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Tension As ISWAP Terror Group Holds Public Meetings To Recruit New Members, Stresses Plan To Have Separate Islamic Country
Tension As ISWAP Terror Group Holds Public Meetings With Borno Residents To Recruit New Members, Stresses Plan To Have Separate Islamic Country.
Militants belonging to the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād have organised da‘wāt in some villages in Borno.
Da‘wāt is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam.
In pictures released by ISWAP, sect members were seen publicly engaging with residents of the state around Lake Chad.
The images may be part of the sect’s efforts to counter statements by the Nigerian military that the Islamist insurgent fighters were on a steady retreat, with troops seizing a sizeable territory hitherto occupied and controlled by members of the terrorist sect.
It was gathered that during the Da’wat programme, the insurgents appealed to villagers to join the group as militants and support their cause to establish an Islamic caliphate.
They assured them of good governance, better security and basic amenities as soon as they had a new country.
The group also distributed welfare packages to many households in a new recruitment drive
Packages said to have been distributed by ISWAP included rice, beans, millet, maize, sugar, spaghetti and cash gifts.
A 2019 report by the International Crisis Group, a non-profit think tank, observed that ISWAP’s approach to recruiting new fighters proved effective.
Despite breaking away from the Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram faction in 2016, the population of its fighters had increased, according to estimates.
“Although its leadership has been largely ethnic Kanuri, ISWAP has recruited significantly among lacustrine communities, notably the ethnic Buduma, many of whom earn a living from fishing,” the group wrote.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has made similar observations.
“As part of this approach, the ideological aspect of the crisis must be dealt with. The ability of the group to recruit is one of the biggest reasons for its expansion, and so a deeper understanding of its recruitment patterns and operating mechanisms is crucial,” ISS senior researcher Remadji Hoinathy warned in May 2019.
Often ISWAP exploits gaps in governance by trying to prove that it can provide essential services in the areas under its control.
President Bola Tinubu has accused organisers for the deadly stampedes that occurred during the distribution of relief materials in three states.
Recall in the past week, chaotic scenes in Ibadan, Anambra and Abuja led to the deaths of over 60 people, including children, as crowds scrambled for food items.
During a Presidential Media Chat on Monday, Tinubu described the events as a critical failure in planning and execution.
Condolences to those who lost a family member, but it is good to give. I have been giving out food stuff, commodities, etc. in Bourdillon.
“I am an organized person and that’s why I have been giving people food for the past 25 years and no incident has happened.
“Let this tragedy not affect us”, the Nigerian leader said.
The president also said he has no plans to reduce his cabinet or sack more ministers.
For the controversial tax reform bills, he said it has come to stay.
He also revealed he has no regrets removing fuel subsidy.
He declared utmost confidence in his security chiefs saying over the past decades, wanton killings has reduced drastically.
President Bola Tinubu will hold first presidential chat since assuming office on Monday night.
Accoding to a statement released by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the chat will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on the stations of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
All television and radio stations are requested to hook up to the broadcast.
“The first Presidential Media Chat with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on Monday, December 23, on the Nigerian Television Authority and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.
“All television and radio stations are requested to hook up to the broadcast,” the statement.
The US President-elect took to the stage AmFest in Phoenix to talk about his contact with the Russian leader.
He told the crowd: “President Putin has said he want to meet with me as soon as possible.”
Trump went on to brand the war “horrible” and stated it needed to end. It is not known whether or not this meeting will take place in person. His comments at the event in the US come as Putin met with another world leader.
Putin held talks in the Kremlin today (December 22) with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency that the talks would focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.
Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban visited Russia in July. Orban’s visit drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, hit out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
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