Boko Haram fighters stormed a village in northeast Nigeria and murdered two civilians, while six people were killed in an attack in northern Cameroon, a local resident and security sources told AFP on Monday. The attacks came as Nigeria’s military again maintained the jihadists had been defeated, and that its repeated raids and suicide bombings were “a sign of weakness”.

At least 20,000 people have been killed in nearly nine years of violence and more than 2.6 million made homeless, triggering a humanitarian crisis across the Lake Chad region. Bulama Bukar said Boko Haram fighters stormed his village, Alau-Kofa, about 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Sunday, firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

“Two people were burnt alive and the whole village was burnt, along with our food,” he told AFP. Bukar, whose father was shot in the leg during the attack, said the jihadists “specifically came to steal our cattle” but were forced to abandon the herds when soldiers arrived.

“Last Wednesday they attacked the village, killed three people and took away 50 cattle. And now they came back,” he added.  A security source 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) away in the Borno state capital Maiduguri, confirmed Bukar’s account.

“It is part of the fightback strategy by the terrorists, who are facing mounting pressure from the military,” he said. Another security source in Cameroon said “six people were killed and the attackers burnt down more than 100 houses” in the village of Hitawa, at about 11:00 pm on Sunday.

Nigeria’s military said last week they had cleared the Sambisa Forest in Borno state of Boko Haram fighters — just over a year after making a similar claim. Major General Rogers Ibe Nicholas, leading operations against the jihadists, was reported as saying on Monday that the Islamic State affiliate was “completely defeated”.

Asked about the claim, he told AFP: “In the Sambisa Forest where we have them, we have completely defeated them.” The military was “taking them on wherever they go outside that area, he added. He attributed Sunday’s attack in Alau-Kofa to “criminals who came to steal goats”.

At a meeting with the military and security agencies in Maiduguri, Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed said: “The last phase of the war with Boko Haram is now on.

“The military is punching deep into the enclaves of the insurgents,” he said, adding that the group was only able to mount “cowardly attacks on soft targets”. “That, in itself, is a sign of weakness,” he added. There have been repeated assertions that military operations were in the final stages dating back even further to the previous administration.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari first claimed the jihadists were “technically defeated” in December 2015. But the security source warned against triumphalism, despite recent successes. “They have indeed been pushed out of Sambisa. They have relocated their camps to Dubur and Yuwe on the rear fringes of Sambisa.” Boko Haram’s capacity has been weakened since it controlled swathes of territory in northeast Nigeria in 2014 but it still poses a threat.

The BBC last month said the militants killed at least 967 people in 150 attacks in 2017, up from 910 deaths in 127 attacks the previous year. Civilians remain at risk, particularly in remote rural areas and even in more well-guarded camps for people displaced by the conflict.

This and a recent federal government request for an extra $1 billion for security funding have led to questions about the veracity of claims about the end of the conflict. Similarly, the military has been asked why it needs 12 Super Tucano A-29 ground aircraft from the United States if the militants are scattered and on the run.

The air force said last month the aircraft were required “to consolidate on successes recorded so far.” The security source said troops on the ground remained cautious about hunting down Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau, as he was using hostages as human shields.

They include some of the schoolgirls abducted from the Borno town of Chibok in April 2014 and female police officers seized in an ambush last year. “They don’t want to harm them, which is why they are limiting aerial offensives,” he added.

Source: Indian Express

Camerounian soldiers, penultimate Monday, invaded a Nigerian community in Cross River State, the second time in two months, leaving in its wake tears and blood. According to reports, the soldiers shot sporadically in search of separatists, who fled from Cameroun into Danare Community in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State, apparently to take refuge.

The Tide recalls that the Camerounian soldiers last December invaded the same community, without authorisation and in the process, killed two residents of the community. The soldiers stormed the community, demanding the release of insurgents who took refuge there.

The Tide is worried that in spite of Nigeria’s sovereignty, Camerounian soldiers could brazenly invade Nigerian communities without any form of resistance from the country’s security architecture. Indeed, we frown at such incursions into Nigerian territory by Cameroun gendarmes without following due process or exploring administrative and diplomatic channels.

Such invasions do not only constitute a violation of international law and conventions, they also tantamount to flagrant breach of the country’s sovereignty and national security, and clearly pose a grave danger to the country’s citizens.

We strongly feel that this resort to gangsterism and lawlessness by our neighbours must be stopped by our military high command. We say so because there seems to be a deliberate policy by Cameroun to undermine and subvert Nigeria’s national security and territorial integrity. This, to say the least, constitutes a clear disrespect to the Nigerian Government.

Suffice it to say that such attacks and invasions are an insult to the collective sensibilities of Nigerians. It is even more worrisome when the country’s security agencies helplessly watch such oddities take place without a resistance.
Indeed, the recent invasion of Danare Community by Camerounian soldiers is one too many. The Tide thinks that Nigeria’s big brother posture towards her neighbours is being taken for granted, to the extent that smaller nations now exploit Nigeria’s good neighbourliness to unleash mayhem on Nigerians. This is unacceptable!
We, however, note that the primary responsibility of any responsible government is to protect the lives and property of the citizens. The Federal Government should live up to this responsibility and in fact, take practical steps to put an end to this reckless impunity by the Camerounian invaders.

Meanwhile, the frequent invasions of Nigerian communities by neighbouring countries call for overhaul or review of the country’s security system to ensure that nobody crosses the borders or buffer zones without authorisation.
We also feel that it is high time the Nigerian military upgraded its communication system to ensure quick intervention in case of emergencies.

To put an end to the sordid activities of these marauding foreign intruders, we suggest that the Federal Government must, without further delay, lodge an official complaint with the Camerounian authorities and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) over the sundry security breaches by Cameroun gendarmes. We believe that this is the only way to nip in the bud future occurrences.

Source: The Tide

Security forces in Cameroon have killed at least five civilians in the country’s restive Anglophone region from late last week through the weekend, multiple sources have disclosed. On Friday, two people were reportedly shot dead on a road linking Bamenda (capital of the northwest region) to a neighbouring town of Bafut.

A security source said the security officials opened fire on occupants of a vehicle after they delayed in stepping out after they were stopped. We were going back home when the gendarmes arrested us. They opened fire at our vehicle because some of us were slow to get out.

Another person was killed in the Belo region at a time when armed officials invaded private homes ostensibly in reprisals after two officers were killed in the area. Authorities blamed the deadly attacks on armed separatists.

The other death was in Bamenda late Saturday when a young man enjoying time out with relations was shot death. His father confirmed the death after seeing his son’s body at the morgue.

“We were going back home when the gendarmes arrested us. They opened fire at our vehicle because some of us were slow to get out,” the victim’s brother said.

“My brother died after being shot. There were four of us in the car, I managed to escape and the other two were arrested,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the streets of Bamenda are said to have been deserted following the gunfire and deaths that resulted over the weekend.

Violence has flared in the past week, with armed separatist factions clashing against Cameroon security forces in several towns and villages in the two English-speaking regions after Nigeria deported the leader of the self-declared state and 46 others.

The United Nations refugee agency condemned the handing over of the 47 people, saying most of them had submitted asylum claims and their forced return was in violation of international refugee law.

More than 43,000 Cameroonians have fled as refugees to Nigeria to escape the government crackdown on the separatists, say local aid officials. The majority are in Nigeria’s Cross River state, which borders southwest Cameroon.

Source: Africa News

A leading American investigator into the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade has been found stabbed to death in his home, Kenyan police and officials said Monday.

A family member went to Esmond Bradley Martin’s house on Sunday to check on him after he did not respond to phone calls and found the body on a bed with a stab wound to the neck, said Nicolas Kamwende, head of criminal investigations in the capital, Nairobi.

Conservationist Paula Kahumbu said Martin led investigations into the illegal trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn that threatens the two species with extinction. He was at the forefront of exposing ivory traffickers in the US, Congo, Vietnam, Nigeria, Angola, China and recently Myanmar, Kahumbu said.

“A passionate and committed man who made a big difference to our planet. May he rest in peace,” British High Commissioner to Kenya Nic Hailey said in a Twitter post.

Conservation group Save the Elephants described Martin as “a longtime ally,” a passionate champion of wildlife and meticulous researcher.

Illicit demand for elephant ivory has led to devastating losses from illegal poaching as the natural habitat available for the animals to roam has also dwindled by more than half. As a result, the number of African elephants has shrunk from about 5 million a century ago to about 400,000 remaining. And that number continues to decline each year.

Less than 30,000 rhinos are estimated to remain in the wild due to poaching.

The price of rhino horn skyrocketed as demand has grown in Asian countries, mainly China and Vietnam, where consumers wrongly believe that the horn made of the same substance as fingernails has powerful healing properties. Syndicates from Vietnam, China, South Korea and Thailand have been identified as being involved in the trafficking.

(Source: AP)

At least four civilians have been killed in a suspected militant attack in northern Mali over the weekend, local officials said Sunday.

An unknown number of the attackers were also killed in fighting as the “suspected militants killed at least four civilians around Talataye,” a northeastern town of around 14,000 people, regional officials told AFP.

Mali’s deteriorating security situation is of growing concern as al-Qaeda-linked groups mount increasingly deadly attacks on domestic and foreign forces.

In the Talataye area the militants often target an Azawad group, the traditionally nomadic Tuareg people of the desert, who they consider too close to a pro-governmental armed group, another elected local official said.

Civilians considered too close to the Azawad group are, in turn, considered legitimate targets, he added.

According to a Mali security source, the assailants took hostages during Friday’s attacks, and killed at least one of them on Saturday.

On Sunday tension remained high in and around Talataye, a foreign security source told AFP.

Friday’s attack came after Mali’s army decided to ban the use of scooters and pick-up trucks in some areas to boost their fight against armed militant groups.

Such vehicles are often used by extremist fighters, in the north and the center of the country.

The ban applies to a dozen “circles” in the central regions of Segou and Mopti and northwest Timbuktu region.

“Humanitarian convoys, and all other convoys, must receive authorization from the local military command in order to receive an escort,” the army said, adding that anyone failing to do so would be considered a “military target”.

In late January, 14 soldiers were killed and 18 more wounded in an attack on their camp in Mali’s restive north.

That attack in Soumpi, in the Timbuktu region, came two days after 26 civilians including mothers and babies were killed when their vehicle ran over a landmine in Boni, central Mali, according to a UN death toll.

Extremists linked to al-Qaeda took control of the desert north of Mali in early 2012, but were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

In June 2015, Mali’s government signed a peace agreement with coalitions of non-militant armed groups. But extremist insurgents remain active, and large tracts of the country are lawless.

“Humanitarian convoys, and all other convoys, must receive authorization from the local military command in order to receive an escort,” the army said, adding that anyone failing to do so would be considered a “military target”.

(Source: AFP)

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to “bring back naturalized Nigerians, Refugees and Asylum Seekers who were illegally arrested, detained and deported from to Cameroon on Friday, January 26, 2018 by the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd).”

In the open letter today Falana said “We write this protest letter on behalf of our clients whose names and status are set out in the List of Deportees attached to this letter.”

According to Falana, “Our clients are not illegal immigrants in Nigeria. Three of them are naturalized Nigerian citizens while others are recognized refugees and political asylum seekers in Nigeria.”

The letter read in part: “Twelve of our clients who are the leaders of the people of Southern Cameroon and who have been living in Nigeria for several years were assembled for a meeting at Nera Hotel, Abuja on Saturday, January 6, 2018 to discuss the challenges faced by the over 10,000 Cameroonians who have sought political asylum in Nigeria due to persecution and repression under the Paul Biya regime in Cameroon.”

“But before the commencement of the meeting a team of armed security personnel invaded the venue, abducted our clients and took them away to an undisclosed place. The said abduction was reported by the Premium Times edition of Sunday, January 7, 2018.”

“In spite of the detailed report of the credible online news medium the Police and the security agencies denied knowledge of the abduction of our clients. Consequently, all efforts made by the lawyers, doctors and family members of our clients to visit them in custody were frustrated without any legal justification. Even Mrs. Nalowa Bih who is pregnant was denied medical attention by the National Security Adviser.”

“However, a representative of the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria was allowed to visit our clients at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the visit, the United Nations representative found that our clients were held in an underground cell at the headquarters of the Defence Intelligence Agency on the orders of the National Security Adviser.”

“On account of the refusal of the National Security Adviser to allow access to our clients by their lawyers, relatives and doctors we filed an application at the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court on Thursday, January 25, 2018 for the purpose of securing their fundamental rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement.”

“Notwithstanding the pending suit and the intervention of the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees, the National Security Adviser expelled our clients from Nigeria and deported them to Cameroon on Friday, January 26, 2018.”

“Although the National Security Adviser was ashamed to disclose the deportation of our clients from Nigeria the Government of Cameroon has celebrated the deportation and threatened to prosecute our clients for unspecified crimes. Thus, with the connivance of the National Security Adviser the Government of Cameroon has since held our clients in an undisclosed military custody in Cameroon.”

“Out of the 52 people who were expelled from Nigeria the Government of Cameroon has maintained that the National Security Adviser handed over to it 47 deportees. Up till now, the National Security Adviser has not accounted for the whereabouts of the remaining 5 detainees!”

“The National Security Adviser knew that two of our clients are naturalized Nigerians, six are refugees while 37 others are political asylum seekers who are entitled to be protected by the Federal Government of Nigeria. For the avoidance of doubt, the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria drew the attention of the National Security Adviser to the legal obligations of Nigeria to respect the rights of our clients.”

“Under the National Security Agencies Act (Cap N74) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and the Immigration Act 2015 the National Security Adviser is not competent to arrest, detain and deport any alien or immigrant from Nigeria to any other country.”

“Since the Government of Nigeria has never violated the provisions of the United Nations Convention Relating to Refugees and the OAU Convention on Refugees by deporting refugees and asylum seekers to any country where they might be persecuted we are compelled to urge Your Excellency to grant the following requests: Order the National Security Adviser to produce the missing 5 deportees and bring back to Nigeria our clients who have been illegally deported to Cameroon without any further delay.”

“If the National Security Adviser is unable to bring back our clients to Nigeria he should be removed from office for such brazen impunity which has exposed Nigeria to ridicule before the comity of law abiding nations. The Federal Government should prevail on the Government of Cameroon not to persecute our clients to prevent the United Nations from sanctioning Nigeria for violating the provisions of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to Refugees.”

“You will therefore agree with us that the arrest, detention and deportation of our clients from Nigeria to Cameroon by the National Security Adviser cannot be justified on the following grounds: Based on the appeal by Nigeria for a peaceful resolution of the political crisis in Cameroon the people of Southern Cameroon filed a suit at the Federal High Court to determine whether the people of Southern Cameroon are not entitled to self-determination within their clearly defined territory separate from La Republique Du Cameroun.”

“By a consent judgment delivered by the Court on March 5, 2002, the Federal Government was directed to file a suit at the International Court of Justice to have a judicial confirmation of the human right of the people of Southern Cameroon to self determination. Attached herewith and marked annexure A is a certified true copy of the judgment.”

“The Federal Government also undertook to take other measures as may be necessary to place the case of the people of Southern Cameroon for self determination before the United Nations General Assembly and other international organizations.”

“Even though the suit has not been filed at the International Court of Justice the Federal Government has continued to recognize the human rights of our clients and other people of Southern Cameroon to self determination.”

Source: PMNEWS