Military debunks formation of caliphate in North-East
• IGP orders rescue of 35 missing police officers
• Tiv demand probe of attacks on communities
BARELY 24 days after the capture of Gwoza town in Borno State by Boko Haram terror group, its leader, Abubakar Shekau, on Sunday claimed the “capture and control” of the border town with Cameroon in a 52-minute video clip on internet made available to newsmen in Maiduguri, the state capital.
The Nigerian military has however responded to the claim of the leader of the extremist group, Boko Haram, that a northeast town seized by the insurgents earlier this month has been placed under an Islamic caliphate.
In a tweet on its twitter handle, the Defence Headquarters states that, “the claim is empty. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nigerian state is still intact. Any group of terrorists laying claim to any portion of the country will not be allowed to get away with the expression of delusion and crime.
“Appropriate military operations to secure that area from the activities of the bandits is still ongoing.”
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, has also assured that about 35 policemen who disappeared from the Mobil Police Training Camp in Gwoza, near Maiduguri last week would be rescued soon.
And in Taraba State, a group, Concerned Taraba Tiv Youth Frontier has stated that over 700 lives were lost and several others missing in the various crises that recently erupted in southern and central parts of the state.
Shekau claimed that Gwoza Local Council in the North East part of the country has already become an Islamic caliphate controlled by the Boko Haram sect.
The Boko Haram leader in the video clip also said: “Oh people, I’m here still standing Abubakar Shekau...the leader of Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lid Da’awati wal Jihad, in the country called Nigeria. We don’t believe in this name. We call Nigeria by this name because they call her by it.
“We are in Islamic Caliphate. We have nothing to do with Nigeria. The earth we are standing on has an owner. We did not create ourselves. We will certainly obey the owner of the sky above; we will obey the owner of the earth. We will obey our Creator.”
On the claims of capture and control of Gwoza town, Shekau reiterated that: “Allah has given us victory in the town of Gwoza; because we are determined to do God’s work. I’m making this speech because of the lies being spread always by the infidel government.”
He also warned against the participation of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) to fight Boko Haram insurgency in the North East sub-region of the country.
Shekau in the video said: “Vigilante (Civilian JTF), you should back out. Vigilante, you should back out. How can you dress as a woman with headgear and hijab, with brazier to avoid being identified? Common, vigilante! Common, have you forgotten what you did to our brethren?
“You were even asking ‘are you Boko Haram, have you ever carried a gun? Say the truth!’ This was how you killed our brethren. Even those you killed you framed them because you had grudge against them and killed them.
“Vigilante, repercussion is an aspect of one’s action (quoting from the Koran). Vigilante, you should repent. You will never succeed in this way. You will never succeed, by Allah, I swear by Allah. And we will never stop killing you. Allah told us. We will never stop, we don’t pity you. If we pity you we will become infidels. To have pity on you is disbelief.”
After Shekau’s speech, the video shows militant fighters on pick-up trucks firing rocket-propelled grenades and other heavily armed insurgents firing weapons as they walk calmly along the road.
The footage appears to show them taking over a military base, stealing weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition as well as fuel cans.
In one frame, a fighter stands on top of a tank, waving the Islamists’ black flag.
The end of the video apparently depicts scenes of grisly executions, similar to those released by ISIS in recent weeks.
In one scene, about 20 men in civilian clothing are shown with their hands tied behind their backs and lying by the roadside before they are shot at close range. A second shows two men, whom Shekau said disguised themselves as women to escape the town, beaten to death with shovels. Two others similarly dressed are shot beside what appears to be a trench full of bodies.
The Guardian also learnt yesterday that after the destruction and capture of national Mobil Police Training Camp (MPTC) last Thursday, soldiers patrolling the periphery of Gwoza town were however chased by the gunmen in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles; and headed towards Madagali, in Adamawa State.
“The soldiers that were at the periphery of this town were chased away by these gunmen on Saturday afternoon, up to Madagali where some of the displaced persons were resettled, before the fleeing soldiers took refuge in undisclosed locations of this town, 36 kilometres south of Gwoza,” said Buba Hodo, one of the displaced persons on phone, yesterday.
The missing policemen were said to have disappeared after an attack by insurgents on the facility. A statement from the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) DCP Emmanuel Ojukwu late Saturday night said that the IGP has given the immediate order for their rescue.
According to the statement, Abba has “since ordered the tightening of security around all police facilities in the country in addition to efforts made to further protect the lives of all people in Nigeria and their properties.”
It will be recalled that a ferocious attack earlier launched on the training camp by insurgents on August 7th, 2014 was repelled by the police. But again, on August 20th, the attackers launched a fresh offensive that lasted several hours where many policemen on duty engaged them in a fierce battle. Many policemen were allegedly kidnapped by the insurgents.
“The search and rescue party launched immediately has located and brought to safety all police officers in the training college at the time of attack. So far, 35 policemen who are still missing from the facility as a result of the latest attack are being searched for with very promising prospect of locating them,” the statement reads.
It was learnt that many of the officers at the camp at the time of the attack could not withstand the firepower of the insurgents, which led to the missing officers being overpowered.
Concerned Taraba Tiv Youth Frontier in a letter by the leadership of the group to President Goodluck Jonathan said that the attacks have compelled a lot of people, especially the Tiv community to relocate from the state, the group urged President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently intervene by rolling out relevant machineries for the return of the people.
Stressing that they have lost confidence in the Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, whom they said has failed to “take practical steps to exonerate himself from the planned annihilation of the Tiv and the Christian community in southern and central zones of the state” the President, as solicited by the group, should wade into the crises by calling the acting governor to order.
According to the statement, which was signed by the chairman, Goodman Dan Dahida, “a commission of enquiry should be constituted to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the crisis with a view to end it and punish those behind the act.”
Noting that the Tiv community has been displaced and their farmland taken over by the attackers without the acting governor intervening, President Jonathan, as further solicited by them, should make available relevant security that would ensure the safe return of the displaced persons.
Part of the letter reads, “we equally wish to request you to compel the acting governor to ensure safe return of the displaced Tiv people back to their respective settlement in the state to continue with their lawful farming activities and rehabilitate them adequately.”
In Bali local council, according to the letter “over 148,036 people have been displaced and 6,086 houses destroyed. In Gashaka, the number of dead could not be ascertained at the time of compiling this document as some people are being killed and thrown into the river.”
Citing the confessional statements of some Boko Haram members who were arrested in the state in March this year indicting some top politicians in the state, the group said, “there is a grand conspiracy to eliminate the Tiv people in the state for reasons we do not know.”
Noting that the forceful expulsion of the Tiv from the state would no doubt herald food crisis, they queried why “government fold its arms and watch her people being killed without efforts at protecting them.”
Copies of the letter were sent to the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Inspector General of Police, National Assembly members from the state, Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, as well as the state director of the State Security Service (SSS) and the state commissioner of police.
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