The police in Lagos have arrested two men for allegedly poisoning a 61-year-old Chinese businessman, Zhang Bofan, and later duping him of N2.5m.
The suspects, Ifeanyi Ndubuisi and Roland Okorie as well as an unidentified woman, allegedly poisoned their victim, who had just imported mobile phone accessories into Nigeria.
The incident occurred on January 23, 2013, a day before Zhang was billed to travel back to China.
Zhang alleged that he fell ill after eating a meal prepared by one of the suspects.
Zhang, who lodged at Kelvinson International Hotel in Ojo area of the state, reportedly fell unconscious after eating the meal and was rushed to a private hospital where he was treated.
The Chinese national said despite his poor state of health, the suspects whom he had a prior business deal with, went to his warehouse at Agric, along Badagry Expressway and started off-loading phone accessories and handkerchiefs stocked in the building.
In the process however, they were accosted by Zhang’s cousin, Wenya Umeh, who raised the alarm and drew the attention of the police.
He said, “I was billed to travel back to China on January 25, 2013 for a business trip and to bring mobile phones and other phone accessories which I deal in but the illness really affected me and I could not go till now.”
According to the police, the suspects, who are planning to flee with the goods, also stole a total sum of N2.5million from Zhang.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umaru Manko, said the suspects were arrested while planning to move the goods to another place.
However, the suspects said they were business partners with the company Zhang is representing in Nigeria and that the goods in question were sent to Nigeria by the company and they were meant to take the custody of the goods.
Okorie said, “It is a cheap blackmail because we are dealing with the company that sent the goods directly. We called them when Zhang took ill and they instructed us to take custody of the goods, saying if the goods get missing, we would be held responsible. Also, I don’t know anything about money.
“When Zhang took ill, we took him to a hospital and the doctor said he had low sugar. Nobody told us anything about poison. We are surprised they are saying all this because we are into legitimate business with the company that sent Mr. Zhang and we sought their permission before we went into the warehouse to take the goods.”
Photo: Ndubuisi and Okorie
Ndubuisi said, “When Wenya came to the warehouse while we were packing the stocks, she did not listen to us before making spurious allegations that we have come to steal the goods. Immediately she saw us, she started shouting that we are thieves, that she knows Nigerians are bad people and that we wanted to kill her brother".
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Unemployed youths in Bayelsa State, under the aegis of Unemployed Graduates Forum, have issued a 30-day ultimatum to the state government to create 70,000 jobs for unemployed youths in the state.
The group warned that it might be forced to mobilise the army of unemployed youths in the state for a massive occupy Bayelsa protest across the state, if the government failed to meet its demand.
The group is calling on the state government to creat 20,000 jobs for graduates and 50,000 jobs for skilled and unskilled labour with incentives to stimulate employment generation.
The group said its members came out in large number to vote for Governor Seriake Dickson in the last governorship election to restore the hope of the people.
Acting State Coordinator of the group, Mr. Binaebi Oyeghe, in a statement, called on Governor Dickson to intervene in their plight, as they struggled daily with economic hardship, emotional and psychological anguish.
He said: “We are not fortunate to live in a society that operates a welfare state where unemployed persons are assured of social security and receive a token unemployment benefit from government.”
The statement condemned the placing of embargo on employment by the state, describing same as a retrogressive policy.
“The blatant refusal of government to create opportunities for the large army of unemployed persons is a gross violation of our human rights as enshrined in Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as we have the right to work, and choice of employment,” he said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
CALL him the most-sought after political bride of the South-West geo-political zone and you may be right. At a time of massive political alignment and re-alignment ahead of the 2015 elections, Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, is emerging as a rallying point of sorts, if the substance of politicians and eminent Nigerians, who converged on Akure for his second term inauguration, weekend, was anything to go by.
From all parts of the country, all roads literarily led to Akure, the Ondo State Capital between last Thursday and Saturday as people congregated for the series of activities mapped out for Mimiko’s historic second inauguration.
The jinx breaker Re-elected on the banner of the Labour Party, LP, he broke the jinx of inability of incumbents to win and consummate re-elections in the Sunshine State. Since the creation of Ondo state in 1976, no civilian governor has served for more than four years. Although, the first civilian governor, late Chief Adekunle Ajasin of the Unity Party of Nigeria won a second term after a bitter political battle with the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, in the Second Republic, his mandate was truncated by the return of the military three monthsafter his second coming.
And since 1999, no governor has ever won a second term in office in the state. Late Chief Adebayo Adefarati’s second term bid was truncated by Olusegun Agagu, while he (Agagu) also failed to return, having lost to the incumbent, Olusegun Mimiko. Agagu lost out to Mimiko through a court process that invalidated his return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Mimiko won his re-election under interesting circumstances. He weathered two-pronged attacks from the leading political parties in the land – Peoples Democratic Party, PDP (ruling party at the centre) and Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN (the dominant party in the South-West with five of the six states) and emerged unscathed.
Scramble for South-West Now, the scramble for the political soul of the South-West has started even though the 2015 elections are 27 months away. ACN, which is hammering out a merger with three other parties – All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP; Congress for Progressive, CPC; and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, wants to retain the South-West and also expand its political coast to other parts of the country including the presidency with the merged platform, All Progressive Congress, APC.
ACN is also pursuing regional integration of the South-West, which will be incomplete without Ondo State, a major resources oasis of the zone. On its part, the PDP that lost control of the zone in 2007 is mounting a come-back bid.
Thus, any of the parties that successfully woos Mimiko to its side will stand a better chance of actualizing its South-West political dreams in 2015. One way or the other, Mimiko has traversed these parties in the last 12 years. He started out as a chieftain of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) that later became the bedrock of the ACN in 1999 and later decamped to the PDP where he was made a minister. En route the 2007 polls, he quit the PDP for LP to realize his governorship ambition, when he was denied the PDP ticket.
Mimiko: The beautiful political bride Given his achievements, which have transformed the Ondo landscape in the last four years, and for which the electorate handed him a fresh four year term, it is therefore not surprising that a host of eminent Nigerians and politicians from the leading parties chose to identify with Mimiko last weekend. Sources said their presence was also part of efforts to woo him to their camps.
The polity has been awash with reports of PDP wooing him to serve as its arrowhead in the battle for South-West. There are also speculations of the ACN seeking his hand for the South-West regional integration effort. The presence of top shots of these parties at the events organized for Mimiko’s swearing-in ceremony indicates that there is no smoke without fire.
First, they were at the Inauguration Lecture delivered by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi at the Cultural centre, Akure on the morning of Saturday February 23. The lecture was titled: “Leadership, Democracy and Development; A Paradigm Relationship.”
Investment potentials They also returned to the Cultural Centre in the evening for the premiere of the movie: Asogbodilu (transforming a forest into a city). Written and produced by Tunde Babalola. The film chronicles Mimiko’s achievements in the last 48 months and showcases the state’s investment potentials. And on Sunday afternoon, they converged at the Democracy Park to witness the swearing-in of Mimiko and his Deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi.
The roll call Eminent Nigerians who attended the events included ACN governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Ibikunle Amosu of Ogun State, who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Segun Adesegun. CPC governor, Alhaji Tanko Al’ Makura of Nassarawa State was also present.
Others were Governor Peter Obi (APGA) of Anambra State; Theodore Orji (PDP) of Abia State; Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu; former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar; former Governor Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo State; and former Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State.
There were also former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose; former Plateau State Deputy Governor, Mrs Paullen Tallen; Chief Great Ogboru; LP National Chairman, Dan Nwanyanwu; Dr Olu Agunloye; Business mogul, Aliko Dangote; Oba Otudeko; Dr Tunji Braithwaite; Professor Bolaji Akinyemi; General Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd); Rear Admiral Akin Aduwo; Brigadier Dayo Olukoya; Chief Michael Ade Ojo, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi (Rtd); Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC Founder, OPC National Co-coordinator, Otunba Ganiyu Adams; Dr Frederick Fasehun; former Information Minister, Mr. Frank Nweke (jnr); Afenifere leaders – Chiefs Ayo Adebanjo and Olu Falae.
Among the personalities were Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade; Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida; Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Adesimbo Kiladejo; Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Akinruntan and Emir of Tsonga, Shehu Yahaya.
Mimiko’s pledge Speaking after his swearing-in as the fifth democratically elected governor of the state, Mimiko, mindful of people of diverse political affiliations surrounding him, promised to pursue patriotic corporation across party lines to ensure growth and development of the country.
On regional integration, he said: “We are convinced that the totality of the concept of progressivism, which the late sage (Chief Obafemi Awolowo) represented, is about using the instrumentality of government to make choices on behalf of the majority of our people. To us, being progressive means democratisation of access to fundamentals of good living.”
Recounting some of his achievements in the last four years such as massive investment in road construction, education, healthcare, agriculture and 644 community nominated projects across the state, mega primary schools, mother and child hospitals (Abiye), etc, the governor vowed to continue to enhance the quality of life of Ondo people, whom he saluted for re-electing him.
Mimiko, however, warned that in the next four years political office holders in the state “must cease from looking at government and service as a goldmine.
He said the on-going International Events Centre, The Dome, would be completed this year while the state’s residency card, ‘Kaadi Igbe Ayo’ would be launched next month. Mimiko also commended President Goodluck Jonathan “for guaranteeing the ambiance for a free, fair and peaceful election (in Ondo State) through the timely and most responsible deployment of security operatives” and prayed “for more grace and strength for Mr. President to take our nation unto greater heights.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
About 50 people, mostly men, crowd around the front porch of a social club in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos, cheering on a shy-looking young man, who proceeds to sing a ballad.
Backstage, another man puts on his wig and takes a quick glance at his pocket mirror, before adjusting his tight-fitting red dress. Five other men also dressed in drag outfits appear, checking on each other’s make-up as they wait for their turn to perform for the crowd.
“A friend invited me here a few months ago,” one chatty spectator says excitedly. “I love this place because it makes me feel at home”.
This gathering of members of the gay and lesbian community in Lagos is held regularly, albeit discreetly, but it could soon be illegal.
The vast majority of gay Nigerians may not be interested in this kind of event but they still have to hide their sexuality in this conservative society.
Whilst already illegal, homosexuality is widely frowned upon across Nigeria and has been the subject of several bills in the National Assembly.
The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill specifically outlaws same-sex unions.
It also bans gatherings of homosexuals or any other support for gay clubs, organisations, unions or amorous expressions, whether in secret or in public.
‘Repulsive’
The bill has been passed by Nigeria’s Senate – the highest chamber – and is now being reviewed by the lower chamber, the House of Representatives.
If approved, it will be sent to the president to sign it into law, after which same-sex couples could face up to 14 years in prison.
But Nigerian homosexuals complain that the stigma they face is already enough punishment for their way of life.
Kunle (not his real name), a gay man living in Lagos, is outraged by the proposed law: “How does a government think that sending someone to prison would change his or her sexual orientation?
“How logical is that?”
One of Nigeria’s few openly gay human rights activists, Rashidi Williams, notes that the bill seeks to ban something which is already illegal and which no-one is publicly advocating.
“All we are asking for is to repeal the repressive laws in this country,” he says.
The bill has been condemned abroad – most recently by Australian lawmakers – making its proponents see this piece of legislation as a way of protecting Nigerian society from foreign influences.
“Ours is to weigh the aggregate of opinion – what the majority of Nigerians want,” says Abike Dabiri, a member of the House of Representatives.
“If majority of Nigerians want same-sex marriage, then why not?”
She adds: “You have a right to your sexual preference but by trying to turn it into marriage do you realise you could be infringing on the human rights of the other person who finds it repulsive?”
In hiding
This view is echoed on the streets of this country, where religious influences, particularly from Christianity and Islam, are heavy.
“How do you even become gay, not to mention wanting to get married to another man?” asks Okechukwu Ikenna, a 33-year-old software engineer, visibly irritated by the topic.
Friends and family members of gay people could get implicated if they do not report cases of same-sex unions because they could be seen as being in support of them.
Critics of the bill also worry that health workers who provide HIV counselling and treatment to homosexuals could be committing an offence as well.
However, some of these doctors say they hardly ever know the sexual orientation of those they attend to because it is not a requirement for treatment and counselling, and even if the patients were to reveal that they were homosexuals, it would not affect the quality of healthcare offered.
Some lawmakers have condemned violence against homosexuals but this has done little to prevent the growing anxiety among those the bill would target as its likely adoption, in whatever form, approaches.
Mr Williams says some gay Nigerians may seek asylum in countries where homosexual people are accepted, while others will have to go underground.
At the gay club, despite the jovial atmosphere, there is heightened caution, and no-one is allowed to take any photos.
The thought of being identified as being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in a country where the public still turns to mob justice haunts some here.
And that is a huge concern for Richard (not his real name): “If you don’t become discreet and try to hide yourself, even the man on the street will want to also act on the bill because it has been passed.
“If you’re walking on the street and he stones you, he knows the law would stand for him because the law is against you.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly yesterday set up committee to investigate the killing of students at the Nasarawa State University during the students’ protest on Monday.
The students were allegedly killed by soldiers deployed to quell the protest over lack of water on campus.
The house’s decision followed the motion by Mr Mohammed Ibaku (PDP-Udege) under the matter of public interest.
The lawmaker said that students had their fundamental human rights to protest against water scarcity on campus.
He said: “What happened in Keffi leading to the killing of the students was unfortunate, uncalled for and ungodly.
“The students have the right to protest against lack of water as it is legitimate.
“It is better to use the police to maintain law and order when students are protesting than to use the military personnel.
“I condemn the killing of the students in its totality, the perpetrators of the act will not go unpunished,” he added
Mr Dogara Sa’aka (PDP-Kokona–East) seconded the motion, saying the investigation would identify the perpetrators of the act and recommend appropriate punishments
Sa’ aka said that water was essential to human life, adding that “he who provides water provides life.
He queried the rationale behind sending soldiers to the university’s campus in place of the police.
The motion was unanimously adopted by house for the constitution of the probe committee.
The Speaker of the house, Alhaji Musa Ahmed, directs the House Committees on Education, Security and Water Resources to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
The house observed a one-minute silence for those who lost their lives during the protest.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Levante striker Obafemi Martins says he wants to leave for MLS side Seattle Sounders as a move would be in the best interests of all concerned.
Obafemi, 28, told Spanish radio station Cadena SER that he was not happy with life at the La Liga club and had already spoken with the Sounders about joining them ahead of the start of the new MLS season in early March.
“I am not happy at Levante,” Martins said. “I have spoken about this with the club. It is not about money, but something which is not being fulfilled. I want to go. [The Sounders] have spoken with me, and made me a good offer. I have discussed it with Levante and am waiting on their reply.”
Levante are not keen to sell Obafemi, who has scored nine goals in 25 games this season, for anything less than the €3 million release clause within the contract signed when he joined on a free transfer from Russian club Rubin Kazan last summer. The club used its official twitter account on Tuesday to state this view.
“Levante are not going to negotiate the exit of any player at this moment and if an offer arrives it must meet the release clause,” said the tweet.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
EMOTIONS and applauds were on displays yesterday as Pope Benedict XVI made final general appearance to 150,000 people who gathered at the St. Peter’s Square, to say “Grazie!” – “Thank you.” to the crowd toting banners with the same inscription.
Today is the final day of his eight year Papacy which took a dramatic turn when he announced two weeks ago that he would step down by the end of the month. He will meet with 115 cardinals this morning for a final time. The focus of the meeting will be on the election of a new pope.
Most of the cardinals from around the world will meet with Pope Benedict XVI, before he flies out with helicopter to the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
Pope Benedict XVI will stay at Castel Gandolfo for about two weeks, while his apartment inside Vatican City is set up. The apartment is believed to be in a monastery.
With chants of “Benedetto!” erupting from the crowd, the mood was far more buoyant than during the Pope’s final Sunday blessing. Pope Benedict had said he decided to retire after realising that, at 85, he simply didn’t have the “strength of mind or body” to carry on.
Pope Benedict who becomes the Bishop of Rome Emeritus from today thanked the people for respecting his decision to resign on grounds of failing strength and ailing health, but more important, reminding them that “it was time for a younger man to lead the Catholic Church into the future.
“To love the church means also to have the courage to take difficult, painful decisions, always keeping the good of the church in mind, not oneself,” Benedict said to thundering applause.
Reports said Pope Benedict clearly enjoyed the crowds, as he took a long victory lap around the square in an open-sided car and stopping to kiss and bless half a dozen children handed to him by his secretary.
The outgoing Pope said he “never felt alone on the job but It was a great burden that God placed on his shoulders as a Pope.”
According to him when he was elected Pope on April 19, 2005, he questioned if God truly wanted it. “‘It’s a great burden that you’ve placed on my shoulders,’”
He thanked his cardinals and colleagues for their guidance and for “understanding and respecting this important decision.”.
He recalled the joy and the light of his papacy and said that he saw a church that was alive.
He will lay aside the red “shoes of the fisherman” that have been part of his papal attire and wear brown loafers given to him by shoemakers during a trip to Leon, Mexico last year. He will wear a “simple white cassock”, Lombardi said.
His lead seal and his ring of office, known as the “ring of the fisherman”, will be destroyed according to Church rules, just as if he had died.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Chairman of Northern Governors Forum, has alleged clandestine plans by people close to the Presidency to enroll him into an imaginary conspiracy.
Governor Aliyu made the disclosure, yesterday, a day after he was suddenly summoned to the presidential villa in Abuja, allegedly on issues bothering on his recent assertions.
The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Danladi Ndayebo, alleged that “hawks” in Abuja have concluded plans to print posters and portraits of him with the message 2015: Vote Babangida Aliyu for President with the import of arousing the anger of the party against him.
The portraits are to be followed with what he alleged as a media campaign directed at impugning his integrity and loyalty to Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The allegations followed the standoff between Governor Aliyu and partisans of the president, which was upon the governor’s declaration that President Jonathan signed a one-term agreement with northern governors. That agreement had not been produced.
Governor Aliyu was also reported to have stoutly stood in defence of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, during the recent crisis that shadowed the aborted election of a new chairman of the governors’ body.
Governor Aliyu, however, pledged yesterday to be a law-abiding member of the party, saying that he was conscious of the party’s directive against the commencement of presidential election campaigns.
He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Aliyu has not declared for the presidency.
“If anything, he is at the moment focused on delivering on the mandate given to him by the people of Niger State and would not be distracted.”
Aliyu said God is the ultimate decider of who becomes what, just as he cautioned Nigerians to be wary of persons who may want to discredit others for selfish gains.
Aliyu said he remains committed to his present assignment and would not be distracted by any devious plot by mischief-makers.
He reiterated his commitment to the ongoing efforts at re-engineering the state to achieve its vision of becoming one of the top three most developed state economies by the year 2020.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Members of the Embroidery Dealers Association of Nigeria and Association of Nigeria Marketers and some market women and men in their hundreds besieged the Lagos State House of Assembly protesting against alleged Chinese’s exploitation that has crippled their businesses in the State.
With their several placards reading “No more Chinese in the markets” “Fashola and Jonathan come to our rescue”, don’t let Chinese exploitation kill us”, the people claimed that Chinese’s exploitation has made it difficult for their businesses to strive again.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Rt. Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji has directed the Assembly’s Committee on Commerce and Industry to immediately commence an investigation into an alleged sharp practices perpetrated by Chinese businessmen in Lagos Markets.
Commending the traders for not resulting to violence during the protest, he assured them of the House’s readiness to resolve the matter.
In his words: “It is the duty of the Assembly to protect the interest of our constituents in whatever situation at all times”. And the Government has always been responsive and will continue to make traders comfortable in our markets”.
While giving directive on investigation into the matter, Ikuforiji urged the traders to remain calm until the Committee reports its finding to the House.
Earlier, the Leader of the traders, Alhaja Risikat Odumosu had appealed to the Speaker to stop what she described as “exploitative policy of the Chinese in Lagos markets”.
“We want to tell you that the Chinese have taken over our shops, giving out shops at rents beyond the reach of the tenants. We therefore need your assistance and prompt action. We are suffering in silence but want it broken now”, Odumosu said.
The market leader, who lamented that the traders are absolutely powerless informed the Speaker that shop rents have been increased from N50,000 to N3million. According to her, the effect of the rent regimes has made the traders bankrupt. She thereafter appealed to the speaker to rescue the markets from foreign control.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
THE shooting clattered on for 30 minutes, residents of this dusty town say, and when it ended, four militants holding a German engineer hostage were dead. So were the engineer, and four innocent bystanders.
In vast West Africa, a new front-line region in the battle against al Qaeda, Nigeria is America’s strategic linchpin, its military one the U.S. counts on to help contain the spread of Islamic militancy. Yet Nigeria has rebuffed American attempts to train that military, whose history of shooting freely has U.S. officials concerned that soldiers here fuel the very militancy they are supposed to counter.
It is just one example of the limits to what is now American policy for policing troubled parts of the world: to rely as much as possible on local partners. The U.S. and Nigerian authorities don’t fully trust each other, limiting cooperation against the threat. And U.S. officials say they are wary of sharing highly sensitive intelligence with the Nigerian government and security services for fear it can’t be safeguarded. Nigerian officials concede militants have informants within the government and security forces.
For the U.S., though, cooperation with Nigeria is unavoidable. The country is America’s largest African trading partner and fifth-largest oil supplier. Some 30,000 Americans work here. Nigeria has by far the biggest army in a region where al Qaeda has kidnapped scores of Westerners, trained local militants to rig car bombs and waged war across an expanse of Mali the size of Texas. Last month, al Qaeda-linked extremists’ attack on a natural-gas plant in faraway Algeria left at least 37 foreigners dead.
In Nigeria, a homegrown Islamic extremist group loosely called Boko Haram has for years attacked churches and schools. The name translates as “Western education is sin.” Now, the sect’s followers are joining a broader holy war, led by al Qaeda and financed by kidnappings. On February 16, militants in the north abducted seven mostly European construction workers.
Three days later, gunmen crossed into neighbouring Cameroon to kidnap a family of French tourists outside an elephant park. The family appeared in a YouTube video posted this week, its four children squirming on camera, as a spokesman read a message for France, which last month attacked al Qaeda fighters in its former West African colony of Mali. “We say to the president of France, we are the jihadists who people refer to as Boko Haram,” the turban-shrouded man said. “We are fighting the war that he has declared on Islam.”
French officials said they were analyzing the video and considering the difficulties in either entrusting Nigerian soldiers to rescue their citizens or staging a rescue raid in a foreign land. Such kidnappings, like the attack in Algeria, show how extremist groups are leapfrogging borders.
Boko Haram has fought alongside the regional al Qaeda affiliate known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, according to residents of Mali. Hundreds of self-identified Boko Haram fighters last year learned to fire shoulder-mounted weapons at an AQIM-affiliated training camp in Timbuktu, Mali, said a cook who fed them and neighbors who watched them. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau spent much of last year in Mali, according to a senior Nigeria security adviser.
In Boko Haram “you have a group that’s becoming increasingly efficient and one that al Qaeda, AQIM, can use down the road,” said John Giacalone, a Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent in New York who oversees counterterrorism work in Africa. Days after the gas-plant attack in Algeria, French oil company Total SA FP.FR +2.18 per cent said it was moving expatriate workers from Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to the south of the country, where kidnappings are more common but less violent.
While the French battle militants in Mali, the Obama administration has limited its role to providing logistical and intelligence support and drone surveillance from a base in nearby Niger, believing others such as France, Nigeria and other African allies have more immediately at stake and should assume most of the risks and costs. That fits a broader U.S. pattern: After a decade of troop-intensive land wars that have strained American budgets and left the country war-weary, the U.S. is depending increasingly on regional powers.
“It can’t just be the United States. It can’t just be Europe. It’s got to be the African nations as well joining in this effort,” departing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in an interview. The new national-security team President Barack Obama has chosen is expected to embrace a light-footprint approach that relies on special forces, drones and local partners to combat terrorism, officials say.
Mr. Panetta brushed aside doubts about relying on Nigerian forces. “You can’t give up on this thing,” he said. “It’s really important for the African nations to be able to develop their capabilities. I don’t think we should just assume that we can’t do that.”
John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, said Nigeria is the African country of the greatest strategic importance to the U.S., but has sought to keep the American military at arm’s length. “The Nigerians regard themselves as the hegemons of West Africa, and they are traditionally suspicious of other powers involving themselves,” said Mr. Campbell, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Doyin Okupe, senior special assistant to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, agreed that “Nigeria sees itself as a regional power in Africa. It’s the dominant force, really. Nigeria is a very proud nation. We feel that to subjugate our military under another world power would be to really compromise our integrity.”
He said Nigeria is willing to let Western nations supply equipment, “but we might not be too predisposed to subjugating our forces to undergo training under another military.”
Washington has struggled for years to cement close ties with the Nigerian army. The U.S. military’s Africa Command invited the Nigerian military seven years ago to participate in Operation Flintlock, an annual multinational counterterrorism exercise. Nigerian generals balked at sending a large contingent of soldiers.
Originally entitled ‘On Terror’s New Front Line, Mistrust Blunts U.S. Strategy’, this piece was published yesterday by Wall Street Journal.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
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