Friday, September 2, 2011


A report by the Associated Press,
on Thursday, as revealed how
incompetence, corruption and
nepotism in the security agencies
have helped the fundamentalist
Islamic sect behind the recent
bombings in the country to
thrive.
Among other astounding claims,
the report says that security
officials in 2007, arrested,
detained and later released the
man who planned last Friday’s
UN bombing. The report says the
release of the UN bombing
mastermind, named by the State
Security Service as one Mamman
Nur, and many terrorists arrested
that year was facilitated by
senior security officials. However,
the report did not name the
security agencies that arrested
and released Nur.
Quoting an unnamed Nigerian
senior security official, AP reports
that the militants were caught
with bombs, guns and lots of
cash. It added that the terrorists
were released because
government was wary of
antagonising powerful interests
in the North.
“They were caught with
explosive devices and other
ammunitions. Some of them
were also caught with large
amount of cash,” the Nigerian
official told AP.
Some of those arrested were
said to have been planning to
carry out attacks in the United
States and on American interests
in Nigeria. Investigators at the
time said they had ties to al-
Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
and the Somali terrorist
organisation, Al-Shabab, but
could not proceed because of the
order given by top officials in the
administration of the late
President Umar Yar’Adua that
they should be releassed.
“Top security officials in the
administration of then President
Umaru Yar’Adua, a Muslim,
released the rounded-up men
shortly after their arrests, with
some facing a few hasty sham
trials,” the Nigerian security
official, who spoke to AP, said.
The report says, “One of those
men was Babagana Ismail
Kwaljima, also known as Abu
Summaya, who was arrested
again days before the Aug. 26
bombing at the UN compound in
Abuja that killed at least 23
people.
“The agency previously arrested
him in October 2007 in the
northern city of Kano during a
roundup of suspected members
of al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb operating in the
country. AQIM, as the group is
known, generally operates in
Saharan nations north of Nigeria.
“The car used in the U.N.
bombing was registered in the
same area of Kano State where
the terror suspects had been
arrested only four years earlier,
the official who spoke to the AP
said.”
AP says it contacted the
spokesperson of the State
Security Service, Marilyn Ogar, but
she declined to react to its
findings.
The report also says “some 50 al-
Shabab members were arrested
in Nigeria recently for plotting
attacks on Western targets, citing
postings made to jihadist
websites. Those arrests were not
reported by Nigerian media or
announced by security agencies.
“Other problems for Nigeria’s
intelligence agencies came as it
abandoned a US-assisted anti-
terrorism program in late 2007
known as “Focal Point,” which
saw the Nigerian government set
up units in major cities to
monitor suspected terrorists, the
Nigerian official said. The units
fell apart as agencies stocked
them with friends who took
advantage of trips, leaving the
job of tracking suspects to local
police authorities who knew
nothing about the cases.
“Many saw the centers as
opportunity for ‘their boys’ to go
on overseas trips and make
money,” the official said.
The UN Resident Coordinator,
Daouda Toure, told journalists in
Abuja on Thursday that the
organisation had airlifted 14
victims of the bombing who had
been on life support to South
Africa for further treatment.
Explaining that arrangements
had been put in place to help the
family members of victims to
travel to South Africa, Toure
added that some of the affected
family members had already
been transported. Toure also
said the UN Security Services and
the UN country teams were on
ground providing support and
assistance to affected families.
He praised the Nigerian medical
staff, especially doctors at the
National Hospital, for doing a
wonderful job stabilising the
injured victims referred to it. He
lamented that 80 percent of the
injured were members of staff of
the World Health Organisation.
He, however, said it was
premature to release their names
because death certificates and
other legal issues were involved.

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