Nigerian Army Takeover Security in Aba over Kidnapped School Children

Combat ready soldiers of the Nigerian Army.

Combat ready soldiers of the Nigerian Army have taken over security operations in Aba, Abia state, in a federal government response to the efforts to rescue the 15 school children kidnapped by gunmen in the commercial city last Monday.
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Aba has been besieged by daredevil kidnappers and armed robbers in the southeastern region of Nigeria.
Concerned citizens have been calling on President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria to declare a state of emergency in Abia after the kidnap of 15 pupils of the Abayi International School, Aba, on Monday September 27, 2010. The kidnappers hijacked the pupils’ school bus and demanded N20 million ransoms for the release of the 15 pupils. The police and other security operatives have not been able to locate their whereabouts. Then letters of threats from kidnappers forced banks, shops and schools in Aba to close since Tuesday.

"President Jonathan has ordered the inspector general of police and heads of other security agencies to take all necessary steps to rescue the abducted children and return them safely to their parents," his spokesman Ima Niboro told the BBC News yesterday.


Children in Aba. But the city is no longer safe for them.

The incessant kidnappings of helpless people have made residents to live in fear and made many of them to relocate to where there is better security of lives and properties.

“Nobody is safe in Aba. Kidnappers can abduct anyone on the street and demand ransoms as low as N5, 000 to release them,” said a security officer in Aba.

The Abia state government has failed to address the appalling state of insecurity that has harmed commercial activities and frightened away native and foreign investors.

The rampant cases of kidnapping, robberies and assassinations in Nigeria may threaten the 2011 elections as observed by many diplomats and human rights activists.

The Government is Responsible for the Jos Crisis and other Crises in Nigeria

The Government is Responsible for the Jos Crisis and other Crises in Nigeria

~ Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

I have been reading many childish and foolish posts and comments by tribalists and religious bigots on the Jos crisis and other crises plaguing Nigeria.

The reality is, the Nigerian government has failed woefully to protect precious lives and properties in the country.

If we have a good government, there will be security for all the citizens no matter your location, creed, or class.

If the security agencies in Plateau state were active, the perpetrators of the massacres would not have been able to do so.

Solution?
Sack the incompetent government before it is too late.

Nigeria will not survive another civil or uncivil war.


Related:
Nigeria: A Sick Nation with a Sick President

More news reports and features on Nigeria and the rest of the world by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima.

U.S. Two-Prong Strategy with Yemen Government to Provide Security and Thwart Terrorism on the Arabian Peninsula

26 Jan 2010 00:56 Africa/Lagos

U.S. Two-Prong Strategy with Yemen Government to Provide Security and Thwart Terrorism on the Arabian Peninsula

DATELINE CITY: 25 January, 2010/Washington, D.C.

FORMAT: (2) Soundbites


STORY SUMMARY: State Department's Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin comments on the U.S. - Yemen strategy for success against the terrorism in the Arabian Peninsula.


RESOURCES More available at http://thedigitalcenter.com/projects/1442-us-two-prong-strategy-with-yemen-gov ernment-to-provide-security-and-thwart-terrorism-on-the-arabian-peninsula



http://www.state.gov/
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2010/index.htm
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/speeches/2010/index.htm

(2) SOUNDBITES / VIDEO:
Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Soundbite (1)

Summary: Ambassador Benjamin says that the U.S. two-prong strategy with the Yemen government, aimed at security threats and very serious economic problems, will be fruitful for both countries.


IN: "It is very much a two prong strategy we have, first of all there's been a lot of attention paid to the work we're doing with the Yemeni Government to increase paid its ability to take care of its own Security threats and to take on in particular Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that is vitally important but we also know that if we're going to have a sustainable long-term engagement with Yemen if we're going to deal with the threat that it faces and we face as well. It's going to require a sustained engagement to deal with that country's very serious economic problems particularly the depletion of natural resources; it's got serious demographic challenges. Water, a depleting water table and also its governance problems and social issues and so our assistance is very much aimed at doing that very well." OUT TRT: 56


Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Soundbite (2)

Summary: Ambassador Benjamin says that the Obama Administration is very pleased by the strong stance Yemen has taken against Al-Qaeda.


IN: "We are very pleased by the strong stance that President Salih and his government have taken in terms of confronting Al-Qaeda, particularly since the December 17th engagements, operations that have continued through until this month. But I should also note that this is not - it may appear on the surface to be a suddenly new involvement in things Yemeni for the United States. But in fact, this Administration has been engaged on Yemen really since the very beginning. The new Administration came in and recognized early on that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was gaining strength and was going to pose a significant terrorist threat and ordered up a comprehensive policy review to ensure that we were using all the tools at our power to deal with the terrorist threat there. That review was completed in the fall. OUT TRT: 1:10


Total TRT: 2:19

VIDEO PROVIDED BY: U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State


FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION OR HARD COPY, PLEASE E-MAIL: digitalcenter@multivu.com


Media Contact: Ken Richards, +1-202-647-6251, richardskn@state.gov


/PRNewswire -- Jan. 25/


Video: http://thedigitalcenter.com/projects/1442-us-two-prong-strategy-with-yemen-government-to-provide-security-and-thwart-terrorism-on-the-arabian-peninsula
Source: U.S. Department of State

Web Site: http://www.state.gov/

Nigeria: Fears of Reprisal Attacks Loom in Northern Nigeria

Nigeria: Fears of Reprisal Attacks Loom in Northern Nigeria

The fears of reprisal attacks are rife in northern Nigeria after the gruesome religious mayhem in Jos and other parts of Plateau state left hundreds dead, with scores of corpses dumped in wells and toilet pits. Intolerant religious fanatics are using cell phones and other means of private communication to instigate members of their sects to mobilize for reprisal attacks to avenge the deaths of those they lost. The law enforcement agencies have been alerted and warning everyone in the middle belt and northern states to beware of Islamists who are already planning to launch widespread attacks on non-Muslims.

Unidentified men armed with guns and other weapons were arrested and detained Saturday night in Kaduna by the Nigeria Air Force.
Police officers of the Operation Yaki in Kaduna state are patrolling towns and villages to ensure the security of lives and properties.

Many indigenes of Abia, Bayelsa, Edo and other Southern states are already leaving the northern states for the safe havens of their hometowns. Some private schools in Borno and Yobe states turned back pupils, because they cannot guarantee their safety in the tensed atmosphere of insecurity.