Marilyn Ogar: DSS or PDP spokesperson? By Michael Egbejumi-David

First saw Ms Ogar on London’s BEN Television about a couple of years ago.  I can no longer remember what it was she was pushing on BEN then, but I remember that it was a phone-in show.

In my view, on that occasion, Ms Ogar did quite well speaking for the Department of State Security (DSS) and for Nigerian security agencies in general.  Oh, she veered off into non-answer and banalities once or twice – especially when asked tough or searching questions – and tried to pass those off as responses, but callers to the programme wouldn’t let her.  Her feet were held to the fire with robust questioning and counter arguments –the type that Bishop Mathew Kukah absolutely loathes.

But, overall, Ms Ogar acquitted herself very well and I went away thinking here was a lady who knew her job.  However, it is a whole different Marilyn Ogar that I see on Nigerian TV stations these days: overbearing, patronising, impatient, condescending, pushy and intolerant – the quintessential overzealous civil servant who ignores the demarcation between the state and a political party.  The Marilyn Ogar I see now is full of hubris, has the penchant to sermonise and talks down to people.  She also seems to regard anyone who has a contrary view an enemy of the state.

So it was true to form when Ms Ogar showed up on Channels TV about a couple of weeks ago bristling about lack of bombing after the APC won a governorship contest in Osun State.  Ms Ogar was literarily frothing at the mouth.  She was at her acerbic best. 

Her body language was something to behold.  She was basically throwing a hissy-fit.  Initially, I was confused by her general angst.  I thought that as a spokesperson for the DSS and as a Nigerian, the lady would be glad that mad people did not bomb anywhere, but her countenance and her delivery suggested otherwise.  She sermonised that every time the APC loses an election, bombs are let off in Nigeria.

Until Ms Ogar made this assertion, I didn’t realise that this was the case.  I didn’t even know that there had been that many electoral contests in Nigeria since Boko Haram declared war on Nigerians and began bombing us almost on a weekly basis.  As far as I could count, there have been five recent gubernatorial elections.  Of the five, the opposition won four (Osun, Anambra, Edo and Ondo) while the PDP won just Ekiti State.  So where is this link between APC electoral losses and the ongoing bombings in Nigeria?

Ms Ogar then went on to claim that a political party tried to make her organisation an offer prior to the election to influence its outcome.  Incredibly, there the story ended.

Trying to unduly influence electoral outcome is an offence under our laws.  Is Ms Ogar content to just let this slide?  Should serious security matters be politicised like this – especially by a civil servant?

Quite palpable was the distaste on Ms Ogar’s face as she discussed APC’s victory in Osun.  Clearly, the fact that there was no bombings post election was added merely for effect to make a larger point, to wit: how dare these people win this election?  I do not know how and why a civil servant employed by the Nigerian state would be so unhappy about a local election outcome – unless Ms Ogar also doubles as a PDP spokesperson.

Nigeria’s unsavoury past is littered with governments using security agencies to fight the opposition.  Remember the IBB regime and its parcel bomb?  Abacha and his killer squad?  Since then it has become fashionable for overly ambitious and ubiquitous civil servants to overreach themselves.

This is why Ms Ogar is quite happy to tell Nigerians who should be and who shouldn’t be at electoral events due to their state of origin.  A public relations person for the DSS is ready to redefine how electioneering should be conducted in Nigeria.  You see how some people take themselves too seriously?

Back in July, Ms. Ogar labeled ‘BringBackOurGirls’ campaigners a franchise (meaning that they belong to a bigger organisation).  She also claimed they were carrying out smear campaigns against government officials.  Again, no proof, no facts, no evidence.

The DSS is supposed to be one of our most discreet intelligence agencies, unfortunately now, it is its own PR person that is hanging a shabby image around the agency’s neck.

There’s no gain-saying it: Ms Ogar has become the news.  She has been very unprofessional in the discharge of her duties.  She’s courted too many controversies and there have been too many instances of lack of decorum and lack of discretion.  What is on show is just plain recklessness, and frankly, I’m embarrassed for her.  She misuses information that may or may not be in the possession of the DSS.  Furthermore, the line between serving the state and serving a political party has been completely erased in her mind.  She needs help, she needs a break.

Source: The Nation

Marilyn Ogar: DSS or PDP spokesperson? By Michael Egbejumi-David

First saw Ms Ogar on London’s BEN Television about a couple of years ago.  I can no longer remember what it was she was pushing on BEN then, but I remember that it was a phone-in show.

In my view, on that occasion, Ms Ogar did quite well speaking for the Department of State Security (DSS) and for Nigerian security agencies in general.  Oh, she veered off into non-answer and banalities once or twice – especially when asked tough or searching questions – and tried to pass those off as responses, but callers to the programme wouldn’t let her.  Her feet were held to the fire with robust questioning and counter arguments –the type that Bishop Mathew Kukah absolutely loathes.

But, overall, Ms Ogar acquitted herself very well and I went away thinking here was a lady who knew her job.  However, it is a whole different Marilyn Ogar that I see on Nigerian TV stations these days: overbearing, patronising, impatient, condescending, pushy and intolerant – the quintessential overzealous civil servant who ignores the demarcation between the state and a political party.  The Marilyn Ogar I see now is full of hubris, has the penchant to sermonise and talks down to people.  She also seems to regard anyone who has a contrary view an enemy of the state.

So it was true to form when Ms Ogar showed up on Channels TV about a couple of weeks ago bristling about lack of bombing after the APC won a governorship contest in Osun State.  Ms Ogar was literarily frothing at the mouth.  She was at her acerbic best. 

El-Rufai names Modu Sheriff, Ihejirika as sponsors of Boko Haram activities

Dr. Stephen Davis, A Perth-based international adviser, has identified two major Nigerian politicians as sponsors of Boko Haram activities in the country.

Davis had worked in Nigeria in the past with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Head of the Church of England, Justin Welby, to negotiate the release of kidnapped oil industry workers in the Niger Delta.

Speaking on Wednesday in an interview with ABC News, an Australian television station, Davis said he had realised the only way to stop the kidnappings was to stop the sponsors of Boko Haram.

According to him, “That makes it easier in some ways as they can be arrested, but of course the onus of proof is high and many are in opposition, so if the President (Goodluck Jonathan) moves against them, he would be accused of trying to rig the elections due early next year”, he said.

“So I think this will run through to the election unabated. These politicians think that if they win power, they can turn these terrorists off, but this has mutated.

“It’s no longer a case of Muslims purifying by killing off Christians. They are just killing indiscriminately, beheading, disembowelling people – men, women and children and whole villages.

“I would say it’s almost beyond the control of the political sponsors now. Terror groups are linking up in Somalia, southern Sudan, Egypt and we have fairly strong evidence they are talking with ISIS members.

“They will link up with ISIS and Al Shabaab and I think that what we are seeing in that region is the new homeland of radical Islam in the world”, he told his interviewer.

“When confronted by groups with an AK-47 in my face they’d say, ‘you are American, we have to kill you’”, Davis said. Davis said the longer he stayed in Nigeria, the more it dawned on him the kidnappings would not end.

“It became very clear that if I was able to get 50 girls released, then another group would kidnap 70 or 80 more. So by freeing 50 you were consigning 70 or 80 more to the same fate”, he explained.

Though Davis did not mention names in the ABC interview,  former FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai has said ex Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sheriff and immediate chief of army staff Lt-Gen Ihejirika are those behind the activities of the dare devil sect in the country.

According to him, “Finally, the truth about BH is coming out. Hopefully, the murderers of General Muhammadu Shuwa, the abductors of the Chibok girls, those truly responsible for the Nyanya bombings, and attempted assassination of General Buhari and Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi will be known”.

We hope the authorities will take the steps necessary to act on this revelation, and thereby discharge their duty to protect us, the citizens of Nigeria. That is just what it is, a hope”, the former minister posted on his Facebook wall on Thursday.

Source: Dailypost

El-Rufai names Modu Sheriff, Ihejirika as sponsors of Boko Haram activities

Dr. Stephen Davis, A Perth-based international adviser, has identified two major Nigerian politicians as sponsors of Boko Haram activities in the country.

Davis had worked in Nigeria in the past with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Head of the Church of England, Justin Welby, to negotiate the release of kidnapped oil industry workers in the Niger Delta.

Speaking on Wednesday in an interview with ABC News, an Australian television station, Davis said he had realised the only way to stop the kidnappings was to stop the sponsors of Boko Haram.

According to him, “That makes it easier in some ways as they can be arrested, but of course the onus of proof is high and many are in opposition, so if the President (Goodluck Jonathan) moves against them, he would be accused of trying to rig the elections due early next year”, he said.

“So I think this will run through to the election unabated. These politicians think that if they win power, they can turn these terrorists off, but this has mutated.

“It’s no longer a case of Muslims purifying by killing off Christians. They are just killing indiscriminately, beheading, disembowelling people – men, women and children and whole villages.

“I would say it’s almost beyond the control of the political sponsors now. Terror groups are linking up in Somalia, southern Sudan, Egypt and we have fairly strong evidence they are talking with ISIS members.

“They will link up with ISIS and Al Shabaab and I think that what we are seeing in that region is the new homeland of radical Islam in the world”, he told his interviewer.

“When confronted by groups with an AK-47 in my face they’d say, ‘you are American, we have to kill you’”, Davis said. Davis said the longer he stayed in Nigeria, the more it dawned on him the kidnappings would not end.

Making the confab count - Vanguard

AFTER five hectic months, the 492-member National Conference set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, completed their assignment with the submission of a 22-volume report consisting of 10,335 pages and 600 resolutions to the president.

While receiving the report from retired Chief Justice of the Federation, Idris Legbo Kutigi, President Jonathan, predictably, pledged the administration will do all it can to ensure the implemen-tation of the recommendations.

It was a major national triumph that the conference not only successfully took place but ended on a happy note without the threat of boycotts, walk-outs, disownment of the documents or writing of “minority” or alternative reports bedeviling it.

Given the skeptical air that surrounded its beginning, with many groups unsure of its real purpose or success, added to the tumult that often attended the sessions while it lasted, Nigerians have every reason to be delighted that the conference ended with the delegates from across the various divides chanting a victory song; victory for Nigeria.

Now comes the real challenge. We as a people must seize this moment and chart a new future for ourselves and future generations. The recommendations from this confab contain issues canvassed over the years during the various conferences since independence, all aimed at repairing the dysfunctions in our socio-political and economic system.


 Incidentally, many of the delegates to the just-concluded conference also attended some of the earlier editions and came armed with adequate knowledge of the things required to change the country for the better.
That Nigeria is in dire need of reforms is all too evident. There is too much corruption in the system, wasteful governance, overcrowded and indolent public bureaucracies, a seriously underdeveloped economy, violent political discontentment due to inequities.

There is a large body of Nigerians who are not being carried along politically, economically and socially. This country needs to reconcile itself to its various peoples and get them to love and serve her as other countries that are progressing do.

The job of making the just-concluded conference count belongs to all Nigerians. This is because the document will be looked into by the legislative and executive arms of government at state and federal levels. We must encourage these officials we elected to be patriotic and swift in ensuring that recommendations that will define a new, better future for our people are put in place as soon as possible.

The confab came at an auspicious time; the end of an old, difficult century when every Nigerian group felt the pain of a wrong start to nationhood. Let us use the product of this confab to show that we are capable of creating a second century Nigeria that will be the envy of others.

Source: Vanguard

Making the confab count - Vanguard

AFTER five hectic months, the 492-member National Conference set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, completed their assignment with the submission of a 22-volume report consisting of 10,335 pages and 600 resolutions to the president.

While receiving the report from retired Chief Justice of the Federation, Idris Legbo Kutigi, President Jonathan, predictably, pledged the administration will do all it can to ensure the implemen-tation of the recommendations.

It was a major national triumph that the conference not only successfully took place but ended on a happy note without the threat of boycotts, walk-outs, disownment of the documents or writing of “minority” or alternative reports bedeviling it.

Given the skeptical air that surrounded its beginning, with many groups unsure of its real purpose or success, added to the tumult that often attended the sessions while it lasted, Nigerians have every reason to be delighted that the conference ended with the delegates from across the various divides chanting a victory song; victory for Nigeria.

Now comes the real challenge. We as a people must seize this moment and chart a new future for ourselves and future generations. The recommendations from this confab contain issues canvassed over the years during the various conferences since independence, all aimed at repairing the dysfunctions in our socio-political and economic system.

Reno Omokri: A leader, not a lidder!

A Leader is meant to lead people not lid them. When you lead people, you show them the way to go, you lead them in the right path. When you lid people, you block their way and act as an obstacle to their aspirations as a people.

Because Nigeria has been led for decades by alpha male personalities who use force rather than persuasive reasoning to get their way, our understanding of what leadership is has been tainted by our experience (or ordeal) under these leaders.

The above epiphany came to me as I read the words of Tokunbo Aromolaran, Managing Director of Hyundai Motors Nigeria, as he presented the first made in Nigeria Hyundai cars fresh off his plant.

He said: “We are glad to inform Nigerians that we have delivered on our promise to make available affordably priced vehicles – thanks to strong-willed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.”

Truer words have rarely been spoken.

President Jonathan is indeed a strong willed leader. His strength is in his will not in his arms. A strong willed leader will always achieve more than a leader who strong arms people.

The adage says where there is a will there is a way. A strong willed leader can always find a way to achieve what he wants without strong arming people.


Unfortunately, our experience with leaders who use strong arm tactics is that whenever the strong arm is gone, all that the leader thought he had achieved goes with him!

Why? Because you can force a horse to the stream but you cannot force it to drink!

The political class has confused rulers for leaders. They think a ruler is a leader. They think a ruler is powerful. But if I have to make you do the things I want you to do by using brute force or by leveling all opposition, am I really powerful? Am I not just borrowing strength from the office I hold?


Could this be the reason why many dictators world wide lose their influence as soon as they are stripped off power? Because their strength comes from their office and the men with guns they control and not from anything that is intrinsically domiciled in them.

These men are not leaders. They are lidders. Their language is dominated by what you cannot do rather than what you can do.

A true leader is defined by his ability to influence the public without the use or threat of force. Influence is the ability to persuade someone to think or act in the way you want.

Let me give my readers an example of the power of an influential leader.

Nigeria is no stranger to Confabs. We have had them aplenty! But one characteristic which they have hitherto had is that their agenda was set by the strongman in power.

This was predicated on the fear that if you allow Nigerians talk without strong arming them, it will lead to the break up of the country.

But last year, a curious thing happened. President Jonathan was secure enough to listen to the yearnings of Nigerians for a National Conference and he convoked one. But the curious thing about this particular conference is that there was no agenda from the government other than ‘come and talk’.



The Conference was given the freedom to set its own agenda. Nigerians were allowed to talk without limitations.

And what was the result?

This Conference has ended without Nigeria breaking up and for the first time, there has been an agreement and concord amongst Nigerians on the way forward shaming those who thought that the National Conference would end in confusion and be an exercise in futility like others before it.

The success of this Conference is a vindication that what Nigeria needs is a Leader not a Lidder. An Omega personality that combined the best of Alpha and Beta characteristics rather than an Alpha male whose ego must be constantly massaged as a personality cult.

And quite frankly, we are seeing a critical mass of people who are seeing the paradigm shift taking place within the leadership of Nigeria and they are voting with their feet.

President Jonathan’s personality, his humility, his approachability and his tendency to connect with people rather than always correcting them is drawing more and more of the leading lights of the opposition and depleting their intellectual base as well as their grass roots support.

The question is why is this happening?

A wise man said you can’t purchase loyalty. You have to earn it.

The perception in politics is that the higher up the mountain, the more treacherous the path. This has proven to be true amongst those opposed to President Jonathan as the scrambling for positioning has exposed character flaws that shows the true nature of people who have worn a mask before the public hitherto.

They had previously hoodwinked credible people with integrity, such as Malam Nuhu Ribadu. But it did not take too long for the scales to fall from their eyes.

Having been so disappointed, their leading lights are looking again at President Jonathan, the only man who says ‘read my lips’ and follows through with it.

President Jonathan, from my close observation, is always looking for ways to build new friendships and strengthen the ones that already exist.

This was very evident during the finale of the Celebration of Nigeria’s Centenerary at the banquet hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday the 28th of February, 2014.

For the first time in my own memory, all former Presidents and heads of government of Nigeria united with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Who could have pulled such a feat but a leader. He gathered leaders and those who toppled them from power and those who toppled the topplers and brought them under the same roof in unity of purpose for the advancement of Nigeria!

President Jonathan was able to do this because it is clear to all Nigerians that this is not a man whose ambition blinds his conscience. He is able to see the big picture because he does not consider himself the big picture. I can authoritatively say that President Goodluck Jonathan sees himself as a pen in the hand of God. That is his situation today and his ambition for tomorrow.

Ambition is a good thing but over ambition can cloud the mind, yet a man who understands that all power comes from God is in a good place, a place of conscience, a place that clears your mind and your judgment.

At exactly six minutes past 5pm on the 25th of November, 2011 President Jonathan gave the following challenge “I was loyal to my leader, the late great President Umaru Yar’adua. I am loyal to Nigeria, I don’t claim to represent North, South or a Committee-I represent Nigeria. I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy, I don’t have accounts or property abroad, ALL my children live and school in Nigeria. I am loyal to my wife and friends. Can those who accuse me say the same?”

Today, three years after he gave this challenge, those who accuse him have yet to take him on.

That again shows the difference between a Leader and a Lidder.

Great leaders don’t focus only on the lessons of history. They give it due thought, but their focus is on forging history.

President Jonathan has and is forging history by being the leader who trim tabs a nation and helps the citizens tie themselves not to their history but to their potential.

President Jonathan leads by influencing people not by forcing people.

This is the reason why the whole world is applauding Nigeria’s response to the Ebola Virus Disease. Though the disease was brought to us by an American citizen who flew in from Liberia, we have not engaged in a blame game. Rather, Nigeria under President Jonathan has set in motion a National Emergency that has contained the disease.

The President himself went on National Television to show leadership by using a hand sanitizer. Nigeria is now rolling Ebola Virus Disease back such that quarantined people are recovering and being discharged.

Imagine the result if the President had come on National Television and rather than show leadership by demonstrating simple hygiene habits to people he began to make threats to deal with anyone whose actions causes the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease!

If he had done so, this present spirit of cooperation amongst the Federal Government, the state governments and the Nigerian people would not have been there. What we would have had in its place would have been fear. And fear breads ignorance and ignorance breeds hysteria and hysteria would have caused the disease to spread the more.

In big things or little things, we should never under estimate the big difference that a Leader can make.

Source: Dailypost

Reno Omokri: A leader, not a lidder!

A Leader is meant to lead people not lid them. When you lead people, you show them the way to go, you lead them in the right path. When you lid people, you block their way and act as an obstacle to their aspirations as a people.

Because Nigeria has been led for decades by alpha male personalities who use force rather than persuasive reasoning to get their way, our understanding of what leadership is has been tainted by our experience (or ordeal) under these leaders.

The above epiphany came to me as I read the words of Tokunbo Aromolaran, Managing Director of Hyundai Motors Nigeria, as he presented the first made in Nigeria Hyundai cars fresh off his plant.

He said: “We are glad to inform Nigerians that we have delivered on our promise to make available affordably priced vehicles – thanks to strong-willed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.”

Truer words have rarely been spoken.

President Jonathan is indeed a strong willed leader. His strength is in his will not in his arms. A strong willed leader will always achieve more than a leader who strong arms people.

The adage says where there is a will there is a way. A strong willed leader can always find a way to achieve what he wants without strong arming people.


Unfortunately, our experience with leaders who use strong arm tactics is that whenever the strong arm is gone, all that the leader thought he had achieved goes with him!

Why? Because you can force a horse to the stream but you cannot force it to drink!

The political class has confused rulers for leaders. They think a ruler is a leader. They think a ruler is powerful. But if I have to make you do the things I want you to do by using brute force or by leveling all opposition, am I really powerful? Am I not just borrowing strength from the office I hold?


Could this be the reason why many dictators world wide lose their influence as soon as they are stripped off power? Because their strength comes from their office and the men with guns they control and not from anything that is intrinsically domiciled in them.

These men are not leaders. They are lidders. Their language is dominated by what you cannot do rather than what you can do.

A true leader is defined by his ability to influence the public without the use or threat of force. Influence is the ability to persuade someone to think or act in the way you want.

Let me give my readers an example of the power of an influential leader.

Nigeria is no stranger to Confabs. We have had them aplenty! But one characteristic which they have hitherto had is that their agenda was set by the strongman in power.

This was predicated on the fear that if you allow Nigerians talk without strong arming them, it will lead to the break up of the country.

But last year, a curious thing happened. President Jonathan was secure enough to listen to the yearnings of Nigerians for a National Conference and he convoked one. But the curious thing about this particular conference is that there was no agenda from the government other than ‘come and talk’.

Jonathan eats humble pie, woos Obasanjo to help tackle Boko Haram insurgency

President Goodluck Jonathan has reached out to former President Olusegun Obasanjo for ideas as the deadly Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the North-East region of the country spirals out of control, with the terrorists capturing Gwoza, a Nigerian territory, and declaring it an Islamic caliphate. 

The development suggests a rethink by the Jonathan administration which had all along disregarded Mr. Obasanjo’s proposal to commence talks with the extremist Boko Haram sect through an informal channel. Both leaders, learnt, met in Abuja Wednesday at the instance of President Jonathan and had extensive discussion on how to tackle the insurgency. In fact, ostensibly desperate for solution to the problem, Mr. Jonathan offered to fly to Abeokuta to meet with Mr. Obasanjo. 

The former President however offered to travel to Abuja to meet Mr. Jonathan out of respect for the office of the president. Mr. Obasanjo confirmed the meeting on arrival back to his base in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. “Yes, I can confirm that I met with Mr. President on his invitation,” he told journalists. “In fact, he had wanted to come down to Abeokuta, but as a sign of respect to the Office of the President, I had to go. 

We had discussion on the country’s security issues and that is all.” The former President appreciated Mr. Jonathan’s invitation and assured the administration that, in the interest of peace and progress of the country, he would continue to make himself available whenever solutions are being sought for knotty national issues. 

Source: Premiumtimes

Jonathan eats humble pie, woos Obasanjo to help tackle Boko Haram insurgency

President Goodluck Jonathan has reached out to former President Olusegun Obasanjo for ideas as the deadly Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the North-East region of the country spirals out of control, with the terrorists capturing Gwoza, a Nigerian territory, and declaring it an Islamic caliphate. 

The development suggests a rethink by the Jonathan administration which had all along disregarded Mr. Obasanjo’s proposal to commence talks with the extremist Boko Haram sect through an informal channel. Both leaders, learnt, met in Abuja Wednesday at the instance of President Jonathan and had extensive discussion on how to tackle the insurgency. In fact, ostensibly desperate for solution to the problem, Mr. Jonathan offered to fly to Abeokuta to meet with Mr. Obasanjo. 

The former President however offered to travel to Abuja to meet Mr. Jonathan out of respect for the office of the president. Mr. Obasanjo confirmed the meeting on arrival back to his base in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. “Yes, I can confirm that I met with Mr. President on his invitation,” he told journalists. “In fact, he had wanted to come down to Abeokuta, but as a sign of respect to the Office of the President, I had to go. 

We had discussion on the country’s security issues and that is all.” The former President appreciated Mr. Jonathan’s invitation and assured the administration that, in the interest of peace and progress of the country, he would continue to make himself available whenever solutions are being sought for knotty national issues. 

Source: Premiumtimes

Boko Haram: Runaway Nigerian soldiers return from Cameroon

Some of the Nigerian soldiers that fled to Cameroon following a fierce battle with Boko Haram militants in locations around Borno and Adamawa states  have returned as residents of Mubi town in Adamawa State reported seeing tired and tattered-looking soldiers arrive.

The residents said they saw several soldiers, wearing torn uniforms and gloomy faces, returned in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The residents suspect that the returning soldiers were among the 500 soldiers that fled to Cameroon on Monday. A resident, Joseph Baba, said “we saw some of them purchasing second hand clothes at the Mubi main market”. ‘’Initially, we were afraid. People panicked when we sighted the troops.

They arrived in the wee hours and people began to scamper for safety because no one knew their mission. I even thought they were Boko Haram disguised in military uniform as the insurgents usually do,” Mr. Baba said. Nigerian soldiers on the battle field often complain about being under equipped to face Boko Haram insurgents. On Monday, the soldiers retreated and sought refuge in Cameroon in what the military authorities later described as tactical manoeuvre.

The spokesperson for the Defence Headquarters, Chris Olukolade, could not be reached Tuesday to confirm the return of the soldiers. He did not answer or return calls. But Mr. Olukolade had said in a statement Monday that the troops were “on their way back to join their unit in Nigeria”.


However, an hour after this report was published, the Defence Headquarters issued a brief statement confirming the return of the soldiers. It said the “troops who returned from Cameroon were today addressed by the General Officer Commanding 3 Division, Major General Zaruwa as they embarked on another mission in the Counter Terrorism campaign”. All the soldiers are in high spirit with all their weapons and equipment intact, the statement added.

In a video released on Sunday, which also showed scenes of Nigerian soldiers running for safety and arms recovered from Nigerian soldiers, Abubakar Shekau, the sect leader congratulated his fighters for seizing the town of Gwoza earlier this month.

Defy curfew, Boko Haram says Meanwhile, residents of Madagali town in Adamawa State said Boko Haram insurgents told them to defy the 24-hour curfew imposed by the state government. Acting Governor Umar Fintiri on Sunday announced the curfew after Boko Haram’s fighters invaded the town, which shares a boundary with Borno town- Gwoza, seized by the insurgents. Residents said the insurgents, who move freely in the town, brandishing their guns, asked them to continue with their normal businesses, without fear of attack.

“They asked us to ignore the 24-hour curfew, promising not to attack us. They (Boko Haram) told us that they are not after us now; rather, they are pursuing troops being deployed,” a resident of the town, who asked not to be named, said. Refugees in Cameroon With reports of swelling numbers of displaced persons and insufficient camps, some residents who crossed over to Cameroon have allegedly been arrested by Cameroonian security operatives.

Source: Premiumtimes

Boko Haram: Runaway Nigerian soldiers return from Cameroon

Some of the Nigerian soldiers that fled to Cameroon following a fierce battle with Boko Haram militants in locations around Borno and Adamawa states  have returned as residents of Mubi town in Adamawa State reported seeing tired and tattered-looking soldiers arrive.

The residents said they saw several soldiers, wearing torn uniforms and gloomy faces, returned in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The residents suspect that the returning soldiers were among the 500 soldiers that fled to Cameroon on Monday. A resident, Joseph Baba, said “we saw some of them purchasing second hand clothes at the Mubi main market”. ‘’Initially, we were afraid. People panicked when we sighted the troops.

They arrived in the wee hours and people began to scamper for safety because no one knew their mission. I even thought they were Boko Haram disguised in military uniform as the insurgents usually do,” Mr. Baba said. Nigerian soldiers on the battle field often complain about being under equipped to face Boko Haram insurgents. On Monday, the soldiers retreated and sought refuge in Cameroon in what the military authorities later described as tactical manoeuvre.

The spokesperson for the Defence Headquarters, Chris Olukolade, could not be reached Tuesday to confirm the return of the soldiers. He did not answer or return calls. But Mr. Olukolade had said in a statement Monday that the troops were “on their way back to join their unit in Nigeria”.

Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh: A Woman of Substance by Femi Aribisala

Dr Ameyo Adadevoh

As Samson was a savior to Israel, so is Ameyo Adadevoh our savior in Nigeria.

I don’t like early-morning phone-calls, but this one was a distress-call from Femi-Kevin. “Do you know that the doctor at First Consultants that contracted Ebola is Dr. Adadevoh?” he asked. He had to tell me this twice because his call woke me up. I tried not to believe it. In a very selfish and foolish manner, I wished it were not her but someone else. But if it were someone else, that someone else would also be somebody.

We are used to bad things happening to others. Every day, someone is reported killed in the news. Some Chibok girls get kidnapped. A journalist’s head is chopped off. Some hapless Palestinians get bombed. Slowly, we become inured to this. We become abstracted from calamity until one day, it comes home to us. The news is about us, and not about someone else. The people concerned are our loved ones and not some abstract, distant person on our television and computer screens.

First Consultants

First Consultants Hospital, Obalende, Lagos, has been our family hospital for over thirty years. Ebola or no Ebola, it will continue to be our family hospital after all this tragedy is over and its decontamination is complete. It is a first-class hospital in a city where few hospitals are first-class. Femi-Kevin was born there 27 years ago. Some 15 years ago, I had a hernia surgery there, performed by the brother of the late Bola Ige.

Moreover, Dr. Adadevoh, Senior Consultant/Physician and Endocrinologist at First Consultants, was our family doctor. She was the first port of call many patients at the hospital. She oversaw my annual medical check-ups. She helped me manage my blood-pressure over the years. She had a Rolodex of the best specialist doctors in Nigeria that she would easily phone and link you up with in any emergency.

When I developed acute shoulder pain a few years back, she quickly linked me up with a specialist at LUTH. I did not know that our shoulders continue to grow even when we are older.
When my wife had a medical crisis of a detached retina; it was also Dr. Adadevoh to the rescue; recommending specialists that would quickly perform the delicate surgery. When Femi-Kevin came down with a bout of acute malaria a year or two back, it was also Dr. Adadevoh who was on hand to treat him while he was hospitalized for days at First Consultants.

Cut above the rest

I don’t believe the lie that we must always say good things about the dead. When someone dies, people start making up all kinds of stories about him; saying how good and wonderful he was, even when this was not the case. I believe the truth must be told at all times. However, I also believe that, for some strange reason, it seems it is the best people who die prematurely. The wicked seem to live forever, while the righteous perish needlessly.

Dr. Adadevoh was an excellent doctor. Without a doubt, she was best-loved of all the doctors at First Consultants. You could reach her any day and any time. Even when she was on leave out of the country, she would take your calls and give you directives and recommendations.

But it was not just that she was an excellent doctor. I dare say there are many excellent doctors, even in Nigeria. Dr. Adadevoh had the distinction of being, at the same time, an excellent human-being. Many good doctors are grumpy. Not Dr. Adadevoh. Many good doctors make you reticent about going to the hospital. Many good doctors make you afraid of even the smallest ailments. Not Dr. Adadevoh.

She was a doctor, charged with treating the sick. Nevertheless, she was a breath of fresh air. She was very personable. She loved people and made you feel at ease, no matter your condition. She remembered every little detail about you, and about your family. She would talk to you about her son, and ask you about yours. She left you in no doubt that you had a doctor who is not only interested in your health but in you.

We had a dear friend, Mrs. Arinze, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was hospitalized at First Consultants; although there was nothing medically that the doctors could do for her. It meant spending days on end at the hospital, building up her faith; singing praise songs; praying for divine healing. We lost her in the end. But Dr. Adadevoh was there with every possible care. She was there encouraging her husband, Emmanuel. She was there giving the support that goes beyond the medical; that reaches to the depths of the soul.

Hoping against hope

So that fateful morning when Femi-Kevin gave me the distressing news, I wanted it not to be true. Even now, I still find it hard to believe. Patients never imagine their doctors being sick. Dr. Adadevoh ministers to the sick; surely, she does not get sick as well.

So I googled her name for confirmation, and out came the news and also that haunting picture. One of her colleagues was appealing to the American government to send the miracle ZMapp drug that seemed to be working on the Ebola virus; claiming Dr. Adadevoh contracted the disease out of her love for humanity. Surely, such a person as this would not be allowed to die.

It was prayer time. It was time to call upon the name of the Lord for this virtuous woman. My wife leaves for work at 6.30 am in order to beat the Lagos traffic. I called her to tell her the news: “You won’t believe it. The First Consultants doctor with the Ebola virus is Doctor Adadevoh.” “Oh no!” cried Karen. “How can this be?”

That Saturday evening, the news on the internet told a different story. It said Dr. Adadevoh is the first Nigerian healed of Ebola. It said she had been discharged from the isolation ward; and we started dancing for joy. At our Sunday fellowship the next morning, we were lavish in praises to God. Is this not yet another one of his miracles? Is this not another example of his marvelous providence? Indeed, God’s ways are unsearchable.

But by nightfall, news came that it had been one big mistake. The person healed was apparently not Dr. Adadevoh, but one Dr. Adah. By the next morning, the thing we feared had come to pass. Dr. Adadevoh had gone home to be with the Lord.

Saviour-doctor

As more and more news came concerning the passing of this virtuous woman, I came to the conclusion that she had been appointed for this very purpose. Apparently, Dr. Adadevoh had to physically restrain Patrick Sawyer from discharging himself from First Consultants; having been diagnosed he was suffering from the Ebola Virus Disease. In the process, she contracted the disease herself.

Therefore, rather than wallow in sadness, we need to give thanks to God for Dr. Adadevoh. We need to thank God that Patrick Sawyer, who brought this dreadful disease to Nigeria, went to First Consultants. Only God knows what would have happened if he had gone to one of our General Hospitals. We might have had an epidemic in our hands already.

We need to thank God that it was Dr. Adadevoh who attended to him. Here was a doctor seasoned in public service who truly lived the Hippocratic Oath. We need to thank God that Dr. Adadevoh physically prevented Sawyer from going to T.B. Joshua in Synagogue, or to some ECOWAS conference in Calabar.

There is an Old Testament prophesy by Obadiah that “saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau.” As Samson was a savior to Israel, so is Ameyo Adadevoh our savior in Nigeria. Hers is the glorious death of the righteous that died that many might live. Dr. Adadevoh will forever be remembered for this in Nigeria; and our heartfelt prayers remain for the family and relations she left behind; especially her beloved son who is studying abroad.

Doctors like Adadevoh are a rare breed. She was compassionate, dedicated and highly professional. She was also very cheerful; a necessary attribute in a doctor. It is my firm belief that her soul rests in perfect peace.

Fear of Ebola

Nigerians, and especially Lagosians, need to know that Ebola is a viral infection. Skin and eyes are the suggested routes of viral entry as well as food and water. Therefore, proper hygiene, including the washing of hands with alcohol-based sanitisers, and disinfecting of surfaces, is advised.

A virus is a living organism. It lives in a host. Without the host, it will die itself. Therefore, within a certain number of days of quarantine, whatever Ebola virus Patrick Sawyer brought to First Consultants will be gone. It would be double jeopardy to now ostracise this fine hospital. It would be unfortunate to typecast it as an Ebola Hospital. Therefore, the Minister of Health needs to make a big gesture of re-opening the hospital publicly after its decontamination.

It would also not be remiss for the government to give some compensation to First Consultants, in appreciation for the role it has played in this Ebola saga, and the cost this has brought to the hospital. We must make a point of rewarding genuine service in Nigeria; rather than the penchant we have of giving national merit awards to discredited politicians and coup-plotters. We owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh; and many other doctors like her in the length and breadth of Nigeria.

We are not yet out of the woods. Ebola has become an epidemic in our sub-region; and we know Nigerians are everywhere. We cannot ask a Nigerian with Ebola not to return to Nigeria. But we can be extra-vigilant with everyone entering Nigeria. We must also remember that people don’t only return to Nigeria through our airports. Nigeria has porous borders. In any case, every preparation must be made now for an Ebola epidemic in Nigeria; even as we do our level best to prevent its occurrence.

Source: Vanguard

Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh: A Woman of Substance by Femi Aribisala

Dr Ameyo Adadevoh

As Samson was a savior to Israel, so is Ameyo Adadevoh our savior in Nigeria.

I don’t like early-morning phone-calls, but this one was a distress-call from Femi-Kevin. “Do you know that the doctor at First Consultants that contracted Ebola is Dr. Adadevoh?” he asked. He had to tell me this twice because his call woke me up. I tried not to believe it. In a very selfish and foolish manner, I wished it were not her but someone else. But if it were someone else, that someone else would also be somebody.

We are used to bad things happening to others. Every day, someone is reported killed in the news. Some Chibok girls get kidnapped. A journalist’s head is chopped off. Some hapless Palestinians get bombed. Slowly, we become inured to this. We become abstracted from calamity until one day, it comes home to us. The news is about us, and not about someone else. The people concerned are our loved ones and not some abstract, distant person on our television and computer screens.

First Consultants

First Consultants Hospital, Obalende, Lagos, has been our family hospital for over thirty years. Ebola or no Ebola, it will continue to be our family hospital after all this tragedy is over and its decontamination is complete. It is a first-class hospital in a city where few hospitals are first-class. Femi-Kevin was born there 27 years ago. Some 15 years ago, I had a hernia surgery there, performed by the brother of the late Bola Ige.

Moreover, Dr. Adadevoh, Senior Consultant/Physician and Endocrinologist at First Consultants, was our family doctor. She was the first port of call many patients at the hospital. She oversaw my annual medical check-ups. She helped me manage my blood-pressure over the years. She had a Rolodex of the best specialist doctors in Nigeria that she would easily phone and link you up with in any emergency.

When I developed acute shoulder pain a few years back, she quickly linked me up with a specialist at LUTH. I did not know that our shoulders continue to grow even when we are older.

Ebola: The absence of Nigerian science ...by AYO OLUKOTUN

Apart from the flash in the pan comments of Maurice Iwu, a professor of pharmacology, regarding the possible curative value of kola nut, our scientists have been curiously silent on the transmission of the Ebola virus to Nigeria through Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian.

Although Iwu’s comments which contained the rider that, “the tests are still in early stages”, were sensationalised out of context, it constitutes one of the few interventions on the strange pandemic by the Nigerian scientific community. When this writer was looking for credible information on the EVD in the aftermath of the expensive and disastrous salt water treatment hoax, what came to hand was a State Department document prepared by the United States’ medical specialists.

Mercifully and in spite of the almost total absence of our scientists from a national emergency requiring their expertise, the EVD, for reasons that also require elaboration, appears to be receding from Nigeria. That at least is the impression we laymen get from the miraculous recovery of some of the patients including a female doctor who had earlier contracted the disease. In search of answers to the puzzle of our scientists’ silence, I called up Tiwa Olugbade, a Professor of Pharmacy at the Obafemi Awolowo University. Olugbade alluded to the neglect of primary research in Nigeria, the foundation upon which applied research with policy implications ought to recline.

Illustrating his point, he argues that if indeed fruit bats are the repositories of the virus, what species of fruit bats are we talking about? Pointing to the colony of bats at the Obafemi Awolowo University and elsewhere in Nigeria including the vicinity of Aso Rock, Abuja, he pointed out that these bats have existed in these locations for ages without reported cases of the EVD or its transference to humans via bush meat, a culinary delicacy. In other words, there are gaps in the information supplied by American scientists which if we were a nation that values research, primary or applied, our scientists ought to have been able to furnish answers to.

Interestingly, innovations in medical science and drug development have occurred globally through the tragic whiplash of pandemics. For example, the influenza epidemic which led to more deaths than any of the World Wars as well as outbreaks of diseases such as measles or pneumonia, jumpstarted the discovery and production of a wide range of antibiotics designed to arrest these diseases and prolong human life. There is a direct correlation, therefore, between the status of medical and pharmaceutical research in any country, and its ability to surmount pandemics and prolong the lives of its citizens.

Take for example, Canada, whose scientists are obviously in the forefront of the efforts to produce a cure for the EVD. Two years ago, researchers of the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada, developed a clutch of antibiotics which cures monkeys infected with the deadliest strain of Ebola. This scientific feat is one of the precursors of the development of the only known tentative cure for Ebola, Zmapp.

Three concerns flow from this. First, Canada did not wait for an Ebola outbreak in that country before funding research that led to a phenomenal advance in drug development. Second, and this connects with Akingbade’s point about primary research, is the spin-off such as new insights on the immune system that accrues from such investigations. Another way of putting this is that a knowledge economy that sets premium on research reaps the multiplier effects of its investigations, edifying itself and the rest of mankind in the process. A final point to be made in this respect is that Canada spends close to $1bn a year on pharmaceutical and medical researches, a sum which far outstrips what Nigeria reluctantly commits to its fund-starved research institutions and universities.

The underfunding of research and its devaluation generally let alone the decay of research infrastructure may yield clues as to why Nigerian science far from the cutting edge, is absent from current debates on the EVD. Perhaps, if there was more attention, we may have begun to get tentative explanations as to what therapies or combination of therapies resulted in the fast paced recovery of Nigerian patients diagnosed with Ebola. Are there perhaps other drugs apart from those already discovered and put on trial that possess similar properties as Zmapp or the now discredited Nano-silver?

As of now, Nigeria depends overwhelmingly on global pharmaceutical companies for the supply of drugs given that drug manufacturing in the country is still at a rudimentary stage. It is known however that global pharmaceutical companies undertake research and development in their host countries and do not invest in drugs for which they do not expect sustainable clientele or a ready market.   The plight of Nigeria as a backwater of pharmaceutical science and drug development was laid bare when President Goodluck Jonathan appealed to the United States President, Barack Obama, to expedite the supply of Zmapp to Nigeria. Multinationals, it is well known, tend to go for lifestyle drugs such as Viagra which target the well-to-do rather than life-saving drugs designed for the use of the masses in African countries. That is why it is such a pity that one hears a lot these days about attracting foreign investment and very little about developing a national scientific and technological infrastructure driven by the needs of Nigerian citizens.

There is also the issue that our scientists may find an entry point, indeed a by-pass in drug development by returning to eco-science which entails the recapture of indigenous knowledge system which for centuries sustained our traditional communities. Iwu made reference to this when he pointed out in respect of the anti-Ebola properties of kolanuts that: “This is a very exciting discovery. The same forest that yields the dreaded Ebola virus could be a source of the cure.” In other words, the interface of indigenous medical knowledge and Western science may provide for our experts the necessary impetus for a back door but important access to tackling our disease profile and those of our neighbours.

This will not happen unless the attitude of government changes to the funding of research considering that the private sector, national or global, by its very logic, will only invest in the kind of researches for which it can readily reap short term or long term profit. A related point concerns the almost contemptuous style in which government tends to deal with medical personnel and knowledge workers generally. It is difficult to understand for example, why in the midst of a national health emergency, government chose to indefinitely suspend 16, 000 resident doctors rather than make a further effort to understand their agitation. 

The refrain that government cannot fund research or treat medical personnel decently loses bite when set against the hefty amounts that are frittered away on non-essential items as well as the massive financial war-chests that are being amassed in the run-up to the 2015 elections.

In sum, a society gets the kind of science and innovativeness it pays for and sustains. A radical re-ordering of our national value system and spending priorities is thus required to bring Nigerian science to the very heart of our national health crisis worsened by the Ebola scourge.

Source: Punchng

Ebola: The absence of Nigerian science ...by AYO OLUKOTUN

Apart from the flash in the pan comments of Maurice Iwu, a professor of pharmacology, regarding the possible curative value of kola nut, our scientists have been curiously silent on the transmission of the Ebola virus to Nigeria through Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian.

Although Iwu’s comments which contained the rider that, “the tests are still in early stages”, were sensationalised out of context, it constitutes one of the few interventions on the strange pandemic by the Nigerian scientific community. When this writer was looking for credible information on the EVD in the aftermath of the expensive and disastrous salt water treatment hoax, what came to hand was a State Department document prepared by the United States’ medical specialists.

Mercifully and in spite of the almost total absence of our scientists from a national emergency requiring their expertise, the EVD, for reasons that also require elaboration, appears to be receding from Nigeria. That at least is the impression we laymen get from the miraculous recovery of some of the patients including a female doctor who had earlier contracted the disease. In search of answers to the puzzle of our scientists’ silence, I called up Tiwa Olugbade, a Professor of Pharmacy at the Obafemi Awolowo University. Olugbade alluded to the neglect of primary research in Nigeria, the foundation upon which applied research with policy implications ought to recline.

Illustrating his point, he argues that if indeed fruit bats are the repositories of the virus, what species of fruit bats are we talking about? Pointing to the colony of bats at the Obafemi Awolowo University and elsewhere in Nigeria including the vicinity of Aso Rock, Abuja, he pointed out that these bats have existed in these locations for ages without reported cases of the EVD or its transference to humans via bush meat, a culinary delicacy. In other words, there are gaps in the information supplied by American scientists which if we were a nation that values research, primary or applied, our scientists ought to have been able to furnish answers to.

Interestingly, innovations in medical science and drug development have occurred globally through the tragic whiplash of pandemics. For example, the influenza epidemic which led to more deaths than any of the World Wars as well as outbreaks of diseases such as measles or pneumonia, jumpstarted the discovery and production of a wide range of antibiotics designed to arrest these diseases and prolong human life. There is a direct correlation, therefore, between the status of medical and pharmaceutical research in any country, and its ability to surmount pandemics and prolong the lives of its citizens.

Sack of striking doctors - Vanguard

THE decision by the federal government to terminate the appointment of striking doctors in its employ following their obduracy not to end the strike they started since July 1, 2014, is as condemnable as the strike itself.

The government, in a surprise move, had through a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Hon N. Awute, informed the striking doctors of President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to terminate the Residency Training Appointment, which affected some 16,000 doctors in federal government hospitals nationwide. It immediately brought the striking doctors to the streets in protest. It thus worsened a situation that required an urgent solution in the face of the threat posed by the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak.

We are surprised and dismayed that governments at state and federal levels never learn from their experiences when it comes to tackling protracted Labour challenges. Yes, indeed, the apparent ease with which public sector medical professionals abandon their duty posts in pursuit of ephemeral and selfish matters has been roundly condemned by members of the public, and the ground for the ongoing strike was no exception.

The doctors remaining adamant even when the nation is faced with the daunting Ebola emergency smacked of cowardly desertion. Happily enough though, both the federal and state governments have been able to manage the crisis quite commendably, thus making the striking doctors seem irrelevant.

However, we caution that since the sacking of striking workers never yields any positive result but almost always ends with government being forced to reverse itself, it should no longer be deployed as a tool in resolving Labour issues. It is simply not possible to effect mass sacks in the public sector. If the threat is taken to maximum extents, it is soon broken by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) mobilising the entire work force of the nation against it.

Government, being the institution vested with the power to solve society’s problems, must realise that two wrongs cannot make a right. You cannot cut of the head because it has headache. Crisis is part of human interactions, and it requires intelligent, diplomatic and expert handling to resolve it.

The purported mass sacking of workers is not a democratic practice. It is a throwback to the military mentality that depends on threats, intimidation and raw force in tackling human problems, and they always never solve problems at their roots.

We call on the government and their employees in the medical and health sector to resolve their differences amicably, and enunciate strategies for nipping problems in the bud. Workers must also put the nation first even in the pursuit of their legitimate rights.

SOurce: Vanguard

Sack of striking doctors - Vanguard

THE decision by the federal government to terminate the appointment of striking doctors in its employ following their obduracy not to end the strike they started since July 1, 2014, is as condemnable as the strike itself.

The government, in a surprise move, had through a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Hon N. Awute, informed the striking doctors of President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to terminate the Residency Training Appointment, which affected some 16,000 doctors in federal government hospitals nationwide. It immediately brought the striking doctors to the streets in protest. It thus worsened a situation that required an urgent solution in the face of the threat posed by the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak.

We are surprised and dismayed that governments at state and federal levels never learn from their experiences when it comes to tackling protracted Labour challenges. Yes, indeed, the apparent ease with which public sector medical professionals abandon their duty posts in pursuit of ephemeral and selfish matters has been roundly condemned by members of the public, and the ground for the ongoing strike was no exception.

The doctors remaining adamant even when the nation is faced with the daunting Ebola emergency smacked of cowardly desertion. Happily enough though, both the federal and state governments have been able to manage the crisis quite commendably, thus making the striking doctors seem irrelevant.

Boko Haram declares Gwoza Islamic caliphate

LEADER of the terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has re-designated Gwoza town that was seized by his men last Thursday as an Islamic caliphate.

Shekau announced the declaration that Gwoza had become an Islamic caliphate in a video obtained by the Agence France-Press on Sunday.

The terrorist also vowed that his group would not leave the town.

“Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our brethren in the town of Gwoza and made it part of the Islamic caliphate. By the grace of Allah, we will not leave the town. We have come to stay,” Shekau said in the 52-minute video.

In a July video, Shekau had voiced support for the leader of the Islamic State militants, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who in late June declared himself “the caliph” and “leader of Muslims everywhere.”

The AFP report however said it was not clear if Shekau was declaring himself to be a part of Baghdadi’s call or if he was referring to a separate Nigerian caliphate.

The United Nations humanitarian office had earlier in the month confirmed reports that Gwoza was under rebel control.

Boko Haram is also believed to be in control of other areas near Gwoza in southern Borno, as well as large swathes of territory in northern Borno and at least one town in neighbouring Yobe State.

Experts have described Boko Haram’s gains in recent weeks as unprecedented, saying the group was closer than ever to achieving its goal of carving out a strict Islamic state across northern Nigeria.

A major military offensive at the onset of the emergency rule in May last year appeared to put the militants on the defensive, flushing them out of their strongholds.

In an apparent mutiny, some troops rejected deployment in Gwoza last week because of lack of adequate weapons.

Show of power

After Shekau’s speech and in demonstrating their being in control of Gwoza, insurgents were seen, in the video, atop pick-up trucks firing rocket-propelled grenades and other heavily armed insurgents firing weapons as they walk calmly along the road.

The footage appears to show them taking over a military base, stealing weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition as well as fuel cans.

In one frame, a fighter stands on top of a tank, waving the Islamists’ black flag.

The AFP reports that the end of the video depicted scenes of grisly executions, similar to those released by IS in recent weeks.

In one scene, about 20 men in civilian clothing are shown with their hands tied behind their backs and lying by the roadside before they are shot at close range.

A second scene shows two men, whom Shekau said disguised themselves as women to escape the town, beaten to death with shovels. Two others similarly dressed are shot beside what appears to be a trench full of bodies.

Military denies takeover

The military authorities meanwhile have debunked the claim by Shekau that he had declared Gwoza the seat of a new caliphate in the North-East.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen Chris Olukolade, said in the Defence Headquarters Twitter handle twitter.com/DefenceInfoNG that the military would not allow any part of the country to be ceded to the insurgents.

Olukolade described the declaration by Shekau as empty, insisting that the territorial integrity of Nigeria was intact.

Source: Punch