Nigeria Report Gives Details, Says Terrorist Groups Gaining Foothold in Nigeria

Nigeria: Report Gives Details, Says Terrorist Groups Gaining Foothold in Nigeria AFP20100108619001 Lagos TheNews in English 04 Jan 10 - 11 Jan 10 pp 18, 19, 24-25, 28-31 [Report by Olusola Olaosebikan and Maduabuchi Nmeriben: "The Making of a Bomber"] Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s failed bid to bomb an airplane with 289 people on board lends credence to fears that Nigeria is a fertile ground for al-Qaeda recruitment When he boarded the plane in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, his mien and carriage portrayed innocence This conferred on Farouk Abdulmutallab, son of Alhaji Umar Mutallab, former chairman of First Bank Nigeria plc, a degree of evasiveness And this appears to be his strength The 23-year-old was considered incapable of causing any harm until last Christmas when Farouk, in a failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airline, was caught with an explosive device that contained pentaerythritol tetra nitrate [PETN] Farouk had bought a Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit-Lagos ticket of KLM Airline in Accra, Ghana He then returned to Lagos afterwards to travel to Amsterdam, reportedly without luggage At Amsterdam, Farouk was believed to have obtained the material necessary to assemble his explosive Thereafter, he boarded the Detroit-bound Northwest Airline flight 253 from Amsterdam While in the plane, Farouk reportedly visited the rest room frequently At a point, he returned to his seat, behaved as if he had a stomach upset and covered himself up with a blanket Suddenly, fire erupted from his thigh region and other passengers became startled However, Jaspter Schuringa, a Dutch tourist, noticed the mischief in Farouk He lunged himself on Farouk, putting out the fire before alerting the cabin crew "I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," Schuringa said Farouk was promptly arrested and taken to the Ann Arbor University Hospital, where he was treated for bums sustained during the misadventure He was subsequently arraigned and charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft by placing a destructive device in the plane Farouk admitted that he has ties with the al-Qaeda network, corroborating an earlier statement by the group that it was responsible for the attack Though he faces a $250,000 fine and up to 20 years in prison, if convicted, Farouk remains recalcitrant Three days after his attempt to bomb the airline and all of its passengers and 11 crew members was thwarted, he reportedly declared that even if he is prosecuted and jailed, other trained terrorists would finish the job very soon "I am one in a production line of terrorists that have been trained in Yemen by al-Qaeda," Farouk boasted In one of his Internet postings, as published by London’s Daily Mirror, he said: "I won’t go into too many details about my fantasy, but basically they are jihad fantasies I imagine how the great jihad will take place, how the Muslims will win, Allah willing, and rule the whole world and establish the greatest empire once again." His family has remained shattered by the news of his arrest, wondering why such a child with a sound parental monitoring would delve into fundamentalism So also were his classmates, friends, and neighbors Until recently, Farouk was relatively unknown Even as the son of a frontline bank executive, he remained in the background His involvement in the attempt to blow up a North West Airlines Flight 253 in Detroit, USA, last Christmas, however, opened up the world of a complex character that had constantly craved an identity of his own One of 16 children, Farouk had, from childhood, held on to his religious beliefs As a secondary school student at the British International School in Lome, Togo, Farouk was reported to be an unflinching preacher of the tenets of Islam He would occasionally gather his schoolmates around, preaching the gospel to them, earning himself the sobriquet of an Alfa in the process Farouk was so convinced of his religious ideology that he stood on the side of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan until they were deposed by a US-led coalition in 2001 after the 11 September terrorist attacks on the U.S According to Michael Rimmer, one of Farouk’s teachers in Togo, "I remember he thought that the Taliban were okay, whereas all the other Muslim kids at school thought they were a bunch of nuts." He said that Farouk had been among a number of pupils he had taken to London in 2001 and 2002, when aged 13 and 14 At one stage on the trip, Farouk had become upset because several older students had visited a pub and he thought it should not have been allowed on religious grounds Mr Rimmer said that rather than spend money on souvenirs in London, Farouk had donated £50 to an orphanage "At one stage, his nickname was "the Pope" In one way, it’s totally unsuitable because he’s a Muslim, but he did have this saintly aura He was a model student, very keen, enthusiastic, and loved the subject I taught him; history, and would often stay behind after lessons to discuss items in the lesson or in the news," he said He added that Farouk started to express extremist views after the 9/11 "I remember in 2001 there was a class discussion about the Taliban in Afghanistan All the other children, including all the Muslims thought they were a bunch of nuts with beards, but he thought they had it right and thought their views were acceptable At the time I thought, well, young people have silly views and he would grow out of it." The teacher was quoted by the Daily Mail: "I was angry at the nutters who had put these silly ideas in his head but also angry with him because he had wonderful parents and comes from a lovely family with lots of friends and had everything going for him." Yet Rimmer described Farouk as keen, enthusiastic, bright and polite "He was every teacher’s dream," he said Ustaz Mohammed Adamu, 78, is the Imam of the mosque where Farouk worshiped whenever he was in Nigeria for holidays In fact, it was Farouk’s father who built the mosque in the early 1970s and made Adamu the Imam in 1973 to lead prayers there Adamu revealed: "Abdul Farouk is from a rich home yet he doesn’t see himself as one He was humble to Islamic teachings And throughout the periods he was home, I never saw any sign of extremism in him I think he was a victim of alien indoctrination." The Imam said that he was "very sad and confused and yet to come to terms with the reality that a fine gentleman like Farouk could be cajoled to kill fellow human beings." Farouk was admitted to study Mechanical Engineering at the University College in London [UCL] in September 2005 At this stage, Farouk felt some measure of self-confidence and independence He cut all forms of communication with his parents At the same time, he remained very devout and committed to his beliefs According to Fabrizio Cavallo Marincola, 22, one of his classmates at the UCL, Farouk was very religious "When we were studying, he always would go off to pray He was pretty quiet and didn’t socialize much or have a girlfriend that I knew of," Marincola said While Marincola and Farouk’s other school mates socialized, Farouk was busy seeking a link with alQaeda, the international terrorists’ cell headed by Osama bin Laden Thus, upon graduation from the UCL in June 2008, Farouk began a tour of Egypt, Dubai, and Yemen In Dubai, Farouk was enrolled to study for a Master of Business Administration [MBA] degree at the University of Wollongong, Dubai, but he spurned the offer after about seven months This magazine gathered that by this time, he had already established a formidable link with a terrorist cell in Yemen It was at this point that he reportedly declared to his family members that he did not want to have anything to with any of them again As a matter of fact, each time he visited Nigeria, he was said to have avoided his family home His frequent sneaks in and out of the country was said to have been part of the training and instructions he received from al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen Farouk’s state of mind has been revealed in series of electronic mails that he sent out to his colleagues and accomplices, complaining that he was "lonely" and had "never found a true Muslim friend." Washington Post reported that when he was at the boarding school around January 2005, he was usually whining: "I have no one to speak to [sic], no one to consult, no one to support me, and I feel depressed and lonely I not know what to And then I think this loneliness leads me to other problems." The newspaper revealed 300 online postings of the young man under the name "farouk1986" (a combination of his middle name and birth year) He raised issues like love and marriage, his college ambitions and" disenchantment over standardized testing, as well as his inner struggle as a devout Muslim between liberalism and extremism." Taken together, the writings, according to Washington Post, demonstrate an acute awareness of Western customs and a worldliness befitting Farouk’s privileged upbringing as a wealthy Nigerian banker’s son In a June 2005 posting, Farouk wrote that he was in Yemen for a three-month Arabic course, saying that "it is just great." At 18, he wrote, he had not started searching for prospective partners because of social norms such as having "a degree, a job, a house, etc before getting married." But, he said: "My parents, I know could help me financially should I get married, even though I think they are also not going to be in favor of early marriage." He also wrote of his "dilemma between liberalism and extremism" as a Muslim "The Prophet (5) said that religion is easy and anyone who tries to overburden themselves will find it hard and will not be able to continue," he wrote in 2005 "So any time I relax, I deviate sometimes and then when I strive hard, I get tired of what I am doing i.e memorizing the Quran, etc How should one put the balance right?" In December 2005, Farouk had written that his parents were visiting him in London and that he was torn about whether he could eat meat with them "I am of the view that meat not slaughtered by Muslims is haram (forbidden) for consumption unless necessary," he wrote "My parents are of the view that as foreigners, we are allowed to eat any meat It occurred [sic] to me that I should not be eating with my parents as they use meat I consider haram But I fear this might cause division and other complicated family problems." He pleaded: "Please respond as quickly as possible as my tactic has been to eat outside and not at home till I get an answer." An uncle said of him: "Farouk was a devoted Muslim who took his religion seriously and was committed to his studies He was such a brilliant boy and nobody in the family had the slightest thought that he could something as insane as this." Comrade Shehu Sani, one-time leader of the Federation of Kaduna Students and president of the Civil Rights Congress in Kaduna, who was Farouk’s neighbor, revealed that the young man is popularly called Ustaz for his religious disposition Farouk, according to Sani, "hardly socializes like other young boys on our street He’s most often seen in the mosque, which is just about 50 meters away (from the activist’s house) And that mosque, built by his father, is situated in an institute called Rabiat Mutallab Institute of Islamic Studies." Sani added that Farouk is noted as someone who always comes to the mosque earlier than anyone and leaves late He is also noticed as someone who prays fervently "Within our neighborhood, we have what is called Hamman Pategi Neighborhood Association He hardly attends any of these meetings even though the association was established by young men in our neighborhood When the news of his failed plot to bomb the Northwest Airline became open, residents in our neighborhood were shocked because he had never worn any look that could give a clue as to what was in his mind." Farouk, as the activist put it, is very trendy, sometimes fashionable and, in some cases, very simple If he was not in the mosque, you either saw him going to his father’s house or riding his motorbike around the neighborhood "Frankly, the report of him attempting to blow up a plane came to many as a surprise, but they could later link his act to his serious devotion to religion," Sani argued Even his teacher in Yemen, Ahmed Moajjib, said that Farouk was a ‘‘very quiet student, who was extremely smart, liked to help others and was not frivolous He did not appear suicidal, depressed or frustrated." Worried by his son’s activities, especially his descent into radical Islamic ideologies, Farouk’s father was said to have informed all relevant local and foreign intelligence and security agencies about five months ago But the security and intelligence agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency failed to sufficiently watch Farouk’s activities However, the United States Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, reacted that "the system worked" - a position which the United States President Obama said was "totally unacceptable." Obama, according to an Associated Press report, said the intelligence community had bits of information that should have been pieced together that would have triggered "red flags" and possibly prevented the Christmas Day attempted terror attack The National Counter-terrorism Centre said of Farouk’s father’s warning: "We learned of him in November, when his father came to the US Embassy in Nigeria and sought help in finding him We did not have his name before then." CIA spokesman, George Little, said that Farouk’s father didn’t say his son was a terrorist, let alone was planning an attack The official said: "I’m not aware of some magic piece of intelligence that suddenly would have flagged this guy, whose name nobody even had until November, as a killer en route to America, let alone something that anybody withheld." According to another report, officials also noted that Amsterdam, where Farouk boarded his flight to Detroit, "is one of nine locations where US Customs and Border Protection officials are stationed to additional screening on U.S-bound passengers who have been flagged as a potential risk." But it is unlikely Farouk would have been flagged because, as the report put it, the Customs and Border Patrol officers not routinely screen all passengers against the names of individuals on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database, known as TIDE, which was the only place that Farouk was listed But at the U.S end, the government put in place enhanced screening procedures for passengers after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington to catch potential terrorists." Meanwhile, the Yemeni Information Minister, Hassan al-Lozy, blamed the U.S for Yemen’s failure to identify Farouk as a terror suspect "We didn’t get any notice from the Americans to put this man on a list," al-Lozy said "America should have told Yemen about this man." This is because, as AI-Lozy argued, Farouk received a Yemeni visa to study Arabic after authorities were reassured that he had "several visas from a number of countries that we are cooperating with in the fight against terror" He added that the young man had a valid visa to the United States, which he had visited in the past "Our investigators are looking into who were the people or parties that were in touch with Umar here," al-Lozy told the AP Why Northern Nigeria is a Fertile Ground for Al-Qaeda Recruitment The case of Farouk should be an eye-opener for all concerned authorities that there may be thousands of potential terrorist hands multiplying by the day in that part of the country Those who hold this view have heir reasons In fact many of then claim that al-Qaeda is alive in Nigeria Does the Farouk drama mean that al-Qaeda is present and well integrated in Nigeria? When the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton visited Nigeria on 12 August 2009, she warned that alQaeda might have a foothold in Nigeria In her words: "There is no doubt in our mind that al-Qaeda and like organisations that are part of the syndicate of terror would seek a foothold anywhere they could find one, and whether that is the case here or whether this is a homegrown example of fundamentalist extremism - that’s up to the Nigerians to determine." In fact, Time magazine (7 July 2003 edition) reported that while East Africa is now a known theatre of operations, "West Africa offers a broad new range of opportunities - as Osama bin Laden pointed out in February, when in a taped message he singled out Nigeria as a country ripe for "liberation" by his followers Nigeria could be a fertile ground for al-Qaeda - half the population is Muslim, antagonistic to its own government over issues such as corruption and enraged by the US invasion of Iraq The Islamist challenge there is growing, with provincial governments instituting Taliban-style Sharia law and the political system increasingly in crisis." Reverend Ladi Thompson, the General Overseer of Living Water Unlimited Church and head of Macedonia Initiative, a faith-based non-governmental organisation, said yes with reasons He cited the riot at Jos North and concluded that it was not political at all In his words: "If you go to Jos North, where the election took place, there was no burning of political vehicles or secretariats They did not burn the electoral office where the election took place in Jos It was in the middle of the night that people started hearing Allahu Akbar." He added that the carnage that started in Jos could have been worse "Had the militants that struck in Jos just arrived on the day of the incident? Did they just arrive on the night of the incident? No, they had been camped in Jos The reason that these things are not well reported like I said is that the terror element has been infiltrated into the Nigerian government, including the security branches," he said Thompson gave another reason to support the presence of al-Qaeda in Nigeria As he put it: "If you go to the United States report on the 9/11, Nigeria was mentioned in the official report Nigeria was mentioned because there were some Nigerians that were directly trained by bin Laden Beyond the training of Nigerians by bin Laden, the evidence of terror in Nigeria is obvious One was even arrested in Cairo with pictures of key installations in Nigeria." He mentioned the Boko Haram, one of the sects operating in Nigeria, as boasting of 1.6 million followers "Where are the rest? Why was Yusuf summarily executed without any trial? I want to say point blank that if Yusuf was allowed to talk, many people in high positions in the government would be indicted, including people in the security forces Had he not been arrested before? He was arrested before and taken to Abuja, but was released Who are the people who worked for his release?" Thompson asked The aim of the fundamentalists, the pastor argued, is to Islamize the whole country To him, they want Sharia in every state of this country If Thompson and others are right, then why is the North truly a fertile ground for al-Qaeda recruitment? Dr Adeoye Oyewole, a psychiatrist at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Osogbo in Osun State, argued that Northern youths like Farouk could be suffering from maladaptive coping mechanism According to him, lack of warmth from the family is one of the factors that could lead to such action "This is because some of the rich parents don’t have time for their children, so such children are not able to connect with the parents, especially when the need arises and as such, may want to commit suicide," he explained Sani of the Civil Rights Congress agreed with Oyewole He explained that in Kaduna, there are hundreds of youth or young people that are either sponsored by their parents or are under scholarship to study in countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Dubai Farouk, according to him, is simply one of these young men and the difference he made was the failed plot He, therefore, advised that when rich people send their wards outside the country to study, it is imperative for them to monitor the kind of activities they engage in, in the interest of the safety of the country and the whole world They should also ensure that the tuition fees and other monies they send for the upkeep of their wards "are not converted for training of one form of terrorist act or another." Farouk’s case is, as Sani explained, a special one in the sense that terrorism will flourish where there are resources to back it up "Young people from poor homes don’t have the $5,000 to buy flight ticket to move from Lagos to Holland, so they unleash their own terror at the local level But if you have the resources, it would simply help you to move further This clearly indicates that young people of rich parental background are simply those who are privileged to take their own ideas to the next level," he submitted Another reason that the North is believed to be a fertile ground for al-Qaeda incendiaries is the failure of the government security agencies to monitor Nigeria’s borders TheNEWS reliably gathered that most of the fundamentalists (especially Boko Haram) are illegal immigrants from neighboring Niger Republic and Chad According to a top security chief who craved anonymity, "They came into Kano a long time ago with the sole aim of corrupting the minds of unsuspecting Muslim faithful with their nefarious agenda I must tell you that this group, Aljawus, has a global network Their agenda as can be deduced from their mode of operation is to devastate the world and they see northern Nigerian borders porous enough to troop into the country and wreak havoc." Moreover, as Sani put it, "there is no government agency or security agency that has a profile of the number of people that have been going out to the Middle East and Far East in search of knowledge or any other reason It is only when they are back here and mayhem is unleashed that people talk." He cited the case of a group of young men and women mostly educated in Pakistan and Afghanistan who, five years ago, picked up arms and called themselves the Talibans They unleashed mayhem on the people until they were cautioned "You can see that we live in a society where we only remember things when they happen and then we forget them until another one happens There is no mechanism, there is no structure to make sure that things not happen again," he said There are also groups that have affiliations with some countries and their activities are never monitored and as such, they became sources of breeding violence, he added Sani gave another interpretation to the problem of failed leadership As he put it, successive governments had failed to provide the atmosphere that would make every Nigerian have a sense of belonging People have lost hope in their leaders and the system and as such, Islamic fundamentalism has been considered an alternative to most of these problems "When you have people with these problems and mentality and who are governed by corrupt leaders that have no vision and desire to address all these problems mentioned, the result is what we see in the crises that occur in the region always," he argued He added that situations where most of the time money voted as security votes is usually used to settle political cronies rather than for gathering intelligence or curbing any form of crisis that arises is regrettable Moreover, the refusal of the government to implement the probe panel reports on past religious crises is, as the human rights activist argued, highly responsible for the disposition of some people to misguided ideologies like Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism Thompson lamented that even the National Reconciliation Committee that was set up by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, achieved nothing "If Nigeria has to move forward we have to address this issue," he quipped Thompson recalled that President Umaru Yar’Adua, when he was governor of Katsina State, personally supervised the activities of the Sharia Court without any publicity He was the executive governor when Amina Lawal was to be stoned to death "If a country has a president that approved a death by stoning, why would you blame a man for putting into practice, the true form of Islamic fundamentalism now?" he asked The breakdown of the university system in Nigeria has also contributed to the problem As Sani argued, many Nigerians take delight in sending their wards to universities in the Middle and Far East that offer free admission and scholarships to young Nigerians Now, if they get in touch with people with bad intentions and those that can indoctrinate them, the result is what we have in Farouk Mutallab, he reasoned "There is no doubt that young people are vulnerable because their minds are fertile It is a period of exuberance and reception to new, even if bad ideas Coupled with this is the problem of illiteracy There is a low level of western education in the North and as such, northerners are prone to involvement in acts of violence Also, there is a high level of ignorance, which renders people who have limited education and enlightenment vulnerable to a distorted and misleading ideology, whether religious or political The environment and types of religious doctrines that the youth are exposed to are another factor Sani wants Nigerians to realize that the radical thoughts and violence which people like Farouk attempted to perpetrate in the United States was because he went to Yemen "He grew up in Kaduna, a city that hardly knows religious tolerance… He grew up in a society that is hostile to the concept of unity and peace that is far divided He grew up in a society where individuals preach violence and the authorities are helpless because they say religion is a very sensitive issue and such individuals act with impunity." Sani described as ironic and hypocritical, Islamic leaders that are condemning what Farouk has done The statements and conduct of some of such leaders, Sani argued, inspired people like him to export hostility to the level of terrorism "Terrorism is not the major problem in Nigeria and there is no al-Qaeda base in northern Nigeria but one thing is clear: there is a steady growth and spread of Islamic GMP20111127966067 Doha Al Jazeera.net in English 1015 GMT 27 Nov 11 ["Multiple Explosions Hit Nigerian City" Al Jazeera net Headline] [ Computer selected and disseminated without OSC editorial intervention ] (Al Jazeera net) - Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram have bombed a police station, a bank and a beer parlour in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe state, reports say The gunmen, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, bombed the bank and threw explosives into a police station and a beer parlour in Geidam town late on Saturday, they said Gaidam is the hometown of Ibrahim Gaidam, the Yobe state governor Sulaiman Lawal, state police commissioner, confirmed the city came under attack, but declined to offer any further details Idrissa Galda, member of a local vigilante group, said the attackers kept firing indiscriminately and residents remained indoors Details of casualties were still unclear "Many people have been trapped in the attacks but it is difficult to say how many have been affected," Galda said Another resident, Umar Maina, said the attackers engaged the police in a shootout "There were three explosions in all, followed by incessant gunshots," Maina said Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for multiple suicide, gun and bomb attacks earlier this month in Damaturu targeting police formations and churches killing 150 people The group also claimed responsibility for the August attack on the UN building in Abuja which claimed 24 lives [Description of Source: Doha Al Jazeera.net in English Website of the Al Jazeera English TV, international English-language news service of Al-Jazirah, independent television station financed by the Qatari Government; URL: http://english.aljazeera.net ] Nigeria: Suspected Boko Haram Attack Targets Police Station, Bank, Bar AFP20111127587033 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1414 GMT 27 Nov 11 ["Three Nigerian Policemen Shot in Sect Attacks: Source" AFP headline] KANO, Nigeria, Nov 27, 2011 (AFP) - Three policemen were shot and injured when suspected members of Islamist sect Boko Haram attacked a police station, a bank and a beer parlour in Nigeria's Yobe state, a security official said Sunday The gunmen threw explosives into a police station and an abandoned beer parlour in the town of Geidam, 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the state capital Damaturu, residents had said The attackers, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, also bombed a bank near the police station and carted away money from its vault Six churches, a shopping complex owned by a Christian and 11 cars parked therein were also destroyed by the assailants, he stated During the police station attack the assailants freed detained suspects and set the ;remises ablaze, making off with arms and ammunition, a senior official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Geidam town A resident who stumbled while fleeing the scene of the attacks on Saturday also sustained injury, the source said, adding that the four injured people were being treated on Sunday at the town's government hospital "Three policemen sustained gunshot wounds and a civilian resident also sustained injuries when he tumbled as he was scampering to safety," the official told AFP via telephone from Geidam Geidam is the home town of the Yobe state governo Ibrahim Gaidam Seven other shops were also broken into and looted, the source said "It was a miracle that no deaths were recorded given the scale of desstruction resulting from the attacks," said the official Police authorities on Sunday declined to comment on the incident The Boko Haram sect has claimed responsibility for multiple gun, bomb and suicide attacks this month in Damatur, targeting police and churches and killing 150 people The group also claimed responsibility for the August attack on the UN building in Abuja which claimed 24 lives [Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse] Nigeria: Suspected Islamic Sect Gunmen Kill Protocol Officer in Borno State AFP20111128565023 Abuja Daily Trust Online in English 0400 GMT 28 Nov 11 [Report by Nazifi Dawud Khalid: "Gunmen Kill Protocol Officer, Herbalist in Maiduguri"] Some unidentified gunmen suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect have again shot and killed a protocol officer, Kala Boro who was working at the Borno state Government House while he was on his way to his house at the Gwange ward of Maiduguri metropolis at around 9:30pm yesterday The gunmen were also said to have killed one Malam Garba Abdullahi, an herbalist in the same attacks A resident of the area, Bello Kukawa told Daily Trust that: "The gunmen trailed Kala Boro on his way to his home and fired several shots at him in his car, killing him at once After that they proceeded to the house of an herbalist and also shot him many times in the chest." Residents were said to have scampered into their homes after hearing sporadic gunshots after which the operatives of the Joint Task Force quickly deployed to the area and launched a house to house search for the assailants The Borno state Police Commissioner, Mr Simon Midenda who confirmed the attacks said that the attackers were three in number and had Kalashnikov rifles with which they perpetrated the crime "The killing of the protocol officer brings to three, the assassinated officers who were attached to the Maiduguri Government House, while a herbalist was equally killed by the sect last March in the series of killings by the Boko Haram Sect", he said The Commissioner urged residents to remain calm saying that security has already been strengthened in the area and that the police are on the tail of the assailants [Description of Source: Abuja Daily Trust Online in English Website of the independent pro-North daily; URL: http://dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php] Nigeria's Boko Haram Sect Claims Weekend Bombings AFP20111128637018 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1334 GMT 28 Nov 11 ["Nigeria's Boko Haram claim weekend bombings: 'spokesman'" AFP headline] KANO, Nigeria, Nov 28, 2011 (AFP) - Nigeria's Islamist Boko Haram sect was responsible for a string of weekend bombings targeting government buildings and churches in Geidam in the northeast, its purported spokesman said Monday Abul Qaqa, who claims to speak for Boko Haram, said in an emailed statement that the sect carried out Saturday's attacks to protest the "continued arrests" of its members "We are responsible for the attacks in Gaidam and such attacks will continue as long as our members arrested by the Nigerian authorities remain in detention," he said Witnesses said sect members armed with Kalashnikov rifles hurled explosives at Geidam police station, freed suspects and stole arms The gunmen then rampaged through town attacking six churches, a high court, a shopping complex, a local government secretariat, and robbed a bank They also bombed an abandoned beer parlour and looted shops, according to a Nigerian Security and Civil Defence official in the town At least three policemen and a civilian were injured in the attacks, according to a security source Geidam is the hometown of the Yobe state governor Ibrahim Geidam, and is close to the border with Nigeria's northern neighbour, Niger Earlier this month the sect launched multiple suicide and bomb attacks on police stations and churches in Yobe's state capital Damaturu, killing at least 150 people Police have not given the total number of suspects arrested in connection with recent attacks in Yobe "Until all our members in detention are released and the Yobe state government stops intimidating and harassing our members we will continue carrying out attacks in the state," warned Qaqa Yobe is also the home state of slain sect leader Mohammed Yusuf, killed during a Boko Haram armed uprising in 2009 [Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse] Nigerian Government Raises Alarm Over Influx of Arms, Ammunition From Libya AFP20111130598001 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 30 Nov 11 [Report by Chris Agbambu: "Gaddafi's Men Moving Arms Into Nigeria -FG; State Police'll Bring Anarchy -DIG"] The Federal Government, on Tuesday, raised the alarm on the influx of arms and ammunition from Libya into Nigeria The Minister of Defence, Dr Bello Haliru Mohammed, who disclosed this on Tuesday, while on a maiden visit to the Defence, Army, Navy and Airforce headquarters, said that security reports revealed that some of the dissidents of the slain former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, were moving with heavy equipment and arms into the northern part of the country "We are very much aware of the movement of arms and explosives that were stolen from Libya And I discussed with the Minister of Defence from Niger recently and he confirmed to me that arms were coming in Recently, about 10 trucks entered from Libya and they had to fight them They killed six people and seized all the 10 trucks and all of them were loaded with weapons." He said that anxiety was being expressed on the issue of security of the country's borders, as fears had heightened about arms coming from Niger and lack of military representation in that country Subsequently, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, has directed the deputy concierge to move to Niger, while the government is to set a process in motion to ensure that the government approves the establishment of Defence attaché for Niger The minister disclosed that the fears were genuine but that they were up and doing "We are doing something about it; we are working to set up a memorandum of understanding with Niger And the EU has just approached that they would also like to work with us They have fears also of disruption in our sub-region, if these weapons are allowed to proliferate without challenge And Mali, Central African Republic, Mauritania Niger are all coming together to set a joint operation to fight movement of these weapons." He said that the government was doing a lot in this area and that with the support of the armed forces which are the field operators, and with their dedication, "we are going to face the situation and we will not allow it to deteriorate the security situation in our sub-region." Dr Bello charged the armed forces and other security agencies to really look inwards; "to look at ourselves, our attitudes, our methods of operation so that we devise means and ways of combating these new challenges, as he also promised to involve the military in internal security operations by bringing them into greater contact with the civil population He appealed to senior military officers to consider the civil populace as their friends, brothers and sisters, saying that to a great extent, they relied on them to get some of the information that they used to plan their operations According to him, when coming in contact, senior officers should talk to their men to be extraordinarily civil, because military training was geared towards threatening the enemy "When you are fighting a war, every citizen of your enemy country is considered an enemy, but internal security operation is different and we have to re-orient our people to think and behave accordingly," he said Also, he added that it was the aim of the government to transform the Armed Forces by ensuring that they are always properly equipped and trained He said training institutions in the country were of high quality, as evidenced by constant request they received from other countries, even from outside Africa The minister said they had set in motion a process for amending the conditions of service for the Armed Forces to increase the age of retirement for various positions Meanwhile, against the backdrop for the clamour for state police by some states of the federation, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police for South-South, Mr Mustafa Yesufu, has said such a development is unnecessary, as it would promote chaos and anarchy in the society The DIG, who stated this in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, on Tuesday, while on a working visit to the state police command, said the pre sent structure of the police force was suitable for the country According to him, "Nigeria as a nation has not developed into having state police, those who are calling for the establishment of state police are simply inviting chaos and anarchy." Explaining further, Yesufu said state governors were the chief security officers of their individual states, even as they had given enough support to their state police commands with the provision of security apparatus like security vans, weapons and financial assistance He said allowing state police would mean state government having control over security agencies in their domains, which, he said, would result in mismanagement " On the activities of Boko Haram sect, Yesufu said such a crime was relatively new in the system, adding that the steps to stem their activities required a collective effort and should not be left to the security agencies alone He, however, called on the members of the public to be vigilant, saying that "note those that buy ammunition, explosives from you, report strange and funny characters around you The situation requires team work and not to be left in the hands of the police alone." In his welcome address, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, said the command had concluded arrangements to establish a quick response squad in the state, to ensure that proactive measures were taken to fight crime with all vigour available to the command, to make the state safe for prospective investors and the general citizenry [Description of Source: Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English Website of the privately owned daily; URL: http://www.tribune.com.ng] Nigeria: Adamawa Police Dismiss Officers for Alleged Links With Islamic Sect AFP20111130598003 Lagos The Guardian Online in English 2300 GMT 29 Nov 11 [Report by Njadvara Musa and Emmanuel Tarfa: "Police Sack Officers for Alleged Links With Bandits; Assure on Safety in Borno"] For their alleged role in aiding Boko Haram members and other bandits by supplying arms, two serving police officers in Adamawa State, Daniel Eliphas and Abubakar Hali, have been dismissed from the Force The move came as the police command in Borno State yesterday assured on the safety of lives and property, including offices of the various political parties The police assurance came after recent threat by the Boko Haram sect to set ablaze the offices The police officers who were accused of supplying arms to bandits would also be charged to court for allegedly stealing of arms belonging to the Adamawa State Police Command The Adamawa State Commissioner of Police, Adenrele Shinaba who stated this yesterday in Yola told journalists that a retired armourer in the command, Abuna Mainasara and one Stephen Tizhe were also in police custody and would soon be charged to court in connection with the looting of the armoury Shinaba confirmed that some AK-47 riffles, several rounds of life ammunition and magazines stolen from the armoury were recently discovered from the arrested men The police boss who refuted allegations that the armoury was looted by armed robbers, said: "The stealing was rather carried out by the new Sergeant posted to the armoury who was requested to continue the deal after the retired armourer left office" The Police Commissioner stated that investigations were still on to enable them arrest those who bought some of the stolen arms and ammunition from the armourer and his two Inspector business partners In a statement signed by the Borno State Police Commissioner, Simeon Midenda yesterday and made available to The Guardian in Maiduguri he said: "Law abiding citizens are hereby advised not to panic on receiving such threats from the sect But report to the police immediately without any delay," He also assured that prompt action would be taken irrespective of where the threat emanated from [Description of Source: Lagos The Guardian Online in English Website of the widely read independent daily, aimed at up-market readership; URL: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/] Nigerian Police Arrest Scam Gangs Seeking To Profit From Islamist Fears AFP20111130309006 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1857 GMT 30 Nov 11 ["Nigerian scams seek to profit from Islamist fears: police" AFP headline] ABUJA, Nov 30, 2011 (AFP) - Nigerian authorities have arrested members of criminals gangs that profited from fears of Islamist attacks through scams that involved sending threatening text messages, secret police said on Wednesday Authorities said they had arrested members of four different gangs involved in the scams, which included sms messages sent to victims informing them they would be assassinated unless they transferred money to a certain bank account Other messages said money must be donated "for the propagation of Islam" or the victims "risk being bombed", secret police spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar said in a statement which named seven suspects The arrests come amid a wave of bomb blasts and shootings blamed on the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram, including the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja which killed at least 24 people Prominent politicians and community leaders as well as soldiers and police officers in the country's northeast, where most of the violence has occurred, have been targeted in assassinations Ogar, describing the activities of one of the gangs, said "their sole intent was to instill fear and cause panic with the aim of defrauding unsuspecting members of the public" Providing an example of a text message, she said: "Someone wants me to assassinate you, but I will spare your life if you pay a ransom to my Intercontinental Bank account." "Many highly placed Nigerians have been victims of the syndicate," she said Another gang was operated by someone claiming to be the "secretary of Boko Haram", she said Threats were sent to a range of politicians, including a senator, according to Ogar "He threatened them to donate money for the propagation of Islam or risk being bombed," she said "He received various sums of money ranging from 30,000 naira ($186, 138 euros) to 100,000 naira through a Union Bank account." She also claimed secret police had arrested the person responsible for threats that led the US embassy to issue a controversial warning in early November of potential attacks on hotels and other locations in Abuja But an email message allegedly from the suspect that Ogar quoted from was vague and seemed at odds with the specific and credible threat a US diplomat said had led to the warning [Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse] Nigeria: Northern Group Calls Activities of Islamic Sect as 'National Malaise' AFP20111201598014 Isheri Nigerian Compass Online in English 2300 GMT 30 Nov 11 [Report by Godwin Isenyo: "Why We Can't Tame Boko Haram, by Northern Leaders"] The pan-Northern socio-political group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), yesterday said it lacks the capacity to tame the dreaded Boko Haram "because their activities are beyond us" The ACF also told President Goodluck Jonathan not to be sentimental in his handling of security isssues in the country According to the ACF National Publicity Secretary, Anthony Sani, "the ACF cannot handle Boko Haram because it is beyond us, it is a national malaise." Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, Sani noted that the activities of the sect were beyond that which the ACF could handle just as he admitted that "it has been difficult to make any headway in reaching a truce with members of the Muslim group because, you are dealing with boys who are ready to kill themselves." "The ACF does not receive allocations from government to tackle Boko Haram We can only make recommendations and put pressure on government to take action "Insecurity in Nigeria is not restricted to the North and people in terrorism are not sponsored because they are ready to kill themselves "So, there is nothing the ACF can because it is not a regional problem and people should also talk to the boys and not to continue to blame Northern elders," Sani said Speaking further, Sani said that Nigerians should blame themselves for the perceived failures of the President because "Nigerians voted for him during the April general elections" "Jonathan became President following the outcome of the elections, so, if he fails or succeeds, it will be as a result of the voting and not because of any Boko Haram or insecurity in the North "It is common place knowledge that our nation is facing difficult times characterised by the spate of kidnappings, militant activism, ethno-religious crises and recent high incidences of bombings by Boko Haram," Sani said [Description of Source: Isheri Nigerian Compass Online in English Website of the privately owned newspaper close to former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili; URL: http://www.compassnewspaper.com] ... these acts point to the fact that terrorists are gaining a foothold in Nigeria [Description of Source: Lagos TheNews in English - independent weekly news magazine] Nigeria: Interviewee Says Terror... States report on the 9/11, Nigeria was mentioned in the official report Nigeria was mentioned because there were some Nigerians that were directly trained by bin Laden Beyond the training of Nigerians... committed to religious peace in Nigeria, in this interview with ALEX AKINYELE speaks about the presence of international terrorists in Nigeria Q: People see riots In Nigeria as a form of terrorism