B’Haram attacks Adamawa village, kills 30

The members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect attacked Gaya village in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State in the early hours of Thursday.

Investigations revealed that the rampaging insurgents killed 30 indigenes of the community said to be located near the Sambisa Forest.

The insurgents were also said to have burnt several buildings in the community before fleeing the area.

The attack came shortly after the military liberated 11 communities from the insurgents. The military killed over 300 of the insurgents with several calibre of arms and ammunition seized from them on Tuesday.

Boko Haram releases new video, vows to disrupt polls

Militant Islamist sect, Boko Haram,   has vowed to disrupt the March 28 and April 11 elections.

“The elections will not be held even if we are dead. Even if we are not alive Allah will never allow you to do it,” the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, said in a new video on Tuesday evening.

The video appeared to be the first message released by the group on Twitter, a sign of its changing media tactics after previous messages were distributed to journalists on DVD.

Shekau was shown in unusual clarity in front of a solid blue background, dressed in black and with an automatic weapon resting to his right.

Despite the threat, experts doubt that the Islamist rebels have the capacity to disrupt voting nationwide, although election officials   concede that voting may be difficult in parts of the North-East, especially on March 28 .

Meanwhile, the United States will help Cameroon’s army secure equipment to fight Boko Haram, its embassy in Cameroon said on Wednesday .

Boko Haram fighters have killed and kidnapped thousands in a six-year insurgency in Nigeria and are stepping up cross-border attacks on neighbouring countries despite a major regional offensive against them.

In the latest strike, Boko Haram fighters ambushed an army patrol near the town of Waza in Cameroon this week and an intense gun battle ensued, killing five soldiers.

“My government is working on a logistic pipeline of material that will enhance Cameroon’s ability to defend itself from Boko Haram,” US Ambassador to Cameroon, Michael Stephen Hoza, said in a notice published in a Cameroonian newspaper on Wednesday.

He did not elaborate on what would be provided, saying only that it would be “equipment necessary to defend the country.”

Earlier this week, the commander of the US Special Forces operations in Africa pledged to help African nations in the fight against the group.

Maj. Gen. James Linder of the US army said Washington would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.

We’ve recaptured 11 towns, killed 300 insurgents – DHQ

The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, has said that troops of the Nigerian Army and personnel of the Air Force have killed over 300 fighters of the Boko Haram sect.

Olukolade said in a statement on Wednesday that the insurgents were killed during a combined operation of the Air Force and ground forces put in place to liberate 11 communities captured by the Boko Haram sect.

According to him, the communities liberated by the troops are Monguno, Gabchari, Abba Jabari, Gajigana, Gajiram, Damakar, Kumaliwa, Bosso Wanti, Jeram and Kabrisungul.

He said that troops had commenced a cordon and search operation in the areas involved in the latest operation.

He stated further that some of the terrorists and their weapons were captured by the troops.

Olukolade also said that the military captured “five different types of armoured fighting vehicles, an anti-aircraft gun, about 50 cases of packed bombs and eight different types of machine guns, five rocket-propelled grenade, 49 boxes of various types and calibres of ammunition, as well as 300 motorcycles destroyed in the fighting.

He added that “a total of six Hilux vehicles including those mounted with anti-aircraft guns were also destroyed.’

The Defence spokesman said that two soldiers lost their lives while ten others were wounded in the encounter with the terrorists.

Olukolade said that various phases of highly coordinated combined operation involving the Air Force and ground forces were ongoing in the mission area within and outside the country.

Meanwhile, about 30 civilians were killed when an unidentified airplane dropped a bomb on a Nigerian border village, military sources based nearby in Niger said on Wednesday.

“We don’t know whose plane it was. We understand that the victims are residents who were gathered for a ceremony but who were mistaken for terrorists,” said a military source based in the town of Bosso in Niger.

He added, “Around 30 people perished.”

Not Fewer Than 36 dead as explosions rock Biu again

There was multiple bomb explosions in Biu, the biggest town in south of the troubled Borno State on Tuesday, a resident of the town, Ibrahim Isah, said on the telephone.

Though details of the explosions remain sketchy as the extent of damages and number of casualty could not be ascertained on Tuesday afternoon, Isah said the incident occurred at about noon.

He insisted that it was massive and might have led to huge loss of lives.

A member of youth vigilante, who spoke on the condition of anonymity on the telephone to our correspondent, said the incident happened at a neighbourhood known as Yamarkumi along Maiduguri Road.

“There were three explosions in Yamarkumi here in Biu town. Many people have been affected; the casualty figure from what we are seeing now have surpassed that of the market suicide bombing that occurred on Thursday. Ambulances are rushing in and out for now. We will give you details later, “another health worker told our correspondent.

However, one medical source at the General Hospital, Biu told AFP that 36 people were killed while 20 were injured in the blast.

Effort to get a confirmation of the incident from the Police and military authorities failed. But a security source at the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, an Army captain, whose name could not be published as he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the matter had been reported and the military operatives were already embarking on a full scale action in the area.

Meanwhile, the Boko Haram insurgents have burnt down the palace of the Emir of Askira in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, the spokesman for the youth vigilante group, Jubrin Gunda, said on Tuesday.

Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone from Maiduguri, the state capital, Gunda said the palace was attacked by the insurgents on Sunday night.

He said during the Sunday’s attack the palace was razed by the sect’s fighters.

He lamented that after beating a retreat on Sunday, the insurgents came back to Askira on Monday morning to continue their reign of terror as they burnt down some other houses and killed many residents of the town.

He said, “As of now, I cannot tell you the number of people killed but all I can say is that the palace of the emir was razed on Sunday by the insurgents at night, they equally returned to burn more houses in the town on Monday morning.”

“At the moment, they are not in the town as they have fled back into the bushes and as such you cannot say the town was captured.

Boko Haram vows to disrupt polls

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed to disrupt Nigeria’s upcoming general elections in a new video released Tuesday, after two suicide attacks in the northeast blamed on the Islamists killed 38 people.

“This election will not be held even if we are dead. Even if we are not alive Allah will never allow you to do it,” Shekau said in the Hausa language, presumably referring to the polls scheduled for March 28.

The video appeared to be the first message released by the group on Twitter, a sign of its changing media tactics after previous messages were distributed to journalists on DVD.

Shekau was shown in unusual clarity in front of a solid blue background, dressed in black and with an automatic weapon resting to his right.

Nigeria’s general election had been scheduled for February 14 but was postponed by six weeks, with the security services saying they needed more time to contain the violence in the northeast, Boko Haram’s stronghold.

Despite Shekau’s threat, experts doubt that the Islamist rebels have the capacity to disrupt voting nationwide, although election officials have conceded that voting could prove impossible in parts of the northeast, especially by March 28, the new election day.

But the latest wave of attacks blamed on the rebels underscored the challenge facing Nigeria and its neighbours — Cameroon, Chad and Niger — despite claims of successes in the joint operation launched this month.

Niger police arrest 160 suspected Boko Haram militants

Authorities in the landlocked African nation of Niger have arrested 160 suspected Boko Haram militants allegedly involved in deadly attacks near that country’s border with Nigeria, a national police spokesman said Tuesday.

The arrests happened over the last two days in Niger’s Diffa region, which borders Nigeria. Those taken into custody include Kaka Bunu, who police spokesman Adil Doro said was “involved in the recruitment of (Boko Haram) members

Police begin 24-hour protection of schools in Sokoto

The Sokoto State Police Command said it had commenced a 24-hour patrol of all schools across the state to protect lives and property.

The Spokesman of the command, Mr Al-Mustapha Sani, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Sokoto.

“This is part of the sustainable and proactive measures by the command to ensure that all schools across the state are more secure.

“It is also to provide a conducive environment for effective teaching and learning in the schools,” Sani said.

He said the command had recently organised a seminar for school principals, headmasters and proprietors of private schools on the need for them to be security-conscious.

He said the seminar was also to sensitise them on the need to complement the efforts of the security agencies on how to ensure the security of members of their schools’ communities.

“They can also go a step further by engaging the personnel of reputable private security guards in this direction,” the police spokesman said.

He urged management of the schools to promptly report movement of any suspicious persons or groups in and out of their schools premises to the security agencies for immediate action.

Several wounded as B’Haram attack Cameroon army base

Boko Haram insurgents attacked a Cameroon military camp near the town of Waza in the north of the country on Monday, wounding several soldiers, an army spokesman said.

Chad, Niger and Cameroon have begun a joint offensive against Boko Haram militants who have killed thousands of people in a bid to carve out an Islamist emirate in northern Nigeria, and have increasingly staged raids across nearby borders.

“The wounded are being evacuated. The insurgents have been stopped. An APC (armoured personnel carrier) was taken from them and several of them were killed,” a Cameroonian military officer told journalists in Maroua, adding the incident was continuing.

Earlier this month, Boko Haram fighters killed more than 100 people in the northern Cameroon town of Fotokol, including residents inside their homes and a mosque, a local political leader said.

Police confirm 7 dead, 32 injured in Damaturu blast ON VALENTINES DAY

The Police in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, have confirmed that seven persons were killed on Sunday when a suspected female suicide bomber struck at a busy motor park

The Commissioner of Police, Marcus Danladi, who confirmed the casualty figure said 32 others sustained injuries and were evacuated to the main hospital in the town for treatment.

However, a rescue worker involved in the evacuation of victims of the blast said he counted ten corpses.

The staff, who declined to be quoted because he is not permitted to talk on the matter, also said 56 persons were injured and were taken to the hospital.

The female suicide bomber was reportedly dropped off by a lone male driver at the motor park which is also located near a market.

Suicide attack by young girls have been on the rise, especially in Kano, Borno, Yobe and Gombe states.

Recently, a young girl who failed to detonate her explosive vest in Kano informed the police that she was handed over to members of the Boko Haram sect by her parent for the suicide mission.

Nigerian Military retakes Monguno, other communities from Boko Haram

Nigerian troops fighting the insurgent group, Boko Haram, have reclaimed the town of Monguno and other communities in the North East after nearly two days of fighting.

Boko Haram carried out a pre-dawn attack on Monguno, which is about 137 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital over two weeks ago.

The takeover of Monguno and other communities brought Boko Haram closer to Maiduguri and the Army successfully repelled the insurgents’ attempts to get into Maiduguri.

GOSSIPERS MAGAZINE had Saturday reported how the Nigerian security forces launched a huge military campaign to retake a swath of territory in the North East seized by the terror group.

In a tweet Monday, the Nigerian Defence Headquarters said “Operations to Clear Terrorists From #MONGUNO and Other Communities Successful”.

The spokesperson of the DHQ, Chris Olukolade, in a statement also said, “troops in a military operation spearheaded by highly coordinated air assaults have completed the mission of clearing terrorists from Monguno and environs this morning”.

Mr. Olukolade, a Major General, also said a number of terrorists as well as truckloads of rice, beans and other logistics meant for resupply to the terrorists operating around Baga have been captured in the course of the operation.

“Casualty inflicted and arms recovered as well as other outcome of the operation in Munguno, Marte and other communities already secured, will be determined after the ongoing cordon and search in the environs,” he said.

He added that the air and land operation is continuing in the area of operation with aggressive advance towards other designated communities and locations meant to be cleared in the ongoing offensive against the terrorists.

The operation to recapture Monguno and 14 other territories held by Boko Haram kicked off February 14 as announced by the military a week ago – the major reason the security services gave for their demand that presidential and National Assembly elections, earlier billed for that day, be delayed.

Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and the military chiefs had warned that they could not guarantee security if the elections went ahead as planned.

According to details referred to by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the military was planning sweeping onslaught against Boko Haram starting February 14, and did not want a distraction.

The military assured that the six-week extension, which will allow time for the operations, will significantly turn the tide in the war against Boko Haram, a pledge re-affirmed by President Goodluck Jonathan during a televised media chat on Wednesday.

Security sources had told GOSSIPERS MAGAZINE of a massive deployment of troops and military assets, many of them newly-acquired, in the fight to re-take Monguno.

The operation, our sources said, was being personally led by L.O Adeosun, the General Officer Commanding of the Maiduguri-based 7th Battalion and the Commander of the 5 Brigade, Munguno, a Brigadier general Udoh, Mr. Adeosun, a Major General, was recently posted to Borno after the loss of Baga and Munguno to Boko Haram.

Military jets bombard Boko Haram militants in Gombe

The Nigerian military has launched airstrikes on suburbs of Gombe town as soldiers and police battled Boko Haram insurgents who attacked the town early Saturday, residents have said.
Fighting continued Saturday noon as Air Force jets targeted areas raided by the militants outside Gombe city.
The terrorists had attacked Lubo and Dadinkowa villages, some 32km from Gombe town, before heading for capital city.
A resident, Mallam Hassan, told GOSSIPERS MAGAZINE on phone that “we’ve all rushed back to our homes now. Our town is under attack; we heard that Boko Haram terrorists, in their hundreds, are trying to invade the town”.
“Everywhere is quiet now, but the sounds of shooting and explosion is deafening. We hear the soldiers are battling to stop them”.
Another resident said soldiers and police confronted the sect members in Linji village, on the outskirts of Gombe.
A resident, Ahmed Hamza, told GOSSIPERS MAGAZINE that some young men from Dadin Kowa town earlier informed him that the sect members ‎were attacking their town.
“We can hear sounds of gunshots from a distance and everybody has gone indoors now,” he said.
Another source who declined to be named for security reasons also said the insurgents headed towards the Army Barracks along Dadin Kowa road when the Nigerian Army troop engaged them while a detachment of mobile police officers provided back up.
The spokesperson of the Police in the state, Fwaje Atajiri, could not be reached for comments at time of this report.
The Boko Haram terrorist group has repeatedly attacked the town bombing bus stations and other locations.
Saturday’s attack is coming less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck in the city shortly after President Goodluck Jonathan campaigned.
Mr. Jonathan was in Gombe for a rally that February 2, when a female suicide bomber struck shortly after the campaign train departed.
The female suicide bomber and a passer-by died in the attack, while six persons were injured, the police said at the time.
In December, the Nigerian military said it killed 67 of the insurgents, who, in a convoy of over 30 vehicles and motorcycles, were on a mission to capture Ashaka, another Gombe town, the host community of Ashaka Cement Plant.
The defence headquarters, which admitted losing 10 soldiers in the battle, said troops got intelligence report on their mission and laid ambush for them.

Assailants hurl two grenades at police in Kenya

Anonymous assailants on Friday evening hurled two hand grenades at police officers on patrol in Wajir town in northern Kenya but missed their target.
Wajir County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia said the assailants hurled the grenades at the officers who were on a normal night patrol in the town center around Equity Bank, but no one was injured in the incident which occurred at around 8 p.m. local time.
Shisia said the five police officers responded immediately where there was fierce exchange of fire that lasted 10 minutes.
“Luckily no officer was injured in the incident as they responded swiftly. The assailants also managed to escape on foot,” the government administrator told Xinhua by telephone.
He said the motive of the attackers was to injure or even kill the police officers before stealing their firearms or breaking into the bank to steal money.
“We have launched investigations into the matter. We are optimistic of arresting these people because we believe they are just in our midst,” he said.
Late last year, two people were killed in the same town and several others left with injuries when unknown assailants opened fire at patrons who were enjoying themselves at a local bar.
The latest Wajir incident came just a week after another hand grenade was hurled by unknown assailants at a food kiosk in Mandera town, northeastern Kenya. Several people were injured in the incident.
Insecurity in northern Kenya has been a thorn in the flesh of the government as it grapples to find a lasting solution to it.
The insecurity problem has made nonlocal teachers working in the region refuse to go back and demanded to be transferred.
The East African nation continues to suffer several attacks as terrorists change tuck to beat heightened security and carry on with their heinous acts undetected.
In the recent past, there have been numerous attacks involving shootings, grenades, or other explosive devices in Kenya in addition to the attacks described above.
Most of these attacks occurred in northern part of the country while several attacks also occurred along the coast.

Osun closes two schools over public disturbance

Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, Osun Deputy Governor, has ordered the closure of Government Technical College, Osogbo, and Osogbo High School, indefinitely over disturbances by the students.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that some students of Government Technical College, Osogbo and Osogbo High School embarked on a protest on Thursday.
This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Lawrence Oyeniran, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education.
The statement said that the closure was to curtail any further disturbances in the Schools.
It advised parents and guardians to warn their children and wards to stay away from acts capable of causing public disturbance.
“While the closure is being effected, parents and guardians are advised to warn their children and wards to desist from acts that are capable of causing public disorder in the two schools and beyond.
“Consequently, security agencies have been directed to take charge of the two schools and maintain peace,” it said.
The statement further said that activities of few Students had led to wanton destruction of valuable property in Osogbo High School running into millions of Naira.

Al-Qaeda suspects kill Yemen air force pilot

Al-Qaeda suspects shot dead a Yemeni military pilot in the south Friday, a day after militants launched a deadly attack on an army base and seized heavy weaponry, officials said.

“Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire at air force Colonel Mahmoud al-Naqib, killing him instantly,” an official in the southern province of Lahij told AFP, adding that the assailants fled.

The attack was carried out by militants “suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda,” the official added.

Farther east on the border between the provinces of Marib and Shabwa, troops of the 119th Infantry Brigade which was attacked on Thursday by Al-Qaeda handed over their remaining arms to local tribes and withdrew from the area, local officials said.

Twelve soldiers and 15 militants were killed as Al-Qaeda seized the brigade’s camp at Baihan in Shabwa province and captured armour and heavy weaponry, a military official said.

Another official said the jihadists took “30 tanks, 90 military vehicles, 25 armoured vehicles and 28 artillery pieces”.

The militants later handed over the camp to tribes but kept the heavy weapons, officials said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), considered by Washington as the jihadist network’s most dangerous branch, has accused the troops of links with the Shiite militiamen ruling Sanaa.

AQAP frequently attacks both Yemeni security forces and Western targets.

Long on the front line of the war against Al-Qaeda, Yemen has descended into chaos since Shiite militiamen known as Huthis seized Sanaa in September and later ousted the government.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that Yemen was “collapsing before our eyes” as several countries shut their embassies in Sanaa and evacuated their staff.

Yemen’s Sunni-dominated neighbour Saudi Arabia was the latest to evacuate staff from its Sanaa mission on Friday, citing a “deteriorating security and political situation.

Explosion kills many in Borno town, Biu

A deadly explosion from a bomb that went off in a crowded market in Biu, the largest town in Southern Borno state, has killed many, witnesses said.

The witnesses said injured persons and corpses were being evacuated to hospital at the time of this report.

Today is market day in Biu, about 185km away from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

It is the first major attack on the town in a long time.

A member of the Civilian Joint Task Force helping to evacuate injured ‎persons said many people were killed in the attack.

Another witness, Abdullahi Biu, who is also a member of the Civilian-JTF said “We cannot say how many people got killed here because they are many. And so many people are also injured.”.

He said the hospital in Biu has run short of blood to administer on injured ones who he said “lost too much blood”.

“We are trying to mobilise people to go and volunteer as blood donors in the hospital. There are lots of bodies, some shredded beyond recognition,” he said.

Meanwhile, some youths of the All Progressives Congress in Biu have reportedly taken to the streets of Biu, vandalising PDP flags and alleging that their town came under attack‎ because Peoples Democratic Party’s politicians, led by former governor Ali Modu Sheriff and the partys deputy governorship candidate, who incidentally is from Biu town, were billed to campaign there Friday.

The explosion occurred less than a month after the Nigerian military killed at least 42 insurgents, including 15 Chadians, as it repelled attack on the town.

The insurgents had descended on the town on January 14 but were effectively repelled by the military, which recovered two anti-aircraft guns and captured a number of the terrorists.

Boko Haram militants had largely been kept out of Biu through the combined efforts of the military and youth of the town.
The terrorist group has seized towns in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. The latest seizure was Monguno and Baga, where numerous people, including soldiers, were killed.

Nigeria holds national and state elections in March and April and some Nigerians believe the heightened terrorist attacks on the northeast is to frustrate efforts by the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct elections in the area.

Soldiers invade Sambisa Forest

The military has commenced an operation in   Sambisa Forest in Borno State to flush out   Boko Haram insurgents.

The forest is widely believed to   host   some of the training camps and facilities of   Boko Haram in the North-East.

It was learnt that the military high command decided to invade the vast forest in order to make the North-West safe for the general elections.

A reliable source in the Army told one of our correspondents in Abuja   that   Air Force jets started the raid on Monday. He added that surveillance activities and raids were also ongoing as of the time he spoke on Wednesday.

The source, who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak on the development, said that massive ground operation would follow the aerial operations .

He said, “The military started an operation in the Sambisa Forest on Monday. For now, there are no specific cases of arrest; we don’t have that information now. The Air Force has been operating in the area since Monday. It is after that that the ground troops who are on red alert would be moved in.”

Also, a source close to an office strategic to the operations   said   that a lot of activities were going on simultaneously in the forest and other parts of the North-East believed to host Boko Haram camps.

He explained that the military was combing the   forest because of intelligence reports that some of the insurgents who were dislodged from some   communities in the North- East were moving back to the forest.

The Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, could not be reached for   comments on the raids as   calls to his mobile did not connect.

Meanwhile, 800   children from areas affected by insurgency in Adamawa State   are currently undergoing psychotherapy in the state.

Executive Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education, Bello Furo, who made this known explained that the psychotherapy was to minimise the trauma faced by the children whose   parents were either gunned down or slaughtered by Boko Haram insurgents.

He said,   “The process will take some time because most of the parents were slaughtered before their children.

“Right now, they do not have anybody to cater for them; they   lost their parents as a result of the insurgency.”

Also in the state on Wednesday, the wife of the All Progressives Congress   presidential candidate, Aisha Buhari   donated drugs worth N135m to   Internally Displaced Persons   in Damare.

Aisha, who   said   that it was unfortunate that the IDPs were refugees in their own country, showed   sympathy and   asked them to be steadfast in their prayers for   peace to return to the country, especially the North-East.

Meanwhile,   Boko Haram   fighters attacked Chadian army positions in Gamboru, Borno State on Wednesday but were beaten back.

The Chadian troops are in Gamboru as part of a regional offensive against the islamist sect, which had   staged several cross-border attacks over the past week.

“We knew they were going to attack us. We were waiting. The battle didn’t last long. They fled,” a Chadian soldier said.

He said that eight of his colleaques were wounded while three   Boko Haram vehicles were destroyed and one seized.

The   Chadian Army later   said in a statement that   13 Boko Haram fighters and a soldier lost their lives during the attack.

Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Wednesday in Diffa, Niger Republic, a day after mortars and machine-gun shots were   heard in N’Guigmi on the country’s border with Nigeria.

The town lies near Lake Chad, around 100 kilometres east of Diffa.

Egyptian league suspended indefinitely

The Egyptian council of ministers has decided to put on hold the league season to an unnamed date, supersport.com can report.

At least 22 people have been officially confirmed dead following clashes between the supporters of Zamalek and Egyptian police in Cairo before a Premier League match on Sunday.

The Egyptian Football Association has decided to play the rest of the league season behind closed doors but the council of ministers after its meeting on Sunday night ordered the suspension of the league till further notice.

"We held a meeting with the Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim and recommended to the EFA to put the league on hold and we will decide when the league will start again," the Egyptian council of ministers spokesman Hossam Qawish said.

"We send our condolence to the families of the victims and promise to open investigation into the accident."

In 2012, at least 74 persons were killed when violence broke out in Port Said following a league game between Al Masry and Al Ahly. The incident led to the Egyptian top flight being suspended for more than one year.

In that same year, the Egyptian FA offices were also burned down by angry fans protesting the decision of the football body to resume league matches when the offenders of the Port Said incident had not been brought to book.

Egypt FA bars fans from league games

 

The Egyptian Football Association has announced that it has taken the decision to close the stadium to the fans for the rest of 2014/15 league season.

The decision comes in the wake of the death of 22 people before the Zamalek and ENPPI match due to clashes between Zamalek fans and policemen.

The Egyptian football governing body allowed fans to attend matches starting from the second round of the Egyptian league last week after months of behind-closed door matches due to the violence that led to the death of at least 74 people, mostly Al Ahly fans, in Port Said in 2012.

After an extraordinary meeting held on Sunday night, the Egypt FA decided that all league matches be played behind closed doors for the rest of this season.

"We held a meeting and decided no more fans in the Egyptian competitions after the sad events," EFA board member Mahmoud Al Shami said.

The Egypt FA is still awaiting a decision from the country's government on the latest football violence that has claimed 22 lives.

Edo: Inside story of killings, inter-cult clashes in Ekpoma

 

Whenever folks gather to talk about killing fields in Nige­ria, Borno, Yobe and Ad­amawa states easily come to mind. In recent past, Jos, the Plateau State capital assumed the inglorious po­sition as the most notorious city to live in Nigeria. Scores of deaths were recorded every day. A city once acclaimed to be calm and peaceful became Nigeria’s ver­sion of Iraq and Afghanistan. For now, the killings appear to have abated. Unknown to many, there is a town called Ekpoma, located in Edo State, South-south Nige­ria where there is a raging war of a kind. Those engaged in this bloodbath are not terrorists or militants; they are students, farmers and artisans in the community. For keen observers who have followed the blood orgy, cultism in the historic town has been taken too far.
Ekpoma town is the second most popu­lar city in Edo State, after Benin City, the state capital. It has an area of 502 km² and a population of 125,842, according to the 2006 census. The popular Ambrose Alli University (AAU) is situated in the town. It also boasts of notable Nigerians and heavy­weight politicians. The main language spo­ken by indigenes is Esan. Pidgin is equally very popular and has become the lingua franca in the town. The town accommodates strangers from every part of the country and they live happily together in peace.
However, that peace has come under se­vere threats by sons of anarchy who have turned the place to a war zone. The endless cult clashes have resulted in the death of hundreds of students and locals. The situa­tion has so degenerated that the community becomes a ghost town after 8pm every day, for fear of being raped, robbed, murdered or attacked by cultists. In Ekpoma, everyone now sleeps with one eye wide open.
The genesis
Violent clashes between rival cult groups in Ekpoma is as old as the university in the town, AAU. Until the mid 1990s when stu­dents of the university had a running battle with the military and scores of students were killed, cultism was regarded as something reserved for the misfits of the society. Af­ter the military massacre that claimed over 100 lives of students, various cult groups embarked on massive membership drive. Freshmen were initiated, while old students were sometimes blackmailed to enlist. Since then, the university community and the en­tire Ekpoma town has lost its peace.
Since the late 1990s, there has not been any semester that students are not massa­cred or engaged in inter-cult battle. At some point, some of the killings happened within the university campus. Vice chancellors and deans of students at different times, tried endlessly to mediate. Sometimes, they suc­ceeded; at other times, they failed. During those mediation meetings, the vice chancel­lors, the dean of students, the police DPO and leaders of various leaders of the cult groups stayed up through the nights. A pop­ular spot located opposite the famous Igbin­edion Hostel inside the university campus, was the meeting point.
In its drive to stem the endless killings back then, the university authority backed the formation of Anti-Cult Campaign Or­ganisation of Nigeria (ACCON). In its first few years, the group succeeded in waging coordinated war against cult-related ac­tivities in the university. Things, however, changed when some daredevil cult members launched an early morning attack on the base of ACCON in 2003 and killed eight of its members. Thereafter, cultists infiltrated the group and weakened its structure. Since then, it has lost its valour and it has been unable to tackle cultism in the university. Observers and students believe the anti-cult group is now being run by cultists. In which instance, the devil thrives unchecked.
The new trend
In Ekpoma, it is difficult to tell who is a cultist. The whole town has become a tap­estry of cultists. Membership of cult groups is no longer a special privilege enjoyed by students of AAU. Locals are the new bosses. Mechanics, farmers, electricians, okada rid­ers and other artisans/technicians have en­listed and the war is raging. A former student of the university, Ehichioya (last name with­held), who runs a barber shop in the town sat down with our correspondent and gave graphical details of how cultism has eaten deep into every fabric of life in Ekpoma. He equally spoke on series of coordinated killings in the area and how police appear to have been compromised.
“In Ekpoma, it is a crime to be law-abiding”, he began. “I have spent all my life in this town. I am in my early 30s, so I can tell you I understand how this town works. I am very scared and many too in this town are scared. There is too much lawlessness going on here and those that should ensure there is peace are doing nothing. It is so bad that parents can no longer tell their children what to do. It might not be as bad as Boko Haram in the North, but we are in real trouble.
“In the past, only few students were members of popular cult groups. I remember then as a kid how students used to block the express lane when they were protesting. I also remember how cult members used to clash and kill them­selves. But the school authority was quick to intervene then. Things really got bad when a certain vice chancellor took over in 2004. He destroyed students union activism and started fraternising with cult members and holding meetings with them. That action gave some sort of backing to those boys. Because they knew they were not going to be arrested, they started recruiting and initiating more members. This new relationship between cult members and the vice chan­cellor gave rise to cult activities.
“Before you knew it, cult boys started fighting inside the campus. Soon, they took over the Students’ Union Gov­ernment (SUG). They started insisting on sponsoring their members that will form part of SUG. Before you could say jack, SUG officials started joining cult groups. It became an unwritten rule that you must belong to a known cult group before you could be elected as president of SUG. As I speak, that rule is still there. Most SUG members in AAU are cult members and the current vice chancellor is helpless.”
Aluya spoke further: “Now, it is different. What we have in Ekpoma is now street cultism. All sort of people are join­ing cult groups. Today, mechanics are even joining cult groups. Sometimes, when you take your car to a local me­chanic in Ekpoma, you see something very strange. When a mechanic goes under your car, you see a gun attached to his trousers. He openly wears his band or cap which displays the cult group he belongs to. That is how far they have taken cultism in Ekpoma. Okada men threaten you and openly tell you that they belong to a cult group and nothing will happen to them.
“Secondary school students have started joining cults now. Some carry guns to school and this is very common in public schools. So, by the time these boys get to the univer­sity, cultism becomes a child’s play to them. They see cult­ism as a lucrative venture and many young people are lured to join. Some of them have become armed robbers. They lay siege along the highway and even attack private homes at night. Go to Iruekpen, Ujemen, Eguare, Ihumudumu and all small towns and villages in Ekpoma. It is the same story. Cultism has gone to the streets.”
There is a particular hotel in Ujemen owned by a former chairman of the local government. That hotel is the new den of robbers in Ekpoma. Cult wars start and end in that hotel. Only on Christmas day, some group of cult boys stabbed a 22-year-old boy to death. Prior to that ugly incident, a simi­lar case was reported of how another young man was shot dead in the same hotel.
Armed robbery attacks in Ekpoma
In 2011, some dare-devil robbers, suspected to be stu­dents of AAU, launched a daylight attack in one of the new generation banks. Lives were wasted and millions of Naira carted away. According to eyewitnesses, the robbers spent over two hours and police officers in the area were chased away. “It was a gory experience and something I wish I could erase from my memory. What really surprised me on that fateful day was how a young lady mounted the main road and chased policemen away,” one of the eyewitnesses recalled.
During that deadly attack that changed a lot of things in the town, the assailants stormed the town with a juju man and dynamites. The entrance to the building was bombed and sporadic gunshots were fired. There were series of other high-profile bank robberies in the town within the period. Angered by the refusal of Edo State government to act swift­ly, all the commercial banks in the town closed down opera­tions for over six months. Residents were forced to carry out their bank transactions in Benin City, Uromi or Auchi. After series of pleas and interventions from stakeholders, banks in the area reopened, but only work half day for fear of being attacked again by robbers.
“I remember that day those robbers came to Ekpoma. It was like a war situation. A girl operating a salon opposite the bank was killed by a stray bullet. Policemen were chased way. Even military guys were scared to engage the robbers. For over two hours, they operated freely and held the town hostage. Before that major robbery, the town had witnessed other robbery attacks. Banks were always targeted and peo­ple were even scared to go to the banks. The sad thing is that, we all know how this thing started and since everyone has been compromised, no one can bring an end to this mad­ness,” Aluya spoke briefly on robbery attacks in the town.
There is another fear silently expressed by residents and natives of the town as the country prepares for the general elections. It is an established fact that elections in Ekpoma are among the most violent in the country. Snatching of bal­lot boxes and harassment of voters are common occurrences in the area. With the proliferation of arms in the town and the secret backing of some candidates by known cult groups, violence might break out in Ekpoma and spill over to other neighbouring towns and villages.

Nyanya bomb blast: Nigerian government files 7-count charge against 7 suspects

The Federal Government on Friday filed a seven-count terrorism charges at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against seven people arrested in connection with the April 14, 2014 Nyanya bus station bomb blast.
The accused were arrested by security agents following investigations into the bombing which killed at least 75 persons and wounded many others.
The seven accused persons were: Aminu Ogwuche (alleged mastermind earlier arrested in Sudan and repatriated to Nigeria); Ahmad Abubakar; Mohammed Ishaq; Ya’uSaidu, Anas Isah, Adamu Yusuf and Nasiru Abubakar.
Count one read that the accused persons “conspired to commit an act of terrorism by driving a Volkswagen Golf car laden with improvised explosive devices and parking same at the motor park which was later detonated and killed about 75 innocent persons and wounded several others.”
According to the prosecution, the offence is contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013, punishable under the same section.
Counts 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, relate to their “committing terrorism act, professing to be members of Boko Haram, access to information about the group and failing to inform security agents about them.”
The four counts contravene Section 1 (2) (a), Section 16, Section 8 (a), (b) of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013, punishable under the same sections, accordingly.
Count 6 specifically accuses Ogwuche of “knowingly and directly supporting and giving various sums of money at different times and places in Abuja to widows of Boko Haram members.”
Count 7 accuses Ogwuche also of “carrying out surveillance and identifying Silver Bird Galleria and other locations in Abuja as potential targets of terrorist attacks.”
The two counts contravene the provisions of Section 5(b) and Section 1 (2) (b) of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013, punishable under the same sections, accordingly.
Earlier at Friday’s mentioning of the case, Mohammed Diri, the Director of Public Prosecution, Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, said the prosecution was ready to proceed with the case.
Mr. Diri also made an oral application to strike out the name of the 8th accused person, now at large, from the charge sheet and correct the spelling of the second accused person’s name.
The trial judge, Ahmed Mohammed, in a brief ruling, granted the application and directed five of the accused who were not represented by counsel to get lawyers before their formal arraignment.
Ahmed Raji and Abdulhameed Mohammed were the only lawyers who represented the first and fifth accused respectively, while the other five accused persons had no legal representation.
The judge adjourned the case till February 20 to enable the accused persons without counsel to get counsel of their choice and come back for their arraignment.