Friday, November 23, 2012

Stop at JTF check-points or risk being shot – COAS


The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika yesterday warned Nigerians to desist from violating military check-points.

The COAS gave the warning at the Force Headquarters, Loius Edet House, when he paid a courtesy call on the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar.

Answering questions on the allegation of killing of innocent Nigerians by the Joint Task Force, Ihejirika said it was unfounded.

He narrated an incident that happened in Damaturu, Yobe State where a Jeep ran through an Army check-point and the soldiers hesitated to shoot and decided to block the vehicle, only for its driver to  detonate a bomb that killed six soldiers.

He said Nigerians should learn how to obey the check-points, especially those set up by the Army.  

The COAS said, “Let me give you an example, a very bad one. Sometime recently, a brand new jeep, somewhere in Damaturu, beat a military check-point and the soldiers were at a loss whether to fire, but they took the decision to get the man arrested instead.

One Hilux blocked the man in front and another one at the back. The man detonated a bomb which killed over six soldiers on the spot. This is why the press corps is very important in this fight.

“I will advise anyone who is stopped at any check point where they are conducting stop-and-search to obey. Those who harbor terrorists in their houses to desist because they are endangering their lives; if a terrorist fires from your house, the security agencies will fire back. This is simple logic and there is nothing anybody can do about it. Hence, in operations like this, occasionally you have collateral damage”.

Explaining the Amnesty report accusing the Joint Task Force of killing innocent Nigerians, Ihejirika said,  “No well meaning citizen of any nation, not just Nigeria, should or would tolerate any harm on innocent citizens. The military, the Army in particular, our primary job is to protect citizens and this is what is inculcated in the head of every Army Officer right from the recruiting stage.

“Let me also emphasize that we go at length to ensure protection of innocent citizens through lecture and trainings and also in collaboration with the International Red Cross Society. If you go to any of our training schools, you will confirm that this is true.

“We had rebutted the allegation through various press releases issued by the Joint Task Force headquarters in Maiduguri and later a joint press release by the Public Relations Department of both the Defence headquarters and Army headquarters.

“What we do as soon as we receive such complaints or such allegations is to quickly carry out investigation. This very recent case came just after some allegations by Amnesty International, in which they were making references to video which some of you must have come across.

“On careful examination of those video clips, we discovered that the same video clip were shown sometime in 2009. In the video clip, you would have seen one man in a ‘babariga’ dress, a civilian, and other civilians there directing those in uniform on what to do.

“It was also discovered that the picture taken from that same clip, was used by Amnesty International several weeks earlier as the cover page of their report. But the latest clip was shown by Reuters and when we discovered it, we raised our objections and asked for apology and they quickly removed the clip from their web site.

“But, I am aware also that the Defence headquarters Public Relations Department has asked for apology”.

Further he said, “At the conclusion of the Presidential Elections of 2007, you are aware that there were some crises in certain parts of the country. We also received an allegation by one lawyer that innocent Nigerians were being manhandled by the military and the man supported it with some pictures.

“On examination of that particular picture attached, we found out that the uniform worn by those people purported to be members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, were uniform being worn in some French-speaking countries. We made the analysis and we wrote back to the lawyer to point out certain things. Of course, he did not even write back.

“One thing I want to say is that the use of GSM, Internet has made communication easy.

So, any member of the public, whether press or any well meaning citizen who comes across a situation where an innocent citizen is being manhandled by soldiers or any security agency for that matter; it is as simple as making use of your phone or making a formal report and there will be immediate intervention.

“But, this is not to say there were not occasional over-reaction by some people; it could happen in any long-extended operation. What I want to tell you is that we have had occasions where we arrested the soldier in question, tried him and dismissed him and we go all out all the time to improve their attitude towards civilians generally through training. It is to ensure good management of crises that the Army headquarters established the Department of Civil Military Affairs headed by a Major-General.

“So, we do conduct seminars, sponsored by this department to improve relationships and encourage the citizens to always get in touch with us to tell us when we do not do things as you wish.

“Most of the allegations we have seen are malicious and are meant to detract the security agencies from the serious task of ridding the nation of terrorism. And we have discovered that these allegations always come at a time the security agencies are making tremendous progress.

“When we do operations and arrest a lot of these people and recover their weapons, the following week, someone will come to the air with some allegations to dampen the morale of our men and to discourage action.

“We have recovered several forms of ammunition; we have recovered money hidden in engine compartment of vehicles by terrorsts; we have recovered vehicles prepared for bombing attacks repainted.

“So, I want to tell you that the Military and the Police you have here are very professional and this could be attested to by the operations we conduct even outside this country.

Gone are the days when we take actions without calculating the consequences. Certain terrorists have been allowed to escape just because the collateral damage was considered unacceptable”.

The IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, while speaking, said the partnership of the Police and the Army would continue to be strengthened.

Military adopts three-strategy approach
Meanwhile, the Commandant of Defence Intelligence School (DIS), Commodore Toyin Olawunmi, said yesterday in Abuja that security agencies had adopted a three-strategy approach to fight terrorism in the country, to achieve positive results.

Olawunmi listed the three-strategy approach as “tactical, operational and strategic.”
The commandant stated this at the passing-out parade ceremony of 357 personnel of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) trained by the school.

The school is a training arm of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

According to him, the Chief of Intelligence, Brig.-Gen Sani Audu has mandated the school to key into the efforts to tackle terrorism.

“The efforts to fight terrorism in Nigeria have been divided into three phases, the tactical aspect, the operational aspect, and the strategic aspect.

“This is one of the mandates given to us by the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Sani Audu, to tap into the efforts to fight terrorism in Nigeria.

“The long term is what we have been saddled with, that is the strategic level, to try to mitigate the challenge of terrorism in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Olawunmi said the mandate informed the collaboration between the school and Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as anti-graft bodies.

He said the training of personnel of the ICPC who were saddled with tackling corruption, was imperative as terrorists  depended on finance to carry out their activities.

“This is the area we try to key in and train the ICPC personnel holistically to be able to join in the efforts to fight against terrorism in Nigeria,’’ he said.

The Chairman of ICPC, Mr Ekpo Nta, told newsmen shortly after the exercise that the training was necessary to inculcate discipline into the personnel to enable them face the challenges of their job.

Nta, who was represented by an official of the commission, Mr Bako Abdullahi, also said that it would enable them to investigate corrupt cases in the best manner.

The six-week training was organised by DIS for ICPC staff at the training school of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abuja.

Mr Suleiman Bello, the provost of the NSCDC training school, said the trainees had received the best military training with the facilities provided by the school.

Britain bans Nigerian Islamist group
Britain yesterday banned a Nigeria-based Islamist group it said was aligned with al Qaeda as a minister said the outlawed organisation was probably responsible for the killing of a Briton and an Italian.

Britain's interior ministry described the group, described as 'Ansaru', as "a Nigeria-based terrorist organisation motivated by an anti-Nigerian government and anti-Western agenda".

The two men Britain believes the group murdered were Chris McManus, a Briton, and Franco Lamolinara, an Italian.

They were kidnapped in May last year near Nigeria's northwestern borders with Niger and Benin and their captors killed them during a British-Nigerian rescue mission in March this year.

"An order has been approved today by parliament which will proscribe Ansaru from midnight on Thursday evening, making membership of, and support for, the organisation a criminal offence," the interior ministry said in a statement.

It declined to say whether the group was connected to the deaths of McManus and Lamolinara.

However, Mark Harper, a minister of state for immigration, told parliament the group was probably responsible.

"It is believed to be responsible for the murders of British national, Christopher McManus, and his Italian co-worker Franco Lamolinara, in March 2012," he said.

At the time of their deaths, an official at Nigeria's State Security Service said the captors belonged to a faction of Islamist sect Boko Haram, which has targeted Nigerian security and government officials as well as churches and mosques.

A purported spokesman for the group denied any part in the kidnappings at the time.
Ansaru's full name is Jama'atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan, which translates as "Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa".

Riot over 'blasphemy' against Islam's prophet
A rumour that a Christian man blasphemed against Islam has sparked a riot in the northern Nigeria town of Bichi, police have said.

Residents said four people were killed and shops were looted.

The riot came on the day the incoming head of the Anglican Church, the Rt Rev Justin Welby, launched an initiative to promote religious tolerance in Nigeria.

Religious clashes have claimed thousands of lives in Nigeria since military rule ended in 1999.

The militant Islamist group, Boko Haram, has also been waging an insurgency since 2009 to impose strict Sharia across Nigeria, which is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and a Christian and animist south.

'Learning about religions'
Nigeria's Kano state police chief Ibrahim Idris said "misinformation" had triggered the riot, AFP news agency reports.

"Rumours went round that someone blasphemed the Prophet [Muhammad] and there was a breakdown of law and order," he is quoted as saying.

The BBC's Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai in Kano, the main city in northern Nigeria, says that a heavy contingent of soldiers and policemen have been deployed to Bichi to restore order.
It is a small town about 30km (18 miles) from Kano.

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