1, February 2017
Two bomb attacks hit Nigeria 0
Two bomb attacks have hit separate locations in northern Nigeria in what officials believe were attempts by Boko Haram terrorist group to make up for its recent losses in the face of the Nigerian army. A civilian vigilante in Banki, near the Cameroon border in the northeastern state of Borno, said on Tuesday that an attack earlier in the day nearly rattled a camp of people displaced by Boko Haram violence.
Musa Ahmad, who works with the military against Boko Haram, said the attack was carried out by a 10-year-old girl about noon local time, adding that the minor was killed after she detonated her explosives near the camp for internally-displaced people.”She was asked to stop by soldiers. But she ignored them. They threatened to shoot her if she didn’t stop. She obeyed and she was asked to lift up her hijab,” said Ahmad, adding, “She did and explosives were found to be strapped on her. Suddenly she pulled on the trigger and exploded.”
The vigilante said the death of the girl was the sole casualty of the incident, adding that the attack bore the hallmarks of similar attacks by Boko Haram as the Takfiri group has repeatedly used minors and women to carry out assaults against civilians and security forces.
Ahmad said Boko Haram has been desperately seeking to make up for the losses it has suffered at the hands of the Nigerian army in the recent time. Earlier on Tuesday, at least two people, including the attacker, were killed in another act of terror, where the assailant targeted people performing morning prayers inside a mosque in Dalori, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
Residents and authorities said the blast happened at about 5:30 a.m. and the attacker was trying to enter the mosque but a guard stopped him. “One of the worshippers, who was apparently on guard, grabbed him and the explosives went off, killing both of them. Worshippers were saved,” said a resident.
Nigeria has been at war with Boko Haram since the group started an insurgency in Borno state about eight years ago. Almost 15,000 people have been killed while the violence has displaced more than two million. Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to Daesh, another Takfiri terrorist group, which has been wreaking havoc in the Middle East and North Africa over the past few years.
Presstv
1, February 2017
Anglophone Crisis: Barrister Nico Halle will not seek another mandate as head of the Bar Association of Cameroon 1
There is too much uncertainty about the future of the Bar Association of Cameroon caused by the current Southern Cameroons strike action. We gathered that among the difficult situations facing the Cameroon Bar is the renewal of the mandate of the management team that ended on January 31st, 2017.
Barrister Ntumfor Nico Halle was elected as President of the General Assembly of the Bar Association of Cameroon on the 31st of January 2015 and Barrister Patrick Kleiss Kouanou held the position of Vice President. Cameroon Concord News has been reliably informed that no election is being considered even though the mandate of the management team has come to an end. The Southern Cameroons crisis has reportedly erected a stone wall against the convening of a bar council general assembly.
The Ntumfor Nico Halle has been quoted as saying that “it is impossible to convene a General Assembly of the Order. We must wait for the situation to calm down to organize the work. The Bar of Cameroon is united. You cannot sit down while the other parties have problems. The courts do not operate in these two regions. So it’s impossible to do anything for the Order.”
Asked if the crisis continues beyond February, the much respected Ntumfor Nico Halle pointed out that he will have to evoke “a case of force majeure, and the lawyers will have to decide on the way forward.” A journalist with a sister publication, Cameroon Intelligence Report hinted at the time of filing this report that Barrister Halle Nico will not seek a second term as president of the general assembly.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai