News

10, June 2016

Biafra: Amnesty International says Nigerian army killed 17 unarmed separatists ⁰

Amnesty International said on Friday that Nigeria’s army last month killed at least 17 unarmed members of a group calling for secession from Africa’s most populous nation, but the military dismissed the allegations as unfounded.An army spokesman said Amnesty’s accusations, the latest in a series of allegations of impropriety levelled against Nigeria’s military in the last year, revealed a bias that undermined its credibility. Amnesty’s report — which it said was based on details from eyewitnesses, morgues and hospitals — says soldiers opened fire on members of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) and their supporters in the southeastern city of Onitsha during the build up to a march in late May.

The human rights group said the killings took place during a security operation in the early hours of the morning shortly before the march when the military raided homes and a church where IPOB members slept. The army issued a statement in which it said troops had to “resort to self defence” after IPOB members attacked security agencies with “firearms” and various weapons including dynamite. It said five members of IPOB were killed, eight wounded while nine were arrested. “These efforts were in order to de-escalate the palpable tension as well as ward off the apparent threats to lives and property in the general area,” it said.

Secessionist feeling has simmered in the southeast since the Biafra separatist rebellion tipped Nigeria into a 1967-70 civil war that killed an estimated 1 million people. It flared up again last year after IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and detained on charges of criminal conspiracy and belonging to an illegal society. He remains in detention.
Amnesty said its investigation showed at least 17 people were killed and nearly 50 injured, adding that “the real number is likely to be higher”. “Information gathered by Amnesty International indicates that the deaths of supporters and members of IPOB was the consequence of excessive, and unnecessary use of force,” said Amnesty, which urged the government to investigate.

The contents of the report were rejected by army spokesman Sani Usman. “The allegations are unfounded,” he said.
The report is the latest in a series of accusations levelled at the army by Amnesty. Last year, Amnesty said more than 8,000 people died in detention during a crackdown on Boko Haram and that soldiers killed hundreds of Shi’ite Muslims in the northern city of Zaria in December. “Amnesty is losing credibility,” added Usman, who accused the group of being biased against the army.

Reuters

10, June 2016

Chad sends 2000 troops to Niger ⁰

Chad has sent some 2,000 troops to neighboring Niger to help the fight against Boko Haram following last week’s terrorist attacks by the Takfiri militants in the Nigerien town of Bosso. The “heavily armed” soldiers will “search everywhere for Boko Haram,” a military source said Wednesday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that some 50,000 people have fled the town of Bosso in Niger’s troubled Diffa region near the Nigerian border following deadly attacks by Boko Haram terrorists.

Boko Haram militants first took the town of Bosso on Friday in an attack, during which 26 soldiers, including two from Nigeria, were killed. A total of 55 militants from the Nigeria-based militant group were also killed during the fierce fighting. The terrorists reportedly torched military barracks, police facilities and looted shops during the terror campaign in the town. The ambush and looting came as Niger’s army was preparing to attack Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Nigerien troops later retook Bosso on Saturday, but the militants once again took over the town on Sunday night.

The mayor of Bosso, Mamadou Bako, and a military source confirmed the takeover on Monday, but the Nigerien government denied it. Regional countries have created a joint military force that plays a key role in helping Nigeria fight the terrorist group. Back in February, the four littoral nations of Lake Chad launched a military campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram militants in the region.

The Boko Haram terrorist group, which has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri militant group, has killed thousands of people, mostly civilians, since it launched its terrorist activities in Nigeria in 2009. The Takfiri militant group has intensified its campaign of terror since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in the African country in May 2015.

Presstv

9, June 2016

CPDM mayor of Balikumbat sentenced to 8 years in prison ⁰

Mayor Wasum Augustine of Balikumbat has been sentenced to eight years in prison for kidnapping, rape and other undisclosed related charges by the Court of First Instance in Ndop. Ever since he won a second mandate as mayor, Wasum Augustine has been at war with the CPDM Section President, Senator Dinga Ignatius. Cameroon Intelligence Report learnt that his first tenure was marred by mismanagement and misappropriation.

Augustine Wasum’s first arrest was on September 3, 2012. He was among the eight mayors arrested in the Northwest Region on charges of embezzlement of state funds. The other mayors of councils that were arrested included; Stephen Tikanjo of Babessi (SDF) and Daniel Ntoh of Ndop Central (CPDM) Lawrence Tenoh of Batibo, Johnny Agogho of Andek, George Tah of Mbengwi, Godwill Amahndong (1st Deputy) Mayor of Njinkwa and Godlove Awanakam, former Mayor of Andek.

By Cham Victor

9, June 2016

“IBB is alive and active” ⁰

The rumors that former Nigerian Head of State,Ibrahim Babangida is dead has gone viral across Nigeria. Babangida in an interview granted recently, debunked the rumors, promising to return to Nigeria soon. The former military dictator who institutionalized corruption was speaking from Germany, where he is receiving treatment and observed that he is alive.

IBB broke the silence on a live broadcast on June 8 saying he is hail and hearty and not dead as being alleged. He told Babajide Otitoju of the TVC that he would soon return to Nigeria and that he enjoyed viewing the station and praised them for a job well done.

9, June 2016

Another tornado strikes Garoua, 43rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion post destroyed!! ⁰

Another tornado has struck the North region of Cameroon affecting the chief city of Garoua. It all started when a violent storm rocked the District of Mayo-Oulo claimed lives and caused serious damage to property. Cameroon government sources have been releasing contradictory tally on the death toll. It was announced immediately after the tornado that three persons were killed.

However, local newspaper reports in the North say 6 people lost their lives following the incident with several others seriously injured including a pregnant woman struggling with a broken right leg. In addition to human casualties, the command post of the 43^rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion based in Mayo- Oulo, has been completely destroyed. Cameroon Intelligence Report can now reveal that there are at least fifty destroyed private homes in Mayo-Oulo district.

CIR

9, June 2016

Cameroon host scantily attended forum on terrorism ⁰

Legal experts and few stakeholders in the legal system have begun reflecting on the implications of legal frameworks in the fight against terrorism. The three-day conference which started on the 8th of June 2016 is being chaired by Abane Ongolo on behalf of the Minister of Higher Education.

During the opening session, the Director of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC), Pierre Emmanuel Tabi emphasized the need to re-examine laws governing the war on terrorism in order to make them more efficient.

The legal experts have made it public that they want to efficiently accompany those fighting terrorism. They shall henceforth exchange notes so as to pick out some of the limitations encountered as Cameroon continues to wage the war against Boko Haram terrorism. The forum was reportedly a waste of tax payers money

CRTV/CIR

8, June 2016

Congo Kinshasa: Rebels kidnap 100 civilians ⁰

Suspected Ugandan rebels have kidnapped about 100 people during an attack in the troubled northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN says. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Amouzou Codjo, spokesman for the UN Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), told a press briefing on Wednesday that members of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted the civilians during an assault on two villages during the attack in Bas-Uele province on June 4.

He said rebels also went on a looting spree across the volatile region. “These attackers also kidnapped nearly a hundred people to carry the loot,” Codjo told a press conference in the capital, Kinshasa. The spokesman also strongly denounced the regular atrocities committed by the ruthless LRA against civilians in the northeast of the African country.

Formed in 1986, the LRA is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts that has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and displaced another two million.

Presstv

8, June 2016

Darak: 40 fishermen kidnapped by Boko Haram ⁰

Forty people mostly fishermen from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon were kidnapped late on Tuesday in the town of Darak bordering Nigeria. Cameroon military sources say heavily armed men described by some locals as Boko Haram militants attacked the village of Darak and took along with them the forty men.

Cameroon Intelligence Report was reliably informed that 10 other fishermen were killed during the Boko Haram raids. Our informant also revealed that Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the Organization of Islamic State and is now called Islamic State in West Africa.

Militarily weakened by the strikes of the coalition, the Nigerian Islamic sect has changed tactics. It now proceeds through suicide bombings or raids to sow death among the population.

CIR

8, June 2016

Defense Chiefs of Iran, Russia and Syria to meet in Tehran ⁰

Defense ministers from Iran, Russia and Syria are scheduled to meet in Tehran on Thurday to discuss the campaign against terrorism as well the recent developments in the Middle East. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and his Syrian counterpart Fahd Jassem al-Freij will participate in the meeting on the official invitation of their Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehqan.

The defense ministers are to exchange viewpoints on the latest regional developments and ways to strengthen and extend the fight against terrorism during the trilateral meeting, the IRNA news agency reported. In a speech to the newly-elected parliament in Syria on Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed gratitude for Russia, China, and Iran for the support they have provided to the Damascus government.

Presstv

8, June 2016

Egyptian passenger plane makes emergency landing due to a bomb threat ⁰

An Egyptian passenger plane, en route from Cairo to Beijing, makes an emergency landing in Uzbekistan due to a bomb threat, a report says.State carrier Uzbekistan Airways said on Wednesday that there were 118 passengers and 17 crew members on board, all of whom were safely evacuated. Egyptian aviation sources said a false bomb threat forced the EgyptAir flight to make the emergency landing. The plane, an Airbus A-330-220, landed in Uzbekistan three hours after it took off from Cairo at around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

It landed at the airport in the town of Urgench, about 840 kilometers (600 miles) west of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. Officials said an anonymous caller telephoned security agents at the Cairo airport to say that a bomb was on board the flight. The plane was searched after landing, but no explosives were found, they said. EgyptAir has received a number of bomb threats since one of its aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean on May 19, killing all 66 people aboard the Airbus A320 jetliner. All those threats have turned out to be hoaxes.

Egypt’s aviation industry has been under international scrutiny since Oct. 31, when a Russian Airbus A321 crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard. The plane was traveling to St. Petersburg from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Russia said the crash was caused by a bomb planted on the plane, and the local branch of Daesh claimed responsibility. The incidents have further damaged Egypt’s tourism industry which is already reeling from years of political turmoil.

Presstv