Politics

Scores of the residents of Gamboru in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State have returned to the newly-liberated city to inspect damages and decide whether they can permanently return. People who had fled the town last year, crossed the border with Cameroon on Friday under military escort to inspect the devastation caused by the Takfiri Boko Haram group. Gamboru was recaptured from Boko Haram earlier this month by Chadian troops, who have joined the recently-formed multinational force to fight against the militants. Boko Haram had seized Gamboru in August last year, forcing thousands of its residents to flee across the border to the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, on the other bank of a river on the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. “We met a ghost town strewn with burnt vehicles, destroyed buildings and emptied homes,” said Kachalla Moduye, a former resident of Gamboru who had left the town after the Boko Haram attack, adding, “Many homes were burnt in the Boko Haram invasion and in the fighting to reclaim it by Chadian soldiers. Those that were spared were looted by Boko Haram in the five months they stayed in the town.” Gamboru has been under frequent attacks from the militants since 2009. The recapturing of the town came during the first operation of the 8,700-strong force that Nigeria and its immediate neighbors, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin, had pledged to create in early February in a bid to fight the Boko Haram militants. 

Separately, as Chadian forces were conducting sweeping aerial and ground operations, the Boko Haram militants prevented hundreds of residents from leaving a dozen villages in the nearby Marte district who were heading west from Gamboru. “They will not allow everyone to leave and threaten to kill anyone that attempts to flee,” said Maji Zaram, a villager who made it to Fotokol. Chad’s army pushed deep inside the Nigerian territory for the first time this week and bombarded the town of Dikwa near Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold. The Nigerian army also announced on Thursday that its fighter jets had bombarded Sambisa Forest and the nearby Gwoza. Boko Haram militants took control of Gwoza in June 2014 and set up their base in the town. Nigeria’s military also regained the control of the nearby town of Monguno earlier this week. The violence fueled by Boko Haram militants, which started in 2009, has killed at least 13,000 people and rendered more than a million others homeless.

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

The Nigerian/Biafra War was a curse on the conscience of the nation but a blessing to the Northern Military establishment. Many of these Generals made fortunes from the war and took the opportunity to entrench themselves in power. Olusegun Obasanjo like Good luck Jonathan came to power during that period as a beneficiary of the sad spoils of death. They were considered outsiders or trespassers to their god ordained power. For this reason, the country had to be made ungovernable to prove them and any person outside the North unfit to defend the constitutional order, national cohesion and republican values.  Under these dire circumstances, the Northern Military establishment, their feudal and religious confederacy would step in and take back power through democratic or other means. This is the rationale of the unfolding drama in the up coming election.

The culture of impunity and unchecked state supervised criminality against civilians during military rule under the Northern Military establishment in Nigeria was unprecedented.  This is the culture of impunity that gave birth to claims for Sharia States in some Northern states and coordinated attacks against Christians in Northern Nigeria.  The sharia claims emerged only when Olusegun Obasanjo a Christian from the West was elected as the first democratic President of Nigeria after Military rule. The political motivation for this move using religion a lethal weapon was not lost on keen observers of Nigerian politics nor to the Southern Military establishment and politicians or even Obasanjo. The hidden hand of his military peers from the North behind these acts of destabilization was obvious. This did not happen during the military rule dominated by the Northern Military establishment so also the so-called Fulani herdsmen slaughter of Christians and burning of Christian Churches in the North and the Middle Belt.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Feb.2015

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The United States has announced that it will support the Cameroonian army secure equipment to fight Boko Haram. The US that has reportedly prevented its long time ally, Nigeria from procuring arms said via its embassy in Yaoundé, that the Obama administration arrived the decision following its commitment geared towards countering the jihadists around the globe. The boss of the US diplomatic mission in Cameroon His Excellency Michael Stephen Hoza was quoted by Reuters as saying “My government is working on a logistic pipeline of material that will enhance Cameroon's ability to defend itself from Boko Haram". 

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

The Nigerian/Biafra War was a curse on the conscience of the nation but a blessing to the Northern Military establishment. Many of these Generals made fortunes from the war and took the opportunity to entrench themselves in power. Olusegun Obasanjo like Good luck Jonathan came to power during that period as a beneficiary of the sad spoils of death. They were considered outsiders or trespassers to their god ordained power. For this reason, the country had to be made ungovernable to prove them and any person outside the North unfit to defend the constitutional order, national cohesion and republican values.  Under these dire circumstances, the Northern Military establishment, their feudal and religious confederacy would step in and take back power through democratic or other means. This is the rationale of the unfolding drama in the election coming up.

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Ngwa Bertrand

21.Feb.2015

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The Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram has released 158 hostages, mostly women and children abducted during an attack on the village of Katarko in Yobe state deep inside Nigeria. The 158 hostages were captured in Katarko, some 20 kilometers from the regional capital of Damaturu. Those released reportedly spent three weeks in captivity.  Boko Haram has often practiced mass kidnappings during the six years of insurgency in Nigeria.

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Ngwa Bertrand

20.Feb.2015

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Boko Haram Takfiri terrorists have attacked two villages in northeastern Nigerian Borno state, killing at least 30 people. The militants on Thursday (about 0100 GMT) stormed the villages of Thlaimakalama and Gatamarwa, some 15 kilometers from the town of Chibok, and set them on fire, according to Pogo Bitrus, head of the Chibok Elders Forum. “From information coming in from residents of the two villages at least 30 people were killed in the attacks,” he said. Luka Haruna, a Chibok resident, also gave the same death toll saying, “the two villages were completely destroyed.” Chibok gained notoriety last April when Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from their secondary school. Last Monday, the Boko Haram militants invaded two villages on their way as they fled the nearby town of Askira Uba.“The insurgents mowed everything in sight as they fled Askira Uba and these two villages which they passed through became targets,” Bitrus said, adding, “They opened fire on residents and set houses on fire as they drove in a huge convoy.” The Nigerian army announced on Thursday that its fighter jets had bombarded Boko Haram’s stronghold in the forest. In the face of military operations by the Nigerian army, the Boko Haram militants have fled towards Gwoza, on the border with Cameroon, and the nearby Sambisa Forest, where Takfiri militants have camps. Boko Haram militants took control of Gwoza in June 2014 and set up their base in the town. They further declared it part of their so-called Islamic caliphate. The violence fueled by Boko Haram militants, starting in 2009, has killed at least 13,000 people and rendered more than a million others homeless.

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

The Nigerian/Biafra War was a curse on the conscience of the nation but a blessing to the Northern Military establishment. Many of these Generals made fortunes from the war and took the opportunity to entrench themselves in power. Olusegun Obasanjo like Good luck Jonathan came to power during that period as a beneficiary of the sad spoils of death. They were considered outsiders or trespassers to their god ordained power. For this reason, the country had to be made ungovernable to prove them and any person outside the North unfit to defend the constitutional order, national cohesion and republican values.  Under these dire circumstances, the Northern Military establishment, their feudal and religious confederacy would step in and take back power through democratic or other means. This is the rationale of the unfolding drama in the election taking place on 14 February 2015.

The culture of impunity and unchecked state supervised criminality against civilians during military rule under the Northern Military establishment in Nigeria was unprecedented.  This is the culture of impunity that gave birth to claims for Sharia States in some Northern states and coordinated attacks against Christians in Northern Nigeria.  The sharia claims emerged only when Olusegun Obasanjo a Christian from the West was elected as the first democratic President of Nigeria after Military rule. The political motivation for this move using religion a lethal weapon was not lost on keen observers of Nigerian politics nor to the Southern Military establishment and politicians or even Obasanjo. The hidden hand of his military peers from the North behind these acts of destabilization was obvious. This did not happen during the military rule dominated by the Northern Military establishment so also the so-called Fulani herdsmen slaughter of Christians and burning of Christian Churches in the North and the Middle Belt.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

20.Feb.2015

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23 alleged accomplices of Boko Haram have been placed under police surveillance in the district of Yagoua in the Far North region of the country. The Divisional Officer Kwenti Ndoh Simon decided to put all 23 under police surveillance and ordered a major investigation. They are believed to have hosted their cousins ​​or brothers from Nigeria mostly members of the Islamic sect.

DO Kwenti has also reacted to concerns from human rights groups over his decision saying his administration does not witch hunt, "we are not in the stigmatization of an ethnic group, it just happens that they are linguistically and culturally close”. The DO added that in as much as they helped them to settle by providing accommodation or hospitality, the Cameroon government has the right to know these Nigerian relatives and their role in the on-going conflict.

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Ngwa Bertrand

19.Feb.2015

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Counter-terrorism and security experts from Cameroon and Nigeria are currently meeting in Yaoundé the nation’s capital. The 3rd session of the Security Committee which started earlier today is expected to run through Friday the 20^th.The Security Committee is a mechanism set up by Cameroon and Nigeria to intensify their cooperation in the field of border security. The main issues being discussed includes inter alia organized crime, customs fraud and smuggling, movement of light weapons and small arms, piracy, narcotics trafficking, uncontrolled movements of cattle, and communal conflicts. Cameroon Concord gathered that this year’s session has been dominated by the emergence of the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

Our chief correspondent in Yaounde reported that the Nigerian delegation was led by General Samuel John Babatundé while the Cameroonian side had René Emmanuel Sadi, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation. Minister Rene Sadi observed during his opening remarks that there was need for Cameroon and Nigeria to strengthen collaboration. Said the Cameroonian minister: "At a time when the atrocities of the Islamic sect keeps multiplying both in Nigeria and Cameroon, I am convinced that this 3rd session will strengthen the relationship between our two countries”. It is important to include in this report that successive Nigerian governments have placed major stone walls on many security agreements involving the Lake Chad Basin Commission-notably the Babangida Administration. The Boko Haram situation seems to have pushed Nigeria closer to Cameroon against the wishes of the French.

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.Feb.2015

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