The Guardian.com: US surveillance planes have begun flying missions over a remote area of Nigeria as part of a mounting international effort to find and rescue more than 200 teenage girls abducted by Islamist militants almost a month ago.
The US has also sent expert advisers to Nigeria to “dig in on the search” and has provided the government with satellite images.
The plight of the schoolgirls and the desperation of their families has captured world attention, with abhorrence focused on Boko Haram, the violent jihadist group that is holding the girls.
Nigeria arrests Boko Haram ‘butcher’ in restive northeast
http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-arrests-boko-haram-butcher-restive-northeast-141816911.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory
Lagos (AFP) – Nigerian police on Tuesday said they had arrested a senior Boko Haram Islamist commander known as “Chief Butcher” during a raid on an insurgent camp in the restive northeast.
Mohammed Zakari, 30, was arrested on Saturday “following the massive onslaught by security forces on the activities of the insurgent group”, at Balmo Forest in Bauchi state, a statement said.
Zakari was implicated in “the recent slaughter of seven people, including women and children,” it added.
According to police, Balmo Forest is one of several bases scattered across the bushlands of the northeast used by the extremist group blamed for killing more than 10,000 people during a five-year insurgency.
Bauchi has been attacked repeatedly through the conflict.
Zakari was not widely known as a prominent Islamist leader, but the group’s command structure is seen as fractured, including autonomous cells operating across the north headed by individuals who may not report to the group’s recognised leaders.
Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in the north, is nominally headed by Abubakar Shekau, declared a global terrorist by the United States and sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
If 300 blond blue eyed white school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram all hell would break loose the world over & they would’ve BEEN rescued. Tried of this ISH. These girls have been missing for 74 days. There have been reports some are sick and pregnant. It’s beyond the pale it’s taking this long to bring them home.
It’s beyond the pale. 71 days missing? Outrage! What in the name of God are they doing?
Chibok abduction: Mothers storm Borno hospital •Over rumour of relocation of girls
http://www.tribune.com.ng/component/k2/item/8263-chibok-abduction-mothers-storm-borno-hospital-over-rumour-of-relocation-of-girls
WOMEN from Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, on Tuesday, stormed Maiduguri Nursing Home, now General Muhammadu Shuwa Specialist Hospital, following rumour that the state government ordered for over 200 mattresses, ahead of plan to bring the over 200 abducted Chibok girls to the hospital.
It was reported that most of the abducted girls, some of whom are said to be pregnant, are facing health challenges.
Nigerian Tribune gathered on Tuesday that the women, mothers of the abducted female students, told nurses at the hospital that they were told that the government was bringing the girls to the hospital for medication.
A nurse at the hospital, who pleaded anonymity, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, said “they have heard the rumour that the government is bringing the abducted schoolgirls to the hospital and over 200 mattresses were said to have been bought and brought since last month, but no girl was brought from among those abducted in Chibok.
“When the women came, we told them that no girl was brought and they all burst into tears.
“They said they had left Chibok because they were told their girls are in the hospital. We took them round the wards to see for themselves.
“However, they did not believe us as they left, maybe somebody they so believe told them and they are not ready to believe anyone else.
“If the girls are here, we could have allowed them to see their daughters. It is a pity. We are hearing all kinds of stories but no result.”
The nurse also said the women, who had been in the hospital since around 9.00 a.m, left shortly after 3.00 p.m, adding that “you can check tomorrow maybe they may still come back, because they are not convinced with whatever we told them.”
Japan Earmarks $855,000 Emergency Grant for Chibok Community
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/japan-earmarks-855-000-emergency-grant-for-chibok-community/181452/
The Japanese government has expressed its readiness to assist the Chibok community in Borno State with US$855,000 as emergency grant.
This financial assistance was considered following requests by United Nations Organisation (UN) and the federal government.
According to a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Ambassador of Japan in Nigeria on Economic Cooperation, Mariko Chiba, the fund would be channelled through the United Nations Children’s and Educational Fund (UNICEF), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other organisations.
“On June 13, 2014, the government of Japan, upon requests by UN organisations and the Federal Government of Nigeria, decided to extend emergency grant aid of 855,000 US dollars (approximately 83 million Japanese yen), to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other organisations,” she said.
Chiba explained that the emergency aid was expected to contribute to providing support for the psychosocial and physical care of communities of Chibok in Borno State, as the community is suffering direct and indirect harm as a result of the abduction of school girls by the Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram.
#BringBackOurGirls: Rival women groups clash in Abuja
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/bringbackourgirls-rival-women-groups-clash-abuja/
There was fracas at the Unity Fountain in Abuja Wednesday where a coalition of women groups under the umbrella of #Bringbackourgirls” have been protesting against the abduction of over 200 school girls from Chibok in Borno State since last Month.
Vanguard learnt that the fracas occurred as a result of rivalry between the #Bringbackourgirls group and a new group named “#ReleaseOurGirlsNow”. Members of #Bringbackourgirls have been involved in the protest which has already gained global attention since it commenced several weeks ago.
Unconfirmed sources told Vanguard that the clash was serious necessitating the invitation of the the police.
It was learnt that the Release Our Girls group who are believed to be mostly Abuja-based market women destroyed some of the chairs and mats of #BringBackOurGirls group. Vanguard learnt that the intervention of the Nigeria Police brought sanity to the venue of the protest.When Vanguard arrived at the fountain yesterday evening detachments of armed policemen were seen watching over the women.It was also observed that most of the women who were present at the Unity Fountain belonged to the Release Our Girls group.It was also observed that few members of #Bringbackourgirls group at the Fountain wore white tee-shirts which was a departure from the red attire they usually wore in the past.Princess Maryann Onuoha, Coordinator of Grand Alliance Against Terrorism, which is affiliated to #Bringbackourgirls spoke to Vanguard and described what happened as a minor disagreement between some women adding that incidents like this were bound to happen whenever there was a large crowd of women at a single place.
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#ReleaseOurGirlsNow is trying to bully #Bringbackourgirls. Why? I smell fish & it ain’t Friday! Looks@ Jonathan’s ppl.
CHIBOK GIRLS: Presidency, US slam Defence Chief
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/chibok-girls-presidency-us-slam-defence-chief/
The United States said, yesterday, that it does not have information to support the claim by the Nigerian military that it knows the whereabouts of the more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh said on Monday that the military knew the location of the schoolgirls, abducted by the Boko Haram Islamic sect on April 14.
Badeh’s claim has also reportedly incurred the wrath of the Presidency.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, yesterday, that, “we don’t have independent information from the United States to support that statement. We, as a matter of policy and for the girls’ safety and wellbeing, would not discuss publicly this sort of information regardless.”
Five U.S. and European security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had no credible information on the location of the girls and were skeptical that the Nigerian government knew where they were. The five officials said the United States and some European allies had provided technical intelligence, including information from spy aircraft and satellites, to Nigerian authorities, who lack such intelligence capabilities.
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Why would they report such a lie? And get families hopes up? Who would do such a thing? OMG!
Secondary school students #BringBackOurGirls protest by Sadiq Adelakun
Abubakar Shekau needs to be GONE. He’s a threat to Nigeria and humanity!
Nigeria army ‘knows where Boko Haram are holding girls’
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27582873
The Nigerian military say they know where the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram are but they will not attempt a rescue.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff said it was “good news for the parents,” although he admitted the military would not risk “going there with force.”
More than 200 girls were abducted by Boko Haram gunmen from their school in northern Nigeria in April.
Earlier, the BBC learned that a deal to release some of the girls was close but was called off by the government.
The BBC’s Will Ross in Abuja says an intermediary met leaders of the Islamist group and visited the place where they were being held.
Chibok girls will be rescued in matter of days – Omeri
http://dailypost.ng/2014/05/25/chibok-girls-will-rescued-matter-days-omeri/
Indications emerged yesterday, that the abducted Chibok schoolgirls may soon be rescued as the massive troops deployed to the area are making positive progress.
According to the Co-ordinator, National Information Centre, Mike Omeri, the efforts of officers and men of Nigeria’s defence forces as well as the police and the Department of State Service, DSS, were yielding positive result.
“We have made significant progress”, he told Vanguard.
Omeri, who doubles as the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, said, “The very nature of the sensitivity of what we are doing demands that we provide information only on a need to know basis. That is why some of the posers you have raised, I would not be able to yield”.
When reminded that the Chibok girls have been in the kidnappers’s den for over 40days, Omeri hinted, “By God’s grace, we are looking at a matter of days”.
The ChibokGirls have been in the clutches of mad men for 40 damn days. How fast would nearly 300 white girls be rescued? Can you imagine anyone moving at a snail’s pace to rescue nearly 300 white girls held captive by black men? Time to rescue the ChibokGirls! For crying out loud, they’re being held captive in a forest by mad men. #blacklivesmatter
Military aircraft bombard Boko Haram camps in Bauchi forests
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=64612
As the war against the Boko Haram by the Federal Government intensifies, the Nigerian military has reportedly bombed the sect’s camps located in parts of Bauchi State, local and security sources have disclosed.
As early as 6:00a.m., locals said they heard loud sounds of explosives coming from the forest where insurgents’ camps were reportedly located.
It has been reported that sizeable numbers of gunmen suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect have been operating in the Balmo forests in Darazo, Burra in Ningi, Soro in Ganjuwa and Yugda forests between Zara-Miya, while another camp is believed to exist around the Bauchi-Gombe boundary in Alkaleri.
Some of the locals in the forest communities, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, said the vibration shook their houses to their very foundation, adding that shortly after the explosive sounds were heard, they saw military aircraft bearing Nigerian flags hovering in the area.
A reliable security source in the state confirmed that the army has started operation in the forest but did not give details of the development, adding that the exercise was carried out without creating panic among the inhabitants of the forests.
Boko Haram and Nigerian Schoolgirls Abduction
Witnesses testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Nigeria and the threat of Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?319459-1/threat-boko-haram
Boko Haram Survivor on Capitol Hill
Deborah Peter, originally from the village of Chibok, gave her testimony on Capitol Hill.
Breaking
Just a matter of time now…
Ask OBL had it turned out for him. Oh, that’s right, he’s DEAD.
Potus don’t play. You see what happened to the pirates & Bin Laden?
BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!!
EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian Military Sights Abducted Chibok Schoolgirls In 3 Boko Haram Camps
http://www.theparadigmng.com/?p=18141
Nigeria’s Special Forces from the Army’s 7th Division have sighted and narrowed the search for the more than 250 abducted Chibok schoolgirls to three camps operated by the extremist Boko Haram sect north of Kukawa at the western corridors of the Lake Chad, senior military and administration officials have said.
“It has been a most difficult but heroic breakthrough,” one senior military official said in Abuja.
That claim was supported by another senior commander from the Army’s 7th Division, the military formation created to deal with the insurgency in the Northeast. The 7th Division is headquartered in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The breakthrough comes at a critical moment for the Nigerian military that has faced cutting criticism over its handling of the kidnapping of the girls more than a month ago.
The news is also key for the Maiduguri-based 7th Division a week after a humiliating mutiny by troops of its 101 battalion who fired at the General Officer Commanding the division, Ahmadu Mohammed, a Major General.
Maj. Gen. Mohammed escaped unhurt, but has since been redeployed. The soldiers blamed him for the deaths of at least four of their colleagues killed near Chibok, a remote community in Borno State where the girls were taken captives April 14.
Some people are using the #BringBackOurGirls to bring attention to themselves. IF your focus isn’t on the kidnapped girls then GoSitDown and stfu!
The lives of the #ChibokGirls are at stake. This ISH is real! This is no got damn game. The lives of these young black girls matter! The focus should be on the kidnapped girls and getting them released. *looks@IrinaShayk*
Nigeria’s Boko Haram crisis: UK spy plane breaks down
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27487957
A UK spy plane sent to help search for more than 200 girls abducted by militant Islamists in Nigeria has developed a technical fault.
It has been forced to land in Senegal for repairs, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
The plane left the UK on Sunday, joining an international effort to secure the release of the girls.
The Boko Haram group captured the girls from their boarding school in Chibok town, north-east Nigeria, in April.
Lord, I cry out to you…make the savages pay for this!
#BringBackOurGirls: Two Chibok Girls Raped And Left To Die In Sambisa Forest By Boko Haram
http://www.theparadigmng.com/?p=18056
15 year old Baba Goni is a young lad from Borno who was abducted by Boko Haram terrorists who murdered his uncle in cold blood to take him at age 13.
He was made to be a servant at the Sambisa forest camp by the insurgent group for two years until he escaped after being sent on a mission to murder his family in order to prove his loyalty to the sect. He now works as a Boko Haram informant for a vigilante group in Borno.
In this exclusive from DailyMail, Baba recounts his ordeal with Boko Haram and narrates how he and his team valiantly rescued two girls left for dead in the forest, tied to a tree after being raped by the savages.
Their faces scratched and bleeding, the pitiful remains of their once-smart school uniforms ripped and filthy, the two teenage girls were tethered to trees, wrists bound with rope and left in a clearing in the Nigerian bush to die by Islamist terror group Boko Haram.
Despite having been raped and dragged through the bush, they were alive – but only just – in the sweltering tropical heat and humidity.
This grim scene was discovered by 15-year-old Baba Goni. ‘They were seated on the ground at the base of the trees, their legs stretched out in front of them – they were hardly conscious,’ says Baba, who acted as a guide for one of the many vigilante teams searching for the Nigerian schoolgirls abducted from their school last month by Boko Haram – and now at the centre of a concerted international campaign for their freedom.
The horrific scene he and his comrades encountered, a week after the kidnap early on April 15, was in thorny scrubland near the village of Ba’ale, an hour’s drive from Chibok, where 276 girls aged 16 to 18 were taken from their boarding school dormitories – with 223 still missing. It was still two weeks before social media campaigns and protests would prick the Western world’s conscience over the abduction.
In the days following their disappearance, rag-tag groups such as Baba’s, scouring the forests in a convoy of Toyota pick-up trucks, were the girls’ only hope.
But hope had already run out for some of the hostages, according to Baba, when his group spoke to the terrified inhabitants of the village where Boko Haram had pitched camp with their captives for three days following the kidnap.
The chilling account he received from the villagers, though unconfirmed by official sources, represents the very worst fears of the families of those 223 girls still missing.
Four were dead, they told him, shot by their captors for being ‘stubborn and unco-operative’. They had been hastily buried before the brutish kidnappers moved on.
‘Everyone we spoke to was full of fear,’ said Baba. ‘They didn’t want to come out of their homes. They didn’t want to show us the graves. They just pointed up a track.’
The tiny rural village, halfway between Chibok and Damboa in the besieged state of Borno in Nigeria’s north-east, had been helpless to stop the Boko Haram gang as it swept through on trucks loaded with schoolgirls they had taken at gunpoint before torching their school.
Venturing further up the track, Baba and his fellow vigilantes found the two girls. Baba, the youngest of the group, stayed back as his friends took charge.‘They used my knife to cut through the ropes,’ he said. ‘I heard the girls crying and telling the others that they had been raped, then just left there. They had been with the other girls from Chibok, all taken from the school in the middle of the night by armed men in soldiers’ uniforms.
‘We couldn’t do much for them. They didn’t want to talk to any men. All we could do was to get them into a vehicle and drive them to the security police at Damboa. They didn’t talk, they just held on to each other and cried.’
Chibok abduction: Boko Haram set to release school girls
http://dailypost.ng/2014/05/19/chibok-abduction-boko-haram-set-release-school-girls/
The Boko Haram members have demanded for the release of their top commanders, after which they would start releasing up to half of the Chibok school girls currently in their den since April 14, fresh reports have shown.
According to Telegraph, the terror group is willing to conduct a “gradual” release of the girls if the federal government frees their members detained in various prisons across the country.
According to the report, efforts are being made behind the scenes to secure the release of the students with an agreement reached in principle to release some of the hostages gradually.
My Visit To Chibok Will Not Bring Back Our Girls- Jonathan
Ruthless bastards!
29 Killed As Boko Haram Fires Rocket Into Market In Borno
http://www.theparadigmng.com/?p=18008
The recurrent attack by members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect took another turn on Saturday as members of the sect attacked a market in Ngurosoye village in Bama Local government area, killing at least 29 people
It was gathered that the insurgents came in hundreds of motorcycles and six Hilux vans and began shooting sporadically as they threw rocket launchers on traders in the market.
A security source who confirmed the incident said they counted 29 lifeless bodies apart from several others who were wounded.
He said, “the situation is deteriorating with the killings increasing by day.
“I think it is high time government allowed us to move into this Sambisa and destroy all these evil people”.
This is the third time insurgents are attacking the market since their activities began in 2009.
Will someone GET them already?!
Breaking: Boko Haram Writes Letter In Pidgin To Two High Schools, Promise To Pay A Visit
http://www.theparadigmng.com/?p=18006
The Principal of Government College, Makurdi, Godfrey Ugudu, on Saturday said the school had received letter from Boko Haram sect threatening to attack the school.
At a news conference, Ugudu added that the school received two letters which had the same content on 14 May.
“It is true that we saw two letters informing us of the intention of the sect to invade our school on Friday or Monday by Boko Haram.
“The letters were dated May 14, 2014, stating that they were coming either of the two days to abduct our boys whom they would marry to the secondary school girls abducted in Chibok.
“In the letter, we were asked to inform the Mount Saint Gabriel Secondary School opposite us to also get prepared as they promised to invade the place too.’’
According to him, “we immediately alerted the police and the Commissioner for Education. A report has been made to the Governor on the issue.
“The two letters, which were written in pidgin English, were sighted inside one of the classrooms and the second one was slipped into the staff room,” he said.
These are my daughters; these are our daughters; these are the world’s daughters.
Surely the nations of the world have the ability to go in and rescue our daughters!!!!
Surely they do. Someone HELP those girls!!!!!!!!!!!
We got action, folks!
Breaking News:
Boko Haram Terrorists Arrested By Citizens In Dikwa Say Abducted Girls Are In Sambisa
http://www.theparadigmng.com/?p=17953
Eight Boko Haram terrorists who came to get food and items from Goym village in Dikwa local government, Borno state were arrested by visiting Civilian Joint Task Force men who came from Gwoza. The terrorists who came in a hilux truck with some motorcycles were arrested at 4pm Friday evening.
Upon interrogation, the terrorists revealed that the 234 girls abducted from Chibok were still in Sambisa forest and that they had been divided into three groups. They describe the camps in Sambisa as very large. They said they were sent by their leader to get items including clothes for the girls. Dikwa local government is one of the local governments that is a boundary of Sambisa
forest, and is near Gamboru-Ngala where 300 civilians were killed recently.
The civilians hoped military support will be sent to Dikwa immediately as it is likely the terrorists return when they find their men were arrested. They also hope “the Americans” will act on this intelligence to rescue the abducted girls.
Please SAVE OUR GIRLS!
Please RESCUE OUR GIRLS!
Please BRING OUR GIRLS HOME!!!!!!
Getting close, y’all!
US drones take photos of Boko Haram camps •We haven’t seen the girls yet.
Revealing photographs of Boko Haram fighters have been taken by United States manned and unmanned aircraft as American military and intelligence specialists intensified the hunt for Nigeria’s missing schoolgirls.
http://www.tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/5428-us-drones-take-photos-of-boko-haram-camps-we-haven-t-seen-the-girls-yet-american-officials
However, US officials have expressed frustration with the country’s inability to act on these and other fresh intelligence about the Boko Haram extremists who took more than 200 school girls captive and threatened to sell them into slavery, The Los Angeles Times has reported.
“Images from US surveillance drones and satellites over the last week has shown suspected bands of Boko Haram militants setting up temporary camps and moving through isolated villages and along dirt tracks in northeastern Nigeria,” the report quoted US officials as saying.
It said the Obama administration has shared the images with President Goodluck Jonathan’s government in Abuja. “But Nigeria’s security forces are hampered by poor equipment and training and have failed to respond quickly,” said a US official familiar with the growing search operation.
US Defence officials, according to the report, believe the insurgents split the girls into several groups after the April 14 abduction from school in Chibok village. The leader of the militants, Abubakar Shekau, said this week that he would release some of the girls in exchange for imprisoned members of his group.
Bolstered by international help, the Nigerian-led search has now expanded to include an ungoverned area of desert and that crosses the porous borders into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon, US officials say. The girls’ locations are still unknown, however, the report said.
The Chibok girls have been missing for over 30 days. For crying out loud, they’re in the forest with a bunch of mad men. Time to bring them HOME!
Chances of US sending in Marines grow after damning indictment of Nigerian Army
http://www.nigerianwatch.com/news/4417-chances-of-us-sending-in-marines-grow-after-damning-indictment-of-nigerian-army
POSSIBILITIES of the US sending in a special unit of Marine commandoes to rescue the 234 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls have increased lately after military analysts revealed that the Nigerian Army lacks the capacity to carry out such a task.
Over the last week, US military analysts have been exploring the means of working with the Nigerian Army to rescue the girls and several trainers are on the ground offering technical expertise. However, after reviewing the situation, senior US military and civilian officials have questioned the capability of the Nigerian military, even with foreign assistance, to carry out a successful rescue operation.
Alice Friend, the Pentagon’s principal director for African affairs, said that Nigerian security forces have so diminished in capability that they are currently afraid to even engage Boko Haram. Testifying before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, Ms Friend alluded to the fact that morale appears to be very low within the military.
Ms Friend added: “We’re now looking at a military force that’s quite frankly, becoming afraid to even engage. The Nigerian military has the same challenges with corruption that every other institution in Nigeria does as much of the funding that goes to the Nigerian military is skimmed off the top, if you will.”
Other senior officials including defence secretary Chuck Hagel; Robert Jackson, the acting assistant secretary of state for African Affairs and Earl Gast, the United States Agency for International Development’s assistant administrator for Africa, also testified before the committee. They all gave a troubling evaluation of the Nigerian government’s tactics against Boko Haram and the military’s refusal to up its games and improve on its human rights record.
Nigeria abducted schoolgirls: President cancels Chibok trip
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has called off a visit the town where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted, officials say
Sources had told the BBC he would stop in Chibok, in the north-east, on his way to a conference in France on the threat from Boko Haram militants.
But the visit was called off for security reasons, the officials said.
The president – under pressure over his government’s failure to rescue the girls – will fly direct to Paris.
The BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse in Nigeria says the cancellation of this visit underlines just how fragile the security situation is in the north-east.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27433274?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoon&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet#TWEET1130492
Not a good look!!!!!!!!
Chibok Girls: Group Gives 48-hour Ultimatum To Jonathan
http://www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/chibok-girls-group-gives-48-hour-ultimatum-jonathan
The BringBackOurGirls Campaign team has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to President Goodluck Jonathan to respond to their letter demanding answers to questions raised by the abduction of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls.
The group stated that if the president failed to respond to its letter, it would stage a mega protest on Tuesday.
Speaking during the usual everyday 3pm village square meeting, the former Education Minister, stated that the group would in the meantime, mobilise people from all the states as it awaited response from the president.
“We are still waiting for the response from the presidency as to the letter we have written for a meeting with him and we are still going to continue follow up. And then we will let you know as soon as we get a feedback from him,” she said.
She also disclosed that the group would be paying a visit to the Chibok community by next week so as to sympathise with them and show them that Nigerians were all rallying around them until the abducted girls were released.
U.S. officials frustrated by Nigeria’s response to girls’ kidnapping
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-us-nigeria-schoolgirls-20140515-story.html
As American military and intelligence specialists joined the hunt for Nigeria’s missing schoolgirls, U.S. officials expressed frustration Thursday with the country’s inability to act on fresh intelligence about the Boko Haram extremists who took more than 200 teenagers captive and threatened to sell them into slavery.
Imagery from U.S. surveillance drones and satellites over the last week has shown suspected bands of Boko Haram militants setting up temporary camps and moving through isolated villages and along dirt tracks in northeastern Nigeria, U.S. officials say.
The Obama administration has shared the imagery with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s government in Abuja. But Nigeria’s security forces are hampered by poor equipment and training and have failed to respond quickly, said a U.S. official familiar with the growing search operation.
Everything you need to know about Nigeria’s kidnapped girls
http://www.vox.com/cards/nigeria-kidnapping/basics
Jonathan to visit Chibok, troops today
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/jonathan-visit-chibok-troops-today/
ABUJA— President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to visit Borno State today to assess the security situation and possibly visit troops deployed there.
The President is expected to leave Maiduguri for France, where he is expected to attend a regional security summit that involves France, Chad and Niger.
There were reports that the President may also visit Chibok, where the abduction of over 200 girls from a secondary school sparked international condemnation and outrage.
The incidence has attracted multinational support from USA, Britain, France, Israel and China to assist Nigeria’s rescue efforts.
A statement by Dr Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity said President Jonathan will be joined at the summit by heads of state and government of Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
The statement added that Britain, the United States of America and the European Union will be represented at the talks which will give special attention to the coordination and intensification of efforts to curtail the destabilising activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
It said: “President Jonathan, who will be accompanied by the Minister of Defence, Lt Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd.); National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) and other principal aides and advisers, will return to Abuja at the conclusion of the summit on Saturday.”
Chibok:UN rules out military intervention to find missing school girls
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=63687
A top UN envoy has ruled out a military intervention by the UN to rescue no fewer than 200 school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Borno on April 14.
Mr Said Djinnit, UN Secretary-General’s Representative for West Africa, gave the indication at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja at the end of his four-day visit to Nigeria.
Djinnit, who was in Abuja at the instance UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, said he held discussions with Nigeria officials on UN support to ongoing efforts to secure the release of the abducted girls.
He welcomed the international cooperation and military assistance offered by a number of countries to Nigeria to help find the missing girls. He also expressed support for the holistic approach adopted by the Nigeria government to address the insecurity in the Northern part of the country.
He, however, said a UN military intervention to tackle insurgency in Nigeria could only be authorized by the UN Security Council.
The UK, U.S., France, China and Israel had all offered assistance to Nigeria to help rescue the girls. The U.S. had deployed surveillance aircraft while the UK government had announced that it would also complement that effort with a Sentinel spy plane.
Earlier, the Secretary-General’s Representative stated that the UN was preparing a “support package” for the affected families and the girls after their release.
Protesters in Lagos defy weather to march for abducted girls
One month after Chibok girls’ abduction (Timeline)
http://thenationonlineng.net/new/one-month-chibok-girls-abduction/
April 14: Boko Haram invades Government College, Chibok at night.
April 15: Early morning, the girls are moved out. Over 200 of them. Some girls escaped.
April 16: Nigeria’s military says most of the girls managed to escape or were freed and releases a statement saying only eight girls are still missing. It turned out to be a lie and it admitted misleading the public.
April 17: Chibok people say many remain unaccounted for and parents of the missing girls head into the Sambisa forest near the Cameroonian border to search for them. On their return they say they did not see any Nigerian soldiers in the forest.
April 18: Army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade says a report stating that most of the girls had been freed was incorrect but was “not intended to deceive the public.” Parents insist that more than 200 girls are still missing. The military has not rescued any of the girls.
April 19: Asabe Kwambura, headmistress of the school in Chibok, appeals to the government to do more to save the girls and calls on the kidnappers – thought to be members of the Boko Haram group – to “have mercy on the students.”
April 23: Nigerians take to social media to show their anger at the government response and Ibrahim M Abdullahi, a lawyer in Abuja, sends the first tweet using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
April 29: Parents of the abducted girls protest government “indifference” to the mass abduction, their anguish heightened by reports the girls have been sold as wives abroad.
April 30: Hundreds march through Abuja to protest at government “indifference” to the mass abduction. A community leader from Chibok warns that the girls may have been taken to neighbouring states and forced to marry militants. He says that 230 girls are missing – another increase in the figure.
May 1: Hundreds of desperate parents protest in Chibok, calling for help from government and the international community. Protests are also staged elsewhere in Nigeria and abroad.
May 2: The police say Boko Haram militants are holding 223 of the initial 276 girls who were abducted, after 53 managed to escape.
May 4: Another 11 girls are abducted by suspected Boko Haram Islamists in Borno state, this time from the villages of Warabe and Wala.
May 4: President Goodluck Jonathan makes his first public comments since the abduction, saying his government is seeking assistance from the US and other world powers to tackle Nigeria’s “security challenge”. He vows to do everything to ensure the release of the girls.
May 5: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, in a video obtained by AFP, claims the abduction of the girls and threatens to “sell” them in the market as “slaves”.
The US State Department says it has information that the girls could have been ferried across to neighbouring countries. Chadian and Cameroonian authorities deny the presence of the girls in their territories.
May 6: U.S. President Barack Obama describes the girls’ abduction as “heartbreaking” and “outrageous”, adding “this may be the event that helps to mobilise the entire international community” finally to act against Boko Haram. He confirms Nigeria has accepted the deployment of an American team of experts to help find the girls.
Al-Azhar, the highest religious authority among Sunnite Muslims calls for the release of the girls saying that harming them “totally contradicts the teachings of Islam and its principles of tolerance”.
May 6: U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of herself highlighting the #BringBackOurGirls campaign
May 7: The police offer 50 million naira (£175,000) for information that could lead to the location of the girls.
In Paris, French president François Hollande offers Nigeria a “special team” to look for the girls and Britain says it will send a team of experts to Nigeria to help with the crisis.
The #BringBackOurGirls hashtag hits 1 million tweets and US First Lady Michelle Obama joins the online campaign, posting a picture of herself on photo-sharing site Instagram holding a piece of paper with the hashtag on.
May 8: The Pakistani schoolgirl who survived a shooting by Taliban insurgents,Malala Yousafzai, joins the #BringBackOurGirls campaign and says the world must not stay silent over the abduction.
May 9: Experts from the U.S. and UK arrive in Nigeria to help with the search for the missing girls. Amnesty International accuses the military of ignoring warnings before the abduction. The human rights group said credible sources told it that the army were notified of an impending attack four hours before it happened but did nothing. The government says it doubts the report but will investigate.
May 11: Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima says he has information on the whereabouts of the girls and has passed reports of possible sightings to the military. He says he does not think they have been taken across the border to Chad or Cameroon.
May 12: Boko Haram releases a second video showing the abducted girls dressed in Islamic robes and asked for a swap of the girls with his imprisoned members
May 13: Parents identify 77 of the girls. The Borno State government organised mass viewing of the video giving parents the opportunity to identify their missing children.
May 14: The day is marked with demonstrations across the country and beyond calling for the girls’ release.
May 15: It is exactly one month after Boko Haram abducted the girls.
Chibok: the village that lost its daughters to Boko Haram
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/15/chibok-nigeria-200-kidnapped-schoolgirls-boko-haram
In village in north-eastern Nigeria people feel abandoned by a government that has failed to rescue 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.
Asabe Kwambura is getting tired of waiting. Sitting under a young mango tree alongside the charred remains of her school, the headteacher looks around nervously. It’s not safe to be out here in one of the most dangerous parts of north-eastern Nigeria, but the government has promised to send a team to investigate the kidnapping of more than 200 pupils from her school and she wants to greet them in person.
“These are our girls,” she says. “They are from Chibok.” She punctuates her words by pointing to the ground. “They are from here.”
Around her are abandoned desks and burnt out classrooms destroyed when Boko Haram militants stormed the Chibok government girls secondary school a month ago, loading the girls into lorries and driving them away.
Around her are abandoned desks and burnt out classrooms destroyed when Boko Haram militants stormed the Chibok government girls secondary school a month ago, loading the girls into lorries and driving them away.
Kwambura’s face is drawn and tired. The kidnapping has left its mark on everyone in this remote settlement, which has been living under a state of emergency since Boko Haram stepped up its attacks more than a year ago.
This picture breaks my heart.
kidnap families want ‘unconditional’ release
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/kidnap-families-want-unconditional-release/
Relatives of more than 200 schoolgirls held hostage by Boko Haram on Thursday called for their unconditional release, after Nigeria‘s government ruled out a prisoner swap with the extremists.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau indicated in a video this week that he could release the 223 girls now held for more than a month in exchange for militant fighters in custody in Nigerian jails.
But Britain’s Africa minister Mark Simmonds said after meeting President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday that the head of state was adamant there “will be no negotiation that involves a swap”.
Ayuba Chibok, whose niece is among the hostages, said the girls’ detention was taking its toll on parents and families in their remote town from where the teenagers were abducted on April 14.
“For me, I want these girls released without any negotiations. Even if Boko Haram wants to request something from the government, let them request something else,” he told AFP by telephone from Chibok.“
Let (Shekau) release these girls unconditionally,” he added.
Chibok: British foreign minister arrives Nigeria.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=63606
Efforts by the Federal Government to rescue the over 200 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State, received another boost yesterday with the visit of the United Kingdom (UK) Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds.
Simmonds’ visit to Nigeria, according to a statement made available to Daily Sun yesterday in Abuja, by the British High Commission, was to enable him have high-level meetings with the Nigerian Government on further UK assistance.
“Following the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria on April 14, Foreign Office Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, will visit Abuja on 14 May (yesterday) for high-level meetings with Nigerian authorities to explore what further assistance and advice the UK can provide in support of Nigeria’s efforts to secure the girls’ release and to deal with the threat posed by the extremist group Boko Haram.
Abduction of Nigerian Schoolgirls Ignites Global Social Media
http://www.voanews.com/content/abduction-of-nigerian-girls-ignites-global-social-media/1913849.html
WASHINGTON — The abduction of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls from their boarding school by an Islamic militant group a month ago has created a firestorm on social media.
From Twitter to Tumblr to Facebook to a Change.org online petition with more than 900,000 signatures, millions of people worldwide are voicing their outrage at government inaction and spreading word of the girls’ plight with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
However, this attempt to use social media to raise awareness also has its critics, who say that a hashtag or Facebook campaign oversimplifies the events in Nigeria and rarely produces any tangible results.
Still, it was the lack of awareness and governmental inaction in Nigeria that was the impetus behind #BringBackOurGirls.
Ibrahim Abdullahi, a lawyer in Abuja, Nigeria, is considered the first to use #BringBackOurGirls – on April 23.
He was at a UNESCO event in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where Obiageli Ezekwesili, a former World Bank vice president for Africa, used a similar phrase when referring to the Chibok schoolgirls in a speech.
Ezekwesili urged members of the audience to “make a collective demand for our daughters to be released. … We are collectively saying, ‘Bring back our daughters.’ ”
At that point, Abdullahi said, the Nigerian government had not mentioned the girls or taken any action to rescue them.
So Ezekwesili’s comment stuck with him.
When he was going to tweet the phrase, Abdullahi said he decided to alter it from “daughters” – because everyone may not have a daughter — to “girls,” because everyone has one girl in their life.
Chibok Girls: Foreign Aid And Matters Arising
http://leadership.ng/news/370871/chibok-girls-foreign-aid-matters-arising
In this report, GEORGE AGBA examines the offer and acceptance of assistance from world powers, including the US, Britain, Israel and China in the ongoing rescue operation of the school girls abducted in Chibok, Borno State.
Last week was momentous for Nigeria. It was as if the whole world moved to her doorstep. The United States of America set the ball rolling on what turned out to be outpouring of global assistance for Nigeria in the ongoing rescue operation of the school girls abducted in government secondary school, Chibok, Borno State. After US made its offer which President Goodluck Jonathan accepted whole heartedly, Britain, France, China and Israel followed suit. They have all now sent teams of counter-terrorism officials and other specialists to Abuja.
For most Nigerians, the arrival of these foreign security experts to help in locating and freeing the abducted schoolgirls was the ray of hope they had long expected from the global horizon. Britain alone has sent a mixed team, led by the foreign office, with components from the Metropolitan Police, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for International Development and the intelligence agencies.
Chibok: US won’t share intelligence with Nigeria —Pentagon
http://www.tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/5235-chibok-us-won-t-share-intelligence-with-nigeria-pentagon
General David Rodriguez, Head of the Africa Command, was in Abuja, to work out “protocols” for sharing the information from the high-resolution cameras carried by the surveillance aircraft, the officials said.
“At this point, we are not sharing raw intelligence data,” said Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
Warren declined to give reasons for holding back the information, but Africa specialists have warned of corruption in the Nigerian military and fears that the Boko Haram terror group holding the girls has penetrated the security services.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan “himself has said that high levels of the security apparatus and the government have been penetrated” by Boko Haram agents and sympathisers, said J. Peter Pham, Director of the Africa Centre at the Atlantic Council. “That’s going to hurt the search effort,” Pham said Monday on the PBS “NewsHour” programme.
Although the military was holding back, the US has been sharing commercial satellite imagery with Nigeria, the State Department said.
Extremists attack town of abducted schoolgirls
http://news.msn.com/world/extremists-attack-town-of-abducted-schoolgirls
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Islamic militants again attacked the remote Nigerian town from which nearly 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped, Nigeria’s military said Wednesday, resulting in a firefight that killed 12 soldiers and led angry troops to fire on a commanding officer.
Soldiers said the troops fired at a senior officer who came to pay respects to the killed soldiers, whose bodies were brought to a barracks in Maiduguri, the capital of northeastern Borno state.
It’s another sign of demoralization in the military that is in charge of the search for the abducted schoolgirls. The failure of Nigeria’s government and military to find them after the April 15 mass abduction has triggered national and international outrage and forced Nigeria’s government to accept international help last week.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Defense played down Wednesday’s shooting incident, saying soldiers “registered their anger about the incident by firing into the air. The situation has since been brought under control, as there is calm in the cantonment” in Maiduguri, about 130 kilometers north of Chibok, where the girls were abducted.