Total war' on Boko Haram as attacks kill 35

Abuja (AFP) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday vowed "total war against terrorism" following last month's mass abduction of schoolgirls by Boko Haram Islamists amid news of attacks in three border villages that claimed 35 lives.

Jonathan said in an address marking 15 years since the return of civilian rule to Nigeria that no efforts would be spared to rescue the more than 200 girls kidnapped from a school in the northeastern town of Chibok in Borno state on April 14.

"I am determined to protect our democracy, our national unity and our political stability by waging a total war against terrorism," he said.

"The unity and stability of our country, and the protection of lives and property are non-negotiable," he added.
But on the same day as his vow to end the violence a military source and residents said Boko Haram had killed 35 people in separate attacks on three villages near the border with Cameroon, opening fire on villagers and torching homes.
"Boko Haram attacked the three villages Wednesday morning in which 35 people were killed," a military officer in the Borno state capital Maiduguri told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The insurgents hurled petrol bombs into homes, setting them ablaze and shot residents as they tried to escape," he said.

                                                                             

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, pictured in Pretoria, South Africa, on May 24, 2014 (AFP Photo …

Africa's most populous country and biggest economy, which returned to democracy on May 29, 1999, after nearly 16 years of military rule, has been blighted over the past five years by an Islamist insurgency in the north and central regions that has claimed thousands of lives.
The daring abduction of the teenage girls which sparked global outrage has drawn unprecedented attention to Boko Haram's extremist uprising with several foreign countries like the United States, Britain, France and China offering military aid and intelligence.
"I have instructed our security forces to launch a full-scale operation to put an end to the impunity of terrorists on our soil," Jonathan said.

"I have also authorised the security forces to use any means necessary under the law to ensure that this is done. I assure you that Nigeria will be safe again, and that these thugs will be driven away," he vowed.

- Blaming 'foreign elements' -
Jonathan linked the Boko Haram group with foreign organisations such as Al Qaeda.
"For our citizens who have joined hands with Al Qaeda and international terrorists in the misguided belief that violence can possibly solve their problems, our doors remain open to them for dialogue and reconciliation, if they renounce terrorism and embrace peace," he said.

Nigeria is increasingly keen to blame outside forces for the Boko Haram violence, but experts largely reject this claim and instead see the violence as largely domestically inspired.

There are also suggestions that Nigeria lacks the capacity to end the insurgency as acute poverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment, unemployment and official corruption mainly in the north have continued to fuel the violence.
"It is a sad fact that as I address you today, all the gains of the past 15 years of democratic governance in our country are threatened by the presence of international terrorism on our shores," Jonathan said.
"Our dear country, Nigeria, is facing a new challenge. A war has been unleashed on us. Extremist foreign elements, collaborating with some of our misguided citizens, are focused on an attempt to bring down our country and the democracy and freedom we cherish and celebrate today," he said.
Jonathan however appealed to the Islamists to renounce violence and embrace peace.
"My government, while pursuing security measures, will explore all options, including a readiness to accept unconditional renunciation of violence by insurgents, and to ensure their de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and re-integration into the broader society," he added.
As part of efforts to galvanise local and global attention to the plight of the abducted schoolgirls, some 200 protesters, including Nollyhood stars, held a peaceful rally in Lagos on Thursday.
The government has faced increasing criticisms over its slow response to the abduction.
Boko Haram which means "Western education is forbidden", has stepped up deadly raids in northeast Nigeria in recent months, pillaging and burning entire villages and killing residents as part of its violent campaign to establish an Islamic state in the north.
In the latest attacks residents said dozens of Boko Haram gunmen dressed in military uniform stormed Gumushi, Amuda and Arbokko near Cameroon, opening fire on residents and torching homes.
The military put the death toll in Gumushi at 26, but local media said it was as high as 42.
Witnesses said the gunmen also launched coordinated attacks on the neighbouring farming villages of Amuda and Arbokko, killing nine people and destroying scores of houses.

A state of emergency has been in place in Borno and two neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe since May last year

LEDGENDARY VOLKSWAGEN May 28: Volkswagen was founded on this date in 1937

 

To its credit, the modern conglomerate known as Volkswagen AG has spent much of the past several decades atoning for the society of its creation — under the direction of Adolph Hitler, who envisioned a German version of Henry Ford's Model T, who recruited Ferdinand Porsche to design the car that became the Beetle and who set up the "Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH" on this date in 1937.

Today, Ferdinand Porsche's grandson Ferdinand Piech has transformed VW into one of the world's largest automakers, with 400,000 workers building 245 different models around the world, from the VW Polo to the Bugatti Veyron, and which now controls Porsche as well. VW has set a goal of becoming the world's largest automaker by 2018, with more than 10 million vehicles sold a year; no other automaker has such an agressive forecast. It's safe to assume none will include the hack Beetle's owners knew about how to change the alternator belt with the engine running (don't try this, at home or anywhere else):

...Yahoo News

HORRIBLE:Two Indian teenage girls gang-raped and hanged from a tree in India

Two teenage girls, a 14 year old and her 15 year old cousin were gang-raped by five Indian men and then hanged them from a tree in a village in the northern stateo f Uttar Pradesh, police said today.

According to Reuters, the two girls who were from a low-caste Dalit community went missing from their village home when they went out to go to the toilet on Tuesday evening, May 27th. The following morning, villagers found the bodies of the two teenagers hanging from a mango tree in a nearby orchard. 

Indian police have arrested one man and are looking for four other suspects. The police said a post-mortem confirmed the two minors were raped and died from the hanging. DNA samples have also been taken to help identity the perpetrators, the police told reporters. *Graphic content after the cut*


The victim's families allege that local police were shielding the attackers as they refused to take action when the girls were first reported missing.

It was only after angry villagers found the hanging corpses and took the bodies to a nearby highway and blocked it in protest, that police registered a case of rape and murder

Oo!! BOY SEE WOMEN!!: Local Borno village women's group repels Boko Haram attack on their communities

LOCAL women in the villages of Attagara and Kawuri in Borno State disarmed 10 Boko Haram terrorists who tried to attack their communities over the weekend resulting in the lynching of seven of the insurgents.

 

 

As part of its ongoing reign of terror, Boko Haram tried to spread its operations to Attagara and Kawuri villages in Gwoza and Bama Local Government Areas of Borno State. However, they were resisted by a group of women using local charms among other things and were disarmed.

 

After the women repelled the attacks, they then raised the alarm and the rest of the community rallied round to apprehend the insurgents. Three of the terrorists fled but seven were arrested and lynched by an irate mob.

 

One  resident said the attackers invaded the village yesterday on motorcycles but ran into the  women and wanted to hit them with sticks but when they raised the sticks, their hands refused to descend. The women then notified the local vigilante group, which rushed to the scene, disarmed the seven insurgents and lynched them.

 

According to the resident: “Three of the insurgents fled but seven were not lucky as the women alerted the people.”

 

Attagara, a border community with Cameroon is about 10 kilometres southeast of Pulka District in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State and about 130 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital. Of late, local people across Borno state have stepped up the fightback against Boko Haram, having borne the brunt of its brutal terrorist campaign.

 

Yesterday, scores of gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram were killed yesterday through the combined efforts of members of the vigilante youths, otherwise known as the Civilian Joint Task Force and the military in Kawuri village in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State. Mamman Yakubu, a vigilante youth that participated in repelling the insurgents, said they lynched the terrorists because Boko Haram members hardly reveal any secrets when arrested.

 

One top security source, who confirmed the incident, said that three dead bodies of the terrorists were recovered yesterday morning in Kawuri. He added that more of the terrorists were killed in a nearby bus, close to Kawuri when they attempted to flee to the Sambisa Forest.



.........................Courtesy Nigerian Watch 

Churches, mosques now to pay tax – CONFAB

Churches, mosques now to pay tax – CONFAB

 

 

DELEGATES at the on- going National Conference on tuesday voted that henceforth, Churches and Mosques will be paying tax to the federal government, just as they also agreed that Federal and state governments should no longer fund Christian and Muslim pilgrimages to the Holy  lands.

 

These were part of the resolutions reached yesterday during discussions of report of Religion Committee.

 

The decision to make religious bodies pay taxes came up when a delegate representing Civil Organizations, Mallam Naseer Kura during his contribution on the report had raised it that religious leaders were making much money and should be taxed.

 

 Also in his contribution, a delegate representing the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Isaac Ighure however frowned at the situation where pastors and heads of churches make too much money with some of them owning private jets, just as he stressed that they should be made to pay taxes and the elite class must stop abusing the little ones in the society, “some people buy private jets when people in their churches are suffering and living in abject poverty, they should be made to pay taxes.”

Woman Facing Death Sentence in Sudan Gives Birth

the Sudanese woman facing a death sentence for marrying a Christian, has given birth, Amnesty International confirmed to ABC News.

The woman was sentenced to death for apostasy for marrying a Christian and converting to his religion.

This Is the Pregnant Woman Sudan Wants to Hang for Marrying a Christian

Sudan's Islamic court also did not recognize the legitimacy of her marriage, so it also convicted her of adultery and sentenced her to 100 lashes before she is to be hanged.

Her husband, Daniel Wani, is an American citizen who was working in New Hampshire and rushed back to Sudan in an attempt to save his wife's life.

She is reportedly slated to remain in jail for two years to nurse the child before she is to be flogged and hanged.

The court's sentence has prompted statements of concern from Wester

n governments and human rights groups.

Her lawyers continue to appeal and petition for clemency.

Report: Nigeria Has Located Kidnapped Girls, Afraid to Use Force

Almost six weeks after nearly 300 girls were kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Nigerian defense chief believes the girls have been located. Despite this breakthrough, the Nigerian government seems reluctant to use military force to free the girls.

Air Marshal Alex Barde told demonstrators supporting the country's much criticized military on Monday that Nigerian troops can save the girls. But he added, "we can't go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back."

The subject of an international outrage—one that started nearly a month after the initial abduction and an outrage that is not without its flaws—the kidnapping of the girls from a boarding school in northern Nigeria has put immense pressure on the Nigerian government to act decisively.

However, the sincerity of the Nigerian government in its willingness to confront Boko Haram, which is angling to establish an Islamic state in the religiously-diverse country, has long been met with skepticism by the international community. It ultimately took consider twisting to get Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to accept outside help in the effort to rescue the girls. That skepticism hasn't seemed to abate:

  Courtesy Yahoo News ...

Mandatory HIV tests before marriage

In a bid to check the spread of the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) in the country, the Federal Government has approved the conduct of compulsory HIV tests on intending couples before the solemnization of Christian and Muslim marriages in the country.
Under this initiative, no marriage can be conducted in Churches and Mosques unless religious leaders in the places of worship confirm that the  intending bride and groom have taken HIV tests.
The decision on compulsory testing is part of the new National HIV Prevention Plan released by the Federal Government during the National Prevention Plan Validation meeting in Abuja last week. According to the Director of Bauchi State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Malaria, Dr. Yakubu Abubakar, the new measure is to prevent new HIV infections and curb further spread of the disease.
The Federal Government, however, did not include traditional marriages in the “no HIV test, no marriage” policy, possibly because of the largely informal nature of such marriages.
As explained by Abubakar, the new HIV Prevention Plan is an improvement on the previous one because it has input of local communities and stakeholders in the states and at the national level. He also stressed that the plan took into consideration the peculiarities of each state with regard to prevalence rate, mode of transmission, culture and approach to HIV prevention.
Although HIV testing, ordinarily, should be voluntary so as not to infringe on the right of the people to privacy on issues pertaining to their health, we welcome the plan to make intending couples undergo the test. We appreciate and support the government’s position on this matter because of the increasing seriousness of the problem of HIV/AIDS in the country. So many lives have been lost to AIDS in Nigeria, with a growing number of children orphaned by the ailment. So much money is spent on provision of anti-retroviral drugs to infected persons, while the Prevention-of-Mother-To-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) initiatives constitute a financial burden to the health sector.
With this huge cost of the disease to the country, AIDS may no longer be a private affair of individuals. It has, therefore, become necessary to support the government and the health authorities in this effort to curb the spread of the disease through increased testing. Testing for HIV before marriage will help intending couples to know their status, so that they can decide whether to go ahead with the union. They will also be able to learn the necessary precautions to take to avoid transmission of the infection to their partners, and their babies. The government’s position will help to ensure that no one gets married to an infected person out of ignorance. Ultimately, the health authorities should actively work towards encouraging all Nigerians to know their status. In this regard, efforts should be made to find a way to make testing compulsory for those planning to do traditional marriages, too.
To achieve the desired objective, we urge intending couples and religious institutions to abide by the letters and spirit of this regulation whenever its enforcement commences. Already, teaching hospitals conduct the test for pregnant women. A number of churches also require that HIV/AIDS tests be conducted before joining intending couples together. This is the wise thing to do as it is in the best interest of both the bride and groom.
Mandatory HIV tests, we believe, will also help the government to know the number of those affected by the illness so as to be able to plan for counseling services and other medical interventions.
Government should embark on massive enlightenment programmes to explain this initiative so that its good gesture and intention would not be misconstrued. Nigerians should be adequately informed about the test and how to go about it. Government should involve all Nigerians in this quest because HIV does not discriminate on account of gender, race or creed.
Beyond HIV/AIDS, intending couples should also be mandated to take the sickle cell test to determine their genotype so that they will not give birth to   children with sickle cell. Testing for these ailments has become necessary because the issue goes beyond the bride and groom to their communities and the nation at large.
The plan for mandatory testing for HIV must, however, go beyond the approval of the National AIDS Prevention Plan. The government should send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly so that the policy can have the necessary legal backing. This will help to reduce new infections. The passage of a law on compulsory testing, alongside public education and moral suasion on the need for these tests, will go a long way in reducing the spread  of HIV/AIDS in the country
Courtesy The Sun.....

How I watched my daughter burn in Nyanya bomb blast – Victim’s mother

“I saw my daughter just beside the okpa, burning; she was still alive and struggling in the fire”.
In this heart wrenching interview, a devastated mother of five told PREMIUM TIMES how she watched her first child burn to death in the April 14 Boko Haram bomb attack on Nyanya motor park in Abuja.
Lydia Nwange, who sells okpa (Bambara groundnut), a local breakfast delicacy at the park, had set her 15-year-old daughter with a one day sales portion of okpa.
She went off and shortly after, the terrorists detonated the bomb at the spot she left her daughter.
By the time Mrs. Nwange got back, her daughter was, from her ankle up, in flames and battled to sniff any oxygen she could get.
In this Interview with Amina Mohammed, she explains how her efforts to save her daughter failed and the trauma she’s had to live with since that day.
PT: You sold okpa at the bus park before the bomb blast. One of your daughters was killed in that attack. Tell us about her and how it all happened.
Mrs. Nwange: Her name was Chinazor Nwange, she was 15 years old in SSS 2, and was in Government Secondary school Karu.
PT: Do you want to tell us more about her?
Mrs. Nwange: She was my first born, the closest to me, very hard working and a dedicated Christian. In fact she helped me always at home. She was always bothered about the upkeep of the house, helped me with the house chores and was friendly with everybody around the compound.
She only helped to sell when the school was on break. Like when the school was on Easter break, she went with me to Nyanya to sell.
PT: What Happened on the day she died?
Mrs. Nwange: A day before she died, she told me that that day (the day of the bomb blast) would be her last to go with me because she would be travelling for a church retreat, the day after. So I agreed.
On the day of the bomb blast in the morning after I had cooked the okpa, we both went to the park and I divided the okpa into two. I told her to go and sit just in front of the buses with an umbrella so she could sell to customers at that spot while I went to sell mine at the other end.
Just as I settled down to sell mine, I heard a loud sound then I looked forward I saw fire and flames then I ran towards that side shouting, my child, my child. As I got to the spot, I saw the okpa on a tray and the umbrella just where I told my daughter to sit, then I saw my daughter just right beside the okpa, burning; she was still alive and struggling in the fire. It was just her toes left. I screamed and rushed to rescue my daughter but I realised people were holding me back, warning that I might be consumed in the fire too.
They dragged me away from the spot. Later, some people came and took my child [at this point she was dead] into a van and left.
I cried. I wailed. I could not think. I immediately entered a bus and went home to tell my husband what happened. Everybody broke down into tears. They tried to console me.
Since then I have not been myself. I do not sell okpa again. Nobody helps me around the house. I have just been indoors in pains and tears.
PT: Have you located your daughter’s body?
Mrs. Nwange: I have not seen my daughter’s body yet. I and my husband have visited many hospitals, nothing yet. The last one we went to is Asokoro general hospital. I asked those working in the mortuary about my daughter because I explained to them what my daughter was wearing, they told me they saw the type of the shoes on the body, but that the body had been taken to another place. I and my husband went to the other place, we did not see the body, and so we returned back to the hospital. Then a lady told us that if we see the body, we will not be allowed to carry the body because I could only identify the body with the leg. We then returned home.
PT: How have you been faring since the death of your daughter?
Mrs. Nwange: All I do is to pray and hope my husband sees her body. I can’t make the okpa anymore, my mind is still not settled, at every move I make in the house I remember her and how I saw her burn to death and could do nothing to save her.
by Amina Mohammed Courtesy Premium Times..

Boko Haram video claims to show missing girls

Boko Haram has released a new video claiming to show the missing Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted last month, alleging they had converted to Islam and would not be released until all of its prisoners held by Nigeria were freed.
In the video, obtained by the AFP news agency on Monday, Abubakar Shekau, the group’s leader, is shown speaking for 17 minutes before showing what he said were about 130 of the girls, wearing full-length abayas and praying in an undisclosed rural location.
Nearly 300 girls were abducted on April 14 from the northeastern town of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community. Fifty-three girls managed to escape.
Three of the girls in Monday’s video are interviewed in the recording. Two say they were Christian and had converted while one said she was Muslim.
The girls appeared calm and one said that they had not been harmed.
There was no indication of when the video was taken, although the quality is better than on previous Boko Haram videos and at one point an armed man is seen in shot with a hand-held video camera.
Boko Haram has been waging an increasingly deadly insurgency in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north since 2009, attacking schools teaching a “Western” curriculum, churches and government targets.
Civilians have borne the brunt of recent violence, with more than 1,500 killed this year alone, while tens of thousands have been displaced after their homes and businesses were razed.
International help
Nigeria’s government has been criticised for its lack of immediate response to the kidnapping but has been forced to act after Shekau threatened to sell the girls as slaves.
President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted help from the United States, Britain, France, China and Israel, which have sent specialist teams to help in the search effort.
In the video, Shekau appears in front of a lime green canvas backdrop wearing combat fatigues and carrying an automatic weapon. He does not appear in the same shot as the girls at any point.
Speaking in Hausa and Arabic, he restates his claim of responsibility made in a video released last Monday and said the girls had converted to Islam.
The rebel leader said that Boko Haram’s “brothers in arms” had been held in prison for up to five years and suggested that the girls would be released if the fighters were freed.
“We will never release them until after you release our brethren,” he said.
Boko Haram has kidnapped women and young girls in the past and Shekau indicated that more were being held.
Eleven girls were abducted from the Gwoza area of Borno state on May 4.

......Courtesy The Sun News

20 facts to know about the just concluded World Economic Forum Africa 2014

The World Economic Forum Abuja

1. The World Economic Forum is an international institution consisting business, political, academic and other leaders committed to shaping global, regional and industry agendas towards the improvement of the state of the world through public-private sector cooperation in the spirit of global citizenship.
2. Incorporated in 1971 as a non-profit foundation, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, this the first time Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, would be playing host to WEF Africa.
3. WEF has always held its meetings on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, its regional headquarters. But the 2014 edition moved to Nigeria in the heart of West Africa, considered the fastest growing sub-region, representing Africa’s largest business opportunity.
4. WEF Africa 2014 is the 24th edition and will see participants actively engaging in constructive interactions and debates on the theme: “Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs”.
5. WEF Africa 2014 will bring together regional and global leaders in business, politics and civil society to discuss how integrate and structurally reform the natural and economic potentials of Africa to deliver benefits to all citizens.
6. WEF Africa 2014 will be chaired by the former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who will also make a presentation during the Private Sector Session.
7. President/CEO Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, will be one of the seven Co-Chairs of WEF Africa 2014, including Bineta Diop, Chair of the Executive Board, Femmes Africa Solidarite, Switzerland; Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director, MaKinsey & Company, UK, and Jean-Francois van Boxmer, Chairman/CEO, Heineken Netherlands.Other Co-Chairs include Jabu Mabuza, Chairman, TelKom Group, South Africa; Sunil Mittal, Founder/Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, India and John Rice, Vice Chairman, General Electric, Hong Kong.
8. About 67 speakers from 26 countries, including Founder and Executive Chairman, WEF, Klaus Schwab, will make presentations during the three-day meeting.
9. President Goodluck Jonathan will lead the 12 speakers from Nigeria, including Ministers of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madudueke; President Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; Yonov Frederick Agah, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization, WTO, Geneva; Biola Alabi, Managing Partner, Alabi Media Consulting; Akudo Ikemba, Founder/ CEO, Friends Africa (Friends of the Global Fund Africa), Kola Karim, Group Managing Director/CEO, Shoreline Energy International; Stephen Onasanya, Group Managing Director/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria and Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC.
10. Participants will attempt to identify the challenges and opportunities shaping Africa’s growth outlook, and how Africa’s growth strategies could be made to be more inclusive and create jobs and accelerate regional integration.
11. Discussions will focus on how investments in Africa can drive diversification and promote inclusive growth, particularly finding ways African economies can overcome the paradox of resource curse, where, despite the hugely rich energy resources, the people remain largely poor.
12. WEF Africa 2014 will provide the opportunity for African leaders to attempt to align the global narrative with the local perspective to shape the future development path for the continent.
13. Debates will strive to initiate innovative partnerships to bridge the skills gap to create an adaptable workforce capable of adopting inclusive development strategies to help restore peace and security in the continent.
14. Apart from private business opening session on Wednesday May 7, 2014, various sessions will be held over two days, May 8 and 9, 2014 on a myriad of issues.
15. The arena sessions will offer top government, business and civil society leaders opportunity to interactive and debate on a wide range of issues on the theme.
16. The Interactive sessions will provide in-depth understanding of new, emerging or complex issues aimed at expanding the dialogue, while new solutions sessions will highlight the creative approaches to solve some of the region’s intractable development issues, including education, development finance, gender gap, agriculture.
17. The One-on-One sessions will afford inspiring individuals from business, government, academia and civil society to share their insights on transformational ideas.
18. The plenary sessions will open the conceptual framework for discussion on important trends and themes.
19. Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Li Keqiang, is among the dignitaries to attend the meeting. Others include President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; President of Ghana, John Mahama; President of Senegal, Macky Sall; President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta; President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame; President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé; Prime Minister of Mali, Moussa Mara and Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, Daniel Duncan.
20. Minister of Finance of South Africa, Pravin Gordhan, and Minister of Health and Social Action, Senegal, Awa Seck are also expected to attend. Other key participants include President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Donald Kaberuka; Executive Vice-President/CEO, International Finance Corporation, IFC, Jin-Yong Cai; Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security, African Union; President, Femmes Africa Solidarité, Switzerland, Bineta Diop, and Undersecretary-General and Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa Carlos Lopes.