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All posts for the day June 3rd, 2013
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The highest reward of up to $7 million is offered for the leader of Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremists, Abubakar Shekau, while $5 million each was posted for Al-Qaeda veteran Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Yahya Abou Al-Hammam, a top figure in Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, US officials said.
The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program also targeted Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), offering its first ever bounties for wanted militants in west Africa.
Up to $5 million was posted for Al-Qaeda veteran Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Islamist behind the devastating attack on an Algerian gas plant in January in which 37 foreigners, including three Americans, were killed.
A further $5 million was offered for top AQIM leader Yahya Abou Al-Hammam, reportedly involved in the 2010 murder of an elderly French hostage in Niger.
Malik Abou Abdelkarim, a senior fighter with AQIM, and Oumar Ould Hamaha, the spokesman for Mali’s Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), were also targeted by the rewards program, which will give up to $3 million each for information leading to their arrests.
AQIM has been increasingly active in north and west Africa. They’re one of the pre-eminent kidnap for ransom groups in the terrorist world right now, a senior State Department official told AFP, asking not to be named.
They cause us a great deal of concern. Anything that we can do naturally to cut down on the capabilities of AQIM, anything that we can do to get information on these people so that we can get them in front of a court… That is our goal.
The United States has been increasingly worried about the spread of Islamist groups in Mali and across the vast and lawless Sahel since a military coup ousted the government in Bamako.
Former colonial power France has led a military offensive since January against the militants in Mali’s northern desert, as the west African nation prepares for presidential elections on July 28.
There are fears however that the spread of militant groups risks destabilizing the entire west African region.
Belmokhtar, who was a senior commander for AQIM, broke away from the group last year to set up his own group dubbed the Signatories in Blood.
Branded the Uncatchable, Belmokhtar also personally supervised the operational plans for the twin car bombings in Niger that killed at least 20 people late last month, according to a spokesman for his group.
Monday’s rewards acknowledged the growing links between AQIM and Nigeria’s Boko Haram, which is under pressure from a military offensive.
They’ve had a relationship for some time. They send people back and forth for training, they’ve done the provision of arms back and forth, the State Department official said.
The links are… not quite as solid as some of the other terrorist organizations, he said. Nonetheless, it’s a dangerous link and it’s something that we feel we should try and stop.
Shekau, in a video obtained by AFP last week, claimed his forces had made significant gains against the Nigerian army while sustaining little damage since the start of the military offensive on May 15.
Under his leadership, Boko Haram’s capability has certainly grown, the State Department official told AFP.
He highlighted how the group set off their first improvised explosive device in early June 2011. By August (2011) they used a car bomb against the United Nations facility, an attack which killed 25 people.
When we see someone like this who… is actually leading to an increase in the capability of an organization, that’s something that we would naturally try to see if we can do something to impede, he added.
Shekau’s whereabouts could not be determined in the video, in which he is shown seated and dressed in camouflage and a turban, with an AK-47 at his side.
His comments contradict statements from the military, which has claimed major successes during the offensive, including the destruction of Boko Haram camps and dozens of arrests.
Shekau was placed on a US blacklist last year, but Boko Haram has yet to be designated a foreign terrorist organization — an absence which has raised eyebrows among regional experts.
vanguardngr
PHOTONEWS: Dana Air crash- One Year After
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at a memorial for victims of the Dana Crash which occurred a year ago in Lagos. The memorial held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport this morning
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at a memorial for victims of the Dana Crash which occurred a year ago in Lagos. The memorial held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport this morning.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at a memorial for victims of the Dana Crash which occurred a year ago in Lagos. The memorial held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport this morning.
Faces of family members and Nigerian government officials at a memorial for the crew and passengers aboard ill-fated Dana’s flight 992 that crashed on June 3 2012 in a Lagos suburb.
The memorial took place at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja this morning.
NDLEA, soldiers raid Mushin
A combined team of officers with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian Army have carried out a raid on Akala area of Mushin, a notorious criminal hideout in Lagos.
The operation, which lasted several hours at the weekend, led to the arrest of 47 suspected drug traffickers and addicts with the seizure of 3,166.15kg of narcotics, including cannabis, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
Chairman of the agency, Ahmadu Giade, commended the Nigerian Army Commander, 9 Brigade Lagos, Brigadier-General Adeniyi Oyebade, for giving the needed back-up because of the notoriety of the area.
The agency will continue to gather intelligence reports and conduct raids on criminal hideouts. We are prepared to clean up Lagos. This operation is a pointer to the fact that no criminal location is invincible. The understanding and cooperation of the Nigerian Army is highly commendable,” Giade stated.
In his reaction, Brigadier-General Oyebade urged stakeholders to support the NDLEA in the eradication of illegal drugs in the society.
Illicit drugs induce crime and aggravate insecurity. Considering the problem of drugs, we are ready to assist the NDLEA whenever they call on us. I also urge other stakeholders to partner with the agency in making the country drug-free,” he said.
NDLEA Lagos State commander, Mr Aliyu Sule, said that a cannabis warehouse was discovered during the raid.
From the total of 47 suspected drug traffickers, including addicts, that were apprehended, 42 are males and five females.
An illegal warehouse was discovered at the scene of operation, where 3,166.15kg of drugs, mainly cannabis was seized. There were also 31.4 grammes of heroin, 292 grammes of cocaine and 1.9 grammes of methamphetamine, which were prepared in pinches meant for local consumption,” Sule stated.
The commander added that the operation was the second raid on Akala in the last seven days. The first operation, according to him, led to the seizure of 187.355kg of cannabis.
It is recalled that the NDLEA chairman met Governor Babatunde Fashola in February, when the agency solicited for states support on how to arrest the rise of drug trafficking syndicates following the discovery of several methamphetamine production laboratories in the state.
Investigation has commenced and all those found culpable shall be prosecuted while the addicts shall be placed on counselling,” NDLEA said.
tribune