OBJ To Boko Haram: You Can’t Islamise Nigeria

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Friday, told members of the Boko Haram and their sponsors that they were living in a fool’s paradise if they believed that they could win their current war against the Nigerian state. Obasanjo, who was responding to questions on News Day on the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] news programme monitored in Ibadan, particularly declared that they were naive to think that they could turn the into country to an Islamic state. Describing such mission as an unattainable objective, he said they would soon realise that they were engaging in a futile exercise, in spite of claims that Boko Haram had vowed to fight to the finish. “People, who know the history of Nigeria, will know that you cannot impose any religion on Nigeria as a whole. The people Boko Haram cannot impose Sharia in the North, where most of our people are Muslims, let alone in the entire country. “By now, they should know that. So, I see a bit of naivety in that objective that they have given to themselves. It is an unattainable objective and we need to win their heart and mind,” Obasanjo stated. On the declaration that the Boko Haram men had promised to sustain their current hostility against the country until their primary objective was achieved, the former leader subtly dismissed the claim as he saw it as a tall order. He declared, “Well, if you are prepared to kill more people, it is like somebody saying we will fight to the last drop of our blood. Now, one doesn’t know whose blood will be the last to drop. How many people will be killed? How many of them will survive at the end of the day? Boko Haram and those who believe in their cause will soon know that yes, it not a war that they can win.” Nonetheless, Obasanjo listed what he termed internal and external factors that culminated in the birth of Boko Haram. According to him, they included the failure of leadership in the country, inadequate education in the North and the country generally, coupled with inadequate employment opportunities. One major external factor he said gave rise to Boko Haram was the fall of the late Libyan strong man, Muamma Gaddafi following the uprising in the North African country. He said it was no surprise that the world was paying the price now, especially because of the circumstances that surrounded the exit of the Libyan leader from power. He said the killing of the United States ambassador to Libya and three other Americans by a mob protesting an alleged blasphemous video on Islam, could not be devoiced from the Gaddafi saga owing to the current general instability. “When the man fell, those that had been trained in Libya during the time of Gaddafi from other countries, moved out with their weapons.With their training, they started wrecking havoc. The overthrow of Gaddafi has been the result of the killing of US ambassador in Libya; instability, which is the connection. We knew that there is going to be a price to pay because of the way that it all went in Libya. At the end of the day, all of us in Africa and all those who masterminded the way it happened will have to pay the price and we are now paying that price,” the former leader asserted.

Nigeria: Gunmen Kill Two Air Force Officers, Two Others in Kano

Kano — Gunmen on Sunday killed four persons, including two Air Force officers, in two separate attacks in Kano. An eyewitness said on Sunday that the first attack was carried out on an Air Force official vehicle at Na'ibawa in the Kano metropolis around 12:15 p.m. The witness, who preferred anonymity, said that the assailants, who were on a motorcycle, shot and killed the two Air Force officers in their vehicle before fleeing the area. He also said that he learnt that the "the other attack was carried out at Hotoro Walawai area of Kano around 12:30 p.m." He said that he gathered that the two victims of the second attack were standing in front of a house when the gunmen opened fire on them. When contacted, Lt. Ikedichi Iweha, the spokesman of the Joint Task Force (JTF), confirmed the killing of the two Air Force Officers. He said that the incident happened when some gunmen opened fire on the official vehicle of the officers. "Two of the officers were killed in the attack which took place around 12 noon today," he said. Also contacted, Mr Rilwanu Dutse, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Kano State, confirmed the killing of two persons in the HotoroWalalwai neighbouhood of the metropolis. He, however, said that security had been beefed up in the area, as part of efforts to track down the culprits.

Cholera breaks out in Jos as death toll from flood hits 47

Iran says it will destroy U.S. bases within ‘minutes’ if attacked

DUBAI — Iran has threatened to destroy U.S. military bases across the Middle East and target Israel within minutes of being attacked, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, as Revolutionary Guards extended test-firing of ballistic missiles into a third day. Israel has hinted it may attack Iran if diplomacy fails to secure a halt to its disputed nuclear energy program. The United States also has mooted military action as a last-resort option but has frequently nudged the Israelis to give time for intensified economic sanctions to work against Iran. “These bases are all in range of our missiles, and the occupied lands (Israel) are also good targets for us,” Amir Ali Haji Zadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, was quoted by Fars news agency as saying. Related Iran reports launching long-range missiles in a war games exercise, warns Israel Iran warns its Strait of Hormuz ships will soon be armed with missiles Daniel Pipes: What happens when Iran strikes back? Haji Zadeh said 35 U.S. bases were within reach of Iran’s ballistic missiles, the most advanced of which commanders have said could hit targets 2,000 km away. “We have thought of measures to set up bases and deploy missiles to destroy all these bases in the early minutes after an attack,” he added. It was not clear where Haji Zadeh got his figures on U.S. bases in the region. U.S. military facilities in the Middle East are located in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Turkey, and it has around 10 bases further afield in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. SCEPTICISM Defence analysts are often sceptical about what they describe as exaggerated military assertions by Iran and say the country’s military capability would be no match for sophisticated U.S. defence systems. Iranian media reported that this week’s three-day “Great Prophet 7″ tests involved dozens of missiles and domestically-built drones that successfully destroyed simulated air bases. Iran has upped its fiery anti-West rhetoric in response to the launch on Sunday of a total European Union embargo on buying Iranian crude oil – the latest calibrated increase in sanctions aimed at pushing Tehran into curbing nuclear activity. Revolutionary Guards commanders have also threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which more than a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes out of the Gulf, in response to the increasingly harsh sanctions. Major powers have said they would tolerate no obstruction of commercial traffic through the Strait, and the United States maintains a formidable naval presence in the Gulf region. Iran accused the West of disrupting global energy supplies and creating regional instability and says its forces can dominate the vital waterway to provide security. “The policy of the Islamic Republic is based on maintaining security in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz for all ships and oil tankers,” Iranian English-language state Press TV quoted the chairman of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, as saying. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to covertly develop all the components required to produce nuclear weapons, accusations the Iranian officials have repeatedly denied. The world’s No. 5 oil exporter maintains that it is enriching uranium for nuclear fuel only to generate more energy for a rapidly growing population. © Thomson Reuters 2012 Posted in: News, World Tags: Iran

Nigeria Senate seeks government, Boko Haram dialogue( David Mark)

The Senate Tuesday expressed concern at the recent spate of bomb attacks and the general level of insecurity across the Nigeria. It urged the Federal Government to re-open dialogue with Boko Haram, which had claimed responsibility for the terror attacks. President of the Senate, David Mark said the growing insecurity was unacceptable to the parliament and the generality of Nigerians. He said it was in the national interest for the country to experience peace and security particularly if the transformation agenda of government must succeed. In a brief remark on resumption from his medical vacation, Mark said since the members of the dreaded sect were Nigerians, government should explore the dialogue option to the resolution of the crisis. He said the activities of the group was not only a declaration of war on Nigerians but a threat to the unity and corporate existence of the country. Mark admonished the group to eschew violence and seek better ways of expressing whatever grievances they may have with the government. “In spite of all these bombings, we should not despair or be disillusioned. We shall overcome through our collective determination. “This is the time for concerted action by all Nigerian; ethnic group, political affiliation, religious belief notwithstanding. We have a real problem on our hands and we must handle it with the seriousness it deserves and we should never politicise it,” he said. “Divisive statements or finger pointing are not helpful. Attempts to apportion blame for failures at this time of the burgeoning terror threats will not lead to any practical and long lasting solution. The primary responsibility of tackling this challenge lies with the Government but that notwithstanding, we all have roles to play,” he said. Mark also urged security agencies to intensify efforts geared towards improving on their operational capacities and prevent further bomb attacks. He also challenged the standing committees of the Senate to strengthen their oversight responsibilities on government agencies to curb inefficiency and corruption in the system. “In this regard, all Committees must submit their reports before our summer recess and as soon as we resume we shall take the Committee Reports in plenary. May I remind us that in the course of preparing our Committee Reports, we should look at the capital appropriation released for the first two quarters of the year and weigh it against the implementation of the capital projects,” he said.

Nigeria, attack foiled in Kano UNIVERSITY, Boko Haram suspected

(AGI) Abuja - A new murderous attack on the University of Kano, the northern Nigerian city with the country's second highest population, has been foiled. The company in charge of security at the university this morning discovered three bombs, each placed in a different area of the campus. The devices were found in the Law Faculty, the Science Faculty and in a gymnasium. Police told local media that the devices were ready to explode and could have caused major loss of life. On April 29, Kano's Bayero University, one of the most important in the country, was the setting for an attack on the Christian community, whose members were praying in a room dedicated to religious services, in which 19 people (including two university professors) were killed. At the end of January, also in Kano, the Islamic terror group Boko Haram staged their deadliest ever attack. Nigerian police say that 185 people were killed, though independent sources put the figure at at least 250. . .

Dozens killed, injured in Nigeria cattle market attack

Thirty-four people were killed and 30 wounded in an attack on a cattle market in Nigeria's northern Yobe state, a government official briefed on the investigation said Thursday. The attack Wednesday evening appears to have escalated from an initial raid on the market by two suspected robbers, one of them armed, said the official, who did not want to be named for security reasons. The market traders eventually overpowered the man with the gun and beat him severely before burning him with tires, the official said. This appears to have angered allies of the two robbers, who then attacked the market with grenades and sporadic shooting, the official said. He noted that the tactics used were similar to those of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The governor of Yobe is believed to be on his way to the market to see the level of damage, the official said. The official said a member of the Cattle Market Owners' Association had told him he counted 60 bodies Friday morning, most of which have been collected by their relatives for burial. Nigeria has suffered a string of violent attacks, many of them sectarian in nature, in recent months. A suicide attack Monday in northeastern Taraba state killed 11 people and wounded another 26, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross said. The attack appeared to target a police commissioner. And at least eight people were killed, including a suicide bomber, and dozens wounded last Thursday in three bomb blasts in central and northern Nigeria, two of them targeting newspaper offices.