MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) —
Mobile phone service was cut off
Thursday in areas of northeast
Nigeria as jet fighters streaked
through the sky and more
soldiers were deployed to fight
Islamic extremists waging a
brutal insurgency.
Witnesses saw low-flying
Nigerian jet fighters over Yola,
the capital of Adamawa state,
which President Goodluck
Jonathan placed under
emergency rule on Tuesday
along with Borno and Yobe
states. However, soldiers have
met "no resistance" yet from
extremists who have taken over
villages and small towns in this
region approaching the Sahara
Desert, a military spokesman
said.
An Associated Press journalist in
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno
state, found cell-phone services
unavailable since early Thursday
morning on all of the country's
major mobile phone carriers.
Mobile phone numbers
belonging to government
officials and military officials
there and in neighboring Yobe
state could not be reached.
Mobile phones have become the
only real communication device
in Nigeria for both voice calls
and the Internet, as the state-
run telephone company
collapsed years ago. By cutting
off service at towers, the military
could stop extremists from
receiving warnings or
intelligence ahead of their
operations. Authorities said they
had no information about the
service cutoff or refused to
comment.
Nigeria's military and security
forces have tracked fighters by
their mobile phone signals in the
past as well, prompting
extremists from the radical
Islamic network known as Boko
Haram to attack mobile phone
towers in the region.
Under the president's directive,
soldiers have ultimate control
over security matters in the
three states, though his order
allows civilian governments to
remain in place. Over the last
few days, witnesses and AP
journalists have seen convoys of
soldiers in trucks and buses
moving through the region, as
well as trucks carrying armored
personnel carriers.
Nigeria's military has promised a
"massive deployment of men
and resources" but has declined
to specify the numbers involved.
Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, a
military spokesman based in
Nigeria's capital, Abuja, said
more soldiers were en route to
the region Thursday. Any
assaults by ground forces also
could be backed up by attack
helicopters and jet fighter
bombings, Olukolade said,
though soldiers have yet to have
a serious firefight with
insurgents.
"The progress has been met
with no resistance," Olukolade
told The Associated Press.
This new military campaign
comes on top of a previous
massive deployment of soldiers
and police to the region. That
deployment failed to stop
violence by Islamic extremists,
who have killed more than 1,600
people since 2010, according to
an AP count.
Nigeria's military has said
Islamic fighters now use anti-
aircraft guns mounted on trucks
to fight the nation's soldiers,
raising the possibility that the
country's already overstretched
security forces are becoming
outgunned. With some soldiers
sent to assist in the French-led
anti-jihadist operation in Mali,
and others serving elsewhere in
Nigeria dealing with other
security challenges, the 76,000-
man force is creaking under the
pressure, said former U.S.
Ambassador to Nigeria John
Campbell.
"While the Islamist insurgents do
not offer a viable political
alternative and remain divided
among themselves, the threat
they pose to Nigeria's political
and economic future are
significant, as Jonathan's state
of emergency recognizes,"
Campbell wrote in an analysis
published Wednesday by the
Council on Foreign Relations.
Soldiers will now try to control
an arid region of some 155,000
square kilometers (60,000
square miles), with powers to
arrest anyone and take over any
building.
That also has led to worries
about the military abusing and
potentially killing civilians, which
has happened repeatedly in the
past and during the country's
current struggle with the Islamic
insurgents. Asked about what
soldiers would do to prevent the
death of civilians, Olukolade said
the troops had been "fully
briefed" on the rules of
engagement, without offering
any other details.
In Adamawa state on Thursday,
the military announced a 6 p.m.
to 6 a.m. curfew across the
entire state. Life otherwise was
calm, though heavily armed
soldiers had taken over for
police officers on the streets of
the state capital, searching
vehicles and questioning drivers.
But mobile phones remained
without service for some in the
region as Thursday night fell.
Olukolade said that extremists
might have sabotaged the lines.
When asked whether the
military or government could
have ordered the lines to be
turned off, the general said he
"wasn't aware of that."
Reuben Mouka, a spokesman for
the Nigerian Communications
Commission, which oversees
mobile phone carriers in Africa's
most populous nation, said he
did not know about the services
being cut off.
Funmilayo Omogbenigun, a
spokeswoman for Nigeria's
dominant carrier, South Africa's
MTN Group Ltd., would only say
"no comment" when asked if the
government told her company to
turn off service in the area. And
Emeka Oparah, a spokesman for
Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s operation in
Nigeria, said he had no
immediate information about
the service cut.
___

MAIDUGURI/YOLA, Nigeria
(Reuters) - Nigerian forces
attacked Islamist strongholds in
the northeast on Thursday,
security sources said as an
offensive got under way to
wrest back territory from
increasingly well-armed Boko
Haram insurgents.
Soldiers raided areas in the
Sambisa Game Reserve, a remote
savannah of some 500 sq km
(200 sq miles) in Borno state
where Islamists have established
bases, said two sources who
spoke on condition of
anonymity. They gave no further
details.
Preparing for possible further
action across three frontier
states where President Goodluck
Jonathan declared a state of
emergency on Tuesday, the
armed forces also deployed jet
fighters and helicopter gunships
to the region.
Rights groups said they feared
for the safety of civilians from
combatants on both sides, but
Jonathan's move enjoys
widespread public support after
more than three years of trying
to contain the insurgency
without notable success.
It follows an upsurge in violence
against government and
Christian targets in the northeast
by Islamists who want an
Islamic state in Nigeria. Africa's
most populous nation's 170
million people are split evenly
between Christians, who
dominate in the south, and
Muslims, who are the majority in
the north.
Little detail was available from
Sambisa. Nigerian forces have
attacked Islamist bases in the
area of the game reserve before,
as recently as February, to rout
militants seen as the biggest
security threat to Africa's top
energy producer.
The emergency affects the semi-
desert states of Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa, which variously
border Niger, Chad and
Cameroon and cover some
150,000 sq km (60,000 sq miles)
- an area similar to England or
Illinois, but with a population of
only 10 million.
A Reuters reporter saw two
Alpha light attack jets land at
Yola in Adamawa state. Air Force
spokesman Air Commodore
Yusuf Anas confirmed that "air
assets", also including helicopter
gunships, had been sent to
support ground troops. A
military source said there could
be air strikes on Islamist bases.
HUMAN COST
In the 1980s, military leaders
used air power to put down
religiously inspired protests
during a crackdown that left
some 5,000 people dead,
according to state media at the
time.
Telephone connections to Borno
and Yobe were almost
completely cut on Thursday. In
Adamawa, where a new, 12-
hour overnight curfew was
declared - the other two states
were already under curfew -
some cautiously welcomed the
offensive.
"This state has been under the
control of gunmen for so long,
it's been long overdue," said
Audu John, a market trader.
But another man, Ahmed Usman,
feared civilians would become
targets for killings or torture by
a military notorious for abuses.
His family was evacuating as
soon as possible, he said.
The Islamist insurgency has cost
thousands of lives since it began
in 2009, when a crackdown
killed 800 people, including
Boko Haram founder
Mohammed Yusuf, who died in
police custody.
Because it has mostly happened
far from economic centers such
as the commercial hub Lagos or
political capital Abuja - and
because it is hundreds of miles
away from oilfields in the
southeast - it has not been a
priority for the establishment.
The offensive ordered by
Jonathan, a southern Christian,
may answer critics who had
accused him of failing to
address the crisis: "The federal
government has come to terms
with the bleak reality that what
we are facing is ... terrorism in
its most horrific form," the
Punch newspaper said in an
editorial.
"Nigeria is teetering on the
precipice of disintegration.
"It is time to act decisively."
But the United States expressed
concern about a worsening
"cycle of violence" on
Wednesday, a view echoed by
human rights groups Amnesty
International and Human Rights
Watch on Thursday.
Both have documented cases of
abuses by Nigerian forces,
including summary executions
and random shootings.
At Human Rights Watch, Eric
Guttschuss said: "If the military
continues its practice of
targeting civilians, there is a risk
of massive abuses during this
offensive."

Pls my viewers i will appreciate if you like this page to enable you follow my update on this conflict. But pls aviod making comments, so that we dont jam this thread with many unimportant talks. Thanks

As Nigerians debate the
possibility of granting
amnesty to militants in
Nigeria’s north, the
country marks the fourth
anniversary of its amnesty
program for militants in
the South. Some former
militants in the Niger
Delta region are opening
small businesses while
others are bitterly
disappointed, saying
without change, renewed
violence is inevitable.
On some Nigerian
newspaper websites, there
are polls asking users if
they believe the
government should offer
amnesty to Boko Haram
militants, a group blamed
for thousands of deaths in
the past four years. On one
such website, the largest
voter block was for this
option: “No, they have
killed innocents and
should be brought to
book.”
For many Nigerians,
though, the idea of peace
through amnesty has been
tested at least somewhat
successfully in the oil-rich
southern Niger Delta,
where militants waged
war against the
government and oil
companies for several
years.
Niger Delta program
Analysts are quick to point
out that the conflict in the
Niger Delta was very
different from the current
Boko Haram conflict. Boko
Haram is a shadowy
militant group that says
it’s fighting for Islamic law
and to free its imprisoned
members. The Niger Delta
militancy was an offshoot
of a popular movement
calling for the equitable
distribution of oil wealth.
In the Niger Delta,
however, some former
militants say the amnesty
program is preventing
another uprising.
Epipade Kemepade, 30,
used to be in charge of
dispatching weapons
among his fellow
militants, or “freedom
fighters” as they called
themselves. In 2009, along
with tens of thousands of
other young men, he
turned in his gun in
exchange for the promise
of job training and slightly
more than $400 a month.
Now, he’s a trained welder
and has his own shop. He
also is among 300 former
militants who were
promised new equipment
a month ago to grow their
businesses, but it hasn’t
yet arrived.
On the other hand, other
former militants say
Kemepade is the exception
and most of the “boys” -
as they are known locally -
are returning from
training to find no jobs
and no capital to start a
business.
Remaining issues
Charles Efenudu said that
after he turned in his
weapons he was trained
in business and was told
he could open a small
grocery store when he
completed the course.
That was two years ago,
and he continues to
trudge out to the cassava
fields, making barely
enough money to survive.
“I’m trying to work on a
farm to succeed by myself
because the federal
government is not doing
any good about our
training. So we just sit at
home doing nothing,” said
Efenudu.
Perye Williams is a lawyer
and an activist in Warri, an
oil town that is technically
at peace, but tensions and
crime levels are noticeably
high. He said the amnesty
program by nature doesn’t
address the underlying
causes of the conflict,
which echo what some
say are the underlying
causes of the Boko Haram
conflict in the north:
extreme poverty,
underdevelopment, lack of
jobs and schools, and the
general feeling that the
government doesn’t care
to fix any of it.
He said the amnesty
program plays favorites
and ultimately won’t
maintain the peace.
“It still boils down to the
Nigerian system of
nepotism and favoritism.
Provide good roads.
Provide electricity. Provide
viable water. Provide
hospitals in these
communities and every
other thing will be taken
care of by the people,”
said Williams.
In the north, Boko Haram
members have flatly
rejected the idea of
accepting amnesty, saying
the government should be
asking for amnesty from
them.
Hilary Uguru contributed
to this report from the
Niger Delta.
More from the topic News /
Africa
RELATED ARTICLES
Ex-militants pose for a group
photograph in Port Harcourt in
the Niger Delta region, Nigeria,
April 3, 2011.
Ex-militants pose for a group
photograph in Port Harcourt in
the Niger Delta region, Nigeria,
April 3, 2011.
Nigeria Launches

Military set for air strikes
against Boko Haram
Tweet 46
May 16, 2013 | 9:13 pm
News
KANO (AFP) – Nigeria’s
military said Thursday that it
was ready to launch air
strikes against Boko Haram
Islamists as several thousand
troops moved to the remote
northeast to retake territory
seized by the insurgents.
“The entire Nigerian military
is involved in this operation,
including the air force,”
defence spokesman
Brigadier General Chris
Olukolade told AFP.
“Definitely, air strikes will be
used when necessary,” he
said.
A force of “several thousand”
soldiers along with fighter
jets and helicopter gunships
have been deployed for the
offensive in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa state, he added.
The operation follows
President Goodluck
Jonathan’s decision to a
impose a state of emergency
in all three areas as he
admitted that Boko Haram
had “taken over” territory in
the northeast and declared
war against the government.
The Islamists, who have said
they are fighting to create an
Islamic state in Nigeria’s
mainly Muslim north, have
become emboldened and
better armed in recent
months.
The military spokesman said
operations had begun in all
three states, but declined to
provide specifics.
The operation is the largest
against Boko Haram since
2009, when soldiers flooded
Borno’s capital Maiduguri,
killing more than 800 people
and forcing the insurgents
underground for a year.
A military source who
requested anonymity told
AFP that Nigerian forces
“raided some terrorist camps
in the Sambisa Game
Reserve,” in northern Borno,
early on Wednesday.
Zangina Kyarimi, who lives in
the remote town of Marti in
northern Borno towards the
border with Chad, said that
“large military teams” arrived
late Wednesday.
“I saw dozens of military
vans and trucks
accompanied by tanks,” he
said by phone from the
town, which is considered a
Boko Haram stronghold.
“We are afraid of what might
happen in the coming days.
We are thinking of leaving,”
he said.
In Adamawa, a dusk-to-
dawn curfew has been
imposed, with all residents
forced to stay indoors after
sundown, the area’s military
spokesman Lieutenant Ja-
afar Mohammed Nuhu told
AFP.
In Yobe state in the town of
Gashua, scene of a deadly
Boko Haram attack on April
26, a convoy of military
personnel rolled through
heading north to the Niger
border, resident Musa
Saminu said.
“Some of them went to the
banks and asked them to
close down as a precaution,”
he told AFP.
While the military has vowed
that the operation will “rid
the nation’s border
territories of terrorist bases,”
there are doubts as to
whether the security forces
have the capacity to end the
insurgency.
“The military is already
overstretched,” former US
ambassador to Nigeria John
Campbell said Wednesday in
an article for the Council on
Foreign Relations.
The northeastern borders
with Cameroon, Chad and
Niger are porous, with
criminal groups and
weapons moving freely
between countries.
Analysts warn that despite
the military buildup, Boko
Haram could scatter and find
new safe havens.
Many have urged Nigeria to
address the social causes
fuelling the insurgency,
including acute poverty and
frustration over excessive
government corruption.
Nigeria is Africa’s top oil
producer, but most of its
estimated 160 million people
still live on less than two
dollars a day.
Nigeria’s security forces have
been accused of massive
rights abuses in campaigns
against Boko Haram, which
may have amounted to
crimes against humanity,
according to Human Rights
Watch.
The US State Department on
Wednesday warned that any
“heavy-handed” tactics or
disregard for human rights
during the emergency
operations could damage
bilateral relations.
Boko Haram is believed to be
led by Abubakar Shekau,
declared a global terrorist by
the United States, but the
extent of his control is
unclear.
Shekau has rejected any
form of negotiation with
Nigeria’s government.
The Boko Haram conflict is
estimated to have cost 3,600
lives since 2010, including
killings by the security forces.Military set for air strikes
against Boko Haram
Tweet 46
May 16, 2013 | 9:13 pm
News
KANO (AFP) – Nigeria’s
military said Thursday that it
was ready to launch air
strikes against Boko Haram
Islamists as several thousand
troops moved to the remote
northeast to retake territory
seized by the insurgents.
“The entire Nigerian military
is involved in this operation,
including the air force,”
defence spokesman
Brigadier General Chris
Olukolade told AFP.
“Definitely, air strikes will be
used when necessary,” he
said.
A force of “several thousand”
soldiers along with fighter
jets and helicopter gunships
have been deployed for the
offensive in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa state, he added.
The operation follows
President Goodluck
Jonathan’s decision to a
impose a state of emergency
in all three areas as he
admitted that Boko Haram
had “taken over” territory in
the northeast and declared
war against the government.
The Islamists, who have said
they are fighting to create an
Islamic state in Nigeria’s
mainly Muslim north, have
become emboldened and
better armed in recent
months.
The military spokesman said
operations had begun in all
three states, but declined to
provide specifics.
The operation is the largest
against Boko Haram since
2009, when soldiers flooded
Borno’s capital Maiduguri,
killing more than 800 people
and forcing the insurgents
underground for a year.
A military source who
requested anonymity told
AFP that Nigerian forces
“raided some terrorist camps
in the Sambisa Game
Reserve,” in northern Borno,
early on Wednesday.
Zangina Kyarimi, who lives in
the remote town of Marti in
northern Borno towards the
border with Chad, said that
“large military teams” arrived
late Wednesday.
“I saw dozens of military
vans and trucks
accompanied by tanks,” he
said by phone from the
town, which is considered a
Boko Haram stronghold.
“We are afraid of what might
happen in the coming days.
We are thinking of leaving,”
he said.
In Adamawa, a dusk-to-
dawn curfew has been
imposed, with all residents
forced to stay indoors after
sundown, the area’s military
spokesman Lieutenant Ja-
afar Mohammed Nuhu told
AFP.
In Yobe state in the town of
Gashua, scene of a deadly
Boko Haram attack on April
26, a convoy of military
personnel rolled through
heading north to the Niger
border, resident Musa
Saminu said.
“Some of them went to the
banks and asked them to
close down as a precaution,”
he told AFP.
While the military has vowed
that the operation will “rid
the nation’s border
territories of terrorist bases,”
there are doubts as to
whether the security forces
have the capacity to end the
insurgency.
“The military is already
overstretched,” former US
ambassador to Nigeria John
Campbell said Wednesday in
an article for the Council on
Foreign Relations.
The northeastern borders
with Cameroon, Chad and
Niger are porous, with
criminal groups and
weapons moving freely
between countries.
Analysts warn that despite
the military buildup, Boko
Haram could scatter and find
new safe havens.
Many have urged Nigeria to
address the social causes
fuelling the insurgency,
including acute poverty and
frustration over excessive
government corruption.
Nigeria is Africa’s top oil
producer, but most of its
estimated 160 million people
still live on less than two
dollars a day.
Nigeria’s security forces have
been accused of massive
rights abuses in campaigns
against Boko Haram, which
may have amounted to
crimes against humanity,
according to Human Rights
Watch.
The US State Department on
Wednesday warned that any
“heavy-handed” tactics or
disregard for human rights
during the emergency
operations could damage
bilateral relations.
Boko Haram is believed to be
led by Abubakar Shekau,
declared a global terrorist by
the United States, but the
extent of his control is
unclear.
Shekau has rejected any
form of negotiation with
Nigeria’s government.
The Boko Haram conflict is
estimated to have cost 3,600
lives since 2010, including
killings by the security forces.Military set for air strikes
against Boko Haram
Tweet 46
May 16, 2013 | 9:13 pm
News
KANO (AFP) – Nigeria’s
military said Thursday that it
was ready to launch air
strikes against Boko Haram
Islamists as several thousand
troops moved to the remote
northeast to retake territory
seized by the insurgents.
“The entire Nigerian military
is involved in this operation,
including the air force,”
defence spokesman
Brigadier General Chris
Olukolade told AFP.
“Definitely, air strikes will be
used when necessary,” he
said.
A force of “several thousand”
soldiers along with fighter
jets and helicopter gunships
have been deployed for the
offensive in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa state, he added.
The operation follows
President Goodluck
Jonathan’s decision to a
impose a state of emergency
in all three areas as he
admitted that Boko Haram
had “taken over” territory in
the northeast and declared
war against the government.
The Islamists, who have said
they are fighting to create an
Islamic state in Nigeria’s
mainly Muslim north, have
become emboldened and
better armed in recent
months.
The military spokesman said
operations had begun in all
three states, but declined to
provide specifics.
The operation is the largest
against Boko Haram since
2009, when soldiers flooded
Borno’s capital Maiduguri,
killing more than 800 people
and forcing the insurgents
underground for a year.
A military source who
requested anonymity told
AFP that Nigerian forces
“raided some terrorist camps
in the Sambisa Game
Reserve,” in northern Borno,
early on Wednesday.
Zangina Kyarimi, who lives in
the remote town of Marti in
northern Borno towards the
border with Chad, said that
“large military teams” arrived
late Wednesday.
“I saw dozens of military
vans and trucks
accompanied by tanks,” he
said by phone from the
town, which is considered a
Boko Haram stronghold.
“We are afraid of what might
happen in the coming days.
We are thinking of leaving,”
he said.
In Adamawa, a dusk-to-
dawn curfew has been
imposed, with all residents
forced to stay indoors after
sundown, the area’s military
spokesman Lieutenant Ja-
afar Mohammed Nuhu told
AFP.
In Yobe state in the town of
Gashua, scene of a deadly
Boko Haram attack on April
26, a convoy of military
personnel rolled through
heading north to the Niger
border, resident Musa
Saminu said.
“Some of them went to the
banks and asked them to
close down as a precaution,”
he told AFP.
While the military has vowed
that the operation will “rid
the nation’s border
territories of terrorist bases,”
there are doubts as to
whether the security forces
have the capacity to end the
insurgency.
“The military is already
overstretched,” former US
ambassador to Nigeria John
Campbell said Wednesday in
an article for the Council on
Foreign Relations.
The northeastern borders
with Cameroon, Chad and
Niger are porous, with
criminal groups and
weapons moving freely
between countries.
Analysts warn that despite
the military buildup, Boko
Haram could scatter and find
new safe havens.
Many have urged Nigeria to
address the social causes
fuelling the insurgency,
including acute poverty and
frustration over excessive
government corruption.
Nigeria is Africa’s top oil
producer, but most of its
estimated 160 million people
still live on less than two
dollars a day.
Nigeria’s security forces have
been accused of massive
rights abuses in campaigns
against Boko Haram, which
may have amounted to
crimes against humanity,
according to Human Rights
Watch.
The US State Department on
Wednesday warned that any
“heavy-handed” tactics or
disregard for human rights
during the emergency
operations could damage
bilateral relations.
Boko Haram is believed to be
led by Abubakar Shekau,
declared a global terrorist by
the United States, but the
extent of his control is
unclear.
Shekau has rejected any
form of negotiation with
Nigeria’s government.
The Boko Haram conflict is
estimated to have cost 3,600
lives since 2010, including
killings by the security forces.

Hala me when you hear boom boom boom

Boko Haram Attacks Daura, Buhari
Hometown: Explosion, Gunfire
Reported into Night
Terrorists suspected to be the
usual Boko Haram culprits
launched a destructive attack on
the hometown of ex-president,
General Muhammad Buhari,
Thursday night.
The attack involved a police
station, prison from which
unspecified prisoners were
released, and attacks on other
facilities. An explosion was also
heard near Daura Motel. The
terrorists were said to have
robbed a bank in an operation
that lasted several hours without
interference of Nigeria’s lacking
security services.
The Federal government of
Nigeria declared a state of
emergency across three north
eastern states at the centers of
the violence that has plagued
Nigeria for several years. Katsina
state, where this attack occurred
is not covered by the state of
emergency, however the
president also promised
heightened security in all states
due to the predictable spillover
and anger of the frustrated cult
under attack.

Official: Nigeria military shells
camps, kills 21
Associated Press - 31 mins ago
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) —
Soldiers in northeast Nigeria
shelled suspected camps of
Islamic extremists in the first
military action of a new
offensive against the insurgents,
killing at least 21 people, a
security official said Friday.
The fighting was in the Sambisa
Forest Reserve, just south of
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno
state, which soldiers previously
raided on the hunt for fighters
belonging to the extremist
network known as Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, gunmen launched an
assault on the hometown of one
of Nigeria's former military
rulers hundreds of miles
(kilometers) away, attacking a
police station and banks.
Soldiers started the attack on
Sambisa Forest Reserve on
Thursday, having previously
converged in the area in
advance of President Goodluck
Jonathan's state of emergency
decree affecting three states in
the nation's northeast, a security
official said. The shelling killed at
least 21 suspected Islamic
extremists, the official said.
There was no independent
confirmation of the assault or
casualties.
"We are not going to leave the
forest until it's over," the official
said, referring to the emergency
rule.
The official spoke to The
Associated Press on condition of
anonymity as he was not
authorized to speak publicly
about the ongoing military
operation. Brig. Gen. Chris
Olukolade, a military spokesman
based in Nigeria's capital, Abuja,
could not be immediately
reached for comment Friday.
In a related development, mobile
phone service returned Friday
morning to parts of northeast
Nigeria after being cut Thursday.
The security official told the AP
that the service cut came on the
orders of Nigeria's government
and security forces as soldiers
moved into the northeast to
begin operations. The official
said service likely would be shut
off again.
Mobile phones have become the
only real communication device
in Nigeria for both voice calls
and the Internet, as the state-
run telephone company
collapsed years ago. By cutting
off service at towers, the military
could stop extremists from
receiving warnings or
intelligence ahead of their
operations. Authorities said
Thursday they had no
information about the service
cutoff or refused to comment.
Nigeria's military and security
forces have tracked fighters by
their mobile phone signals in the
past as well, prompting
extremists from Boko Haram to
attack mobile phone towers in
the region.
Under the president's directive,
soldiers have ultimate control
over security matters in
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe
states. Over the last few days,
witnesses and AP journalists
have seen convoys of soldiers in
trucks and buses moving
through the region, as well as
trucks carrying armored
personnel carriers. Jet fighters
also have been seen flying low
over Yola, the capital of
Adamawa state.
This new military campaign
comes on top of a previous
massive deployment of soldiers
and police to the region. That
deployment failed to stop
violence by Islamic extremists,
who have killed more than 1,600
people since 2010, according to
an AP count.
Jonathan's emergency decree,
declared on Tuesday, allows
civilian governments to remain
in place. Adamawa state Gov.
Murtala Nyako, who belongs to
Jonathan's ruling People's
Democratic Party, criticized the
president's decision in a radio
address Thursday night.
"I believe that the declaration
has been a shock to the people
of the state and others," Nyako
said. "True, this state has
witnessed a few criminal
activities by armed hoodlums in
the last few years, but so (have)
other states in the federation."
That could be seen Thursday
night in Daura, a rural town in
Katsina state that's the home of
former military ruler and
perennial presidential candidate
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. There,
far from the states under
emergency rule, gunmen
attacked a police station and at
least two banks, witnesses said.
Police officials declined to
immediately comment about the
attack Friday.
__

Nigerian forces bombard
Islamist militant camps from
the air
Reuters - 15 mins ago
By Lanre Ola
MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Nigerian
forces used jets and attack
helicopters to bombard Islamist
militant camps in the northeast
on Friday, in their biggest
military offensive since Boko
Haram launched an uprising in
2009.
"A number of insurgents have
been killed," the defense
headquarters spokesman said,
including at the Sambisa game
reserve in Borno state, the
epicenter of the insurgency.
"It is not just Sambisa, every
camp is under attack. But we
have not done the mopping up
operations on the ground to
determine the numbers killed,"
Brigadier-General Chris
Olukolade said by telephone. A
military source, who declined to
be named, said at least 30
insurgents had been killed.
Nigerian forces are trying to
regain territory controlled by
increasingly well-armed Boko
Haram Islamist insurgents in
their northeastern stronghold
states of Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa, put under a state of
emergency by President
Goodluck Jonathan on
Wednesday.
More troops arrived in the Borno
state capital Maiduguri on Friday,
witnesses said.
"I saw more than 20 trucks
loaded with soldiers fully kitted
for battle towards Marte. I wish
them luck in ending this BH
(Boko Haram) madness,"
resident Ahmed Ibrahim said by
telephone.
Beyond the region covered by
the state of emergency, gunmen
stormed a police station and a
bank, the army said, a sign the
offensive could provoke violence
by smaller militant cells across
the north.
It was not clear who carried out
the attack.
Boko Haram, other Islamist
militant groups such as al-Qaeda
linked Ansaru and associated
criminal gangs have become the
biggest threat to stability in
Africa's top oil producer.
Thousands have been killed
since Boko Haram launched an
uprising almost four years ago
in an effort to create an Islamic
state in a country of about 170
million split roughly equally
between Christians, who are the
majority in the south, and
Muslims, who predominate in
the north.
Violence has mostly happened
far from the commercial hub
Lagos or political capital Abuja,
and hundreds of miles away
from oilfields in the southeast.
Military jets, helicopter gunships
and thousands of troops are
involved in the current offensive,
which may answer some critics
who accuse Jonathan, a
southern Christian, of
underestimating the severity of
the crisis in the Muslim north.
Rights groups are concerned the
state of emergency will lead to
more abuses they have
document by Nigerian forces.

Nigeria Soldiers Sealed Up
Cameroon Border, Surronds
Boko Haram Base in Krenuwa
by Biafra4tharmy(m): 2:31pm
In the town of Gamburu Ngala
on the border with Cameroon in
northern Borno, residents said
that heavily armed troops and
tanks arrived on Wednesday,
sealing off previously unmanned
border posts.
Northeast Nigeria, the epicentre
of the Boko Haram insurgency,
has porous borders with
Cameroon, Chad and Niger, with
criminal groups and militants
flowing freely between the
countries.
"Since January the border posts
have been abandoned...but now
these posts have been taken
over by soldiers," said resident
Haruna Garba.
Olukolade confirmed that forces
had been sent to the region, but
would not say whether the
borders had been sealed.
Reports of Boko Haram's
presence in Cameroon first
emerged in February, following
the kidnap there of a French
family visiting a game park near
the Nigerian border.
The abduction was claimed by
Boko Haram and the family was
released in April.
Soldiers have surrounded the
town of Krenuwa in Marte
district, also in northern Borno
and one of the areas where
Boko Haram has taken power,
chased away all government
officials and removed Nigerian
flags, residents said.
Abur Kullima told AFP Friday that
he fled his home in Krenuwa in
fear of the coming assault.
He said that after the state of
emergency was declared in a
national broadcast late Tuesday,
Islamist gunmen began moving
through the district trying to
mobilise people "in preparation
to face Nigerian troops."
"I was so scared for my life and
my family's, which led me to
decide to leave," he told AFP
from Gamburu Ngala, where he
is staying with a friend.
Anyone who tries to leave
Krenuwa is screened by the
soldiers who have encircled the
town, he said.
Boko Haram has become
notorious for blending in with
the local population, both in
towns and major cities where
they have carried out suicide
bombings as well as gun and
bomb assaults.
The group says it is fighting to
create an Islamic state in
Nigeria's mainly Muslim north,
but its demands have repeatedly
shifted.
Some believe it has sought
closer ties to foreign extremist
groups like Al-Qaeda's North
Africa affiliate, but most analysts
believe its agenda is primarily
domestic.
Nigeria is Africa's top oil
producer but the population
remains extremely poor and
many of Boko Haram's fighters
are believed to be youths
radicalised out of frustration
with government corruption.
The conflict is estimated to have
cost 3,600 lives since 2009,
including killings by the security
forces.

Omen100: THIS TOPIC OF DISCUSSION IS SICK BECAUSE THE POSTER IS UNCONDITIONALLY SICK & THIS TOPIC IS FOR SICK PEOPLE WHO ARE AGAINST PEACE & UNITY AMONG NIGERIANS, ALTHOUGH I AM NOT SICK LIKE POSTER, I ONLY SUCCEEDED IN FINDING OUT THE PURPOSE THIS TOPIC BY DIAGNOSING IT & STUDYING HIS/HER POSTING STYLE & THE USERNAME HAS SAID IT ALL., HE/SHE IS ONLY HERE TO PROLIFERATE HATES BETWEEN THE NORTH & THE SOUTH.

pls just bookmark the page. Comments are not allow to aviod jamming the thread with silly talks. Thanks

SOME REACTIONS FROM LONDON AND USA CITIZENS
A good start. Let them
know Mrs. Allah is waiting
for them with a new flock
of virgin sheep.
James King, 2 hrs ago
Not a single extremist
deserves to walk this
earth. I hope all extremists
die the most horrible
death possible.
claro, 1 hr ago
How long will NATO &
0dumba let Nigeria use
airpower against those
"peaceful rebels" ?
Richard, 1 min ago
I'm proud to be a
Muslim,hate to be an
extremist.the holy quran
recognizes Jesus christ as
prophet Isa and his
mother mary as Mariam!
why would any one want
to carry an attack against
his fellows.I love my
Christian friends,we serve
just one God'who the holy
quran describes as the
master of the day of
judgment.so who are you
to say you want to fight
for him.
murphy, 2 hrs ago
Bleed them all! Slaughter
each and every muslim
that's the only way to be
sure.
F.U.ALL, 1 hr ago
Post

At least 30 militants have been
killed during air raids on their
training camps in north-eastern
Nigeria, officials say.
An army spokesman said jets and
helicopter gunships had been
used to attack several camps.
He told the BBC that a plane had
been hit by anti-aircraft fire but
had managed to return to base.
States of emergency were
declared this week in three
north-eastern states hit by Boko
Haram's Islamist insurgency.
Nigerian forces are trying to
regain control in the states of
Adamawa, Yobe and Borno.
Meanwhile, explosions and
gunfire have been heard
overnight in Katsina state.
Residents have told the BBC's
Hausa service that banks, police
stations and prisons were
destroyed in the town of Daura,
near the border with Niger.
They said they had seen the
bodies of five members of the
security forces and three
militants, but there has been no
official confirmation of casualties.
Mobile phone networks were not
functioning in many parts of
north-east Nigeria on Thursday.
A security official told the AP
news agency that the mobile
phone service had been shut
down during the military
operation.
Militants have previously attacked
mobile phone masts in the area
in an effort to disrupt
communications.
Residents staying inside
Some of the camps hit by air
raids were in the Sambisa Game
Reserve, about 70km (45 miles)
south of the Borno state capital,
Maiduguri, where the militants
first emerged in 2009, said
Nigerian military spokesman Brig
Gen Chris Olukolade.
He told the BBC that 30 militants
had been killed since the latest
offensive began on Wednesday.
There is no independent
confirmation of the number of
deaths.
The aim is to "destroy [Boko
Haram] bases, apprehend as
many of them as possible and
bring them to justice", Brig Gen
Olukolade said.
"It is not just Sambisa, every
camp is under attack," the
Reuters news agency quoted him
as saying.
In January, the military said it had
deployed helicopter gunships to
destroy Boko Haram camps in
the reserve, not far from Bama,
where 55 people were killed in
militant attacks last week.
Brig Gen Olukolade said the plane
damaged by anti-aircraft fire had
returned to base safely, while the
"terrorist base" was
subsequently "completely
destroyed".
This is the first time Boko Haram
has been reported to have used
such heavy weaponry against
aircraft.
A Maiduguri resident told the BBC
that the city was unusually quiet
on Friday, with most people
staying inside.
Brig Gen Olukolade said "several
thousand" troops had been sent
to the three north-eastern states
to tackle Boko Haram.
The three semi-desert states,
which border Niger, Chad and
Cameroon, are roughly the size of
England or the US state of Illinois
but have a population of just 10
million.
The BBC's Will Ross in Abuja says
targeting Boko Haram's rural
bases or training camps should
pose no great challenge for the
military; the hardest part of this
campaign will be in urban areas
like Maiduguri, where the
militants are living among the
civilian population.
The president said the army
would take "all necessary action"
to "put an end to the impunity of
insurgents and terrorists", saying
they had taken down the
Nigerian flag and replaced it with
a foreign emblem in some parts
of the country.
Human rights organisations have
criticised some of the Nigerian
military's previous operations
because of the resulting civilian
casualties.
Boko Haram, whose name means
"Western education is forbidden"
in the local Hausa language, is
fighting to overthrow the
government and create an
Islamic state in the north.
Although they often attack
Christians and government
targets, they have also killed
many Muslim civilians.

Nigerian Jets Destroy
Heavy Weapons in Raid
on Islamists
By Maram Mazen
May 17, 2013 12:17 PM EDT
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Nigerian troops mounted air
and ground attacks on camps
used by the militant Islamist
Boko Haram group in the
northeast, destroying anti-
aircraft and anti-tank weapons,
a military spokesman said.
“An air campaign was carried
out before soldiers went into
the area,” Chris Olukolade, a
spokesman for Defense
Headquarters, said today by
phone from Abuja, the capital.
The attacks in the northern and
central parts of Borno state
were carried out yesterday and
“troops have taken over the
place after destroying the
camps,” he said.
The military campaign follows
President Goodluck Jonathan’s
May 14 declaration of
emergency rule in the three
northeastern states of Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa to tackle the
insurgency by the Boko Haram
group that has killed thousands
since 2009. Parts of the
country’s northeast were being
taken over by Islamist militants,
Jonathan said.
Jonathan’s action followed
violence in the northeastern
Baga, a fishing town on the
shores of Lake Chad, that killed
as many as 228 people after
security forces responded to an
attack by militants on April 16,
according to local officials. The
army says 30 insurgents, six
civilians and a soldier were
killed, and 30 houses were
burned down. New York-based
Human Rights Watch said
satellite images of Baga show at
least 2,000 homes were
destroyed.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) -
Nigerian forces used jets and
attack helicopters to bombard
militant camps in the northeast
on Friday, their biggest offensive
since Boko Haram began an
insurgency almost four years
ago to try create a breakaway
Islamic state.
Defense spokesman Brigadier-
General Chris Olukolade said in a
statement that troops had
destroyed several Boko Haram
camps and weapons stockpiles
in forests around Borno state,
epicenter of the uprising and
relic of a medieval Islamic
empire.
"Heavy weapons including anti-
aircraft and anti-tank guns were
also destroyed in the process,"
he said.
"The special operations ...
resulted in the destruction of
much of the insurgents'
weapons and logistics such as
vehicles, containers, fuel dumps
and power generators."
He said the death toll amongst
the insurgents would be verified
during mop-up exercises in the
camps, including in the Sambisa
game reserve in Borno state. A
military source said at least 30
insurgents had been killed in
one operation.
Nigerian forces are trying to
regain territory controlled by
well-armed militants in remote
northeastern stronghold states
of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa,
put under a state of emergency
by President Goodluck Jonathan
on Tuesday.

Omen100: THIS TOPIC OF DISCUSSION IS SICK BECAUSE THE POSTER IS UNCONDITIONALLY SICK & THIS TOPIC IS FOR SICK PEOPLE WHO ARE AGAINST PEACE & UNITY AMONG NIGERIANS, ALTHOUGH I AM NOT SICK LIKE POSTER, I ONLY SUCCEEDED IN FINDING OUT THE PURPOSE THIS TOPIC BY DIAGNOSING IT & STUDYING HIS/HER POSTING STYLE & THE USERNAME HAS SAID IT ALL., HE/SHE IS ONLY HERE TO PROLIFERATE HATES BETWEEN THE NORTH & THE SOUTH.

all i can say is "you are sick" and you are a "sickler"
Please contiue @OP I Dey ur back Jareh!

The United States gave some $3
million in law enforcement
assistance to Nigeria last year,
meets regularly with Nigerian
officers on counterterrorism
issues, and considers Nigeria a
significant ally in the fight
against Islamist extremism. But
reports of civilian massacres by
the military have made some
officials in Washington uneasy.
On Wednesday, a State
Department spokesman warned
that “Nigeria’s security forces
must protect civilians in any
security response in a way that
respects human rights and the
rule of law.”
The spokesman, Patrick Ventrell,
added that “we have made clear
to the Nigerian government that
its heavy-handed response to
insecurity in northern Nigeria
and the failure to address human
rights violations will potentially
affect our ability to provide
security assistance going
forward.”
The scope of the current military
operation appears somewhat
larger than similar predecessors,
although the northeast was
already heavily militarized before
the operation began, with
numerous checkpoints on the
region’s roads, sandbagged
military emplacements
throughout Maiduguri and
convoys of soldiers bristling with
weapons regularly racing
through the city’s dusty streets.
“Advancing troops of Special
Task Force have destroyed some
terrorist camps sited in the
forests of Northern and central
Borno,” said a statement from
Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters
that was sent to reporters from
the country’s capital, Abuja, on
Friday. “Heavy weapons including
antiaircraft and anti-tank guns
were also destroyed in the
process.”
“The special operations which
preceded troops’ movement has
resulted in the destruction of
much of the insurgents’
weapons and logistics such as
vehicles, containers, fuel dumps
and power generators,” the
statement said, adding that “the
casualties inflicted on the
insurgents in the cause of the
assault will be verified during
mop-up."
An army spokesman, Brig. Gen.
Chris Olukolade, said in a brief
phone interview from Abuja that
“the air force led the assault,
helicopters and fighter jets,”
targeting “all the camps spread
across border towns.”
Critics wondered whether it
would seriously disrupt the hit-
and-run guerrilla insurgency of
Boko Haram.
“We may win the battle but we
may not win the war,” said Kole
Shettima, the chairman of the
Center for Democracy and
Development
, a research organization in
Abuja. The army “may succeed in
disbanding some of the camps,
but eventually, the insurgents
being essentially mobile and
nomadic in their activities, they
will resurface,” Mr. Shettima said.
“They may even attempt to attack
us in different parts of the
country.”
In Maiduguri, Islamist militants
often come from and blend in
with the civilian population, and
in the extreme north, soldiers
were conducting house-to-house
searches for Boko Haram
members, according to a military
official in Maiduguri who was
not authorized to speak publicly.
The operations in the forested
area to the south are proceeding
with some difficulty, the official
said, because the insurgents’
camps are hidden by the trees.
He added that the forest had
been “cordoned off” to forestall
any attempts at escape.
Hamza Idris contributed from
Bauchi, Nigeria.