Vanguard Reporter in Trouble as Boko Haram kills Dozens as three bombs hit Maiduguri, as Boko Haram joins ISIS

Three explosions hit Maiduguri, yesterday, in what could be the worst attacks there since Islamist militants tried to seize it in January.

There was no immediate official word on casualties. A hospital source said dozens had been killed in the separate explosions and witnesses saw bodies being taken away from different blast sites. The attacks came on a day the military claimed to have recaptured two local government areas of Borno State from Boko Haram.

A tricycle rider with a bomb tried to enter a fish market on the Baga Road in the west of Maiduguri. The bomb exploded when the tricycle was prevented from going in, Mohammad Ajia, a trader in Baga market, said after fleeing the scene.

A second blast then hit an area known as the Monday Market before a car bomb exploded by a bus station near a Department of State Security (DSS) office, according to a civilian member of a joint task force.

“Men from the anti-bomb squad came a few minutes after the blast to comb the scene, then they started evacuating victims. I saw five mangled bodies being put in vehicles,” Aliyu Musa, a resident in the area near the DSS office, said.

Near the Monday Market, casualties were loaded onto waiting ambulances.

“I have counted five ambulances that have evacuated victims from the scene. Soldiers are shooting in the air and warding off people at the market,” Salisu Yaya , a member of a civilian task force, told reporters at the Monday market area.

Maiduguri is the capital of Borno State, the heartland of Boko Haram.

Suspected Boko Haram militants tried to seize the city at the end of January but were repelled in fighting that killed more than 100 people.

In a related development, the military claimed, yesterday, that it had recaptured Mafa and Marte Local Governments Areas of Borno State from Boko Haram. “During these operations, the gallant and courageous troops recovered a large quantity of high caliber of arms and ammunitions including anti-aircraft guns from the insurgents”, a statement by the military said.

“It is significant to note that our troops did not suffer any casualty during these operations.

Presently, troops are conducting cordon and search and mopping up operations in the recovered territories, while effort is on going to recover more grounds from the fleeing terrorists.

“With the capture of Mafa, Marte LGAs, and the Chadian troops holding fort in Dikwa, the international route from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Central African Republic is now fully secured. With this positive development, the security of the area has significantly improved. It is hoped that international trade and socio-economic activities would be restored along this corridor”.

Threat

Meanwhile, Borno State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Mohammed Bulama, yesterday, threatened to deal with the Maiduguri correspondent of Vanguard Newspapers, Ndahi Marama, over what he termed as his negative reports on Governor Kashim Shettima- led government of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The threat come via a telephone call put through to the reporter by the commissioner at about 1:16pm, moments after yesterday’s blasts in Maiduguri.

Bulama, in the telephone call, told the reporter: “I called to inform you that we are not satisfied with your reports these days, particularly the report you published in Saturday Vanguard which we consider negative to the government, and Wallahi Tallahi ( I swear to God), I will make sure that I terminate your appointment with Vanguard and make your stay uncomfortable in Borno State if you did not desist from writing negative reports on the activities of the state government and APC in general”.

He claimed that throughout last week when his principal embarked on his campaign in the southern part of the state, Vanguard and other newspapers were giving bad publicity to the APC government.

When asked by the reporter why the commissioner threatened him while performing his constitutional duty, Bulama switched off his phone, but not before telling the reporter: “Be   careful”.

 Boko Haram joins ISIS

Boko Haram militants, have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, according to a message on the group’s Twitter account.

The message, which could not immediately be verified, appeared to be by the group’s leader, Abu Bakr bin Mohammed Shekau, who addressed himself as the Imam of Jamaátu Ahlus Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad (Boko Haram) and was addressed to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Qurashi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

In the message, he said. “From your brother in Allah, Abu Mohamed Abu Bakr bin Mohammed Shekau, the Imam of Jamaátu Ahlus Sunnah Lidda Awaati Wal Jihad to the Caliph of Muslims Abubakar Abu Bakr Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Husseini al-Qurashi.

We are sending you this message, following what Allah said in his Quran (And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah and be not divided among yourselves) and what the Prophet, Peace be upon him said (Whoever died and he had not Imam, died by death of ignorance).

In submission to the order of Allah “Azza wa Jal”, and submission to the order of the prophet, peace be upon him to not separate from each other and to stay united as Ummah as Jammaaáh, We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Husseini al-Qurashi and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity,” read an English-language translation of the video broadcast in Arabic.

Nigerian troops have routed terrorists from different towns and communities, including Bara, the Headquarter of Gulani Local Government Area of Yobe State in the last few weeks.

Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan said the tide has “definitely turned” against militant Islamists as Nigerian troops and their regional allies recapture territory.

President Idriss Deby of Chad, Wednesday, said he knew the whereabouts of Abubakar Shekau, and called on him to surrender or risk being killed.

Boko Haram began a military campaign to impose Islamic rule in northern Nigeria in 2009.

It would be the latest in a series of groups to swear allegiance to ISIS.