with agency reports
Fresh attacks by gunmen suspected to be members of
Boko Haram Islamist sect has left at least 35 persons
dead, including two soldiers and a policeman, with
several others injured in Borno State, military officials
said.
The spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Lt Col Sagir
Musa said Boko Haram members, who had threatened
to launch massive attacks as Ramadan ends, lived out
their threat by launching coordinated attacks on
Sunday.
Mr. Musa said: “Troops have successfully repelled Boko
Haram attack on a Mobile Police Base and Bama town.
The sect members, using sophisticated weapons and
Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, launched attacks
at about 6:45am on Sunday.
“The encounter led to the death of one policeman and
17 Boko Haram members, two soldiers were also
wounded.”
Musa also said two soldiers were killed when Boko
Haram staged another attack on the operatives of the
Multi-National Joint Task Force, MNJTF. The soldiers
were able to kill 15 Boko Haram members during the
attack.”
He said the attack took place “about 10am on Sunday,
when some Boko Haram members armed with
sophisticated weapons attacked MNJTF location at
Malum Fatori.”
The military said normalcy had, however, returned to
the two towns.
The recent attacks have heightened residents’ fear in
Maiduguri, especially as they prepare for the Eid-el-
Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadan fast.
ICC indicts Boko Haram
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court, ICC, in
the Hague, said yesterday that after a preliminary
investigation, it believed that acts attributed to the
Islamist group Boko Haram are likely crimes against
humanity.
The ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda said the acts
include murder and persecution. But she will only
move to a full-fledged investigation after further study
and depending on whether Nigerian authorities
prosecute “those who appear to bear the greatest
responsibility.”
Her report, which was issued yesterday in The Hague,
Netherlands, is based on evidence gathered through
December 2012.
In July last year, during her first visit to Nigeria since
assuming office, ICC urged Nigeria to investigate
crimes by Boko Haram.
Bensouda said she briefed President Goodluck
Jonathan on ICC’s preliminary examination of the
insurgency, but stressed that the court was not
formally investigating the violence in northern Nigeria.
“Crimes are taking place,” the Gambian-born
prosecutor told journalists. “These crimes may be
called terrorist attacks but they could also qualify as
crimes against humanity.”
Provided Nigeria takes action through its own judicial
system, ICC does not plan to intervene, she said.
According to her, “the intention is not to intervene,
but to ensure that Nigeria has the primary
responsibility of investigating.”
Why I ordered Kano attack— Factional Leader
Meanwhile, leader of a faction of Boko Haram Islamist
sect, Mohammed Marwana, yesterday, disclosed that
he gave Federal Government prior notice of last
week’s attack in the Sabon-Gari area of Kano that
claimed over 40 lives, but that the government ignored
his warning.
In an audio message, Sunday, Marwana said he
ordered the attack to prove that he is the new leader
of the sect and not the faction that claimed to have
shot and deposed former leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Marwana is the leader of the Boko Haram faction that
had been in negotiations with Federal Government
appointed “Amnesty Committee” headed by the
Minister of Special Duties, Turaki, who had earlier
announced that Federal Government had secured a
ceasefire deal with the sect.
A news report by Vanguard last week, said that
Shekau had been shot and deposed by his own
members.
There has been controversy regarding authenticity of
Marwana as a member of the sect and its leadership,
as he was recently dismissed by Imam Shekau in a
Youtube video after he claimed that the sect had
agreed to a ceasefire deal with Federal Government.
While confirming the ceasefire deal announced by the
Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Boko
Haram, Marwana had apologised and begged for the
forgiveness of Nigerians for the atrocities the group
had committed in the country.
He had added that his leadership, which he claimed
was authentic, had decided to tread the path of
peace.
However, in the audio message, Marwana, who spoke
in Hausa language, said: “I personally instructed the
attack in Kano to prove to the world that I am the real
leader of Boko Haram because there have been
retrogressive forces on the issue of dialogue, who kept
doubting my leadership in the sect.
“I told them ahead that there will be attack, and it has
happened. It is a warning, and we need to say again
that we carried out the attacks in Kano.”
On Shekau’s death
On the purported death of Imam Abubakar Shekau,
the globally known leader of the sect, Marwana
debunked speculations, but confirmed that he only
lost the leadership of the sect.
Marwana said: “Shekau is alive contrary to
speculations, except that he lost leadership of the
sect.
“I will not tell you where he is. But he is alive, and we
talked with him not up to three hours ago. Except if he
died while I am talking.”
To prove that things were not alright in the Boko
Haram leadership, in a July 15 video of Shekau, he
appeared to be heavily drugged, with eyes closed
throughout in the clip.
He was shouting and raising his head weirdly as he
denied peace negotiations with the government and
promised more attacks on schools.
This contrasts with his previous videos in which he
usually appeared more relaxed. The background of the
video also had a simple plastic bag drape as against
his more comfortable surroundings in previous
