US pledges $37m for Boko Haram victims

The United States government has announced that it will provide at least $37m in additional humanitarian assistance to people affected by Boko Haram insurgency and food insecurity in the North-East and other areas of the Lake Chad Basin.According to a statement issued and made available to our correspondent on Wednesday, the US government is providing the aid through its Agency for International Development.The statement read in part, “The savagery of Boko Haram has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Nigeria and surrounding countries in the Lake Chad Basin region. Families have been driven from their homes, millions are left without enough to eat, and human rights abuses are widespread. Despite gradually improving security conditions, the humanitarian situation remains dire. Throughout the region, approximately five million people need emergency food assistance, and 2.5 million people are displaced.”The US said the aid fund given to the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organisation partners, would help tens of thousands of people to receive “critically needed humanitarian assistance,” including food, water, shelter and services to address acute hygiene, protection and nutritional needs.
Three senior USAID officials, Nigeria Mission Director, Michael Harvey, US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Director, Jeremy Konyndyk, and Office of Food for Peace Deputy Director Matt Nims, made the announcement following a trip to the North-East, where the humanitarian needs are most acute.
“With this announcement, the United States is providing more than $318m in humanitarian assistance since 2015 to the Lake Chad Basin region and continues to be the single largest humanitarian donor to the region.
“In addition to humanitarian funding, USAID provides targeted assistance that seeks to reduce extreme poverty and improve the quality of life for Nigeria’s most vulnerable communities through improved governance and civic participation at the federal, state and local levels; reduced corruption; a strengthened private sector as a source of job creation; and improved quality of social service delivery,” the statement said.

“The food assistance will be delivered to conflict-affected communities in the Diffa Region of Niger, including populations who fled their homes following the recent attacks in Bosso. This new food assistance will be coordinated with the humanitarian community in Nigeria to scale up the overall regional food response,” the statement added.

UN condems barbaric Boko Haram violence in Nigeria

Militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), has vowed to bomb more oil pipelines beginning from first week of August.

The group warned oil workers and foreigners still in the region to vacate or risk their lives.

The group which has claimed respon­sibility for recent spate of bombings of oil facilities in the region said it has had enough of the dishonesty and tricks of the Federal Government, as it claimed the peace talk or dialogue purportedly initiated by the Federal Government was a delay tactics to enable the gov­ernment take delivery of arms includ­ing drones expected to arrive by end of August from the United States.

“This whole thing makes us to won­der what kind of country is this? We can all see that President Buhari-led govern­ment is a fraud. They are not serious about any dialogue. But they make it look as if the Niger Delta Avengers are the ones not ready for dialogue.

“Mr. President, you can purchase all the drones in Europe and the United States of America, it won’t stop the Niger Delta Avengers from bringing the country’s economy to zero.

“The worst you can do is to kill poor innocent people which the military is good at, but you should know that the Nigerian economy will suffer, as you will not be able to export one litre of crude in the Niger Delta. Just intensify the oil exploration in the North East. As for the ones in the Niger Delta, forget about it because the Nigerian govern­ment won’t export a drop from our land,” the militants bragged.

But the military has read the riot act to the militants to desist from attacking oil installations or face the consequences of their criminal actions.

Commander of Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie who gave the warning in Asaba during a courtesy call on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State vowed that the multi-service task force was prepared to tackle any criminal action within the Nigerian maritime area.

He said the military has the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari to secure the waters in the Niger Delta region covering part of Ondo, Edo and the entire Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers as well as part of Akwa Ibom states against security and economic threats.

Meanwhile, the Concerned Militant Leaders (CML) has claimed responsi­bility for the attack on the Nigerian Na­tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline, which occurred on Monday, at Obotim Ikot Ekong village in Akwa Ibom State.

Also, the CML said the Liberian ship, which its “rugged sea warriors” seized on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, on Bakassi Peninsula Nigerian waterways, would not be released, adding that the vessel would be named after Biafra.

Spokesperson of the group, General Ben, stated this yesterday, while react­ing to the statement by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Tukur Buratai that the militants would be attacked, if government’s efforts to dialogue with militants proved futile.

General Ben claimed no active militant group has engaged the Federal Government in any discussion, warning that any individual who works against the collective agenda of the militants would regret his or her action.

Joji said by blowing up oil pipelines and destroying other key facilities that affect the economy of the Nigeria, the militants have declared war against the Nigerian state, and therefore should not be pitied.However, former Managing Direc­tor of the defunct Nigerian Airways, Captain Mohammed Joji said Buhari should not romance the militants by going into dialogue with them. He said government should engage them “fire for fire.”

Captain Joji said the militant group has not only inflicted incalculable pains on Nigerians, but also about to cripple the nation’s economy.

While lamenting that the activities of the Avengers was responsible for the scarcity of aviation fuel, the aviation expert said if the the ‘madness’ was al­lowed to continue, it would ground the aviation industry, which would in turn ground the economy.

“Fuel scarcity in the aviation sector is a sabotage by the so-called Niger Delta Avengers, so pipeline vandalism must be brought to a halt if the crisis must end.

“I am not an advocate of negotiations with a terrorist group. The Federal Gov­ernment should forget about democracy and go fire for fire with the Avengers,” he said.

In a related development, former minister of mines and steel, Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola enjoined President Buhari to quickly summon an emergen­cy Council of State meeting to address the prevailing insecurity.

Ishola said the president should not wait until the insecurity in Niger Delta, the agitation for Biafra Republic in the South East and the continuous killings of innocent Nigerians by herdsmen, spi­ral out of hand before convening such a meeting.

“Allowing insecurity to persist beyond the current level may spell doom for Buhari’s administration, because the level of poverty in Nigeria today is just too high that people are only tolerating his administration temporarily.

“If he should allow Nigerians to run out of patience and revolt against his administration, that may spell doom,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said.

The ex-minister explained that the president should not think the rising insecurity in the country was something he and his All Progressives Congress (APC) could solve alone.

“Buhari needs wisdom from former Heads of State and other elder states­men who have ruled this nation before him. So, he needs to call the Council of State meeting as a matter of urgency, with security matter as the sole agen­dum.”

Ishola noted that it would be a great error on the part of Buhari to think that the method he used about 31 years ago as military Head of State is what he would use now as civilian president.

“This is a democratic dispensation, you have to carry along critical stake­holders and also have listening ears, if not the insecurity will get out of hand. And if you are talking about diversifica­tion of the economy, tell me, which foreign investors will go to a country to invest where they are throwing bombs, kidnapping people and demanding huge ransoms?” he queried.

Governor Geidam leads the resettling of 300,000 IDPs

Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe on Friday said the state government has commenced the process of returning over 300,000 displaced persons to communities hitherto held by Boko Haram insurgents.

The governor, represented by his deputy, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, said this in Damaturu when the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who paid him a courtesy visit.

He said the state government had set up various committees to facilitate the safe return of all the displaced persons to their communities.

Geidam called for the support of all relevant authorities, including the Army, to ensure that the environment was safe for the inhabitants to return.

He said the efforts of security agencies had made the areas, hitherto held by the insurgents, safe for the return of the displaced persons.

“The insurgency had displaced over 300,000 people and destroyed property in Gujba and Gulani local government areas.

“I wish to stress that the right steps have been taken with the inauguration of the committee to facilitate the return of civil authorities in areas retaken from the insurgents.

“The state government has also commenced the process of returning inhabitants to communities hitherto held by the insurgents.”

Geidam praised the contributions and sacrifice of the Nigerian Army and other sister services in containing the insurgency that ravaged parts of the north east.

He said the Nigerian Armed Forces had since independence held the country together and urged them not to relent.

“It is on record that the Nigerian Armed Forces have always been the defender of the people and will continue to do so”, the governor said.

He commiserated with the Chief of Army Staff and the families of slain officers and soldiers in the ongoing fight against Boko Haram.

Earlier, Buratai expressed appreciation for the support given to troops deployed to Yobe.

He attributed part of the successes recorded in the fight against terrorism to the cooperation of the people and support of the Yobe state government.

Buratai said he was in the state to continue his operational visit to Army units and formations.

“I am here on an operational tour of units and formations in Yobe state and the north east in general to assess troops’ performance and see to their challenges.

“The contribution of the Yobe state government to our operations in this part of the north east had been quite commendable.

“We appreciate the support of the state government, particularly the allocation of land and funds for the construction of our counter terrorism training school in Buni Yadi.

“We have also been offered land for the construction of our logistic base.

“We also intend to use the land for the construction of a Nigerian Army hospital here in the state.”

Buratai also commended the state government’s efforts in reconstructing the Damaturu-Biu road.

He said that it would restore socio-economic activities on the axis and lessen the burden of policing the route by the military.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Army chief was accompanied on the visit by the Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole and other senior army officers.