Boko Haram: “I am tired of this calamity,” Shekau says in new video

The Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said in a new video that he is tired of the calamity befalling his group.

“I am tired of this calamity; it is better I die and go to rest in paradise”, he said at the end of the 10-minute video.In the video, delivered chiefly in Hausa, Mr. Shekau couldn’t hide his frustration on the continued hostility and loss of his supporters to government troops.With a broken voice that clearly betrayed his emotion, Mr. Shekau pleaded with his non-combatant members across Nigeria to pick up arms and help him fight till he drops dead.The terror group’s leader, however, remained defiant.Flanked by two hooded armed men, Mr. Shekau said the latest claim by the military that the group had been sent packing from Sambisa forest was false.He boasted that he is still in Sambisa forestand still controls the territory.He said that his men would continue to fight regardless of the recent induction of Cameroonian soldiers into the Operation Lafiya Dole counter insurgency force.
Below is the full text of the translated speech by the Boko Haram leader.
“I have no lengthy message to deliver except on the issue of worshiping God alone and serving Him without getting tired.Ours in not like that of the unbelievers whose worship is like the spider web. Just like one of the leaders of unbelievers, who is like an ape, was recently boasting that they have formed a joint force with Cameroonian forces to fight us.“That they would not only chase us from Sambisa forest but also in all parts of Nigeria. So we too have declared that we donot want to see any Nigerian in Cameroon, in Chad, in Nigeria and even Benin Republic.So I call on our brethren in Abuja, in Lagos, in Benin, in Kaduna, where ever you find anyNigerian make sure you shoot him dead if he is deliberately against us; but if he is ignorant of our ways, teach him on how to understand our ways. This is our first message.“It is not about approaching you, because that has already been done by our God.

“Our second message is to attack anyone who pledge to Nigerian his country, to be faithful, loyal and honest, and serve Nigeria.Anyone who believes in protecting the interest of Nigeria is our target. The one whose creed is to develop western education where infidels are trained is our enemy. Whoever that stands on any creed other than that of our Prophet Muhammad brought to us; the one that his great disciples followed, should know that he is our avowed enemy and if he confronts us we will fight him.“In this job that we embarked upon, we are not going to boast too much about, but we pray that God should take our lives while onthis struggle and not on any other thing else. May God help us on this belief.“So you Nigerians especially the youth vigilante, we are going to fight you and that thing that drives you to pick up arms against us; we don’t care what they call you,be it Civilian-JTF or any kind of force. Just as you said you don’t want us on the face of Nigeria, so shall we too declare you persona non grata in Sambisa. Let anyone who has brains to think to avoid moving around Sambisa forest. Those of you the leaders of the troops will no longer have peace just like the way you think you have made here uncomfortable for us.“And you General Rogers that is currently leading the troops and boasting that that you have take-over Sambisa and have rescued some women, why have you not rescued the police women that we abducted? You liar, why couldn’t you rescue them? You are busy deceiving with images of vehicles that we seized from you and abandoned for over three years and claiming that you have killed us. If you have killed us, why are we still alive?“Oh you brethren of our holy creed, wherever you are, should rise up and fight for Allah. If you cannot do it there, then come over to our side and fight for the cause of Allah. You must know that whoever that fails to follow the teaching of the Holy Quran and Hadith cannot enter paradise. (In broken voice) Because the pattern of life in the world today is not Islamic. Wherever you are, even if you are in Saudi Arabia, and you have your gun, please stand up and fight, kill whoever you see that is not on our side.Kidnap and bring them to us. Our course is to establish our caliphate and die doing that.We may not be alive to see the caliphate but even if it comes to be after we have died, it is still a bonus on our side.“This is the message I have for you all. My name is Abubakar Shekau, the one that is an invincible enemy that you are fighting.“That is our stand. I am tired of this calamity; it is better I die and go to rest in paradise.”

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Boko Haram: Obama snubs Nigeria again

Boko Haram: Obama snubs Nigeria again, gives $35m military support to France

May 2, 2015Premium Times

President Barack Obama has ordered the release of $35 million worth of U.S. military and defence assistance to France which has been backing the military of Chad, Niger and Mali in the fight against jihadist group, Boko Haram, ignoring Nigeria that has been at the centre of the five-year insurgency.

A press statement from the White House on Wednesday said the United States leader gave the support to enable France secure the three French-speaking African nations, who all share borders with Nigeria.

In the White House statement, President Obama gave authority to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to facilitate the US assistance to Mali, Niger and Chad.

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority under section 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the drawdown of up to $35 million in defense services of the Department of Defense to provide assistance to France in its efforts to secure Mali, Niger, and Chad from terrorists and violent extremists, and to make the determinations required under such section to direct such a drawdown,” the statement said.

The omission is seen as another fallout of the strained relations between Nigeria and the United States over the Boko Haram war.

Nigeria suspended a military training with the U.S. in 2014 after the Americans repeatedly blocked its effort to buy arms to fight Bok Haram.

The US government denied Nigeria the sales of US-made Cobra fighter-helicopters. New information now have revealed that the sales were coming from Israel which had okayed the deal from its own inventory, but needed US approval since the fighter-helicopters were from America.

The Israeli government under the terms of the US assistance cannot transfer the military helicopter to another foreign country except the US government approved it.

The United States had criticised the Nigerian military’s human rights record and its handling of the Boko Haram crisis, particular the search for over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the group, from Chibok, Borno State.

With the current administration winding down in less than a month, the American government now appears ready to provide improved assistance to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, once the Muhammadu Buhari presidency takes office May 29.

Last week in New York at the Time magazine Influential 100 people gala, top US government officials including Samantha Powers promised that the US will do more to support the search for the Chibok girls and the fight against Boko Haram in Nigeria.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/182340-boko-haram-obama-snubs-nigeria-again-gives-35m-military-support-to-france.html

Chadian soldiers recapture Nigerian town from B'Haram

Chad Fights Boko Haram in Nigeria as Call Goes Out for Regional Force

Chadians Clear Islamist Insurgents from Nigerian Town of Mallam Fatori

ENLARGE

Soldiers of the Chadian army at the border between Nigeria and Cameroon on Jan. 21. Chad sent a convoy of troops and 400 military vehicles into neighboring Cameroon to battle Boko Haram on Jan. 17-18. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

By 

DREW HINSHAW in Yola, Nigeria, and

 

MATINA STEVIS in Nairobi

Updated Jan. 30, 2015 6:36 a.m. ET

1 COMMENTS

Chadian military forces liberated a Nigerian town from Boko Haram militants on Friday, hours after the African Union’s top official called on Nigeria’s neighbors to contribute to a 7,500-strong multinational force to combat the Islamist insurgency escalating beyond the country’s borders and prevent the destabilization of the West African region.

Troops from Nigeria’s neighbor launched their attack on Wednesday, a local military official said. A spokesman for the Nigerian army confirmed the Chadians had cleared Boko Haram from the Nigerian town of Mallam Fatori, and said the operation had been coordinated with Nigeria’s military, also operating in the area.

Chad’s military presence in Nigeria and the African Union’s call for a multinational military operation to push back the militant group underscore both Boko Haram’s reach and the region’s frustration with Nigeria’s failure to contain it.

The call to arms for Nigeria’s neighbors comes at a politically sensitive time for Africa’s largest democracy and top economy.

President Goodluck Jonathan is in a tight contest for re-election, with security being among the main issues in the Feb. 14 vote. Despite having one of the continent’s largest armies, Nigeria’s military has failed to stop Boko Haram from slaughtering thousands of civilians and advancing toward major cities in the country’s northeast.

“The continued attacks in northeastern Nigeria, and the increasing attacks in the Lake Chad Basin, along the border with Chad and Cameroon…have ”far-reaching security and humanitarian consequences,“ Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union, said in a statement released late Thursday. ”No efforts should be spared, as part of the AU counterterrorism agenda, to defeat this group.”

It is far from certain that Nigeria would welcome thousands of foreign troops on its soil for an extended period. President Jonathan’s government has largely opposed the idea, though in recent days the government has issued more conflicting opinions.She asked AU heads of state to approve her proposal for a multinational military force in their meeting Friday afternoon and said the technical details for the mission would be set out Feb. 5-7 at a meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital.

On Thursday, the president told a crowd in the northeastern city of Yola that Nigerian troops had liberated the town of Michika again. Warplanes screeched overhead as he spoke.

Nigerian troops have traded control over Michika for months, with Boko Haram slipping into the town, preaching to its residents, recruiting young men and boys, then slipping out as warplanes swoop in, residents said. The Islamic insurgency first overran the town in September: resident James Sunday remembers them going house to house, reassuring the townspeople that Boko Haram wouldn’t harm them, so long as they practiced Islam.

A month later, military jets bombed the area, followed by troops, the military said. Boko Haram left the town—but weeks later, returned, reasserting control. A presidential spokesman told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Friday that the government welcomed the AU’s move to deploy a multinational force to help fight Boko Haram, but days earlier the country’s national security adviser told a conference in London that the foreign force wouldn’t help and wasn’t necessary.

The army has said it is open to foreign military assistance, as long as the entire effort is subordinated into its own command and control structure, a stipulation Nigeria’s neighbors have found frustrating.

Nigeria’s opposition candidate—a retired general tied neck-and-neck with Mr. Jonathan—has made an issue of the incumbent’s reluctance to accept foreign help.

In a recent interview, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari said he would “certainly” welcome an AU force if elected. “If we are in trouble it is only right that we accept their help,” he said Wednesday.

The ramping up of military assistance—from its far poorer neighbors—could be seen as an admission of an inability to cope by the incumbent president. But African leaders appear to have lost patience with President Jonathan, and the Nigerian government to stop the wave of horrific attacks.

“Boko Haram’s horrendous abuses, unspeakable cruelty, total disregard for human lives, and wanton destruction of property are unmatched,” Ms. Dlamini-Zuma said in her statement.

The proposed military force would fight against the Islamist militants, help refugees fleeing their homes because of Boko Haram assaults, and search for the hundreds the group has abducted, including the more than 250 schoolgirls still missing since April last year, according to the statement issued by Ms. Dlamini-Zuma.

She said that the United Nations should finance this new force’s operations through a trust fund and that the setup of the force should follow the template of similar ones in Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia—all countries that in recent years have teetered on the verge of collapse because of civil conflict.

Still, the force proposed to halt Boko Haram’s rapid emergence as a military threat in Nigeria will be a fraction of the one deployed in Somalia, staffed with more than 22,000 uniformed personnel. The AU’s forces in Mali and CAR are also larger, counting more than 10,000 soldiers each.

The regional army to combat Boko Haram would be staffed with soldiers from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin and be given a year to deploy to begin with, Ms. Dlamini-Zuma said.

—Gbenga Akingbule in Abuja, Nigeria contributed to this article

Write to Drew Hinshaw at drew.hinshaw@wsj.com and Matina Stevis atmatina.stevis@wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/african-union-calls-for-regional-force-to-combat-boko-haram-1422611046

“Black West Africa” and “Boko Haram” Are Not A Priority – White House

BLACK WEST AFRICA IS NOT A PRIORITY

If you are still expecting anything from America and 

 probably Europe  ..then watch this interview and analysis.

 Too Bad !!!

WHY AMERICA IS HINDERING NIGERIA'S FIGHT AGAINST BOKO HARAM

ince the recent brouhaha involving the use of Ayo Oritsejafor's private jet loaded with $9.3 million in cash on a covert arms run to South Africa, many Nigerian military generals have spoken out publicly on how the United States has continued to hinder Nigeria's efforts to procure arms from the U.S. and their western allies. Surely these arms are needed by the Nigerian army if they must defeat the dreaded terrorist group that have caused so much havoc in the northeast of Nigeria and elsewhere. On the face of it, it sounds like an improbable argument to make against the United States, after all, it is in American interest for Nigeria to defeat the Boko Haram. How can America then be hindering our fight if indeed they now have some of their men on the ground gathering intelligence and their drones hovering non-stop over the sambisa forest in search of the same Boko Haram terrorists. The answer to this question is a lot more complicated than it seems, but it boils down to how America is constrained by the rule of law while Nigeria isn't.

In spite of Obama's promises to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram, rescue the Chibok girls, and provide all the weapons necessary to achieve these things, one thing remain. Every weapon that is procured from the United States goes through Congress for vetting. This has been a long standing practice that predates Nigeria's problem with Boko Haram. For Congress to vet these arms purchases means that politicians in Washington DC have put many conditions that would virtually make it impossible for countries like Nigeria to directly procure arms from the United States government. It would have been easier for America to donate these arms to Nigeria, as they have done through the years to countries like Pakistan than for us to be purchasing them. In scrutinizing these arms deals, things like human right abuses, extra judicial killings by the police and the army become the hindering issues for countries like Nigeria to overcome before the US Congress.

Apparently persistent accusations by several human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other agencies have finally caught up with Nigeria, and many Nigerians are now crying foul. Some have said that the US does not have the moral right to impose such standards on Nigeria. Well, if you look at the Abu Ghraib incidence in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and ongoing police abuses across America, one can easily understand why any Nigerian might accuse America of playing double standards. But there is one remarkable difference; the rule of law always prevail in America, and when these things wash up in the surface the law must be seen to take its course. The US army and police can sometimes be a bunch of rednecks behaving as if they own the world, but once their violation of the law is made public, then they are often prosecuted to the fullest weight of the law. Even if their bosses wish to cover these things up, the ever-prying American media and the public will protest until these people are brought to justice. Civilization does not begin and end in driving fancy cars and living in big modern homes, it also requires the acquisition of sensibilities that can easily be offended by behaviors outside the acceptable norms.

In a place like Nigeria, most citizens do not give a damn if the police are killing criminals in droves and dumping them in the forest or river somewhere. We always justify these killings by assuring ourselves that these are good riddance. We always keep a blind eye in Nigeria, as long as our relatives are not the victims of these extra-judicial killings. This, I found out, is a huge problem in Nigeria. The average Nigerian is unlikely to rise up and protest extra-judicial killings or torture. It has for long been an open secret in Nigeria that the police sometimes eliminate threats of armed robbery and kidnapping simply by killing some of the detainees in their stations. I do not wish to become a crusader for suspected armed robbers and kidnappers, and if you have been a victim of either, you would most likely be glad to know that police officers are finally getting rid of the bad guys. But there is one problem. Several hundreds, perhaps thousands of suspects have been eliminated by the police and the army in the past few years, yet neither armed robbery nor kidnapping has decreased around the country. Some police officers, especially SARS would privately argue that such elimination is an effective way of carrying out justice. That to do otherwise will likely put those useless suspects before the Nigerian judiciary, probably awaiting trial for 5 to 10 years without any resolution.

Expedience is never the answer especially when a man's life is involved. Lately, many of these human rights organizations have paraded Nigerians on television testifying of various types of torture on them in different Nigeria police stations. Recently I saw a video on facebook that showed the most horrific scenes of Nigerian soldiers that lined up some Boko Haram suspects. They made these guys dug their own graves, and then shoot them one by one and simply push them into those graves. I am not a saint, but nothing offended my sensibilities more than watching that video. It is true that I have seen worse by ISIS and Boko Haram, but this was a video of Nigerian army officers, and that was just unbearable to me. There must be a difference between a terrorist group and a national army. The US has presented this tape to the Nigerian military, but they are still taking their time to investigate. What utter nonsense, especially when the video of their officers is rather clear. This is the same Nigerian army that rushed to publicly try a bunch of junior officers for mutiny, and handed down a verdict of guilty punishable by death on firing squad.

I'm sure that the Nigerian military can act quickly if they wish to do so, but they cannot drag their feet and still expect America to simply ship arms to them without asking appropriate questions. In February last year, I wrote an article on extra-judicial killings in Nigeria, (A conspiracy of silence…the silence of our politicians on extra-judicial killings) indicting the SARS wing of the Nigerian police. I received quite a few threats after that article, but I wasn't bothered at all. It is really up to us Nigerians to stand up and speak up against these injustices on our people. America can only refuse our military arms, which they can easily buy from willing markets like Russia, China, South Africa, and others, but it is our own outcries that will put pressure on these police and military officers from acting with impunity and getting away with it. And to those military generals who are whining that America is hindering their fight against the Boko Haram, perhaps it is time you all learn to operate an army worthy of the 21st century Nigeria. And in the meantime, kudos to our military for killing Abubakar Shakau once again or was it his imposter?

Michael Nnebe is a former Wall Street Investment Banker and the Author of several novels, including; Every Dream Has A Price, Riverside Park, Blood Covenant, Gloomy Shadows, Passing wishes, Prime Suspect, and others.

THE AMERICAN /NATO SATELLITES ......

 THE AMERICAN /NATO SATELLITES IN:

• AFGHANISTAN  see   through  caves
• CHINA see all the  airports
• RUSSIA/UKRAINE see troop movements and their exact numbers
• IRAQ  used  to se Sadam Hussien in all his  tunnels
• LIBYA  saw   Ghadeffi  even in his  toilet
• GAZA see everyone  and rocket launching pads
• SYRIA see all ISIS  movements
• IRAN sees  the  Ayothalah in the mosque  every Friday
• EGYPT can tell exactly how many  stones  are thrown in TAHRIR  square and their  trajectories.
• NIGER REPUBLIC , see the uranium deep under the soil.
• SOUTH AFRICA see  all the Diamonds  under  the  soil
• NORTH KOREA.  See all missiles  before  they are launched  and  follow them till explosion
• NIGERIA. SEE AND  CAN SAY HOW MANY LITERS OF  PETROLEUM ARE  UNDER  THE  SEA IN  THE NIGER DELTA  BUT  CANNOT SEE ANYTHING IN THE FORESTS OF NORTHEAST, THE KIDNAPPED GIRLS  AND BOKO HARAM MOVEMENT

Sincerely, I do not  understand !!

That bombing of Buhari’s convoy

on July 31, 2014   /   

THE recent attack on the convoy of General Muhammadu Buhari, former Head of State and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, by a suicide bomber in Kaduna is a wakeup call to all politicians that the time has come to close ranks and stop playing politics with the issue of terrorism.

The incident, which was part of a coordinated attack involving two explosions about two hours apart, bore the trademarks of the dreaded terror group, Boko Haram. Although Buhari and popular Islamic cleric, Sheik Dahiru Bauchi, who was also purportedly targeted, survived the two separate explosions, scores of persons lost their lives.

Coming soon after Buhari, rather unfairly, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of declaring war on Nigeria, the attempt to eliminate the former Head of State has already generated ridiculous and unsubstantiated accusations from some uncharitable and clearly mischievous political elements. It is precisely this sort of political gimmickry which has not served the nation well in these times of crisis that must be avoided.

Even without a statement from Boko Haram claiming responsibility for the acts of terror in Kaduna, what is fairly obvious is that such heinous crimes are typical of the handiwork of the group. It should also be fairly obvious to any discerning observer that creating distrust and disunity among Nigerians is a strategy that Boko Haram has been pursuing since it began its campaign of terror. Thankfully, the strategy continues to fail.

For this reason, the tendency of some unpatriotic politicians to knowingly or unknowingly play into the script of the terror group all in the name of opposition politics must be condemned without reservation. The point that must be made to all Nigerians, whether they belong to the active political class or not, is that politics of any sort (opposition or otherwise) can only be possible when there is still a united and peaceful nation called Nigeria. If politicians are in doubt that they cannot indulge in their political shenanigans when there is chaos and confusion in the land, they should look to Central African Republic, Somalia and South Sudan for guidance.

It is telling that, after a recent Boko Haram bomb attack in Abuja, Buhari himself said: “My heart breaks every time I take to this platform to offer condolences in this tormenting season of seemingly endless violence. I understand that it is difficult for the government to prevent every terrorist attack, but we can always do more to protect our defenceless citizens by boosting our intelligence and counter-terrorism capabilities.”

According to the former Head of State: “Our security and stability cannot be conditioned on any ideology or partisan agenda. Every Nigerian reserves the right to his own security, to his own freedom and dignity, and no amount of terrorist blackmail can make us surrender these. May God unite our hearts as we confront this evil.” These words of sympathy from Buhari underscore the need for Nigerians of all political ideology or partisan agenda to stand united in the fight against terror.

Similarly, not so long ago, President Jonathan commended General Buhari for his statesman-like views on terrorism when the former military leader published an article on the subject in the print media a little while ago. According to a statement issued at the time by Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Jonathan welcomed “Buhari’s call on all Nigerians to remain steadfast and work in unity to overcome terrorists and other merchants of death who currently threaten national security.” Abati further said that President Jonathan shared General Buhari’s view that a minority must never be allowed to “bring the nation to its knees through terror.”

In supporting the call for the political class to unite against terror rather than indulge in unhelpful political grandstanding, Chief (Dr) Tony Anenih, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, BoT, reminded Nigerians that: “When militant gunmen attacked a shopping mall in Kenya, killing many people and holding many others hostage, the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, stood right beside the President, Uhuru Kenyatta, while the latter was addressing Kenyans on the dastardly attack.”

Anenih also said: “Boko Haram is a threat to Nigeria and to our democracy. The insurgency is not against Jonathan as an individual; rather it is against the Nigerian state. That is why our collective efforts are needed to tackle the challenges. All Nigerians, irrespective of their regional, religious or political affiliations, should be united in supporting the Federal Government and all the security agencies in the fight to end terror in our country.”

As Nigerians of all faiths and regions join General Buhari in thanking the Almighty God for sparing his life against the machinations of terrorists, the point must be reiterated that the attack on him (the former Head of State) is a pointer that no Nigerian is safe from terrorism.

As such, the last thing the country’s political class should do is continue to politick with the issue of terrorism. It is a pastime that will not bring any good to the polity.

SUFUYAN OJEIFO, a journalist, wrote from Abuja.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/bombing-buharis-convoy/#sthash.1QemQHJs.dpuf
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/bombing-buharis-convoy/
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B’Haram: The ‘Concerned Northern Muslim Professionals’ and their Letter to the Sultan

B’Haram: The ‘Concerned Northern Muslim Professionals’ and their Letter to the Sultan

26 Jul 2014

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SIR ABUBAKAR

WITH Collins Edomaruse

Acouple of weeks ago, a group of ‘Concerned Northern Muslim Professionals’ stirred the hornet’s nest with an open letter to His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll. The group, under the leadership of a certain Alhaji Mohammed Saidu, said in the letter that it drew its inspiration from a similar lamentation by Gen. Yakubu Gowon, on the deteriorating state of security in parts of the North.

Titled: ‘Echoing the Message of General Yakubu Gowon’, the group said, inter alia: The retired General and Elder statesman then called on the leadership of the Islamic faith in northern Nigeria to work towards stopping the Boko Haram carnage and also correct the negative ideology of the sect to the right Islamic teachings of tolerance, peace and love. He cited the Muslims in the south-west as a good example of peace and religious tolerance; to the extent of inter-marriages between Muslims and Christians in the south-west of Nigeria.”

Having been fired up by the challenge of the former Head of State, the Concerned Northern Muslim Professionals (CNMP) ran to the leader and custodian of their faith in the country, the Sultan. Theirs is akin to the story of a poor little school boy that was publicly chastised by his head teacher for his failure to cough up the term’s school fees. Battered and downcast, he packs his tattered bag and baggage and heads for home to meet his parents, sobbing and cursing the challenges that have come the way of his educational pursuit. However, unknown to him, his parents are equally dead helpless with the situation, but would nonetheless, call him, cuddle him and give him the assurances of returning him back to school after raising the fees from a planned sales of his farm produce at the next market day. The good news is that the poor boy completed his education, gainfully employed and now, he’s the bastion of the family!
Emboldened by the inspiring story of the poor school boy as enunciated above, the CNMP made for their father and rightly so for help. Read this: “This message of the former head of the Nigerian state was just a repetition of several similar calls by other prominent Nigerians across faith-divide. It is therefore becoming embarrassing to some of us that are Muslims and from the northern extract. We always ponder over what exactly do these respected Nigerians mean whenever they demand for the action of Muslim leadership to stop the carnage. As far as we know the Muslim and Islamic leadership in Nigeria comprised all the Ulamas and Emirs under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto; who doubles as the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and also the leader of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam. And as far as we know the Sultan and his team do not have weapons or control over the security personnel in Nigeria. Then, what action is required of them?
“After deep thoughts and self-scrutiny we got some hints on what additional things, apart from the traditional condemnation, the Sultan and his team ought to do or to have done; in order to save our country from the  persistent shocker of the Boko Haram. We wish to respectfully state that some visible and invisible steps, actions and structures were supposed to have been entrenched by the leadership of the Nigerian Muslims, in order to achieve the following:
* A visible action towards stopping the spread of the radical ideologies of Boko Haram among Muslim youths that leads to acts of terrorism. This could be achieved through intellectual religious engagements/confrontation with the  radical Islamic groups that can easily be defeated using superior arguments from Muslim clergy. This is supposed to be the preoccupation of all Emirs and Imams; under the leadership of the Sultan. Such an effort is surely capable of yielding the required result.
* Several Boko Haram members would have laid their arms and many wouldn’t have joined the erroneous sect. Unfortunately, this was not to be. There have not been any visible or invisible effort by the Muslim leadership to convene such engagements at even a single location, let alone covering the whole troubled region. That could be why demand for action on the leadership is repeatedly made by well-meaning citizens.

* An invisible local intelligence structure to augment the government’s security and intelligence provisions was expected by Nigerians. People are aware of the Mai unguwa intelligence mechanism that existed in the Muslim communities. In those good olden days, timely and accurate local intelligence was always at the disposal of the authority. People now wonder why such networks couldn’t be resuscitated by the leadership and even reinvigorated by modern technologies? The call on the current leadership of the Muslim umma for action against Boko Haram could be on such need to re-invent this mechanism; so that the terrorists are trailed and apprehended at community level before causing havoc.
*Visibility of greater concern to other victims of the Boko Haram (especially the non-muslims) is also another step towards sharing a collective pain and encouraging a united front against the insurgent Boko Haram. For instance, if the Sultan would be seen mobilizing wealthy Nigerians (muslims and non-Muslims alike) to donate to the  victims of Boko Haram, or would be seen leading the Emirs and Ulamas on a solidarity visit to troubled communities in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, or even to the smallest church in any remote village among the severally attacked ones; an overwhelming difference could have occurred in the troubled minds of the victims’ relations; thereby exonerating the larger part of the Muslim Ummah. Such were the actions demanded by the respected voices of senior Nigerians!”

As a journalist, the Sultan is one of the religious and traditional leaders I hold in a very high esteem. He has always come across me, not only as a ‘gentleman officer’, but as a leader that craves and works for a peaceful, economical strong and religiously-tolerant Nigeria. As co-chairman of Nigeria’s inter-faith committee, the Sultan has demonstrated at different forums that he is not just a leader that is seated in the Caliphate, but one that also tirelessly works for the good and peace of all Nigerians.
Sir, may I propose that you treat the letter by the CNMP as an endorsement for you by the group that sees you as a leader that can stand and be counted, particularly in these perilous times? Your Eminence, may Allah continue to keep, guide and guard you as you do this for us. It’s a huge task, no doubts; especially as the insurgents are not in any way physically, politically and economically connected with you, safe their claim to be Muslims! Ramadan Kareem to you, sir.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/b-haram-the-concerned-northern-muslim-professionals-and-their-letter-to-the-sultan/184543/

YOU CAN DO IT !!!!! (Bring them back and alive)