Weve no problem with Jonathan Boko Haram

ON JANUARY 24, 2012 IN POLITICS

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, WITH AGENCY REPORT Why we didnt kill Obasanjo Northern governors pay us monthly not to attack their states CONTRARY to impressions that its activities were targeted at President Goodluck Jonathans Administration, dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, has claimed that it had nothing against the President. According to information obtained by an online publication, 247ureports.com, through a high ranking contact in the terrorist organization, the group said it would have killed former President Olusegun Obasanjo last September when he visited the in-law of the slain leader of Boko Haram, Babakura Fuggu, in Borno State but the leaders changed their mind because Obasanjo was good to us. The information also revealed unnerving revelations regarding the recent attacks on Kano and Bauchi State and why they killed Fuggu. It was gathered that the leader of Boko Haram, Imam Abubakar Shekau, who is currently hiding away in Qoundere, Cameroun following the recent and ongoing attacks on Kano and Bauchi State had deliberated seriously on the assassination of Obasanjo on September 15, 2011 while on a visit to Borno State to the home of the in-law to the slain leader of Boko Haram, Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf. The Boko Haram source said that Obasanjo had made first contact with Yusufs in-law, Babakura Fuggu (eldest son of Yusufs in-law) in early September 2011 concerning opening a channel of dialogue with the terrorist group. The leadership of the group took it uneasy

with the choice of Babakura since the line of leadership did not automatically follow family lineage as in traditional settings.

Rightful successor
As a religious group they did not see Babakura as the rightful person to take over from Yusuf., a reason, the leadership of the group silently objected to the meeting between Babakura and Obasanjo. As Obasanjo concluded his secret meeting the previous day at the Green House with three other religious group (Jamatu Nasir Islam, JNI and CAN) in Jos, the capital of Plateau State on Wednesday, September 14, 2011, and took off the following day to Borno State, Boko Haram, according to the source, marked the former President within their firing range from the moment he landed in Borno State at minutes after 11am till he departed the State in the late afternoon of the same day.

Ijaw peoplere deceiving Jonathan

He was going to be a big catch said the source, who explained that the leadership halted the operation as Obasanjo went inside the residence of Babakura. Obasanjo was good to us. We had no problem with Obasanjo. We had him. We could have taken him out, as he recalled that the Sharia movement took off during the period when Obasanjo was president. The problem started during the late President YarAdua regime. Goodluck only inherited the problem. We have no problem with Goodluck. But his Ijaw people around him are deceiving him.

President Jonathan and former President Obasanjo

Why we killed Fuggu

Interestingly, the Boko Haram source, who spoke in fluent English with a slight American accent, explained the decision to finish Babakura Fuggu came due to what transpired between Obasanjo and Babakura. We learnt he asked for money. Babakura requested on behalf of Boko Haram monies to enable the group defray litigation costs and other minor financial requests which the leadership of Boko Haram considered menial and demeaning. The wife, Yakolo, was said to have received money from the former president to the tune of N500, 000. Babakura Fuggu was gunned down on September 17, 2011 as he exited his home with his younger brother in the company of other young men dressed in reddish-orange babarigas each armed with AK47s just barely 48 hours following the visit of former President Obasanjo.

Our pact with northern governors

The reason for Kano and Bauchi states attacks a few days ago were hinged on failed promises by the State governors of the two states. The entire northern governors, according to the Boko Haram source, have ongoing relationships with the group. Most of them pay us monthly to leave their states alone. In Kano State, a former state governor, reached an agreement with the terrorist group in late 2004 for an initial monthly disbursement of N5million, which was later bumped up to

N10million in 2009. The agreement, according to the source, included provision of institutional infrastructural support through the Hisbah (Islam police) project which received yearly budgetary allocation of N1.01billion. The gubernatorial election of April 2011 which introduced Rabiu Kwankwaso as the new governor changed the agreement. The Kwankwaso administration was quick to dismantle the Hisbah set up and the said agreement to disburse N10million monthly. The governor proceeded to make arrests of known Boko Haram members. Boko Haram leadership who had found comfort in Kano did not appreciate the Kwankwaso administrations policy on Boko Haram. According to the source, we warned the Governor of the consequences. We concluded on Kano in December 2011. The abrupt end to the oil subsidy strike and protests served an opportunity for the group to strike. The preparatory work for the attack and the selection of targets had already been completed. According to the source, an estimated number of casualties wa s calculated to net 300 minimum. The go ahead order was given on Wednesday (January 18, 2012) evening before the leader of the group left the country for Cameroon on the early morning of Thursday, the following day. In Bauchi State, a similar agreement was allegedly reached with the leadership of the group. A monthly disbursement of N10million was agreed upon along with provision of training grounds on the many mountains scattered in Bauchi State. There was also alleged promise of security against arrests by the Federal Government. The agreement was reached in June 2008 but mid 2011, the governor stopped the disbursement of the N10 million regularly. Boko Haram were not happy but remained loyal to the agreement because of the unfettered access to the mountains of Bauchi as training camps. However, the arrest and detention of their number three man by the State Security Services (SSS) fractured the relationship between the governor and the terrorist group. The source said the State was attacked to free the number three leader of Boko Haram and to teach them a lesson. The detained leader schooled at the prestigious Lincoln University located in the State of Connecticut, USA and owns a block industry in Bauchi State near the home of the former governor of Bauchi State an area densely populated by Boko Haram operatives.

According to the source, the northern governors are overwhelmed. They are aware of capabilities of the Boko Haram operatives in their respective states. Some of the State government officials visit the terrorist groups in their training camps to watch the training exercises. We train harder than the Nigerian military and they see it said the source while lamenting that the governor continues to tell the President that the menace of Boko Haram is under control. The Boko Haram source made it emphatic that we (they) have the weapons and are in control. We are not asking for Islamic Nigeria. We want our men free.

All-night shoot-out in Kano Suspected Boko Haram member, wife killed Police Inspector shot as another blast hit city Victims get mass burial By The Sun Publishing Wednesday, January 25, 2012 In the Tuesdays encounter, gunfire and what appeared to be explosions rocked an area near a police station. Aneye witness said that a large number of soldiers and men of the State Security Services (SSS) surrounded a house suspected to be a Boko Haram hideout shortly after midnight.

Photo: Sun News Publishing

They opened fire and a suspect fired back, resulting in a shoot-out that lasted for about four-and-half hours. A man and his wife were killed in the raid, residents said. They came in large numbers, some of them stayed on the main road while others came in through the alley. They began shooting, and he fired back... This was followed by a barrage of gunfire by the security men, another eyewitness, Mohammed Maikubi Bala said.

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An empty bullet shell laid strewn in a pool of blood just a few steps into the house. A cousin squatted near the blood. I was called and told that my brother and his wife had been shot. He was a simple man known to be peaceful and as far as I know, he has never been questioned by the security over any links with Boko Haram, said the cousin, Shehu Idris. A car in the driveway was riddled with bullets and its windshield smashed. Relatives

and sympathizers stood outside before police came to search the house. It was not clear where the sound of explosions emanated from although a resident suggested heavy machine guns were used during the raid. Everybody in the neighbourhood were frightened. We couldnt sleep, said a resident. They thought that the city was under fresh attacks few days after coordinated gun-and-bomb attacks killed 186 people, more than two dozen of them policemen, in Boko Harams deadliest ever operation. Another cousin of the late Uzairu, Alhaji Ali Abdullahi confirmed the couples death. Alhaji Abdullahi, also said that Uzairu was a businessman ever since he left Bayero University, Kano in 2002. He said the deceased was a Mass Communications graduate, adding that all efforts to recover the bodies were abortive. So far, there was no official comment on the incident. The Army Public Relations Officer, Lt I. O Iweaha, did not pick his calls while the police spokesman, ASP Magaji Majiya, said the Force did not carry out any operation of that nature. In a related development, about 10 members of the Islamic sect, six in a car, four riding a motorcycle, shot a police Inspector in the leg at about 7.30pm yesterday when they attacked Sheka police station in the outskirts of the city. They burnt the official vehicle of the station and a Honda car belonging to one of the officers. No arrest was made. Meanwhile, about six trucks of bodies were given mass burial yesterday somewhere along the road leading to Dambatta town. Hospital sources said the bodies were buried because they have started decomposing, even as they claimed that nobody had come to claim them. However, there is no official comment in respect of the burial.

Fresh bomb blasts in Kano

Written by Auwalu Umar & Ruqayyah Yusuf Aliyu, Kano Wednesday, 25 January 2012 05:04
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Share *158 Boko Haram suspects arrested *Soldiers kill trader, wife

Renewed explosions and gunfire were heard last night in two neighbourhoods of Kano, four days after violence blamed on Boko Haram left 185 people dead according to the official tally.

A powerful blast destroyed the Sheka Police Station while sporadic gunfire was heard around the Bompai area, where the state police headquarters is located, residents said. The fresh bombing and shooting spree started at about 6.30pm at Sheka when gunmen riding motorbikes stormed the neighbourhood and attacked the police station. Witnesses said the attackers detonated explosives at the police station and fired sporadically for at least 30 minutes. The BBC Hausa reported a witness saying he saw about seven gunmen riding motorbikes and chanting God is Great approaching the police station. Shortly after that, there was gunfire followed by two explosions. The explosives also affected some surrounding buildings. It was a big bang. For now, I cannot say how many of our men are affected or whether the bomber died, a police officer quoted by Reuters news agency said. A resident told Daily Trust he heard more than 200 gunshots. He said the gunmen chased fleeing police officers from the station into a nearby primary school in which they wanted to take a cover. The attack caused pandemonium in the densely populated area, causing injuries to people running to safety. A resident said he saw an elderly woman being taken to a nearby hospital after she was shot in the stomach. Another witness told Daily Trust that the gunmen were not after civilians but only pursued police personnel in the area. When one old man ran after the gunmen mistakenly, the attackers told him to leave the scene to avoid being hurt, he said. No one could confirm the number casualties in the attacks, but residents said it was very likely that policemen were killed. Sheka area was among the places where ten vehicles were recovered by security operatives loaded with improvised explosive devices in the past few days. No security official was available for comment last night. Spokesman for the police Magaji Musa Majiya did not answer telephone calls. Arrests made; businessman, wife killed Meanwhile security agencies have arrested 158 suspected members of the Boko Haram organisation in pre-dawn raids on neighbourhoods in Kano city, the BBC reported last night. During the raid, soldiers shot dead one Uzairu Abba Abdullahi popularly called Alhaji along with his pregnant wife at their Hotoro Tsamiyar Boka residence in Kano. Daily Trust gathered that the soldiers stormed the house at about 1am on suspicion that the man was a Boko Haram member. They came in an armour tank and with a helicopter hovering above, residents said, adding they heard gunshots that lasted for a long time. The corpses of Abba and his wife were taken away by the security operatives as only pool of blood was seen in the sitting room of the house when people trooped in yesterday.

Sources told Daily Trust that neighbours in recent times noticed strange activity around the deceased. They said he was often being seen with strange young people at his home. But Abbas brother Ali Abdullahi denied that he was a member of Boko Haram follower. My brother was innocent and not a member of the Boko Haram as it is believed. I know he is a practicing Muslim and had beard as a Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad and nothing more. What happened to him is simply indicating that no one is safe because wearing a beard is not enough prove that one is member of the Boko Haram. This is really unfortunate, he said. The deceased was a businessman at popular Kantin Kwari textile market in the city and has been residing in the Hotoro area for the past seven years. Relative Musa Ibrahim Fatega told the Associated Press news agency the dead man was also a retired worker from the Federal Ministry of Education. A sedan inside the compound, riddled with bullet holes, bore federal government license plates. Fatega said the man was not a member of Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the coordinated attack Friday in Kano that left so many dead. He didnt belong to any religious group. Is it because of his beard? Fatega asked. That means you cannot dress the way you are. Is it good? Is this how government is going to treat us? Kano state police spokesman Magaji Musa Majiya declined to immediately comment, saying the commissioner of police would brief journalists later yesterday, according to the Associated Press. AFP news agency quoted a neighbour Mohammed Maikubi Bala saying, They (soldiers) came in large numbers, some of them stayed on the main road, while others came in through the alley. They began shooting, and he fired back... This was followed by a barrage of gunfire by the security men. Cousin of the deceased, Shehu Idris, said, I was called and told that my brother and his wife had been shot. He was a simple man known to be peaceful and as far as I know he has never been questioned by the security over any links with Boko Haram.