UN, US FOCUS ON TERROR IN NIGERIA, WANT PROBE OF BAGA KILLINGS

• Federal
Government To Erect Wall Along Border With Chad

• Senator Faults Official
Figures On Carnage, Says 228 Lives, 4,000 Houses Lost

TOP officials of the United States government and the United
Nations got a chance to express dissatisfaction over the increasing violence
and terrorism in Nigeria, as the state of the nation became the major agenda in
both New York and Washington DC, where Foreign Minister, Gbenga Ashiru, has
been visiting until weekend.

Informed sources and official statements issued after both
meetings between Ashiru and US Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Thursday at
the US capital, and with UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on Friday in New
York, revealed that the Nigerian Minister had to explain the Federal
government’s handling of not only the Boko Haram and insecurity issues, but
also the dwindling anti-corruption efforts, reform questions in the oil sector
and other areas of international concern.

This comes as sources in the presidency hinted that the Federal
Government will soon start fencing the Nigeria-Chad border, in the Northeast,
to prevent unwanted persons, including Islamic militants milling around the
region, from gaining easy access into the country.

The move follows fresh concerns regarding the international
dimensions of the criminality in North-eastern Nigeria, especially the Baga
carnage, which according to Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan, representing Borno
North Senatorial District, claimed 228 lives and 2,0000 houses.

At both meetings in Washington DC and New York, UN and US
officials put questions to Ashiru, regarding the Boko Haram problem, the
escalation in terrorist attacks and the feared extra-judicial killings in Borno
State recently.

While senior US and UN officials at the meeting wanted an
investigation on the extra-judicial killing suspected in Baga, it was not
clear whether either of the meetings discussed the controversial issue of
amnesty for terrorists.

But a statement by Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, at the weekend,
simply noted that at the meeting in Washington DC on Thursday, the US Secretary
of State was “informed of the special efforts we are making on opening up areas
of economic development and generating employment, especially in northern
Nigeria, as a means of checking easy recruitment into Boko Haram.”

Regarding the issue of extra judicial killings in dealing with
terrorists, Ashiru’s statement disclosed that the Americans “expressed
concern,” adding that Kerry specifically expressed the desire of the US
government “to see human rights violators in the process of dealing with the
Boko Haram brought to justice.”

But the Americans also used the meeting to express their concern
over the fading anti-corruption efforts, especially with the controversial
pardon granted the former Bayelsa State Governor. According to Ashiru, “we
discussed America’s concern on the pardon granted to some convicted former
officials.”

But the Minister who was accompanied by Professor Ade Adefuye,
Nigeria’s Ambassador to the US, and other officials, explained that he assured
the US government that the federal government was still committed to the fight
against corruption in Nigeria, especially by promising that Nigeria will
prosecute those involved in oil subsidy scandals.

In New York, according to a UN press statement issued Friday
evening, “the Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister discussed recent
developments in Nigeria, including the recent spate of violence in the northern
part of the country.”

Earlier in the week the Secretary-General Ban had issued a
statement condemning the high rate of civilian casualty in the Baga killings
while also calling for an end to terrorists attacks in the country.

Meanwhile, a senior presidency official, said the idea of erecting
a security wall along the Nigeria-Chad border had been receiving official
consideration for some time, but gained weight after the recent fighting in
Baga, Borno State that pitched soldiers from Nigeria, Niger and Chad against
terrorists who had turned the area into a base to attack civilians across
northern Nigeria.

The source said: “The truth is, the security situation along the
border with Chad has worsened considerably and we might need to take some
radical measures to restore normalcy to the area and protect our people from
these foreign criminals.”

He said intelligence reports from the area show that Nigerian
communities along parts of the borders with Niger and Chad are exposed to
frequent attacks from criminals from these countries, who are in the habit or
stealing livestock and produce belonging to Nigerian farmers and attacking
women in the area.

The raid, which dated to the Chadian Civil War in the 1980s, has
since morphed into terrorism, as foreign militants and arms dealers are now
believed to be using these routes to foment trouble in Nigeria.

The controversial military operation in Baga is reported to have
killed, at least, 185 civilians and destroyed a quarter of the community.

But the Nigerian Army is disputing this figure. It said only 37
persons died in the clash, including six civilians, one soldier and 30 members
of the Boko Haram sect.

The commander of the JTF in the area, Brig Gen Austin Edokpaye,
told reporters, last week, that the force was surprised by the array of
sophisticated heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, deployed by
the terrorists.

He said the military action, which is believed to be ongoing, had
led to arrest of several Boko Haram members and recovery of heavy weapons.

But the number of civilian casualties, which independent assessors
say are much higher than the ones quoted by the army, means the Federal
Government is looking beyond military options to secure the area. These include
the deployment of surveillance equipment or erecting a structure across the
border.

“We are studying the example of the United States along its
southern border with Mexico, which has been demarcated by fence and walls to
stop the flow of guns, drugs and unwanted persons from crossing the border,”
the official said.

“The situation in the area is unsustainable and we cannot continue
to expose our people to these dangerous elements. Everything is on the table.
We are willing to do anything to secure the lives and property of our
citizens,” he said.

But, contrary to initial reports of 185 deaths and destruction of
2, 000 houses at Baga, Borno State, however, Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan,
yesterday, alleged there were 228 fresh graves and 4,000 demolished homes after
the two-day clash between the Boko Haram sect and men of the Multinational Joint
Task Force (MJTF).

Senator Lawan, who addressed a press conference at his Gomari Ward
residence in Maiduguri, the state capital, said he undertook a two-day personal
assessment visit to the destroyed border town at the weekend and observed the
“fresh graves” and 4,000 houses leveled to the ground.

According to him, there is much more to the original reports on
number of people killed and houses destroyed in the fishing and commercial town
of Baga.