NIGERIAN
AUTHORITY’S NEGLIGENCE TO WARNING
OF BOOK HARAM ASSAULT ON SCHOOL
After
independently verifying information based on multiple interviews with credible
sources, the organization today revealed that the Nigerian security forces had
more than four hours of advance warning about the attack but did not do enough
to stop it.
“The fact
that Nigerian security forces knew about Boko Haram’s impending raid, but
failed to take the immediate action needed to stop it, will only amplify the
national and international outcry at this horrific crime,” said Netsanet Belay,
Amnesty International’s Africa Director, Research and Advocacy.
Amnesty
International has confirmed through various sources that Nigeria’s military
headquarters in Maiduguri was aware of the impending attack soon after 7:00 PM
on 14 April, close to four hours before Boko Haram began their assault on the
town.
SOME OF THE GIRLS HAVE BEEN SPLITED 9th 05 2014
A U.S. military team is heading to Nigeria to join in the
search for hundreds of missing schoolgirls, who were kidnapped at gunpoint for
daring to get an education. There are new concerns the girls are being
separated into smaller groups to make it more difficult to find them. This
comes as Boko Haram, the terror group behind the kidnapping, launched a brutal
attack killing more than 300 people in a Nigerian village. Vladamir Duthiers
has the latest from Abuja, Nigeria.
Only god know what will be the fate of these children. Peace nigeria
Weeks after the girls' April 14 kidnapping, Africa's most populous country seems to be no closer to finding them, triggering complaints of
ineptitude -- some of which are expressed on Twitter with the globally trending hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Nigeria's finance minister said Monday that her country's government remains committed to finding the girls, but should have done a better job explaining the situation to the public.
"Have we communicated what is being done properly? The answer is no, that people did not have enough information," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told CNN's Richard Quest.
Revealing details about the investigation is tricky, she said, "because you are dealing with people that you don't know, and you don't know...what they might do to these girls."
On Sunday, about 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Nigerian High Commission in London, chanting, "Bring them back!" and "Not for sale!"
Crowds from Los Angeles to London rallied Saturday as well.
"We need to take ownership as if this happened in Chicago or this happened in Washington, D.C. We need to be talking about this," Nicole Lee, outgoing president of the TransAfrica Forum, told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
"I think people are doing that. It's catching fire."
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed in on Twitter over the weekend.
"Access to education is a basic right & an unconscionable reason to target innocent girls," she wrote Sunday. "We must stand up to terrorism. #BringBackOurGirls."
By channels tv
(CNN) -- Fears for the fate of more than 200 Nigerian girls turned even
more nightmarish on Monday when the
leader of the Islamist militant group that kidnapped them announced plans to
sell them."I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by
Allah," a man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said
"There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell.
He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women," he continued,
according to a CNN translation from the local Hausa language.Boko Haram is a
terrorist group receiving training from al Qaeda affiliates, according to U.S.
officials. Its name means "Western education is sin." In his nearly
hourlong, rambling video, Shekau repeatedly called for Western education to
end.
The outrageous threat means the girls' parents' worst fears could be
realized. Parents have avoided speaking to the media for fear their daughters
may be singled out for reprisals."Girls, you should go and get
married," he said.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the video "does
appear legitimate."The tape won't intimidate or deter Nigeria from efforts
to save the kidnapped girls, the Nigerian government said."It is
disheartening that someone would make such a terrible boast," Doyin Okupe,
spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan, said in an interview with CNN.
"It is to be expected of terrorists," he added. "No
group can affect our resolve. We will see this through to the end. We have the
commitment and capacity to get this done. No matter what this takes, we will
get these girls."
On Sunday, Jonathan vowed, "Wherever these girls are, we'll get
them out."
But he also criticized the girls' parents, saying they weren't
cooperating fully with police."What we request is maximum cooperation from
the guardians and the parents of these girls. Because up to this time, they
have not been able to come clearly, to give the police clear identity of the
girls that have yet to return," he said.
Nigeria's finance minister responds to criticismWeeks after the girls'
April 14 kidnapping, Africa's most populous country seems to be no closer to
finding them, triggering complaints of ineptitude -- some of which are
expressed on Twitter with the globally trending hashtag
#BringBackOurGirls.Nigeria's finance minister said Monday that her country's
government remains committed to finding the girls, but should have done a
better job explaining the situation to the public."Have we communicated
what is being done properly? The answer is no, that people did not have enough
information," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told CNN's Richard Quest.
Revealing details about the investigation is tricky, she said,
"because you are dealing with people that you don't know, and you don't
know...what they might do to these girls."
On Sunday, about 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Nigerian High
Commission in London, chanting, "Bring them back!" and "Not for
sale!"
Crowds from Los Angeles to London rallied Saturday as well.
"We need to take ownership as if this happened in Chicago or this
happened in Washington, D.C. We need to be talking about this," Nicole
Lee, outgoing president of the TransAfrica Forum, told CNN's "The Lead
with Jake Tapper."
"I think people are doing that. It's catching fire."
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed in on Twitter
over the weekend.
"Access to education is a basic right & an unconscionable
reason to target innocent girls," she wrote Sunday. "We must stand up
to terrorism. #BringBackOurGirls."
According to accounts, armed members of Boko Haram overwhelmed security
guards at a school last month, pulled the girls out of bed and forced them into
trucks. The convoy of trucks then disappeared into the dense forest bordering
Cameroon.Militants attacked school last month
On Friday, Nigerian authorities updated the number of girls kidnapped to
276. At least 53 of the girls escaped, leaving 223 in the hands of their
captors, police said.
Authorities said the number of missing girls could grow as police fill
in spotty school enrollment records.
Families had sent their girls to the rural school in Chibok for a
desperately needed education. The northeastern town is part of Borno state,
where 72% of primary-age children never attended school, according to the U.S.
Embassy in Nigeria.
It's even worse for girls than boys. "In the North particularly,
the gender gap remains particularly wide and the proportion of girls to boys in
school ranges from 1 girl to 2 boys to 1 to 3 in some states," UNICEF
says.
Twelve northern states follow Sharia law.In recent years, Boko Haram
has carried out dozens of attacks, killing thousands of people at schools,
churches, police stations, government buildings and elsewhere. Targets include
Christians, senior Islamic figures critical of Boko Haram and people the group
believes are engaged in "un-Islamic" behavior, the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom says.
Boko Haram has gained training in weapons and communications from al
Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in recent
years. This helped it move from little-noticed attacks to more spectacular
ones, including against Western targets and the Nigerian government, which it
seeks to overthrow, U.S. authorities say. In 2011, it carried out an attack
with IEDs on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja.
It's unclear just how big the group is. The U.S. State Department says
Boko Haram's membership estimates "range from the hundreds to a few
thousand." A U.S. government report in December 2011 found that a
"consistent lack of reliable reporting on Boko Haram has contributed to
the difficulty in assessing its size, makeup, and goals."
chibok girls
The Vice President of Nigerian Labour Congress, Issa Aremu, on Thursday said the Union was going to lend its voice for the release of over 200 girls abducted by the Boko Haram sect in Chibok, Borno State on April 16.
“Our heart is with 200 chibok students who have been criminally abducted by unknown forces,” he said, noting that the girls should not be reduced to mere statistics as they are potential workers, nurses, doctors, who have been denied education and freedom.
“We are going to devote today largely to add our voice to the forces of peace, above all women who have come out in their large numbers to demand for the release of these students and compel the government to be on duty to guarantee security,” he said.
Aremu, who was a guest on Sunrise Daily, described the girls as potential workers who had been denied their education and freedom.
Workers under the NLC and TUC would stage rallies in different States including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as they mark the 2014 Workers’ Day celebration themed “Building Sustainable Peace and Unity for Sustainable National Development.”
Aremu stressed the need for peace and security as workers had become “endangered species” as a result of the nation’s security challenges, which have forced some companies to fold up, reduce working hours and also reduce their work force.
“Our country hitherto known for peace and tranquility is now being known for violence” he said, maintaining that “peace has to be rooted in social service.”
Speaking on the plight of Nigerian workers in recent times, Aremu cited the Nyanya bomb blast; maintain that the Boko Haram sect targeted workers as most of the victims were workers.
He stressed that “more than ever before, the issue of peace cannot be left alone to the government. We are also committed to that.”
While commending some achievements made by the Congress, Aremu stated that there were other demands being made including job led growth, decent and well paid jobs with minimum wage guaranteed and the right for collective bargaining, pensionable jobs and a sustainable pension reform.
“We have just rebased the GDP of Nigeria; we are excited that Nigeria is now ahead of South Africa but you also know that this GDP as big as it is (about five billion Naira) it has not translated to real job creation for our people.”
“Labour creates wealth but labour must also be part of sharing this wealth,” he said, noting that it was time for proper income distribution,” he added.
STUDENTS MISSING IN BORNU STATE
STUDENTS MISSING IN BORNU STATE
Maiduguri — Twenty-four more schoolgirls abducted by extremists have escaped and 85 still are missing, an education official said Friday.
Some of the women jumped off the back of a truck when they were kidnapped before dawn Tuesday from a high school in Borno State. Others have escaped into the Sambisa Forest, which borders their school in Chibok town and is a known hideout of militants of the Boko Haram terrorist network.
"So far, we give thanks to God, for what we now have is 44 girls" who have escaped, the Borno state education commissioner, Musa Inuwo Kubo told The Associated Press by telephone Friday night.
He said some of the latest escapees were found Wednesday nearly 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from their school.
ARE THE MILITARY IN ACTION?
Extremists have been attacking schools and slaughtering hundreds of students in the past year. In recent months they have begun kidnapping students, who they use as cooks, sex slaves and porters.
But this week's mass abduction is unprecedented. The attackers also burned down many houses in the town.
The extremists have been on a rampage this week that started with a massive bombing attack on a busy bus station at rush hour on Monday in Abuja, the capital in the center of the country, that killed at least 75 people. Twenty others were killed in attacks on two villages. And a soldier and police officer guarding the school in Chibok also were killed.
More than 1 500 people have been killed in the uprising this year, compared to an estimated 3 600 between 2010 and 2013. The attacks have undermined the government and military claims that they are containing the insurgency.
The military has remained inexplicably absent from Chibok, Kubo said, describing residents' "displeasure" that no security forces have come to secure the area since the attack.
Angry parents and all able-bodied men from the town have taken to the Sambisa Forest to try to find the students despite the dangers of confronting extremists.
The Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, claimed in a statement Wednesday that all but eight of the 129 abducted students had been freed by security forces. But he retracted that statement on Thursday.
The Borno State Government has announced that fourteen more students of the state-owned Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, are presently are out harm’s way following their escape from Boko Haram’s camp.
The girls had been held captive since Monday along with about 86 others with fears over their safety.
The state Commissioner for Education, Mr. Musa Inuwa Kubo, who gave an update on the abduction, said 11 of the girls escaped to a town on the Damboa/Biu Road, while the remaining three found their way to the school.
The commissioner, who has temporarily relocated his office to the school to take charge of the situation, said: “I am glad to say that fourteen (14) more students have escaped from their abductors.
“Out of this number, three are currently with me at Government Girls’ Secondary School,Chibok, the scene of the unfortunate abduction, while my Governor, Kashim Shettima, has confirmed to me today that 11 girls have escaped to a town along Damboa/Biu Road in Borno State after they escaped from captivity.
“The 11 ladies were immediately moved from the location to other parts of the state to reconnect with their families.
“The remaining 33 students in Chibok have also been moved out of the school to different parts of the state to join their families. The steps were taken to safeguard them.
“Meanwhile, with this development, we have 44 out of our 129 students at the hostel on the day of attack on the school. This means that we have 85 students yet to join us”.
Thirty students had returned from the custody of the terrorists by Thursday.
Of that number, 14 escaped from their abductors, while 16 were returned by their parents and guardians after they ran home on the day of the attack. The 16 were not abducted, he said.
The commissioner pleaded with parents/guardians whose children and wards ran home to return them to the school so “we could take proper account of our 129 students to know the number of those missing”.
85 of the abducted students are believed to still be in captivity.
Mr. Kubo said that the combined efforts of the security agencies and youth volunteers also known as civilian JTF for the intensive search “may have piled up pressure on abductors and possibly contributing to the escape of 28 students from captivity”.
He added: “We continuously pray that all our students return in good health as well as all the security agents and volunteers safely return.
“We are indeed grateful for the patriotic efforts being displayed by all those involved in the search and rescue operations. We are also very grateful to all Nigerians, institutions and governments within and outside our country for their unflinching support that has remained indelible to us in the education sector of Borno State.
“We once again call on parents and all sympathises to remain prayerful and hopeful that by the grace of God all the students will safely return to school.
“Once again, on behalf of the Borno State Government, my ministry, staff and students of the affected school, parents and relations of affected students, I very well appreciate the Nigerian and international media organisations for their most helpful support.
“I will keep updating any time there is something new which I hope will be positive”.
ARE THEY REALLY AT WORK ?
Give Your Comments And Let Us Support Our Country Nigeria. Thanks
Most of the citizens are angry about the uncertain words of the Nigerian military saying that some number of the students are been found which was found out to be false two days ago. Most of the students are missing and are not yet to be found.
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