President
Goodluck Jonathan has said that his administration is working
assiduously on some available clues to identify the external sponsors
of the fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
He said the recent large scale attack in
parts of Maiduguri, Borno State, including the Air Force Base, had
further confirmed the government’s suspicion that the sect enjoyed
international backing.
He spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria and France 24 Radio at the close of a two-day summit on peace and security in Africa, hosted by President Francois Hollande in France on Saturday.
Jonathan, who said the insurgents
arrived in Maiduguri with between 15 and 20 vehicles, each mounted with
rocket launchers,added that he had approved N1bn for the rehabilitation
of detention camps of insurgents across the country.
He stated that Nigeria was seeking the
collaboration of friends of the nation to unravel the foreign sponsors
of the insurgents.
The President said, “We believe that a lot of assistance is coming (to the sect) from outside the country.
“We have not been able to pin down the
sources and that is why we are talking to our friends that we should
collectively work together to identify the source of their funding.
“A terror on any part of the world is a terror on all of us.”
Jonathan said Maiduguri attack clearly
showed that the sect’s operations had gone beyond its classification as
a local militia group.
“Initially, we felt that they were local
and as such, some people advocated that because of poverty, these
locals carried weapons against the State. So you expect that
sophistication will be minimal and you will be able to contain it
easily.
“But looking at the calibre of weapons
they have, you will find out that they have gone beyond the local
expectation. For instance, this last attack on Maiduguri, they came with
about 15 to 20 Hilux vehicles and each mounted with two to four rocket
launchers.
“They were over 100 and some of them
were carrying assault rifles and other weapons. The question then is
that, where do they get the weapons? Definitely, these weapons cannot
come from the locals, they are coming from somewhere.’’
He said while military operations would
continue in the affected parts of the county in order to protect lives
and property, his administration had not foreclosed the option of
dialogue with the sect .
Jonathan also said he approved the
release of the N1bn for the upgrade of insurgents detention camps in
response to a series of complaints by local and international human
rights groups.
He said the development would ensure that detainees were kept under normal human conditions.
Specifically, the President said he was
concerned over a human rights report on the situation of Giwa Barracks
where some of the detainees were kept.
The President added, “They were talking
about some conditions in the barracks and because of that, not quite
long, I released N1bn to make sure that they expand the facilities in
detention camps, particularly the camp in Giwa Barracks that they
complained about.
“Boko Haram members that have been arrested are being detained in a number of places and not only Giwa Barracks.
“Following complaints that I received
about that particular barracks, I called the Chief of Defence Staff to
go and use the army engineers to quickly expand and improve the
facilities so that people arrested will live under normal human
conditions.”
Jonathan however added that the reports of human rights abuses by the Joint Military Task Force were grossly exaggerated.
He attributed most of the cases of torture and killings the military is being blamed for to the sect.
“The issue of human rights abuses is
blown out of proportion. Whenever they have a major encounter, Boko
Haram destroys at will, they kill at will, some of these destructions
that are being ascribed to the Nigerian Army are actually done by the
Boko Haram sect,’’ he said.
The President said that the state of
emergency declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states had helped
tremendously in restoring sanity.
He recalled that before the emergency
rule, even the Federal Capital Territory was not safe having had its
share of terrorist acts with attacks carried out on the United Nations
building, the police headquarters, a military market and a newspaper
house.
He said the nation had now reached a point that the challenges were now in Borno and Yobe states.
“Even Adamawa , the third state that
the emergency rule covers, within this period, there are no issues
unlike before that there were repeated killings and bombings.
“Though, we are still having this issue of occasional attacks, but definitely, the emergency rule has helped,’’ he said.
The President also said he had yet to
receive a comprehensive report on a French priest that was kidnapped in
Northern Cameroon and reported to have been taken to Nigeria.
“No comprehensive information yet on
this. But what we know is that it is quite worrisome that the issue of
commercial hostage-taking is now a global business. Though, we got the
information, but I cannot give any categorical statement. But, we know
that the tradition of hostage-takers is mobility because when they are
being tracked, they move,” he added.
The 42-year-old Priest, Georges Vandenbeusch, was reportedly kidnapped on Thursday near Koza, in Northern Cameroon.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of the Diocese
of Osun North East, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev.
Humphrey Olumakaiye, has urged security agencies and people living in
the Southern part of the country to be vigilant.
Olumakaiye told news agency in Otan Ayegbaju, Osun State that the onslaught against
the Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states could force its
members to migrate southwards.
He said, “The security agencies and
everybody, especially in the South-South , the South-West and the
South-East should be vigilant. Those who had been dislodged might want
to migrate southwards to continue wreaking havoc..
“Nobody ever thought that suicide bombing could come to Nigeria, but here we are now living with suicide bombers.”
The military has been finding it
difficult to flush out members of the Boko Haram sect in the North-East
because no matter the security, you can’t defeat people who are ready
to die.”
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