JSTF soldier(r)and cop on urban combat and house clearing operations at Damaturu, NE Nigeria June 2012
THE GUARDIAN
18 August, 2012
THE military Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State has denied the alleged
perpetration of genocide by the security task force in Maiduguri and Damaturu, the Yobe State capital. The force said the clashes between suspected gunmen of Boko Haram sect and its men were to restore order and protect lives and property.
Apparently reacting to Borno Elders
Forum’s (BEF) allegations that JTF
activities have continued to lead to
genocide, spokesman of the task force,
Lt. Col Sagir Musa, said: “…there has
never been a recorded or an established case of genocide against the JTF in
Maiduguri. “We operate and will continue to operate within the mandate and powers approved by appropriate
superior authority with utmost respect
to the constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.”
In a statement titled: A Passionate
Appeal for Restraint, signed by BEF
chairman, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno,
read in part: “Nobody seems to care even as the fasting Muslims were killed, maimed, robbed or displaced. It is indeed pathetic and unfortunate that such a situation will be allowed to happen to innocent Muslims. The blood of the innocent flows and they are on their own. The killings run into hundreds, and it seems the people are facing genocide.”
Some residents of Maiduguri yesterday
told The Guardian that security forces
were secretly burying bodies of civilians
killed in the crisis in mass graves,because Specialist Hospital morgues
are overstretched. A resident of Abaganaram, Mallam Nuhu Isa, said: “There have also been killings of civilians blamed on the Boko Haram sect itself, as well as criminal activities apparently by people who are exploiting the situation to engage in robberies.”
THE FLIP SIDE OF THE STORY
http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/32832/2012/08/18/postemergency_rule_plateau_yobe_niger_borno_breathe_easy.html
QUOTE
But Pedro, Executive Director, Green
Environmental Support and Development Initiative (GESDI) an NGO in Damaturu, said the emergency rule helped the security situation in no small measure.
He said: “I see the emergency rule as
having had a positive impact on the
security situation in the state because
the presence of military men in the state, especially in Damaturu, curtailed the prevalence of crimes which people ascribe to Boko Haram.
If not for these security men, some people will not even sleep in their houses. “So it impacted well on the people and even the economy of the state.
For example, at the Damaturu Sunday
market, soldiers are always there to
protect the people and traders feel free
to transact business. If the security men, the soldiers especially, are not there, how many traders will dare come to the market?
And the market is one of the sources of internal revenue for the local government and the state. So I believe
that the emergency rule impacted well and achieved its purpose. It is better
than not having it.”
end of quote
Let the snake continue to feed on itself. Neutrals know what Borno was like between Sept 2010 and June 2011 when the JSTF had not arrived.
Even an EMIR in that same Greater Borno(i.e Borno+Yobe states) knows that this is a poorly-disguised pro-terrorist propaganda attempt.
Read:
YOBE STATE: “THOSE CALLING FOR THE REMOVAL OF SECURITY AGENCIES, STATE OF EMERGENCY ARE THOSE CONSPIRING WITH THE SECT” – EMIR OF FIKA
http://beegeagle.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/yobe-state-those-calling-for-the-removal-of-security-agencies-state-of-emergency-are-those-conspiring-with-the-sect-emir-of-fika/
Ride on, JSTF. Do your duty, gentlemen!
Ride on, JSTF, but can you please try and document your operations, as real footage of JSTF facilitating trade, and civillian safety, just as Pedro, the GESDI ngo director described, would go along way to discredit the likes of Alhaji Shettima and Ali Monguno.
While BH battle field victories has become fewer, and farther in between, it is still possible for them to win the propaganda war, if JSTF takes information warfare for granted.
The JSTF propaganda effort, should tell it’s side of the story. It should showcase the valor, and sacrifices made by it’s troops. It should put emphasis on the benefits of the secure environs it has fought to preserve.
It should also explain the set backs, and put them in the proper context. For example, if civilians are killed during JSTF operations, how did it happen ? where the civilians harboring BH ? Does BH use civilians as human shields ? and so on.
Your documentry evidence of JSTF operations, should appraise all viewers of the complexity of these operations.
Let those alleging speak in facts not hyperbole. Genocide? Hundreds in mass graves. In the era of camera phones etc surely they can at least get some back up evidence. You can see the pressure telling, the plan is not going as was thought, these crys are all to consistently illogical.
However this is not to say that JSTF commanders should not ensure that discipline is maintained. It is key we remember these are Nigerian towns and Nigerian citizens
As Oga Doziex has succinctly said it is imperative the JSTF shapes the message. Anti government elements are doing just that. They are cleverly shaping the message with a simplistic mantra of ‘security forces are the problem’, we know how susceptible Nigerians are to chain text messages etc and all it needs is for this message to be repeated over and over again on the news, online and by SMS for it to be true in the minds of the people.
It is imperative, in fact urgent that a comprehensive counter propaganda campaign is unleashed and this can be done by a media and local leader tour of all morgues and grave yards, and the use of embedded reporters. It is an easy move and an easy win. It would be foolish to allow the enemies of the Federation to win an easy victory