Nigeria army captures Boko Haram commander, rescues 178 abductees

<div style="text-align: justify;"> The Nigerian military said Sunday it had   rescued 178 people from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in northern Borno state.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> According to a BBC report, the army said in a statement  that 101 of those freed were children and a further 67 were women.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The statement did not say if the girls abducted from a school in Chibok in April 2014 were among them.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The military also said that a Boko Haram commander was captured and several camps were cleared.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Boko Haram has killed some 5,500 civilians in Nigeria since 2014.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> More than 200 of the Chibok girls are still missing, more than a year after they were kidnapped from their school in northern Nigeria. Many of those seized are Christians.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Last October, the government said it had secured an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of the girls </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> taken from Chibok, but Boko Haram subsequently denied this. Parents of the Chibok girls have been campaigning for their release for more than a year</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The abduction of the girls in Chibok sparked global outrage with many joining a campaign online to free them using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Several nations including the US and China vowed to help find them and there have been reported sightings of the girls, but none has been found to date.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> At least 2,000 women and girls abducted by Boko Haram since the start of 2014, according to the human rights organisation Amnesty International.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Boko Haram’s insurgency, and the army campaign against it, have killed more than 15,500 people since 2012. The violence has recently spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Boko Haram at a glance </div> <ul class="story-body__unordered-list" style="text-align: justify;"> <li class="story-body__list-item">Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education – Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language</li> <li class="story-body__list-item">Launched military operations in 2009</li> <li class="story-body__list-item">Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls</li> <li class="story-body__list-item">Joined Islamic State, now calls itself “West African province”</li> <li class="story-body__list-item">Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate</li> <li class="story-body__list-item">Regional force has retaken most territory this year</li> </ul> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div>

Nigeria army captures Boko Haram commander, rescues 178 abductees

The Nigerian military said Sunday it had   rescued 178 people from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in northern Borno state. Accor...

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G7: France, Canada, Germany back Buhari on fight against Boko Haram

<div style="text-align: justify;"> President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Elmau at the G-7 summit, Germany,  reaffirmed his administration’s total commitment to ending Boko Haram’s insurgency in the shortest time possible. This is containded in a news release issued by the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the President, Malam Garba Shehu.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_528674" style="text-align: justify; width: 310px;"> <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Germany-7.jpg"><img alt="Germany 7: President Muhammadu Buhari in a group picture at the Munich residence. In the picture are Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalgn of Ethiopia, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia, Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Ban ki Moon, Minister-President of the State of Bavaria, Mr Horst Seehofer, Chairperson AU commission, Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, President of World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim and others." class="size-medium wp-image-528674" height="200" src="http://cdn2.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/300x200xGermany-7-300x200.jpg.pagespeed.ic.OmcvXsVWnl.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text"> Germany 7: President Muhammadu Buhari in a group picture at the Munich residence. In the picture are Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalgn of Ethiopia, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia, Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Ban ki Moon, Minister-President of the State of Bavaria, Mr Horst Seehofer, Chairperson AU commission, Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, President of World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim and others.</div> <div class="wp-caption-text"> <br /></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The release said Buhari made the pledge at a meeting with President Francois Hollande of France after his participation in Monday’s G-7 Outreach Programme. According to the release, Buhari said that Nigeria will welcome greater support and cooperation from France and other friendly nations for its ongoing efforts to overcome Boko Haram and restore normalcy to areas affected by the group’s atrocities.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The President said at the G-7 that his administration was already taking concrete action to build a more efficient and effective coalition of Nigeria and neighbouring countries against Boko Haram. Nigeria, he said, would appreciate more intelligence on the terrorist group’s links with ISIS, movements, training and its sources of arms and ammunition.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> This, according to him, is to facilitate the perfection of fresh tactics and strategies being evolved to overcome terrorism and insurgency in the country and its sub-region. Buhari reiterated at the G-7 that there was absolutely no link between religion and the atrocities of Boko Haram.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “There is clearly no religious basis for the actions of the group. “Their atrocities show that members of the group either do not know God at all or they don’t believe in Him,” Buhari said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> In his remarks, President Hollande commended President Buhari’s concerted efforts to galvanize Nigeria’s armed forces, security agencies and neighouring countries for more decisive action to eradicate Boko Haram. The French leader assured Buhari at the G-7 that France would give Nigeria and its coalition partners greater support against terrorism and insecurity, including military and intelligence cooperation.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He said the support was to help them to overcome the security challenge posed by Boko Haram and its global terrorist allies as quickly as possible. He also called for greater bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in other areas including trade, economic and cultural relations.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The release added that Buhari also received similar pledges of enhanced support from Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and Chancellor Angela Merkel who he also conferred with before departing from the venue of the G-7 2015 Summit. The President is due back in Abuja early Tuesday.</div>

G7: France, Canada, Germany back Buhari on fight against Boko Haram

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Elmau at the G-7 summit, Germany,  reaffirmed his administration’s total commitment to ending Bok...

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Boko Haram dares new govt: Suicide bomber lures scores with Buhari campaign songs, kills them

<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, barely one week ago, specifically May 29, 2015, Borno State, particularly Maiduguri, the state capital, has witnessed sustained attacks by insurgents. Buhari had said at the inauguration that the nation’s military command was being moved to Borno, the hotbed of Boko Haram, to end the insurgency.</div> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_528171" style="text-align: justify; width: 300px;"> <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/babo.jpg"><img alt="President Buhari" class="size-medium wp-image-528171" height="300" src="http://cdn2.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/290x300xbabo-290x300.jpg.pagespeed.ic.rWzduvgcji.jpg" width="290" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text"> President Buhari</div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> But barely 24 hours after the swearing-in of the new administration, Boko Haram launched the first invasion. The May 30 attack came at about 12:30am when residents were asleep. The insurgents reportedly drove in a convoy of vehicles and motorcycles laden with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), rocket grenades and anti-aircraft guns.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> They entered Malari village, killed 15 residents and wounded 19 others in Bulunkutu Tsaleke, Gomari and Ajilari wards.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The killings, according to Ibrahim Yakubu of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), were caused by the insurgents’ sporadic gunshots, explosions and shelling on the wards that commenced from 12.35-2.45am that Saturday. “We were shocked about how these areas were targeted by Boko Haram last night. Among those killed were five children and two women sleeping in the open because of heat in their houses,” said Yakubu.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He said the insurgents, after entering Malari through the northeast flank of Sambisa forest on dirt road, crossed River Ngadabul to launch their attacks on the communities. “The militants could not enter Maiduguri metropolis because of the trenches we dug that made their vehicles to get stuck. But they wreaked havoc on lives and property in the affected communities”, said the vigilante youth.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The extent of damage to lives and property could have been much higher if the Boko Haram gunmen had crossed the trenches”. Confirming the incident in Maiduguri, a source close to Borno Police Command said some residents of Gomari, Bulunkutu Tsaleke and Ajilari wards of Malari were killed in the attacks. “We are still collating the fatalities in the attacks, but 19 people have been hospitalized for injuries they sustained from gunshots and artillery fire that lasted over two hours in western part of Maiduguri metropolis,” said the source.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <strong>Mosque killings</strong></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Later that Saturday, a suicide bomber sneaked into a mosque along Ali Kotoko Road, near Maiduguri Monday Market leaving 26 dead and 28 critically injured. A security source who assisted in the evacuation of victims said the incident took place at about 3:45pm when Muslim faithful gathered to perform their La,asar prayers.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “A bomb blast exploded at the Adam Kolo Central Mosque along Ali Kotoko Road of Maiduguri Monday Market (MMM) during an afternoon prayer, and killed 26 people with about 28 critically injured on Saturday”, said Mallam Abba Shukura who was among those evacuating the victims. “I can confirm to you that many people in the mosque were killed or injured.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The mosque explosion, according to Modu Fugu of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), occurred when the prayer session was about to commence at about 3.25pm with dozens of people in the mosque. “We were terrified by the loud explosion that rocked the mosque near the bicycle sellers market and other shops. Worshippers fled to safety. But many were killed or injured,” Fugu stated.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Hamidu Isa, a shop owner near the mosque, told our correspondent that an IED had been hidden in a corner of the mosque in the morning before the suicide bomber came to detonate it at about 3.30pm”. Borno Police Command confirmed the mosque blast.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <strong>Grains looted</strong></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Boko Haram gunmen, same day, attacked Fika and Ngalda in Yobe State; and torched several public buildings, telecom masts, houses and shops, before fleeing into Sambisa Forest. The insurgents, according to a resident, Mainasara Ali, looted several shops and barns of grains. Fika and Ngalda are farming and herding communities, and 155 kilometres and 176 kilometres respectively southwest of Damaturu, the state capital.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “We were taken by surprise by the attacks on our houses and shops by the insurgents desperately looking for food to survive in the forest, but they did not kill any of our people. All our shops and barns were looted by the gunmen who also destroyed council offices and health centre, south of the central market,” said Ali. He said the insurgents chanted ‘God is great’ in Arabic before torching the public buildings in the towns.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> According to him, most of the houses of local officials in Fika and Ngalda were also burnt that night. “We will continue to fight whosoever identifies with government which we consider anti-Islam. We will not relent or surrender until we impose Sharia Law in Nigeria”, Ali quoted one of the insurgents as saying.</div> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_528177" style="text-align: justify; width: 310px;"> <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/boka.jpg"><img alt="Boko Haram" class="size-medium wp-image-528177" height="188" src="http://cdn2.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/300x188xboka-300x188.jpg.pagespeed.ic.vN_rdMDurJ.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text"> Boko Haram</div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Another resident, Ali Fika, said:  “Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday evening attacked Ngalda in Fika Local Government Area and razed the council secretariat, High Court complex, before looting shops and barns of grains which they carted away in their tracks.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He said the insurgents, before embarking on the massive destruction, engaged soldiers at a military post. Our correspondent also learnt that several vehicles and motorcycles were set ablaze during the two-hour attack.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <strong>Sporadic shooting</strong></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Chairman of Fika Local Government Council, Alhaji Baba Abare, who confirmed the incident, said: “The militants came to the two towns shooting sporadically to scare people away so as to have ample opportunity for their looting”. He said they targeted shops and looted food items as well as beverages but no life was lost during the assault.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Yobe State police commissioner, Mr. Markus Danladi, who declined comment on the violence, said the Military Joint Task Force was the only body authorised to speak on the matter. Fika and Ngalda have repeatedly suffered Boko Haram assault since the commencement of the insurgency as the communities share common border with Gujba and Gulani Council Areas captured by the militant group and liberated few months ago.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The suspected Boko Haram insurgents in the post-Buhari inauguration era continued on Sunday, May 31 when an IED, planted at the Gambouru Market, Maiduguri, exploded, injuring four people. Eyewitnesses said one insurgent detonated the explosive, around 1.30 p.m at the peak of market hours. One of them said: “The bomb was buried in a heap of sacks at a spot where charcoal merchants have their stalls.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The explosion did not kill any one but injured four persons. One of the victims had his arm completely ripped off by the blast. “An insurgent could have planted this explosive device last night, when curfew was relaxed to 10pm from 7pm to celebrate Democracy Day in Maiduguri. Also, we suspect that the suicide bomber that blew himself at the market mosque of Adam Kolo might have collaborated with the suspected bomber of Gambouru Market that injured four traders and other passersby”.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The eyewitness said as he was attending to customers in the afternoon, a loud explosion went off across the market,forcing people to run in various directions for safety. “The rescue team of Nigerian Red Cross and other volunteers evacuated the injured ones to the hospital for treatment,” he said. The military and police condoned off the market to prevent further attacks and looting.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> In another development, Boko Haram militants on Tuesday, June 2 attacked Moronti, a village close to Maiduguri, and killed five people, before soldiers repelled them. The gunmen, according to Hamisu Abba, a resident, then crossed into the village through Ngadabul River. He noted that the militants could have overrun Maiduguri, if there were no trenches dug around the Nigerian Army 333 Artillery premises near the village.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Our correspondent learnt that as the repulsion of the militants continued into the night; some villagers fled to neighbouring Gomari and Ajillari for safety. “It was the trenches around the army barracks of Giwa and Maimalari and the 333 Artillery near the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) base that prevented the terrorists from wreaking havoc on Maiduguri metropolis,” said Kaumi Fugu, the village head of Moronti.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> On how the village was attacked, he said: “Most of us were asleep around midnight when we started hearing gunshots and from Ajillari, near the river bank of Ngadabul. One of our neighbours lost two family members in his compound, while three others were killed about two kilometers from Ajillari.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <strong>Burial</strong></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The village imam/ cleric, Mallam Yunus Mirgwi, told our reporter that the five slain villagers were buried Tuesday morning, according to Islamic rites. “By 1.45am, troops in patrol trucks moved in towards Moronti along the Maiduguri-Damturu Road, and commenced the repulsion of the insurgents by firing artillery shelling that lasted over an hour,” Mirgwi said..</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He continued: “After the insurgents attacked the village, we saw troops in trucks moving towards Moronti and then a NAF fighter jet pursued the insurgents, and killed some of them”.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The deadliest attack yet since the inauguration came on June 2. That day, a suspected Boko Haram insurgent believed to be a suicide bomber and disguised as a herbalist/traditional medicine seller stormed the Maiduguri abattoir section of the cattle market (Kasuwan Shanu), killing over 30 people and injuring 28 others.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> It was gathered that the suicide bomber came into the market with a mobile tape recorder playing President Buhari campaign songs which attracted many people. When he realized that the music had attracted dozens, he detonated the explosives he was carrying. The incident took place at about 12noon when the market was at its peak. The attack left shattered bodies of victims mixed with slaughtered animal’s meat/ flesh at the scene.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Although, officials of  National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) claimed 10 people died at the spot, they admitted some died later among the dozens who suffered various degrees of injury. Umar Sadiq, Communication Field Officer of the International Community of Red Cross (ICRC), in an interview, said, “So far, 13 identified dead bodies were evacuated from the scene while many others sustained serious injuries and burns in the blast”.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A source at Borno State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri said over 30 bodies were brought there, even as he expressed the fear that most of those injured may not survive due to the seriousness of their injuries. “We have received six corpses at the emergency ward since those injured were brought in and I just learnt that another victim of the blast has given up and they are bringing the corpse as we speak.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A police inspector who did not want his name in print told our correspondent to be careful because many suicide bombers were said to have arrived Maiduguri following the battle with troops  on Monday night.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “ All security agencies in Maiduguri are on the red alert because these useless people according to signals we received have smuggled themselves into town with the intention of suicide bombing. On Monday (yesterday), about five suicide bombers were arrested at Tashan Baga and this one is another bad day for everybody. For your safety, be cautious while moving around because anything can happen. These bad eggs want to see where people gather so they can wreak more havoc,” he said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Speaking with traders forced to abandon their sheds at the abattoir, our correspondent gathered that more than 70 people were hit by the explosion but they could not confirm the number of the dead. Aminu Sarki, a meat seller at the abattoir, said, “We just heard the loud sound of the explosion and everybody started running. We knew it was a bomb blast, but we could not wait to count the number of the dead, but it is unfortunate that many people were killed or injured in the blast.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Borno State police commissioner, Mr. Aderemi Opadokun, ordered the condoning off of the abattoir. “The situation is under control, as the scene has been condoned off. Suspected suicide bomber at Kasuwan Shanu in Maiduguri at about 11:30hrs of 2/6/15 invaded the market shouting Sai Buhari in Hausa Language and dancing in the market where he detonated  explosives (IEDs) strapped on his body when people had gathered around him.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Four persons died including the suicide bomber in the explosion, while eight others sustained injury. Men were mobilized to the scene, corpses/injured persons were evacauted to the hospital, investigation in progress”.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Source: <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/boko-haram-dares-new-govt-suicide-bomber-lures-scores-with-buhari-campaign-songs-kills-them/">Vanguard </a></div>

Boko Haram dares new govt: Suicide bomber lures scores with Buhari campaign songs, kills them

Since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, barely one week ago, specifically May 29, 2015, Borno State, particularly Maidugur...

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Boko Haram dares New governement: Suicide bomber lures scores with Buhari campaign songs, kills them...

<span style="font-size: small;">Since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, barely one week ago, specifically May 29, 2015, Borno State, particularly Maiduguri, the state capital, has witnessed sustained attacks by insurgents. Buhari had said at the inauguration that the nation’s military command was being moved to Borno, the hotbed of Boko Haram, to end the insurgency.</span><br /> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_528171" style="width: 300px;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/babo.jpg"><img alt="President Buhari" class="size-medium wp-image-528171" height="300" src="http://cdn2.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/290x300xbabo-290x300.jpg.pagespeed.ic.rWzduvgcji.jpg" width="290" /></a></span><br /> <div class="wp-caption-text"> <span style="font-size: small;">President Buhari</span></div> </div> <span style="font-size: small;">But barely 24 hours after the swearing-in of the new administration, Boko Haram launched the first invasion. The May 30 attack came at about 12:30am when residents were asleep. The insurgents reportedly drove in a convoy of vehicles and motorcycles laden with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), rocket grenades and anti-aircraft guns.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">They entered Malari village, killed 15 residents and wounded 19 others in Bulunkutu Tsaleke, Gomari and Ajilari wards.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The killings, according to Ibrahim Yakubu of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), were caused by the insurgents’ sporadic gunshots, explosions and shelling on the wards that commenced from 12.35-2.45am that Saturday. “We were shocked about how these areas were targeted by Boko Haram last night. Among those killed were five children and two women sleeping in the open because of heat in their houses,” said Yakubu.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">He said the insurgents, after entering Malari through the northeast flank of Sambisa forest on dirt road, crossed River Ngadabul to launch their attacks on the communities. “The militants could not enter Maiduguri metropolis because of the trenches we dug that made their vehicles to get stuck. But they wreaked havoc on lives and property in the affected communities”, said the vigilante youth.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">“The extent of damage to lives and property could have been much higher if the Boko Haram gunmen had crossed the trenches”. Confirming the incident in Maiduguri, a source close to Borno Police Command said some residents of Gomari, Bulunkutu Tsaleke and Ajilari wards of Malari were killed in the attacks. “We are still collating the fatalities in the attacks, but 19 people have been hospitalized for injuries they sustained from gunshots and artillery fire that lasted over two hours in western part of Maiduguri metropolis,” said the source.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b>Mosque killings</b></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Later that Saturday, a suicide bomber sneaked into a mosque along Ali Kotoko Road, near Maiduguri Monday Market leaving 26 dead and 28 critically injured. A security source who assisted in the evacuation of victims said the incident took place at about 3:45pm when Muslim faithful gathered to perform their La,asar prayers.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">“A bomb blast exploded at the Adam Kolo Central Mosque along Ali Kotoko Road of Maiduguri Monday Market (MMM) during an afternoon prayer, and killed 26 people with about 28 critically injured on Saturday”, said Mallam Abba Shukura who was among those evacuating the victims. “I can confirm to you that many people in the mosque were killed or injured.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">The mosque explosion, according to Modu Fugu of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), occurred when the prayer session was about to commence at about 3.25pm with dozens of people in the mosque. “We were terrified by the loud explosion that rocked the mosque near the bicycle sellers market and other shops. Worshippers fled to safety. But many were killed or injured,” Fugu stated.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">Hamidu Isa, a shop owner near the mosque, told our correspondent that an IED had been hidden in a corner of the mosque in the morning before the suicide bomber came to detonate it at about 3.30pm”. Borno Police Command confirmed the mosque blast.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b>Grains looted</b></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Boko Haram gunmen, same day, attacked Fika and Ngalda in Yobe State; and torched several public buildings, telecom masts, houses and shops, before fleeing into Sambisa Forest. The insurgents, according to a resident, Mainasara Ali, looted several shops and barns of grains. Fika and Ngalda are farming and herding communities, and 155 kilometres and 176 kilometres respectively southwest of Damaturu, the state capital.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">“We were taken by surprise by the attacks on our houses and shops by the insurgents desperately looking for food to survive in the forest, but they did not kill any of our people. All our shops and barns were looted by the gunmen who also destroyed council offices and health centre, south of the central market,” said Ali. He said the insurgents chanted ‘God is great’ in Arabic before torching the public buildings in the towns.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">According to him, most of the houses of local officials in Fika and Ngalda were also burnt that night. “We will continue to fight whosoever identifies with government which we consider anti-Islam. We will not relent or surrender until we impose Sharia Law in Nigeria”, Ali quoted one of the insurgents as saying.</span><br /> <div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_528177" style="width: 310px;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/boka.jpg"><img alt="Boko Haram" class="size-medium wp-image-528177" height="188" src="http://cdn2.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/300x188xboka-300x188.jpg.pagespeed.ic.vN_rdMDurJ.jpg" width="300" /></a></span><br /> <div class="wp-caption-text"> <span style="font-size: small;">Boko Haram</span></div> </div> <span style="font-size: small;">Another resident, Ali Fika, said:  “Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday evening attacked Ngalda in Fika Local Government Area and razed the council secretariat, High Court complex, before looting shops and barns of grains which they carted away in their tracks.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">He said the insurgents, before embarking on the massive destruction, engaged soldiers at a military post. Our correspondent also learnt that several vehicles and motorcycles were set ablaze during the two-hour attack.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sporadic shooting</b></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The Chairman of Fika Local Government Council, Alhaji Baba Abare, who confirmed the incident, said: “The militants came to the two towns shooting sporadically to scare people away so as to have ample opportunity for their looting”. He said they targeted shops and looted food items as well as beverages but no life was lost during the assault.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Yobe State police commissioner, Mr. Markus Danladi, who declined comment on the violence, said the Military Joint Task Force was the only body authorised to speak on the matter. Fika and Ngalda have repeatedly suffered Boko Haram assault since the commencement of the insurgency as the communities share common border with Gujba and Gulani Council Areas captured by the militant group and liberated few months ago.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The suspected Boko Haram insurgents in the post-Buhari inauguration era continued on Sunday, May 31 when an IED, planted at the Gambouru Market, Maiduguri, exploded, injuring four people. Eyewitnesses said one insurgent detonated the explosive, around 1.30 p.m at the peak of market hours. One of them said: “The bomb was buried in a heap of sacks at a spot where charcoal merchants have their stalls.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">“The explosion did not kill any one but injured four persons. One of the victims had his arm completely ripped off by the blast. “An insurgent could have planted this explosive device last night, when curfew was relaxed to 10pm from 7pm to celebrate Democracy Day in Maiduguri. Also, we suspect that the suicide bomber that blew himself at the market mosque of Adam Kolo might have collaborated with the suspected bomber of Gambouru Market that injured four traders and other passersby”.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The eyewitness said as he was attending to customers in the afternoon, a loud explosion went off across the market,forcing people to run in various directions for safety. “The rescue team of Nigerian Red Cross and other volunteers evacuated the injured ones to the hospital for treatment,” he said. The military and police condoned off the market to prevent further attacks and looting.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">In another development, Boko Haram militants on Tuesday, June 2 attacked Moronti, a village close to Maiduguri, and killed five people, before soldiers repelled them. The gunmen, according to Hamisu Abba, a resident, then crossed into the village through Ngadabul River. He noted that the militants could have overrun Maiduguri, if there were no trenches dug around the Nigerian Army 333 Artillery premises near the village.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Our correspondent learnt that as the repulsion of the militants continued into the night; some villagers fled to neighbouring Gomari and Ajillari for safety. “It was the trenches around the army barracks of Giwa and Maimalari and the 333 Artillery near the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) base that prevented the terrorists from wreaking havoc on Maiduguri metropolis,” said Kaumi Fugu, the village head of Moronti.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">On how the village was attacked, he said: “Most of us were asleep around midnight when we started hearing gunshots and from Ajillari, near the river bank of Ngadabul. One of our neighbours lost two family members in his compound, while three others were killed about two kilometers from Ajillari.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b>Burial</b></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The village imam/ cleric, Mallam Yunus Mirgwi, told our reporter that the five slain villagers were buried Tuesday morning, according to Islamic rites. “By 1.45am, troops in patrol trucks moved in towards Moronti along the Maiduguri-Damturu Road, and commenced the repulsion of the insurgents by firing artillery shelling that lasted over an hour,” Mirgwi said..</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">He continued: “After the insurgents attacked the village, we saw troops in trucks moving towards Moronti and then a NAF fighter jet pursued the insurgents, and killed some of them”.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The deadliest attack yet since the inauguration came on June 2. That day, a suspected Boko Haram insurgent believed to be a suicide bomber and disguised as a herbalist/traditional medicine seller stormed the Maiduguri abattoir section of the cattle market (Kasuwan Shanu), killing over 30 people and injuring 28 others.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">It was gathered that the suicide bomber came into the market with a mobile tape recorder playing President Buhari campaign songs which attracted many people. When he realized that the music had attracted dozens, he detonated the explosives he was carrying. The incident took place at about 12noon when the market was at its peak. The attack left shattered bodies of victims mixed with slaughtered animal’s meat/ flesh at the scene.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Although, officials of  National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) claimed 10 people died at the spot, they admitted some died later among the dozens who suffered various degrees of injury. Umar Sadiq, Communication Field Officer of the International Community of Red Cross (ICRC), in an interview, said, “So far, 13 identified dead bodies were evacuated from the scene while many others sustained serious injuries and burns in the blast”.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">A source at Borno State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri said over 30 bodies were brought there, even as he expressed the fear that most of those injured may not survive due to the seriousness of their injuries. “We have received six corpses at the emergency ward since those injured were brought in and I just learnt that another victim of the blast has given up and they are bringing the corpse as we speak.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">A police inspector who did not want his name in print told our correspondent to be careful because many suicide bombers were said to have arrived Maiduguri following the battle with troops  on Monday night.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">“ All security agencies in Maiduguri are on the red alert because these useless people according to signals we received have smuggled themselves into town with the intention of suicide bombing. On Monday (yesterday), about five suicide bombers were arrested at Tashan Baga and this one is another bad day for everybody. For your safety, be cautious while moving around because anything can happen. These bad eggs want to see where people gather so they can wreak more havoc,” he said.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Speaking with traders forced to abandon their sheds at the abattoir, our correspondent gathered that more than 70 people were hit by the explosion but they could not confirm the number of the dead. Aminu Sarki, a meat seller at the abattoir, said, “We just heard the loud sound of the explosion and everybody started running. We knew it was a bomb blast, but we could not wait to count the number of the dead, but it is unfortunate that many people were killed or injured in the blast.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">Borno State police commissioner, Mr. Aderemi Opadokun, ordered the condoning off of the abattoir. “The situation is under control, as the scene has been condoned off. Suspected suicide bomber at Kasuwan Shanu in Maiduguri at about 11:30hrs of 2/6/15 invaded the market shouting Sai Buhari in Hausa Language and dancing in the market where he detonated  explosives (IEDs) strapped on his body when people had gathered around him.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">“Four persons died including the suicide bomber in the explosion, while eight others sustained injury. Men were mobilized to the scene, corpses/injured persons were evacauted to the hospital, investigation in progress”.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">Source: <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/boko-haram-dares-new-govt-suicide-bomber-lures-scores-with-buhari-campaign-songs-kills-them/">Vanguard  </a></span>

Boko Haram dares New governement: Suicide bomber lures scores with Buhari campaign songs, kills them...

Since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, barely one week ago, specifically May 29, 2015, Borno State, particularly Maiduguri, ...

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