INSURGENCY: Nigerian troops kill atleast 200 Boko Haram terrorists in Michika

Fierce gun battle between the Boko Haram sect and the Nigerian troops has seen the later overrun the insurgents in Michika and Gulak in Madagali Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, reports indicate The towns had allegedly in the past one month been under the control of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents.

However, it was gathered that following the fierce fighting, the military are at the moment comfortably controlling Michika, which the insurgents seized on September 7, 2014

A source privy to the Punch said, “I can confirm to you authoritatively that the military are advancing towards Madagali.”

The source who spoke from his mountainous hideout in Michika, noted that despite the military bombardment,the insurgents on Sunday night re-grouped at the Government Technical College, Michika with the intention of attacking the soldiers before they were dislodged and chased away.

The source said, “The Nigerian troops have gained entry into Michika and Gulak, and are now fully in control of the towns having dealt a severe blow to the insurgents, as they lost about 200 members, while some escaped with injuries sustained from gun shots.”

Another source from the area said Nigerian troops had earlier met with a stiff resistance from the insurgents as they advanced towards Gulak leading to the prolonged gun duel.

The source added that:

“There is a heavy fighting between the insurgents and Nigerian troops as the insurgents are doing everything to frustrate the effort of the Nigerian troops and many people who were trapped in the towns are now sneaking out following intensified fighting.”

He added that the insurgents who were in their thousands came through Uba and attacked the Nigeria troops who had already advanced into Michika, but were repelled back immediately.

Efforts to get the reaction from the Army Public Relations Officer of the 23rd Army Brigade Yola proved abortive as his telephone was not reachable while the police authority refused comment saying it is not within their area of jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the Adamawa State Acting Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has commended the efforts of Nigerian soldiers to liberate the two local government areas initially under the grip of the militants.

Missing $10.8bn audit report ready November —Okonjo Iweala

The audit report on the alleged $10.8bn missing from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation will be ready in November, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said. The minister spoke at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2014 in London on Monday.

She said there had been ongoing discussions between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources on the matter, adding that the huge attention generated by the alleged unaccounted for fund necessitated the government to take steps, including the appointment of PriceWaterHouseCoopers to do a forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Okonjo-Iweala said, “Initially, it was $48bn, then $20bn; but the figure we have always had is $10.8bn. I am the Minister of Finance; if money is missing, I want it – to use it for good things for the country and that was why when we went to the Senate; we demanded for forensic audit. The President supported it and asked for it to be done.

“We engaged PwC with the Auditor General of the Federation taking the lead. They asked for 16 weeks to complete the work; they have spent 11 or 12 weeks so far and they will be done in a couple of weeks.”

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who is now the Emir of Kano, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, had raised an alarm that the NNPC could not account for $48bn that should have gone into the Federation Account.

A committee established that the unaccounted fund was $10.8bn; Sanusi later said it was $20bn, but was suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan in the wake of the controversy, just months to the completion of his tenure.

On the Ebola Virus Disease, Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria needed to be commended for the efforts it made in ensuring that the index case did not take the illness out of the country and also for containing it.

She said, “Nigeria did a great service by stopping Patrick Sawyer, who was Minnesota bound. Ebola cannot be said to be the real elephant in the room as it has been hyped beyond proportion by the media.
“We all want democracy, but how do you get it? It involves money. You must discuss issues relating to campaign funds.

People who sponsor campaigns believe they must get something from the government when elections are won. These are the real elephant in the room and we need to deal with it.”

Discussing on a panel on Focus Nigeria, the Director- General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh, described wholesale and retail trade as the future of the country’s economy.

She said Nigeria was focusing more on Small and Medium Enterprises’ development as a way of creating more jobs and improving the standards of living of the citizens, because it recognised that SMEs were vehicles for wealth creation.

Oteh said, “I think first and foremost is the recognition globally about the importance of SMEs because they are the ones that create jobs. I think there is a greater focus on how SMEs can be supported.

“In our own country, President Goodluck Jonathan recently set up an SME council. He set up a job board; all of that is focused on how we can practically address the challenges we are facing with the SMEs.”
The SEC boss said to grow the SMEs, the capital market was absolutely important to source funds.

She added, “We need to provide funding at reasonable cost; capital that is patient so that people can grow their businesses and banking finance is not patient. What we need is capital that will be there for a long time; a market-based finance that is long-term and there is a global recognition of this fact.

Amnesty’s report is nonsensical, expert tells US

A security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has described as nonsensical, allegations levelled against the Nigerian armed forces by the Amnesty International.

A report recently released by the body had claimed that armed forces usually torture innocent people in its fight against insurgency.

But Ekhomu told the United States government to conduct an independent verification of the allegations.

The security expert said this while speaking at the 60th annual Seminar and Exhibits of the American Society for Industrial Security, according to a statement on Monday.

He noted that the US had not been supplying ammunition to Nigeria because of the allegation which is a contravention of the provisions of the Leahy Act.

The statement read in part, “Dr Ekhomu said allegations of human rights abuses levelled against the Nigerian military by Amnesty International were untrue, exaggerated and unsubstantiated. He said that arms sales to Nigeria were being denied by the US government as per provisions of the Leahy Act on the basis of these unsubstantiated and unfortunate allegations. “He urged the US authorities to conduct independent verification of the nonsensical allegations.”

Ekhomu, who is the President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, said the Boko Haram and the ISIS were ideologically and operationally linked as evidenced by the “land grab strategy in north-eastern Nigeria and the declaration of the Islamic Caliphate of Gwoza which is similar to the ISIS land grab in Syria and Iraq and declaration of Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and Syria.”

He subsequently called on the US to sell arms and ammunition to the Federal Government to enable speedy and successful prosecution of the war against Boko Haram.

“Nigeria needs special anti-terrorist rifles, attack helicopters,technical intelligence and training from the Americans in order to expedite defeat of the enemy,” he said.

He described the Nigerian military as disciplined and focused. He called on Nigeria’s political class to close ranks and demonstrate unity of purpose in the war on terror.