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.
There are strong indications that more Nigerians in the North are resorting to self help by taking up arms against the terrorist group, Boko Haram. Members of vigilante groups in the region are said to be procuring small arms.
Boko Haram weapons
The groups are different from the Volunteer Vigilance Youths’ Group, popularly known as the ‘Civilian JTF,’ which is modelled after the multi-service Joint Task Force formed to tackle the insurgency.
The vigilante groups, made up residents of villages that suffer frequent attacks by Boko Haram, are said to be gathering weapons with which to prevent their territories from further attacks by the sect.
There are strong indications that more Nigerians in the North are resorting to self help by taking up arms against the terrorist group, Boko Haram. Members of vigilante groups in the region are said to be procuring small arms.
The groups are different from the Volunteer Vigilance Youths’ Group, popularly known as the ‘Civilian JTF,’ which is modelled after the multi-service Joint Task Force formed to tackle the insurgency.
The vigilante groups, made up residents of villages that suffer frequent attacks by Boko Haram, are said to be gathering weapons with which to prevent their territories from further attacks by the sect.
The United States of America has said its efforts towards assisting Nigeria in fighting the Boko Haram insurgency are being hampered by its Senate.
The US’ National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, said the country’s Senate delay in approving President Barack Obama’s ambassadorial nominees was hurting America’s national and African security, particularly in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria.
“I am focused every day on keeping our country secure and our citizens – at home and abroad – safe. But these goals are hindered and our stature abroad is weakened when we are not fielding a full team. That’s why I urge the Senate to let the President’s qualified ambassadorial nominees get to work on behalf of the American people,” Rice said.
According to her, 16 of the ambassadorial posts are in Africa, adding that the Republicans in the US Senate have refused to confirm Obama’s nominees.
“In Africa, a quarter of our ambassadors are awaiting Senate confirmation. And in combating regional instability and serious challenges such as Boko Haram, key partners including Niger, Cameroon, and Mauritania – as well as our delegation to the African Union – need ambassadors in place now.
“And with the US-Africa Leaders Summit planned for later this summer, it’s crucial that we display our commitment to partnering with leaders from across the continent for the good of Africa and the United States,” the American security adviser said.
Rice added that President Obama had been waiting for at least five months for the Senate to confirm the appointment of his nominees.
“Right now, 48 nominees for ambassador are pending and 26 are on the Executive Calendar and eligible for confirmation by the full Senate — 16 of whom are career Foreign Service Officers.
“Together, all ambassadorial nominees have been waiting an average of 161 days, while those on the Executive Calendar have been waiting an average of 262 days. This is simply too long,” she said.
Chief Francis Inegbeneki is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State. He reacts, in this interview, on the crisis in the state House of Assembly, saying the leadership of the party in Edo Central will commence the processing of recalling the suspended Speaker, Festus Ebea, for going against Governor Adams Oshiomhole who is their in-law.
He also speaks on the defection of some APC members in the state to the PDP, and expresses the confidence that they will return to the APC before the 2016 governorship election in Edo. Excerpts:
Some members of your party (APC) recently defected to the PDP. Why were you leaders unble to solve the problem?
We did all we could to solve the problem including the governor begging them without us knowing that they had their own agenda. We did not expect that the disagreement will go this far. It all started during the congress when some members who lost out cried out.
We, the leaders, thought it was just a misunderstanding, and the leaders made efforts to speak to all parties but we discovered that those who lost the congress were vehement, addressing press conferences, giving the governor ultimatum. Some people were fueling it, but the issue is that, if you lose today, you can win tomorrow.
But in this case, these people never saw it that way, it is like they had another agenda. The crisis is normal in any political party but it is over now. It is obvious they left the party because of their agenda, but let us see how they can make it in future.
But are you people not going to miss Pastor Ize-Iyamu?
Ize-Iyamu is a politician that we respect, he worked for the APC. As our friend and brother, we miss him but his exit will not affect the fortunes of the APC in Edo. If you observe properly, most of his followers did not go with him because some of them believe that the Comrade Governor is working for the Edo people and that is the major issue, not the ambition of a few.
But the way he handled it is not good considering his relationship with the governor. Yes, we lost some members to the PDP, but some PDP members are also joining APC. There are people who left APC for PDP because of Ize-Iyamu and, today, we see those people also coming back to APC because they believe they cannot work together. Politics is about alignment and re-alignment.
However, Ize-Iyamu is my friend, he should put ego aside and come back home before the doors will be shut. He was part and parcel of this party, he knows that the people in PDP will not welcome him. They only want to use him and dump him. He knows that the PDP will never give him the governorship ticket, they will not even allow him to call leadership meeting.
There is already a crack now in PDP with his coming into the party because the PDP god father in Edo Central is not happy with the way another godfather from Edo South brought Ize-Iyamu into the PDP. My advice is that Ize-Iyamu should not be ashamed to come back home.
Edo Assembly crisis
Frankly speaking, I see what is happening in the House of Assembly as a show of shame. I see it as the ant trying to challenge the elephant. We were in this state when members suspended erring lawmakers and the lawmakers accepted the suspension. We are surprised that the lawmakers who were suspended refused to play by the rules. The crisis is being fueled from Abuja.
They must abide by the court ruling because they went to court to pray it not to suspend or declare their seats vacant. The court granted that their seats should not be declared vacant but rejected the prayer that they should not be suspended.
The court declared that it is within the powers of the House to suspend and based on that they were suspended but they still refused to obey the High Court order after the House obeyed the Federal High Court order by not declaring their seats vacant.
I am bothered that the Deputy Speaker who is from our place is involved in this and he forgot that he was not the one that gave himself the office but the Esan people. The Deputy Speaker did not consult with the leaders and people before he defected to PDP, leading the rebellion against Oshiomhole.
Before he was made Deputy Speaker, the leaders and traditional rulers from Esan met with the governor where we pleaded that Edo Central should produce the Speaker. But the governor explained that there is a law existing already which says that a first timer cannot be Speaker otherwise Ebea would have been Speaker. So the governor gave him Deputy Speaker but when he got it he started fighting the governor.
As a leader from Edo Central we do not support what he is doing, we in Edo Central don’t have problem with the governor because he is our in-law. Ebea’s actions has made us to lose Deputy Speakership. As a result the leaders have commenced the process to recall him because he does not have our mandate to fight the governor. Ebea is on his own.
The Esan people passed a vote of confidence on the governor because he has touched our lives in Esan land in many ways. The governor never hates Esan as they are lying; he married an Esan woman, he is our brother and son.
Edo 2016
Between now and 2016 the people will know the truth. What the PDP is doing now is to deceive our people, promising what they will not do, just to get the people to join the party. But when they get there they will discover that nothing is there to grab.
It is all about politics of stomach but by the time these people who are joining the PDP discover that there is no gold there, they will come back to the APC before the 2016 governorship election. Some are crying that they have not benefited from any contract; how do you benefit when you are not a contractor?
So do you want Oshiomhole to just give you money for a job that you cannot execute? Oshiomhole will not do that. We are happy with his developmental strides. And I want to appeal to APC leaders, let us think about the state and not our own interestS. What should be of concern to us is that Oshiomhole must continue in developing Edo as he is doing and not what we can get from him. The man is working.
Ekiti Election
A lot of things went wrong, our national chairman, Odigie Oyegun, said before the election that the PDP was planning to rig the election. Of course, you saw the build up to the election. The police, army and Civil Defence are agents of the PDP and of course when you deploy them to that area, the voters will feel intimidated.
That deployment of soldiers was an attempt to intimidate the APC people in the state and that gave room for manipulations by the PDP. If you look at the number of votes and the original voters list in Ekiti, you will find that a lot of people were disenfranchised and that was what APC suffered.
APC supporters were scared of coming out because some of them were earmarked for elimination or arrest, so what is the free and fair thing in that election?
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, has strongly condemned the reported threat to the life of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, by the Federal Government.
The party in a statement by the Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, described the development as evil, horrendous, unjustifiable and provocative.
“We have noted the alarm raised by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Service Matters, Hon. Andrew Uchendu that the life of the Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has come under threat from the Federal Government and its agents. We condemn this reprehensible plot on the life of an innocent man whose only offence is that he is fighting for the rights of the people who elected him their Governor. Rt. Hon. Amaechi has not committed any crime deserving of death and we wish to warn that no such harm must come to him,” Dr. Ikanya said in a statement issued today in Port Harcourt.
We have noted with dismay and astonishment that Governor Amaechi apart from being ambushed and refused entry last week into Ekiti by military personnel acting on orders from above was made to turn back and return to Akure where his chattered aircraft was parked but was chased and rounded by armed soldiers and security personnel in Odudu, Ondo state.
According to the captain who led the operation, he had orders not to allow the governor entry or exit. The detention attempt and incident at the Kano International Airport last two weeks are still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. Also, the call to put Gov. Amaechi under surveillance (or is it house arrest?)
The Rivers APC Chairman advised the Federal Government “to rechannel its energies towards finding a solution to the incessant bombing and killing of Nigerians like chicken by Boko Haram and leave Amaechi alone.”
Amaechi, according to Rivers APC, has suffered enough in the hands of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and should be given a break.
“The Federal Government should understand that Amaechi was duly elected Governor by the good people of Rivers State. Any attempt on his life would rightly be seen as an attack against Rivers State and her people. That PDP has lost Rivers State is not a good reason why our Governor should be singled out for attack and harassment every time and definitely certainly not a justifiable reason to seek to terminate his life,” the statement said.
Alaowei Broderick Bozimo was Minister of Police Affairs during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. In this interview, he is worried over the persistent attacks by Boko Haram, particularly the Wednesday bombing of a shopping mall in Abuja.
He urges government at all levels and shop owners to recruit youths to patrol communities and shops, warning that the military and the police alone cannot fight the Islamist group.
The chieftain of the PDP also says the Boko Haram attacks will not deter President Goodluck Jonathan from running for second term, just as he cautions the people of the Niger Delta will not fold their arms and allow any body to intimidate the President from seeking re-election.
Excerpts:
SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY
You were at helm of affairs at the Ministry of Police Affairs some time ago. How do you feel about the recent bombings in Abuja and what can be done to stop these terrorists?
It is obvious that the only way we can defeat these people is to involve the communities, the youths.
We should be extra vigilant. You will find that in Abuja where we call no man’s land because it is metropolitan, these wicked people will excel with their wicked activities if we don’t take time. Vigilante groups should be raised in the FCT and possible targets in our towns and cities; the police and army cannot do it alone.
We are aware that Boko Haram has recruited beggars and orange sellers; let us also recruit these people into our vigilante groups .We need to energise the youths and market associations must provide gates in their shops, let them be alert, let them instal CCTV cameras all over their facilities to monitor movements of people so that if anything happens, the cameras will aid investigation.
It is not police that will go round every nook and cranny of Abuja to find bombs but the youths and the people we call beggars, they can be made useful to us. Even among the youths, we have those who can catch these people with their bare hands and deal with them.
Deliberate efforts should be made to energise the youths to work; it is their tomorrow that is being endangered not ours because we are already old. You will be amazed that when young people are empowered, they can betray some of their people in the Islamist group. As they recruit beggars, we too should recruit beggars. Radicalize the youths positively, the market associations; the youths should actually patrol the streets, let it be a mass movement thing, that is the only way.
We must rise and take up the challenge, as long as they are scoring, they will be encouraged to believe that they will take over Abuja and other states. That is what is happening in Iraq, we must be tough in this situation. It is not talk now we need but action. We must support the security agencies in the practical efforts to gather intelligence.
If anybody thinks that this type of thing will stop us from backing Jonathan, that person is making a mistake because the only way for equity and justice to prevail is to allow Jonathan run for second term. If you cut short Jonathan’s tenure, we will not fold our hands in the Niger Delta, there will be no end to this insecurity. So it is important we recognize the right of every Nigerian so that there will be peace.
But some youths in Borno State are already being used to curb the terrorists?
One is gratified that those suggestions are taken into consideration when it has to do with decisions on the areas Boko Haram is troubling our people. I think the Federal Government is doing its best, but they should pursue that option, empower the youths and train them. We are at war.
I also believe that we, as a nation, are under policed. In those days, the UN recommendation is that one policeman would be policing about 400 people; that would put the police strength to about 150,000 if you do the simple arithmetic. But we all know that the entire police strength is not directed at addressing our general security needs.
In this country, we have public officers going around with so many policemen, even business men. I think we need to increase the police population and I don’t think it will be bad if we go as far as 800 policemen and, of course, if you just recruit them without training, it is going to be counterproductive. We need to train and retrain, spend money on our police and equip them properly, then there will be enthusiasm and commitment from our policemen.
We know how many policemen we lose on daily basis. We know how many widows and fatherless children we have to contend with. And I think we must address that. And, of course, the crisis has gone beyond policing alone but it is an area I want to leave for the experts to address; we need to increase the strength of the armed forces apart from the vigilante group that we need to absorb into the armed forces. We should be pro-active.
We should not wait until this madness spread all over the country before we consider engaging vigilante group at every level. Even the areas that we don’t have this problem now like the South, we should identify them and begin to get our youths to learn how to defend the nation. In that way unemployment will be reduced and the nation will be better off.
More kidnapping in Borno
The Boko Haram phenomenon is deeper than all of us thought it was, that is only all kinds of things are happening. I read the other day that an attempt to repatriate the suspect in Nyanya bombing was being frustrated by elements within this nation who wield influences, that is why across the border.
This is what one read and it is a serious matter. In order words the phenomenon is eating deep, not only into our security forces, but also into the populace.
That is why I say that if our youths are now brought into fight them, radicalization should not be limited to the extremists, we too can radicalize our youths into understanding that it is better to defend our nation.
When you fight for your nation, or defend your nation, employment will come for the youths, the nation will grow and everybody will be happy. It is meaningless dreamers that will believe that when you go out bombing people, then you go to heaven; for a Christian, you will end up in hell certainly.
So I don’t think that it is easy to assess for now the extent to which successes has been achieved in the fight against Boko Haram. I think government also is being careful. At one time, one felt over zealous and loquacious officials were already giving away a lot. Governance at this level must be done not in the public but quietly so that you don’t give away your trump card to the opposition.
I believe the less top officers talk about whether the strategies are working or not, the better for all of us. Having said that, I also believe that the Americans and others member of the international community that are coming to help are well intentioned and we must encourage them. But we must be careful too because we wear the shoe and we know where it pinches more than them.
A lot of them may be posturing and trying to claim that they care for Nigeria, but outsiders cannot care for us more than we care for ourselves. So I believe the elders of the affected areas should be more committed into addressing this problem of insurgency.
I do not like to compare South-south elders with the northern elders, but, clearly, if they will not go about it the way the South- south elders addressed their problems, they should device their own unique method to address the insurgency because all we want is for peace to reign and I don’t think they are doing enough.
Let us look at it, if there is a group going around to say Western education is useless and that everywhere should be Islamized, the Nigerian Constitution already provides for the practice of customary laws and behaviours as well as Sharia.
In Zamfara, they are already practicing Sharia, so you cannot ram that into every body’s throat and, you know, some throats in the South are so narrow that you cannot succeed in doing that. So it is pious dream to think that you can Islamize Nigeria.
And that is why I will urge our President to come out and declare his intention for re-election; all of us are committed to the Jonathan project to seek second term. Ofcourse, everybody cannot speak with one voice, I know of some professors who don’t believe that President Jonathan should contest.
That is their opinion but majority of our people believe that the man should contest again. The more he delays the more this impunity persists. If Boko Haram wants to negotiate, let the President take his position and tell the world that he wants to contest before we talk about negotiation.
Do you honestly feel that northern leaders are sponsoring Boko Haram to stop Jonathan?
There was this position taken by some of these northern leaders when Jonathan won the 2011 election; they cried that Nigeria will be made ungovernable and all of that. Initially it may well be that the crisis was fuelled to stop Jonathan, but right now I don’t think that is so.
I personally feel that a lot of them did not know that the thing will go the way it has gone and it is difficult now to put out the fire that it is turning into conflagration. That is where we are now. And I believe that the right thing for all of us to do is to work together and put out this fire, otherwise, it will start from burning those who put the fire and those of us in the South, we will dive into the river before it gets to this place.
Jonathan is our hope
I have persistent said so, it is not because Jonathan is an Ijaw man. I was in government. I know where we left it and I know where we are today. But you don’t have to be in government to know that there is huge development going on in this country.
Look at the roads; in those days, you could go to Lagos due to bad roads but all that are changing today. Even the East West Road that was a no-go area, it is not complete yet but at least you drive on it today. The only area where we have problem now is security and it is self-inflicted.
People who are determined to make life uncomfortable so that Jonathan will not contest are the problem. That is why I am saying that the President should declare for presidency because some of us believe that he will win. His records are there to give him victory.
Ekiti election
I am a PDP person. What happened in Ekiti is like the PDP National Chairman, who is referred to as Mr Game Changer. And I think Ekiti is truly a game changer. I was truly proud when Fayemi came to accept defeat. This is an educated young man who said he will compile the irregularities and send to the relevant authorities. That is how it should be. And luckily Fayose himself has said we should learn from Ekiti.
To me after Fayose who won the man of the match is Fayemi. He will go places in Nigeria; some day if that young man wants to contest for President I will vote for him. He is among the solid young men that we want in politics.
From day one, we all knew the APC idea was good, we believe we need a viable opposition that will keep the ruling party on check so that the nation can move forward. But from the word go I knew that the APC will not go very far because it seems to be built around politicians who don’t like President Jonathan. You don’t build on bitterness or frustration, they should ignore PDP or the President and sell their programmes to Nigerians.
If you notice the Rivers State governor, Nyako and my good friend Kwankwaso, their days are not made unless they abuse the President. I understand a lot of it is politics, otherwise they are fine gentlemen.
But I think they should focus on their programmes; with that they can challenge the PDP. Honestly, I believe President Jonathan will have a smooth sail, the PDP train is in the South-West now, only God knows what will happen there in 2015.
Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has said that Labour Party’s candidate ,Opeyemi Bamidele, contributed to his victory in the June 21 governorship election.
Fayose, comfirmed this when he visited the LP secretariat in Ado-Ekiti where he met Bamidele and key leaders of the party.
Fayose
He said, “I want to thank you for making yourself available for Ekiti people as an agent of change through June 21 election. What you did is a replica of what I did in the past when I used the Labour Party to prevent a bad government installed by PDP then from continuing in office and we succeeded in putting APC in place.
I divided PDP and you divided APC all for good intents and purposes. But I thank God that he has used you to play a similar role today. The journey is not too far and you have what it takes to lead our people.
“By age, experiences and exposure, you are indeed a leader of your people. I have a lot of respect for you and that’s why I have called you more than 15 times after this election insisting on seeing you. I see you as a brother and a fellow fighter from the same side of the divide.”
Fayose, who attended the meeting alongside his deputy governor-elect, Olusola Ojo-Eleka, said Bamidele remained a reference point of integrity, service and voice of the voiceless in Ekiti any day.
He said the incoming government would need Bamidele’s wealth of experience in governance and politics to move Ekiti state forward.
“By all standards you are a leader and a gentleman, that’s why I have always identified with you even before and after you contested this election. In an election there must be one governor, so as far as I’m concerned, you have lost nothing in this race. You can only count your blessings. That’s why I felt you have fought a good fight and emerged a victor,” Fayose added.
Bamidele in his remark said the meeting was a turning point for Ekiti people and their democratic experience since politicians from various political platforms were beginning to come together to discuss the future of their people.
He assured that politicians from his party were ready to contribute their quota to the development of the state.
He also speaks on the defection of some APC members in the state to the PDP, and expresses the confidence that they will return to the APC before the 2016 governorship election in Edo. Excerpts:
He urges government at all levels and shop owners to recruit youths to patrol communities and shops, warning that the military and the police alone cannot fight the Islamist group.