‘What we saw in Sambisa Forest’

Little is known about the young Nigerian Air Force pilots who played various roles in the decimation of Boko Haram insurgents and the capture of the dreaded Sambisa Forest. Many of them have been at war front for years, with not a few losing their lives in the process. Assistant Editor Seun Akioye reports his encounter with some of the fighter pilots on their involvement in the battle against Boko Haram terrorists in the Northeast.

Flight Lieutenant (Captain) Sam Haastrup jumped down smartly from the cockpit of a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha-Jet, took off his helmet and hung it by the side of the aircraft. He was calm. It was a daily routine and a way of life. “It’s what I do for a living”, Flight-Lt. said.

He looked at the reporter and said: “I am a fighter pilot with the Nigerian Air Force, 103 Strike Group, Yola. I have been in this campaign for the past three years and that is what I am doing for a living right now. I am doing the job as much as possible and I am trying to pay back for the colleagues that we have lost in this war. I pray that the Lord will continue to be with their families.”

Haastrup stood at the expansive airstrip of the NAF Headquarters, 105 Composite Group, Maiduguri, headquarters of the Air Component of Operation Lafiya Dole. All around, young pilots were busy with their aircraft, the Alpha-Jets, the F7-Ni, the Augusta helicopters, ATR 42 surveillance aircraft and the massive transport plane C-130.

BOKO HARAM: US Claims to have Locate Clusters of Chibok Girls

The American and African forces sent to Cameroon to fight Boko Haram have, on several occasions, located clusters of the schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant group two years ago, United States officials said.

Rescue operations have not been carried out, the officials said, because of fears that any ensuing battle with Boko Haram fighters would put the captives at risk, or incite some form of retaliation against hostages still being held in other areas.

Breaking: Boko Haram attacks soldiers in Borno -Army

According to the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman Boko Haram terrorists this morning attack troops of 113 Battalion at Kareto Northern Borno State.
The troops have been battling the insurgents since early hours of today. 

Boko Haram fighters on Monday attacked Nigerian soldiers in the northeast of the country, where the jihadists have been waging a seven-year insurgency, the army said.

Details to follow shortly.

Breaking: Nigeria military Alpha Jet (NAF 466) bombing Boko Haram missing

An Alpha Jet (NAF 466) belonging to the Nigerian Air Force and involved in the counter insurgency operation against the extremist Boko Haram sect has gone missing around Adamawa State.


The spokesperson of the Defence Headquarters, Chris Olukolade, a Major general, said the aircraft, with two pilots onboard, went missing on Friday. In a statement early Sunday, Mr. Olukolade said the aircraft “left Yola at about 10:45a.m on 12 September 2014 on a routine operational mission and was expected back by 12:00 noon”.


“Since then, all efforts to establish contact with the aircraft have not yielded any positive result,” the statement said. Mr. Olukolade said search and rescue effort had since commenced “to establish contact with the crew”.

Islamist Boko Haram ready to swap 219 girls with 70 detainees

The Islamist Boko Haram sect has demanded the release of 70 of its members in detention as a condition to free the Chibok girls, it emerged yesterday.

The sect is also asking the government to give amnesty to its members. A lawyer close to the armed group, Hajiya Aisha Wakil, told AlJazeera English that the sect said only when these conditions are met would it release the abducted girls.

No fewer than 276 girls were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State on April 15. The Boko Haram leaders deceived the girls that they were soldiers who came to protect them from attack.

There are 219 girls in their custody following the escape of 57 from their enclave.

Soldier kill 44 Boko Haram sects in a Fresh battle Against the Terrorists in Maiduguri

Soldier kill 44 Boko Haram sects in a Fresh battle Against the Terrorists in Maiduguri

The Nigerian Army has reportedly killed more than 44 Boko Haram sects in a Fresh battle against the insurgents in Borno state. The capture of a number of terrorists believed to be the ringleaders of those operating around Alagarno remote villages of Damboa Council Area of Borno state, has sparked off a major fight in the outskirts of Maiduguri metropolis last night.

Bulabulin is a remote village between Alagarmo and Sambisa Forest where the terrorists have been attempting to establish a stronghold in their campaign During the deadly encounter, 40 suspected terrorists died while 4 soldiers lost their lives and 9 were wounded.

"Soldiers In Boko Haram-Plagued Areas Accuse Army Generals Of Siphoning Security Funds" - SaharaReporters, New York

Several soldiers operating in the Northeastern part of Nigeria, which is the hub of attacks by Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group, have accused top officers of siphoning much of the funds for counter-insurgency.

In confidential interviews, the soldiers said their generals and other officers were enriching themselves even as the soldiers in the frontline of the fight against the terrorist group live in squalid conditions and suffer from extreme deprivation as well as lack of basic facilities.

The soldiers criticized the operational tactics used by the top brass of the Army who decide how to run the counter-offensive against Boko Haram insurgents. The soldiers, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of strict anonymity, claimed that it was the common view of soldiers that their commanding officers’ decisions were informed primarily by a desire to enrich themselves at the expense of the welfare and morale of soldiers and the effectiveness of the overall fight against Boko Haram.

Most of our sources wondered why three different units with separate command structures have been stationed in the same barracks located along Maha Road in the Mubi local government area of Adamawa State.

School Girls Abductions: Military Lied About Their Rescue Operation Say Principal, Borno Government Officials - PREMIUM TIMES

There is controversy over the rescue of abducted school girls in Borno with the state government and the school principal faulting the military’s claim that most of the pupils have been freed

The claim by military officials in Abuja on Wednesday that 107 abducted girls of Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) Chibok were freed is a huge lie, Borno  government officials, the management of the school and residents have said. 

The Principal of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Asabe Kwambura, told PREMIUM TIMES Thursday morning that the military’s claim was false. 

“There is nothing in the military statement that is true about our abducted girls,”  Mrs. Kwambura said. “Up till now we are still waiting and praying for the safe return of the students; all I know is that we have only 14 of them, and the security people especially the Vigilante and the well meaning volunteers of Gwoza are still out searching for them.”

Scores Killed in Borno as Boko Haram Launch Fresh Assorts

The Suspected Islamist Jihadists otherwise known as Boko Haram, today, launched fresh attacks on troubled Borno villages and on highways killing more than 30 people including residents, motorists and commuters.

The Boko Haram' latest attacks started on Thursday evening and lasted on till Friday morning, they invaded three towns ; Dikwa (in the central), Gwoza and Kalabalge council area and on Maiduguri-Biu road.

Eight Teachers were killed by the sects in the attack on Government Secondary school in Dikwa located along Gulumba road. 

Boko Haram Need to Learn from this: Nurudeen Lemu, National Confab delegate from the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs said these immortal and wise words

Nurudeen Lemu, a National Confab delegate from the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs said these immortal and wise words..."I pray that at the end of this conference, we will all grow in our humanity and respect for each other".....read on....
"As a delegate, and as a people representing people of faith in God from the Islamic perspective, one thing we believe is that God will protect the community that stands for justice even if they are not Muslims and God will not protect the community that goes contrary to justice even if they call themselves Muslims.

God is not a religious bigot. He is not a male chauvinist. He is not an ethnocentric tribalist. God is not the oppressor of anyone. God is with those who care; those who want for others those things they want for themselves.

Army Arrest 17 Including Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) In Adamawa

Soldiers have arrested 17 people at a popular shopping complex in Yola, Adamawa State. Force Public Relations Officer, Capt Jafaru Nuhu said the arrests were part of a routine security operation of the military in the state.

Eyewitnesses confirmed that the armed soldiers stormed the market at 12:30pm and started arresting marked people, including men of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), who are helping the military in their operations against Boko Haram.  “When the soldiers stormed the market, they started searching for the people they wanted to arrest as if they were marked.” A trader said.

Another trader explained that the market was shut down for an hour as a result of the anxiety generated by the operations of the military. He said the suspects have been released.

Boko Haram Gunshots force Two Pregnant Women to Deliver inside Bush in Yobe state

Two women running away from the Boko Haram attack on Buni Gari town of Yobe state on Saturday were reported to have delivered in the bush, an eyewitness has said. A woman who identified herself as Falmata confirmed that they were running inside the bush when two pregnant women delivered.

“It was terrible my son. The sounds of the gunshots were just too much to bear. As if it was in front of our house. We started running to the bush when we observed that the boys were burning houses. As we were running, other women joined us. Two of them even delivered inside the bush,” Falmata disclosed.

"Apo 8: Nigerian Rights Commission indicts Army, SSS, for unlawful killing" - Premium Times

The Nigerian Human Rights (NHRC) Commission in Abuja Monday afternoon indicted the Nigerian Army, the Directorate of State Security, DSS and the Attorney General of the Federation saying they had “no credible evidence” to tag the eight youngsters killed last September in the Apo District of Abuja as agents of the Boko Haram terror group.

In an 83-page final report and decision, NHRC said, last September 20, an army-DSS detachment stormed an uncompleted building in the Apo/Gudu district of the Federal Capital Territory for a presumed operation to flush out a Boko Haram sleeper cell.

Islaamist Sects kill Seven on Maiduguri Highway

Suspected members of the deadly Islamist group, Boko Haram  have killed seven travelers along the Maiduguri-Biu road.

The outlawed Boko Haram fundamentalists  was alleged to have laid siege on the road on Saturday when its members killed seven persons, forcing many motorists to avoid the Maiduguri-Biu highway and some other major highways leading into the troubled town.

It was gathered that after the sect killed the unsuspecting travelers, they also stormed Gwargube, an adjoining village to the road where they were alleged to have summoned the villagers and threatened them to cooperate or be killed.

Details to follow



This Day

Army Commanders, Boko Haram Working Together in Parts of Nigeria?

VOA  - A Nigerian soldier says he has witnessed incidents that suggest some Nigerian military commanders are working with Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group blamed for thousands of deaths since 2009.

In an exclusive interview with VOA's Hausa service, he described how his military unit, based in the northeastern Borno State region, was ambushed by Boko Haram fighters.

The soldier, who did not want to be identified, said the commander of a nearby military unit, based in the town of Bama, recently sought assistance from his unit in carrying out a raid.

The soldier said when the two military units joined up, they were given different uniforms. The Bama unit commander gave his own troops green uniforms. The soldier said his unit received tan "desert camouflage" uniforms.

UPDATES: Boko Haram Gunmen Attack Mosque in Yobe, Kill 20

Islamist Gunmen, suspected to be Boko Haram militants have attacked a mosque in northeastern Nigeria state of Yobe and not less than 20 Muslim worshipers have been confirmed dead.

The Boko Haram Jihadists  who had earlier threaten Muslim clerics who preach against their Islamic extremist doctrine, attacked village in Yobe state just before dawn Saturday and killed 20 worshipers who went for the first prayer of the day.

AP reports that the survivors of the attacked confirmed that the Islamist Militias opened fire in a mosque in northeastern Nigeria and gunned down at least 20 worshippers.

A civil servant Musa Ibrahim said the gunmen struck before dawn Saturday as residents of Buni Gari village were gathering for the first prayer of the day. The village is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the Yobe state capital, Damaturu in an area that has been attacked on numerous times.

Boko Haram Insurgency: ICG Recommendations to End the Killings (EXCERPTS)

                          EXCERPTS FROM ICG’S EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Africa Report No. 216 from the Brussels, Belgium-based International Crisis Group, ICG.

Curbing Violence in Nigeria (II): The Boko Haram Insurgency
Boko Haram’s four-year-old insurgency has pitted neighbour against neighbour, cost more than 4,000 lives, displaced close to half a million, destroyed hundreds of schools and government buildings and devastated an already ravaged economy in the North East, one of Nigeria’s poorest regions.

It overstretches federal security services, with no end in sight, spills over to other parts of the north and risks reaching Niger and Cameroon, weak countries poorly equipped to combat a radical Islamist armed group tapping into real governance, corruption, impunity and underdevelopment grievances shared by most people in the region.

BREAKING: Scores Killed as Boko Haram Sects Attack Two Villages in Zamfara state

At least 22 persons were reportedly killed in an attack by the members of the suspected Islamist militias, Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, officials said on Friday.

Islamist Gunmen on about 50 motorcycles attacked two villages in Zamfara State, Maitsaba and Birnin-Tsab on Thursday evening.They attacked residents and torched dozens of homes and grain stores, Zamfara Commissioner of Commerce Alhaji Hassan Zurmi told dpa.

PHOTO: A Member of Boko Haram Islamic Sect Arrested by the Millitary Men

An alleged  member of the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram, arrested at the scene of the suicide bomb attack launched on a military checkpoint along Maiduguri – Damboa road on Monday.

Source - Hope For Nigeria.

BOKO HARAM FORCEFULLY RECRUITING YOUTH IN BORNO VILLAGES' - Kills Four Defiant Youth

Islamist Boko Haram insurgents are currently on a  forceful recruitment missions as they arenow forcing  young men from Borno villages to fight for them, a sources said yesterday.

Four people were killed in Yasku village, close to Alagarno, as the notorious breeding ground of Boko Haram fighters, located south of Jakana in Kaga local government area of Borno State made those that refused to join the dreaded group paid with their life.

It is not yet clear if the four people were killed because they refused to join the terrorists group or for other reasons, it was learnt that they were killed around 2pm on Wednesday.

A local from the area said, "Sometime ago, the insurgents had taken some of our children by force and left. This time, they came and there was no provocation in whatever form. The gunmen simply went to Yasku and shot dead the four harmless people. They also warned the locals not to bury the corpses. As I am talking to you now (yesterday) the bodies are still there," he said.