LAGOS— Criminal and politically minded insurgents in the Boko Haram group were behind last week’s rejection of the amnesty plans of the Federal Government, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has said.

Noting that no genuine Moslem or Christian would shed blood in the name of God, Governor Yuguda affirmed that members of the genuine Boko Haram would bring their issues to the negotiating table once the environment is provided.

Speaking to newsmen in Lagos at the weekend, Governor Yuguda also rebuffed insinuations of a crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP over its 2015 presidential nomination, describing claims of a fight between him and Vice-President Namadi Sambo over the ticket as the invention of detractors.

*Gov. Yuguda
While praising the unifying role of Chief Tony Anenih, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT of the PDP, Yuguda said Anenih is seriously misunderstood by many people on account of his frankness and bluntness on issues pertaining to the party and the country.

“On the issue of Boko Haram, amnesty has been given to the real Boko Haram and I believe they are willing to accept that. That is my belief but you know there is the criminal Boko Haram and there is the real Boko Haram. But the criminal and the political Boko Haram, are the armed robbers and that arm of politicians that call themselves Boko Haram and they go about attacking people.

“Maybe, it is the criminal Boko Haram that are responding that they don’t want amnesty because they have a different intention. Some of them are gun runners, some of them are armed robbers and some of them are doing that on behalf of politicians.

So, they just hide under Boko Haram and perpetrate evil. For those that are actually Boko Haram, I would want to believe that there is something that is agitating their minds, not about killing human beings but probably there are certain things that have agitated their minds-probably joblessness- I understand some of them are university graduates of 15 years with no job.”

“Now that the president has extended that olive branch to them, I would like to believe that they are quite happy. There has to be an end to all these. Once they have accepted, we know that we have to face the criminals. Any other person that is calling himself Boko Haram, we know they are the armed robbers and the political Boko Haram. You have to understand this,” he said.

Affirming that there was nothing religious about the aspirations of the group, the governor said that no genuine Moslem or Christian would shed blood in the name of God.

“For any Muslim or Christian who picks up a weapon and says I want to kill, that man is a criminal. He is not a Muslim, he is not a Christian. And the earlier you start preaching this philosophy, the better for all of us. We must find a reason for the killing.”

“If you read the Bible from the beginning to the end, there is nowhere it said go and kill for God. Even the Bible said if you are slapped on the left, you turn the other cheek. What is the justification for the killing of people? Certainly not from the bible! As for you being a Muslim, you cannot be a Muslim without believing in the Bible. In the Koran Jesus is Isah, the son of Mary. You must believe in His mother and believe that He was given birth to by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

On the crisis rocking the PDP across the country, Yuguda rebuffed insinuations that the party was on a meltdown saying the PDP would enlarge its present tentacles to 35 of the 36 states of the country in the next round of elections.

“PDP is going to win 35 out of the 36 states of the Federation, come 2015,” he, however, shied away from naming the state that would escape the PDP’s offensive.

The governor also decried as illogical and farfetched recent reports that he was locked in a combat with Vice-President Namadi Sambo over the presidential ticket in 2015.
Asserting a long relationship with Sambo which he said flowed from a long history of cordiality between their two families, he said:

“It is the figment of imagination of somebody and this is because I look up to the vice-president as a senior brother. He is competent and is a successful architect. Why should me, Isa Yuguda have blind ambition and I am not that kind of person. I am a loyal party member, loyal to Mr. President and the vice-president,” he said.

Praising Chief Anenih’s efforts in stabilizing the PDP, he regretted the aspersions against the BoT chairman who he said is doing a good job in partnership with the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

“Anenih and the chairman are elder-statesman and he is one of the very few that I know that love this country. His word is his word, but he is frank and blunt.”

Via Vanguard

Distributing the cheques to the next-of-kins of the deceased and injured policemen, the IGP who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, in-charge of Zone 12, Ibrahim Abdu condoled the families of the deceased and advised them to make the best use of the token given to them by the police before government paid their entitlements.

He said, “we should not forget our deceased ones because they lived a fulfilled life defending thier father land. We pray to God to give them eternal rest and heal the wound of the injured policemen. We also pray that God will give the deceased families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

The Police authorities decided to pay this token to ease burden of the affected families going to Abuja to collect their cheques.”

The families of the deceased policemen expressed appreciation to the IGP for the gesture and pledged to make the best use of the amount.

Via Vanguard

Bauchi- An explosion on Wednesday night slightly damaged the building of Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) in Zango area of Bauchi metropolis.

Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Ladan, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview.

He said that the church building was slightly damaged, adding that there was no casualty.

Ladan also confirmed that another explosion occurred in a building located at the Bauchi Industrial Area, saying that there was also no casualty.

“We have commenced investigation into the two incidents and will do our best to apprehend the culprits,” the commissioner assured.

The Emir of Fika and chairman Yobe council of chiefs, Alhaji Muhammadu Ibn Idrissa, escaped unhurt in an attack by a suicide bomber in Potiskum in August

-Vanguard

Later at a nearby hospital, Bauchi deputy police commissioner T. Stevens told journalists told that the bomber had been stopped at the church’s gate, where he detonated the explosives packed inside his car. Doctors cautioned more could die from their injuries. “The situation has been brought under control,” Stevens said. “We have our men minding all areas.” Stevens said no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the attack, though suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram. The sect, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s north, has been waging an increasingly bloody fight against nation’s weak central government.

More than 680 people have died in drive-by killings and bombings blamed on Boko Haram this year alone, according to an AP count. The sect has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country. The sect has used suicide car bombs against churches in the past, most noticeably a 2011 Christmas Day attack on a Catholic church in Madalla near Nigeria’s capital. That attack and assaults elsewhere in the country killed at least 44 people. An unclaimed car bombing on Easter in Kaduna killed at least 38 people on a busy roadway after witnesses say it was turned away from a church. Attacks against churches by the sect have waned in recent weeks.

Nigeria’s military claimed it killed the sect’s spokesman and a commander Sept. 17 outside the city of Kano, potentially shaking up a sect that has continued attacks despite a tighter military presence in northern cities. The killing of members of the sect’s senior leadership comes as the group recently changed some of its tactics and attacked more than 30 mobile phone towers throughout northern Nigeria, disrupting communications in a nation reliant on cellular phones. Saturday night, the military conducted door-to-door searches in the northern cities of Damaturu and Potiskum, areas now under a 24-hour curfew that have been hard-hit by the sect.AFP

Seven others were  injured in the midnight raid.

An eyewitness said  five people died on the spot and four died at the  Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital Bauchi while receiving treatment.

It was gathered that the victims  were under  a tree playing draught  when the three gunmen arrived   on tricycle popularly called  Keke NAPEP and opened fire on them.

The sporadic gunshots sent residents scampering for safety.

Meanwhile, the Bauchi state Governor, Mallam   Isa Yuguda, has described the attack as barbaric and inhuman.

In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor, Mr. Micheal Adeyemi, the governor described  the  attack as an act of terrorism which his administration and other governments in the country are fighting to eradicate.

The governor, while   condoling with  the families of all those who lost their loved ones in the dastardly act, prayed God to give them all the fortitude to bear the irreparable lose.

He called on them to take solace in God the giver and taker of lives and also wished all those that were injured quick recovery.

Yuguda, who described the assailants as terrorists, assured the people that the government would do everything humanly possible to track them down and bring them to book.

He said, “There is no way we will allow criminals and terrorists to continue to live among us, terrorizing innocent people, we must join hands to stop these barbarians.”

-Punch

Telecoms services were on Wednesday disrupted in Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe and Kano states following the bombing of telecoms base stations by suspected terrorists.

Our correspondent gathered that base stations belonging to MTN, Globacom, Airtel might have been affected in the multiple attacks that jolted Borno, Bauchi, Yobe and Gombe states.

Experts, who described the attacks as detrimental to telecoms growth in the country, said they were suggestive of wilful damage by unscrupulous elements.

As a result, the quality of service in the affected states has taken a downturn as interconnection of telecoms infrastructure has become severely limited.

The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, confirmed the development to our correspondent in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Quoting security sources, Reuters, however, reported that similar attacks also occurred in Kano and Maiduguri.

Adebayo said, “We have received reports about some telecoms sites being destroyed by some agents in some parts of northern Nigeria. The details are not clear yet, but we have been told that a number of operators’ sites were affected and they appear, from first view, as wilful damage to those infrastructure.

“We were told that some sites were bombed and they belong to different operators, which means that the act cut across many networks.”

Reuters further reported that one of its reporters saw 10 masts burnt to the ground in Maiduguri on Wednesday morning and local residents complained there was no mobile telephone reception.

In Kano, men on motorbikes reportedly destroyed MTN and Airtel mobile phone masts in the early hours of Wednesday, a policeman told Reuters, asking not to be named.

He said the Boko Haram sect was suspected to be behind the attack.

The Islamic sect had reportedly threatened recently to cause immense damage to telecoms operators’ facilities for allegedly providing information that had helped securities agencies tracked its members.

Analysts said the Wednesday attacks might be connected to the threat by the suspected terrorists.

Reuters also reported that sources close to the sect said Boko Haram members had in the past been concerned that they might be traced through mobile phones.

The Corporate Services Executive, MTN, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, who equally confirmed the attacks, said, “It is true because we received reports today (Wednesday) that telecommunications towers of major telecoms operators were being bombed. However, I cannot tell you, for now, how many of our base stations or other telecoms infrastructure were affected because information available to us is still scanty.”

Goodluck, however, said that security agencies had commenced investigation into the attacks and the extent of damage, adding that the result would be made available for accurate reporting.

Speaking in the same vein, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, MTN, Mrs. Funmilayo Omogbenigun, who earlier confirmed the situation to Reuters, said, “We confirm that like all the other major telcos, some of MTN installations in northern Nigeria have been damaged by unknown persons. All the relevant government security agencies have been informed and we are receiving their full cooperation.”

via Punch

By SUZAN EDEH

Security agents, yesterday, stepped up checks on motorists and pedestrians in Bauchi State ahead of the end of Ramadan prayers.

Security patrols were intensified especially in densely populated areas of the Bauchi metropolis and the suburbs of Yelwa (crisis prone area), Bayara, Guru, WuntinDada, and Tsohon Kanfani, along Bauchi -Jos Road.

Other areas include Inkil,Bauchi / Gombe Road, Rafin Makaranta, along Bauchi Ningi/ Kano Road, Tirwum, as well as Tundun Salmanu.

In the metropolis, problem prone areas such as Karofi,Jaahun,Kandahar,Kofar Dumi,Yakubu Wanka,Bakin Kura and Gombe Gate, security was beefed up ostensibly in anticipation of  political thugs commonly known as Sara-Suka.

According to unconfirmed sources, text messages  warned of invasion of the state capital by Islamists at the prayer to end Ramadan with bombs and guns.

Abdullahi Magaji, a resident of Doya in Bauchi center, showed a text message sent tohim by somebody he did not know.  The text read: “Asalaamailakun. This is to inform you that our people will be in Bauchi to celebrate the Eid el Fitr along with you with our guns and bombs either Saturday or Sunday.Be sure you receive our people . Salaamuailaikum’’.

Our reporter was shown similar message by one Malama Zueilla Abubakarof Jahun quarters who said’’ the name and the telephone number of sender was concealed’’.

Most of the people who said they received the threat messages did not know the sender(s) of the messages and could not disclose their sources.

It was observed that some policemen, at  check points, were selective in checking cars;  flashy cars with Abuja numbers plates entering Bauchi were not checked.This was particularly on the Jos / Bauchi entry point from Tsohon Kanfani/ WuntinDada.

From Kano/Ningi entry, the frisking was thorough as motorists and their passengers were asked to disembark while vehicles and people’s bodies were searched.

A police sergeant, who asked not to be named at one of the checkpoints on the Kano/Ningi entry point, said: “You know this road is a notorious route for insurgents.  It was on this road that our people were killed last week. The killing has happened almost five or  times and we have to be more security conscious here’’.

When contacted, Bauchi Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Auyo Hassan, said he had  been away from Bauchi and could  not tell what was happening in Bauchi”.

via Vanguard

In a swift reaction though, the state government defended the governor’s constant absence in the state, saying it was in the state’s interest for the governor not to sit down in Bauchi but travel out to mobilise investment for the state.

During a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Bauchi on Thursday, the caretaker chairman of the party in the state, Alhaji Aliyu Saidu, alleged that the governor was using state funds for his constant trips out of the state.

The party accused Governor Yuguda of conducting government business in Abuja, saying this was not in the interest of the state.

“He (Governor Yuguda) has been conducting government business in Abuja, including Executive Council meetings and the swearing into office of top government functionaries.

“It is the norm for Mallam Isa Yuguda to absent himself from Bauchi for 50 days or longer, yet, he will tell us he has been travelling to China, UK, Dubai, USA, for our common good,” Saidu added.

While declaring that the Yuguda administration had not performed after almost six years in the saddle, the party alleged that most of the road contracts, the international airport, among other developmental projects, worth billions of naira, were paid upfront to contractors handling them, but they were not executed promptly.

While reacting to the allegations levelled by the party against the governor, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Information, Engineer Mohammed Damina, told journalists in his office that Governor Yuguda had been busy pursuing interests that were for the progress of the state.

He said that the constant travelling of the governor had been yielding fruitful results for the state as investors had been coming in different areas to invest in the state, citing the Kidney Centre to be built in the state, the 30 mega watts solar power project being undertaken by German investors, which he said was the first of its kind in West Africa, among others.

via Tribune

It was a bloody day for the Bauchi State Police Command as gunmen yesterday killed three of its men on patrol along Bauchi Gombe Road. The gunmen made away with three police rifles after opening fire on the policemen on patrol. Two inspectors and a corporal were sent to their early grave in the attack.

Dailly Sun correspondent learnt that the policemen had just resumed duty at the patrol spot when the gunmen opened fire, killing one inspector and one corporal. The second inspector reportedly died in the hospital. According to the report, the fourth policeman narrowly escaped death and ran into the bush. The gunmen whose number could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, snatched three rifles belonging to the slained policemen. The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mohammed Auyo confirmed the attack to newsmen in his office.

Auyo, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said investigation had begun. He said that a team of policemen had combed the scene of the attack in search of the culprits. The PPRO expressed optimism that the hoodlums would be apprehended. One of the policemen who was among those combing the area said the hoodlums were still there before their arrival. The policeman who pleaded anonymity said he saw where the gunmen sat before they reached the place.

He urged members of the public to come forward with useful information  that would assist the police in arresting the suspects. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Our correspondent gathered that policemen in the command were targets of gunmen and several of them had been killed in the last two years.

While many were killed during bank operations that became pronounced last year, police on patrol had not been susceptible to attacks by gunmen in recent times until yesterday’s incidence.

via Sun