 0458-2002/OTL/FT of 28 May 2002 which was signed by the then Inspector General of Benin, Mr. Raymond Fadonougbo, disclosed that an account with numbers 01611168647 was opened on April 30, 1992 at the Bank by Mr. Kashamu Adewale Adesina born on January 6, 1964 in Ikorodu Lagos state, with Passport Number A870428, an international passport that was issued on April 20, 1990 in Abuja.

However, Buruji in his reaction said that attempts were being made by his political detractors and their agents to twist Judge Norgle’s ruling, stressing that the US court did not establish any case against him. “I am the one who has been going to various courts in the US since 2009 to remove the stain of the purported indictment which was erroneously made against me because I am convinced that such a move would not only clear my name but also put a stop to the blackmail and the campaign of calumny against my person”

The statement reads: “As I have often stated, the United States Government had caused extradition proceedings to be commenced against me in England for the purpose of taking me to the US court for trial in respect of the charges made in the said indictment. However, in two judgments dated the 2nd December, 2000 and 10th January, 2003, the English courts rejected the application for my extradition to the US on the basis that it was a case of mistaken identity. In fact, the original charge, from 1994 to 1998, had nothing to do with me. My name was not mentioned in the whole proceedings. That in itself puts a question mark on the US court’s jurisdiction over me

Also, Kashamu’s lawyer, Prince Ajibola Oluyede of Trlplaw Chambers, said that the case against his client was a case of mistaken identity, noting that a fugitive was someone who had never been tried by any court of law for criminal offenses he was being alleged to have committed. He added that the case of his client was different having being tried and discharged proven innocent by a United Kingdom court for the same criminal charge. (Leadership)

US Court, Buruji Kashamu Disagree Over Extradition