UK government considers single secure jail unit for Islamist terrorists

The government is seriously considering placing all convicted Islamist terrorist prisoners in England and Wales in a single secure unit, a proposal for a “British Alcatraz” that is prompting alarm among prison chiefs.

The idea would overturn 50 years of dispersing the most dangerous prisoners in the system and is expected to be backed by a review set up by the justice secretary, Michael Gove, to examine how the 130 convicted Islamist terrorists are dealt with behind bars.

Earlier this week, David Cameron gave a strong hint in a speech on prison reformthat the option of a separate secure unit is being looked at. The prime minister said he was ready to consider major changes in the location of convicted terrorist prisoners to prevent them recruiting up to 1,000 current prisoners who have been identified as being at risk of extremist radicalisation.

“We will not stand by and watch people being radicalised like this while they are in the care of the state … And I want to be clear – I am prepared to consider major changes: from the imams we allow to preach in prison to changing the locations and methods for dealing with prisoners convicted of terrorism offences, if that is what is required,” Cameron said.

However, a leading counter-terror expert warned that bringing together all convicted Islamist prisoners in one “jail within a jail” risks creating a focal point for public protests.

Prof Peter Neumann said: “The trade-off is this: you want to separate terrorist prisoners in order to prevent them from radicalising others yet you don’t want to create a focal point for public protests – a ‘British Guantanamo’, however much of a misrepresentation that might be – or provide an opportunity for terrorist prisoners to create (or recreate) operational command structures inside prison that might not have existed outside.”

Since the 1960s terrorists incarcerated in England and Wales have been dispersed among six maximum security jails. They have then been regularly moved around the dispersal prisons to prevent long-term relationships building up between them.

Any of the current dispersal prisons could be designated to hold all convicted Islamist terrorists and converted to create a segregated terrorist unit or “jail within a jail” within their perimeter. They include Frankland near Durham, Full Sutton near York, Long Lartin in Worcestershire, Wakefield in West Yorkshire, Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, andBelmarsh in south-east London.

Gove’s review is being led by Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and a senior Home Office official, who is understood to be actively considering recommending a separatist solution and holding convicted Islamist terrorists in one jail.

Downing Street is also understood to be interested in this approach, citing recent developments in France where Islamist terrorists have been concentrated together in isolation wings to prevent them radicalising the much larger Muslim prison population in French jails.

“Michael Spurr [the chief executive of the National Offender Management Service] is very concerned that Acheson is going to come to the wrong conclusion,” said a Whitehall source.

Neumann also warned that a separatist unit could provide an opportunity to create an “operational command and control structure” for Isis in Britain that currently does not exist inside or outside the prison system.

“The second point is now more important than ever. With large numbers of ‘lone operators’ who may not be particularly ideological and who have failed to join the command and control structures of groups like IS, the risk of them connecting with ideological and operational leaders while imprisoned is real. In other words, a policy of concentration may inadvertently help to create the kind of hierarchical organisation that the terrorists found it impossible to create outside,” said Neumann.

The experience at the Maze prison in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, where republican and loyalist prisoners organised themselves along military lines and ran their respective H-blocks, is often cited as the main argument against a separatist solution.

Neumann, the author of an authoritative study comparing prison regimes for terrorist prisoners in 15 countries, said there was a trade-off involved but he thought the current British dispersal system was probably the best way of tackling the issue.

The issue of a single maximum security prison to house the most unruly and disruptive prisoners in the system was raised in 1995 after the IRA breakout from a special secure unit at Whitemoor prison in Cambridgeshire.

The official Learmont inquiry recommended they be housed in a purpose-built US-style supermax prison because the then growing availability of explosives and weapons to criminals posed a much greater threat than before. But it was never implemented by the then home secretary, Michael Howard.

But as Neumann points out in his study, the IRA prisoners in English jails made no deliberate attempt to radicalise or recruit “ordinary criminals” who they saw as unreliable and ill-disciplined: “Many al-Qaida affiliated prisoners, on the other hand, see it as their duty to propagate their faith and political ideology and will consequently exploit whatever opportunities they are offered to approach other offenders and turn them into followers.”

Early last year France started to experiment with separating suspected Islamist radicals from the general prison population at the large Fresnes jail. The “quarantine” programme which also tries to separate returnees from Syria and Iraq from seasoned jihadists was expanded to several Paris prisons in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The justice secretary has asked the department to review its approach to dealing with Islamist extremism in prisons. This is being supported by external experts and sits alongside the cross-government work currently under way in developing deradicalisation programmes.”

UK government considers single secure jail unit for Islamist terrorists

DSS foils Boko Haram plan to bomb Lagos

Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, one of Nigeria’s high brow residential areas, was a recent target of attack  by the terror sect ,Boko Haram,it was revealed yesterday.

DSS operatives

Forty-five alleged members of the group have been identified as the brains behind the plot.

They were arrested by  the Department of State Services (DSS) following intelligence reports about their activities.

The men were ordered   to be remanded at the  Kirikiri Maximum Prisons yesterday by an  Isolo Magistrate’s Court  pending arraignment.

The suspects include  Abuyi Sheriff, Babagana Ali, Abass Ibrahim, Abubakar Grema, Kabiri Ibrahim, Mustaph Mohammed and Usman Mohammed.

Others are Modu Amsami, Isa Agafi, Adamu Jebili, Saja Kamba, Abba Sagoma, Mallam Buchu, Abdul-Kareem Abba, Babagana Koloye, Usman Buka and Adamu Mohammed.

Also arrested  are Lawal Mohammed, Tela Abana, Mustapha Mohammed, Isa Agafi, Belo Modu, Kachala Babagana, Modu Abu and Alhaji Modu Mustapha.

The attack was said to have been slated for last month soon after the arrival of the suspects i Lagos.

DSS swung into action,by first mounting surveillance on them followed by their arrest.

Recovered from the suspects  were arms.

It was gathered that the DSS also  obtained confessional statements from them.

The suspects will remain in detention pending conclusion of investigation and filing of charges.

In August,the DSS announced the  arrest of 19 suspected terrorists of tBoko Haram in Lagos, Enugu, Plateau, Kano and Gombe States.

They were described as commanders and frontline members  of the sect who had  played  active roles in its bloody campaign in the Northeast.

One of the suspects,Usman Shuaibu (alias Money) claimed to have co-ordinated the attacks with N500000 which was provided by his Amir,Isa Ali.

DSS,in a statement, said : “Shuaibu   claimed that the said Isa Ai has links to the leader of the Boko Haram sect,Abubakar Shekau,from where  he collects monies to fund operations undertaken by their Markaz.

“Also,he revealed that he has participated in several Boko Haram attacks,including the attacks at Gwoza Divisional police Statetion in 2014.”

He was also alleged to have admitted  being the leader of a nine man Boko haram team dispatched from Sambisa forest to carry out  the attacks.

DSS foils Boko Haram plan to bomb Lagos

Capture Shekau alive, troops urged

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Following the spate of recent successes recorded by troops against boko haram insurgents in the north eastern parts of the country, Nigerian troops have been put on red alert for any insurgents’ leader bearing the name of Imam Abubakar Shekau who is believed to be desperately looking for escape routes.

Abubakar Shekau

A senior military source however, informed that troops have been urged to try at all costs to capture Shekau alive so that he would face justice.

On at least two occasions now, troops have killed characters calling themselves Abubakar Shekau in videos but the insurgents manages to find other individuals looking like him and pretend that he was still alive.

The order to catch Shekau alive is therefore to ensure that it will no longer be possible to resort to the same trick.

According to sources, the rumour about Shekau’s invincibility is one of the factors that troops are afraid to confront the terrorists.

Meanwhile troop’s morale has been greatly boosted in recent times by arrival of sophisticated armaments and the decision of senior military officers to lead the war against terror directly which also influenced the change of some commanders.

An intelligence sources disclosed that some of the successes recorded in recovery of big towns in the North-East were due to deployment of new strategies, improved disciplinary measures, and sincerity of participating countries in the regional alliance and the acquisitions of latest equipment.

In the past, Colonels have led direct attacks in accordance with military tradition but because of the large scale desertions recorded, Military Generals then decided to directly lead the war and this has greatly boosted morale.

It was even learnt that many of the troops that earlier deserted have returned while others have expressed desire to return to the front.

Within a week of the massive operation, the troops have recovered Monguno, Marte, Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa among other big towns and several surrounding communities in Borno State.

The source added that “with acquisition of new equipment from various sources and the specialised training of the troops on guerrilla warfare, the military indirectly called the bluff of some deceptive western countries who are now trying to save face by claiming to work with our neighbours.

“The effective collaboration and mutual relationship with our neighbours is paying off as they now realise that inactions can pose disasters to their countries too,” he concluded.

 

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Capture Shekau alive, troops urged

SABOTAGE: Army Col, 10 officers set Nigerian tankers ablaze, pave way for Boko Haram

There were shocking revelations at the weekend that an Army Colonel, some junior officers and soldiers who were taking part in the military offensive to reclaim communities taken over by the Boko Haram terrorists in Adamawa State, have been arrested for sabotage.

Top military sources said that the colonel (a Muslim) who was Commanding a team of three Armoured Personnel Carriers, APC’s, with the capability to fire up to a range of 1.5kilometres or even more, had instead of pursuing the terrorists, deliberately set the APCs on fire between Gulak and Madagali, before running away with his team of soldiers into the bush.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the Army authorities were outraged over the development and ordered the arrest of both the commander, the junior officers as well as the soldiers under his command.

Narrating how the ‘’embarrassing incident occurred,’’ a source who was privy to the development noted that until the latest development, the Special Forces of the Nigerian Army who commenced the putsch to rout Boko Haram terrorists from Bazza, Michika, Gulak and Madagali from Vimtim, had successfully dealt with, and inflicted heavy casualties on the terrorists up till Gulak.

It was said that between Gulak and Madagali, the Colonel who had all along been prided with air surveillance reports, was again informed that Boko Haram terrorists were approaching his team in six Toyota Hilux Pick Up vans from the Madagali axis.

“However, rather than blasting and taking out the terrorists in their pick-up vans; he ordered his soldiers to jump out of the APC’s and set the armoured tanks on fire, without realising that he was being monitored. This was shocking because the terrorists were armed with weaponry which were grossly inferior to the firepower of the Nigerian Army Amoured tanks. After accomplishing the sabotage act, the Colonel and the junior officers and soldiers ran away into the bush, claiming that they were overpowered by a better armed group of Boko Haram terrorists,’’ Saturday Vanguard was told.

Military sources said that the action of the Colonel and soldiers under his command had given vent to the disclosure by the top hierarchy of the military that there were so many fifth columnists in the military working against the country’s determination to flush out Boko Haram terrorists in the land.

Consequently, Saturday Vanguard was told that a Board of Inquiry, BoI, had been set up by the Army authorities to investigate the Colonel and his soldiers after which a Military Court Martial would be set up to try them for conspiracy, treason and willful sabotage among others.

Also speaking on the development, a senior officer confided in Saturday Vanguard thus, “You can now see why the Military Court Martial which is currently sitting is inevitable. The uninformed would feel that soldiers who are fighting the nation’s battle are being unjustly punished. But the truth is that many of them are sabotaging Nigeria and making the insurgents look formidable for reasons that cannot be explained. Some of them appear sympathetic to the insurgents.

“How can it be explained that several APCs that cost up to $1million each in some cases or more will be willfully destroyed by Commissioned Officers, COs, who swore to defend the territorial integrity of their nation, just to help terrorists? That is treason of the highest order.”

The source added that the new vigour and determination with which Nigerian troops had been prosecuting the war, resulting in the killing of several commanders of the sect as well as hundreds of the insurgents, was the fallout of the new position of the military high command to deal with those pursuing a different agenda from that of the Federal Government.

The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh said last week that the death penalty imposed on the 12 soldiers who were tried for treason was lawful and in accordance with military dictates. He spoke at a three-day conference organised by the National Security Adviser in collaboration with Trim Communication Nigeria Ltd on Media/Security relationship in crisis management.

According to him, “The day you join the military you have signed off, whether life or death, and it is obey before complaint. How can a soldier just jump out of the APC because you want to donate APC to Boko Haram; and somebody is there talking about constructive mutiny.

“The laws are there, if you run away from the enemy, you will die and that is what the military law says. Apart from the old Nigerian law, we abide by the military law. Nobody forces or conscripts anybody into the military. It is a voluntary service, and so if we have this type of challenge, you should be able to confront it and not to run away.”

 

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SABOTAGE: Army Col, 10 officers set Nigerian tankers ablaze, pave way for Boko Haram

Boko Haram: 15 killed, 34 injured in Kano college attack

An Improvised Explosive Device, IED, thrown into a lecture hall at the Federal College of Education,  Kano, yesterday, claimed the lives of 15 students while 34 others sustained injuries.

According to an eyewitness, lecture was going on when two terrorists walked in and threw two objects that exploded  within seconds. The blast was accompanied by sporadic gun shots as some of the gunmen, who were stationed outside the lecture hall,opened fire on some of the students who tried to escape from the scene.

The incident that occurred around 2.00pm at the school’s new site located at Gadon Kaya  triggered pandemonium as students,  lecturers and visitors to the school scampered for safety.

Also in the neighbourhood, residents locked up their houses, while shop owners in the vicinity hurriedly closed businesses as confusion reigned.

The prompt response of security agents at the nearest check point however saved the day as they engaged the gunmen and shot two of them to death.

Addressing newsmen at the scene of the incident,  the Kano Commissioner of Police, Adenrele Shinaba confirmed that “15 died, while 34 were injured”.

Shinaba disclosed that two among the dead were the attackers gunned down by his men in an exchange of fire, explaining that those injured have been taken to a government hospital in the city.

The police boss said: “We have recovered two AK-47 assault rifles from the assailants”,  pointing out that the command has launched a massive manhunt to track down other fleeing suspects.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has assured the people of Kano State and all Nigerians that the Federal Government was doing everything possible to increase the capacity of the nation’s security services to prevent attacks on innocent citizens by terrorists.

In a statement on the attack on students, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati quoted the president as commiserating with the families of those who lost their lives while praying for the quick recovery of those who sustained injuries.

The statement read in part: “President Jonathan commiserates with citizens and residents of Kano State on the loss of lives during the attack by terrorists on the Federal College of Education, Kano.

“President Jonathan’s sympathies and best wishes for a speedy recovery are also with all those who suffered injuries in the dastardly attack.

“The President commends the officers and men of the Nigerian Police Force who took prompt action to confront the attackers and minimize resultant casualties.

“He urges them to be even more alert and proactive in the future to stop terrorist attacks in Kano and other parts of the country.

“President Jonathan reassures the people of Kano and all Nigerians that the Federal Government continues to do all within its powers to further enhance the ability of the Police, Armed Forces and other security agencies to prosecute the war against terrorism to a successful conclusion and provide greater security of lives and property across the country”.

 

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Boko Haram: 15 killed, 34 injured in Kano college attack

Boko Haram throws explosives into homes, shoots dead civilians

MAIDUGURI (AFP) – Boko Haram gunmen killed many people in an attack in the restive northeast, throwing explosives into residential homes and shooting dead civilians who tried to surrender, an official and witnesses said Friday.

Boko Haram attack

Residents in the town of Damboa said they were left completely defenceless after the security forces pulled out of the area following a militant attack two weeks ago.

In the latest violence, the extremists struck just before sundown on Thursday, while locals prepared to break the Ramadan fast, and rampaged with no resistance until 5:00 am (0400 GMT), witnesses said.

“They killed many people. Women and children fled into the bush,” said an official with the Damboa local government, who requested anonymity.

“Those who could not flee surrendered and were killed by the insurgents,” he added.

Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group in Nigeria blamed for slaughtering more than 2,000 civilians already this year, has increasingly targeted remote northeastern communities, razing entire villages while firing indiscriminately on the population.

“Most houses in the town have been burnt. Only a few still remain,” said resident Ahmed Buba. “The destruction is massive… This is the worst attack by Boko Haram on Damboa.”

- ‘We were defenceless’ -

The militants and security forces clashed in Damboa earlier this month.

The military claimed it repelled the raid and even killed scores of insurgents, but locals told AFP that the security forces sustained heavy losses and pulled out of the area.

“We were defenceless because all the security personnel, including soldiers and policemen, have withdrawn,” Buba told AFP.

Those who escaped of the overnight raid fled to the state capital Maiduguri and sought shelter in the palace of the area’s top cleric, Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, also known as the Shehu of Borno.

The survivors “lodged a complaint with the Shehu because there are no security forces in Damboa,” the official said.

The military was not immediately available to comment on the attack in the deeply impoverished region, which often has limited mobile phone coverage.

Damboa resident Buba said the militants burnt the town’s main market, as well as the home of the local government chairman and the area’s top cleric.

“I can’t tell you the number of people killed,” he said. “We have to go through the rubble to see how many people died.”

- $1 billion loan -

The loss of life in Nigeria’s northeast has been climbing at a relentless pace through the first half of the year.

Human Rights Watch said this week that there have been 95 attacks already in 2014, killing at least 2,053 civilians. Other groups have given higher figures.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday asked lawmakers to approve a $1 billion (730 million euro) foreign loan to upgrade the military.

Some observers saw the loan request, which parliament has not yet approved, as an acknowledgement by Jonathan that Boko Haram is outdoing Nigeria’s military — despite boastings from the defence ministry that it had put the insurgents on the defensive.

This week also saw the three-month anniversary of the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from a secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok, which has sparked international outrage.

Fifty-seven girls have since escaped, but Nigeria appears to have made little progress in rescuing the 219 girls still believed to be held hostage.

With elections set for next year and Boko Haram now targeting major cities like the capital Abuja as well as remote areas, Jonathan is facing mounting pressure to stem the bloodshed.

 

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Boko Haram throws explosives into homes, shoots dead civilians

Nyanya blast: Ogwuche for arraignment July 9

ABUJA—Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, fixed July 9 for the Federal Government to arraign the alleged mastermind of the April 14 bomb explosion that killed over 75 persons at a motor park in Nyanya Abuja, Aminu Ogwuche.

The court fixed the date after the three-count criminal charge that was entered against the accused person came up for mention yesterday.

The charge, which was filed before the high court by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, was signed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr. Oloye Torugbene.

Meanwhile, it was not revealed whether or not the accused, who had been in the custody of the Interpol in Sudan, has been released to the Nigerian government.

Ndume, too

Similarly, the High Court, yesterday, fixed the same date to resume the trial of Senator Mohammed Ndume, who is also facing trial over the allegation that he furnished the sect with information that aided their operations in Nigeria.

Ndume, who is currently representing Borno South Federal Constituency in the Senate, was said to have supplied the sect with the telephone numbers of top government officials.

An alleged accomplice of the lawmaker and a self confessed spokesman of the sect, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, had since been jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to terrorism charges filed against him by the government.

Konduga was said to be the middleman between the sect and Ndume.

A Nokia E7 phone with which Ndume allegedly used in communicating with Konduga and another Nokia 2700 that belonged to the convict, were admitted in evidence by trial Justice Kolawole.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/nyanya-blast-ogwuche-arraignment-july-9/#sthash.VFSnLhwe.dpuf

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Nyanya blast: Ogwuche for arraignment July 9

Sudan rebel leader, Ali Karbino Ali Karbino killed in gun battle

Khartoum — North Darfur governor Osman Youssef Kibir announced Saturday the death of the leader of Sudan Liberation Movement for Justice (SLMJ), Ali Karbino Ali Karbino, following clashes with the government forces in the state.

Kibir said Karbino was killed with 12 other rebels on Friday, after he launched an attack on Alquba area north of Kutum. He stressed the Sudanese army repulsed the attack and seized 31 armed vehicles.

The governor pointed, in a statement released on Saturday that several SLMJ fighters were held captive.

A Sudan Tribune reporter in El-Fasher obtained pictures showing Karbino’s body since the midday but the state governor and the Sudanese army confirmed the death only in the evening.

Sources say Arab pastoralists from the area and elements of the Border Guards militia affiliated to the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) attacked the SLMJ fighters on Friday following the alleged looting of camels belonging to the herders.

10 nomads were killed and several others wounded.

In statements to Ashorooq TV, the commander of the Sudanese army force in Alquba, colonel Alnour Ahmed Adam, confirmed the death of Karbino and showed 30 vehicles and weapons captured from the rebels.

Adam also said they captured 15 rebels, adding that his force was monitoring the movements of the rebels and managed to attack them Friday in Alquba.

Karbino joined Minni Minnawi following the historical split of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) in November 2005. However following the signing of May 2006 Darfur peace agreement, he joined a rebel coalition led by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

In 2011, the late rebel commander, joint the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) of Tijani al-Sissi. However he defected following the signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in July 2011.

Last March and April, his group carried out joint military attacks with SLM-Minni Minnawi in South and North Darfur.

SAF spokesperson, al-Sawarmi Khaled Saad, on Thursday announced that SAF clashed with a group from the SLM-MM in Ed al-Zalat and al-Managim areas north east of Kutum in North Darfur state.

He said they inflicted heavy casualties in lives and equipment on the rebels and seized 22 armed vehicles, 2 rocket launchers, and 3 cannons besides small arms.

Clashes between Minnawi fighters and Sudanese army and government militia in March and April 2014 displaced over 81,000 people in South and North Darfur, according to the UN agencies.

 

Copyright © 2014 Sudan Tribune.

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Sudan rebel leader, Ali Karbino Ali Karbino killed in gun battle

New attack: Boko Haram kill 42 in Borno

The killing spree by gunmen, believed to be members of Boko Haram continued, yesterday, after an attack in Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State which reportedly claimed about 42 lives.

Gamboru LGA was the scene of attack, three weeks ago, which left at least 300 people, including 16 policemen, dead.

The latest attack occurred in the villages of Kanari, Wazarde and Gula along Nigeria’s border with Cameroun.

It came on the heels of the ambush by gunmen, on Friday, on the convoy of some emirs in Borno State killing one and leaving two others seriously injured.

In the meantime, the Federal Government said it had not foreclosed dialogue in resolving the war with the Boko Haram Islamist group.

It also doused the controversy sparked by the statement by the Minister of Youth Development, Mr Boni Haruna, that amnesty plan for repentant Boko Haram members was in the pipeline, saying there was no such plan.

Yesterday’s attack in Gamboru Ngala LGA, according to reports, occurred after gunmen arrived the three border villages at about 3a.m in trucks with assault rifles, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and petrol bombs.

The gunmen, sources said, shot sporadically at fleeing residents, killing the victims.

“The shooting went on for about seven hours. The gunmen had a field day and operated unchallenged as they did not leave until about 9.30 am on Saturday”, one of the sources told Sunday Vanguard.

The villages have been reportedly deserted as survivors took refuge in Ngala town and neighbouring Cameroun villages.

Borno State Commissioner of Police, Mr Lawal Tanko, said he was not aware of the attack.

However, a top security source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the attack.

He told Sunday Vanguard that two of the attacked villages were razed by the invaders.

The Federal Government, yesterday, declared that it had not ruled out dialogue with Boko Haram to stop its killings in the Northeast and the release of the over 200 schoolgirls it abducted in Chibok, Borno State on April 14.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, who disclosed this, said that whereas government was pursing a military campaign against the Islamist group, dialogue option remained on the table.

“The Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Conflict in the North-east is a standing one. There is also a Presidential Fact-Finding Committee both of which have been engaging stakeholders and have been offering advice. The position of government has been that the military option is there to deal specifically with impunity because no responsible government will fold its arms and allow any group supported by Al Qaeda to over run the country or threaten to divide the country”, Abati told Sunday Vanguard.

“The Nigerian government has made that very clear and President Jonathan has always said that he will not allow anybody to disintegrate Nigeria under his watch. At the same time, government has a soft approach under which it offers those who are willing to renounce terrorism to lay down their arms and return to the fold as citizens. The door is open to them for dialogue. The door is open to them for repentance and rehabilitation. They are like the lost sheep and the President is saying even these lost sheep we are willing to bring them back to the fold. The door of the Nigerian state is open to anyone who has gone astray, who has been misled to think that violence is a solution to whatever problem he or she may have, to rejoin the Nigerian family and conduct themselves as true citizens”.

‘President never mentioned amnesty for Boko Haram’

Also, yesterday, Abati said President Goodluck Jonathan never mentioned the issue of amnesty for Boko Haram members during his Democracy Day speech.

The presidential adviser was reacting to the statement by the Minister of Youths Development, Haruna, on Thursday, during one of the events marking the Democracy Day celebrations, that government would grant amnesty to Boko Haram members who renounce violence and lay down their arms.

Abati, who spoke with State House correspondents, said the President never mentioned amnesty in his Democracy Day broadcast.

Chibok girls: Ozekhome backs negotiation

Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome, has called on the Federal Government to negotiate with Boko Haram with a view to bringing back the Chibok abducted school girls.

In a statement, yesterday, Ozekhome, who is also a delegate to the National Conference in Abuja, said that Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution mandates the Federal Government to ensure the security and welfare of the citizenry.

He said: “The controversy over whether or not the Federal Government should negotiate with Boko Haram with a view to releasing the abducted Chibok school girls is nauseating and demeaning to our humanity, to say the least. Let it be made clear that the security and welfare of Nigerians are the primary purpose of Government (Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution).

“It is unthinkable that some people would want the lives of these innocent future of Nigeria to be wasted on the altar of Government grand standing and engagement niceties. There are times when a Government stoops to conquer. The international odium, obloquy and embarrassment the abduction is causing Nigeria, whose image is being serially battered, should be halted immediately through negotiation with these insurgents.”

Recalling that former US President, J.F. Kennedy once promulgated the concept of negotiation, Ozekhome said Nigeria cannot continue to experience the orgy of bloodletting which has claimed over 12 000 lives amid wanton destruction of schools, churches and mosques.

“It was J.F. Kennedy, former American President, who once declared that we should never fail to negotiate, just as we should never negotiate out of fear. Negotiating with Boko Haram will not amount to negotiating out of fear. It is simply an irritating sacrifice to be made to justify the sanctity of the lives of these young, innocent souls. I dare say that the Federal Government should negotiate even with satan, if that would bring back our girls. Even satan would be humbled and diminished by such an unprecedented strategy”, Ozekhome stressed..

“Recall that part of the main brief of the Turaki Committee was to negotiate with the Boko Haram group, an offer it had imperiously rejected. Now that the same Boko Haram has thrown up the “Olive branch”, for that is what it clearly is, the Federal Government should seize it, and make gains out of it.

“It affords a golden opportunity, not only to negotiate the release of the Chibok girls, but to holistically  negotiate amnesty and halting of the horrific insurgency and bloodletting that have claimed over 12,000 lives and wanton destruction of houses, schools, churches, mosques, public buildings, bus stops, etc.

“The Federal Government should, for once, think of the trepidation, unease, cries, tension, suspense, psychological trauma and mental torture, that the abduction of these children is causing their parents, teachers, siblings, friends and loved ones.

“I call upon the Federal Government to immediately set up the machinery (even if discretely, clandestinely, surreptitiously), to enter into dialogue with the Boko Haram group, with a view to bringing “back our girls”.

 

New attack: Boko Haram kill 42 in Borno

Names of abducted girls released, majority are Christians

By Ehi Ekhator

Due to the agitation by Nigerians that the names of the abducted girls should be released, the Northern States Christian and Elders Forum (NOCEF) has released names of 180 girls who were allegedly abducted by the Boko Haram sect from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

The statement issued by President/Founder of Old time Revival Hour, immediaate past chairman of Northern State Christians and Elders Forum (NOCSEF), an affiliate of CAN, Evangelist Mathew Owojaiye revealed that majority of the abducted girls are Christians.

Noting that the population of Chibok Local Government is 90%, Owojaiye wondered why the Boko Haram did not visit so many other Local Government Girls Secondary Schools in Borno State.

The abducted Christian girls are:

1 Deborah ​Abge

2. Awa ​Abge ”

3. Hauwa ​Yirma ”

4. Asabe ​Manu ”

5. Mwa ​Malam pogu ”

6. Patiant ​Dzakwa ”

7. Saraya ​Mal. Stover ”

8. Mary ​Dauda ”

9. Gloria ​Mainta ”

10.Hanatu ​Ishaku ”

11. Gloria ​Dama ”

12. Tabitha ​Pogu ”

13. Maifa ​Dama ”

14. Ruth ​kollo ”

15. Esther ​Usman ”

16 Awa ​James

17 Anthonia Yahonna

18 Kume ​Mutah

19 Aisha ​Ezekial ”

20 Nguba ​Buba ”

21 Kwanta ​Simon.

22 Kummai ​Aboku.

23 Esther ​Markus

24 Hana ​Stephen.

25. Rifkatu ​Amos

26 Rebecca ​Mallum

27.Blessing ​Abana.

28. Ladi ​Wadai

29. Tabitha ​Hyelampa.

30 Ruth ​Ngladar .

31 Safiya ​Abdu .

32 Na’omi ​Yahonna.

33 Solomi ​Titus .

34Rhoda ​John

35 Rebecca ​Kabu

36. Christy ​Yahi.

37. Rebecca ​Luka.

38. Laraba ​John

39 Saratu ​Markus.

40. Mary ​Usman.

41 Debora ​Yahonna.

42.Naomi ​Zakaria

43 Hanatu ​Musa

44. Hauwa ​Tella

45.Juliana ​Yakubu.

46. Suzana ​Yakubu

47.Saraya ​Paul.

48. Jummai ​Paul

49. Mary ​Sule

50. Jummai ​John.

51.Yanke ​Shittima.

52. Muli ​Waligam .

53. Fatima ​Tabji.

54. Eli ​Joseph.

55.Saratu ​Emmanuel.

56. Deborah Peter.

57.Rahila ​Bitrus.

58. Luggwa ​Sanda.

59. Kauna ​Lalai.

60. Lydia ​Emmar.

61.Laraba ​Maman.

62.Hauwa ​Isuwa.

63. Confort ​Habila.

64. Hauwa ​Abdu.

65. Hauwa ​Balti.

66.Yana ​Joshua.

67.Laraba ​Paul.

68.Saraya ​Amos.

69. Glory ​Yaga.

70. Na’omi ​Bitrus.

71. Godiya ​Bitrus.

72. Awa ​Bitrus.

73. Na’omi ​Luka.

74. Maryamu Lawan.

75. Tabitha ​Silas.

76. Mary ​Yahona.

77. Ladi ​Joel.

78. Rejoice ​Sanki.

79. Luggwa ​Samuel.

80.Comfort ​Amos.

81. Saraya ​Samuel.

82. Sicker ​Abdul.

83.Talata ​Daniel.

84. Rejoice ​Musa.

85Deborah ​Abari.

86. Salomi ​Pogu.

87.Mary ​Amor.

88. Ruth ​Joshua.

89Esther ​John.

90. Esther ​Ayuba.

91. Maryamu Yakubu.

91. Zara ​Ishaku.

93. Maryamu Wavi

94. Lydia ​Habila.

95. Laraba ​Yahonna.

96. Na’omi ​Bitrus.

97.Rahila ​Yahanna.

98. Ruth ​Lawan.

99. Ladi ​Paul.

100 Mary ​Paul.

101. Esther ​Joshua.

102. Helen ​Musa.

103. Margret Watsai.

104. Deborah Jafaru.

105. Filo ​Dauda.

106. Febi ​Haruna.

107.Ruth ​Ishaku.

108.Racheal Nkeki.

109. Rifkatu Soloman.

110.Mairama yahaya.

111.Saratu ​Dauda.

112.Jinkai ​Yama.

113.Margret Shettima.

114.Yana ​yidau.

115. Grace ​Paul.

116. Amina ​Ali.

117. Palmata Musa

118. Awagana Musa

119. Pindar ​Nuhu

120.Yana ​Pogu.

121. Saraya ​Musa

122. Hauwa ​Joseph.

123. Hauwa ​kwakwi.

125. Hauwa ​Musa.

126. Maryamu Musa.

127. Maimuna Usman.

128. Rebeca Joseph.

129.Liyatu ​Habitu.

130. Rifkatu Yakubu.

131. Naomi ​Philimon.

132.Deborah Abbas.

133. Ladi ​Ibrahim.

134. Asabe ​Ali

135. Maryamu Bulama.

136.Ruth ​Amos.

137.Mary ​Ali

138. Abigail Bukar

139 Deborah Amos

140. Saraya ​Yanga

141. Kauna ​Luka

142. Christiana Bitrus

143.Yana ​Bukar

144. Hauwa ​peter

145.Hadiza ​Yakubu.

146.Lydia ​Simon

147. Ruth ​Bitrus .

148.Mary ​Yakubu

149.Lugwa ​Mutah.

150 Muwa ​Daniel.

151 Hanatu ​Nuhu

152. Monica Enoch.

153. Margret Yama.

154.Docas ​yakubu.

155. Rhoda ​peter

156. Rifkatu Galang

157. Saratu ​Ayuba.

158. Naomi ​Adamu.

159. Hauwa ​Ishaya

160. Rahap ​Ibrahim

162. Deborah Soloman.

163Hauwa ​Mutah

164. Hauwa ​Takai.

165. Serah ​Samuel.

Below are the Muslim Girls.

166. Aishatu Musa.

167. Aishatu Grema.

168. Hauwa ​Nkeki

169. Hamsatu Abubakar

170.Mairama Abubakar.

171 Hauwa ​Wule

172. Ihyi ​Abdu

173. Hasana Adamu.

174. Rakiya ​Kwamtah

175 Halima ​Gamba.

176. Aisha ​Lawan .

177. Kabu ​Malla

178. Yayi ​Abana.

179. Falta ​Lawan.

180. Kwadugu Manu

Names of abducted girls released, majority are Christians

Nigerians will witness new approach to battle Boko Haram - Jonathan promises

By Ehi Ekhator

President Jonathan has promised yesterday that he is changing approach to tackling the dread Boko Haram insurgents. He said that Nigerians will witness a new approach to battle the menace.

He added that the activities of both Boko Haram and other international terrorists can’t divide the country.

He revealed this while receiving a delegation on Easter homage at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He admitted that the country is going through a rough patch, he assured that there is hope and the country would triumph over the insurgents

He also promised that his administration would do everything within their power to bring development, which they have already started, to other parts of the country.

He pointed out that there is need for the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary to work together to solve the problems.

His words:: “Easter is the most important ceremony in Christian faith. Without His resurrection, our faith would have been in vain. His resurrection gives us hope. You will have tribulations but there is hope for you. Today we are marking that resurrection.

“Yes, as a nation, we are having tribulations but surely, Nigeria has hope. Surely, we will overcome these tribulations. Even those who think that this country will divide, those who think the country will be divided into North, South, East and West, no way. Boko Haram will not disintegrate this country.

“Most of you are aware that when Nyanya was bombed, Nigerians from all religions and tribes participated in the evacuation of people who were injured even before the security arrived. People donated more blood than required.

“That shows that no criminal group, funded within or outside this country, can separate us. No criminal group will disintegrate this country. Boko Haram will come and go. We are working very hard, we are changing our approach, God willing, we will end Boko Haram.

“To you my brethren, I thank all of you for your prayers and I promise that we will work to do our best to bring development to this country. We have challenges. We have the issue of unemployment. Not too long ago, there was this ugly development at the Immigration Service, because of the level of unemployment and partial employment.

“Some are doing jobs that do not meet their qualifications; they are partially employed. So when you talk of employment in Customs or Immigration, you will see everybody rushing there.”

Talking about the cooperation of the tiers of government, he said: “States are semi autonomous. The President does not control states or local governments’ resources. Governors and local government chairmen control their resources. If all of us work in concert, we will solve most of our problems instead of trading blames. Government is one. God willing, we will get to where we want to be.”

An Easter card was presented to President Jonathan by the Minister of the Federal Captai Territory (FCT) Bola Mohammed, who led the delegation to the villa.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Smart Adeyemi said: “We are happy to have a President who trusts in God. Nigeria will triumph over its challenges. Mr. President, you will succeed.”

Among the legations were: the Primate of Anglican Church, Dr. Nicholas Okoh, Senator Phillip Aduda, officials of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Chief Imam of Central Mosque, Abuja.

The First lady, Patience Jonathan was neither at the homage visit nor was she at the church service where the President recited the 2014 memory verse of the chapel from 1st Peter 5:6 to 7.

 

Nigerians will witness new approach to battle Boko Haram - Jonathan promises

Drone attacks kill dozens of Qaeda suspects in Yemen

ADEN (AFP) – Weekend drone strikes in Yemen killed more than 40 suspected Al-Qaeda militants, including 30 on Sunday, days after the jihadist network’s Arabian Peninsula offshoot vowed to fight against Western “crusaders”.

The United States is the only country that operates drones in Yemen, and President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has defended their use, despite criticism from rights groups who deplore civilian casualties.

On Sunday US drones fired “several missiles” into a training camp run by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the rugged Wadi Ghadina region in the southern province of Abyan, a tribal chief said.

“More than 30 members of Al-Qaeda were killed and many others wounded,” near Al-Mahfad town, he said.

Abyan lies next to Shabwa province, another region of Yemen where Al-Qaeda is entrenched.

Witnesses also said that a US drone carried out the attack and that the most of the wounded were evacuated by members of the Islamist network.

A statement on the 26sep.net defence ministry website said the attack on Al-Qaeda “training camps” killed “several” militants of various nationalities.

On Saturday a drone strike in the central province of Baida killed 10 Al-Qaeda suspects and three civilians, according to the official Saba news agency. It did not say who carried out the attack.

After that strike, Al-Qaeda militants cordoned off the area and evacuated dead comrades, tribal sources said.

They said all those killed on Saturday were low-ranking militants from the region.

An official statement on Saba said the dead were “dangerous elements” who had been plotting to carry out “attacks on vital installations and on politicians and military personnel” in Baida.

The statement said the suspects were also responsible for the murder of Baida’s deputy governor on April 15.

- ‘War against crusaders’ -

The weekend attacks came less than a week after AQAP chief Nasser al-Wuhayshi pledged in a rare video appearance to fight Western “crusaders” everywhere.

“We will continue to raise the banner of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula and our war against the crusaders will continue everywhere in the world,” he said in the video posted online.

Al-Qaeda usually uses the term crusaders to refer to Western powers, especially the ones which have intervened militarily in Muslim countries, mainly the United States, Britain and France.

Last month Yemen’s president defended the US use of drones against Al-Qaeda in his country, despite criticism from rights groups.

Drone strikes “have greatly helped in limiting Al-Qaeda activities, despite some mistakes which we are sorry about,” President Hadi told the pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily in an interview.

Hadi insisted the use of traditional warplanes against the militants could cause “much bigger losses”.

His comments had come after parliament — despite its limited powers — voted to ban drone strikes in response to attack in December that hit two separate wedding processions.

The United Nations had said 16 civilians were killed in those strikes.

The United States says the drone attacks are an essential part of its “war on terror” because it allows it to target Al-Qaeda without the use of ground forces in lawless areas, where authorities have no sway.

But rights watchdogs have criticised the drone programme in Yemen and other countries and repeatedly urged the US administration to investigate strikes in which civilians have been killed.

Yemen is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden and the home base of AQAP, which has been linked to a number of failed attacks on American soil.

The group, branded the most dangerous of the Al-Qaeda franchise by Washington, has taken front stage since the 2011 uprising that forced veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

 

Drone attacks kill dozens of Qaeda suspects in Yemen