The Nigerian troops seem to have abandoned
the ceasefire between the Federal Government
and Boko Haram as they killed 25 insurgents
in Damboa, Borno State on Sunday.
Boko Haram was the first to abandon the
ceasefire when it attacked two communities in
Borno and Adamawa states.
Damboa was for several days in July under the
control of the insurgents who killed some
soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel. They
had also hoisted their flag in the community
which is only about 85 kilometres away from
Maiduguri.
The military however succeeded in chasing them
but on Sunday night, the terrorists staged a
comeback but were overpowered by the “military
during an exchange of gunfire.”
Boko Haram had on Friday, the day the Chief of
Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal, Alex Badeh,
announced the ceasefire, attacked Shafa and
Sina in Borno and Adamawa states.
Just as the attacks were viewed as a breach of
the ceasefire, the insurgents struck again in
Borno State where they captured Abadam village
and beheaded six people on the Biu-Garkida
Road on Sunday.
A military source was however quick to dismiss
the belief that attacks by the insurgents
amounted to a collapse of the ceasefire.
He had said, “One cannot say the peace deal has
been violated; it is the nature of most terrorist
organisations to act that way, and it should be
expected because they have several layers of
operation.’’
But findings on Sunday by The PUNCH had
revealed that the Federal Government might have
entered into the deal with a faction of the group
interested in ending the insurgency in the North-
East.
A Federal Government team is to meet on
Tuesday(today) with representatives of the sect
in Ndjamena to conclude the talks being
brokered by Chadian President Idris Deby.
The military source, who spoke with our
correspondent on the Damboa incident, said
there was no way the troops on the ground
would have watched the militants overrun the
community without confronting them.
“Since we just couldn’t watch them overrun the
town again, we engaged them in crossfire,’’ he
said.
The source, who did not want his name in print
because he was not authorised to speak on the
development, added, “We were able to effectively
repel them. Twenty five of them were killed
during the heavy shoot-out. We also recovered
several arms and ammunition as well as a
Buffalo Armoured Personnel Carrier which they
abandoned in the heat of the confrontation that
lasted some hours.”
He was however silent on the casualty figure.
In Maiduguri, a vigilante member, Abba
Mohammed, told The PUNCH that the
insurgents invaded the already deserted Damboa
at about 5pm on Sunday.
He said, “Some of our members in Damboa
informed us early this (Monday) morning that
the attack was repelled and that more than two
dozen insurgents were killed.
“We were told that the insurgents came from the
direction of Sambisa Forest Reserve and drove in
several pickup vans and vehicles that looked like
APC.
“They engaged the military in a massive shoot-
out for some hours but when about 25 of them
were killed, they had to pull back towards the
direction they came from.”
Despite this, the Borno State chapter of the
Christian Association of Nigeria on Monday said
it welcomed the truce talks between the Federal
Government and Boko Haram.
It said in a communiqué issued at the end of
its three-day fasting and prayer for Christians
that the breach of the ceasefire by the
insurgents should not deter the government
from following it to a logical conclusion.
The state CAN Chairman, Rev. Titus Pona, who
read the statement said since the insurgents had
expressed their desire for peace, government
must take advantage of it by playing along.
He said, “We the Christian faithful in Borno State
commend the Federal Government for agreeing
with the Jama’atul Ahalis Sunna Lida’awati
popularly called the Boko Haram for a ceasefire.
‘‘We are happy with the ceasefire, although we
heard some reports suggesting attacks by some
suspected insurgents lately. We believe it is only
a faction that is not interested in the peace
process.
‘‘We assume that the Chibok girls and other
people in their captivity are alive and well.
“We pray that the offer for ceasefire will be stuck
to and come to reality in order to have the
abducted ones released and for an end to the
insurgency ravaging Borno, Yobe and Adamawa
states and other parts of the country.’’
Monday, 20 October 2014
Cease Fire Collapses As Army Fights Back
Man Abandons Children In Boarding School For Eight Years
Three children abandoned in a boarding school in
Abule-Iroko in the Ado-Odo Ota Local
Government Area of Ogun State are longing to
meet their parents who have abandoned them for
eight years.
When PUNCH Metro visited Solid Model College,
the children recounted their ordeal, noting that
the absence of their parents was affecting their
studies.
Seun Adepegba, 14,Seyi, 10 and Titilola, 13, had
been severed from parental love and care since
infanthood. After waiting for eight years, they
seemed to have relinquished all hopes of
reuniting with their parents.
It was learnt that their tale of sorrow began in
2007 when their father, Mr Segun Adepegba, who
had been separated from their mother, enrolled
them in the boarding school because he could
not afford to take care of them.
According to the proprietor of the school, Mr
Samuel Ayegbusi, Adepegba came to enroll them
in his school on September 24, 2007 with a
promise to always check on them.
He said, “Mr. Adepegba told me his wife had just
left him and that he could not afford to take care
of them, being a jobless man. The children were
very little. Seyi was two, while Titilola was five.
“Mr Adepegba had pleaded with me to accept
them in the boarding school. Mr Adepegba’s
sister promised to bear the cost of their upkeep.
They paid an initial N150, 000 for the three
children for the first term.”
But according to the proprietor, Adepegba never
kept his promise. He said after the first term, the
school expected him to come and take his
children home for holiday but he never showed
up until four years later. He said the school had
expended over N7m on the upkeep of the
children since 2007.
The proprietor said efforts to reach the parents’
families had proved abortive, adding that calls to
Adepegba’s phones were not always answered.
He said, “Whenever we called him and he
realised who was talking on the phone, he would
switch off his phones and for the next two
weeks, the numbers would not be available.
When the school contacted their father’s sisters,
we were told that they had travelled out of the
country.
“When we called one of them, we were told that
they had sent money to Mr Adepegba to defray
the children’s school fees and upkeep. But Mr.
Adepegba has never come here to make any
payment since the initial deposit he made in
2007.”
According to the proprietor, taking care of the
children had further become cumbersome for him
as one of them, Titilayo, had started
misbehaving. He recounted how Titilayo ran
away from the hostel twice without informing the
school authority on the excuse that she was
going to look for her father.
Ever since she was found, the proprietor said the
school had had to keep her in a room, under
tight surveillance, because she had vowed to run
away to find her father.
He said, “The school is not even bothered by the
cost of their upkeep. But anytime the school
closed for holiday and parents come around to
take their children home, Titilayo would fall into
a sober mood and twice, she had run away from
the hostel without informing anyone. It was a
resident who stopped her and brought her back
to the school.
Some of the teachers, who spoke with PUNCH
Metro during the visit, said the absence of the
children’s parents was seriously affecting their
studies. They said the appearance of their
parents would boost their academic
performance.
While recounting their days with their father, the
children said he celebrated birthdays with them.
They said they had never met their mother.
Titilayo said, “We do not know who our mother
is. We grew up in Yaba, Lagos and all we
remember is that there was a woman that
washed our clothes and took care of us until we
came here. We knew she was not our mother.”
Seyi, the youngest of the trio, however, was an
exception as she kept a cheerful look during the
visit. Seyi, who told our correspondent her
dream was to become a medical doctor said,
“Although I have a faint memory of my father, I
will like to see him. If he comes today, I will ask
him why he left us for so long.”
Seun added, “I don’t care how long he has left
us. I just want to see him. I really need to see
him.” When PUNCH Metro called Adepegba on
Thursday, his phones were switched off.
US Says The Talk To Free Chibok Girls Ongoing
Washington - A US official on Monday confirmed
that a ceasefire deal appeared to have been
reached between Nigeria and Boko Haram
militants, but said talks to release some 200
kidnapped girls were ongoing.
Doubts have been raised since members of the
Nigerian government said on Friday that they had
secured a deal with Boko Haram to free the girls
captured in April and to end hostilities.
In the aftermath of Friday's declaration by
Nigeria's military and presidency, however,
reports of attacks continue to emerge, casting
further doubts on the credibility of the ceasefire
claim.
And a group of Nigerian elders has said only one
faction of Boko Haram had been involved in the
deal.
"We can confirm reports that a ceasefire has been
announced, [and] appears to have been put into
place," State Department deputy spokesperson
Marie Harf said.
"We would welcome that ceasefire, call on all
parties both to implement and maintain such a
ceasefire, and hope that such a ceasefire would
herald the return of peace to the northeast.
"This is a region that has had far too little of
that."
But she said it was Washington's "understanding
that the negotiations about a deal to release the
girls continue."
With 80 US military personnel sent to
neighbouring Chad for intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance, the United States is the
biggest foreign participant in the effort against
the Islamic militants, Boko Haram, who have
terrorised parts of northern Nigeria.
Washington has also deployed surveillance
drones, spy planes and about 30 civilian and
military specialists to support Nigeria's security
forces.
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Friday, 10 October 2014
Riot at Kirikiri Prisons, Inmates Feared Dead
A number of inmates have been killed after
soldiers stationed at the Kirikiri Medium Prison,
Lagos were called in to quell a riot which broke
among inmates of the prison on Friday, an
eyewitness has told Saturday PUNCH.
Saturday PUNCH learnt from a source who
pleaded anonymity that a protest against the
seizure of a ceiling fan belonging to an inmate
degenerated into the riot which might have
claimed the lives of a number of the prisoners.
Our source, who witnessed the incident, said the
shooting started around 1.30pm.
He said, “Someone brought in a ceiling fan for an
inmate referred to as the ‘general-overseer’ of
the prison’s Christian denomination. But the fan
was seized by the officer in-charge of the
prisons, who also allegedly ordered the inmate
detained.
“The inmate said he was the owner of the ceiling
fan and only sent it out of the prison for
repairs.”
According to this source, the inmate was later
released after protests by his colleagues who felt
he was being unjustly punished. But the situation
was said to have degenerated beyond control,
necessitating the intervention of soldiers at the
prisons.
“By the time the inmate was released, the other
prisoners had started throwing stones at
windows and getting violent. The soldiers shot
sporadically at the inmates as they ran into their
cells, but many of them were hit,” our source
said.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no
confirmation on the actual number of prisoners
killed but our source claimed to have seen the
dead bodies of a number of inmates and some
injured prisoners with bullet wounds being
transported to the hospital within the prison.
But the spokesperson for the Nigerian Prisons
Service, Mr. Ope Fatinikun, told our
correspondent on the phone that there was
indeed a riot at the prison, which he claimed
was not violent.
He said, “No inmate was shot at, but 12 of them
who sustained minor injuries have been given
treatment.
“If anybody tells you he saw dead bodies of shot
inmates, he should provide pictures. We have
passed that stage something like that could not
have happened without someone getting a
picture.”
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Eleven States Resume Today After Forced Ebola Holidays
Schools in at least 11 states of the country are
set to resume a new academic session today
(Wednesday) after a forced holiday occasioned
by the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.
The states which had earlier shunned the
September 22 resumption date announced by the
Federal Government, picked October 8, as a more
realistic resumption date to enable them to put
in place the logistics required to prevent the
spread of the Ebola Virus Disease and also
observe the Eid-el-Kabir holiday.
Some of the states commencing academic
activities today include Rivers, Benue, Lagos,
Ekiti and Oyo.
Others are Kano, Kogi, Akwa -Ibom, Ebonyi, Ogun
and Kwara states.
However, some states such as Niger, Zamfara
and Adamawa, will resume on October 13.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent
on Tuesday, the National President, Nigerian
Union of Teachers, Mr. Michael Alogba, said the
resumption was not nationwide as schools in
some states had earlier resumed classes, having
received the preventive equipment from the
government.
The NUT had ordered its members to stay at
home until the materials, such as digital non-
contact thermometers, soaps, sanitisers and
basins were provided.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a comprehensive list right
now. But I know Lagos and Ogun states are
resuming tomorrow. Our directive was that state
wings of NUT should monitor the degree of
compliance with the provision of safety measures
and formally notify us. But the resumption
tomorrow (Wednesday) is not nationwide. Some
have resumed earlier. Many of them have
reported total compliance to us and they include
Lagos, Ogun, Rivers and Ebonyi states,” he said.
Asked what lessons were learnt with the Ebola
Virus Disease scare, Alogba said that the disease
had revealed the underbelly of the education
sector.
“It has exposed the deplorable state of hygiene
in our schools. Ordinarily, we don’t need to cry
to the high heavens before we could have water
in our schools. But the EVD has exposed our
shortcomings. Let everybody begins to do what
is right. Government should know that it is
accountable to the people,’’ he added.
However, the fate of pupils attending Federal
Government colleges still hangs in the balance.
Alogba, who admitted issues in the unity schools
said, “The problems in the Federal Government
colleges are multi-dimensional. Aside from the
Ebola-imposed holiday, there are other issues
with the members of staff. As long as those
problems persist, the Federal Government
colleges will continue to remain under lock and
key.’’
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of
Nigeria had last month ordered its members to
go on strike over the inability of the Federal
Government to pay their promotion arrears from
2007 to 2010.
In a statement, the ASCSN Secretary-General,
Mr. Alade Lawal, said, “By this decision, the 104
Federal Unity Colleges will not re-open for the
next academic session scheduled to begin on
September 22. Records available to us indicate
that the Federal Ministry of Education had
collected the money meant for the settlement of
these arrears from the Federal Ministry of
Finance,’’ he said.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Di Maria Voted United’s Player Of The Month
Angel Di Maria has rounded off an impressive September with a Player of the Month award at Manchester United.