₦airaland Forum

Christians on revenge mission

You once said the government’s security agents have accused you of being a member of the sect, again I ask, are you a Boko Haram member?

Even as a child in the 80′s I have seen a lot of misgivings towards me. The moment my parents and every senior member of my community realized my disdain for formal education they lashed at me. People believe that every person must go to school to succeed in life, no one thinks that by learning handcraft or any other skill acquisition you can succeed. I was stigmatized and many parents will warn their kids not to come close to me. Also as a young convert to Islam in the 90′s till date, I experienced all kinds of stigma by many christians, of course many Muslims will react violently if some one renounces the Islamic faith but both violence and stigma can kill or break any person. Also as a journalist, I have seen a lot of violence and stigma because of my rare professional access to a dreaded sect and to many, this is wrong, they want me to work like any other journalist who depends on press releases by the Joint Task Force (setup by government to curb terrorism in Nigeria) to report the crisis. My exclusives was never seen by many as a journalistic feat instead all I get are mere unfounded allegations of being one of them. I don’t believe in violence. Every Sunday I pray that my mother who is always among the first to go to church will come back home alive and save. To answer your question directly, I am not a member of Boko Haram and never will be.

Do you agree for Amnesty to Boko Haram as proposed by some politicians and religious leaders?

If you read my last interviews with Abul Qaqa, he has always said that if amnesty means forgiveness then they are the ones that should forgive government for the wrong done to them in 2009. According to them many Nigerians don’t see what they undergo instead it is only what they do that is easily shown in the media. And I think issues as sensitive as amnesty suppose to have been tabled first through a trusted mediator who has access to the leadership of the sect before you take it to the media. The sect as I understand heard about the amnesty on the pages of newspapers. Abang, how would you feel if you heard about your marriage proposition with a man from a third party and not from the man? I think you will feel irritated at best.

State Governor, Isa Yuguda has said, Political Boko Haram behind rejection of Amnesty, do you agree?

The question Mallam Shekau has spoken on the amnesty. Is he the political Boko Haram?

How many types of Boko Haram Groups do we currently have? As Isa Yuguda has said there is political Boko Haram.

Of course there are many elements that hide under the cover of the group to carry out all kinds of atrocities. There are some that were once members but they have been cut off by the main group but I don’t believe there is any faction. Abdulaziz that is in contact with the Borno Government insisted that he is speaking on behalf of Mallam Shekau even when Shekau denied that, he never called himself a factional leader. Even the Ansaru remained imaginary to me, because one of the main criteria for any Jihadi armed group is to have an Amir, leader. So who is the leader of any of these factions? At least many will know the leader and his antecedent when he was a loyal follower of late Mohammed Yusuf or Shekau?

What is that one thing you believe is driving the Boko Haram ideology and how commited are they?

The state of lawlessness and injustice have not changed in Nigeria for many decades now and it serves as the pillar for the ideology of resistance. They are committed and believe without doubts that they are God’s warriors.

You once said the way out of the conflict is for a trusted and independent body to ferry moderate clerics to a third friendly country with the leadership of Boko Haram… Are you speaking the mind of the sect? Because they (Boko Haram) had requested former head of state Muhammadu Buhari, to lead the peace deal to hold in Saudi Arabia?

First of all, the sect never said Buhari should be a mediator or mentioned going to Saudi. It is the same Abdulaziz group that declared ceasefire that made the pronouncement on Buhari and co. When they called me to dispatch this same message to the media, I asked the caller several questions about who he was and why haven’t the sect reached me through the usual source. He could not give me answers so he called ignorant journalists that spread his message like wild fire. I am sorry to say this, if the sect knows where to find General Buhari (someone I respect a lot) they will make an attempt on his life. To them, any retired and servicing soldier, police, politician or civil servant is an infidel that deserves to be killed. So how can the same sect with such an ideology listen to General Buhari, the Governor of Borno state or any other politician or the Sultan? The average member of this sect see all these people whether they are muslims or not as ‘livil corpses’. For God sake have we not been listening to this people in the last couple of years?. Am I the only one listening to them? It seems the sect have been more consistent with their message than the Federal and state governments involve in this conflict.
Your second question about going to a third friendly nation to have an ideological debate with the sect. For me, I will always maintain that since this is a problem of doctrine then it must be tackled through a coherent, profound counter doctrine. There has not been any concrete ideological intervention by the appropriate authorities only military intervention. If the sect members say the Qur’an allows them to kill Christians and fellow muslim security agents, politicians, teachers, vaccinators and opposing clerics. I think it is wise for Muslims that disagree with them to understand their arguments clearly and bring a superior one to counter it, and I don’t think you can hold such a debate before the eyes of the JTF. It can best be done with the assurances of a third friendly nation whom the sect can trust and the clerics of this nation may serve along side other international clerics as arbiters. I think such an informal dialogue will not only make us understand the reasons of this conflict but what is feeding it and it will provide us with the best possible way to approach dialogue or amnesty.

President Goodluck Jonathan did describe Boko Haram as a “Ghost” when he visited Borno.. do you agree they are ghosts?

They are human beings like us. I told you about my contact with many of them. So am I in contact with ghosts? When I single handedly facilitated the Dr. Datti Ahmed’s attempts to dialogue by the special Grace of God, did I have meetings with ghosts? Do Nigerians believe in ghosts?

Who is the true and real leader of Boko Haram?

The sect has always had one leader and nobody within the group or outside the group has ever disputed that

What do you make of the killings of innocent women and Children by the Boko Haram sect?

It is shameful and sad!

Do you think the Nigerian Government is prepared to put to an end the insurgency in the North?

How they will do that remains to be seen

What is your biggest regret?
Our leaders that are responsible in resolving this conflict are too arrogant to learn and study their opponent. You can only solve a problem if you understand in the first place, and so far, all I see in the media and amongst religious and political leaders is a fatal guessing game and Nigerians continue to die in their ignorance

What is your recommendation for the security agencies and the sect to bring about sustainable peace?

The sect must understand that Islam teaches muslims that forgiveness is the highest level of strength while revenge is the highest level of weakness. Our Leaders must also be truthful to Nigerians and deal with these security challenges without bringing in the usual corruption they employ in every facet of our national life, at least they should know that human lives are involved here.

Well to be fair to Daily Trust and the NUJ, they pleaded for my release. I think that was where the first mistake happened, if they were sure that I am a journalist they should have condemned my arrest and detention and demanded my release and demand even an apology. To have entered a plea on my behalf was like making a submission of guilt on my part, which created a lot of doubts to many persons and made me to lose interest in everything around me. For me, I believe three things helped me; Christopher Dega, the commissioner of police (who is alive today) was reluctant to carry out the order to execute me, a mole within the Boko Haram had also confirmed my story that I am just a journalist, and I learnt recently that the then Deputy Governor Adamu Dibal worked tirelessly to plead for my life from Ali Modu Sheriff. I was then ordered to leave my state immediately for my own safety by the Borno State Government.

Tell me about your relationship with Mohammed Yusuf who founded Boko Haram in 2002 and was its spiritual leader until he was killed in 2009.

He heard about me through one of his students. According to late Mohammed Yusuf my life story and how I met and married my wife within 5 days was remarkable to him. He invited me to his house several times, we ate together and kept in touch. He tolerated me so well that he told me not to book an appointment anytime I wanted to see him for anything. I was a frequent guest to his house with my miget asking questions and I later asked him if he will allow me to write a book on his activities, he said yes. I became known to many of his lieutenants and I was not surprised when late Mohammed Yusuf asked me to work with the Public Affairs unit of his sect to setup an Al Mizzan style newspaper which he wanted me to be editor. At first I was so excited but my wife cautioned me and I later insisted on three (3) things: (a) that I wanted total editorial control (b) that I must introduce columnists that do not share his ideology (c) and I wanted to be a partner in the project. He never got back to me on that but our relationship remained very cordial.
On the day I was arrested Tuesday 29th July 2009 he desperately wanted to see me few days later he was captured and executed by several mobile police men behind my detention room along side many other youths and his followers.

Do you think the extra-judicial killing of Mohammed Yusuf led to the insurgency by the Boko Haram group?

I think the extra-judicial killing of their leader is symbolic because it served as a prove to the hundreds of sect members and other innocent bystanders that were picked up since 2009 till date and executed in the same manner late Yusuf was killed. Apparently Extra Judicial killings have never stopped till date. If Independent minded investigative journalists will be allowed to operate in the state they will reveal mass graves of thousands of youths some of them women and children killed in cold blood in Maiduguri. Many have taken arms today not necessarily because they subscribe to the ideology of the sect but because of the despair they find themselves occasioned by the abuse of the rule of law and the constant denial of any form of injustice by the security agencies even in the face of documentary evidence.

As one who understands the issues around the sect, Is the Boko Haram Sect linked to Algeria’s al Qaeda?

Yes they are in touch and in some kind of partnership and collaborations, and I think that relationship is growing.

Shehu Sani, a human right activist said you can call for a truce between government and the Boko Haram sect.. why you?

I can’t speak for Shehu Sani but what I know is only God can bring an end to this crisis and no one person with access can do it. If government is not committed and sincere what ever access a person has will be lost. I also want to say here categorically that the sect have always shown readiness to talk whenever I approached them but the people in government, I sense have frequently laid up too much confidence in their ability to subdue the insurgents militarily. You see total lack of enthusiasm and absorbing obsession with pecuniary interests. Moreover, top politicians seem not to find it acceptable that the purveyor of such strategic mediatory offers was me. Last year we were in the middle of developing a blueprint for action to resolving this whole mess that if government can release unconditionally women and children in various detention locations and treat the detained in a civilized manner for all to see, the sect may consider a partial ceasefire where unarmed civilians will be spared. The government officials stone walled, arguing that there were no women and children in detention, the window collapsed. So I was helpless.

You have extensively covered the conflict between the government and Islamist sect Boko Haram, is your life under threat?

My life has always been on the line since 2009. It is not easy dealing with the insurgents as a journalist, not every thing they give you can be news and the slightest change in your report by your editor who does not know how erratic they can be to you, that may cause you, your life. The same thing with the authorities who always wanted me to report only what they want Nigerians to know. I have been invited severally by top security officials to be wired during some of my interviews in order to arrest them. I was put under a lot of pressure to betray my sources. My refusal to do any of these things therefore was interpreted by many as unpatrotism and cold complicity. I can assure you it has never been the same for me and my family after my arrest in 2009. My first daughter who is 10 years old once came home in 2010 to say some kids will not play with her because their parents told them her father was Boko Haram. Before 2009 I was an attractive bride in journalism in the North but in the last few years I could no longer get proper employment (in cases where I get the chance rivalry and suspicion trail my everyday activities) many media houses have suddenly realised that I am not a graduate and my nearly 13 years journalism experience no longer count in giving me proper employment that is in itself a threat to a husband and a father to four kids.

Why did you flee Nigeria for the United Arab Emirates, Dubai?

I think the revelation that I came to the UAE was a mistake on the part of my colleagues. Since the threat to my life intensified after my article on the questionable ceasefire declared by one Abdulaziz (whom Abubakar Shekau has disowned) in February 2013, it became absolutely necessary for me to flee. I cannot remain in Nigeria just because God saved my life several times. I have to flee not to seek asylum but as a law abiding citizen of the world and open a grocery shop and support my family whom I feel I have exposed a lot with the constant trauma I caused them as a result of my work as a reporter in Nigeria.

I didn’t have a degree like many of my colleagues therefore I could not afford to wait for press releases and interviews. I was always looking for scoops or doing my development reporting to survive the competition with graduates in the news room. I was trained most especially by Obiora that every major news outbreak frequently starts as a signal which is most often ignored, sometimes even by acclaimed journalist. As a reporter for Uche Ezechukwu’s New Sentinel in 2006 I pleaded with Emmanual Yawe, the managing editor to see the news value of my first interview with late Mohammed Yusuf. I was eager to tell the world the influence he was having on thousands of youths in the area.

Two parents had earlier approached me in my area to talk to their kids about their new found obsession with the teachings of late Mohammed Yusuf that made many youths to abandon school or resign from civil service etc. I was seen by many, though not as a role model for education, but for hard work and commitment to whatever I set to achieve in life. I began to write exclusively on the sect and painstakingly built and developed a network of invaluable sources within the group.

In 2009, you were exiled from Maiduguri to Abuja by the then Borno State governor Ali Modu Sherrif. What was your offense?

First of all, I was not the favorite of my colleagues in the Government House Press corps and I could count the number of times I visited the government house as a reporter in the state. I worked alone and focused mainly on development stories for the Daily Trust from July 2007. I was close to late Mohammed Yusuf by then. Obviously, I was the only journalist he knew very well. Whenever I was free from work I will attend one of his preaching sessions. Of course many Muslims do that especially if you are the type that always seeks knowledge. During the sect’s major altercation with a special security outfit setup by Ali Modu Sheriff that led to the shooting of twenty (20) sect members I was given exclusive access by the sect to the victims by their leader, my reports were very detailed and different. I also reported severally for the Daily Trust about the build up to the war by the sect but I guess that crisis in July 2009 was never meant to be prevented by the government of President Umar Yar’adua. When the crisis broke I was the only reporter who could go into the sect’s enclave, even security agents were eager to hear from me what I saw when the sect held sway for over three (3) days. On Tuesday the 29th of July I received a call from late Mohammed Yusuf to meet him in the afternoon of that day for an important interview. As a journalist I felt I should inform the authorities. I met the Commissioner of Police in the state, Christopher Dega. I was in his office that morning and he referred me to his deputy commissioner. In the office of the deputy commissioner and in the presence of the commander of Mobile Police unit, one Ahmadu and James Bwala, a reporter with Tribune newspaper I told them about my intention to interview the sect leader and I said I just wanted them to be aware. James was courageous enough and volunteered to follow me but he was discouraged by the officers. I also complained of harassment by the Mobile Police and soldiers during the course of my work and the senior officers assured me that they will send a radio message for me to be allowed to do my work. I left the police headquarters and headed to my house. I needed to tell my wife about the risk I was going to take. At then, the banks were closed and I was surprised to see the famous Oasis bakery in Maiduguri selling bread in the middle of a war. Sadly I had only fourty (40) naira on me which could not buy a loaf of bread then I saw my childhood friend and school mate Umar Kadafur, who was the serving chairman of my local government area going into the government house I followed him and when I was standing with my friend and playfully struggling with him to give me some money, one Yusuf in the office of the director of press dragged me into the office of the Chief Security Officer to the Governor, insisting that the governor’s aide wanted to see my face for the first time. The aide wanted to know from me why I did not shave my beards and lower my trousers below the ankle to avoid the wrath of the security agents. I then, told him that it was wrong for security agents to brand innocent people that wear beards as Boko Haram and often times killing people on account of that. He, also asked me whether or not I was abducted by the sect members for a while and released. I put the record straight that, I only ran into a mob together with the current chairman of the NUJ in the state Abba Kakami and thereafter I was left off the hook when the sect members were convinced that the brown apron I was wearing carried an inscription of Daily Trust and also one of the sect unit commanders recognized me. Sadly for me, the CSO did not like my guts and my style of reporting. In the presence of one Hayatudeen Mohammed, a permanent secretary in the state, he ordered for my arrest, calling my crime ‘counter intelligence.’ At the Government House I was assaulted by the mobile Police Constable Sani Abubakar,
I was made to lie down with my face down instantly I urinated in my pants when two mobile police men contemplated who was going to pull the trigger. Thank God I am alive today. I clearly heard the CSO ordering the police not to shoot me at the government House that “Oga” does not want to see a corpse here. Surprising till today none of the nearly twenty (20) reporters present at the scene reported how I was assaulted instead they all reported thereafter that I was treated well and that I was held in protective custody for my safety.
I was then driven to the Police Headquarters in the state where I was kept in a cell with fifty eight (58) others. After spending thirty (30) hours in the cell and about fourty eight (48) hours without food or water. I was then allowed to wash up the urine that had dried up on my pants and relieved myself of my running stomach. My cell mates, some of whom were members of the sect while some are innocent bystanders were being called out and executed one by one, everyone was waiting for his turn.

“I am not a member of Boko Haram” – Ahmed Salkida speaks on ‘Conversations with Abang Mercy’

The Conservations series spotslights a freelance Journalist, Ahmad Salkida who has extensively covered the sect. He talks about his relationship with Boko Haram, ties with the late Leader, Mohammed Yusuf and how the Boko Haram sect have been more consistent with their message than the Federal Government

You are the only Nigerian, publicly known to have direct links to the leadership of Boko haram in your line of duty as a journalist. Therefore, who is Ahmad Salkida?

I am from Biu local government area in what is now the troubled Borno state. I grew up in that peaceful and homogenous part of Nigeria. I was born a christian from a christian family, and as a young primary school pupil in the early 80′s I would sneak into gardens and climb Mango or cashew trees while my mates were in school. To me then, the school system was an infringement on my understanding of personal liberty. I feel, if someone has the capacity to learn in a few months or years why subject the person to six (6) years primary school, six (6) years secondary education and four (4) years in the university. However, I read many of my mother’s novels. She had hundreds if not thousands of books. I managed to go to several schools to please my parents but I ended up not writing the secondary school leaving exams. But I was a teacher to many of my friends and peers at the time, and I helped dozens of graduates with their final year project work. I knew within me that I can be a good writer, a good researcher and a good investigative journalist but that was tantamount to wishing for the impossibility since everyone had to go to school to achieve that. I also had an obsession to leave Nigeria to Europe or America to live my dreams at a very early age. In the 90′s, when my mates were in the university, I was briefly a Marxist, a free thinker and in 1997 I finally embraced the Islamic faith on my own volition. At that time I had two (2) completed manuscripts which my mentor, late Dr. Jibrin Bala Mohammed, an associate professor in journalism encouraged me to write.

In early 2000 I moved to Abuja with the hope that I could get a publisher for my books. I was sent out of my relative’s house because they feared that I could convert their son to Islam. So I got a job as a night guard in Wuse zone 2. In the night I worked as ‘Mai guard’ while in the day time I was called a brilliant and aspiring writer. It was at that point that I met Obiora Chukwumba through Uche Ezechukwu, two wonderful Igbo gentlemen and one of Nigeria ‘s finest set of journalists that I always remain thankful to. Obiora, the pioneer managing editor of Insider Weekly Magazine gave me my first job in February 2001 as a reporter, after a few reporting assignments I did for Uche. I did not present the usual smart curriculum vitae; mine was just a Primary School Certificate but Obiora believed that information that is unique and refreshing from someone like me was more valuable than the frequent parading of cute ivory tower diplomas that offer so much ego and polish with no substance. I worked as a reporter for several newspapers in Abuja and Maiduguri.

How does a kanuri man equates a hausa man? With people hatred for Hausa I doubt if they can ever be successful in life. I have numerous Ibo friends but none of them is suffering from your kind of illness.

The Haramist must Know that kano can never be a safe heaven for Islamist. Kano is a sacred community. We have defeated Maitastine twice, in Allah's name will will surely over come these Kanuri bastards. If they want their Boko Haram republic they should stick with Borno & Yobe and let us be.

If Boko Haram are truly hausa people why is Jigawa, Kastina, Zamfara, Sokoto & Kebbi not bombing churches or attacking security agencies?

Even Bauchi & Gombe have succeeded in capturing elements of Boko haram in their midst.

What people should know is that Boko haram operate as cells, they send multiple cells to a state with a mission to destroy & create confusion, each cell is independent of the other. But when the JTF successfully identify the cell and crushed them, a period of peace will reign until another cells are formed and sent again. The base & foundation of Boko haram is in Kanuri, Borno & Yobe.

Boko Haram is a product of Kanuri. Kanuri being a minority tribe in Nigeria. Mohammed Yusuf, Abubakar Shekau, Mamman Nur, Habibu Bama, Shuiabu Bama, Abu qaqa 2, Bakaka, Senator Sherrif, Senator Zannan & Senator Nndume are all Kanuris. Am Hausa, I don't understand a single word in Kanuri, half of Kanuris don't speak or understand Hausa. Yobe & Borno States are the only 2 Kanuri states in Nigeria, hence Boko Haram only 2stronghold. Kanuri are from Kanem Borno empire, we Hausa are from Othman Dan Fodio empire, so historically we are not the same. We Hausa are not in support of Boko Haram, we despise them, we exposed them. Having wonder why they suffered most in Kano state in terms of human & logistics. If a mare 25% of Hausa people by chance supported Boko Haram, the over 3 million Christians will not be calling Kano state home today. We are victim in this madness called Boko Haram, the Hausa-Fulani Muslims who are seen to be the culprits even in situations where they are victims; even the lacklustre performance of the Jonathan administration is attributed to the “evil Hausa”.

Boko Haram in the last few months have suspended attacks in Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa & Taraba and have concentrated their efforts in capturing Kano which seen as the nerve center of the North.

I was privilege to have visited JTF detention center in Kano, guess what? 90% of Boko Haram suspects under detention are Kanuris with the remaining % their Kano collaborators.

A greater % of non Kanuris Boko Haram members either killed or capture study or lived in Yobe or Borno.

I can't blame igbos for Alluu massacre, 'coz I know the linguistic compositions of Nigeria.

Some people are just too daft they don't know the linguistic components or compositions of Nigeria. Early last year, people were killed in Onitsha because a 'Hausa' policeman had killed a bus driver over some minor misunderstanding. But the 'Hausa' man turned out to be no other person than Corporal Samuel Ajana, an Idoma, from Benue state. The Vanguard newspaper of February 9th, 2012 referred to the policeman as 'a Hausa man' for which the Hausa residents suffered the violent consequences.

Sorry my battery is low can someone translate this into English pls.

Kungiyar Boko Haram Tayi Alkawarin Daina Kaiwa Jami'an Tsaro Hari
20.04.2013
Grace Alheri Abdu

Wakilan kungiyar Boko Haram ta Najeriya wadda Amurka ke yin gargadi game da yiwuwar wani harin da za ta kai kan manyan otel-otel din da Turawa ke sauka a Abuja.

Wakilan kungiyar Boko Haram ta Najeriya wadda Amurka ke yin gargadi game da yiwuwar wani harin da za ta kai kan manyan otel-otel din da Turawa ke sauka a Abuja.

Kungiyar Boko Haram tace daga yanzu ta daina kaiwa jami'an tsaro hari ta kuma nemi suma a daina kai masu hare hare

Mataimakin shugaban kungiyar Jamatu Lidda awati Ahli suunati wal Jihad wadda aka ba lakabi da sunan Boko Haram, Muhammad Marwana ya bayyana cewa kungiyar ta saki turawa yan kasar faransi guda bakwai da suka saka yi garkuwa da su na tsawon watanni biyu sabili da sa baki da kuma roko da al'ummar musulmi sukayi tayi a kafofin yada labarai da kuma nuna alamar zahiri dangane da batun neman sasantawa da gwamanatin Najeriya take nema.




http://m.voahausa.com/a/1645633.html

You don't need to attack a religious center or gathering for it is termed a terrorist attack. The Boston Marathon bombing was not in a church yet it is termed a terrorist attack.


Updated: 60 feared dead in attack on cattle market in Yobe ...
www​.channelstv.com/.../unknown-gunm...
3 May 2012 ... Updated: 60 feared dead in attack on cattle market in Yobe ... Carcass of burnt cows in the razed market. ... I think GEJ has a hand in the boko haram campaign and is just trying to ...

Gunmen Attack Potiskum Cattle Market In Yobe State, Killing 34 ...
saharareporters.com/.../gunmen-attack-...
3 May 2012 ... An attack on a cattle market in northeastern city of Potiskum by gunmen armed with explosives has left at least 34 dead and the ... I curse the sect called boko haram and its sponsors ...

Hausa herdsmen in Delta? wonder shall never end, now we have Hausa herdsmen not Fulani herdsmen. In my life this IS the first time am hearing HAUSA HERDSMEN

hmmmmmm the truth shall come out one day. Boko Haram sophistication can only be trace back to the creeks

Na lie, I can't believe this trash, such horrible incidents happened since Thursday and na today Sunday the news is coming out.

these bloody beroms will continue to rustle Fulani cows and when Fulani invade them they will cry genocide

FG should figure out Boko Haram foreign sponsors – Buhari : Former head of state Muhammadu Buhari said the federal government should figure out sponsors of Boko Haram. Buhari spoke to BBC Hausa Service on Monday saying concrete steps must be taken by the government to address insecurity in the country.
“Where and who is training them to terrorize the society? Where do they get money and buy arms? Do they have outside sponsors? Who is trying to destabilize Nigeria – in terms of crippling its wealth and divide its people or it is something else?”, he queried.

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php/news-news/53839-fg-should-figure-out-boko-haram-foreign-sponsors-buhari

Jonathan's well-paid and ill-mannered army of internet and media warriors may sing his praises to high heavens and work hard to distort any discourse about the woeful failures of their paymaster, but they cannot hide the fact that, under Jonathan, Nigeria has become a vast ------

This is the part I loved most
*******************************************************

You may have seen how dilapidated
the police quarters are, ... It is hoped this money
would be used judiciously and a significant part of it
be allocated to improving infrastructure in the

US: Boko Haram is a Franchise Hired By North & South, Muslim and Christian alike – NYTimes

Africa » History
US: Boko Haram is a Franchise Hired By North & South, Muslim and Christian alike – NYTimes

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In Nigeria, Boko Haram Is Not the Problem
By JEAN HERSKOVITS (An author with the CFR); Published: January 2, 2012

NYTimes- GOVERNMENTS and newspapers around the world attributed the horrific Christmas Day bombings of churches in Nigeria to “Boko Haram” — a shadowy group that is routinely described as an extremist Islamist organization based in the northeast corner of Nigeria. Indeed, since the May inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger Delta in the country’s south, Boko Haram has been blamed for virtually every outbreak of violence in Nigeria.

But the news media and American policy makers are chasing an elusive and ill-defined threat; there is no proof that a well-organized, ideologically coherent terrorist group called Boko Haram even exists today. Evidence suggests instead that, while the original core of the group remains active, criminal gangs have adopted the name Boko Haram to claim responsibility for attacks when it suits them.

rescuedThe United States must not be drawn into a Nigerian “war on terror” — rhetorical or real — that would make us appear biased toward a Christian president. Getting involved in an escalating sectarian conflict that threatens the country’s unity could turn Nigerian Muslims against America without addressing any of the underlying problems that are fueling instability and sectarian strife in Nigeria.

Since August, when Gen. Carter F. Ham, the commander of the United States Africa Command, warned that Boko Haram had links to Al Qaeda affiliates, the perceived threat has grown. Shortly after General Ham’s warning, the United Nations’ headquarters in Abuja was bombed, and simplistic explanations blaming Boko Haram for Nigeria’s mounting security crisis became routine. Someone who claims to be a spokesman for Boko Haram — with a name no one recognizes and whom no one has been able to identify or meet with — has issued threats and statements claiming responsibility for attacks. Remarkably, the Nigerian government and the international news media have simply accepted what he says.

In late November, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security issued a report with the provocative title: “Boko Haram: Emerging Threat to the U.S. Homeland.” The report makes no such case, but nevertheless proposes that the organization be added to America’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. The State Department’s Africa bureau disagrees, but pressure from Congress and several government agencies is mounting.

Boko Haram began in 2002 as a peaceful Islamic splinter group. Then politicians began exploiting it for electoral purposes. But it was not until 2009 that Boko Haram turned to violence, especially after its leader, a young Muslim cleric named Mohammed Yusuf, was killed while in police custody. Video footage of Mr. Yusuf’s interrogation soon went viral, but no one was tried and punished for the crime. Seeking revenge, Boko Haram targeted the police, the military and local politicians — all of them Muslims.

It was clear in 2009, as it is now, that the root cause of violence and anger in both the north and south of Nigeria is endemic poverty and hopelessness. Influential Nigerians from Maiduguri, where Boko Haram is centered, pleaded with Mr. Jonathan’s government in June and July not to respond to Boko Haram with force alone. Likewise, the American ambassador, Terence P. McCulley, has emphasized, both privately and publicly, that the government must address socio-economic deprivation, which is most severe in the north. No one seems to be listening.

Instead, approximately 25 percent of Nigeria’s budget for 2012 is allocated for security, even though the military and police routinely respond to attacks with indiscriminate force and killing. Indeed, according to many Nigerians I’ve talked to from the northeast, the army is more feared than Boko Haram.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram has evolved into a franchise that includes criminal groups claiming its identity. Revealingly, Nigeria’s State Security Services issued a statement on Nov. 30, identifying members of four “criminal syndicates” that send threatening text messages in the name of Boko Haram. Southern Nigerians — not northern Muslims — ran three of these four syndicates, including the one that led the American Embassy and other foreign missions to issue warnings that emptied Abuja’s high-end hotels. And last week, the security services arrested a Christian southerner wearing northern Muslim garb as he set fire to a church in the Niger Delta. In Nigeria, religious terrorism is not always what it seems.

None of this excuses Boko Haram’s killing of innocents. But it does raise questions about a rush to judgment that obscures Nigeria’s complex reality.

Related: SaharaReporters- Government Of Bayelsa State Denies Harboring Terrorists In Lagos Building It Owns

Bayelsa State Governor

The Ojora of Ijora, Chief Fatai Aromire, revealed on Tuesday revealed that the notorious terrorists operational base uncovered recently in Lagos belongs to the Bayelsa State Government.

“Our findings show that the abandoned building belongs to Bayelsa state and the governor has directed that the building be demolished and a more befitting house built and put to use,” he said. “We await the report of the team sent to assess the situation; no responsible government can habour terrorists.”

Fefegha said that the government has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and other violent crime, drawing attention to a recently-enacted law which prescribes the death penalty for convicted kidnappers.
That law, however, has yet to provide deterrence to violent criminals, as two kidnap incidents have taken place in the State within one week of the enactment of the legislation.

Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum and Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural organization, have called for a full investigation of the terrorism saga.

In a statement, Afenifere called on both the Lagos State and the Federal Government to launch a full-scale investigation into the claim by the traditional ruler to unravel the truth and bring the culprits to book in view of the psychological warfare that has been waged against Yorubaland about a possible terror attack for about a year now. Read full

Many Nigerians already believe that the United States unconditionally supports Mr. Jonathan’s government, despite its failings. They believe this because Washington praised the April elections that international observers found credible, but that many Nigerians, especially in the north, did not. Likewise, Washington’s financial support for Nigeria’s security forces, despite their documented human rights abuses, further inflames Muslim Nigerians in the north.

Related: NewsRescue-Boko Haram: A CIA Covert Operation; America’s Destabilization Plots Against Nigeria–GreenWhite Coalition

Mr. Jonathan’s recent actions have not helped matters. He told Nigerians last week, “The issue of bombing is one of the burdens we must live with.” On New Year’s Eve, he declared a state of emergency in parts of four northern states, leading to increased military activity there. And on New Year’s Day, he removed a subsidy on petroleum products, more than doubling the price of fuel. In a country where 90 percent of the population lives on $2 or less a day, anger is rising nationwide as the costs of transport and food increase dramatically.

Since Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999, many politicians have used ethnic and regional differences and, most disastrously, religion for their own purposes. Northern Muslims — indeed, all Nigerians — are desperate for a government that responds to their most basic needs: personal security and hope for improvement in their lives. They are outraged over government policies and expenditures that undermine both.

The United States should not allow itself
to be drawn into this quicksand by focusing on Boko Haram alone. Washington is already seen by many northern Muslims — including a large number of longtime admirers of America — as biased toward a Christian president from the south. The United States must work to avoid a self-fulfilling prophecy that makes us into their enemy. Placing Boko Haram on the foreign terrorist list would cement such views and make more Nigerians fear and distrust America.

Jean Herskovits, a professor of history at the State University of New York, Purchase, has written on Nigerian politics since 1970.


http://newsrescue.com/us-boko-haram-is-a-franchise-hired-by-north-south-muslim-and-christian-alike-nytimes/#axzz2PCLi2E5u

This is getting interesting, if they want to disintegrate the country they should pls do that and stop bombing people.

Kano State Governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, has released names of some surviving victims of the Monday luxury bus station attack in Kano State that left many people dead.

The list was read by Kwankwaso to the presidential delegation led by the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, that came to sympathize with the state over the incident on Thursday.

According to the governor’s Director of Press, Halilu Baba Dantiye, “Governor Kwankwaso, who read out the list of 25 casualties of the attack who are currently receiving medication in hospitals in the state, noted that most of them are either from Kano or of Northern extraction, asserting that the list is a possible reflection of the number of those that lost their lives in the regrettable incident, which was yet to be ascertained.”

The names of those wounded include
1.ABDULLAHI MAI AGOGO GYAYAWA
2. UMAR SANI BAGWAI
3. ILIYASU IBRAHIM MADIGAWA
4. YAKUBU SANI CHURCH ROAD
5. HADARA RABIU DAMBATTA
6. HASSAN ABUBAKAR IBRAHIM TAIWO
7. AMADU GARBA WARAWA
8. SEEBAN OKEDE NO. 78 ONITSA RD
9. BUKI OGU MALA NO. 2 OMOLOLA LAGOS
10. TUKUR YA’U T/MURTALA
11. KABIRU ALI T/TOFA
12. YAKUBU ADAMU TAKAI L.G
13. KABIRU USAINI P.R.P
14. ABDULLAHI ADAMU TAKAI L.G
15. GOJE MAGAWATA DALA L.G
16. UMAR BAGWAI BAGWAI
17. BASHIR MUHAMMAD KABUGA QTRS
18. DANBABA MUSA GEZAWA
18. DANBABA MUSA GEZAWA
19. OGU CHUKWU UMOH EMIR ROAD
20. SUNDAY MAFIA ELTA 21. IWOJO DANIEL
22. MACHEIL EZENWATA 23. OJO SANDRA
24. BELLO SHU’AIBU R/LEMO
25. UNKNOWN UNKNOWN

Kano State Governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, has released names of some surviving victims of the Monday luxury bus station attack in Kano State that left many people dead.

The list was read by Kwankwaso to the presidential delegation led by the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, that came to sympathize with the state over the incident on Thursday.

According to the governor’s Director of Press, Halilu Baba Dantiye, “Governor Kwankwaso, who read out the list of 25 casualties of the attack who are currently receiving medication in hospitals in the state, noted that most of them are either from Kano or of Northern extraction, asserting that the list is a possible reflection of the number of those that lost their lives in the regrettable incident, which was yet to be ascertained.”

The names of those wounded include
1.ABDULLAHI MAI AGOGO GYAYAWA
2. UMAR SANI BAGWAI
3. ILIYASU IBRAHIM MADIGAWA
4. YAKUBU SANI CHURCH ROAD
5. HADARA RABIU DAMBATTA
6. HASSAN ABUBAKAR IBRAHIM TAIWO
7. AMADU GARBA WARAWA
8. SEEBAN OKEDE NO. 78 ONITSA RD
9. BUKI OGU MALA NO. 2 OMOLOLA LAGOS
10. TUKUR YA’U T/MURTALA
11. KABIRU ALI T/TOFA
12. YAKUBU ADAMU TAKAI L.G
13. KABIRU USAINI P.R.P
14. ABDULLAHI ADAMU TAKAI L.G
15. GOJE MAGAWATA DALA L.G
16. UMAR BAGWAI BAGWAI
17. BASHIR MUHAMMAD KABUGA QTRS
18. DANBABA MUSA GEZAWA
18. DANBABA MUSA GEZAWA
19. OGU CHUKWU UMOH EMIR ROAD
20. SUNDAY MAFIA ELTA 21. IWOJO DANIEL
22. MACHEIL EZENWATA 23. OJO SANDRA
24. BELLO SHU’AIBU R/LEMO
25. UNKNOWN UNKNOWN

You people will not leave Buhari alone! Was he the one who said that Jonathan's regime would be ungovernable? Did anyone find a Boko haram member in Buhari's house? Did Buhari give Yusuf Mohammed's family 100million naira? Is Buhari the same as Zakari Biu who let a Boko haram member escape from custody? Did Buhari called Boko Haram his siblings? Is Buhari synonyms with PDP? Just because he was named as a mediator then that makes him a Boko Haram member.mtscheeew!

When we canvas for amnesty, you people objected, we can't win a war against unseen enemy, countries with better security system had to give in to dialogue to end such madness.

source

A beg Bring Galatasary or Malaga for Barcelona

www.dailytrust.com.ng/index.php/news-news/52663-400-homosexuals-discovered-in-benue


Executive Secretary of the Benue State Agency for the
Control of AIDS (BENSACA) Mrs. Grace Ashi Wende
yesterday said over 400 homosexuals known as Men
Sleeping with Men (MSM) exist under an organised
association in the state.
The MSM were discovered during an epidemic
appraisal carried out by a Canadian partners in
collaboration with BENSACA following the state
government’s resolve to fight the increasing trend of
HIV/AIDs as shown in 2011 ANC survey.
She also disclosed that 318,888 children are currently
living with the HIV/AIDS virus and placed on Anti
Retroviral therapy.
Wende, who made this disclosure at a one day
training of media practitioners on HIV/AIDS in
Makurdi, said “over 708,640 adults are also living with
the virus in the state.”

A new GAY LORD elected

Is Goodluck Jonathan still in the axis of Boko Haram? I haven't heard that there is bomb explosion in Damaturu or Yobe State. I haven't been following the president's visit, but I am sure if there are incidence, we would have heard it. Or is it a case of The Commander is paying visit to his Subordinates,any Bomb blast is tantamount to Subordination.

The Root Cause Of The Crisis

www.transparencyng.com/.../1536-police...
14 Jul 2010 ... of Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State as a result of ... to be Christians and opposed to the building of a mosque within the premises of the Police Area Command in Wukari .
*********************************************************

The Christians were dealt a serious blow by the Muslims, ever since then a revenge attack has been on the pipe line now coupled with Danbaba Tokumbo Jet Crash landing, you have a big problem

Dr thank u for the post alot of Islamic scholars here in Nigeria are responsible 4 our present predicaments they confused and misguide our people there by retarding our progress are we the only muslims in Nigeria? see our brothers in the south they receive these vaccines because they are well informed I received that vaccine at the age of 41 in Jedda when i went on my pilgrimage reason was that i am from an infested country it is a shameful thing A MAY GOD BLESS U for sensitising muslims UMMAH