– State House Says President Did Not Vie for AU Chairmanship
KANO, a city already reeling from successive attacks from the criminal brutalities of the dreaded Boko Haram group, suffered yet another deadly attack from the suspected members of the same terror group on Sunday, signaling defiance in the face of government’s best efforts to “crush” the group.
Although the actual perpetrators and the number of victims remain unknown, the attacks bears the hallmarks of the outlawed Boko Haram terrorists who have been carrying out deadly attacks across northern Nigeria in recent months.
On Sunday, the terrorists struck yet another police station, the Yakatako Police Station, in the Naibawa area of Kano, sending nearby residents into a manic state of panic as everyone sought shelter from the deadly attacks.
Scattered gunfire ensued after the attacks, and human and vehicular movements were curtailed.
In leaflets purportedly distributed by the group, seen around the country over the weekend, the group sought to curry the support of the Kano residents, even as it maintained its attacks on the security organizations in Kano, resulting in continued civilian fatalities.
The statement of the leaflets was credited to a certain Abubakar Muham-mad Shekara, the leader of the Boko Haram group responsible for killing over almost 200 people a little over a week ago.
“Boko Haram is aware of the atmosphere of inconvenience our operations have thrown people into.
“You should therefore persevere with the difficult situation the struggle for the entrenchment of an Islamic system puts you in and seek reward from God by supporting it,” the leaflets read.
“We have, on several occasions, explained the categories of people we attack and they include government officials, government security agents, Christians loyal to CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) and whoever collaborates in arresting or killing us, even if he is a Muslim,” the document added.
The document further said attempts to pacify the restive north through inter-faith dialogue was an “apostacy.”
“Certainly the prophet lived with non-Muslims and entered into a pact with them but on specified terms, including the pledge that they would not desecrate our religion,” the leaflet said.
The group had previously said it wanted to create an Islamic state in the northern part of the country and targeted several churches on Christmas Day attacks.
Its attacks have also led to the death of scores of Muslims.
Kano State Commissioner of Police, Idris Ibrahim, confirmed that gunmen bombed part of the police station, adding that one civilian who was cooking in his shop was killed.
The commissioner also confirmed that no policeman was killed in the attack.
Reverberations of events at home in Nigeria continue to be felt outside the country as well. Strong feelers indicate that neighboring governments of Niger and Chad, amongst others, may not be too happy with Nigeria’s decision to close its borders in the wake of the sustained terror attacks from Boko Haram and its cross-border sympathizers.
But the administration it remains undeterred from going ahead with its commitment to securing the lives of northern Nigerians who are being slaughtered daily by the “wanna-be” Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram.
The United Nations organization, UN, and the African Union (AU) however endorsed Jonathan’s options for shutting down Boko Haram. Diplomatic sources explained that Nigeria should expect to enjoy a multi-national solidarity to quash the Islamic insurgents who want to wipe out Christianity and Western education and civilization, and then subjugate women and children as slaves in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Professor Ade Adefuye, said in Chicago penultimate week that Nigeria never took the action that hurts its ECOWAS commitments lightly, as it was paramount to first secure lives before pursuing infraction agenda. Dr. Jonathan, who is the current chairman of ECOWAS, was said to have consulted extensively before embracing a comprehensive infraction that has now backfired.
Regardless of the displeasure of West African leaders, who have now decided to get back at Nigeria despite the country’s multi-billion dollar spending to keep the peace in the sub-region, the decision to secure Nigeria’s borders continue to enjoy an overwhelming support of the service chiefs and most security experts.
The administration continues to push back strongly on the attempt by Boko Haram to win the intelligence and military war against terrorism. The deadly cult struck in Kano again this weekend, trying to frustrate the new Inspector-General of Police, Mr. M.D. Abubakar.
The same group has begun a systematic elimination of police under cover personnel whose lid are being blown by snitches who work for the cult from within Nigeria’s expansive security community. One such police casualty was killed last week in Kaduna by suspected Boko Haram sympathizers. It would appear that the group is sustaining its bravado of invisibility in the face of the obvious closing of the loop around it by security agents.
In another development, Nigeria’s army killed 11 suspected Boko Haram insurgents during a gun battle at a checkpoint in the Islamist sect’s heartland of Maiduguri on Saturday, the field operations officer in the remote northeastern city said.
Nigerian forces are reeling from a sharp uptick of increasingly sophisticated and coordinated attacks by Boko Haram. Human Rights Watch says it has killed hundreds of people since launching an uprising against the government in 2009, including an attack on the city of Kano that killed 186.
“Eleven BH (Boko Haram) members have been shot dead by the JTF (joint military taskforce) in Maiduguri today, following a shootout with the sect members at a checkpoint in a stop and search operation,” field operations officer Colonel Victor Ebhamelehe told Reuters.
“One member of the sect who was wounded is receiving treatment at the hospital.”
Boko Haram began as a clerical movement opposed to western cultural influences in Maiduguri, a dusty town in the northeast region bordering Chad, Niger and Cameroon, on the cusp of the Sahara. It has since spread to much of Nigeria’s north and has become the top security threat in Africa’s biggest oil producer.
Suspected sect members attacked a police station in Mandwari, in north Nigeria’s Kano state, on Friday, police and witnesses said, leading to more than an hour of running gun battles that fatally wounded one policeman.
“We lost one of our men in the attack in Mandwari inside the city. He is a corporal and he died on the way to hospital. The gunmen were repelled,” Kano police commissioner Ibrahim Idris told Reuters on Saturday.
In an audio tape posted on the Internet on Thursday, the purported leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, threatened to kill more security personnel and kidnap their families, and accused U.S. President Barack Obama of waging war on Islam, in an apparent effort to strike a chord with global jihadists.
He denied that the group, which is loosely modeled on the Taliban, had been responsible for most of the civilian casualties in last Friday’s attack on Kano. Police say most of those casualities were shot dead by sect members.
UPDATE: ‘President Jonathan Did Not Contest AU Chairmanship’
STATE HOUSE Spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, issued a press release early on Monday denying reports, regrettably carried by sharpedgenews.com along with a few other major news outlets, that President Goodluck Jonathan contested and lost in his quest for the chairmanship of the African Union body.
While sharpedgenews.com assures its readers that its reports are never calculated to “cast the administration of President Jonathan in bad light,” we regret our error in reporting the event.
In a release made available to sharpedgenews.com on Monday, the presidency in Abuja said that “it has come to our attention that some media houses are alleging that President Goodluck Jonathan was “defeated” by President Yayi Boni of Benin Republic in the “contest” to elect a new African Union Chairman at the 18th AU summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This report is false and is only the latest in a series of sensational and fictional reporting in a bid to cast the administration of President Jonathan in bad light. Let me make the following clear:
1. It is not true that President Yayi Boni “defeated” President Goodluck Jonathan in an election; there was no contest in the first place and President Jonathan was not a candidate for the AU Chairmanship position.
2. It is also not true that President John Atta Mills opposed President Jonathan at any time. Ghana and Nigeria enjoy excellent relations.
3. It is true, however, that in the last week, some newspapers have been speculating that President Jonathan may be adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments to be the next chairman of the African Union, since it was the turn of ECOWAS to produce the AU Chairman for 2012-2013. Mr. President was indeed approached by leaders within and outside the West African sub-region to take up the challenge of leading the AU for the next one year.
4. While appreciating this kind gesture, President Jonathan resolved that he needed time to focus on domestic affairs in Nigeria, and that it would be practically difficult for him to combine the three positions of President of Nigeria, Chairman of ECOWAS and Chairman of African Union. He therefore rejected the offer.
5. In order to make his position clear, President Jonathan, in his capacity as ECOWAS Chairman, summoned a mini-Summit of ECOWAS at the AU Commission Headquarters on Saturday, January 28, 2012, to ensure that there was a meeting of minds on the position of AU Chairman. His preference, he noted, would be for ECOWAS to adopt the leader of another country, in order to promote a sense of belonging among member-states. Nigeria, having occupied the position of AU Chairman four times in the past, would readily support any such country.
6. As it turned out, the President of the Republic of Benin had indicated interest in the position, which paved the way for his unanimous adoption by the ECOWAS Heads of State as the sub-region’s candidate for the AU Chair. Thus, it becomes obvious that President Jonathan rather than being “defeated” by President Yayi Boni of Benin actually facilitated his emergence as AU Chairman.