Monday, April 14, 2014

Blasts At Bus Station Near Nigeria Capital Kill Dozens
Bomb blast in Abuja, Nigeria which killed dozens on April 14, 2014.
By AFP Published: April 14, 2014

ABUJA: Twin blasts at a bus station packed with morning commuters on the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital killed dozens of people on Monday, in what appeared to be the latest attack by Boko Haram militants.

The explosions rocked the Nyanya station roughly five kilometres south of Abuja at 6:45am and destroyed some 30 vehicles, mostly large passenger buses, officials and an AFP reporter said.

The head of search and rescue operations at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Charles Otegbade, said one of the blasts “emanated from a vehicle” within the station but the precise nature of the explosion was not immediately clear.

No group has yet claimed the apparent attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on Boko Haram, an insurgent group blamed for killing thousands across northern and central Nigeria since 2009.

The militants have attacked Nigeria’s capital in the past, most prominently in a 2011 car bombing at the UN headquarters in the city that killed at least 26 people.

“Dozens of people were killed in the bomb blasts in Nyanya bus park this morning,” NEMA spokeperson Manzo Ezekiel told AFP, adding that witnesses reported hearing two separate explosions.

The explosions left a hole roughly four feet (1.2 metres) deep and scattered personal items as well as human flesh across the compound, an AFP reporter and witnesses said.

“I saw bodies taken away in open trucks,” said witness Yakubu Mohammed. “It is difficult to count them because the bodies were burnt and in pieces.”

A second witness, Suleiman Aminu, said he believed the initial blast came from a minibus parked near larger commuter vehicles, and that commuters who had queued up to board were the likely target.

Nyanya is a densely populated suburb of Abuja, filled with government and civil society workers who cannot afford the city’s exorbitant rents.

Boko Haram violence has cost more than 1,500 lives already this year, but most of the unrest has affected villages in the remote northeast.

The military in May of last year launched a massive offensive to crush the Islamist uprising and has described Boko Haram as being in disarray and on the defensive.

A major attack in the capital, just a few kilometres from the seat of government, will likely cast further doubt on the success of that campaign.

Bus parks have been among Boko Haram’s most favoured targets, including multiple, coordinated bombings at a terminal in the northern city of Kano last year that killed more than 40 people.

Rebels based in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region have also claimed attacks in the capital, notably a car bombing on independence day in 2010.

But most analysts describe that group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), as being largely defunct.

The explosion on Monday “affected quite a number of people because it was still early in the morning and there was a lot of traffic,” Otegbade told reporters at the scene.

The private Channels television news network showed images of thick black smoke billowing out from the station.

President Goodluck Jonathan was reportedly on his way to the scene to assess the damage.

Jonathan, expected to face a tough re-election battle next February, has faced mounting criticism of the continuing Boko Haram violence.

An escalation of violence in or near Abuja would pile further pressure on the embattled president.

Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has in recent video messages vowed to widen his insurgency outside the group’s northeastern stronghold.


Nigeria: Bloody Weekend in Borno: 60 killed in Fresh Boko Haram Attacks

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI AND NDAHI MARAMA
WITH AGENCY REPORTS, 14 APRIL 2014

Barely 48 hours after suspected Boko Haram terrorists massacred more than 200 persons including students who were writing their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, in Borno, the insurgents, yesterday, continued their killing spree as they killed no fewer than 60 persons in Ngoshe and Kaigamari villages of Borno close to the border with Cameroon.

The terrorists also set ablaze many houses, shops, telecommunication masts and other property worth millions of naira. This came as the troops deployed to the North Central zone of the country to checkmate herdsmen/ farmers’ clashes as well as cattle rustling that has claimed hundreds of lives have recovered a cache of arms from militia men in Kaduna and Plateau states.

Speaking with AFP in Maiduguri, the state capital, the chairman of Bama Local Government Area, Mallam Baba Shehu Gulumba, said: “The attackers, who were no doubt Boko Haram insurgents, attacked Amchaka and nearby villages this morning, hurling IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) into homes and setting them on fire. They then went on a shooting spree, opening fire on confused residents as they tried to flee, killing 60 people and injuring several others”.

An eye witness who escaped the attack in Ngoshe, Mallam Usman Jidda told Vanguard that the gunmen who were sighted some few days back in between the mountainous areas of Ngoshe and Limankara villages carried out the attack without any challenge from the security operatives in the area.

“I thank God for sparing my life and members of my family as we were able to escape the deadly attack. We are now settling with one of my relatives in Gwoza council area. I can confirm to you that more than 30 people were killed by the insurgents in Ngoshe, apart from the destruction of property worth millions of naira”, Jidda stated.

The attack in Kaigamari village of Konduga near the state capital according to sources have forced surviving residents to flee the area to Maiduguri on Sunday for safety.

All effort to reach the Divisional Police Officers of Gwoza and Konduga to confirm the separate incidents proved abortive as there was no GSM network service in the two council areas.

The insurgents had on Friday laid ambush for the students who were on their way to Biu from Maiduguri in eight vehicles to write their exams.

The senator representing Borno Central, Zannah Ahmed told newsmen that at least 210 people were killed in attacks that lasted from Thursday till Friday morning. He said the attackers stormed the communities in two armoured personnel cars and seven double cabin pick ups and descended on a Teachers’ College in Dikwa, killing seven people before burning down the school library and administrative block. This account has, however been refuted by some authorities in Borno, who claimed that no student was killed in the attacks.

Military recover arms in Kaduna, Plateau

Aside the arms recovered in Kaduna and Plateau states, a huge number of stolen cows and sheep believed to have been rustled were also recovered from the armed gangs.

The arms included six rifles, 25 dane guns, four revolvers and 10 locally fabricated pistols while over 90 cows and 45 sheep that were rustled were also recovered. Another 50 cows have also been recovered from rustlers who attacked herdsmen in another location.

Making the disclosure in a statement, Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said: “The military assault on camps of armed militia men in Kaduna and Plateau states has led to the recovery of arms and some stolen livestock.

“The operations in Dahia Luka, Makera and some communities in Plateau and Kaduna states, resulted in the arrest of three wounded armed men after the encounter in which some of them died.

“Over 90 cows and 45 sheep believed to have been rustled were also recovered in addition to weapons. Another 50 cows have also been recovered from rustlers who attacked herdsmen in another location.

“The recovered cows have been handed over to the traditional rulers in the area while the arrested armed men are still being interrogated. The herdsmen who were wounded by the rustlers are also being treated.

“Meanwhile, traditional rulers in the areas have been cautioned against shielding or harbouring armed gangs in the precinct of their domain in view of the security implications to their communities and the nation at large.

“Armed gangs have been engaging troops in gun battle as the forests are being combed for remnant of criminal elements that have been wreaking havoc in various communities of the North Central”.
“Cordon and search of identified locations have also continued.

“In the process, various rifle parts as well as empty ammunition boxes were recovered in Shendam, Yelwa and the house of a suspected arms dealer at the border between Plateau and Taraba States.

“The arrested suspects are among those being interrogated by the Special Task Force.

“Also, one of the militiamen arrested in the outskirts of Jos is already helping with information on his links with terrorists operating in other parts of the country.

“In the meantime, the counter terrorists’ campaign in the North East has continued amidst series of encounters as identified make-shift camps of the terrorists are being dislodged in the ongoing air and land raids in forest and mountain locations.

“The presence of famished and unarmed members of the terrorists groups wandering around has been noted in some villages.

“Armed terrorists have however continued to carry out snap attacks on travellers on highways especially between Maiduguri- Damboa as well as Gwoza-Bama highways while others make occasional attacks on surrounding villages, looting especially food items.”

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