Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau
IN another daring operation, members of
the terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, on Monday night killed about 300
people in Gamboru Ngala, Borno State. Gamboru Ngala is a border town
with Cameroon.
The Boko Haram insurgents also abducted
11 more girls in Warabe and Wala communities in the Chibok Local
Government Area of Borno State late on Monday.
The insurgents reportedly drove into Gamboru Ngala in armoured vehicles.
It was learnt that the insurgents, who
seemed to have targeted a local market, shot sporadically at traders at
the market before proceeding into the town to wreak more havoc.
Gamboru is situated along
Nigeria-Cameroon border and is the administrative headquarters of the
Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State. It is about 200 kilometres
from Maiduguri, the state capital city.
Senator Ahmed Zannah, who is
representing the area in the Senate, confirmed the killings. He said the
invaders spent about 12 hours wreaking havoc on defenceless Nigerians.
He revealed that several other persons
were injured in the attack, while almost all the houses and shops in the
town were burnt down.
The senator, who spoke in a BBC
Hausa report monitored in Maiduguri on Tuesday, said many people were
wounded, while surviving victims rendered homeless as thousands of
houses and shops were burnt by the rampaging gunmen.
He claimed that the attackers were armed
with dangerous weapons comprising Armoured Personnel Carrier,
Improvised Explosive Devices, petrol bombs, assault rifles and Rocket
Propelled Launchers.
“The attackers stormed the communities
in the night when residents were still sleeping, setting ablaze houses
and shooting residents who tried to escape from the fire,’’ he said.
He added, “About 300 persons were
confirmed dead after the incident, with several others injured. Almost
all the houses in the communities were destroyed by the hoodlums who
threw IEDs at the buildings.
“My brother who was at the scene of the
attack told me that the actual number of the dead cannot be ascertained
but at least they are up to 300. In fact, as he spoke he wept following
the high number of the dead bodies which littered the market.”
According to him, the security forces
earlier deployed in the area, had moved to the Lake Chad axis when they
received intelligence report that some gunmen were sighted with abducted
schoolgirls moving to the area.
“It was just an hour after their
withdrawal that the terrorists invaded the town, shooting everyone at
sight and setting buildings on fire. So far 200 vehicles and thousands
of houses, shops and an outfit of the Nigerian Customs Service, (NCS)
were all burnt”, he explained.
A local government official who declined identification also confirmed the casualty figure.
“It is really a terrible situation, we
had wanted to rush relief materials to the area to provide temporary
succour to the victims. But we were prevailed upon by security agents to
shelve our plans for security reasons,” the official said.
More girls seized
The 11 girls were reportedly seized in Warabe and Wala when gunmen invaded the communities.
Warabe is about 160 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the state capital.
The community is located on the
outskirts of Gwoza town, which had witnessed a series of deadly attacks
by suspected terrorists in recent times.
Police sources and residents confirmed the kidnapping of the girls, said to be aged between 12 and 15.
A resident of Warabe, who said he had
since relocated to Gwoza, Ishaku Bremcha, said through the phone on
Tuesday, “There was a twin ambush by gunmen last night along Guduf-Gava
route of Gwoza Hills. The gunmen came through the settlements of Hwa’a,
Chikedeh, and Guduf-Wala hills down to Wala Kasa, and proceeded to Dure
village, west of Gwoza town with 11 abducted teenagers into Sambisa
Forest last night.
“The abductors did not inflict injury or
kill any of us in Warabe and Wala, but took away 11 of our young
daughters into the forest, after warning us not to report the
kidnappings.”
The Borno State Commissioner of Police,
Tanko Lawal, could not be reached for confirmation because GSM lines to
Maiduguri were inaccessible.
But a top police officer, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity, said some armed hoodlums attacked two
villages in the Gwoza council area “and abducted about a dozen
teenagers.”
A resident of Warabe, Mallam Bello Umar,
who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri, said, “A group of terrorists
invaded Warabe village on Sunday night, abducted 11 of our teenage girls
and carted them away with our foodstuffs and livestock.
“As I am talking to you now, I have run
to Gwoza Council headquarters, and even in Gwoza, we cannot move around
easily due to the fear of the terrorists.
“The situation is so pathetic that
almost everyone in Gwoza congregates at a safer zone close to the
council secretariat where there is enough presence of security
personnel.”
Umar said the gunmen, numbering over 20 and armed with AK-47 rifles, stormed the village but that they did not kill anybody.
“They simply abducted the 11 teenage
girls before fleeing towards the hilly border areas between Gwoza and
Cameroon Republic,” he added.
Reuters also quoted another
resident of Warabe, Lazarus Musa, as saying on Tuesday that gunmen
invaded the village and abducted the girls.
“They were many, and all of them carried
guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army colour. They started
shooting in our village,” Musa reportedly said.
A police source, who could not be named,
also said the Warabe girls were taken away in trucks, along with looted
livestock and food.
UN warns Shekau
The seizure of the 11 girls came as the
world body, the United Nations, warned the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar
Shekau, against selling the about 200 girls kidnapped from the
Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
Shekau on Monday released a video in
which he claimed that the girls, abducted from their hostels on April
14, were in his custody and threatened to sell them because he believed
the pupils should not be in school but in their husbands’ houses.
The UN, according to a report by Reuters, warned Boko Haram that selling the girls would be tantamount to slavery, a practice prohibited by international law.
The UN human rights spokesman, Rupert
Colville, at a news briefing in Geneva, said, “We warn the perpetrators
that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery
in international law. These can under certain circumstances constitute
crimes against humanity.
“That means anyone responsible can be
arrested, charged, prosecuted and jailed at any time in the future. So
just because they think they are safe now, they won’t necessarily be in
two years, five years or 10 years’ time.”
Any buyer could also be held liable,
Colville said, noting that enslaved girls were likely to be exposed to
“continuous physical, psychological, economic and sexual violence” and
that forced marriage could have a “devastating” impact on victims.
“The power differentials between girls
and their ‘spouses’ are likely to undermine all autonomy, all freedom of
will and expression of the girls. The situation they will be in will be
tantamount to slavery, or slavery-like practices within the so-called
marriage,” he said.
The UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Navi Pillay, had written to President Goodluck Jonathan on April
28, urging him to spare no effort to ensure the girls’ safe return.
Any rescue attempt must be made in line
with international human rights standards, Colville said, noting
previous “allegations of excessive use of force by the Nigerian military
in anti-Boko Haram operations.”
The girls were picked from their school by insurgents dressed in army uniform and drove trucks painted in military colour.
Jonathan accepts US military offer
The Presidency, meanwhile, said on
Tuesday that President Goodluck Jonathan had accepted an offer made by
the US President Barack Obama to deploy American security experts and
equipment in Nigeria to assist in locating the schoolgirls abducted from
Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said this in a statement on Tuesday.
Abati said the offer of assistance was
conveyed to Jonathan by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in a
telephone conversation he initiated on behalf of Obama.
He said shortly after the telephone
conversation, the President also met with security chiefs in
continuation of efforts aimed at rescuing the schoolgirls.
Abati said the President approved some of the recommendations made during the meeting for further actions.
The statement read, “President Goodluck
Jonathan Tuesday welcomed and accepted a definite offer of help from the
United States of America in the ongoing effort to locate and rescue the
girls abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok three weeks
ago.
“The offer from President Barack Obama,
which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary
of State, Mr. John Kerry, in a telephone conversation which began at
15.30 hours today, includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel
and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the search and
rescue operation.
“Mr. Kerry assured President Jonathan
that the United States is wholly committed to giving Nigeria all
required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the
reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an
end.
“Thanking Mr. Kerry for the call and
offer of further assistance, President Jonathan told him that Nigeria’s
security agencies who were already working at full capacity to find and
rescue the abducted girls would appreciate the deployment of American
counter-insurgency know-how and expertise in support of their efforts.
“After speaking with the United States
Secretary of State, President Jonathan today met with the Chief of
Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and heads of national security agencies in
continuation of the national efforts to find and rescue the abducted
girls.
“The President received updates on the ongoing search and rescue effort, and gave approval for recommended further actions.”
‘FG’ll find the missing girls’
The President however also said on
Tuesday that the abducted Chibok schoolgirls would be rescued and
reunited with their parents.
Jonathan, who spoke while inaugurating a
presidential committee on the rescue of the abducted Chibok students at
the Presidential Villa, said the Federal Government would do everything
to rescue the girls. The committee is chaired by Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim
Sabo.
Curiously, the President’s wife,
Patience, had declared on Monday that “no girl is missing” and that if
the girls were missing at all the Governor of Borno State, Kassim
Shetima, should search for them.
The President said, “I am appreciative
of the fact that this sad incident has attracted global outrage. This is
a clear testimony to the fact that humanity can come together and stand
as one against evil, no matter how it is presented.
“This is the time when we must bond
together beyond all political, religious or regional divide against our
common enemy. We must remain vigilant and be ready to assist security
agencies and authorities at all time.
“We must keep supporting the families who for seeking education for their daughters are undergoing untold pains at this moment.
“Let me assure the families and our dear
daughters that in conjunction with international community, government
will do everything possible to get our girls back.”
The President clarified that the committee was neither a judicial committee nor an administrative panel.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Borno State Government and the UN were absent from the inauguration.
While the state government was asked to
nominate two representatives, preferably women, the UN was asked to
nominate one representative.
The committee’s terms of reference
include: to liaise with the Borno State Government and establish the
circumstances leading to the school remaining open for boarding students
when other schools were closed; to liaise with relevant authorities and
the parents of the missing girls to establish the actual number and
identities of the girls abducted; and to interface with the Security
Services and Borno State Government to ascertain how many of the missing
girls have returned;
Others are to mobilise the surrounding
communities and the general public on citizen support for a rescue
strategy and operation; to articulate a framework for a
multi-stakeholder action for the rescue of the missing girls; and to
advise the Federal Government on any matter incidental to the terms of
reference.
North-East leaders at the Villa
Meanwhile, some elders from the
North-East part of the country, led by a former Minister of Finance,
Mallam Adamu Ciroma, met behind closed doors with the President on
Tuesday in continuation of efforts to end insurgency in the zone.
Three states of the zone, Adamawa, Borno
and Yobe are currently under emergency rule, declared by Jonathan in
May 2013, following escalating violence.
Those who attended the meeting did not speak with journalists at the end of the consultation that lasted for about two hours.
On the delegation were Prof. Jubril
Aminu, Alhaji Shettima Mustapha, Ambassador Babangana Kingibe, Alhaji
Ibrahim Bunu, Alhaji Khalifa Yusuf and Alhaji Muhammed Kirfi, among
others.
