Boko Haram Terrorists Kill Newlywed Nigerian Soldier.
The attack happened a few hours after Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai handed over to Major General Ibrahim Attahiru as the Chief of Army Staff.
A newlywed Nigerian soldier, Abdullahi Bhuwa Usman, has been killed by Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.
SaharaReporters gathered that Usman was among soldiers killed when the insurgents engaged the Nigerian military in a four-hour battle to take control of Dikwa.
The attack happened a few hours after Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai handed over to Major General Ibrahim Attahiru as the Chief of Army Staff.
The gunbattle started at around 6:00 pm and lasted till about 10:00 pm. It claimed many casualties, including Usman.
“I received the news of Usman’s death with deep shock. He just got married on December 27, 2020. I attended the wedding here in Lagos.
“Though he wasn’t in attendance physically because he was on duty, his family members and friends were all here and left with the wife to Borno State that same day.
“I still spoke with him last week and told him to take care of his wife; it’s just so sad. He was so jovial and caring,” a family member of the deceased told SaharaReporters.
In the past months, the insurgents have targeted soldiers, who mostly lay ambush on their path.
The Boko Haram insurgency has caused over 40,000 deaths and displaced millions of individuals mainly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.
The terror group wants an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.
On January 22, 2021, the group ambushed and fired machine guns at a Nigerian army patrol in Borno State, killing seven soldiers and injuring others. Also, an ATV and ammunition were captured by the gunmen.
The attack occurred barely five days after the gunmen activated seven IEDs against a Nigerian army convoy of Armoured Personnel Carriers and other vehicles, escorted by a foot patrol in Gorgi in Borno State.
According to military sources, over 30 soldiers were killed during the ambush.
The gunmen also destroyed three vehicles and an armoured vehicle.
Boko Haram insurgents reportedly attacked the town of Dikwa, Borno State, killing two soldiers and abducting two policewomen.
According to reports, the insurgents killed the two soldiers in a gun battle that ensued as men of the Nigerian Army repelled their attack on the local government headquarters.
Residents and sources in the town disclosed that the insurgents stormed the town around 5:30pm and operated for over four hours before leaving around 9:00pm.
A Civilain JTF operative said: “They killed two soldiers and abducted two women police. Six IDPs were also injured in the attack. The Insurgents took away one police van and also burst the tire of the civilian JTF van.”
Another source, a displaced person living in the IDP camp in Dikwa disclosed that while the attack was going on, the camp residents, who were all afraid, were holed up in their tents.
He said: “We were in our tents in the camp and were hearing shootings from a distance and we knew those gunshots could not be from the army so we did not go out to know how deadly the attack was.”
Speaking also on the attack, a humanitarian worker in Dikwa disclosed that the attackers who came on foot were pursued by troops.
He said: “When they came into the town on foot, they started shooting sporadically. We all took to our heels. From the way they attacked, it was obvious they were on the run because the army has been clearing them in Sambisa Forest and you know Dikwa is in close proximity to the forest.
“I cannot tell the number of casualties because I ran for safety and I have not heard anything about the casualty figures but they didn’t target any particular place for destruction.”
There had been no comment from authorities as at the time of this report.
Nobel Laureate, Prof. wole Shoyinka has called for a national mobilisation to combat the menace of insecurity bedevilling the country.
He also said Nigeria’s sovereignty had been taken away by Boko Haram terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.
In a direct reference to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nobel laureate said the President could not end the country’s insecurity challenge, sitting down in Aso Rock.
Soyinka stated this on Saturday while featuring on an Arise TV programme monitored by Sunday PUNCH.
According to him, Nigeria has reached the “stage of desperation”. The government should be willing to “pay people to come and help us” in defence against Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, and other criminal elements.
Soyinka said, “There are those on whose shoulders must be placed the primary responsibility and that include some former Heads of State who refused to see the inevitability of what we are going through right now.
“I am very glad that the northern elite is now speaking up, boldly and practically, (and are also) now taking measures which they should have taken years ago. They’ve moved beyond the unbelievable policies of actually paying killers to stop killing. I don’t want to mention names, but some admitted that they were paying protection money to killers instead of dealing with that cancer in the only way they should, which is excision, to take out killers instead of giving them money.
“You don’t appease evil, and we are dealing with evil; there is no other word, we are dealing with the proliferation, the enthronement of evil in society. And unfortunately, we have encouraged its manifestation, its proliferation, its entrenchment.
“So, let them get away with the issue of sovereignty. If they have to pay people to come and help us, then call them whatever you want. Please go ahead because we’ve reached that stage of desperation.
“But I will prefer a general mobilisation in which people are trained, farmers especially are trained to work with the hoe in one hand and the gun in the other hand, ready to protect their lives, their harvests and the rest of us.
“We are not unique; history is full of those situations. I would like to see a national mobilisation. Let’s be practical.”
The PUNCH had earlier reported that at least 43 rice farmers were beheaded by Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State last November.
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, had consequently urged the Federal Government to engage mercenaries and the militaries of neighbouring countries, like Chad and Cameroon, to crush the over decade-old Boko Haram insurgency.
Soyinka added, “From a self-protective point of view, it is a common problem; it is a national, collective issue. Don’t just sit there and think that you can solve it from Aso Rock; no. This now concerns even the lowest common citizens in this nation because that lowest, that most impotent individual has become a prime target. So, it’s a collective issue. I’m not surprised some governors now say let us reach outside help; I have also said something. I don’t say mercenaries necessarily, but this has gone beyond a Nigerian problem.
“Instead of that, what do I hear? Somebody gets on the podium and say, ‘The sovereignty of this nation cannot be challenged. Please, don’t let us hear any more of that rubbish. The sovereignty of this nation is in the hands of the murdering herdsmen. The sovereignty of this nation has already been taken over by Boko Haram; it’s been taken over by ISWAP, it’s been taken over by those with absolutely no respect for what is called national integrity.”
Soyinka also said Buhari’s nepotistic tendencies were outrageous, adding that the President appointed wrong people into the wrong places.
Soyinka’s statement comes two weeks after the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Mathew Kukah, also accused the President of nepotism.
Meanwhile, Soyinka also warned that the Western Nigeria Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun, must not transform into another form of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The writer said Amotekun operatives must be trained in ethics to not end on the wrong side of history.
Soyinka said, “Community policing, like Amotekun, is a recognition of the fact that the civic part of the entire national polity has got to wake up in not just its defence but also survival.
“I have told them that anytime they want us to come and assist; we will come even if it is just on the ethical session so that as you are training them to defend us, we are also training their minds so that Amotekun does not become another SARS – very important. We must do everything together.
“It is about time the public examined itself; what are we made up of? Are there those among us who, if they got into power, will behave exactly as those kinds of agencies which we are repudiating and against which we are protesting? There is no excuse for the brutality that occurred in the wake of the noise, rumour or reality of people being shot at the lekki tollgate.”
It was gathered that the gunmen invaded the community on Monday night, shooting sporadically and sending residents scampering for safety.
A traditional ruler in Wereng community under Riyam Local Government Area of Plateau State, Chungyang Mwadkon, has been killed by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
Five other people were also killed while three others sustained injuries during the attack.
It was gathered that the gunmen invaded the community on Monday night, shooting sporadically and sending residents scampering for safety.
Wereng had been under siege for over 10 years and more than 30 people have been killed in the process.
Nobody has been arrested and prosecuted despite repeated assurances from security personnel.
circa 11th century onwards – Formation of city states, kingdoms and empires, including Hausa kingdoms and Borno dynasty in north, Oyo and Benin kingdoms in south.
16-18th centuries – Slave trade sees Nigerians forcibly sent to the Americas.
1809 – Islamic Sokoto caliphate is founded in north. 1850s – British establish presence around Lagos.
1861-1914 – Britain consolidates its hold over what it calls the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, governs through local leaders.
1922 – Part of former German colony Kamerun is added to Nigeria under League of Nations mandate.
1960 – Independence, with Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leading a coalition government.
1966 January – Mr Balewa killed in coup. Maj-Gen Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi forms military government.
1966 July – General Ironsi killed in counter-coup, replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon. Biafran war
1967 – Three eastern states secede as the Republic of Biafra, sparking three-year civil war.
1975 – General Gowon overthrown by Brigadier Murtala Ramat Mohammed, who begins process of moving federal capital to Abuja.
1976 – General Mohammed assassinated in failed coup attempt. Replaced by his deputy, Lt-Gene Olusegun Obasanjo, who helps introduce US-style presidential constitution.
1979 – Elections bring Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power.
1983 August-September – President Shagari re-elected amid accusations of irregularities.
1983 December – Maj-Gen Muhammad Buhari seizes power in bloodless coup.
1985 – Ibrahim Babangida seizes power in bloodless coup, curtails political activity.
1993 June – Military annuls elections when preliminary results show victory by Chief Moshood Abiola.
Abacha years 1993 November – Gen Sani Abacha seizes power, suppresses opposition.
1994 – Moshood Abiola arrested after proclaiming himself president.
1995 – Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and campaigner against oil industry damage to his Ogoni homeland, is executed following a hasty trial. In protest, European Union imposes sanctions until 1998, Commonwealth suspends Nigeria’s membership until 1998.
1998 – Gen Sani Abacha dies and is succeeded by Maj-Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar. Moshood Abiola dies in custody a month later.
1999 – Parliamentary and presidential elections. Olusegun Obasanjo sworn in as president.
2000 – Adoption of Islamic Sharia law by several northern states in the face of opposition from Christians. Tension over the issue results in hundreds of deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims.
2001 – Tribal war in Benue State, in eastern-central Nigeria, displaces thousands of people. Troops sent to quash the fighting kill more than 200 unarmed civilians, apparently in retaliation for the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers.
2002 February – Some 100 people are killed in Lagos in clashes between Hausas from mainly-Islamic north and Yorubas from predominantly-Christian southwest.
2002 November – More than 200 people die in four days of rioting stoked by Muslim fury over the planned Miss World beauty pageant in Kaduna in December. The event is relocated to Britain.
2003 12 April – First legislative elections since end of military rule in 1999. Polling marked by delays, allegations of ballot-rigging. President Obasanjo’s People’s Democratic Party wins parliamentary majority. Obasanjo re-elected
2003 19 April – First civilian-run presidential elections since end of military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo elected for second term despite EU observers reporting “serious irregularities”.
2003 September – Nigeria’s first satellite, NigeriaSat-1, launched by Russian rocket.
2004 May – State of emergency is declared in the central Plateau State after more than 200 Muslims are killed in Yelwa in attacks by Christian militia; revenge attacks are launched by Muslim youths in Kano.
2004 August-September – Deadly clashes between gangs in oil city of Port Harcourt prompts strong crackdown by troops. Rights group Amnesty International cites death toll of 500, authorities say about 20 died.
2006 January onwards – Militants in the Niger Delta attack pipelines and other oil facilities and kidnap foreign oil workers. The rebels demand more control over the region’s oil wealth.
2006 April – Helped by record oil prices, Nigeria becomes the first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders, which had written off two-thirds of the $30bn debt the previous year.
2006 August – Nigeria agrees to cede sovereignty over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling. Transfer takes place in 2008.
2007 April – Umaru Yar’Adua of the ruling People’s Democratic Party wins the presidential election.
2009 July – Hundreds die in northeastern Nigeria after the Boko Haram Islamist movement launches an enduring campaign of violence. Government frees the leader of the Niger Delta militant group Mend, Henry Okah, after he accepts an amnesty offer.
2010 May – President Umaru Yar’Adua dies after a long illness. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar’Adua’s stead, succeeds him.
2011 March – Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan wins presidential elections.
2012 January – More than 100 killed in single day of co-ordinated bombings and shootings in Kano, shortly after Boko Haram tells Christians to quit the north.
2013 May – Government declares state of emergency in three northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa and sends in troops to combat Boko Haram.
2014 April – Boko Haram kidnaps more than 200 girls from a boarding school in northern town of Chibok, in an incident that draws major national and international outrage.
2014 November – Boko Haram launches a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria, capturing several towns near Lake Chad and running raids into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon in early 2015. It switches allegiance from al-Qaeda to the Islamic State group.
2015 February-March – Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger form military coalition and push Boko Haram out of all towns back into Sambisa Forest.
2015 March – Muhammadu Buhari wins the presidential election, becoming the first opposition candidate to do so in Nigeria’s history.
2016 June – Naira currency floated in attempt to stave off financial crisis caused by low oil prices. 2016 November – Niger Delta Avengers rebels bomb three oil pipelines in attempt to renew southern insurgency.
2017 December – Clashes between herders in Benue and Taraba states prompt thousands to flee.
2018 – Escalating attacks by Boko Haram from August onwards, targeting army bases.
2019 February – Presidential elections held after last-minute delay of a week.
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