DSS Marilyn Ogar transferred to Maiduguri, then recalled

The changes at the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s secret police, entered another phase during the week with new postings and a series of reversals.  ‎Marilyn Ogar, who was until recently DSS deputy director, public relations, has been transferred to Maiduguri, Borno state, but the posting has now been put on hold following insinuations that it was “punitive”. Ogar, as spokesperson, was responsible for defending the activities of the agency in the media and she is believed to be paying for some of her pronouncements, notably in the face-off with the Bring Back Our Girls movement and the DSS raids on the Lagos office of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last year.  She has already lost her promotion following the nullification of the recent exercise. “Right now, she is just hanging around in Abuja awaiting the next order,”

President Muhammadu Buhari recently appointed Lawal Musa Daura as the acting DSS director-general following the resignation of Ita Ekpenyong, who was reportedly asked to go because of the “partisanship” of the agency under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

About 45 new state directors who were promoted under Jonathan have lost their new ranks as their promotions have been reversed. Buhari refused to swear them in last Thursday, an indication that the promotion exercise had been annulled. Daura has also ordered the sack of fresh graduates who were recently employed after an eight-month training.‎  Daura has been mandated to probe the tenure of his predecessor. An official from the office of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) has been penciled down to do the job.

The official, from Katsina state, is expected to be appointed as the new director of finance, taking over from an operative from Plateau state who was only appointed recently. “Daura’s mandate is to probe Ekpenyong, but it is not looking bright because some of the allegations being examined are difficult to prove. It has now been established that the raids on APC office in Lagos were based on a tip-off by an APC member. This has complicated matters,” the source added. DSS had raided the office on the allegation that the voters’ biometric cards were being illegally produced there, a move that generated public outrage. The agency did not charge any suspect to court. Some top DSS operatives, meanwhile, are beginning to question the capacity of the new DG to pilot the affairs of the agency.  “Daura was informed about the attack in Kano way before it happened. He refused to release money or approve the operations until bombs went off in three states. “His records show that he was at the very bottom of his class, and during his service years, his file was filled with a lot of queries that should ordinarily disqualify him from the job. There are a lot of competent northern officers who can lead the DSS. Daura is not one of them.” The reorganisation exercise is expected to continue as new governments usually fill strategic positions at the agency with loyalists.

DENIALS: I never said Buhari’s administration worsened Boko Haram attacks – Ekweremadu

Contrary to earlier media reports, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu explained Friday that he never said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has worsened Boko Haram insurgency in the country.
He, however, cautioned that challenges like terrorism and insurgency, which have wasted lives and property of
innocent Nigerians and many of “our loved ones are beyond politics
and should therefore not be trivalised on the altar of narrow political interest.
In a statement by his Special Adviser,Media, Uche Anichukwu and titled, “The Challenge of Insurgency is beyond Partisanship,” Ekweremadu said, “The attention of the Office of the Deputy President of the Senate has been drawn to the attempt to misrepresent and sensationalize an innocuous call by Senator Ike Ekweremadu to Nigerians to pray for and rally round the Federal
Government to win the war against insurgency
“Specifically, the Deputy President of the Senate was reported by two national dailies as stating that the
President Muhammadu Buhari Administration has worsened
insurgency.
“Whereas Senator Ekweremadu expressed concerns over the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in parts of the country, at no time did he try to blame it on the present administration. It is instead on record that he not only commended the efforts of the present administration, especially in building international support and synergy to tackle the monstrous group, but he also called for greater inter-party, intergovernmental, and international collaboration to address the problem.
“It is instructive that his patriotic comments were well captured by many electronic and print media.
They include: “Boko Haram: Ekweremadu Seeks Support for
Buhari” (Leadership, Friday, July 10, 2015) and “Boko Haram: US
Pledges Deepened Support for Nigeria… Ekweremadu rallies Support
for Buhari” (New Telegraph, Friday, July 10, 2015).
“The fact that out of the 75-man Senate Press Corps, representing various media houses, which were present at the function, only one medium sensationally skewed its statement
out of context, while a second medium copied the same story without a byline (name of reporter), tells the whole story of a devious intent”.

Boko Haram: President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has worsened insurgency--Ekweremadu

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu

The senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Solomon Adeola, said on Friday in Abuja that the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, was wrong in his comparison of the activities of Boko Haram insurgency during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and the bomb blasts recently recorded in some parts of the country.
Adeola, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, said Ekweremadu should not play partisan politics with the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in recent times.
The senate deputy president had, on Thursday, expressed concern over the current spate of Boko Haram attacks in the country at a time that government should be talking of a plan to rebuild the North-East since Jonathan’s administration had almost rolled back the insurgency before handing over on May 29.
But Adeola described Ekweremadu’s comparison as a partisan mindset of one playing politics with the insurgency.
But the Special Adviser to the Deputy Senate President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, said Ekweremadu did not blame President Muhammadu Buhari, for the current Boko Haram attacks, when he spoke with journalists on Wednesday night.
Anichukwu, in a statement issued in Abuja, explained that his principal only reviewed the recent bomb blasts in some parts of the country and urged Nigerians to pray for, and rally round the Federal Government to win the war against insurgency.
He said, “Specifically, the Deputy President of the Senate was reported by two national dailies as stating that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has worsened insurgency, whereas Senator Ekweremadu expressed concerns over the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in some parts of the country. At no time did he try to blame it on the present administration.
“It is instead, on record, that he not only commended the efforts of the present administration, especially in building international support and synergy to tackle the monstrous group, but he also called for greater inter-party, intergovernmental, and international collaboration to address the problem.
“The fact that out of the 75-man Senate Press Corps, representing various media houses, which were present at the function, only one medium sensationally skewed his statement out of context, while a second medium copied the same story without a by-line (name of reporter), tells the whole story of a devious intent.”
Anichukwu said Ekweremadu, as a lawmaker, would not shy away from presenting constructive criticism where and when appropriate.

BOKO HARAM INTENSIFY FULL FORCE ATTACK AFTER PROMISE BY SPONSORS FAIL TO MATERIALIZE

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Nigerian new President Muhammadu Buhari pictured 

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A campaign signboard displayed by the ruling All Progressives Congress 

BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Police say at least 10 people were killed in northeast Nigeria when a large commando of Boko Haram Islamic extremists attacked their village and took over a major highway in the region.

A local police official who spoke on condition he not be named because he wasn't authorized to talk to media said the victims were all shot when the large group of Boko Haram extremists stormed their village and fired at fleeing residents. The attack occurred in Ngamdu, a village 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the Borno state capital Maiduguri.
Many other residents were wounded in the attack Friday, the official said.
Military units have moved into the region to fight the attackers, who have taken control of the only safe highway to Maiduguri.
Meanwhile officials in Maiduguri say an attempted bomb attack at the city's largest bus station failed when an explosives-ladden tuk-tuk was prevented from entering the site early Saturday.
The driver of the three-wheeled motorized rickshaw and four passengers then tried to attack a bus filled with passengers outside the station's entrance but the bus driver was able to quickly pull away before the tuk-tuk exploded, killing the driver and three of its occupants. A fifth passenger of the tuk-tuk escaped on foot but was chased down and arrested by a civilian security group.
Three bystanders sustained minor injuries from the blast.

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A video image of the Boko Haram extremist group leader Abubakar Shekau dismissing Nigerian military  …

N'Djamena (AFP) - At least 14 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a crowded market in Chad's capital on Saturday just days after Boko Haram claimed a previous bombing in the city that left 38 people dead.

Both attacks again underlined the threat still posed by the Islamist militants, despite claimed military successes in recent months and with a new regional force set to take on the group at the end of the month.The attack in N'Djamena by a man disguised as a woman in a full-face veil came after a botched bombing of a bus station in the restive capital of Nigeria's Borno state, Maiduguri, which killed two pedestrians.

Experts said the bombing in Chad, following previous strikes in Niger and repeated targeting of northern Cameroon, demonstrated the need for an effective solution to the problem involving both Nigeria and its neighbours.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power on May 29, has made defeating Boko Haram a top priority but experts said he could not do it alone.

"The fight against Boko Haram is unlikely to be concluded with any rapidity," Ryan Cummings, chief Africa analyst with the Red24 consulting group, told AFP.

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An explosive expert examines weapons on the site of a blast where five Chadian police officers and s …

"The fact remains that while Boko Haram continues to be defined as a Nigerian problem, evidence suggests that it has become a quandary of regional proportions requiring a regional solution.

"In the absence of Nigeria's neighbours recognising the extent of Boko Haram's regional contagion and subsequently responding to it decisively, the most exhaustive efforts by the Nigerian government alone won't solve the problem."

- Full-face veil -

Police director-general Taher Erda said the bomber detonated his explosives belt when he was stopped at the entrance to the market for security checks.

The provisional toll was 14 dead, nine of them female traders, said police spokesman Paul Manga. One of the five men killed was a police officer, he added.

An AFP correspondent at the scene described a gruesome scene of pools of blood and human flesh. The area, in the heart of the capital, was cordoned off by security forces after the attack at about 8:45 am (0745 GMT).

On June 15, 38 people were killed when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a police academy and the city's main police station.

In the wake of that attack, the authorities in the Muslim-majority country ordered a complete ban on the full-face veil and bombed Boko Haram positions in Nigeria.

Boko Haram this week claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement in Arabic on Twitter.

The communique was signed "Islamic State, West Africa Province", as Boko Haram has styled itself since pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group in March.

The attack in Maiduguri happened at about 7:10 am (0610 GMT) Saturday as two bombers in a motorised rickshaw tried to get into the busy Borno Express Terminal but were deterred by heavy security.

- Regional force -

Boko Haram's deadly insurgency has killed at least 15,000 people since 2009 and left more than 1.5 million others homeless.

A four-nation coalition of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon has reportedly pushed out the militants from captured towns and villages in an operation that began in February.

But since Buhari came to power, attacks have increased and with the latest bombing in Maiduguri, nearly 570 people have been killed in Nigeria alone, according to AFP reporting.

Borno state in particular has been worst hit and on Friday, eight people were killed in Gamboru, when Boko Haram fighters opened fire on residents returning to the abandoned town from Fotokol, just across the border in northern Cameroon.

Buhari has announced that the military command and control centre would be moved from Abuja to Maiduguri. But there is little evidence so far the move has been effective.

The 72-year-old former military ruler is now coming under pressure to act soon and is pinning his hopes on the deployment of a strengthened regional force at the end of this month.

Experts say the 8,700-strong force, to be commanded by a senior Nigerian officer from headquarters in N'Djamena, will only be effective if coordination between the partners is improved.

Foreign forces will also need free reign to pursue Boko Haram in Nigerian territory after Chadian and Nigerien troops were ordered to retreat by the previous administration in Abuja.

*********************************************************************************************************

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A suicide bomber driving a three-wheeled vehicle detonated near the office of state security in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri on Saturday, two security sources said.

The security sources said the blast went off a few metres from the office at about 7 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). One of the security sources said one person was killed, as well as the bomber, while a hospital source said four people were being treated for injuries.

The city, the birthplace of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, is frequently hit by bombings.

It has been the target of several attacks since Muhammadu Buhari, president of Africa's most populous nation and biggest economy, made it the command centre for the campaign against the militant group after being inaugurated on May 29.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a Maiduguri hospital during a visit by the vice president at the start of July and, a few days later, Boko Haram militants attacked the city from the outskirts. [ID:nL8N0ZH3UK] [ID:nL8N0ZJ3FM]

US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken visits Abuja . Nigeria.

US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken visited Abuja on Thursday where he gave a press briefing on US support and partnership with Nigeria.

Koch Billionaires Back Obama to Push U.S. Sentencing Change

Michelle Obama congratulates Serena Williams

Dem senators call for executive action on gun control

© AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File In this Aug. 30, 2013 file photo, Americans for Prosperity Foundation Chairman David Koch speaks in Orlando, Fla.(Bloomberg) -- The White House is preparing to seize advantage of bipartisan concern over the burgeoning U.S. prison population and push for legislation that would reduce federal sentences for nonviolent crimes.
President Barack Obama is expected to argue for revamping U.S. sentencing guidelines during a speech to the NAACP annual convention on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Top officials from the Justice Department, including Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, have recently met with members of Congress to express support for sentencing reform legislation. Key lawmakers from both parties have been invited to the White House next week to discuss strategy.
“Engagement with the president has been lacking for the past six years, but this is one topic where it has been refreshingly bipartisan,” Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who heads the House Oversight Committee, said in a phone interview.
Obama came to office promising to reduce the number of Americans imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses, and in 2010 signed a law reducing disparities in sentences for possession of crack and powder cocaine. Some Republicans and police organizations criticized the moves as too lenient, but now a bipartisan coalition that includes Obama’s chief political antagonists, billionaires Charles and David Koch, have joined him to support relaxing federal sentencing guidelines.
Mass Incarceration
More than 2.2 million adults are imprisoned in the U.S., the most in the world, and the incarceration rate is between five and 10 times higher than in Western European countries, according to the National Research Council. Lawmakers in both parties have been raising alarms about the cost of mass incarceration to taxpayers and to minority communities that are disproportionately the source of prisoners.
About 60 percent of all prisoners are black or Hispanic, and black men under age 35 who did not finish high school are more likely to be behind bars than to hold a job, according to the research council. More than 100,000 people are currently in federal prison for drug-related crimes, at a cost of about $30,000 per person each year, the United States Sentencing Commission said in a May report.
That price tag has drawn a cadre of fiscally-conservative Republicans to join with Democrats in a bid to overhaul sentencing. Success would mean a rare bipartisan legislative victory for Obama and a concrete policy achievement to match recent speeches urging the nation to focus on racial and criminal-justice issues.
Unusual Allies
Chaffetz said he was optimistic that a package of bills would advance because of a diverse coalition of supporters lined up behind it. The president dubbed the legislation “a big sack of potatoes” in a meeting with lawmakers in February, Chaffetz said. The composition of the legislation isn’t final.
The Koch brothers, billionaire Republican donors, support a bill introduced last month by Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, and Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, that would encourage probation rather than imprisonment for relatively minor, non-violent offenses and improve parole programs in order to reduce recidivism.
The Sensenbrenner-Scott bill is modeled on state efforts to reduce incarceration. While the federal prison population has grown 15 percent in the last decade, state prisons hold 4 percent fewer people, according to Sensenbrenner’s office. Thirty-two states have saved a cumulative $4.6 billion in the past five years from reduced crime and imprisonment, his office said in a report.
Studying Sentencing
The legislation “is the result of years of efforts to identify, compile and bring to the national level the best, evidence-based practices in criminal justice reform,” Representative Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat said in a statement.
Bob Goodlatte, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, held a meeting in late June to listen to proposals from lawmakers in both parties. And Chaffetz, who described Republican leadership in the House as “very optimistic and encouraging,” scheduled hearings on the issue by his committee for July 14 and 15.
“I don’t normally do two days of hearings, we’re giving it that much attention,” Chaffetz said. “So it has more momentum than anybody realizes.”
There is a significant obstacle on the other side of the Capitol: Senator Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs his chamber’s Judiciary Committee.
Winning Grassley
An effort in February to advance legislation that included across-the-board reductions in minimum mandatory sentences met with resistance from Grassley, who wouldn’t put it to a vote in his committee. But supporters of the House legislation have reason for optimism: last month, Grassley announced he would work on a compromise in the Senate.
While Grassley has indicated a willingness to reduce penalties for some crimes, he wants to increase mandatory minimum sentences for other offenses, a Senate Republican aide said. The person requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
That could make sentencing changes an easier sell to tough- on-crime voters, but endanger the support of lawmakers who see mandatory minimums as bad policy.
“There does appear hope for a bipartisan compromise,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday. “We obviously welcome that opportunity.”
Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who has long championed criminal justice reform, is leading negotiations with Grassley. He’s backed by Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on Grassley’s committee, and Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second- ranking Democrat in the Senate.
The talks remain sensitive. During a Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Leahy -- admitting he already knew the answer -- asked Yates, who was testifying before the panel, to restate her support for sentencing reform.
“I was born at night, but not last night,” Grassley interjected. “And I know that question was in reference to me, and I want everybody to know that we’re working hard on getting a sentencing reform compromise that we can introduce. And if we don’t get one pretty soon, I’ll probably have my own ideas to put forward.”

Boko Haram Releases First Beheading Video Since Pledging Allegiance To ISIS

Look of horror: A Nigerian soldier is made to kneel in front of three men after he was captured by Boko Haram

Boko Haram has set a terrifying new precedent by releasing its first gruesome video of a beheading since it pledged allegiance to ISIS. The video adopts many of the same style-points as the hundreds of barbaric videos released by ISIS over the last year. The 'west Africa' insignia in the top-left corner suggests the terror group has set up a new so-called media wing in the country.

 

The ten minute-long propaganda video begins with what appears to be an intense firefight against Nigerian soldiers.

Boko Haram fighters exchange machine gun fire with the troops and launch heavy mortar grenades on their locations.

It shows them standing proudly next to the corpses of scorched Nigerian troops - and showing off their security badges to the camera.

The video ends with the senseless murder of a captured African Union soldier. With a look of true horror on his face, the man kneels in front of three masked Boko Haram fanatics - two of whom point AK47s at his head.

The video then cuts to reveal his decapitated body lying motionless on the floor. 

Islamic State accepted a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram, who were responsible for the deaths of over 10,000 in Nigeria in 2014, in March this year.

The audio message entitled 'kill and be killed' - released through the militants' vast social media channels - was read by an ISIS spokesperson who also threatened further violence against the Christian and Jewish communities. 

Boko Haram release first video since pledging allegiance to ISIS

+8

Gloating: The video also shows the name tags of soldiers killed in the firefight between Boko Haram and army

+8

Battle: The 10 minute video begins with a shoot out between the extremists and national forces

+8

Mimic: This video is very like the ones Islamic State produce - even down to the logo in the corner

Speaking for his leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the man in the recording says: 'We announce to you to the good news of the expansion of the caliphate to West Africa.

'Our caliph has accepted the pledge of loyalty of our brothers of Boko Haram so we congratulate Muslims and our jihadi brothers in West Africa.' 

The militants have been waging a six-year insurgency to impose strict Shariah law in Nigeria and earlier this year it launched attacks across the border on Cameroon - before striking Niger and Chad. 

The group has killed thousands in bomb attacks and violent sieges on villages in the remote north-east, and are now feared to be spilling over into neighbouring Cameroon and Chad.

It inspired five African nations agreed to form a coalition to take the group on and 8,700 troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin are expected to begin operations before the end of next month. 

Only today, MailOnline learned that Somali terror group Al-Shabaab could soon scrap its allegiance to Al-Qaeda and pledge loyalty to rivals ISIS instead.

Islamic State invited the east-African jihadi group to join forces with them through a propaganda video released in March - urging it to wage jihad on neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Militants: Somali terror group Al-Shabaab (pictured) could scrap its allegiance to Al-Qaeda and pledge loyalty to rivals ISIS instead

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Barth Chime Chimew, uslo, Norway, about 13 hours ago

the best thing for nigeria is to divide the country into two,, northern nigeria and southern nigeria.

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sanskrit, Abuja, Nigeria, about 13 hours ago

Distasteful title -

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ScouseLibra, London, about 13 hours ago

Yet, we give protection to so called refugees without any background check. We demonise Israel for protecting themselves from Ham ass, we kid ourselves that there is only a small minority living here who feel this way, we are pathetic

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blah, MK, about 14 hours ago

the 20th centuries greatest evil was allowed to start like this while we stood back and did nothing ,are we going to make the same mistakes again . Mean while in the UK we give benefits to hate preachers could someone from the PC brigade please explain why this is ok

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Jazzie, Central Coast, Australia, about 14 hours ago

Notice that all of these savage cowards have their faces covered?

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mary, Whitton, about 14 hours ago

HH Dalai Lama made the very good point that these people do know that what they are doing is wrong, but go on to do it anyway, because they hide their faces. If they thought that what they were doing was right, they would uncover.

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Ken, Ex.France, United Kingdom, about 15 hours ago

They trash must be so brave and fearsome as it only needs only two of them pointing rifles at the poor guy on his knees in front of them, with his hands bound, to make sure he causes no trouble. R.I.P. soldier.

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Lexe, Brussels, about 15 hours ago

Here's some food for thought. The West can keep records of every internet user, ever. I think if the West really cared about this, we wouldn't give them a platform like the internet to spread their terror. Why aren't these pictures taken offline ? Why do they have a social website account ? Why do you spread this to all of your readers ? I'll tell you why, nobody cares about what happens there, we care about shock value, selling news, the more shocking the more we read it. Nobody cares, end of story.

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jj London, London, United Kingdom, about 15 hours ago

I blame the media. Stop giving these people recognition, you are helping their cause.

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Rock Guitar, New York, United States, about 15 hours ago

Western World vs people with hatred of west. New Crusades on Horizon.

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Millymollymandy73, Hants, United Kingdom, about 16 hours ago

These vile monsters are cowards of the highest order when they dare not show their faces.

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