Boko Haram Map Waikiki

Video promises to show Nigerian girls kidnapped by militants two years ago   chowxpress.com.ngA video purporting to reveal some of the more than 200 girls kidnapped by Nigerian-based Islamist militant group Boko Haram has surfaced on the abduction’s second anniversary. In the video, believed to have been made in December and got by CNN, 15 girls are expressionless as they say their names into a man heard off camera. "we're all well," said among the girls in the video, first air Wednesday. She subsequently supported the Nigerian authorities to satisfy with Boko Haram’s demands, which were not said. CNN reported that the video was made as "part of dialogues between the government and Boko Haram." Although Nigerian officials have alluded vaguely to possible discussions, there have been few details that were clear as the militants continue to wage attacks. The kidnapping of the 276 schoolgirls got worldwide interest, and Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president, pledged to bring them home. 219 are still missing, although several girls managed to escape. Although Boko Haram in the past few years has kidnapped thousands of people, the girls, taken in the northeastern town of Chibok, became an international symbol of the clash. America has dispatched military trainers and surveillance drones, and activists around the world united on social media behind the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. "Two years on, the Chibok girls have begun to symbolize all the civilians whose lives have been devastated by Boko Haram," said Amnesty International’s Nigeria director, M.K. Ibrahim. The United Nations is helping support some of the people who escaped in the Islamist group, many of whom live in straggly displacement camps and buildings that are deserted. The girls are believed to be in the distant Sambisa woods in northeastern Nigeria. Although the country’s military has dislodged militants from cities and towns, a search and rescue operation in the forest is thought to be much tougher. The last time the girls were seen publicly was in a May 2014 video. In Nigeria, rumors have swirled over their destiny that was possible. Some girls held by Boko Haram in other places have described a widespread effort of sexual abuse and forced marriages by the extremists. The recently released video reveals the lost girls with head scarves that are flowing that conceal everything but their faces. Despite the sketchy info provided in the video, Nigeria’s information minister, Lai Mohammed, told CNN the girls in the video appeared "under no strain whatsoever." CNN also spoke to a classmate of the kidnapped girls, who said they recognized the young women in the video and mothers. I felt like removing her " said Rifkatu Ayuba, whose daughter was among the 15 girls revealed. The video’s transmission coincided with a report by the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF accusing Boko Haram of sharply increasing the use of child suicide bombers — with girls accounting for more than three-quarters of them — in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad. Some of the girls are believed to have now been kidnapped by the extremists.  Boko Haram is compelling more children to carry out suicide bombings  Within the last two years, Boko Haram militants have increasingly turned in West Africa: kid suicide bombers to a new tactic in their attacks.  The amount of kids involved in such blasts grew more than tenfold, from four in 2014 to 44 in 2015, according to a report released by the U.N. kids’s agency on Tuesday. And more than three quarters of the kids are girls — some as young as 8 years old. Another view that is chilling is added by the statements by UNICEF into the atrocities blamed on the Boko Haram group, which has conducted mass kidnappings of children, including more than 200 school girls abducted from a boarding school in northern Nigeria. Some girls and women who escaped have claimed that prisoners confront sexual abuse and forced marriages. "Let us be clear: These children are victims, not " said UNICEF’s regional manager for West and Central Africa, Manuel Fontaine. " forcing them to perform fatal actions and Deceiving children has been one of the most horrifying aspects of the violence and in nearby nations." The Islamist group has been driven by offensives by security forces in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad from most of the territory it once controlled. In response, Boko Haram has conducted an increasing number of attacks on civilian targets, killing hundreds of people in recent months. The report also reveals Boko Haram’s drive in northern Nigeria in the last couple of years outside its former strongholds. 21, almost half the kid suicide attacks, were in neighboring Cameroon, it said. But both Nigerian officials and international aid groups have struggled to explain the basis for the surge in kid attackers. But according to UNICEF, many of the strikes are conducted involuntarily. "Lads are compelled to assault their own families to present their devotion to Boko Haram, " the report said. A huge selection of ladies, meanwhile, happen to be taken captive by the group. "The considered use of kids, who may have already been coerced into carrying bombs, has created an atmosphere of mistrust and concern that's devastating consequences for daughters who have survived sexual and captivity violence " said UNICEF’s report. The rise in Boko Haram’s case is stunning although young suicide bombers are used in other conflict zones. Since 2014, 20 percent of most suicide bombings completed by the group have been kids, according to UNICEF. Some of the kids were abducted by Boko Haram from their dwellings, and their bodies were identified afterwards from remains after suicide attacks. A young girl blew herself up in a mosque in the northern Ni ger ian city of Maiduguri, killing at least 22 individuals, last month. Her identity has not yet been established. The Nigerian military, for its part, has come to treat kids abducted by Boko Haram as hazards no different from adults. Boys have appeared on "wanted posters" across northeastern Nigeria — once the stronghold for the group — along with dozens of top Boko Haram suspects. "Banditry knows no age," said Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, the top military official in the northeast, when a Washington Post reporter asked about the lads on the poster. In a different report from Human Rights Watch Tuesday released, researchers said that "Nigeria’s by using schools as military bases, placing children at additional risk of assault from the Islamist armed group security forces have contributed to the difficulty." Human Rights Watch also reported that "at least 611 teachers happen to be purposefully killed." Almost 1.3 million schoolchildren have been displaced by the conflict, according to UNICEF, including 5,000 children separated from their parents. And violence is just not the only danger facing kids in the area. By January, 195,000 children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Army says no more Boko Haram camps in North East The Acting Manager, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said there were no camps of Boko Haram terrorists in the northeastern part of the state anymore. He said: "The situation in the North-East has enormously improved. The military operations or the fight against terrorism and insurgency in the North-East is hinged on three things. Based on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Usman, who disclosed this yesterday while addressing newsmen at the inauguration of Strategic Communication Lessons for senior officers at the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information, Bonny Camp, Lagos, said the military was winning the war against terrorism.  "First, defeating the Boko Haram terrorists which have been carried through and making room to facilitate humanitarian assistance that's also on-going. "Then restoration of order and law for good governance to take place. "We no longer have we no longer have them in the territories and camps of Boko Haram terrorists."  On the inauguration of the communicating class, Usman said that training of personnel was paramount, including that it would enhance proficiency.  He thanked the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, for improving the Nigerian Army formations.  Additionally, the NASPRI Commandant, Col. John Agim, said the class was to better equip senior officers who were saddled with the responsibility of shaping the information environment.  As you settle down to face the rigours of the course, I urge one to take advantage of the training to enhance your capability in public relations.  "Also, enrich your ability in information management and by expansion in the profession of arms", Agim said. Northern group wants amnesty for Boko Haram A group, the Northern Inter faith and Spiritual Organisation for Peace (NIROP), has reiterated call for an amnesty programme for repentant members of the Boko Haram sect. The group also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the absorption of members of the local vigilance outfit, also called Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), into security agencies. National Coordinator of NIROP, Bishop Musa Fomson, who spoke with reporters in Abuja, yesterday, said: "We desire to suggest the authorities strongly consider granting amnesty to members of Boko Haram which aren't high up in its command structure, as an incentive to make them drop their weapons without further individual cost. "What is on trial here is our humankind. As the war on terror reaches the advanced phase of clearing out remnants of the sect, departures are still being recorded on all sides. An incentive from putting up stiff fight to stop the remaining terrorists would be to support surrender. This should specifically target the noncombatant elements of those and the terror group that were coerced into joining the sect." NIROP, however, warned that the amnesty should focus on demobilising Boko Haram members "and mustn't be converted into a money making jamboree. It should also be tracked in a sense that it's possible to keep track of those that sign up for the deal." Commending President Buhari on the absorption of members of the CJTF, Bishop Fomson said: " absorption and Their training into the Nigerian Army and other agencies is a confirmation the fight against terrorism has reached the stage where homegrown solutions need certainly to be engineered. The issue has been how to disarm and demobilise the youths, after they have been forced to carry arms. Those raising the anxiety were afraid of what would occur when the military has utterly defeated Boko Haram. The youths could become a way to obtain trouble because they will have the abilities to fight but are not gainfully used." Boko Haram Ambush: Military yet to confirm quantity of soldiers  Not less than 10 soldiers are said to be missing in action, when troops of the Nigeria Army walked into an ambush laid by Boko Haram insurgents on Thursday morning. The authorities of the Nigeria Army are yet to verify the number.  But a statement issued by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (Ag.DAPR) Col Sani Usman, affirmed that soldiers returning from a successful operation seen the insurgents, inflicted casualties on them, but "a few others were missing in action."  A source told The Guardian the soldiers that were missing were before the ambush, in the thick of action but when you are exchanging fire you cannot begin to look out for everybody.  So it was a difficult situation "The terrorists attacked in their numbers, the troops were taken unawares, but the real figure would be made public soon," the source said. The statement read in part: "Troops on clearance patrol at Guro Gongon village and environs to rout out remnants of Boko Haram terrorists hibernating therein, ruined the terrorists’ makeshift camps and recovered fairly several equipment, weapons and foodstuff in the act. "Yet, the gallant soldiers basking on the recorded achievement, returning to their defensive places, ran into an ambush by a group of Boko Haram terrorists who came to augment their fleeing comrades. Nigeria Boko Haram crisis: UN aid convoy ambushed Suspected Islamist Boko Haram militants have ambushed an UN humanitarian aid convoy in north eastern Nigeria which had a military escort, officials say. The military said three civilians, including UN staff, and two soldiers were wounded in the strike. It has prompted assistance deliveries to be temporarily suspended by the UN where more than two million people are displaced by the insurgency. The UN says thousands of children are severely malnourished in the area. Before this month the UN's children agency warned that tens of thousands of children would die if treatment didn't reach them soon. Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has lost most of the territory it controlled 18 months ago, is fighting to overthrow the government. Its seven-year insurgency has left 20,000 people dead, mainly in the country's north east. The wounded are in a stable condition and are being treated in the state capital Maiduguri, according to a statement in the military. "The convoy was going from Bama to Maiduguri in Borno State... returning from delivering urgently needed help" at the time of the ambush, Unicef said. "This was not only an attack on humanitarian workers. It is an assault on the people who most need the support and aid that these workers were bringing," it added. Boko Haram never actually went away, contrary to the Nigerian authorities saying the group had been defeated "technically" or even "decisively". The group has undoubtedly been weakened in the joint military offensive by Nigeria and its neighbours, losing swathes of territory in Nigeria's north-east. But attacks against civilians and security forces have seen a revival in recent months. Since June, the strikes have been encouraged by media outlets of the so called Islamic State, to which the leaders of Boko Haram have sworn allegiance. It doesn't help that Nigeria and another conflict are now fighting against petroleum militants in the southern Niger Delta region. UN suspends aid to dangerous areas of northeast Nigeria LAGOS, Nigeria — The United Nations is freezing aid to dangerous places of Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, where it says after a humanitarian convoy was ambushed by Boko Haram, a half million people are starving. Three civilians including an UNICEF employee and contractor for the International Organization for Migration were wounded in Thursday’s ambush, along with two of the soldiers escorting the humanitarian workers, according to the Nigerian army and the U.N. Children’s Fund. "Only the U.N. missions outside the capital have been frozen," UNICEF spokeswoman Doune Porter told The Associated Press on Friday. "The ordinary assist we have been giving will continue in Maiduguri," the Borno state capital of 1 million folks that hosts another million refugees from Nigeria’s 7-year old Islamic insurgency. "This wasn't only an assault on humanitarian workers. It's an assault on the folks who most need the help and help that these workers were bringing," Porter said. The convoy that was assaulted was going in the city of Bama, likely to die without food and medical aid and recently freed from Boko Haram, where Doctors Without Borders has warned that kids are dying every day with 15 percent enduring serious acute malnutrition. More than 500,000 people are suffering a "devastating crisis" in that was humanitarian dangerous-to-reach places, said the physicians. A Doctors Without Borders vehicle traveling with a military escort set off a land mine earlier this week a few kilometers (miles) in the scene of Thursday’s ambush but no one was hurt, according to soldiers who were there. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to talk to reporters. Military spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman said the insurgents were hiding in Meleri hamlet near Kawuri, the official gateway to the sprawling Sambisa Forest that has been a Boko Haram stronghold. The military warned earlier this month that Boko Haram combatants were fleeing its day-to-day aerial bombardments and ground attacks in the forest, heading toward the border with Cameroon. Some Boko Haram combatants who surrendered have reported the militants are running out of food, fuel and arms, the military has stated, saying they have cut off the insurgents’ supply lines. The rebellion by Boko Haram, which joined the Islamic State group this past year, has killed more than 20,000 individuals, forced more than 2 million from their homes and distribute across Nigeria’s edges to Cameroon, Chad and Niger. U.N.: Nearly 50,000 kids at risk of starvation due to Boko Haram effort Nearly a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished in a single state in northeastern Nigeria, where a violent campaign kept support groups away and by Islamist extremists has displaced a lot more than a million individuals, a leading international group reported. Starting in 2011, Boko Haram took in Nigeria over tremendous amounts of territory and went into nearby Cameroon and Chad. The combatants have been dislodged by the Nigerian military from most of the strongholds. But the insurgents have kept their capacity to regularly strike at soft targets, such as displacement camps or mosques. That has caused it to be hard for many support groups to manage. "Though a number of these areas are now not under Boko Haram control, they are still not safe ," said Doune Porter, a spokeswoman for UNICEF in Nigeria. Northeastern Nigeria is now the site of among the world’s largest displacement disasters, with more than 1.4 million individuals having been forced to flee their homes. But because the area is dangerous and not accessible, it receives relatively little international assistance. Nigeria’s own support apparatus has a limited record of effectiveness, plus some pros say it's plagued by serious mismanagement. There are 2 million folks we are still unable to reach in Borno state, which means that the true scope of the disaster has not yet been revealed to the world," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s manager for West and Central Africa. There are organizations on the ground doing great work, but none of us are able to work at quality and the scale that we desire. We all must scale up." In addition to the displaced, many of those facing acute food shortages once relied on farms that raided or have been destroyed by Boko Haram combatants. The failure of government services has exacerbated the malnutrition crisis in places where the insurgents happen to be active. 70 percent of the water infrastructure in Borno and thirty percent of health facilities continues to be destroyed or damaged, according to the United Nations. Based on the UNICEF report, about 50,000 of the kids will perish if they don’t receive medical attention shortly. is received by food The report focused on Borno state, which has endured the worst of Boko Haram’s assaults and mass kidnappings. Yet while those offenses are known — especially the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok — less attention has been received by the immense humanitarian impact of the group’s campaign. At one displacement camp in the town of Bama, the aid group Doctors Without Borders reported that individuals were dying of starvation. UNICEF has appealed for $55.5 million to react to the crisis in northeastern Nigeria but has received only $23 million. All the humanitarian actors are under-resourced and underfunded, and it’s an extremely hard issue," Porter said. MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — In the middle of the forest, they were kept in miniature thatched huts for months, waiting with anxiety each evening due to their rapists. During the violence that is almost intolerable, the young women’s heads drifted to escape or death. The victims were as young as 8.  At the heart of Boko Haram’s self-proclaimed caliphate in northeastern Nigeria was a savage campaign of rape and sexual slavery that has just recently been uncovered. Thousands of girls and women were held subject to forced marriages and relentless indoctrination. People who resisted were often shot.  Many of the girls are suddenly free — rescued in the last year that dislodged the extremist Islamist group from most of the land it controlled in a number of Nigerian military operations. But there have now been few joyous family reunions for the casualties. Most of the surviving women no longer have houses. Their cities were burned to the ground. The military has gently deposited them in abandoned buildings or displacement camps, where armed men leery of their devotions monitor them. They are still labeled "Boko Haram wives." When Boko Haram kidnaped 276 schoolgirls, few could have envisioned this kind of outcome two years ago and the world responded with the Bring Back Our Girls effort. Many people supposed the other kidnapped women would be welcomed back while most of those schoolgirls from Chibok are still missing. Instead, they can be shunned. For Hamsatu, seven months, now 25, and Halima, 15 raped nearly every day by the same unit of fighters in the remote Sambisa Forest. Now, they live with empty cement bags sewn together to create a drape, in a narrow, white tent in a displacement camp. The women spoke on the condition that their full names weren't used so that you can freely describe their experiences. The other individuals living in the camp scowl at her or carefully move away when Halima leaves the tent to get food for the two of them. You ’re the person who was wed to Boko Haram," one elderly girl spat at her recently. We can’t trust any of them," said one guard. Authorities say there are great reasons because of their wariness. This past year, 39 of 89 Boko Haram suicide bombings were completed by girls, in accordance with UNICEF. Twenty one of those female attackers were from cities and hamlets apparently abducted under the age of 18, many of them girls and converted into assassins. Female attackers have killed hundreds of individuals in markets, mosques as well as displacement camps. No one knows just why some girls who abused and were caught became killers. Maybe it was the indoctrination. Perhaps it was the militants’ threats. The occupation of reintegrating the displaced, either way has become immensely more complicated for Nigerian authorities. And for survivors trying to move ahead from a horrible phase in their lives, there is now a brand new misery. "There's no trust here," said Hamsatu, wearing the same pink and crouching in her tent, flowery dress she had on when she was kidnapped 18 months ago. In her arms, she held the baby of her captor. It was September 2014 when Boko Haram combatants took over Hamsatu’s and Halima’s dwelling city of Bama, near the Cameroonian border. Many of the 350,000 residents managed to flee. But the fighters immediately began killing the male civilians who couldn’t escape. Some were shot inside their houses. Others were beheaded and thrown in mass graves. yohaig.ngWith a group of about 25 other girls, Hamsatu and Halima say, they were moved by the militants from home to home and after that compelled to go on foot and on the backs of bikes to the Sambisa Forest, where Boko Haram had set up camps for its sex slaves. The girls were each assigned into a sliver of a hut, barely large enough to lie down. Hamsatu said that days later, the name of one combatant, whose, entered the hut and said a prayer in what sounded to her. They were married, he told her. She thought of her actual husband, who'd been missing since the day Boko Haram stormed Bama. I do if he’s not dead," she said n’t understand.