Clinton to Jonathan: How you can fight terrorism

ABUJA— The United States, yesterday, offered to assist Nigeria fight Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which it sees as a growing regional menace, saying Nigeria cannot rely on military might alone. An official, travelling with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disclosed this after holding a closed-door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential villa.

Clinton, who arrived the Villa at 3.57 P.M., was accompanied by officials of the U. S. Embassy in Nigeria and some diplomats and were received by the Foreign Minister, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru. Clinton also had another meeting with Security Chiefs including all the Service Chiefs, the National Security Adviser, retired Col. Sambo Dasuki and the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar.

According to the senior US official, the US is offering to help President Goodluck Jonathan fight Boko Haram, a militant sect that wants to establish a strict Islamic state in the northern part of the country. Boko Haram has launched bomb and gun attacks on churches this year that provoked Christians, leading to deadly reprisals against Muslims. Hundreds of people have died and Washington is concerned about insecurity spreading.

“Northern Nigeria also borders Chad, Cameroon, Niger and we are concerned this radicalism could undermine the security of neighbouring states. A security strategy is not enough. We know all too well from our own experiences in both Iraq and Afghanistan what can happen if soldiers and police are not operating under appropriate authorities”, the senior U.S. official said.

Trip to Brazil, Boko Haram, UNILAG, Fuel Subsidy Probe & More: Goodluck Jonathan Defends Himself at Presidential Media Chat

Yesterday evening, President Goodluck Jonathan met with select representatives of top Nigerian media organizations where he discussed various issues facing Nigeria ranging from Boko Haram to the renaming of University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University.

He also spoke on the fuel subsidy probe, declaration of his assets, provision of stable electric power supply and his recent trip to Brazil.

The live media chat was anchored by Ohi Alegbe with Tribune Editor, Edward Dickson; Ishak Modibo Kawu, Vanguard columnist and Maupe Ogun of Channels as panelists.

Here are some highlights of his responses to various questions:

Boko Haram frees 40 from Yobe Prison

Forty inmates of Yobe Prison were freed in an attack believed to have been carried out by the dreaded Boko Haram Sect, Patrick Egbuniwe, Yobe State police commissioner, said on Sunday.

"There was an attack on the Yobe prison this morning. The Boko Haram sect attacked the prison through the Emir's palace and 40 inmates escaped," he said.

"They attacked with rifles; the police and the joint task force confronted them. The Boko Haram members that were shot were carried away by the sect."

He said two of the attackers were shot dead and some policemen were injured.

Gun battles between sect members and security forces in Yobe's capital Damaturu killed 40 people on Tuesday last week.

Boko Haram has been blamed for several prison breaks in the past and one of the group's few demands has been that its imprisoned members should be freed.

Attacks on churches have intensified this month, sparking deadly religious violence in the northern state of Kaduna.

News credit: Daily Times

Bomb Blast Hits Popular Abuja Nightclub

A bomb exploded at the popular Crystal Lounge in the Wuse II district of Abuja. According to eyewitnesses, a man entered a crowded food court, planted the bomb and then ran away. No casualties recorded but five cars were destroyed in the attack.

Boko Haram Cell Leader, Habib Bama, Dies From Gunshot Wounds

Habibu Bama, a cell leader for Boko Haram and the suspected mastermind of the Christmas Day bloody attack on Saint Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State is dead.

Mr. Bama, who was arrested Thursday in Damaturu, Yobe State as he attempted to grab a gun from a soldier, died early this morning from gunshot wounds he received from agents of the Joint Task Force battling the extremist Islamist sect.

More than 42 worshipers and bystanders died in the Christmas Day attack, one of the most

Boko Haram plans Jihad on Christians, S-East CAN alleges

ENUGU—THE Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, South East zone, yesterday alleged that the Northern Islamist sect, Boko Haram and its sponsors had concluded plans to declare a Jihad against the Southern part of the country with the deployment of over 6,000 fundamentalists to the South to prosecute the war.

The association also claimed that part of the plot for the mass killing of Christians in the South was the alleged importation of a poisonous powder which Hausa suya sellers would use to poison the meat they sell as part of the Jihad, warning the people of the South to be careful about eating suya henceforth.

Chairman of CAN in the zone and Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, who

Boko Haram ‘Likely’ To Attack Lagos and Ibadan in Next Few Weeks, Pan Yoruba Group Warns

A new pan-Yoruba group, Apapo Oodua Koya, (AOKOYA) said today that it has “trusted” information that Boko Haram, the dreaded extremist Islamic group, is likely to attack Lagos and Ibadan in the next few days or in the month of July.

“Boko Haram thinks the best way to get attention is through sustained attacks, but the surest way to dominate national discuss and stir critical opinions is to take the battle to the country’s economic hub, which is Lagos and Ibadan,” the group said in a statement in Ibadan signed by its Secretary for Internal Affairs, Alhaji Mufatau Adedoyin. “That is the new thinking of the Boko Haram leadership.”

AOKOYA expressed regret that the political leadership of the South West has no concrete plans to curtail the “almost inevitable” suicide bomb attacks that the Islamic group may unleash on the largely urbanized Yoruba region.

It said that the frequent activities of Boko Haram in Kogi State, plus last weekend’s bomb attacks on Kaduna city are clear indications that cities in South West Nigeria must be prepared for their

Boko Haram Claims Responsibility For Kaduna And Zaria Church Bombings

Radical islamist militant group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the bombing of three churches that killed at least 50 people in Zaria and Kaduna town yesterday. The sect targeted mostly children and women in the Zaria attacks.

The sect spokesperson Abu Qaqa said the current massacre of christians was done to avenge the past killings of Muslims and desecration of Mosques in Zonkwa, Yelwan Shendam, Tafawa Balewa, where they said Mosques were turned into brothels and drinking joints, while Christians continue to carry on with impunity and