Day: August 24, 2021

Armed men in Nigeria have attacked the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) in Kaduna State, killing two officers and abducting a third.

The Defense Academy’s public relations officer, Bashir Muhd Jajira, confirmed what he called a security breach in a statement.

He said the dead officers were a lieutenant commander and a flight lieutenant in the navy and air force respectively, while the abducted one is a major in the army. He also said an officer who was wounded during the attack is being treated.

Jajira said a search team comprising of the army, air force and other security agencies have begun a rescue mission.

An unspecified number of gunmen gained entry into the defense academy about 1 a.m. local time Tuesday.

The attack highlights the growing violence in Nigeria by criminal groups often operating in the country’s northwestern region.

Last week, tens of people were killed in sectarian violence in southern Kaduna state. In Northwest Zamfara state, gunmen abducted some 75 people Saturday after killing at least four. The abductees are yet to be freed.

Darlington Abdullahi, vice president of the Nigerian Defense Alumni association, explains why the attacks persist despite security forces’ efforts to stem the crisis.

“The forests that they’re operating in, they’re more used to forest life than the people or than the security personnel that now have to move into some of those areas, coupled with the fact that every care must be taken before you approach the forest before you try to attack them, take on them in the forest,” Abdullahi said.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took office in 2015 on the promise he would end widespread insecurity in the country.

Last week, Buhari met with security heads and said he does not want to leave office as a “failure.”

Source: Voice of America

Despite COVID-19 vaccine being available to all South African adults, uptake remains low with just 20% of adults having received a first dose. 

The Muslim Association of South Africa is one of many groups combatting vaccine hesitancy by delivering shots to doorsteps. 

Dawn Crotz received her Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from a paramedic in the comfort of her south Johannesburg home.

While the vaccine has been available to the 64-year-old since April, Crotz said rumors about the side effects made her hesitate. But the reality of the deadly virus changed her mind.

“I decided to get it because I saw my daughter-in-law’s father got so sick he passed away,” Crotz said. “And then I thought I might also get it. I take a flu vaccine every year. I go in and I buy it and they give it to me. And then I thought, ‘No, let me do this also.’”

With South Africa’s COVID-19 death toll surpassing 79,000, volunteer health workers are scrambling to quell people’s vaccine fears.

The country’s Muslim association launched an at-home vaccination program to provide individual attention to allay concerns and to remove the barriers of traveling to a clinic.

Muhammad Varachia is one of the paramedics delivering at-home vaccine.

“I think it’s just a misconception, people reading on social media, people hearing from different people that is bad for you, that it’s man-made,” Varachia said. “How can we create a vaccine in a year, etc, etc. So, there’s a lot of hesitancy that we’ve come across, but we put their fears to bed.”

Another problem is access to transportation and basic information about how one can get the vaccine, especially among the elderly.

“The registration for vaccines are electronic,” Varachia said. “And even though you can also register at sites, you need to know where the sites are, before you can show up there.”

For some people, like 22-year-old Kurt Fischer who is quadriplegic, getting to a vaccination site is difficult both physically and mentally.

While the rest of his family had been vaccinated, his father, Kevin Fischer, said having an at-home option for his son was a game changer.

“I would have sacrificed not having it to give him my shot, if possible, that he’s, he’s first,” Fischer said. “The familiarity of being able to be in his house is a big benefit, that there’s no stress of going to a foreign venue.”

Experts said volunteer efforts are closing the gap in vaccinating more people, especially those most vulnerable.

President Cyril Ramaphosa applauded the country’s youth on Monday for rushing to sites as vaccines were made available to those as young as 18.

But experts warn that fears and other barriers still need to be addressed, or the latest uptick could fizzle out as it did among older age groups.

Source: Voice of America

Nigeria’s government no longer has any doubts that Abubakar Shekau, the notorious leader of the Boko Haram terror group, is dead.

Reports of Shekau’s death first emerged three months ago, with word he had been killed during a confrontation in the Sambisa Forest with rival terror group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Despite some initial skepticism, Nigerian officials now say the reports appear to be accurate.

“Our position is that he has been reported dead and he is dead,” Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed told VOA’s Hausa service in an interview late Monday.

“Going from reports from the camp of Boko Haram itself, and going by the instability that has followed shortly after and the struggle for succession, and the recent surrender by thousands of Boko Haram adherents, I think it’s safe to assume that really, you know, he’s dead,” Mohammed said. “(We’ve) not seen any resurfacing of Abubakar Shekau.”

The Nigerian assessment aligns with the thinking of some U.S. officials who, like their Nigerian counterparts, have yet to see conclusive evidence.

“We think he was probably killed,” a U.S. military official told VOA on the condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the intelligence about the Boko Haram leader.

Other U.S. officials have noted that the number of reports about Shekau’s death and the sourcing of those reports appear to be more credible than previous accounts of his demise.

Still, they have been wary of confirming that Shekau — who has faked his death several times only to “come back to life” months later — is in fact dead.

“The United States has not yet been able to independently verify these reports,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA last month.

Other intelligence agencies and counterterrorism officials also remain skeptical, voicing their doubts to a United Nations monitoring team for a report issued late last month.

Boko Haram has been “significantly weakened,” the report said, noting, “Some member states believe that Shekau may have escaped from the Sambisa Forest.” 

In the meantime, ISWAP, looking to capitalize on the situation, has been offering details through a leaked audio recording and in the group’s online newsletter in June, promoting the narrative that Shekau died. 

According to its account in Al-Naba, translated by SITE Intelligence Group, IS fighters found Shekau hiding with his guards by a tree, and rather than surrender, Shekau “detonated his explosive jacket, killing himself.”

Following the initial reports of Shekau’s death in May, a second State Department spokesperson told VOA that if true, “the death of one of the most violent terrorists in African history would be a positive development.”

But the official also cautioned that Shekau’s death, alone, would not be reason to rejoice.

“Even if Shekau has been killed, terrorism remains a threat to peace and stability in the region,” the spokesperson told VOA. “Boko Haram is not the only terrorist group operating in the area.”

Other officials have since echoed that concern.

“While some may take solace in the death of a brutally violent terrorist leader, we are concerned his death will likely allow Islamic State West Africa Province to consolidate fighters and resources into a more cohesive terrorist effort,” Special Operations Command Africa spokesperson Major Andrew Caulk, told VOA.

“A unified and more externally focused ISWAP could dramatically destabilize the Lake Chad basin area without substantial, coordinated multinational intervention,” he added.

Prior to Shekau’s reported death, intelligence officials said he likely commanded an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 fighters across Nigeria and Cameroon.

ISWAP, which split with Shekau about five years ago, has an estimated 3,500 fighters in Nigeria and surrounding countries.

Shekau led Boko Haram since about 2009 and is blamed for orchestrating a campaign of terror that has killed more than 30,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes. Under Shekau’s leadership, the group gained additional notoriety for the 2014 kidnapping of about 300 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria.

The U.S. designated Shekau as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2012 and has been offering a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his capture.

Source: Voice of America

At least two people were killed and five wounded Thursday after a suicide bomber detonated a device inside a cafe in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.

The suicide bomber targeted a tea shop near a crowded junction in northern Mogadishu, which was reportedly frequented by members of the Somali security forces as well as civilians.

The al-Qaida-linked group Al-Shabab claimed the attack through their Shahada News Agency, according to the U.S. monitoring group SITE.

The early-evening attack, which sent debris flying outside, killed two members of the security forces and injured five people, said Mohamed Ali, a traffic policeman who was at the scene.

“Pieces of metal and destroyed plastic seats were strewn around the whole area,” said Abdukadir Sagaalle, who witnessed the aftermath.

Al-Shabab, which is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s internationally backed government, regularly attacks government and civilian targets in Mogadishu.

Last month, the jihadists claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a crowded tea shop in Mogadishu that killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens.

The group controlled Somalia’s capital until 2011, when it was pushed out by African Union troops, but still holds territory in the countryside.

Source: Voice of America