News
Satellite Images Show Horrific Scale of B/Haram Attack on Baga-Amnesty
Satellite images released by Amnesty International yesterday claimed it provided indisputable and shocking evidence of the scale of last week’s attack on the towns of Baga and Doron Baga by Boko Haram militants.
Before and after images of two neighbouring towns, Baga (160 kilometres from Maiduguri) and Doron Baga (also known as Doro Gowon, 2.5 km from Baga), taken on 2 and 7 January show the devastating effect of the attacks which left over 3,700 structures damaged or completely destroyed. Other nearby towns and villages were also attacked over this period.
“These detailed images show devastation of catastrophic proportions in two towns, one of which was almost wiped off the map in the space of four days,” said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International.
“Of all Boko Haram assaults analysed by Amnesty International, this is the largest and most destructive yet. It represents a deliberate attack on civilians whose homes, clinics and schools are now burnt out ruins.”
The analysis shows just two of the many towns and villages that fell victim to a series of Boko Haram attacks which began on 3 January 2015.
In Baga, a densely populated town less than two square kilometres in size, approximately 620 structures were damaged or completely destroyed by fire.
In Doron Baga over 3,100 structures were damaged or destroyed by fire affecting most of the 4 square kilometre town. Many of the wooden fishing boats along the shoreline, visible in the images taken on the 2 January, are no longer present in the 7 January images tallying with eye witnesses’ testimony that desperate residents fled by boat across Lake Chad.
Thousands of people have fled the violence across the border to Chad and to other parts of Nigeria including Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.
These people are adding to the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and refugees, who have already stretched the capacity of host communities and government authorities. Amnesty International is calling on the governments of Nigeria and Chad to ensure these displaced people are protected and provided with adequate humanitarian assistance.
The destruction shown in these images matches the horrific testimonies that Amnesty International has gathered. Interviews with eyewitnesses as well as with local government officials and local human rights activists suggest that Boko Haram militants shot hundreds of civilians.
A man in his fifties told Amnesty International what happened in Baga during the attack: “They killed so many people. I saw maybe around 100 killed at that time in Baga. I ran to the bush. As we were running, they were shooting and killing.” He hid in the bush and was later discovered by Boko Haram fighters, who detained him in Doron Baga for four days.
Those who fled describe seeing many more corpses in the bush. “I don’t know how many but there were bodies everywhere we looked,” one woman told Amnesty International.
Another witness described how Boko Haram were shooting indiscriminately killing even small children and a woman who was in labour. “[H]alf of the baby boy is out and she died like this,” he said.
Boko Haram fighters have repeatedly targeted communities for their perceived collaboration with the security forces. Towns that formed state-sponsored militia groups known as the Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF) have suffered particularly brutal attacks.
Civilian JTF groups were active in Baga and a senior military official confirmed to Amnesty International confidentially that at times the military took these members on operations to attack Boko Haram positions.
A witness told Amnesty International that during the attack on Baga that he heard Boko Haram fighters saying they were searching for Civilian JTF members, as they went house to house shooting men of fighting age.
After the attack on Baga, witnesses describe how Boko Haram drove into the bush rounding up women, children and the elderly who had escaped. According to one woman who was detained for four days “Boko Haram took around 300 women and kept us in a school in Baga. They released the older women, mothers and most of the children after four days but are still keeping the younger women.”
Amnesty International is calling on Boko Haram to stop killing civilians. The deliberate killing of civilians and destruction of their property by Boko Haram are war crimes and crimes against humanity and must be duly investigated.
The government should take all possible legal steps to restore security in the north-east and ensure protections of civilians.
“Up until now, the isolation of the Baga combined with the fact that Boko Haram remains in control of the area has meant that it has been very difficult to verify what happened there. Residents have not been able to return to bury the dead, let alone count their number. But through these satellite images combined with graphic testimonies a picture of what is likely to be Boko Haram’s deadliest attack ever is becoming clearer,” said Daniel Eyre.
“This week, Nigeria’s Director of Defence Information stated that the number of people killed in Baga including Boko Haram fighters “has so far not exceeded about 150”. These images, together with the stories of those who survived the attack, suggest that the final death toll could be much higher than this figure.”
MMS Africa, a provider of media management software solutions to broadcasters across Africa, has partnered with inq., a Convergence Partners company, to host its infrastructure, support its IT requirements and assist it with the software customisation on its broadcast solution.
“Since we opened our doors in 2017, the focus has always been on enabling the integration of multiple back-end software solutions for broadcasters who relied on these complex environments to fulfil their mandates,” says Abdul Mathee, Founder of MMS Africa.
“At the time, we partnered with international software vendors to deliver a solution, but it was still price prohibitive for many of the growing broadcasters across the continent.”
This was the catalyst for MMS Africa to begin developing its own software that would initially take four linear back-end broadcast processes to deliver a complete virtualisation solution. The company started working with several television and radio stations by taking care of their broadcasting software requirements for them to focus on the content.
“One of our first major contracts was that of the Namibian public broadcaster. With this deal in place, we had to invest more in infrastructure and wound up on the Teraco back-end. This enabled us to more effectively scale up to meet the demands of broadcasters as they began transitioning to a digital environment,” says Mathee.
It was at the end of November 2022 when MMS Africa approached inq. to assist it with its infrastructure and IT functions.
“Inq. did everything for us that was IT-focused. Inq. began with the hosting and supply of our infrastructure and the required support, as well as assisting us with the development and customisation of our software,” adds Mathee.
This comprehensive support was essential, given how the Namibian broadcaster was still heavily reliant on legacy systems and manual processes, which had not changed much since it split from the SABC in the early 90s.
“With the assistance of inq., we sit down with broadcasters like the one in Namibia, analyse their environment and identify the ways to improve workflows. It is about creating an ideal balance between people, systems and processes. Our focus is about relationships and using technology to automate, enhance and transition African broadcasters into a digital age,” says Mathee.
With the work done on creating a digital-first environment for the Namibian broadcaster, MMS Africa can now approach any broadcaster or media house in Africa and apply their learnings to customise the MMS’s platform to deliver on any requirement.
Assisting in the customisation of the MMS environment, the inq. team played a crucial role in enabling MMS Africa to take its solution to the next level.
“There was a significant amount of customisation required, but our team went the extra mile to assist MMS Africa to deliver on everything they needed,” says Ralph Berndt, Sales and Marketing Director at inq. SA.
According to Mathee, inq.’s presence across Africa contributed to the growth of their partnership.
“Thanks to inq., we are strongly positioned to expand into other markets and provide a complete multimedia solution without needing to spend years customising and adjusting anything. Much like Netflix can launch in 180 countries in one day, the work inq. has done with our team means we can effectively switch on broadcasters across the continent on our platform almost at the click of a button.
This has been an incredibly beneficial partnership for us and one we will look at enhancing even further in the coming months,” concludes Mathee.
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) is notifying all customers with outstanding bills to settle their accounts immediately to avoid service disruption.
Adefisayo Akinsanya, head, Marketing and Corporate Communications in a statement said that to this end, customers who are yet to settle their outstanding bills within the next 72 hours, by Monday, June 3, 2024, will face disconnection of their electricity supply.
AEDC emphasized the importance of adhering to payment deadlines to ensure efficient and reliable service.
Akinsanya added that “the timely payment of electricity bills remains crucial for the continued operation and enhancement of AEDC’s infrastructure, which is essential for delivering uninterrupted service to the community.
Deadline for Payment: All outstanding bills must be paid within 72 hours of this notice, by Monday, June 3, 2024”
A total of $142.5 million was paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) last year by The Shell Petroleum Development of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo).
SPDC paid $112.5 million while SNEPCo remitted $30 million compared to $59.04 million by SPDC and $20.73 by SNEPCo in 2022.
The contributions came from the Shell companies on behalf of themselves and their respective partners –. Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC); TotalEnergies, EP Nigeria Limited; NAOC; and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited – as statutory contributions to the interventionist agency.
“Our support for NDDC is part of our aspirations for the development of the Niger Delta which has also seen a wide range of social investments, including health and education,” Igo Weli,SPDC director and country head, Corporate Relations said.
“With the continuous support of our partners, we will continue to discharge our obligations to communities through statutory payments to agencies and projects executed in partnership with stakeholders.”
Shell Companies in Nigeria have supported community development programmes in the country since the 1960s, benefitting many Nigerians.
Support for education has led to the award of more than 3,450 secondary school grants, 3,772 university grants and 1,062 cradle-to-career scholarship grants since 2016.
Another investment has seen the introduction of the Health-in-Motion programme, providing free medical services directly to communities.
Over one million individuals have benefited from the programme since its inception in the early 2000s.
Also, the global Shell LiveWIRE entrepreneurship programme supported 73 businesses through training and mentorship programmes leading to 97 employment opportunities for Nigerians.
Baobab Launches New App to Promote Financial Inclusion
MMS Africa Transforms African Broadcasting for the Digital Age with inq.
Presidential Tax Reforms Committee Moves to Boost BPO Business in Nigeria
Fashion Takes Centre Stage on Glo-sponsored CNN African Voices
Nigeria Set to Host the World’s Largest Tech Expo, GITEX
INTERPOL Appoints Uche, Nigerian CP as Chairman, African Heads of Cybercrime Units
Odu’a Investment Declares N1.961Bn as Profit Before Tax
Multichoice Ignores Court Order, Implements Hike of DStv and GOtv Subscriptions
SLTV Breaks Pay TV Monopoly, Offers Affordable Alternatives to Nigerians
Airtel Hosts Interactive Knowledge Session for Secondary School Girls
E-Financial2 days agoAccess Bank Supports Women Entrepreneurs to Tap $2Bn Event Industry Opportunity
E-Financial2 days agoAfDB, Others Pledge Support for Climate Action Africa Forum Deal Room
News2 days agoTranscorp Group Posts N142 Billion Revenue, N58.8Bn PBT, Celebrates 10 year’s unbroken Dividend payment
News2 days agoForeign Inflow to NGX Dropped in April – Report
E-Financial2 days agoSenate Tasks SEC on Transparent Cryptocurrency Regulation
E-Business2 days agoNDPC Investigates 40 Financial Sector Operators over Data Breach
Telecom2 days agoGlo Emerged Telecom Company of the Year @ Champion Newspaper Awards
News2 days agoNDDC Receives $142m from Shell Nigeria, Partners in 2023