Boko Haram Leader Makes Threats Over Mohammed Video::: "Everybody should wait and see what we will do regarding this,”

The suspected leader of Nigeria's Boko Haram sect, has issued a threat in a YouTube video over a US-made anti-Islam film that has sparked widespread protests in the Muslim world.
"First, insults against the prophet, evil plots against him, making blasphemous movies against him, all these will do no harm to Islam," Abubakar Shekau says in the video which appears to have been posted on Sunday.
"Anybody plotting this will surely pay for it. Everybody knows what this statement entails. Everybody should wait and see what we will do regarding this," he adds in the Hausa language spoken in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.
The video could not be independently authenticated, but it closely resembled previous such clips of Shekau, who has been in hiding since a 2009 crackdown by Nigeria's military on Boko Haram.
Nigeria marked 52 years of independence from Britain on Monday, but Shekau makes no reference to it in the video.


A number of protests over the anti-Islam film have been held in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north organised by a Shiite Muslim group not connected to Boko Haram, with no violent incidents occurring.
The crudely made "Innocence of Muslims" movie, produced by US-based extremist Christians, has however sparked angry and at times violent demonstrations across the globe.
In the nine-minute video, an AK-47 assault rifle leant on the wall next to him, Shekau also threatens Nigerian authorities, says he is prepared to die and denies government assertions that there has been dialogue with his group.
He also claims the purported spokesman for Boko Haram, who goes by the alias Abul Qaqa, is still alive despite claims from Nigeria's military that he was killed by security forces some two weeks ago.
Boko Haram's insurgency in northern and central Nigeria is blamed for more than 1,400 deaths since 2010.
The group has claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.
It is also thought to have a number of factions with varying aims, with Shekau believed to lead its main Islamist wing. Criminal gangs and imitators are believed to also have carried out violence under the guise of the group.
Nigeria's government has claimed to have engaged in back-channel talks with the Islamists in a bid to end the violence. Shekau denied this in the video, while accusing authorities of arresting members' wives and threatening to take revenge.
"We have never sat down with anyone in the name of dialogue … Our people are being killed and humiliated, while on the other hand people are being deceived with the issue of dialogue," he says.
"By God, there is nothing like dialogue. They are only killing us. We will never abandon our faith because of that."
In a message directed at Nigerian secret police officers, he says he will "slit your throat."
"I'm alive, well and hearty. Nothing has happened to me," he says. "I'm even longing for death, you vagabond."
In June, the US State Department labeled Shekau and two other Nigerian extremists "global terrorists."
Washington has however so far declined to label Boko Haram a terrorist organisation, saying the group did not appear homogeneous and that the threat in any case remained domestically focused.
Punch Online.

Suicide Attack in Bauchi Claimed 2 Lives Leaving 48 Wounded

KANO, Nigeria — A suicide bomber who tried to ram an explosives-packed car into a Nigerian church on Sunday killed a woman and an eight-year-old boy, while wounding dozens more, the Red Cross and police said.

The attacker targeted the St. John's Catholic Church in the northern city of Bauchi, where tight security was imposed after a wave of church bombings claimed by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.

Worshippers were being screened outside the building in the city's Wunti area when the bomber approached at roughly 9:00 am (0800 GMT).

"He couldn't reach the church ... because of the barriers," and so rammed his Opel Vectra sedan into the line of people waiting to enter Sunday services, Bauchi state police spokesman Mohammed Hassan said.

"rammed his Opel Vectra sedan into the line of people waiting to enter Sunday services,"


"We have three dead in all, including the bomber, a woman and a child. Forty-eight others were seriously injured in the explosion," said the head of the Red Cross in Bauchi state, Adamu Abubakar.

The woman was killed instantly, while the eight-year-old boy later died at a hospital, according to Hassan.

You might recall that the islamic sect claimed a similar attack on June 3 in Bauchi city in which a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people at a church during Sunday worship.

AFP

Fresh Bomb Blast in Bauchi

Witnesses say an explosion has struck near a Catholic church in north Nigeria, a region under attack by a radical Islamist sect.
An Associated Press journalist heard the explosion after 9 a.m. Sunday in the city of Bauchi. The AP journalist said the blast occurred at St. John's Catholic Church in the city.

Emergency responders declined to immediately say whether there were casualties, though the explosion occurred during an early morning Mass.

A radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has attacked churches throughout Nigeria's north with gunmen and suicide car bombers. The sect is blamed for more than 680 killings this year alone in Nigeria, according to an AP count.

Nigerian military: 2 radical sect leaders killed

KANO, Nigeria (AP) - Soldiers manning a checkpoint in northern Nigeria shot to death two ranking members of a radical Islamist sect responsible for hundreds of killings this year alone, a military official said Monday.
The dead included the spokesman for the sect known as Boko Haram, as well as a commander who operates in Kogi state south of Nigeria's capital, the official said. The killings could prove to be a boon to Nigeria's security forces, which remain largely unable to stop guerrilla attacks and bombings by the sect, which killed another 13 people this weekend alone, authorities said.
The shooting occurred Monday morning in Mariri, a town to the southeast of Kano, the largest city in
Nigeria's Muslim north. There, soldiers stopped a vehicle with the sect spokesman, the commander,
the spokesman's wife and their children, the official said. It is unclear what happened next, though the official said soldiers shot dead both the commander and the spokesman. The wife and children remain in military custody, the official said.

The wife told soldiers the men had accompanied her to Kano where she sought medical help, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the information was not to be made immediately public Monday. Lt. Iweha Ikedichi, a military spokesman in the region, later told journalists that soldiers had only killed one man, the Boko Haram spokesman. However, the official who spoke to The Associated Press had been at the checkpoint and offered further details about the scene.
Government officials may be hesitating as they previously claimed in February to have arrested the sect's spokesman, who uses the nom de guerre Abul Qaqa when speaking to journalists. Only days afterward, a spokesman using the same name told journalists: "We are waxing stronger by the day despite the arrest of some of our top members." The sect also threatened journalists who previously reported on the government's claim without mentioning Boko Haram's denial.
Also on Monday, a Nigerian army soldier and 13 suspected Boko Haram members were killed in the
northeastern city of Maiduguri.

An explosive was thrown at a military vehicle, killing one soldier and injuring three others, said a security source who spoke on condition of anonymity. A shootout then occurred in which the 13 suspected Boko Haram members were killed.
The sect, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has been waging an increasingly bloody fight against the nation's government. More than 680 people have died in drive-by killings and bombings blamed on Boko Haram this year alone, according to a count by The Associated Press. The sect has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country.
The killing of members of the sect's senior leadership comes as the group recently changed some of its tactics and attacked more than 30 mobile phone towers throughout northern Nigeria, disrupting communications in a nation reliant on cellular phones.

Meanwhile, Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the sect who occasionally appears in videos posted to the Internet, remains at large. Security officials and experts believe he and other Boko Haram members are hiding somewhere in the neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad or Niger.
The U.S. in June placed financial sanctions on Shekau and two other high-ranking Boko Haram members, though it remains unclear whether the group has any assets in America or use banks there.
American officials also have said Boko Haram has loose ties with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Somali terrorist organization al-Shabab. The group's attacks also raised ethnic and religious tensions in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people largely split between a Christian south and a Muslim north.
This weekend, killings blamed on Boko Haram continued. In Kano, police said a security agent and three of his family members were shot dead Sunday by sect members. Gunmen attacked a suburb Sunday on the outskirts of Bauchi, killing eight people who were playing poker, state police commissioner Muhammad Ladan said.
Assailants also shot dead a respected moderate Muslim cleric in Maiduguri, the northeastern city that's the
sect's spiritual home, authorities said.
AP

9 Die in a Boko Haram clash with FAKE boko haram impersonators

Thirteen people died yesterday in gun battles in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and Damaturu, the Yobe State capital. The two cities are in the northeast, hotbed of the fundamentalist group Boko Haram .

Men of the sect and the Joint Task Force (JTF)) clashed in Maiduguri after a suicide attack was foiled.

The clash grounded the city as civil servants fled their offices.

A suicide bomber, a passerby and two sect members died.

In Damturu, a clash of two gangs left nine people dead. A source said the sect was going after impostors.

The gangs of gunmen clashed at Nayi-Nawa, one of the trouble spots in the town.

Yobe Police spokesman Toyin Gbadegesin, who confirmed the incident, said the police were alerted by the ward head of the area and the bodies were deposited at the mortuary.

Gbadegesin said the affected persons are within ages 18-25 bracket.

He said the bodies were riddled with gunshot injuries and deep knife cuts, indicating intense fighting.

Gbadegesin said one person had been arrested.

The police were silent on the gangs involved in the clash. A resident, who begged for anonymity, said: “It is a clash of Boko Haram members and some boys percieved to be criminals who are committing atrocities in the town under the cover of Boko Haram.”

Commissioner of Police Patrick Egbuniwe also said a group of gunmen attacked his men in Gwange, but no life was lost.

He described as unfair the statement credited to Yobe State Deputy Governor Abubakar Aliyu that his convoy was shot at by a drunken policeman.

According to the CP, he is still investigating the case, but he wondered where the deputy govenor got his information.

“I really don’t know where he got that information that the policeman was drunk when we are still investigating the matter. As far as I know, we have not concluded investigation on that matter and for the deputy governor to say the policeman was drunk, is very unfortunate.

“The report of the investigation will soon be ready, but I will have to forward it to the Inspector-General,” Egbuniwe said.

The Maiduguri incident affected business. Traders closed their shops at the popular Monday market as early as 11am.

Civil servants immediately returned to their homes.

When our correspondent visited the secretariat at about 1pm, many offices were locked. Only a few workers were seen.

A civil servant who pleaded not to be named said many of us left for our various homes when we heard sporadic gunshots, which sounded so loud that they seemed to be within the premises.

He said they later heard that there was an attempted robbery at the Monday market, which was repelled by the JTF.

Confirming the attacks, JTF spokesman Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa said: “At about 10:00 am today (yesterday), a suicide bomber on a tricycle (KEKE NAPEP) targeted a JTF patrol vehicle and missed it. In the process, he rammed into a moving Mercedes Benz car and detonated an Improvised Explosive Device. The bomber instantly died, one civilian died, two others and a soldier were injured as a result of the explosion.”

He added: “The bodies and the three injured persons were taken to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for treatment.”

Lt.-Col. Musa said one of the incidents was at Customs.

“The Task Force has since cordoned off, swept the affected area and routine activities are going on unhindered.”

The spokesman said in another incident in the town “two suspected members of Boko Haram terrorists who stormed the Monday market with the intention of killing innocent citizens were encountered and killed by troops of the JTF”.

He said in the incident, which occurred at about 11am, two AK 47 rifles and 18 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the assailants.

The JTF in Borno also alerted the public to the planned attacks by the men of the Boko Haram sect during weekend’s Eid-el-Fitril celebration.

The task force, in a statement said: “Intelligence information available to the JTF, Op RESTORE ORDER, indicated planned attacks on military and civilian targets by terrorists during the Sallah.

“People are advised to report any suspicious persons/movement to the Task Force so as to beef up security arrangement already put in place in order to achieve the desired peace and security during and after the period.”

the nation

Wahala: Fulani herdsmen Attack again on Lagos-Ibadan Express way

A commercial motorcyclist, popularly called okada rider was on Monday stabbed in the stomach by two hoodlums suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on the long bridge end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

It was learnt that the victim, Mr. Owolabi Habib, had picked his assailants at Berger, Lagos, who posed as passengers.

The hoodlums had told him they were going to New Kara, Ogun State, located around the long bridge.

A source within Habib’s family said, “As soon as they got near their destination and Owolabi(Habib) slowed down, one of the men pulled out a long knife and stabbed him in the stomach.

“Habib told us that he abandoned his okada and fled to save himself. But the stab was so deep that his intestine came out.”

It was learnt that a motorist later rescued Habib and rushed him to the Lagos State Accident and Trauma Centre at Tollgate.

Findings on Wednesday showed that Habib had been referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

A doctor at the centre, who declined to give his name, said, “The wound he sustained needs intensive care. That is why he was moved to LASUTH.”

The Ogun State Police Command spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, said the incident had not been reported to the police in the state.

He said, “We don’t have that report yet. But we are interested in getting the victim’s account so that we can work together to rid that area of criminal elements. Please if you can get across to him; advise him to report to the nearest police station.”

On July 7, 2012, a retired Brigadier-General, Sylvester Iruh, was killed on the bridge by suspected Fulani herdsmen as he was changing the tyre of his car.

punch.

Bayelsa State adopts its own Flag, Emblem and Anthem

while the government of bayelsa seem to be of the opinion that the move to establish a state emblem, anthem, and a flag would serve as a unifying force for the people of bayelsa, the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NVF) Mujaheed Asari Dokubo-Dokubo on Monday declared  that President Goodluck Jonathan has failed and has called for the dissolution of the President Goodluck Jonathan government to pave way for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference where every ethnic nationality will form a new government.

According to him, Nigerians should prepare for another Civil war for which the Northerners would count serious losses.”

The activist who spoke with Journalists during a meeting with youths of the Niger Delta also defended the declaration of secession by Ogoni people.

He said, “In this issue of Boko Haram, the North will lose. We are just waiting; they will push to an extent where we will tell Goodluck Jonathan that you are on your own. But what will happen will be one that will be unimaginable in the history of the world.

“We will cut them (the Northerners) off from the world. We are capable of doing all, there will be no food and they will pay dearly for their actions.This war, as I am talking is no joke. There will be no Army to prosecute. When the war starts, other ethnic groups  like the Yoruba and Igbo will tell the North ‘you are on your own.’  We are staying that nothing must happen to Goodluck Jonathan because if anything happens to him, the world will know.

“The arrogance of Boko Haram is unislamic. The type of bomb they are using is small small pipkin bomb. If we begin throwing bomb, nobody will stay in Abuja. We don’t manufacture bomb but we buy bombs and dynamites. I started armed struggle in the Niger Delta. It is because of Goodluck Jonathan that we at quiet.

“But very soon, we will not be able to guarantee our patience any more. If Ijaw people should retaliate, every household in the North will cry.

read original story here

House of Reps Stops NYSC from Posting Corp Members to Crisis States

The house of Representatives today called on the NYSC to suspend henceforth the posting of Corp members to volatile states within the Federation following the outcry yesterday at the NYSC headquarters in Abuja.

The house also stated that only corp members who wish to be posted to these crisis prone areas can be posted there based on their own request.

It further requested the NYSC to re-post the current Batch B corp members to other non-volatile states.
Stating it would be unfair to post children to states where indigenes are running away from.

3 FRESH SUICIDE BOMB BLASTS IN KADUNA

Curled from Associated Press Kaduna :

Three suicide bomb attacks on churches sunday left 12 people dead and about 80 wounded, officials said, prompting a protest in a state strained by religious tension.

The first two explosions occurred within minutes targeted at two churches within the city of zaria, while the third blast targeted a church half an hour later in kaduna, said the police chief Mohammed Abubakar Jinjiri.

Although there were casualty recorded Jinjiri stated that the presence of private security stationed at the 3 churches prevented the bombers from running their bomb laden vehicles into the churches filled with worshippers at which case there would have been a far worse number of casualty.

According to the AP report it was also noticed that a mosque was set ablaze in what looked like a retaliatory attack on the muslims, it was also stated that civilians were seen creating illegal road blocks and harassing motorists especially okada riders who are predominantly muslims. One okada rider was seen lying hurt by the road side almost bleeding to death.