NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT QUASHES EXTREMISTS, BUT NOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001392

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2019
TAGS: PGOV SOCI SENV EAGR PREL NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT QUASHES EXTREMISTS, BUT NOT
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

REF: A. ABUJA 1379

B. ABUJA 1377

Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Anthony R. Eterno for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: According to Embassy contacts, other
reporting channels, and local news reporting, Nigerian
military stormed extremist strongholds in Borno, Bauchi,
Yobe, and Kano states on July 28, effectively neutralizing
Boko Haram, its followers, and its leader Mohammed Yusuf.
Minimal violence directed at police was reported in Katsina,
but it was quickly extinguished. There have been no
additional reports of attacks in Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa, or
Kano, other than small skirmishes from extremists on the run
from military and police forces. Unconfirmed reports put the
total death toll in Borno at 300, mostly
extremists, but including some police and military personnel.
Meanwhile, at the peak of the GON's military intervention to
end the violent attacks, President Yar'Adua traveled to
Brazil for four days. End Summary.


2. (U) On July 28, Nigerian troops from the Third Armored
Division in Jos, Plateau state, were ordered into Maiduguri's
Railway Terminus Area (MRTA),reputed stronghold of Boko
Haram, to route out extremists responsible for attacks
against Borno state police and government facilities for
three days. One of Nigeria's leading newspapers reported the
scene as "the mother of all battles," describing the military
as having arrived in six armored tanks and five military
trucks loaded with troops who wiped out 200 extremists
attacking them with grenades, and bows and arrows, and other
hand-made weapons. In Bauchi state, Africa Independent
Television showed a video of a bulldozer demolishing the
residence of an alleged leader of Boko Haram, while in
Katsina a policeman was wounded as security agencies forced
extremists to flee and abandon a police station they were
planning to burn. There were no reports of additional
violence in Yobe and Kano states. Meanwhile, President
Yar'Adua spoke to reporters for the first time since the
first wave of attacks on July 26, assuring the country that
"the situation is completely under control," as he boarded
his plane for his four-day visit to Brazil.


3. (C) Yar'Adua also informed reporters that security
agencies had been monitoring and tracking the activities of
Yusuf and Boko Haram for several years. He also revealed
with some degree of detail that Yusuf and Boko Haram have
been "organizing, penetrating our society, procuring arms,
and learning how to make explosives and bombs," adding that
"once the military operation concludes in Maiduguri, there
will be continuous security surveillance all over the
northern states to fish out remnants of the group who are to
be dealt with squarely and promptly." (Note: Yar'Adua's
assertion that the GON has been monitoring and tracking
Yusuf's activities is for the most part accurate and does not
differ significantly with what Mission Nigeria has learned
through other reporting channels. End Note.)


4. (U) According to Assistant Zonal Coordinator for the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Apollos Jediel,
the number of people displaced from the conflict in Maiduguri
has risen to approximately 4,000. Meanwhile, the streets of
Maiduguri are still empty, and all shops, schools, and
offices within eight kilometers from the MRTA remained
closed. ATM machines and mobile communication are also out
of service, and the official 2100 to 0900 hours curfew is
still in effect. Religious services have been canceled, and
in some instances officially suspended, while both Christian
and Islamic leaders continue to condemn the attacks.
Jama'atu Nasir Islam (JNI) Acting Secretary General Malam
Abdulkarim Mu'azu Palladan told reporters that "JNI will not
fold its arms and watch the carnage and madness that is going
on in the country in the name of Islam,8 then informed them
that "the Central Fatwa Committee would soon be convened to
deliberate on the teachings of this group (Boko Haram)."


5. (C) Comment: After four days of Boko Haram's assaults on
police and other local government institutions, Nigerian

ABUJA 00001392 002 OF 002


military swept in to root out, capture, or kill most of
Mohammed Yusuf's young Boko Haram followers. Condemnation
for the extremists actions by prominent Muslim
leaders and scholars should further isolate Mohammed Yusuf
and his Boko Haram followers as fringe radicals. End Comment.


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