Al-Makura approves new pay for corps members

Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa on Monday approved an upward review of the allowances of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members posted to the state.
Mr. Al-Makura announced this at the end of a three-week orientation for Batch C corps members held at the Majaji Dan –Yamusa, NYSC, orientation camp in Keffi.
In an address to the 1,782 corps members, Mr. Al-Makura said the allowance would be increased from N2, 000 to N5, 000 because of current economic situation in the country.
The governor urged the corps members to use the lessons gained during the orientation period to improve themselves, their host communities and the country at large.
Mr. Al-makura also urged the corps members to contribute to the state government’s effort at peace building.
He called on them to relate freely with members of their host communities and participate in the peace process initiated by the state government.
“The government strongly rejects out rightly the mischievous call for a state of emergency as being not only political but also unpatriotic”.
He gave the assurance that all necessary machineries had been put in place to ensure the security of both the corps members and all law-abiding citizens of the state.

Nigeria Fighting Boko Haram with bows and arrows

While Islamist terror group Boko Haram uses automatic weapons and tanks against the population of Nigeria, civil defense groups armed with simple weapons are determined to defend their country.

"We can become invisible – and then we fight them at close quarters, face to face," Yusuf said. He is a hunter who lives in the northern Nigerian state of Adamawa. Yusuf is not his real name, he does not want to be recognized. He is a Nigerian civilian fighting against Boko Haram. "Our prayers protect us against their weapons. Soldiers only have weapons. We have other means of luring Boko Haram into a trap," Yusuf told DW. He and his companions know the area well, they know where they can hide, and then emerge to take the Boko Haram fighters by surprise. That was the strategy they used to expel Boko Haram from the town of Mubi.
Yusuf used to hunt wild animals in the bush. But as the attacks by Boko Haram became more frequent and more brutal, he volunteered to join the guerilla war against the group.

Traditional clothing and amulet worn by a Nigerian hunter

"A real hunter wears amulets," Yusuf said. "They take away our fear. We also wear clothing that is woven in a traditional way and is specially made for hunters." Strengthened by their belief that only God can decide over life and death in battle,Yusuf and his companions go to war.
Stronger than the army?
"What's interesting about the rise of these vigilante groups is the fact that they typically don't fall along sectarian lines. It's an almost spontaneous response by local communities to the failure of the police and military to maintain order,"Hilary Matfess, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, told DW.
The Nigerian security forces have now launched large-scale operations in a bid to counter the Boko Haram insurgency. According to Nigerian media, 20 percent of the budget is currently being used for defense purposes. However, many soldiers complain that much of the money does not reach the right places. "What we see in a lot of conflicts with Boko Haram is that the Nigerian military is overwhelmed militarily and flees," Matfess said, adding that the police force was often "predatory towards civilians rather than acting as a source of stability." She says this is also a reason for the growth of civil defense groups.
But can a civilian group armed only with simple hunting weapons be more successful in the fight against a terror group than an entire army? In order to understand this, one must take a closer look at the Nigerian security apparatus, Mattfes says. "You have the military that is not particularly well trained or well funded. The police force in Nigeria is actually the country's largest employer. One of the latest estimates is that the police force employes nearly 400,000 people. It is difficult to train and properly arm a force of that size."

Nigerian soldiers display an armored vehicle captured from Boko Haram

Call for financial support
Of course, says another hunter from Mubi, the army does have a certain amount of modern weapons, whereas "we use hunting weapons made by our local smiths. Some have a bayonet attached." Nigerian newspapers print photos of hunters who, armed only with bows and arrows, protect their villages against Boko Haram attacks. These are effective tactics, the hunter says, since "the animals we usually hunt and kill are also stronger than we are."
Idris Abdullahi lives in Gombi in Adamawa state and applauds the hunters' initiative. "Right from the start, they supported the fight against Boko Haram. They know who belongs to Boko Haram in their villages," he said. Abdullahi thinks the military can play an important role but "in order to be really successful, above all in the forests, the vigilantes and hunters have the advantage of knowing the territory better, every inch of it."

Many Nigerians no longer trust the police

The army and government are happy that the vigilantes have joined the fight as they have succeeded where the army has so far failed. Civil defense groups have liberated Mubi, Hong, Gombi and Maiha – all in Adamawa state – from Boko Haram. The residents of these towns have felt increasingly abandoned by the authorities and they trust the local hunters. "The hunters should receive more support, be it from the government or from wealthy people," said Bilkisu Aliyu Adam, who lives in Gombi. He argues that financial support should be forthcoming since anyone who takes up the fight against Boko Haram has little time or resources left to look after his family.

Two teenage female suicide bombers kill 30 people in Nigeria today

BAUCHI, Nigeria — Two teenage female suicide bombers blew themselves up Tuesday in a crowded market in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri, killing at least 30 people, according to witnesses and a security official.
Boko Haram, Nigeria’s Islamic extremist rebels, are suspected of the bombings, as they have carried out many similar attacks. The bombings highlight Nigeria’s ongoing insecurity in which 1,500 people have been killed by the militant’s insurgency this year, according to Amnesty International.
The two girls dressed in full hijabs entered the busy marketplace and detonated their explosives, said Abba Aji Kalli, the Borno state coordinator of the Civilian Joint Task Force.
The first set off her explosives and killed about three women, said Kalli.

Jossy Ola/AP A victim of a suicide bomb attack committed by two teenage girls at a market receives treatment at a specialist hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday.

When others gathered around the scene, the second bomber screamed and blew herself up, killing about 30, he said.
“I am right here at the scene and I have before me 11 corpses ... many have been taken away by relatives, while others are taken to the state specialists’ hospital,” said Kalli.
Soldiers and police officers cordoned off the area while rescue workers helped survivors to the hospital. Nigeria’s police have not yet issued a statement on Tuesday’s blasts.

I am right here at the scene and I have before me 11 corpses.

Today’s blast is the first in Maiduguri since July 2 when 56 people were killed in the same market area when a car bomb hit a group of traders and shoppers.
Maiduguri is the provincial capital and largest city in Borno state, one of the three states in northeastern Nigeria that are under a state of emergency because of the extremist violence.
In April Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, about 125 kilometers (78 miles) southwest of Maiduguri. The schoolgirls are still missing and their plight has aroused international concern and prompted the (hash)BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.

Jossy Ola/AP The two suspects dressed in full hijabs entered the busy market and detonated their explosives, killing at least 30 people, officials said.

Last month, on Oct. 17, the parents were encouraged when the Nigerian military announced a cease-fire with Boko Haram and said negotiations had begun for the release of the schoolgirls.
Those hopes were quickly dashed, however, when Boko Haram fighters continued attacks and seized several cities and towns across the northeast. In a video statement, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau denied the ceasefire and scoffed at claims of negotiations to release the schoolgirls.
Boko Haram still holds many centers in an area covering an estimated 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles) and has declared the area to be an Islamic caliphate where they are imposing their strict version of Shariah law. The insurgents want to impose Islamic rule over all Nigeria, Africa’s most populous state with its 170 million people about evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.