By Our Correspondents
Leader of Boko Haram terrorist group Abubakar Shekau yesterday released a new video in which he showed some of the abducted girls, vowing that none of them would be freed until the federal government frees all his group members arrested and kept in detention facilities across the country.
The federal government has replied the sect, saying that it will not negotiate with it or swap the abducted girls with its detained members.
The girls, who were sitted in a bush environment under some short shrubs and trees, were heard singing choruses, while two of them were spotted from the rear holding a black banner made of cloth with an Arabic inscription boldly written on it.
Before the footage of the girls came up, the Boko Haram leader was introduced at the beginning of the video delivering his message in Arabic and later translating it in Hausa.
He appeared in his usual military attire with a turban on his head, an AK 47 rifle across his chest, while he holds a thick chewing stick on his right hand while gesticulating and pointing threateningly from time to time.
“You are all out there worrying about these girls,” he said. “They are happy, because we treated them very well in the manner women are supposed to be treated: with dignity. If you like, you can go on again and insinuate, as usual, that we have given them some concoction to drink; yes go on and say Shekau has given them some portion to change their minds. But you should all know that we don’t drink anything here; we don’t drink alcohol.”
The hoodlum continued: “The fact remains that these girls remain with us until the Nigerian government releases our brothers and sisters being held in various detention facilities across the country. Just because of these few girls that we have taken, the world is shouting. But you should know that we have also abducted and taken boys that had tripled this number in the past. Why is the world not talking?
“… Let the world know that we are ready for whatever troops that are being sent to fight us; we don’t fear any American too. Let even kind Pharaoh himself be sent down here, we will deal with him squarely.”
Gov Shettima wants parents to identify abdcuted girls in video
Meanwhile, Borno State governor Kashim Shettima has, in a reaction to the video, requested that the footage be taken to Chibok for the parents and relatives of the girls to identify and verify the faces of the girls.
The governor said, in a statement issued by his media adviser Isa Gusau, that he was happy the girls did not appear hurt or harmed by their captors even as he called on all to intensify prayers that will lead to their successful rescue.
Gusau’s statement reads: “Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has watched with very keen interest a video clip shown on the BBC World Service, said to have been released by members of the Boko Haram sect.
“Governor Shettima has directed transfer of the video into mobile storage devices under the care of some officials, including the Chairman of Chibok local government area, who have been given an immediate task of showing the videos to parents, some of the freed students who know their abducted colleagues, teachers and management staff of Government Secondary School, Chibok, so that the girls in the video can be identified to ascertain if they are part of the abducted students or otherwise. He is however optimistic about the video. Already, some concerned individuals in Maiduguri and Abuja are, on the request of the Governor, making efforts to contact parents and relations of some of the abducted girls, who might be within reach to get feedback regarding the video.
“Governor Shettima views the development as encouraging especially given the fact that some of the girls said they were not harmed. The Governor hopes that the girls did not speak under duress.
“While awaiting the confirmation, Governor Shettima calls on citizens of Borno State, most of whom commenced another round of fasting today, to seek divine help, in response to appeal by the Governor, to intensify prayers for the safe release of the schoolgirls who are very precious not only to Borno but to the entire world.
“Shettima expresses appreciation to President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, for their concerns and concerted efforts towards the release of the schoolgirls. The Governor also expresses appreciation to other Nigerians, world leaders and citizens around the world, whose pressures have been of tremendous help so far. The Governor particularly thanks all security agencies and volunteers engaged in search and rescue efforts with an appeal that the efforts are intensisified till all the girls safely return home.”
FG’ll not swap Boko Haram prisoners for kidnapped schoolgirls – Abba Moro
In a swift reaction, minister of interior Comrade Abba Moro has rejected conditions set by the terror kinngpin Shekau for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls held hostage by the sect, the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reports.
Asked if the government would reject the suggestion mentioned by Shekau in a new video – that the girls may be released once the federal government frees all militant prisoners – Moro said, “Even though roundtable discussion is one of the tenets of dialogue but it is absurd for a terrorist group to set conditions.
“The issue in question is not about Boko Haram… giving conditions.”
Obasanjo To Jonathan: You Acted Late
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed dismay at the failure of the federal government to take timely action that could have led to the rescue of the Chibok schoolgirls from the hands of their captives long ago.
“There is a popular saying that a stitch in time saves nine, and I am sure if government had responded in time to the abduction of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls, or sought assistance in the early stage, the children could have been identified and rescued whereever they are,” Obasanjo stated yesterday in Dutse government house, Jigawa State, when he formally signed a memorandum of understanding to adopt one of the state public schools under the management of his charity foundation.
He said the unfortunate incident of Chibok mass abduction should be used as a lesson in taking appropriate action in the appropriate time.
Obasanjo also described the abducted girls as heroines who sacrificed themselves for all the girl children in the country, as their case now has become a source of reference, a source of consideration in treating social, political and educational issues.
He further appealed that “the group of people behind the abduction, whatever may be their grievances, their objective or their anger should not have been visited on the innocent young girls”.
He said, “We do not only condemn their action but also appeal to them to realise that these girls have important contributions to make for the future of this country.”
He said that his foundation was set to make interventions in four key sectors comprising education, health, food security and youth empowerment in four African countries.
“ My foundation has formally taken over this girls’ school from Jigawa State government and we are going to use it as a pilot scheme. Our aim is to turn the school into world-class in terms of standard and providing qualitative education to our girl children.”
Muslims Are Not Terrorists – Sultan
The Sultan of Sokoto and president-general, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday criticised the attempt by criminals to rubbish the image of Islam by associating the religion with acts of violence.
The Sultan, who insisted that Islam does not in any way support terrorism and other acts of criminality including crime against humanity, also advised that Muslims should not be tagged as terrorists.
The Sultan, according to a statement signed by the secretary to the Sultanate Council, Attahiru Hussaini, and made available to newsmen in Sokoto yesterday, stated that Muslims are peaceloving people and that Islam is a religion of peace.
According to Hussaini, the Sultan spoke in Katsina State during the fourth graduation ceremony of Madarassatul-Hizbu. Sultan, who advised Muslims to use their population to preach and work for peace, also noted with dismay any attempt at tagging Muslims as terrorists.
“ Islam preaches peace, unity, understanding and sympathy towards Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Rather, a criminal should be called a criminal, not minding his or her faith, either Muslim or Christian.”
On his part, the speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who donated N3 million to the school and N50, 000 to each of the graduands, also urged Muslims to strive and acquire both religious and western education, as a combination of the two would surely enable them contribute their own quota towards national development.
We must expose sponsors, fight Boko Haram to finish – Gov. Aliyu
The chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum and governor of Niger State, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has stated that they are ready to “fight to finish” and also expose sponsors of Boko Haram.
Aliyu who received a delegation of National Youths Council of Nigeria and a Christian delegation said that the assistance the federal government has sought was a good development in bringing the activities of Boko Haram to an end.
The governor who lamented the pains of the parents of children abducted by Boko Haram said that it is hoped that the Boko Haram insurgency would soon be over, adding that the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram is a pure show of extremism and eccentric practice.
“And that is why we are very happy with the federal government in seeking the assistance that is now coming from all over, but we must see that the political will is brought to bear in fighting Boko Haram. We must fight them to the finish,” he said.
Aliyu who reiterated the call of the northern governors to end the insurgency of Boko Haram in three months said, “I hope in the process of fighting them, we will be able to know those who originated, those who sponsor, those who collaborate and those who assist Boko Haram.”
We will fight Boko Haram with every resource at our disposal – Mark
The Senate president, David Mark, said on Monday in Beijing, China, that Nigeria would spare no resources at its disposal in the fight against insurgency in the country.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the entourage of the Senate president reports that Mark stated this at an interactive forum with members of the Nigerian community in Beijing.
“Boko Haram has become a real nuisance, and the menace is unacceptable. They have declared war on Nigeria and we will fight them with all the resources at our disposal.
“We will not allow it to go on for too long; government is very serious about it.
“It is an avoidable distraction and it is something we do not need at this point in our history when we are trying everything possible to bring development to Nigeria to attract foreign investors.
“So, the message should go out loud and clear to anyone who is either a sponsor or a member of Boko Haram that we will fight them with all resources at our disposal,’’ Mark said.
The Nigerian charge d’affaires in Beijing, Mr Suleiman Tanko, who welcomed the Senate president on behalf of the Nigerian community, said Nigeria has a large community in China.
No Satellite In Nigeria Can Track Abducted Chibok Girls – NASRDA
One month after over 200 girls were abducted in Chibok, the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has said that no satellite in Nigeria has the capacity to track where the girls are being held.
In a telephone interview with LEADERSHIP, the media director of the agency, Mr Felix Ale, said that no satellite in Nigeria has the capacity to track or monitor the terrorists on a continuous basis as the spacecraft rotates around the world intermittently every four days.
He said, “There is no satellite that can be used to track these terrorists. No satellite has the capacity to track because it is not specifically positioned to be monitoring their activities, because the terrorists move from time to time. They move from one location to another.
“It’s not in the position to monitor or continue to video a particular location; it will come to a place and then continue to revolve around the globe before coming back to the same location again. Because of that we only have satellite imagery. These images are available and from these images the people using it can say this may be a likely hideout for terrorists.”
He, however, said that the agency has imagery of the Sambisa forest from which the relevant stakeholders will be able to identify the likely hideout of the terrorist and which they have made available to all the relevant stakeholders.
According to him, just as expected of any satellite agency in other parts of the world, NASRDA has written letters and dispatched these images to relevant stakeholders to aid in tracing possible locations where the terrorists may likely hold the abducted girls.
SSS Declares Lance Corporal Wanted Over Nyanya Bombing,
Announces N25m Ransom
The State Security Service (SSS) yesterday announced a N25m reward for any information that could lead to the arrest of one Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, a lance corporal in the Nigerian Army, and Rufai Abubakar Tsiga suspected to be the brains behind the April 14 Nyanya bomb blast.
The SSS held a joint briefing comprising the Nigeria Police, the military and the National Orientation Agency, where it also paraded five other suspects who they said have already confessed to having been involved in the deadly bomb attacks which killed more than 100 people.
The paraded suspects – Ahmad Rufai Abubakar a.k.a Abu Ibrahim/ Maiturare, 43; Muhammadu Sani Ishaq,30; Yau Saidu a.k.a. Kotar Rama, 28; Anas Isah, 22; and Adamu Yussuf, 43, a Moslem cleric and teacher – were alleged to have played major roles in the Nyanya bomb blast.
According to the SSS spokesman, Marilyn Ogar, who briefed the press on behalf of the security agencies, Lance Corporal Ogwuche, with Service Number SVC 95/ 104, the son of a colonel in the Nigerian Army, Col Agene Ogwuche, served in the intelligence unit of the Army at Ankara Barracks in Lagos between 2001 and 2006. Following his deployment to the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, in 2006, Ogwuche deserted the army.
He was arrested in 2011 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on his arrival from the United Kingdom for suspected involvement in terrorism-related activities but was let off the hook and released to his father Col. Ogwuche (rtd).”
Ogar, who announced a N25 million reward for prospective informants, said “Rufai Abubakar Tsiga, a Boko Haram leader, is the mastermind of the bombing of April 14, 2014, at El-Rufai Motor Park, Abuja.
“Tsiga was actively aided by a co-mastermind, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, a student of Arabic Language at the International University of Africa, Sudan.
“The sum of N25 million is hereby announced as reward for anybody with useful information on their whereabouts.”
Ogar told the media that on the night of April 13, Tsiga and one Muhammed Ishaq, one of the paraded suspects, moved a vehicle laden with explosives to the Nyanya Park.
“In the morning of April 14, Tsiga, moved the explosives-laden vehicle to the position from where he detonated the explosives,” she said.
The SSS spokesperson, who said that the arrested suspects claimed that they bombed the park to retaliate the killing of a Boko Haram member at the park a week before the incident, however, denounced the claim, saying that the suspected wanted masterminds fabricated the story to lure other members used for the bombing.
We did not harass protesters in Abuja – Police
Ogar enjoined the public to be wary of strangers, saying that terrorist elements were disguising and taking up menial jobs and parading themselves as businessmen daily in Abuja and its environs.
Meanwhile, the police have denied reports that the operatives of the Force prevented protesters for the safe return of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in Abuja, saying that they would not deny the citizens their right to peaceful assembly.
Force spokesman CSP Frank Mba who made this known said the inspector-general of police, Mohammed Abubakar, restated the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to the protection and enforcement of the fundamental rights of the citizens.
Abducted schoolgirls a call for Nigeria’s repentance – Kukah
Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Kukah has said the abduction of the schoolgirls in Chibok by the Boko Haram sect is a call for Nigeria to repent as a nation.
Speaking at the Rosary Procession and Adoration at the Holy Family Cathedral, Sokoto, to mark the #BringBackOurGirls prayer, Kukah assured that when the schoolgirls are eventually found, they will be apostles of peace.
He, however, wondered whether those who govern Nigeria would appreciate that there is a country to build, even as he urged politicians to understand that they have a future to nurture and that government “is so serious it should never be left in the hands of politicians”.
“Chibok calls us to repentance as a nation because we have squandered far too much as a people and a nation,” he noted.
Kukah thanked countries like the United States of America, Britain, France and Israel whose security experts have chosen to put their own lives at risk to save the schoolchildren, saying “wherever they are, may God bless and protect them all”.
“We thank God for their families. We are grateful to God that, once again, a tragedy such as this has pulled together the beautiful threads of our differences to help us weave a tapestry of unity and love. How can we thank those who have loaned us their voices, from the First Lady of the United States of America, Mrs Michelle Obama, our little Ms Malala in Pakistan, to David Cameron and a host of others around the world? We have taken notice of your love and you will remain in our hearts,” he stated.
Expressing regret over the abduction of the schoolgirls, the bishop said, “Suddenly, our name is Chibok, not Nigeria. We are Chibokians, not Nigerians. The world seems to have stood still for a long moment. No single event has held our country together and elicited attention and sympathy the way this tragic incident has done. Indeed, the Chinese were right: behind every tragedy lurks an opportunity. Nigeria has an opportunity to think and dream again because the world is watching. I hope so.
“It is not so much that this has happened, and that we are all united. The question now is, how long shall our eyes remain on the road? How soon will those in power remain awake or will they soon begin to sleep on the steering, return to the inertia induced by a sybaritic lifestyle that dulls the imagination and stifles our consciences? Sadly, we have a severely limited attention span.”
Noting that the prayer session for the abducted girls was not a protest, he said: “We gather here not to protest, but to affirm the faithfulness of God. We gather not in bitterness, hurt or self-pity. No, that would be the fate of unbelievers and those who have no faith. We gather in faith and trust, believing that the one who sees all that is done in secret will reward our long waiting (Mt 6:4).”
We’ll protest, naked if…
A group, Women Arise for Change (WAC), has given the federal government a 14-day ultimatum to free the abducted schoolgirls.
At a press conference organised in Lagos, the president of the group, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, said failure on the part of government will prompt its (the group’s) membership to embark on a protest half-naked in Chibok, Borno State.
According to her, it is unfortunate that there is no information on the whereabouts of the girls almost a month after they were abducted.
“It’s a nationwide protest. We are dressed in white, because white signifies purity; most of those girls were virgins. There is a lot government needs to do. Look at our borders that are porous. What are we doing about it?
“We are going round all the states. We will be in Enugu tomorrow. We will be in Lokoja, Kaduna, Onitsha, and Akure, and at the end of 14 days,God forbid, if they don’t get these girls back, we will go to Chibok half-naked and we will enter the bush to look for them.”
Belgium mission underway to help families of abducted Nigerian girls
Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders said in Brussels, yesterday, that government had concluded arrangements to send mission to help families of abducted Nigerian schoolgirls.
He said the mission, which included Belgian Rapid Response Team and First Aid and Support Teams (B.Fast), were due in Nigeria Sunday.
Reynders said the teams were to lend a possible medical and psychological support to families of the young girls abducted by Boko Haram.
We’ll do everything to rescue abducted girls – FG
The federal government has said that it will do everything within its power to rescue the abducted Chibok schoolgirls unhurt.
Speaking at a national press briefing on the update on the rescue mission of the Chibok girls, the director-general of the National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri, who led a team of security operatives from the army, police and SSS, stated that the federal government was exploring all options, including talking to international communities and discussing with different groups in order to ensure that the government secures the release of these girls.
Omeri, who was reacting to a question concerning the request made by the Boko Haram sect in a video released yesterday on the trading of the girls for its members, further stated that the lives of the abducted Chibok girls are very paramount to the nation and hence the need to explore all options to see to their release immediately.
Conversion of Christian Girls To Islam War Against Christianity – CAN
BY MIDAT JOSEPH, Kaduna
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday reacted to the alleged conversion of Christian girls to Islam by the Boko Haram sect, saying that the alleged conversion was a declaration of war against Christianity.
The CAN president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who made the warning while reacting over the new video released by Boko Haram, said the girls cannot be converted to a religion that is not theirs at gunpoint without their conviction.
Oritsejafor who spoke through the national director of research of CAN, Elder Sunday Oibe, during a press conference in Kaduna said “all the children displayed are Christians, and that is the motive behind the abduction”.
“It is simple, because they are Christians and they represent the Church in the eyes of their abductors. Secondly, it smirks of some form of religious persecution; if not, why are their captors converting them to another religion? And if they say they will use them as a condition to negotiate their men in detention, our daughters are not criminals and cannot be used in any way to free their criminal fighters.
US Experts Examine New Video For Clues
US experts assisting the search for the abducted schoolgirls are closely examining a new video for clues to their whereabouts, the US State Department said. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “Our experts are combing the new video to get every detail of the sect’s whereabouts; we will use every clue possible to see how we can find these girls.”