The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday said Boko Haram has been knocked down in Borno and other parts of the Northeast.

It said the only battle ground left is in the Sambisa Forest, the about 80 kilometres swathe of thick bush that is the sect’s stronghold.

It said once the battle for Sambisa is over, Boko Haram will become a thing of the past.

But the DHQ pleaded for support from every citizen because it is a Nigerian war against Boko Haram insurgents.



Director of Defence Information Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar spoke exclusively with our correspondent against the backdrop of the allegation by Senator Baba Kaka Garbai (Borno Central) that half of Borno State is still being occupied by Boko Haram.

Gen. Abubakar said: “The situation is clear on how much we have decimated Boko Haram. Technically, we have knocked down these insurgents.

“ The insurgents have been beaten and I stand by what I said. I can beat my chest that the insurgents have been decimated.

“All these attacks on soft targets do not mean that Boko Haram insurgents are occupying any territory. They are carrying out these attacks in order to remain relevant. The insurgents are pretending to be alive when in reality they have lost out.

“The attacks on soft targets by the insurgents do not translate to occupation of territories or some parts of Borno State or the North-East.

“The insurgents’ attacks on soft targets are not peculiar to Nigeria. These terrorists do so in the U.S. France, Britain, and many countries. We are doing our best to protect these soft targets.”

Gen. Abubakar said: “What is left is Sambisa Forest. That is the last battle ground with the insurgents.

“ This Forest is about 80kilometres but I believe very soon, we will overrun the Forest and rout out the insurgents. We will certainly send them packing from the Sambisa Forest.”

“For anyone to make a claim that half of Borno State is under the insurgents is not helping the military. It is just to get media attention. We have decimated Boko Haram. This is the reality.

“We want to appeal to Nigerians to appreciate and support our gallant troops to maintain the high rate of success we have achieved in the war against the insurgents.

“This is a Nigerian war versus the insurgents. Boko Haram is a national catastrophe which requires the support of all to address. Every Nigerian must be seen to be contributing morally to the war against these insurgents. “

Press statement from the Nigerian Army

"In its determination to wipe out insurgents in the North East. Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole recorded huge success. Troops of 25 Task Force Brigade on routine operation to clear Ajigin had contact with Boko Haram terrorists (BHT), in process several insurgents were killed, while 50 motorcycles and 3 vehicles were captured and destroyed. At the end of the clearance operations a number of locals who were held hostage by the BHT were rescued".

"Similarly, our troops along Damboa - Chibok road arrested some unknown vigilantes, one of whom claimed to be the Village Head of Kopchi in company of 42 others claimed to be operating around Madagali general area, six among the 42 were apprehended for carrying AK 47 rifles and 15 Magazines. When accosted the suspects claimed that they are in Damboa to identify a suspected BHT arrested in Kaya village. They are presently undergoing interrogation."

"On the 24th January 2016 at Chukun Gudu, troops on a clearance operation had encounter with BHT. During the encounter insurgents were dislodged in the process, one killed while several others sustained gunshot wounds. In addition, 2 double barrel gun, 4 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 1 solar panel, mechanic tools were recovered.Similarly, troops of 103 Battalion on clearance operation along Kawuri in Maimiari village intercepted 17 BHT suspects. The troops also rescued some elderly women and children from the village and took them to IDPs camp in Konduga",

"In another development, troops of 151 Task Force Battalion on a fighting patrol along Banki Junction to Ngurosoye and Bulamanjari villages, recovered Telecom mast hoisted with Boko Haram flag. The troops are currently maintaining blocking position against fleeing terrorists in the general areaEqually, troops of 112 Battalion and AHQ Special Group conducted fighting patrols along Gardawaji, Adashe, Mijigine, Manawci, Sigafariya Bula Goma, Mafa, Dikwa and Kala Balge. During the operation troops had contact with BHT along Boboshe and Mowa Kasuwa, in the process 56 BHT were killed, items recovered include 8 AK-47 rifles, 3 Rocket Propelled Group, 7 mortar tubes, 1 General Purpose Machine Gun, 1 Multi-Purpose GP, 1-60mm mortar, 1 grenade, 3 mortar bombs, 18 motor cycles and vehicles were recovered. The troops also rescued 520 hostages and took them to IDPs Camp in Dikwa.

"Troops also intercepted 2 suicide bombers trying to infiltrate Maiduguri through Muna Dalti, about100 metres ahead of our troops and CJTF checkpoint. The suicide bombers were halted but refused to stop and blew themselves up. No causality was recorded on our troops and civilian JTF. The area has been cordoned while aggressive search is going on in the general area".

The Theatre Command wish to reassure the public to its determination to safeguard the lives and properties. Now the heat is on the insurgents, there is desperate likelyhood to penetrate innocent and attack soft targets in towns villages and cities. The public is once again reminded to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement persons and objects to the nearest security agency".

M A Anka

Colonel

Media Coordinator

Op LAFIYA DOLE

FEB 16

MAIDUGURI

More photos...

The Logistic base of Boko Haram members has been destroyed by a Nigerian Air Force’s Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The Airforce in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Ayodele Famuyiwa and released today, said that UAV was on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission when it came across sect members gathering at Garin Moloma, somewhere very close to the Sambisa Forest.

“At the time of the UAV attack, the location, though under surveillance for quite a while, had a large gathering of Boko Haram Terrorists and vehicles. The multiple explosions and huge fire ball from the location, as can be seen from the enclosed video of the UAV strike, strongly suggests that it may be either an ammunition/fuel storage or weapons/technical workshop. This strike is thus a major setback for the Boko Haram Sect, and a major plus for the fight against insurgency by own troops,” the statement read

Watch video below...

Six people were reportedly killed while one person sustained gunshot injury when suspected members of Boko Haram sect invaded Goniambari village in Kaga Local Government Area of Borno state.

The insurgents, according to sources also burnt down some houses and vehicles using Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and petrol bombs before looting foodstuffs and livestock.

The incident according to a fleeing resident, Mallam Modu Abari took place on Monday between 6:30pm to 7pm.



Goniambari village is south and 15 kilometres from Beneshiekh, the council headquarters of Kaga Local Government of the state. Kaga is about 80 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.

Saturday, last week, four members of the Civilian JTF and a volunteer were killed with four others injured when their Hilux patrol vehicle stepped on a landmine in Buma village in Ngamdu District of Beneshiekh.

All efforts to get confirmation from the Police Public Relations Officer of the Borno state Command, Mr. Victor Isuku proved abortive .

Boko Haram Islamists killed a civilian and torched his house during a raid on a village in the northeastern Nigerian state of Yobe, a police spokesman said on Monday. Travelling in all-terrain vans, they raided Babban Gida village around 01:00 am (GMT) Sunday and fought a gunbattle with soldiers. The insurgents stole two police vehicles but were eventually driven out, Toyin Gbadegesin, Yobe state police spokesman told AFP.



“The terrorists ‎initially shot dead a man and burnt his thatched hut on the outskirts of the village,” Gbadegesin said. “They attacked the police station where troops engaged them in a fight which forced them to retreat”. Babban Gida, which lies 50 kilometres from the state capital Damaturu, has ‎been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram extremists, whose six-year insurgency has claimed over 17,000 lives and displaced 2.6 million from their homes.

The Nigerian government claims Boko Haram had been “technically” defeated but despite a sustained military offensive the Islamist group still carries out sporadic raids on towns and villages in the northeast. The military operations have reclaimed swathes of territory seized by the insurgents in their quest to establish an Islamic caliphate, pushing Boko Haram out of its Sambisa forest stronghold to remote islets on Lake Chad straddling Nigeria and its three neighbours – Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Security analysts believe sporadic Boko Haram raids ‎were mainly for food and petrol following disruptions of their supply routes by the military campaign.

No fewer than 15 people including the Deputy Police officer of Viniklang Police Division, were killed in separate attacks by suspected Boko Haram members in six villages in Girei Local Government of Adamawa State over the weekend. According to residents of one of the villages, the sect members stormed their homes in the middle of the night while they were sleeping and started killing people.

They said that there was an exchange of gunfire between the Nigerian military and the attackers who were forced to retreat into the bushes. During the attack, many homes in the villages comprising of Koh, Demsare, Tabongo, Fawure, Noyine and Ndikajam were completely razed by the invading Boko Haram insurgents.

Bodies of those killed in the attacks have been removed by officials of NEMA, ADSEMA and the Red Cross.

Inmates in one of Brazil’s roughest prisons used explosives to destroy a wall and escape en masse into surrounding streets, prompting a frantic manhunt, the AFP reported.

Media footage of the brazen breakout on Saturday in the northeastern city of Recife showed the blast ripping a hole in the main wall around the Frei Damiao de Bozanno facility.


After a cloud of dust and debris clears, a stream of men dressed in ordinary clothing can be seen dashing into the narrow streets before police arrive on the scene.

Pernambuco state justice authorities were quoted by Globo news site saying Sunday that 40 inmates escaped and that 36 had now been returned to custody, two killed, one hospitalized and one remained at large.

It took hours for officials to give figures, with Brazilian media initially reporting that as many as 100 prisoners could have got out.

One of those killed was shot after breaking into a local home, police said on Globo television. Footage showed the man lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

This was the second mass breakout in the same area in a week. Fifty-three inmates fled Wednesday from the Professor Barreto Campelo prison, near Recife, and by Sunday only 13 of them had been recaptured, G1 news site reported.

Escape attempts are frequent at Pernambuco prisons, the most overcrowded in Brazil. Facilities designed for 10,500 inmates maximum hold around 32,000 people, according to a 2015 study by Human Rights Watch.

Many prisoners have to sleep on the floor and there are so few guards that officials turn day-to-day control over to selected inmates who are given keys to the prison’s interior, the report said.

AFP

Thousands of Nigerian refugees, who fled to neighbouring Cameroon in 2014 to escape Boko Harm militants, have returned to the liberated northeastern town of Gamboru only to find their homes and their livelihoods destroyed, residents and officials told AFP Friday.

Over the past three days more than 15,000 Nigerians have crossed the 300-metre (yard) river bridge that forms the border with Cameroon, following calls by military and local leaders‎ for residents to return, an official in Gamboru said.

“More are coming in everyday,” he added.


Boko Haram fighters seized Gamboru in violence-wracked Borno state in August 2014, forcing thousands to flee across the border to the town of Fotokol on the other bank of the river in northern Cameroon.

Chadian forces reclaimed Gamboru in February last year, after intense fighting that left hundreds of insurgents dead, as part of a regional military coalition put together to crush the Islamist group which has become a threat to regional security.

“We found a looted and burnt out town which is shadow of its former self,” said Abacha Mari, one of those who returned to Gamboru on Wednesday.

“More than nine-tenths of the buildings in the town have been damaged by fire while ‎the rest have been washed away by the rains,” he added.

“Everything was looted and the streets are barely recognisable.”

– ‘Nobody found anything ‘ –

Gamboru has been repeatedly targeted in the Boko Haram insurrection which has cost the lives of 17,000 people in Nigeria and made over 2.5 million homeless since 2009.

Although Boko Haram were forced out of Gamboru 11 months ago, the refugees say there are only now beginning to feel confident enough to return because the Nigerian army has sent a large contingent to the town.

The return of the refugees is being coordinated by Cameroonian soldiers‎ and local officials in Gamboru, the returning residents said.

The Nigerian refugees and their belongings wer‎e screened at the Cameroonian side of the bridge by soldiers using sniffer dogs to detect explosives before they were allowed cross back into Nigeria where officials were ready to welcome them and provided them with the necessary papers for their return.

Returning residents scoured their empty homes in the vain hope of finding any personal ‎effects neglected by Boko Haram.

“Nobody found anything in their homes which have been looted and burnt,” said ‎returnee Ibrahim Wanzan.

The destruction that they found came as no surprise. Some of the refugees had already visited Gamboru under the protection of Chadian soldiers in February 2015 and described it then as a”ghost town”.

A key source of the locals’ livelihood, the market, has also been destroyed. It formerly attracted traders from neighbouring Chad and Cameroon‎.

“Our main problem is food and how to rebuild our homes,” Wanzan said.

The returned residents have been living on the food they brought from Fotokol and desperately hope to receive aid from the Nigerian government before supplies run out, Mari said.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA‎) plans to send aid to Gamboru in coming days.

“We are aware of the return of thousands of Gamboru residents from Cameroon and we are ‎working to send relief items to them in the next few days,” a NEMA official told AFP.

Statement from the Press conference organized by the Nigerian Army earlier yesterday...

As part of the promise of the Theatre Command to keep the public informed of our activities, this Press Conference has been organised to brief on the activities of the troops in the past few days. Accordingly, in furtherance of the ongoing offensive operations to clear Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) in the Northeast, on 17 January troops conducted a clearance operation at Shentimari general area and cleared Boko Haram enclaves and recovered 78 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.

A Boko Haram kingpin identified as Jarasu Shira and 10 other terrorist were arrested in Damboa, Borno state today January 20th. He was arrested at a motor park at about 8.30am along with 10 other suspected members of the group who escorted him to Damboa to connect a vehicle to Biu enroute to Lagos. Dressed as a cowboy, Jarasu and his accomplice were arrested by men of the vigilante (Civilian Joint Task Force, JTF) who are providing support to the Nigerian military fighting the sect group.

Hundreds of parents of kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls have embarked on a peaceful march through Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

There are high emotions, as they mark 600 days since they were taken by Islamist sect, Boko Haram. Over 200 girls were kidnapped by the terrorists.

They are marching to the presidential villa where they want to meet President Muhammadu Buhari, who shocked them when he revealed recently that there was no credible intelligence to suggest where the girls were.

Video and more pictures below...

Hours after two massive explosions killed 51 people in the Ngomari area of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the Boko Haram sect again went on rampage killing no fewer than 39 people in a rifle attack on Mainok, a village about 30 miles west of Maiduguri.
The attackers who were armed with rifles and grenade launchers arrived around midnight and after the shooting, the terrorists set the village ablaze.
An eyewitness disclosed that “they have AK 47, RPG launchers and so on. They just started shooting and burning every house in the village.They can kill anybody, including women and children. They kill anybody that can see them.”
Incidentally, with the state of emergency in Borno State, there is military presence around the state. The military claimed to have killed 13 terrorists in a raid last week while the Boko Haram sect seems undeterred and continues to unleash mayhem on the citizens.

BY UMAR YUSUF

YOLA – Piqued by the incessant attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, Gov Murtala Nyako, has called for a more proactive measures to stem the tide.

Nyako told newsmen in Yola Thursday over recent attacks in the affected states, that the authorities needed to do more to allay the fears of the public who have started getting tired of excuses.
A survivor of the Yobe massacre. Courtesy: Sahara Reporters.

A survivor of the Yobe massacre. Courtesy: Sahara Reporters.

The Governor revealed that people were agitated and might start coming out to demonstrate their displeasure with the ways things were deteriorating in the affected areas.

According to him, the authorities needed to know the people funding the insurgents and why the steady attacks on the populace even with the state of emergency in place.