Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label nigeria abducted girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nigeria abducted girls. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Boko Haram crisis: Cameroon troops 'free 900 hostages'


  • 2 December 2015

by Rashida Adjani and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, N'Djamena, Chad

Cameroon troops in the north of the countryImage copyright AFP
Image caption Cameroon is part of a five-country regional force fighting Boko Haram
Troops have freed 900 hostages captured by the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Cameroon's defence minister has announced.
Joseph Beti Assomo said his forces had also killed around 100 Boko Haram members at the end of November.
There has been no independent confirmation of the operation in Cameroon's remote Far North region.
It is not clear exactly where the clashes took place, or where Boko Haram's captives had been held.
The statement on public radio on Wednesday said a large stock of arms and munitions had been seized, as well as black-and-white Islamic State flags.
It did not give any details on the identities of the freed hostages.
So it is not known whether those freed include any of the 219 schoolgirls taken from their dormitories in Chibok, Nigeria last year.
At least 17,000 people have been killed and 2,000 abducted since Boko Haram launched its insurgency in 2009, according to Amnesty International.

Analysis: Martin Patience, BBC Nigeria correspondent:

Map of Cameroon
Until officials in Cameroon provide more details on the hundreds of hostages they claim were freed during a three-day military operation, questions will inevitably remain.
They have yet to say exactly where the operation took place, although reports suggest it was in northern district close to the Nigerian border.
In the past, this sparsely-populated region was used by the insurgents to stockpile weapons and to launch attacks.
But since the start of this year, Boko Haram has been hit hard by military campaigns carried out on both sides of the border.
The areas where they can operate freely in Nigeria and Cameroon are being severely squeezed.
In Nigeria, the military has retaken towns once controlled by the militants.
But that does not mean the insurgents are defeated. Boko Haram has now switched tactics, frequently carrying out suicide attack to deadly effect.
Cameroon has been increasingly drawn into the conflict as there have been regular attacks over recent weeks in the Far North of the country near the border with Nigeria's Borno State, where Boko Haram was founded.
On Tuesday at least three people were killed when two suicide bombers attacked in the region.
Cameroon along with Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Benin have formed a regional force which this year has retaken most territory Boko Haram had seized in north-eastern Nigeria.

Boko Haram at a glance:

  • Founded in 2002
  • Declared terrorist group by US in 2013
  • Initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
  • Launched military operations in 2009
  • Gained worldwide recognition after the #bringbackourgirls campaign for at least 200 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok
  • Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's "West African province"
Who are Boko Haram?
Why Boko Haram remains a threat

Boko Haram

Analysis

Life in the north

Background

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Monday, April 13, 2015

Nigeria's abducted girls 'seen with Boko Haram in Gwoza'

by Rashida Adjani and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, N'Djamena, Chad

20 minutes ago


More than 50 of the girls abducted by militant Islamists in Nigeria last year were seen alive three weeks ago, a woman has told the BBC.
She saw the girls in the north-eastern Gwoza town before the Boko Haram militants were driven out of there by regional forces.
Boko Haram sparked global outrage when it seized more than 219 girls from Chibok town a year ago.
The US, China and other foreign powers promised to help find the girls.
However, the girls have never been traced, and little has been heard of them since they were taken from their boarding school.
The whereabouts of the remaining girls is not clear.

'Big house'

Campaign group Bring Back Our Girls organised a silent march in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on Wednesday to raise public awareness about the abductions.

In an open letter, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai called on Nigeria's authorities and the international community to do more to secure the release of the girls.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has said the girls have been converted to Islam and married off, fuelling concern that the militants had treated them as war booty and sex-slaves.
Mr Shekau has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), which is also notorious for carrying out abductions in Iraq and Syria.
The Nigerian woman, who lived under Boko Haram's rule in Gwoza, told the BBC she saw the girls in Islamic attire, being escorted by the militants.
"They said they were Chibok girls kept in a big house," said the woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.
"We just happened to be on the same road with them," she added.

'Treated better'

Three other women also told the BBC they had seen the girls in Gwoza.
Boko Haram was believed to have turned Gwoza into its headquarters after it captured the town in August 2014.

Nigeria's military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, recaptured the town last month. 

The militants were suspected to have fled to the nearby Mandara Mountains, near the border with Cameroon.
It is unclear whether the girls are with them there.
Another woman told the BBC she last saw some of the girls in November at a Boko Haram camp in Bita village, also in the north-east.
"About a week after they were brought to the camp, one of us peeked through a window and asked: 'Are you really the Chibok girls?' and they said: 'Yes'. We believed them and didn't ask them again," the woman said.
"They took Koranic lessons, cleaned their compound, cooked for themselves and they braided each others' hair. They were treated differently - their food [was] better and water clean. "
Nigeria's outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan has been widely criticised for not enough to end the six-year insurgency in the north-east, and to secure the freedom of the girls.
Incoming President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to "crush" the insurgents.
He is due to be inaugurated on 29 May after defeating Mr Jonathan in last month's presidential elections.
Boko Haram at a glance:

  • Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education
  • Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
  • Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state
  • Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria
  • Has also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
  • Abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls
  • Pledged allegiance to Islamic State
Turning the tide against Boko Haram?
Who are the militants?

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