Boko Haram burns children, kills 86 in Borno attacks

Ademola Oni, Olalekan Adetayo and Kayode Idowu

Terror group, Boko Haram, was alleged to have burnt some children to death when the militants overran Dalori, a village four kilometres outside Maiduguri, where about 80 residents of the community were killed on Saturday night.

The Area Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency in Borno State, Mohammed Kanar, said 86 bodies were picked up in the village on Sunday.

Hospital sources added that no fewer than 70 persons were receiving treatment in hospitals around the area.
A resident who managed to escape the attack, claimed that screams of children could be heard from burning houses as the embattled villagers ran in confusion to exit the village as the destruction raged.

Also, a survivor, who said he hid on a tree, stated that he watched Boko Haram extremists firebomb huts and heard the screams of children burning to death, AP reports.

On Sunday, while some residents had managed to return to their houses which had been razed, one of our correspondents observed that some burnt bodies and others, riddled with bullets, littered the streets and some burnt houses in the town.

One of those who had returned to the village on Sunday told one of our correspondents that insurgents including suicide bombers attacked the town, which also spilled over to the Internally Displaced Persons’ camps around the village.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he added that the suicide bombers mingled with fleeing villagers and detonated the explosives on them at the neighbouring Gamori village, killing several of the villagers.
The villagers told newsmen on Sunday that troops did not arrive in time to stop the rampaging sect fighters from unleashing maximum havoc on the community.

Military authorities confirmed that one of the places targeted by the insurgents was the Dalori Internally Displaced Persons’ camp housing over 15,000 people, who are mostly women and children from Bama.
A member of the youth vigilance group in the town, who spoke on condition of anonymity to one of our correspondents on the telephone on Sunday, said not less than 65 persons were killed with over 100 others injured in the attack on Dalori.

One of the residents of the community, who fled to Maiduguri, Yusuf Ibrahim, told one of our correspondents that the attack on the village started around 6.50pm and lasted for hours.

He lamented that the insurgents, who operated undeterred, stormed the village in Hilux vans and motorcycles dressed in army camouflage and set the houses in the village ablaze.

He said livestock were not spared as the insurgents set them on fire but looted foodstuffs.
A rescue worker, who participated in the evacuation of the victims, said 50 corpses were taken to the Borno State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri and 15 others corpses deposited at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

Narrating his ordeal, a resident of the village, Mallam Abba Dalori, told The PUNCH, “We were helpless as no one came to our aid when the insurgents struck on Saturday night. I am still mourning as I lost 11 persons in the siege. At present, I am still looking for five of my children, who went missing during the attack.”
Another resident of Dalori, Imam Ibrahim, who could not hold back his tears as he spoke to one of our correspondents, said the insurgents “dressed like military personnel and opened fire on everybody.’’
He added, ‘‘All our wives and children were brutally killed; our livestock were equally consumed in a great inferno that engulfed the village.”

A statement, the spokesman for the counter-insurgency operation in the North-East, Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Mustapha Anka, while confirming the attack, however, failed to give the casualty figure.
The statement added, “In their desperate efforts for attacks on strong, determined and committed members of the Civilian Joint Task Force and innocent citizens yesterday (Saturday), 30 January, 2016, Boko Haram terrorists (insurgents) launched an attack on Dalori through Yale from (rear of Dalori village).

“An eyewitness said that the insurgents who came in two Golf cars, motorcycles, started opening fire and burning houses. Their motive was to cause rancour and penetrate the crowd with suicide bombers.
“Similarly, while people were running for their dear lives to Gomari Kerkeri village, three female suicide bombers attempted to make their way into the crowd but were intercepted and subsequently got blown off.
“During the incident, lives were lost while some people sustained injuries. The insurgents also attempted to penetrate Dalori IDP camp, but the attempt was resisted by troops, which resulted into the detonation of IEDs by suicide bombers.”

Anka added that the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Hassan Umaru, had sent a condolence message to the District Head of Dalori, Alhaji Lawal Bashir, and the residents over the unfortunate incident.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said having lost the war to the nation’s armed forces, insurgents were desperately seeking ways of returning to wreak havoc on the society.

Buhari therefore called on all Nigerians, especially those who resided in areas previously ravaged by terrorists, to be more vigilant and ready to work with security operatives in ending the war against insurgency.

This was contained in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, on Sunday.

Buhari said this while reacting to the spate of suicide bombings in Chibok market, Dolari Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Borno State and the Gombi market in Adamawa State.

He stated that the insurgents’ gradual return was meant to embarrass his government, pointing out that that was why they chose isolated communities and markets as their targets.

Buhari said the insurgents had suffered immensely from the sustained bombardments of their camps and hideouts by the Nigerian military and had resorted to using desperate measures to gain cheap media attention.

The President added, “Having lost the war, they (the insurgents) are seeking ways and means to gradually find their way back into society.

“They are not returning to contribute but to cause more havoc. They are so desperate to embarrass the government and the people that they have no qualms attacking isolated communities and markets.”
Buhari noted that the materials for the Improvised Explosive Devices were locally sourced by the insurgents.

It is Irritating for Niger Deltans to Lay Claim to the Oil in Their Community – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed disgust at Nigerians who lay claim to the oil found in their communities.
According to PUNCH, the President said those of them, who participated in the nation’s 30-month civil war that left millions of Nigerians dead, found the belief of Nigerians, who lived in oil-rich areas that the natural resources belonged to them, very irritating.

Addressing Nigerians in Addis Ababa at a town hall meeting President Buhari said, “The theft of oil by some Nigerians that happen to live there, who feel that the oil belongs to them and not the country, is an irritating thing for those of us, who participated in the civil war for 30 months in which at least two million Nigerians were killed”.

The amalgamation of Nigeria was a FRAUD – Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN (Nigeria’s former Attorney General and MInister of Justice)

The amalgamation of Nigeria was a FRAUD – Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN (Nigeria’s former Attorney General and MInister of Justice)

The amalgamation of Nigeria was a FRAUD –  Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN (Nigeria’s former Attorney General and MInister of Justice)

(Being excerpts from the speech of Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), first and second Republic Minister, at the public presentation of the book “Fellow Country Men- the story of Coup D’etats in Nigeria by Richard Akinnola, June 2000)

 

I was in the first cabinet that was overthrown by the military in this country. I entered parliame…nt in December 12, 1959. And I remained in parliament until January 15, 1966 when the government was overthrown. I was the Federal Minister of Education in that cabinet. I woke up one morning in my official house in Ikoyi to discover that my telephone was not working. I had never experienced coup before nor did I know that it was a coup, thinking it was just a telephone fault; until a colleague of mine in the cabinet Chief Abiodun Akerele, came in and told me there had been a military coup. So I had the fortune or the misfortune of being a victim of the first coup in this country.

 

Many people may not know that I spent 18 months in detention in prisons across the country. I’ve spent time in KiriKiri prison, Ilesha prison, Ibadan prison and the Abeokuta prison.

 

Two of us who were in Balewa’s government emerged when the military handed over to the civilians in 1979 as part of the civilian government. In Balewa’s government, Alhaji Shehu Shagari was the Minister of Works while I was the Minister of Education. When the military handed over to us after about 14 years, Shagari emerged as the President while I became the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. Again, Shagari’s government was overthrown just a few months after I left the cabinet. Of course, we suspected it was coming. A lot of things that happened between that period and now would never see the light of the day. When you are in government, you know a lot of things, you see a lot of things. A lot of things you know or did or saw will die with you.

 

This is the practice of the whole world. People have asked me to write my memoirs, I just laugh because there are certain things I can never reveal.

 

When I was in Tafawa Balewa’s Cabinet, all Cabinet Ministers had access to written intelligence report every month. That was the practice at that time. But when Shagari came in, for reasons which I cannot explain, that practice was no longer followed. But by virtue of my duties as the Attorney-General and as a member of the National Security Council, I continued to have access to some sensitive matters.

 

Nigeria is a very complex country. Our problems did not start yesterday. It started about 1894. Lord Lugard came here about 1894 and many people did not know that Major Lugard was not originally employed by the British government. He was employed by companies. He was first employed by East Indian Company, by the Royal East African Company and then by the Royal Niger Company. It was from the Royal Niger Company that he transferred to the British government.

 

Unless you know this background, you will not know the root causes of our problems. The interest of the Europeans in Africa and indeed in Nigeria was economic and it’s still economic. They have no permanent friends and no permanent interest. Neither their interest nor their friends are permanent. Nigeria was created as British sphere of interests for business.

 

In 1898, Lugard formed the West African Frontier Force initially with 2,000 soldiers and that was the beginning of our problems. Anybody that wants to know the root cause of all the coups in this book and our present problems and who does not know the evolution of Nigeria would just be looking at the matter superficially. Our problems started from that time. And Lugard was what they called at that time imperialist. A number of British soldiers, businessmen, politicians were very patriotic. But I must warn you, they were operating in the interest of their country. Lugard became a Lord. Nigerians, too, should operate in the interest of their country.

 

When Lugard formed the West African Frontier Force with 2,000 troops, about 90 percent of them were from the North mainly from the middle belt. And his dispatches to London between that time and January 1914 was extremely interesting. Lugard came here for a purpose and that purpose was British interest.

Between 1898 and 1914, he sent a number of dispatches to London which led to the Amalgamation of 1914. The Order-in-Council was drawn up in November 1913, signed and came into force in January 1914. In those dispatches, Lugard said a number of things which are the root causes of yesterday and today’s problems. The British needed the Railway from the North to the Coast in the interest of British business. Amalgamation of the South (not of the people) became of crucial importance to British business interest.

He said the North and South should be amalgamated. Southern Nigeria came into existence on January 1900…….At the centenary of the fall of Benin, I wrote a piece in a number of papers but before I published the piece, I sent a copy to the Oba of Benin.

 

So when Benin was conquered in 1896, it made the creation of the Southern Nigerian protectorate possible on January 1, 1900. If you remember, Sokoto was not conquered until 1903. So, there was no question of Nigeria at that time. After the conquest of Sokoto, they were able to create the Northern Nigeria protectorate. Lugard went full blast and created what was to be known as the protectorate of Northern Nigeria.

 

What is critical and important are the reasons Lugard gave in his dispatches. They are as follows:

He said the North is poor and they have no resources to run the protectorate of the North. That they have no access to the sea; that the South has resources and that they have educated people. The first Yoruba Lawyer was called to the Bar in 1861. Therefore, because it was not the policy of the British Government to bring the tax-payers money to run the protectorate, it was in the interest of the British tax payer that there should be Amalgamation. But what the British Amalgamated was the Administration of the North and South. That is one of the root causes of the problems of Nigeria and the Nigerians.

 

When the amalgamation took effect, the British government sealed off the South from the North. And between 1914 and 1960, that’s a period of 46 years, the British allowed minimum contact between the North and South because it was not in the British interest that the North be allowed to be polluted by the educated South. That was the basis on which we got our independence in 1960 when I was in the parliament. I entered parliament on December 12, 1959.

 

When the North formed a political party, the Northern leaders called it Northern People’s Congress (NPC). They didn’t call it Nigeria’s people Congress. That was in accordance with the dictum and policies of Lugard. When Aminu Kano formed his own party, it was called Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) not Nigerian Elements Progressive Union. It was only Awolowo and Zik who were mistaken that there was anything called Nigeria. In fact, the so-called Nigeria created in 1914 was a complete fraud. It was created not in the interest of Nigeria or Nigerians but in the interest of the British. And what were the structures created? The structures created were as follows: Northern Nigeria was to represent England; Western Nigeria like Wales; Eastern Nigeria was to be like Scotland.

 

In the British structure, England has permanent majority in the House of Commons. There was no way Wales can ever dominate England, neither can Scotland dominate Britain. But they are very shrewd. They would allow a Scottish man to become Prime Minister. They would allow a welsh man to become Prime Minister in London but the fact remains that the actual power is rested in England.

 

That was what Lugard created In Nigeria, a permanent majority for the North. The population figure is also a fraud. In fact, a British Colonial Civil Servant who was involved in the fraud was trying to expose it but he was never allowed to publish it.

 

The analysis is as follows: If you look at the map of West Africa, starting from Mauritania to Cameroun and take a population of each country as you move from the Coast to Savannah, the population decreases. Or conversely, as you come from the Desert to the Coast, right from Mauritania to Cameroun, the population increases.

 

The only exception throughout the zone is Nigeria. Nigeria is the only Zone whereby you go from the Coast to the North, the population increases and you come from the North to the Coast, the population decreases. Well, geographers, anthropologists and population experts, draw your conclusions. Someone has told me that the last population census was done by computer. What nonsense. A computer is as good as its programmer. A computer will produce what you ask it to produce.

 

I have read this book from cover to cover. This is a fantastic book. I want us to find a way to ensure that many Nigerians read this book. It is a raw material for future authors. There is one thing which is missing in this book and that is the first broadcast of General Ibrahim Babaginda when he assumed power in 1985. The broadcast is very crucial to the economic problems we have today.

 

Talking on the first coup, when Balewa got missing, we knew Okotie-Eboh had been killed, we knew Akintola had been killed. We the members of the Balewa cabinet started meeting. But how can we have a cabinet meeting without the Prime Minister acting or the Prime Minister presiding. So, unanimously, we nominated acting Prime Minister amongst us. Then we continued holding our meetings. Then we got a message that we should all assemble at the Cabinet office.

 

All the Ministers were requested by the G.O.C. of the Nigerian Army, General Ironsi to assemble. What was amazing at that time was that Ironsi was going all over Lagos unarmed. We assembled there, having nominating Zana Diphcharima as our acting prime minister in the absence of the Prime Minister, whose where about we didn’t know. We approached the acting President, Nwafor Orizu to swear him in because he could not legitimately act as the Prime Minister except he was sworn in. Nwafor Orizu refused. He said he needed to contact Zik who was then in West Indies.

 

Under the Law, that is, the interpretation Act, as acting President, Nwafor Orizu had all the powers of the President.

The G.O.C said he wanted to see all the cabinet ministers. And so we assembled at the cabinet office. Well, I have read in many books saying that we handed over to the military. We did not hand-over. Ironsi told us that “you either hand over as gentlemen or you hand-over by force”. These were his words. Is that voluntary hand-over? So we did not hand-over. We wanted the Acting Prime Minister to be in place but Ironsi forced us, and I use the word force advisedly, to handover to him. He was controlling the soldiers.

 

The acting President, Nwafor Orizu, who did not cooperate with us, cooperated with the GOC. Dr. Orizu and the GOC prepared speeches which Nwafor Orizu broadcast handing over to the government of the country to the army. I here state again categorically as a member of that cabinet that we did not hand-over voluntarily. It was a coup.

11 dead in Gombi market blast – NEMA

Mr Halilu Kangiwa, the acting Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Adamawa, said 11 people lost their lives in Friday’s bomb blast in Gombi market.

Kangiwa told NAN on Sunday in Yola that 77 persons sustained injuries in the incident.
He said that out of the injured, 19 persons had been treated and discharged from the hospital.
“We now have 58 others with serious injuries undergoing treatment in hospitals in Gombi and Yola towns,” he said.

NAN recalls that a twin blast rocked the grain section of Gombi market, killed and injured people and destroyed substantial part of the market.

BREAKING! Twin bomb blast rock Maiduguri

Reports say Maiduguri, the Borno state capital has been bombed today, Monday, February 1, 2016.

Although details of the latest incident remain sketchy as at press time, a tweet by Sahara Reporters confirmed that the twin blasts occurred this morning.

Check out the tweet below:

FLASH: Twin blast reported in Maiduguri metropolis

This report is coming barely 24 hours after the Nigerian military reported that about 100 people had been killed following an attack by insurgents on Dalori village in Borno.

The Nigerian troops were also reported to have been battling the suspected Boko Haram terrorists as explosions and gunfire were heard in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on January 30.

Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari had on Sunday, January 31, 2016, lamented the recent spate of bombings in the country, stating that the insurgents were simply out to embarrass his administration.

He therefore asked Nigerians to remain calm and continue to be security conscious in the wake of the recent attacks by the terrorists.

Naira rises against USD on parallel market

 – Naira rises against the US Dollar.
 – The rise only recorded on the parallel market.
 – Scarcity of US Dollars remains problematic.

The Naira has risen marginally against the dollar on the parallel market despite the ongoing scarcity of the greenback.

The Central Bank of Nigeria removed its restrictions on commercial banks receiving and issuing forex on January 11 however the dollar remains scarce.

The Naira gained one point to exchange at N305 from N306 before.

On the official market, the Nigerian currency remains fixed by the CBN at N197 to the dollar and the central bank’s control is unlikely to be lifted soon.

However, traders operating on the parallel market said that the naira has remained stable, exchanging between N305 and N306 to the dollar, despite the recent fluctuations in global oil prices.

If you want to keep track of the issues and events that will effect the economy and the strength of the Naira, you can read our updates on the price of oil and the Naira – US Dollar exchange rate on the parallel market.
If you want a sneak peak, here’s one of our fantastic infographics on the naira and crude oil prices.

Niger Delta youths warn FG against scrapping maritime varsity

President Muhammadu Buhari

Some Niger Delta youths, under the aegis of Youth Coalition Force for Niger Delta, said they have petitioned the National Assembly over an alleged plan by the Federal Government to cancel the Nigerian Maritime University, sited at Okerenkoko, in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.
The move, according to the group, was in reaction to a recent statement credited to the Minister for Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, that there was a plan to scrap the Nigerian Maritime University.

The group said it was worried that since Amaechi made the statement on January 19 when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Maritime Transport, the Presidency had not said anything over the issue, confirming that Amaechi was speaking the mind of President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement on Monday by its spokesperson, Gabriel Godson-Ndinwa, YCFND said it found Amaechi’s statement not only embarrassing and humiliating but also to be a reflection of the “negative perspective of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on the Niger Delta Region.”

It urged Buhari to either disown Amaechi on the planned scrapping of the Nigerian Maritime University or be tagged “an anti-Niger Delta.”

It also urged the President to direct the acting Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Haruna Jauro, to immediately release the N2bn take-off grant which NIMASA had earlier approved for the university but which Jauro allegedly stopped by directing United Bank for Africa not to release the fund to the university.

It claimed that other institutions, such as Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State and the Federal University Kashere, Gombe State had already benefited from the take-off grant which was approved in the 2015 by the Federal Legislative Council and the Federal Government.