Boko Haram: US makes case for the North •2 sect members killed in Yobe

Posted by admin American Politics, Boko Haram, Latest Politics Friday, March 30th, 2012

TWO members of the suspected Islamist militant sect also called Boko Haram were on Wednesday night shot dead by police while three policemen sustained injuries, when the sect attacked and burnt down a police station in Damagum in Yobe State.

Spokesman for the police in Yobe State, Mr Toyin Gbadegesin, who confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with newsmen, said the police and the military were currently in pursuit of the attackers who fled into a nearby bush close to the police station.

“Some suspected Boko Haram members attacked Damagum police station and a nearby military base yesterday [Wednesday] night. They came in about 10 different vehicles and threw some improvised explosive devices at the Damagum police station before they started shooting sporadically,” Gbadegesin said.

The spokesman revealed that “the police were able to kill two of the Boko Haram suspects in the shootout. There was no casualty on the side of the police. We are currently combing nearby bush in search of the fleeing suspects.”

The police in Yobe State also said that the militants also attacked a prison in Damagun where 14 inmates were set free by the Boko Haram sect.

THE United States (US) government, through the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, has said it is critical that the Federal Government addresses the social and economic disparities in the North, which, it said, have contributed to the Boko Haram crisis in the country.

This is as it observed that even with the problems facing the country, there were forces that bind Nigerians together.

Speaking at the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC, on Wednesday, the envoy said the passion and commitment which she saw among the people with whom she met during a recent visit to Nigeria would help the country address the challenges ahead.

She said her visit underscored the serious issues and insecurity confronting “that regional powerhouse, including the problem of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and criminal groups in the Niger Delta.”
According to her, “in Nigeria, a country with a dynamic civil society, I was deeply impressed by conversations with

parliamentarians, social activists, business people and clergymen, among others, who were actively debating the challenges facing Nigerian society – from the threat of Boko Haram and the economic neglect of northern communities to the recent presidential election and management of the oil sector.

“Even with the problems facing them, there are powerful forces that bind Nigerians together and the passion and commitment I saw among the people with whom I met will help them address the challenges ahead.

“By 2020, the largest sub-Saharan African markets — Cape Town, Johan-nesburg, and Lagos will each hit $25 billion a year in household spending.

“We are seeing the development of the next big economic frontier and the United States has much to gain and much to offer, by recognising and supporting Africa’s just and sustainable economic growth.

“Africa is a continent on the move and has begun to realise some of the economic gains that have eluded it in the past.

“”Six of the 10 fastest-growing countries in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts over the next five years that number will reach seven of the top 10.”

-Tribunewp_posts