Nigerian troops cut off Food and Fuel supply to Boko Haram

Nigerian troops are really doing a good job! This is what Jonathan should have done, a long time ago.

From The compass,

AS the full blown war on terror in Nigeria entered the fifth day yesterday, security forces threw a blanket of blockade around some remote towns under the control of Boko Haram insurgents. 

The blockade cut the Islamic fundamentalists, Boko Haram, from food and fuel supples.
Yesterday, 14 insurgents and three soldiers were reported to have died in battle, while 65 suspected militants were arrested.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government’s offer of amnesty to the militants was restated by the presidency.


The military said that its offensive against the group, which has been waging a relentless war on the country since 2009, was aimed at re-establishing Nigeria's "territorial integrity".

The current military assault includes air strikes on strongholds in remote parts of Borno state, and has spread to the state capital, Maiduguri, the fighters' traditional home base.
Residents said yesterday that the base had been blockaded.

"There is a huge build-up of trucks loaded with essential commodities... along the Baga road on the way out of Maiduguri to the northern part of the state," said Ibrahim Yahaya.
"The drivers said they have been prevented by the military from going northward," he told the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency by email.

The phone network in Borno has all but collapsed since President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency there and in two neighbouring states, Adamawa and Yobe.

Defence spokesman, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade , said in a statement on Saturday that fighters on the run were scrambling for key supplies like fuel. He urged residents to report anyone trying to buy large quantities of fuel.

The supply shortage has begun to bite in the town of Gomboru Ngala, on the border with Cameroon, where some Borno residents have fled to escape the air raids.

"Trucks bringing in goods from Maiduguri have ceased since last week," said resident Grema Babagoni. He said the supply shortage has pushed prices up by as much as 25 percent.

"If the blockade continues for some time we may completely run out of supplies," he told AFP.

A defence spokesman also said the military had seized stockpiles of weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, guns and ammunition from areas around Maiduguri.

Yesterday, the government renewed its offer of amnesty to the militants who surrender and said 17 people had been killed on the fifth day of a military operation to try to crush the Boko Haram insurgency.

General Olukolade said the operation was continuing yesterday, with patrols sent out to secure towns and villages, and that special forces had killed 14 insurgents in battles that left three Nigerian soldiers dead and seven wounded.

Nigerian forces used jets and attack helicopters to bombard militant camps in the northeast on Friday.

Some analysts fear the offensive may have rendered the already slim chance of a political solution to the conflict even slimmer, but the president's spokesman Reuben Abati denied this.

"Mr president has urged Boko Haram members to surrender their arms and embrace the amnesty option which is still open as the committee is working on the option of dialogue for a peaceful resolution," Abati said by telephone.

Phones have been largely cut to the entire northeastern region, to prevent the rebels from communicating.

"The insurgents have people who look out and tip them off by phone, which opens the military up to ambushes. Without phones, raids will have the element of surprise," a security source in Maiduguri said, adding a 24-hour curfew in some areas also aimed to limit their movements.

"It will be painful for the public without communications and movement, but it may be a price worth paying," he said.

The military said on Friday it had destroyed a number of camps in dry forests around Borno state, the epicenter of the insurgency.

"Dislodged terrorists (are) in disarray," Olulokade said.

The crackdown is meant to finish off the rebels decisively, but efforts to do so in the past have failed, as they hid under pressure and then popped up again when it eased.

Human rights groups and the United States are also concerned about more possible abuses against civilians by the army.

Olukolade told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the aim of the ongoing offensive is to assert Nigeria's "territorial integrity as a nation".

He said that the army would continue its operation "as long as it takes to achieve our objective of getting rid of insurgents from every part of Nigeria".

He told the BBC World Service Newshour programme that the offensive "knows the targets it is after, and it took a long time to plan and prepare for this".

"It is their (insurgent) bases, their weaponry, their logistics that we are going to deal with in this operation," he added.

Earlier, an army statement named 12 areas of Maiduguri, which would now be under permanent curfew.

The army also said the 65 insurgents had been arrested trying to infiltrate Maiduguri.

Those held had been "fleeing from various camps now under attack".

However, there has been no independent confirmation of the arrests.

The army said 10 suspected insurgents were killed in clashes with troops in Maiduguri on Friday and weapons were seized including rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Military war planes and helicopter gunships also attacked several militant training camps in the north-east on Friday, officials said.

One plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire but officials said it had returned to base safely while the "terrorist base" was "completely destroyed".

US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged the Nigerian army to show restraint and not violate human rights as it pursues the militants.

Mr Kerry said there were "credible allegations" of "gross human rights violations" by the Nigerian military.

Last November, Amnesty International accused Nigeria's security forces of carrying out widespread abuses in their campaign against Boko Haram, including extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture.

The BBC has also received reports of civilians fleeing remote areas in Borno State and arriving in towns on the border with Cameroon.

Cameroon shares hundreds of miles of border with Nigeria and the area adjacent to Borno is considered porous.

Although Cameroon's security forces have stepped up security in the region, a source told French radio that the government in Yaounde had been given no advance warning of the Nigerian campaign.