Ansaru militant group, a faction of Boko Haram, has reportedly started a “massive recruitment” of residents in communities in Birnin Gwari LGA of Kaduna state. According to Daily Trust, the group on Wednesday visited Damari, Farin Ruwa, Kwasa Kwasa, Kuyello, Gobirawa, Tabanni, Kutemeshi and Kazage villages in a bid to recruit the villagers into their sect under the guise of celebrating Sallah with them. The newspaper quoted residents as saying the insurgents distributed Sallah gifts –biscuits — to them and also performed motorcycle stunts to entertain the villagers. The group was said to have also distributed a five-page pamphlet titled; ‘We are not Boko Haram but Ansaru’, flash disks and other items on its activities in an attempt to entice residents to join them. “Whoever believes in Shahada and faces Qibla to pray is considered a Muslim to us and so deserves to be protected just as we would protect ourselves and our family members,” the group reportedly said in the pamphlet. ”We will celebrate with him in times of happiness and mourn with him in terms of sorrow. He is free from our harm and we are not going to hand him over to his enemies. “Planting bombs in markets, mosques and motor parks among other places is not what we believe in because, in these places, the majority of the casualties are the poor people. We are not out for materialism because if this is what we wanted, we would have remained in our parents’ houses to enjoy the world. We are also not out to seek for positions or support any political party or tribe or any worldly thing.” A resident was quoted as saying the presence of the militant group would deter bandits from attacking their communities. “They visited the Kuyello area, Tabanni, Kutemeshi and also my village, which is Kazage to join the people in the Sallah celebration,” the resident was quoted as saying. “They participated in motorcycle stunts within the communities; nobody was harmed and they warned against indulging in any dangerous play. They equally preached and shared biscuits to the people. “With their presence, bandits will dare not attack our communities.” Muhammadu Isa, a resident of Kuyello, reportedly said many youths have expressed interest in joining the group. “There are some communities where members of Ansaru provide access to residents to go to their farms and guard the residents while at farms,” Isa was quoted as saying.

  Authorities in the United Kingdom have excluded members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and some other secessionists from seeking asylum in their country. In its updated asylum policy published in May and sighted by Channels Television, the UK explained that it took the decision as a result of the recent activities of such people as reported in Nigeria. According to Britain, Nigerian authorities have since proscribed IPOB as a terrorist group while the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has also been banned, but not designated the same status as the former. “IPOB is proscribed as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government, and members of the group and its paramilitary wing – the Eastern Security Network (created in December 2020) – have reportedly committed human rights violations in Nigeria,” the document said. “MASSOB has been banned but is not a proscribed terrorist group in Nigeria. It too has reportedly been involved in violent clashes with the authorities. “If a person has been involved with IPOB (and/or an affiliated group), MASSOB or any other ‘Biafran’ group that incites or uses violence to achieve its aims, decision-makers must consider whether one (or more) of the exclusion clauses under the Refugee Convention is applicable. Persons who commit human rights violations must not be granted asylum.” The UK stated that any person excluded from the Refugee Convention would also be excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection. it, however, advised decision-makers to still consider all claims on an individual basis, taking into account each case’s specific facts. The government also asked them to check if there had been a previous application for a UK visa or another form of leave, stressing that asylum applications matched to visas should be investigated prior to the asylum interview. In the political context, the UK described Biafra as a loosely defined area in Nigeria’s south-east that roughly corresponds to Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Anambra States. MASSOB, it said, was identified in May 2013 by former President Goodluck Jonathan as one of the three ‘extremist groups threatening national security’. “MASSOB, since its formation in the late 1990s, has clashed with the security forces. Some sources report that numerous individuals have been killed, wounded, and arrested during these clashes – usually during demonstrations.” “Through its online platform, ‘Radio Biafra’, and other social media, IPOB has increasingly used inflammatory rhetoric to encourage secessionist aspirations and resistance to the authorities, including violence,” the UK government said of IPOB. “Sources reported that the security forces have arrested hundreds of IPOB supporters at different events, particularly between 2015 and 2017 and including during raids on homes of IPOB leaders. Since 2015, IPOB has also claimed that the security forces have used excessive force, including killing and injuring hundreds of its supporters.”

  Unidentified gun men suspected to be enforcing a two-day ‘phantom’ sit-at-home allegedly declared by yet to be identified dissident group in South-East attacked Ebebe Junction in Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi. The attackers who struck the area at about 6:20 a.m on Friday set a vehicle ablaze while a motorcycle operator escaped death by whiskers. Mr Anayo Chukwuemeka, a resident of the area who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that the attackers fired several gunshots that got residents panicking and scampering for safety. “It happened in a flash. But, when the gunshots died down and we came out, we saw that a vehicle has been burnt beyond recognition. “The driver of the vehicle who managed to escape told us that the gunmen said they are enforcing the sit-at-home declared in protest of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Ebonyi. “A motorcycle operator who also escaped the attackers gunshots told us that they fired at him but he miraculously dodged the bullets,” Chukwuemeka said. Also, Mr Simon Onwe, a shop owner in the area told NAN that the attackers came in a vehicle without a number plate shot sporadically in the air and immediately fled. “I was still inside my shop because I slept there; I heard the gunshots but I discovered later that they left a vehicle burnt beyond recognition while a motorcycle operator told us that he narrowly escaped their bullets. “It’s so unfortunate that we witnessed such an ugly incident in this area that is usually very peaceful and spralling with business activities especially at evening periods,” he said. Meanwhile, a combined team of men of the Nigeria Police and the Ebubeagu Eastern Security Outfit, Ebonyi Command have condoned off the area. Mrs Loveth Odah, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ebonyi command when contacted for reaction said that the she was yet to get a report of the incident. “I’m just getting the information from you; I’m not aware of the attack,” Odah said. Meanwhile, an officer of the command at the scene of the incident told NAN on condition of anonymity that the police have organised a manhunt to apprehend the armed criminals. However, the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group agitating for the independent state of Biafra had in a statement signed by Emma Powerful, its media and publicity coordinator said that the group has not declared any sit-at-home in South-East. Buhari arrived Ebonyi on Thursday on a two-day state visit. The President is expected to interface with leaders and stakeholders of the zone. NAN