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Thread: Nigeria 2013-2017

  1. #181
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default We don't talk to BH. Ah, yes we do.

    For months the Nigerian government has denied being in talks with Boko Haram, over the kidnapped schoolgirls in particular. Now it appears they have been talking, with the Red Cross visiting jails to identify those to be "swooped". Now whether this is a real success is arguable.

    Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ire-deal.html?
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  2. #182
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    Default Nigerian Government Calls Halt to U.S. Training for Army

    I knew it would come to this, they'll probably seek the services/advice or Sri Lanka, Russia, North Korea or China - people who use the same brutal methods they are comfortable with.

    The U.S. is cutting short a training program for Nigerian soldiers following a request by the West African nation’s government less than a month after Washington said it refused to sell the country Cobra attack helicopters.
    “At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion,” the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Abuja, said in an e-mailed statement. The program was designed to help Nigeria battle the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
    The U.S. turned down the helicopter request “due to concerns about Nigeria’s ability to use and maintain this type of helicopter in its effort against Boko Haram and ongoing concerns about the Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when conducting military operations,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington on Nov. 12.
    Nigeria’s military, under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, is struggling to deal with intensifying attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.The insurgents have killed more than 13,000 people since 2009, according to Jonathan. Suspected Boko Haram members carried out two attacks on cities in Nigeria’s northeast today, killing at least five people.
    “We regret premature termination of this training, as it was to be the first in a larger planned project that would have trained additional units with the goal of helping the Nigerian Army build capacity to counter Boko Haram,” the embassy said.
    http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/201...tml#disqus-tab

  3. #183
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    Default Nigeria Troops Sentenced To Death For Cowardice



    Nigeria Troops Sentenced To Death For Cowardice

    Fifty-four members of Nigeria's special forces have been sentenced to death for mutiny and cowardice after refusing to take part in a raid against Islamist group Boko Haram.
    Nigerian troops have long complained they lack the firepower to fight Boko Haram and say they are often abandoned with little food and ammunition.
    In recent weeks special forces have recaptured at least four towns with help from air raids and vigilantes.

  4. #184
    Council Member CrowBat's Avatar
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    It seems that Boko Haram have overrun Maiduguri AB, in NE Nigeria:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wavj17TQp9A

    They claim '20 aircraft burned down': apparently, this includes a number of MiG-21bis (few can be seen on this video) that are out of service since the 1980s and were up for sale.

  5. #185
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    http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...terrorism.html
    ISIS, Boko Haram, and the Growing Role of Human Trafficking in 21st Century Terrorism

    The intersection of drugs and terrorism has long been investigated. Now, the recent actions of ISIS and Boko Haram are drawing attention to the role of human trafficking.
    While trafficking and smuggling does generate revenue, they are not central money-making endeavors for terrorists and are committed primarily for other reasons. Pakistani terrorists buy children to serve as suicide bombers. Rebels in Africa trade in children to fund their conflicts and obtain child soldiers. More recently, Boko Haram shocked the world by kidnapping 276 female students and threatened to traffic them. ISIS members have taken young Azidi girls, raped and sold them off for trivial prices. The girls and women may sell for as little as $25 and sometimes even less, suggesting that this is not a revenue-generating operation when a million dollars daily is gained from oil sales. Rather, human trafficking, like slavery in the past, is a way of demoralizing the conquered.

  6. #186
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Cameroon watching

    Boko Harem have long crossed the western border into Cameroon, in recent months meeting resistance and a military response. Events there are rarely reported directly. The BBC has two reports:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30623199 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30078626
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  7. #187
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default In a week 2k dead

    Compared to the easy to report from centre of Paris and nearby, there has been little reporting on Boko Haram's latest "success", first attacking an army base (the occupants fled into Chad) and days later the adjacent town of Baga, the last town in the north-east held by the Nigerian state.

    The significance comes from the death toll:
    An Amnesty International statement said there are reports the town was razed and as many as 2,000 people killed.......The five-year insurgency killed more than 10,000 people last year alone, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.
    Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-baga-nigeria?
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  8. #188
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    It is amazing that this isn't getting wider coverage. More evidence that the north doesn't value life in the southern hemisphere. 200 killed over a weekend in Nigeria in ethnic violence is not abnormal, but 2,000 slaughtered is a story. I guess it isn't news if there is no market for it? BH also strapped a bomb to a little girl that recently killed 20 people in another market attack.

    See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil.
    Last edited by Bill Moore; 01-11-2015 at 02:36 PM.

  9. #189
    Council Member ganulv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Moore View Post
    It is amazing that this isn't getting wider coverage. More evidence that the north doesn't value life in the southern hemisphere. 200 killed over a weekend in Nigeria in ethnic violence is not abnormal, but 2,000 slaughtered is a story. I guess it isn't news if there is no market for it?
    I have no idea how editors judge something to be newsworthy, but this one is a real puzzler and disappointment. And in the age when every venue jumps on any possible story to get something online as quickly as possible in an effort to win the social media algorithm. I guess editors are judging it “not relateable”?
    If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)

  10. #190
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    One reason for the lack of a high profile on this incident is that there is no independent news coverage; Jihadists of late have generally discouraged and even executed uninvited media. So there is no information and no film footage. The later is essential IMHO for a good TV report.
    davidbfpo

  11. #191
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    David,

    I certainly can't argue with your analysis, it certainly seems logical.

    Nigerian government came out and said only 150 people were killed, and many of them were BH. However, subsequent reports indicated the government of Nigeria is trying to hide the truth. Apparently BH still occupies the town, so the Army isn't even there, so if true hard to believe the government even has a clue on how many were killed.

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/12/africa...dliest-attack/

    Nine days later, bodies still litter

    On Monday, bodies still littered the bushes in the area.

    "It is still not safe to go and pick them up for burial," said Musa Bukar, the chairman of the local government where Baga is located.

    "Baga is not accessible because it is still occupied by Boko Haram," said Sen. Maina Ma'aji Lawan of northern Borno state.
    When the media does not have access both sides have the freedom to deceive. For now the truth for outsiders remains unknown.

    "Security forces have responded rapidly and have deployed significant military assets and conducted airstrikes against militant targets," Omeri said. "Troops are engaged in operations to reclaim the area from the terrorists."

    "From information we are receiving from residents nearby, not a single Nigerian soldier has shown up in Baga since it was seized by Boko Haram," he said. "It is all propaganda."

  12. #192
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Boko Haram embraces Islamic State model for extremist jihad

    A Washington Times article that relies on two US-based analysts to make its argument:http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...el-for-extrem/
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  13. #193
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    This should have been covered more just because it is such a huge tragedy, but I am curious to know how it was covered IN Nigeria itself? I assume there was massive coverage in the press and on TV? What was the main thrust of pundit commentary within Nigeria? (not a rhetorical question, I just have no clue).
    If one were to be somewhat unfeeling, one may even ask if there were any million man marches or shows of solidarity? Did other African leaders rush to Nigeria to hold hands and get pictures taken?
    If not (I suspect not), then how likely is it that people in faraway lands will do much more?
    I understand that Nigeria is not France. But then again, maybe that is why this has receieved little notice in the news. People (inlcuding newsmen) judge newsworthiness based on prior expectations. Sadly, for most people outside Nigeria, the prior expectation seems to be that it's a violent country with an incompetent army where vicious gangs of Islamist (and other) thugs occasionally go on massive killing sprees. To most distant observers, this just seems like "more of the same" and has less shock value than 17 victims in France. I am not saying this is necessarily accurate. And I am certainly not saying everyone SHOULD ignore what happens in Nigeria (their own comfort may be impacted if this spreads at this level all along the 10th parallel), but just trying to understand what the reasons may be...

  14. #194
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default African help OK; from the West no thanks

    Once again Chad's military are likely to fight next door, this time in the Cameroon; previously they have been in Mali and the CAR - each time they left after criticism, if downright public opposition to their presence.
    Link:http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...KP05V20150116?

    Earlier today a former British defence adviser in Nigeria, in a BBC radio interview, dismissed proposed external assistance to Nigeria's military would either help or be asked for.
    davidbfpo

  15. #195
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    I saw a segment on CNN where a Nigerian soldier was saying they had to buy their own kit because corrupt officers stole all the money and so on. Now this military actually defeated the Biafrans in the late 60s. Were they as corrupt then? or did they decay? or is this corruption story exaggerated?

  16. #196
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by omarali50 View Post
    I saw a segment on CNN where a Nigerian soldier was saying they had to buy their own kit because corrupt officers stole all the money and so on. Now this military actually defeated the Biafrans in the late 60s. Were they as corrupt then? or did they decay? or is this corruption story exaggerated?
    omarali50,

    Corruption is endemic to Nigeria and IIRC there are a few posts here on the gap between the political establishment and the military. For the politicians the issue today is the approaching national elections.

    Yes Biafra was defeated, but it took a long time - along with not inconsiderable external help - to overcome resistance: July 1967–January 1970. See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_War

    I have read in Sir David Richards book comments about the tactical prowess of the Nigerians in ECOMOG, now awhile ago in Sierra Leone (1998-2000). Times change and you are right that corruption, decay and more have shrunk Nigeria's military capabilities.
    davidbfpo

  17. #197
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    At the end of a UK CT story is this paragraph, I'd not noted this being given publicity before:
    The Ministry of Defence is also drawing up plans to deepen Britain’s involvement in the fight against Boko Haram Islamists in Nigeria, with up to 70 more military training specialists expected to be sent for 10 weeks to prepare the Nigerian armed forces for battle.
    Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ot-deport.html
    davidbfpo

  18. #198
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    It might be important to point out the hefty impact of oil crash on Nigeria's economy, especially government's revenues and exports aka 'hard currency':

    Nigeria’s Government Promotes Linkages in Oil Sector Nigeria is highly dependent on the oil sector, which is currently the country’s main source of its foreign exchange earnings and, growth although the contributions of non-oil sector to growth has been growing in recent years. From 1980 to 2010, oil revenues contributed an average of 76% of the federal government’s revenues. Nigeria’s exports are also seriously undiversified, with oil accounting for an average of 97% of exports over the same period. Nonetheless, efforts are being made to improve linkage between the oil sector and other sectors of the economy, albeit with moderate success.
    From the UN report Media Kit 2013


    The FT article "Nigeria devalues currency as oil prices drop" has a bit more about the problems around Nigeria's oil production and governance in years past:

    The shortage of savings and hard currency reserves is partly the result of huge shortfalls in oil revenues being remitted to the treasury during the recent boom. Mr Sanusi, the former central bank governor, was suspended earlier this year after he alleged that up to $20bn owed by the state oil company was unaccounted for and warned he would be unable to defend the naira should there be an oil price shock. The findings of a PwC audit commissioned by the government on the allegations were due in August but have yet to be made public.
    A big shortfall in the federal budget will hardly help in the fight against the Islamists...
    Last edited by Firn; 01-18-2015 at 07:45 PM.
    ... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"

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    Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935

  19. #199
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Nigeria 2015: analysis of election issues and future prospects

    The authors of this paper are:
    The House of Commons Library provides research, analysis and information services for MPs and their staff.
    What does the paper aim to do?:
    This paper looks at the multiple challenges facing Nigeria as it prepares for presidential and legislative elections on 14 February 2015. These elections will take place amidst an atmosphere of even greater crisis and uncertainty than usual. Boko Haram’s insurgency in the north of the country continues unabated. Over the last year, President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling People’s Democratic Party have been accused of a complacent and incompetent response to the insurgency.
    These developments, combined with deep divisions within the country’s elite, have resurrected old fears that the country might break up if the election aftermath is poorly handled.
    However, some observers remain remarkably hopeful about Nigeria’s future, predicting that its enormous economic potential is on the verge of being realised at last.
    The paper surveys the coming elections and then explores these hopes and fears about Nigeria’s future. It goes on to describe Nigeria’s relationships with the US, UK, EU, China and India before ending with a detailed country profile of Nigeria.
    Link to 90 pg. report:http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-pa...ture-prospects
    davidbfpo

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    Default Ghanaian president backs regional anti-Boko Haram force

    http://www.dw.de/ghanaian-president-...rce/a-18202555

    Ghanaian president backs regional anti-Boko Haram force

    During a visit to Germany, President John Mahama of Ghana has called for an African Union-mandated force to "deal with the menace" of Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighboring countries.
    It is finally getting to the point that countries in the region are pushing for collective action against BH. Read another report that some are questioning if it is even possible to have a legitimate election when so much territory is under BH control. However, I have seen no reports on elections being delayed.

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