NIGERIA: EXTREMIST ATTACKS CONTINUE INTO NIGHT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001379

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2019
TAGS: PGOV SOCI SENV EAGR PREL NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: EXTREMIST ATTACKS CONTINUE INTO NIGHT

REF: ABUJA 1377

Classified By: Political Counselor Walter N.S. Pflaumer for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: According to Embassy contacts, other
reporting channels, and local news reporting, additional
extremist attacks were carried out on police stations and
government buildings throughout the night of July 27-28 in
Maiduguri, Borno state, following three days of similar
attacks in three other northern Nigerian towns. The attacks
are believed to be a continuation of the violence reported
ref A, and in response to a mid-June incident in which
Nigerian police injured 17 of the extremist group's members.
Unconfirmed reports indicate approximately 100-150 people
were killed, including some police and military personnel.
On July 28, the GON called up its military to respond to and
prevent further attacks. End Summary.


2. (C) Armed members of the group "Boko Haram" -- comprised
of young Muslim extremists and other followers of Mohammed
Yusuf, leader of the so-called "Nigerian Taliban" --
continued their attacks on police in Maiduguri, Borno state,
well into the night of July 27. According to several press
reports, the extremists carried out a coordinated late-night
assault on the state's police headquarters, police training
facilities, Maiduguri prison, and two other police stations.
The group also kidnapped a reporter from one of Nigeria's
leading newspapers, "The Daily Trust," who was later
released. Maiduguri businessman Chief Ezeoke Azubuike
confirmed to Emboffs that two police stations were set ablaze
and that the extremist freed several prisoners from
Maiduguri's central prison. State-owned Nigeria Television
Authority (NTA) showed video clips of the razed police
stations, as well as the corpses of alleged extremists
reportedly killed by police.


3. (C) The attacks led to the suspension of most
governmental, commercial and social activity in Maiduguri.
Mobile and other communication services were also cut off,
and a state-wide curfew was implemented between 1900 and 0700
hours. Schools and all government-run operations in 18
ministries and parastatals were also closed. Security agents
reportedly continue to round up the remnants of the extremist
fighters in their enclaves. Sheikh Abu Arabi, a
Maiduguri-based Islamic scholar, told Emboffs that residents
and school children have remained indoors and there is
palpable fear among residents. (He explained that "nobody
can tell you with accuracy what is going on or the scale of
the fighting because people are too weary of leaving their
homes.") Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) video showed
largely deserted streets, occupied only by soldiers and armed
police.


4. (C) Maiduguri police displayed 52 corpses of alleged
extremists to reporters, and claimed that more than 150
others were killed during the fighting. Borno Governor Ali
Modu issued a statement ordering an indefinite state-wide
"dusk-to-dawn" curfew. Police also reported the arrest of
more than 100 extremists who were on their way from Maiduguri
to Kano, one of whom told a reporter that he "had no regret
for being a member of (Boko Haram); it is Jihad, and Western
education is a bad practice." Col. Ben Ahanotu, commander
of police "Operation Flush II" (FYI: members of this police
operation were involved in the original June 11 clash with
Mohammed Yusuf's followers. End FYI),told reporters that
"the next military action against these armed religious sects
is to destroy their operational points and areas that pose
serious threats to lives and property." Three days after the
first attacks in Bauchi, Presidential Spokesman Olusegun
Adeniyi issued a statement announcing that President Yar'Adua
had directed all national security units to contain and repel
the extremists.


5. (C) Activities are gradually returning to normal today
(July 28) in the surrounding states of Yobe, Bauchi, and
Kano, which were also affected the previous day by the
extremist attacks, as police and military take control of the
streets. According to today's VOA Hausa Service morning
broadcast, Bauchi Minister of Police Affairs Yakubu Lame has

ABUJA 00001379 002 OF 002


ordered that no Muslim should be allowed to preach openly
without a police permit. Yobe Governor's Aide Tura Kolomi
told Emboffs that although no attack occurred in Damaturu,
the state capital, police quelled an attack on a police
station in Potiskum, the state's major commercial hub. In
Kano, Governor's Aide Kabiru Magami confirmed to Emboffs that
Boko Haram attacked a police station in the small town of
Wudil, but were quickly defeated and arrested. There were no
reports of additional attacks in Taraba, Adamawa, or Kaduna
states, but press reported 33, 17, and 21 arrests in each
state, respectively.


6. (U) Religious and human rights groups condemned the
attacks. A spokesman for the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF,
which lobbies for the interests of Muslim Northerners) told
local press that the extremist attacks are not in accordance
with true Islam. In an expression of unity, a spokesman for
the Christian Association of Nigerian assured residents that
the attacks were not directed at Christians, and then blamed
the security agencies for not preventing what were obvious
premeditated attacks. Meanwhile, Human Rights Writers
Association Coordinator Emmaneul Onwubiko blamed the attacks
on the "total lack of political will on the part of the
Federal and state governments and the failure of its
intelligence units." VOA Hausa Service said that a member of
Boko Haram claimed that they "were not attacking Christians
or innocent residents, but rather the Nigerian authorities
and its symbols." Chief Superintendent of Police and head of
NAPTIP's Kano Division Bello Ahmed informed Emboffs that Kano
state security is in possession of a strategy paper written
by Yusuf, which describes Nigeria as "a failed state that
cannot provide jobs and basic necessitites of life to its
citizens" and that Boko Haram "aims to kill all government
officials, including security operatives, to set up a system
of government that ensures justice and equitable distribution
of resources."


7. (C) Comment: It is unclear whether Yusuf's followers,
particularly members of Boko Haram, will regroup and stage
future attacks, but thus far their attacks are focused on
defined targets, which at present do not include western or
U.S. interests. However, the target of Yusuf's recruitment
campaign -- the growing disaffected and marginalized youth of
northern Nigeria -- will remain susceptible to his
anti-western and anti-establishment rhetoric. End Comment.


8. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos.
SANDERS