Boko Haram leader threatens to kill German hostage

Maiduguri: The leader of Nigeria's Islamic extremists is threatening to kill a captured German. Abubakar Shekau says in a new video released late Friday that Boko Haram is still holding the unidentified German who he says is "always crying."
He says they could "hack him or slaughter him or shoot him." Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said this week that there was no new information about the abducted German.
A previous video, received by The Associated Press through the same channels, showed the beheading of a man friends identified as the pilot of a missing fighter jet that Boko Haram claims to have shot down.

Adamawa residents flee

 
Yola, the capital of Adama­wa State, is now over-stretched by the influx of internally displaced persons fol­lowing the fall of Mubi and sev­eral other towns into the hands of Boko Haram insurgents.
The displaced persons from the Northern Senatorial District were being conveyed on trucks and buses provided by sympathiz­ers after trekking long distances from bushes near the Republic of Cameroun.
The huge traffic of displaced persons pouring into Yola was fueled by rising fear that Boko Haram insurgents were about to launch more vicious attacks.
The alleged threat has led to panic movement by residents of Hong, Gombi and Maiha local government areas in their desper­ate move to avoid the impending attacks by the dreaded Boko Ha­ram sect to extend its onslaught to neighboring towns after the fall of Mubi.
One of the victims, from Hong, who simply gave his name as Jo­esph with his 15-member family said he left Hong town to escape the impending onslaught on the town by the Boko Haram.
Joseph said he and others fled because the insurgents always carried out their threats. He add­ed that it was the same way they heard rumours that the insurgents had promised to enter Mubi and many people were killed in Mubi because they doubted the rumours but were caught unprepared when the insurgents stormed the town.
“When I called and pleaded with them to leave Mubi because of the impending threats going on that the insurgents had vowed to overrun the town, they ignored me and were taken by surprise when the insurgents stormed the area,” he said
Similarly, the people who fled from Mahia said some people in their town had begun to evacu­ate members of their families for the fear of further attacks because Boko Haram’s threat to extend its territorial control to their towns and villages.
Meanwhile, the Adamawa State government yesterday dis­pelled the rumour making the rounds that the state capital was under attack by Boko Haram as tension and apprehension enve­lope the state.
In a press release signed by the Press Secretary to Governor Bala James Ngilari, Mr Maxwell Duku, debunked the rumour that the state was under attack.
“The Government appeals to all citizens to remain calm and go about their legitimate activities. The government and the secu­rity agencies are doing everything possible to ensue peace and safety of all in the state,” Duku said.
To address the worsening situ­ation, the state government has reviewed the curfew, from the former period of 11pm to 5:30am to present period of 9pm to 5am daily.

Boko Haram: Resign now, CAN tells NSA, Defence Minister

 
 
Condemns attacks on Adamawa, Gombe states
In the face of the unrelenting onslaught by Boko Haram in its murderous campaign in the North East part of the country, the Christian Association of Nigeria has expressed strong misgivings over the lacklustre performance of the Minister of Defence, Lt. General Aliyu Gusau (Rtd) and National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (Rtd), two key officials of the Federal Government entrusted with the mandate to reign-in the insurgents.
In a statement signed by the General Secretary of CAN, the umbrella body of Christians in the country, Rev. Musa Asake, challenged the Federal Government to justify why both Gusau and Dasuki are still retaining their positions in spite of their abysmal failure in executing the mandate handed to them, and wondered why the government had been quick to sack the late General Owoeye Azazi as NSA. CAN in its statement maintained that recent happenings in the North East part of the country had avidly confirmed its position all along that the Islamic group has no other mission than to annihilate all Christians in the region and install an Islamic regime.
According to the CAN scribe, the Federal Government should do well to explain to the nation the sins committed by Azazi who was summarily dismissed in June 2012. “Was he sacked because of his Christian religion and to satisfy the cravings of his Muslim counterparts?” he asked. Asake argued that President Goodluck Jonathan appointed a Muslim, Col. Sambo Dasuki to replace Gen. Azazi who was a Christian and later appointed another Muslim, Gen. Aliyu Gasau as Defence Minister with a pledge to deal ruthlessly with the Boko Harām Islamic terrorists.
“The major task handed down to Col. Dasuki and Gen. Gusau is to tackle Boko Haram insurgency, which was already threatening to spread into other regions of the country. But the question on the lips of every Nigerian Christian today is: what changes have these two military tacticians brought to bear since they were appointed? What is the wisdom of entrusting the nation’s security in the hands of two relations from the North West? Why have these two relations from Sokoto and Zamfara states not changed their tactics in accordance with the presidential mandate given to them to root out the insurgents in the North-East geo-political zone? Is this a game plan to eliminate people in that region and put them in perpetual subjugation?”
Asake said Nigerian Christians are no longer comfortable with the continued inclusion of these two individuals in the cabinet even as the Islamic terrorists have not only changed tactics severally but have conquered more territories and expanded the boundaries of their self-declared caliphate in the North East during their tenure more than at any other period.
CAN therefore wondered why the NSA and the Defence minister have not voluntarily resigned their appointments for poor coordination of relevant agencies to tackle the security challenges in the North East region of the country despite the huge budgetary allocations for the purpose.
CAN reiterated its belief that Boko Haram was bent on Islamising the entire country and strongly condemned recent violent attacks of the group on innocent Christian civilians, police stations, prisons and military formations in different parts of Adamawa State and the bomb explosion at the Gombe Motor Park which was said to have killed over 30 persons and left several others injured.
Asake stated that apart from the military infrastructure that were torched by the terrorist group, Ekklesiyar Yan’uaw Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, other churches as well as individuals targeted for destruction were all Christians and their places of worship.

FG/Boko Haram Talks: BBOG Expresses Hope For Release Of Chibok Girls

 


The #BringBackOurGirls has expressed hope that the abducted Chibok girls may be released soon after the government of Chad said it believed Nigeria’s secret deal with Boko Haram sect to free more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls would go ahead despite the breakdown of a truce.
The group, which wondered why it took the government of Chad one week to respond, noted that the most important thing was the return of the girls.
Moussa Mahamat Dago, the No. 2 official at Chad’s foreign ministry, said it appeared some Boko Haram factions were refusing to abide by the deal, brokered by the Chadian foreign minister with two representatives of the sect and two Nigerian negotiators at meetings in Chad on September 14 and 30.
“Quite possibly those who are fighting are dissidents that even they (Boko Haram) aren’t able to control. So far, there is no reason for others to doubt this agreement,” Dago told Reuters late on Thursday in the Chadian capital N’Djamena.
“What I can say is that those that negotiated with the Nigerian government did so in good faith. We are waiting for the next phase which is the release of the girls.”
Dago said the two sides agreed verbally to a series of points summarised in a document he had seen, including the release of the schoolgirls and of jailed Boko Haram fighters.
The sect, which has fought a bloody five-year revolt mostly in the northeast, has said it wants to carve out an Islamist enclave in Nigeria.

Nigeria Is 31st Most Corrupt Nation – Transparency InternationaI

 




The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 released by the Transparency International, which shows that corruption remains a global phenomenon, rates 15 countries while Nigeria now ranks 31 among the most corrupt nations.
The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013, according to the TI serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.
“The index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem”.
The global anti corruption crusader also calls for urgent renewal of anti-graft war by building transparent public institutions.
“The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.
“It is time to stop those who get away with acts of corruption. The legal loopholes and lack of political will in government facilitate both domestic and cross-border corruption, and call for our intensified efforts to combat the impunity of the corrupt”. Countries that are rated as the best 17 in zero tolerance for corruption are Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, and Canada.
Others are Luxembourg, Germany, Iceland, United Kingdom, Barbados, Belgium and Hong Kong in that order.
However, both Denmark and New Zealand scored 91 per cent, both Finland and Sweden 89 per cent, Norway and Singapore 86 per cent, Australia and Canada 81, Germany and Iceland 78 while Barbados, Belgium and Hong Kong scored 75.
However, while no African country makes the first 17, they dominate the first 10 while Nigeria ranks 31 on the list.

Boko Haram: Dozens Killed As Multi-national Forces Recapture Abadam

 
Dozens of Boko Haram terrorists were killed between Friday night and Saturday morning in Abadam town of Borno State after a fierce gun battle between troops of the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and the insurgents in a bid by the military to reclaim the community that fell under the control of the insurgents last week, witnesses and security sources said.
A top security personnel informed Leadership Sunday that not less than two dozen corpses of the insurgent littered the bushes around Abadam after soldiers of the MNJTF had succeeded in rescuing Abadam town from the conquest of the Boko Haram.
Boko Haram had last week attacked Abadam, killed at least 40 persons and hoisted their flags there after forcing terrified residents into border communities in Niger Republic.
Military sources told Leadership Sunday that it took a combined force of air and ground troops to send the Boko Haram fleeing, and many others to their open graves.
The sources said the air attacked succeeded in shelling most of the occupied spots of the Boko Haram which forced them to scamper into the bushes where they ran into the ambush of the ground troops, who showed no mercy with their rifles.
The military source who confirmed the “victory” to journalists on phone but opted to remain anonymous in this report said “we have triumphed against the terrorists and more progress is being made towards liberating towns and villages; I can guarantee you that Abadam is now secured”.
A resident of Abadam, Aliyu Goni, who was returning back to his town after a week of exile in Niger Republic also confirmed the incident to journalist in a phone chat.
“I saw many dead bodies as we were returning back to Abadam after the soldiers encouraged us to go back home. There were many corpses of the Boko Haram members in Arge ward where the leader of the Boko Haram that led the insurgents into Abadam was seen issuing orders”, said

South Africa Busts Another Secret Nigeria Arms Deal, Seizes $5.7 million

South African authorities have confiscated yet another US$5.7 million arms money from Nigeria, nearly three weeks after seizing $9.3 million in cash transported by two Nigerians and an Israeli for arms purchase, South Africa-based City Express reported Monday.

 


As with the first deal, South Africa’s Asset Forfeiture Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority seized the $5.7 million (about N952 million) for allegedly being the proceeds of illegal transactions, the paper said.
The news came more than two weeks after two Nigerians and an Israeli national were arrested in South Africa after they attempted to smuggle US$9.3 million apparently meant for buying arms for the Nigerian intelligence service.
The men landed at Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg, on September 5 in a private jet from Abuja with the money stashed in three suitcases.
At the time, the South Africa Revenue Service, SARS, said customs officers became suspicious when the passengers’ luggage were unloaded and put through the scanners.
The National Prosecuting Authority, NPA, in South Africa said there was an invoice for helicopters and armaments intended to be used in Nigeria.
Two black plastic suitcases, filled with 90 blocks each containing US$100,000 in notes, with combination locks, were seized, as well as two pieces of hand luggage also containing US currency, according to City Press.
The Israeli national, Eyal Mesika, had the combination to open the locks.
Under South African laws, a person entering or leaving the country is expected to carry cash not exceeding US$2,300, or the equivalent in foreign currency notes.
The news of the first transaction sparked anger in Nigeria after it emerged the private jet involved belonged to the head of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Ayo Ortisejafor.
Mr. Oritsejafor, a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, said the plane had been leased to a third party and he could not be blamed for its schedules.
The Nigerian government later admitted it was behind the arms deal, claiming it acted out of desperation for arms to defeat extremist sect, Boko Haram.
An investigation planned by the Senate into the transaction has yet to begin while the House of Representatives threw out a motion seeking a probe.
The South African newspaper, City Press, said documents in its possession show that the first consignment was personally signed off by the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, who issued the end-user certificate for the transaction.
An entire “shopping list” was supplied with the certificate, which included everything from helicopters to unmanned aircraft, rockets and ammunition, it said.
The latest transaction, according to the paper, was between Cerberus Risk Solutions, an arms broker in Cape Town, and Societe D’Equipments Internationaux, said to be a Nigerian company based in Abuja.
The paper said the deal fell apart after Cerberus which had earlier received from Nigeria R60 million (N1.02 billion) in its  account at Standard Bank, tried to repay the money as it it could not resolve its registration formalities with the South African authorities.
“Cerberus was previously registered as a broker with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), but the registration expired in May this year,” City Press said.
“The marketing and contracting permits also expired at the same time. The company has since applied for re-registration, but the application lay in the NCACC’s mailbox for more than two months.
“Sources told Rapport that Cerberus apparently tried to pay the money back to the Nigerian company, after which the bank became suspicious,” the paper reported.
The paper added that while the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit subsequently obtained a court order in the South Gauteng High Court to seize the money, the NPA spokesperson Nathi Mncube, said there were no indications the two transactions were related.
“However, both are now the subject of a criminal investigation and all possible information and connections are being investigated,” Mr. Mncube was quoted as saying.