Saturday, March 14, 2015

Eyewitness account of Boko Haram atrocities

Joseph, 26, had one and a half years left to spend in school when Boko Haram struck on April 4, 2014, and the school has remained shut since then. He said, “I was in the school hostel on that day when around 4am, we heard gunshots and bombings on the campus. Five students were killed in the attack; two of them, Musa and Zainab were my course mates.

“At least, half of the school structures were destroyed by Boko Haram. So, the Provost of the college shut down the school and asked everyone to leave because of the insecurity.” However, Joseph didn’t have to be told to leave as news of the Provost’s directive met him on his way to Gubla, his hometown.

“First, we trekked from Bama to Gwoza Local Government Area, which is about 30 km because there were no vehicles on the roads. It was at Gwoza that I was able to get a vehicle to take me to Gubla for N1,000, four times the normal fare,” he recalled. Three months later, while waiting for his school to resume normal activities, tragedy struck at Chakama, an adjoining village to Gubla. Forty-five persons were killed in the attack on a Catholic church in the community, including more than 10 of Joseph’s relations.

He said, “They came to Chakama and killed 45 people; I had 17 relations that were killed in the attack. I saw all the bodies and I was one of those who buried the bodies. They beheaded the men and put their heads on their chests. They wanted to spare the women but I understand the women that were killed were trying to defend their husbands.

“They blocked the church entrance and asked the worshippers to come out one after the other. Some of the worshippers managed to escape through the windows, including two of my relatives.” Shortly after the attack on the church, Joseph said the terrorists attacked Gubla too, killing four persons. It was the incident that forced Joseph to completely flee the region.

He continued: “Two weeks later, they attacked Gubla with about 15 cars and many more motorcycles. They killed four fish sellers; Yisa Dinga, Simparara, Yohanna Madaki and Ambudama. They called them pagans; they don’t like non-Muslims. They would ask questions and know if one is a Muslim or not.

“They had a shoot-out with soldiers and many of us ran to the bush. We heard that a sergeant named Alli was killed along with a boy, who climbed a tree to escape the attack. One of them saw him and shot him. “After that incident, we stopped sleeping in the village for about two months. We hid in the bush between 4pm and 6am and returned to the village in the morning. Usually, they (Boko Haram) attacked around 4am or between 7pm and 9pm. It was then that we started moving to states outside the region. Some went to Delta, some to Imo and I came to Lagos.”

As a student, Joseph had been in the business of selling motorcycles in his community and had therefore been to Lagos a few times to buy motorcycles for his customers in his community. “Some of us escaped to Mildu in the bush, then we trekked to Michika and from there, I hitchhiked to Yola,” he said.

In the aftermath of the attack, Joseph realised he had been separated from his family members – his mother, four brothers and two sisters. He said, “Later, I found one of my younger brothers, Ijakirayu, in Yola. So I took the risk to return to Mildu to look for my mother and others. But I was only able to find two brothers and one sister. Till now, I don’t know where three of my family members are.”
Joseph, who hopes to return to school someday when the crisis is over, says he eagerly follows news reports to track the whereabouts of his missing family members: mother, Cecilia, 42; sister, Jumai, 18; and brother, Danjuma, five. One of Joseph’s two relatives who survived the Boko Haram attack on Chakawa church was Jacob Bulus, 23.

Bulus was attending a Sunday service with about 150 other members when the church was attacked by the insurgents. He said, “When I heard gunshots, I lay down on the ground. After a while, I found an opening in the church building and I took off. Some of them followed me and I heard gunshots around me. I ran into the bush until I got to a sugarcane farm. The Boko Haram members that came were in camouflage but wore head ties.”


Bulus’ elder brother, Luka; his wife, Ladi, and their two children have since been missing. “I’ve been listening to the radio for news of our areas – Gubla, Chakawa and Mildu – but I’ve not been getting anything on them. But recently, I heard that soldiers have taken control of Gulak,” he said.

curled from the Punch

Friday, March 13, 2015

The Nigerian President: Blue or Red States

Africa practice head and Analyst Philippe de Pontet that while Jonathan was a favorite in the March 28 election, representing a victory for the country’s Christian south, the electoral map is tilting to Buhari in swing regions in the southwest and middle of the country. Buhari would be a technocrat, and investors could expect business-oriented policies, de Pontet writes, but Eurasia Group remains neutral on Nigeria for the long term, given downside risks to oil production and challenges to policy implementation. READ MORE
source: Barrons

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Multiple Explosions Maim in Bornu State

Three bombings rocked separate targets in northeast Nigeria’s largest city of Maiduguri on Saturday, killing at least 33 people, witnesses and a local official told AFP, in violence blamed on Boko Haram The first attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber at the Baga fish market at roughly 11:20 am (1020 GMT), said Abubakar Gamandi, the head of the fisherman’s union in Borno State, of which Maiduguri is the capital.
“A female suicide bomber exploded as soon as she stepped out of a motorised rickshaw,” said Gamandi, who was at the scene. “Eighteen people were killed.” That account was supported by a nurse at the Maiduguri General Hospital, where many of the victims were taken. About an hour later a bomb blast hit the popular Monday Market, killing another 15 people, according to Gamandi and the nurse, who requested anonymity. It was not immediately clear whether the second attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

“For now, we have at least 33 dead bodies from the two incidents…the toll may change because we are expecting more casualties,” said Gamandi. The first two attacks were confirmed by Borno’s Justice Commissioner Kaka Shehu, but he declined to provide casualties figures until rescue workers had completed their searches.
Shortly after 1:00 pm Shehu phoned AFP in Maiduguri to confirm a third bombing at the busy Borno Express bus terminal, but details, including on casualties, were not immediately available.
“We condemn these acts in their entirety and we extend our condolences to the victims,” Shehu said. “The terrorists are angry with the way they were sacked from towns and villages and are now venting their anger,” he added.
Shehu was referring to an ongoing offensive against Boko Haram in Borno state being waged by Nigeria and Chad, with support from Cameroon and Niger.
The four-nation offensive has claimed major successes over the insurgents since the start of last month, and analysts have said that Boko Haram would likely step up bombings on civilian targets in response.

Source: PMNEWS


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Thursday, March 5, 2015

Three Nigerians Charged for VAT fraud in UK

Saheed Oyeneye, 35, Rasaq Omotunde, 38, and Oluwakemi Adesaogun, 38, all from south east London, set up hundreds of bogus online HMRC accounts to ‘get rich quick’ off the public purse. The Nigerian-born adopted false identities of hundreds of unsuspecting victims, mirroring the tactic employed by the assassin in The Day of the Jackal, as part of his plot to shoot French president Charles de Gaulle. They also adopted the identities of sports personalities, including cricketers and rugby union stars, by scouring the internet for their personal details and cobbling together a fake profile.

The three men also targeted thousands of members of the public as they attempted to swindle £1m, Southwark Crown Court was told. In total, the gang managed to pocket around £250,000, which was banked across hundreds of accounts which had been set up under false names. But the trio were rumbled early on by HMRC and did not pay out more than three-quarters of the money.



When their homes were searched, investigators discovered the personal details of more than 200 dead children were stored on computers, the court heard.  Oyeneye, from Hither Green, Omotunde, from Sydenham and Adesaogun, from Woolwich, all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud.

Today, Judge Stephen Robbins jailed Oyeneye for five and a half years, Omotunde for six years and Adesaogun for five years.

source: Dailymail