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Boko Haram Islamist Cult

Nigeria Boko Haram: 'Militants' kill villagers in raid
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26439082

The remains of the burned out Federal Government College in Buni Yadi, Nigeria (25 February 2014)

Boko Haram has been blamed for a spate of attacks in recent weeks

Suspected Islamist militants have torched a village in north-eastern Nigeria's Borno state, killing at least 11 people, a lawmaker told the BBC.

They raided Jakana overnight, destroying about a third of homes, Senator Khalifa Zannah said.

A local person told the BBC that as many as 40 people had been killed but this could not be confirmed.

The Islamist group Boko Haram intensified its insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria in recent weeks.

It has been blamed for about 130 killings in Borno alone since Friday.

The group has not commented on the attacks.

'Disabled left behind'
It launched its insurgency to create an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria about six years ago.

Map showing Nigeria
Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.

Mr Zannah told BBC Hausa the suspected militants had withdrawn from Jakana, 33km (20 miles) from the state capital, Maiduguri, after government forces arrived.

Most people had fled after rumours spread that Boko Haram was planning an attack but some elderly and disabled people were unable to get away, Mr Zannah added.

It was the third consecutive night that Boko Haram had been blamed for attacks in areas around Maiduguri:

On Sunday night, militants reportedly killed 11 people in a raid on Mfaka town, about 45km from Maiduguri
On Saturday night, Boko Haram fighters reportedly destroyed the entire village of Mainok, about 50km from Maiduguri, leaving 47 people dead.
The militants travel in a convoy of pick-up trucks, and are armed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives.

People look at damage in a market area in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on 2 March 2014
Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, has been badly hit by the insurgency
The attacks have led to many people fleeing villages in Borno.

A resident of Magumeri village told BBC Hausa that about 75% of residents had left the settlement out of fear that it would be Boko Haram's next target.

He added that he had stayed behind because of a lack of transport, but he and his family, along with the other remaining residents, would spend the night in the bush.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno and two other states last May, giving the military extra powers to defeat Boko Haram.

His critics say the state of emergency has been ineffectual, and government forces are poorly armed and often lack the numbers to fight the militants.
 
Nigeria Boko Haram: 'Hundreds' attack Maiduguri
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26575428

Smoke in Maiduguri

Thick smoke was visible over the city after the attack

Hundreds of militants have staged a multi-pronged attack on the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, witnesses say.

On entering the city, the attackers split into smaller groups - heading for the barracks, the university and an area where civil servants live.

"They set many houses on fire and killed innocent people," one resident told a local newspaper.

Militants suspected to be from Boko Haram have killed 500 people this year.

Local residents say there was a heavy exchange of fire near Giwa barracks, as the military tried to fight off the insurgents.

Map showing Nigeria
Air force jets were seen flying over the city following the dawn attack.

"There is thick smoke billowing. The assailants are hurling explosives into Giwa barracks and the multitude of soldiers inside the barracks are firing back," local resident Hamisu Musa told the Daily Trust newspaper.

Suspected Boko Haram fighters detained by the military are often held at Giwa barracks - human rights groups say hundreds have died there and torture there has been rife.

The army has denied mistreating suspects.

There was also at least one explosion at Maiduguri university and houses were hit, residents say. It is not clear whether the blasts were set off by Boko Haram or whether they were the result of strikes by the air force.

BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says Boko Haram militants usually attack at night so this was a particularly brazen assault.

Attacks have intensified in recent weeks despite a state of emergency being declared in north-eastern Nigeria last year.

Boko Haram was founded in Maiduguri in 2009. It wants northern Nigeria to become an Islamic state.
 
Boko Haram are not involved in this but it involves tribal and sectarian tensions: Muslim on Christian and Muslim on Muslim attacks. I would be surprised if BH didn't take advantage of the situation.

Nigeria attacks: 100 killed in attacks on villages in Kaduna
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26602018

At least 100 villagers have been killed in Nigeria's central Kaduna state in attacks linked to disputes between ethnic groups, officials say.

Heavily armed men entered three villages in the Kaura district in the south of the state.

It is not clear who was behind the attacks, but residents blame members of the mainly Muslim Fulani tribe.

Central Nigeria has often witnessed violence stemming from disputes over land and religion.

Thousands of people have been killed in recent years in violence blamed on semi-nomadic Fulani herdsmen attacking Christian farmers.

A member of Kaduna's state assembly, Yakubu Bitiyong, visited the scene of the most recent attacks, which took place on Friday night.

Most of those killed in the villages of Ugwar Sankwai, Ungwan Gata and Chenshyi, had been so badly burned they could not be identified, he told the BBC. Houses were destroyed by fire and food supplies looted.

Farm in Kaduna state, Nigeria, 4 July 2013
In central Nigeria, the settled farming community has been the target of attacks
Mr Bitiyong said two of the attackers were also killed and their bodies taken away by police, who have sent in reinforcements.

The unrest is not connected with the continuing Islamist insurgency carried out by the Boko Haram group, which wants to impose Sharia law in the north.

The attacks in Kaduna came only a day after reports emerged of 69 people being killed over several days in northern Katsina state when dozens of armed men arrived in villages on motorbikes.

Violence in that area has also been blamed on Fulani attacking local farmers from the Muslim Hausa ethnic group, rather than the Christian community.
 
Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgency 'affects millions'
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26754947

Homes destroyed by Boko Haram militants in Bama, Borno State (February 2014)

Boko Haram has been accused of numerous attacks in the north
l
More than three million people are facing a humanitarian crisis in three northern Nigerian states hit by an Islamist-led insurgency, the government's relief agency has said.

The conflict has displaced about 250,000 people since January, it added.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the three states last year to crush the insurgency.

However, the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has stepped up attacks in recent months.

The group operates mostly in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where the state of emergency is in force.

'Unprecedented crisis'
In a statement, the Nigerian government's National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) said the "needs of the affected population are increasing by the day and the support of all is urgently required".

Borno was worst affected, with about 1.3 million people - most of them women, children and the elderly - in need of aid, Nema said.

In Adamawa, the number stood at around one million and in Yobe at more than 770,000, it said.

A screengrab taken from a video released on You Tube in April 2012, apparently showing Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (centre) sitting flanked by militants
The government has vowed to defeat the militants
About 250,000 people were living in camps or with relatives and friends after being forced out of their homes, the agency added.

Nigerian Red Cross Society representative Soji Adeniyi said what has happening in the north-east was unprecedented.

"We have never had this kind of displacement caused by conflicts before in the country,'' he is quoted by Nigeria's privately-owned This Day newspaper as saying.

Earlier this month, Boko Haram fighters attacked an army barracks in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Continue reading the main story
map
Women tell of Boko Haram escape
Its fighters also looted and torched several villages and towns in the state after launching attacks with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

Last month, the group was accused of killing at least 29 people in an attack on a rural boarding school in Yobe.

Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009 to create a strict Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

The president insists that the state of emergency has been effective, saying the militants have been confined to a small area near the border with Cameroon.
 
Vid & images at link.

Risking my life to find Nigeria's Boko Haram
By Will Ross
BBC News, Lagos
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26817323

Rare video filmed by Boko Haram shows an attack on a military barracks

The conflict between Nigeria's army and Islamist group Boko Haram has killed some 1,500 people so far this year, according to human rights group Amnesty International. Despite a state of emergency, attacks have intensified. The BBC's Will Ross speaks to a man who risked his life in a failed attempt to track down the militants.

"As soon as we began climbing the hills, the Boko Haram fighters started shooting down at us," says John as he describes the beginning of a military operation to flush the Islamist militants out of their hideouts on the slopes of the remote Mandara Mountains along the border with Cameroon.

Being from the area and knowing the terrain well, John told the BBC that last year he offered to guide the Nigerian military to the Boko Haram fighters.

But he said the whole operation ran into problems when the local civilian self-defence group, known as the civilian Joint Task Force, joined the soldiers.

Men building a house in a refugee camp
These men are among 250,000 people to have fled their homes this year
A villager walks past razed homes in Mainok, outside Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, on March 6, 2014.
Villages have been attacked across north-eastern Nigeria
AFP Nigerian soldiers
Thousands of extra soldiers have been deployed but the attacks continue
Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

Of course they are after my life. Boko Haram said they would kill me wherever they find me”

John
Nigerian military volunteer
"The soldiers all met in the village and then suddenly a civilian defence force came to join us. But I could see that there were more than 20 Boko Haram members amongst that group," he said, adding it would be futile to fight the Islamist militants when you have Boko Haram members amongst your own force.

I asked him what made him so certain that they were part of Boko Haram.

John's answer suggests the Islamist militants are extremely enmeshed in the community.

"We all lived in the same area. We reared cattle together. I know their faces. I grew up with them. Some of my cousins are members of Boko Haram - one of them is a commander who is younger than me - he's 33."

Some of the men he was looking at, he said, were the very people who had earlier attacked many homes in his village.

A soldier then asked him to point out the Boko Haram members amongst the civilian JTF but they suddenly started fleeing.

"Another soldier grabbed me round the neck and said the recruits had already sworn on the holy Koran that they they were not members of Boko Haram. He accused me of causing confusion."

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau 24 March
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has vowed to carry out more attacks
The operation never took off.

Infiltrated
Although hard to prove, John is convinced that local officials have been protecting the insurgents. He says the Ciroma or local chief, has opposed efforts to attack them in the Mandara Mountains and through the recruitment process he ensured the civilian JTF was infiltrated by Boko Haram members.

Continue reading the main story
Boko Haram at a glance

Thousands killed in attacks, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria
State of emergency declared in three states in 2013 but violence continues
Some three million people affected
Declared terrorist group by US in 2013
Founded in 2002
Initially focused on opposing Western education
Nicknamed Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language
Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state
From preachers to slave raiders
What is Nigeria's Boko Haram?
"Of course the traditional rulers and politicians have their hand in it," he says.

Some analysts have long argued that politicians are supporting the insurgents. Although there have been a couple of arrests, no case has ever been proven in court.

Corruption is also often cited as playing a major role in fuelling the war. For as long as the conflict is raging, massive security budgets are allocated and are easily diverted.

By opposing Boko Haram, John says his own life is now in danger.

"Of course they are after my life. Boko Haram said they would kill me wherever they find me," he said. describing how he and a friend escaped to Cameroon.

"They surrounded my house at night. But I escaped and hid in the bush. We went to a village near the Cameroonian border and slept there.

"They came and surrounded the entire village. But we knew all the routes on the mountain so went into one of the caves which led through to another opening on the other side of the hill."

map
'Nothing to lose'
Having grown up with people who went on to become Boko Haram members, I wondered why he felt they had joined the insurgents.

"They are being cajoled into it by telling them that this is a holy war and they being supplied with weapons, real weapons."

The Nigerian military says it is once again trying to attack the Islamist militants in the hills and mountains near the border. John says he is still ready to help.

"If the army trusts us, we are willing. We know every cave on the mountain and we know all the routes that they use so we will finish them up."

"I have nothing to lose. They have killed so many people."
 
Bad news but it does look as if the civilian militia tried to prevent the executions.

Boko Haram Giwa barracks attack: Nigerian army 'killed hundreds'
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26819965

Nigeria's army killed some 600 people after a recent attack by Boko Haram militants on a barracks, Amnesty International has said.

Quoting eye-witnesses, it said that after the raid in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, detainees who had escaped were rounded up and killed.

The army has not yet commented on the allegations but has denied previous reports of abuses.

The conflict has killed some 1,500 people this year, according to Amnesty.

Half of those killed were civilians, the organisation said.

Tank in Maiduguri after attack on Giwa barracks (14/03/14)
The army presence in Maiduguri has been strengthened since a state of emergency was declared last year
Refugee camp in Minawao
Some 250,000 people have fled their homes this year because of the Boko Haram conflict
Hundreds of militants were said to have taken part in the 14 March attack on the Giwa barracks in Maiduguri, which BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross described as a particularly brazen assault.

Continue reading the main story
Analysis

image of Will Ross
Will Ross
BBC News, Lagos
This report provides shocking detail of atrocities committed by Boko Haram and Nigeria's armed forces.

It is not the first time rights organisations have made such allegations. But Amnesty International sees 14 March as a tipping point - a day when the extra-judicial killings by the security forces reached such a level that the international community can no longer stay silent.

Amnesty believes 622 people were killed by the security forces on that day alone. Most were unarmed Boko Haram suspects who had just escaped from detention after the insurgents attacked Giwa barracks and set them free.

Rather than being re-arrested, Amnesty says they were executed and buried in mass graves. To some analysts it looks like the military chose the easier option and in so doing committed crimes against humanity.

So far the African Union and the UN have been remarkably silent on the situation but Amnesty now wants them to investigate the crimes committed by all sides.

Risking my life to find Boko Haram
At the time, the Nigerian military said the attack was successfully repelled and many attackers were killed by the air force and ground troops.

One eyewitness told Amnesty that a self-defence group known as civilian JTF captured some of the hundreds of detainees who had escaped.

"I saw the soldiers asking the people to lie on the ground," the witness said.

"There was a small argument between the soldiers and the civilian JTF. The soldiers made some calls and a few minutes later they started shooting the people on the ground. I counted 198 people killed at that checkpoint."

Amnesty says satellite images have revealed three possible mass graves around the city.

Captured Boko Haram suspects are often detained in Giwa barracks, and human rights groups say hundreds have died or been subjected to torture there - allegations always denied by the military.

Boko Haram has since released its own video of the attack on Giwa, showing crowds of people walking out of the barracks.

Amnesty says all parties are violating international law and wants the United Nations to help investigate potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The scale of atrocities carried out by Boko Haram is truly shocking, creating a climate of fear and insecurity," said Amnesty's Netsanet Belay.

"But this cannot be used to justify the brutality of the response that is clearly being meted out by the Nigerian security forces."

map
The violence has forced some 250,000 people from their homes so far this year, according to the government's relief agency.

It said more than three million people are facing a humanitarian crisis.

Boko Haram was launched in Maiduguri in 2009, with the aim of setting up an Islamic state.

A state of emergency was declared in three north-eastern states last year to help the military crush the insurgency.

However, the militants have stepped up attacks in recent months.
 
Nigeria suicide attack 'kills 21' near Maiduguri
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26846272

The army presence in Maiduguri has been strengthened since a state of emergency was declared last year

At least 15 civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing by suspected Islamist militants in north-east Nigeria, officials say.

Six of the attackers also died in the explosion, which took place on the outskirts of the city of Maiduguri, a defence ministry spokesman said.

Authorities said the Boko Haram group was behind the assault.

At least 1,500 lives have been claimed in the restive north-eastern region this year, according to latest figures.

Half of those killed were civilians, Amnesty International said in a report released on Monday.

The organisation blamed both "an increase in attacks by Boko Haram and uncontrolled reprisals by Nigeria's security forces" for the high death toll.

Militant stronghold
Tuesday's explosion happened when a militant blew up a vehicle near a checkpoint in Borno state, the defence ministry said.

The blast took place as soldiers were trying to foil the militants' attempt to drive several vehicles with explosives into a petrol station, spokesman Brig Gen Chris Okulade told journalists.

Refugee camp in Minawao
Some 250,000 people have fled their homes this year because of the Boko Haram conflict
"Three explosive-laden vehicles were demobilised by shots fired at them by soldiers at the checkpoint," he said.

But a fourth car exploded, apparently set off by one of the militants.

Boko Haram was launched in Maiduguri in 2009, with the aim of setting up an Islamic state.

A state of emergency was declared in three north-eastern states last year to help the military crush the insurgency.

However, the militants have stepped up attacks in recent months.

The violence has forced some 250,000 people from their homes so far this year, according to Nigeria's relief agency.

More than three million people are said to face a humanitarian crisis.
 
The slaughter continues. BH are now taking women captive from teacher training colleges.

Nigerian senator: '135 civilians killed' in attacks

Gunmen have killed 135 civilians in north east Nigeria since Wednesday, a senior official from the region has told the BBC.

Borno state senator Ahmed Zannah said the killings took place in at least three separate attacks in the state. The attackers are suspected to be from the Islamist Boko Haram movement.

At least 1,500 people, half of them civilian, have been killed in the restive north-eastern region this year, according to Amnesty International. The organisation blamed both "an increase in attacks by Boko Haram and uncontrolled reprisals by Nigeria's security forces" for the high death toll.

Women 'abducted'
Senator Zannah said the attackers first target was a teacher training college in the town of Dikwa. They killed five people there and abducted several women, he said. The attackers burned down the college library before escaping, Mr Zannah said.

The militants then attacked two villages near the border with Cameroon killing a further 130 people, the senator said.

The attacks took place on Wednesday and Thursday, with initial reports claiming around 70 people had been killed.

The Nigerian military has not yet commented on the attacks.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27006876
 
The Nigerian government had said the violence was now contained in a small area of the north-east.

Saying that was just inviting trouble.

The war comes back to Abuja for the first time since 2011. Perhaps now more resources will be put into the fight against these terrorists, for that is what they are pure and simple. They murder Muslims as well as Christians, in particular they target moderate and progressive Islamic clerics.

Vid and images at link.

Nigeria violence: 'Dozens killed' in Abuja bus blasts

Dozens have been killed in two explosions in Abuja

Dozens of people have been killed in two blasts that rocked a crowded bus station on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, officials say. The blast happened as commuters were about to board buses and taxis to go to work in central Abuja, the BBC's Haruna Tangaza reports. Eyewitnesses say there are dead bodies scattered around the area.

This may have been another attack by the Islamist militant group known as Boko Haram, correspondents say. Eyewitness Badamsi Nyanya told the BBC he had seen 40 bodies being evacuated; other eyewitnesses say they saw rescue workers and police gathering body parts.

The blast ripped a hole four feet deep (1.2 metre) in the ground of Nyanya Motor Park, some 16km (10 miles) from the city centre, and destroyed more than 30 vehicles, causing secondary explosions as their fuel tanks ignited and burned, the Associated Press news agency reports. Victims have been taken to nearby hospitals, including the Asokoro General Hospital seen here

Eyewitness Mimi Daniels, who works in Abuja, said: "I was waiting to get on a bus when I heard a deafening explosion then smoke," she told Reuters.

"People were running around in panic."

Another eyewitness told the BBC: "I have never seen [anything] like that in my life. It was just terrible... We were just running helter-skelter. So somehow I think that they planted something inside one of the buses there.

"So there are many dead shot down at the scene of the accident. And as you can see now some of these casualties... we are hoping, we are praying they will be ok. We saw some ambulances bringing corpses to other hospitals."

He added it was difficult to estimate how many had been killed in the attack, but that there were many.

This year, Boko Haram's fighters have killed more than 1,500 civilians in three states in north-east Nigeria, says the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos.

Boko Haram has hit Abuja several times before, including an attack on the United Nations building in 2011.

The Nigerian government had said the violence was now contained in a small area of the north-east.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27018751
 
"Boko Haram" translates as "Western education is forbidden".

Which, I think, tells you all you need to know about this death cult.
 
To hold 200 prisoners they must have sizeable camps even on a temporary basis. These girls are likely to be sold into slavery.

Nigeria unrest: 'Attackers abduct 200 schoolgirls'
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27037181

The attackers are thought to be from the Islamist group, Boko Haram
Scores of girls have been abducted in an attack on a school in north-east Nigeria, parents say.

Gunmen reportedly arrived at the school in Chibok, Borno state, late last night, and ordered the hostel's teenage residents on to four lorries.

Parents told the BBC's Hausa service that at least 200 girls had been abducted. The attackers are thought to be from the Islamist group, Boko Haram.

On Monday, bombings blamed on the group killed more than 70 people in Abuja.

Speaking after the latest attack, a student, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC that she had escaped after seeing her classmates jumping out of the back of a lorry.
 
Perhaps unsurprisingly the parents are not going to rely on the authorities to find their daughters. The military are claiming that most of the girls have been rescued : On Thursday, Asabe Kwambura, principal of the school where the girls were abducted, told journalists that the report from the military was "not true" and that only 14 of the 129 kidnapped girls had escaped.

Vid at link.

Nigeria abductions: Parents scour woods for daughters

Will Ross reports on the abduction of dozens of teenager girls in Nigeria

The parents of some of the girls abducted from a school in north-east Nigeria have headed into the forest in a desperate search for their daughters.

More than 100 schoolgirls were taken by suspected Islamist militants on Monday night. The military said on Wednesday that most of the girls had escaped.

However, local officials and parents said more than 100 were still missing.

It is thought Islamist militant group Boko Haram took the girls to forested areas near the Cameroonian border.

The group is waging a bloody campaign for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

The attack on the school in Chibok, a remote part of Borno state, happened late on Monday. Gunmen reportedly stormed the school and ordered the students onto lorries.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed concern over the plight of the girls.

He called an emergency security meeting for Thursday, which was expected to review security measures around Nigeria, including the state of emergency declared in three north-eastern states which is set to expire soon.

On Thursday, Asabe Kwambura, principal of the school where the girls were abducted, told journalists that the report from the military was "not true" and that only 14 of the 129 kidnapped girls had escaped. An aide to the local state governor, who asked not to be named, also told Reuters that "only 14 of the students have returned".

Parents of the girls have told the BBC that more than 100 girls are still missing. The girls are believed to be being held in the Sambisa forest in north-east Nigeria.

A group of parents have raised money to buy fuel and water, and have headed into the forest with a local vigilante group to search for the girls.

It is an extremely dangerous mission, the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos reports. The well-armed Boko Haram fighters have killed hundreds of civilians this year, slitting the throats of many of their victims, he says.

One father told the BBC he was willing to die in the forest in the attempt to free his daughter.

The air force, army, police, local defence units and volunteers have all been involved in the search for the schoolgirls.

Correspondents say the raid on the boarding school is a great source of embarrassment for the Nigerian authorities, who have been saying that their military campaign against the militants is succeeding.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27069675
 
Boko Haram claim responsibility for Abuja explosion
Islamic extremists post video admitting they carried out rush-hour bombing that killed 75 in Nigeria's capital

Islamic extremists on Saturday claimed responsibility for the massive rush-hour explosion earlier this week that ripped through a busy bus station in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, killing at least 75 people and wounding 141.

"Yes, we are the ones who carried out the attack in Abuja," Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram terrorist network, said in the video, which was received through the same channels as previous ones. "We are in your city, but you don't know where we are."

Shekau, speaking in Nigeria's Hausa language, made no mention of the abductions of more than 100 girls and young women from a remote north-eastern school hours after the bomb blast, also blamed on his fighters. Officials say dozens of the girls have managed to escape, but 85 remain unaccounted for. ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/a ... buja-blast
 
But 77 are still held by the kidnappers.

Chibok abductions in Nigeria: More girls 'flee kidnappers'

Seven of the 85 Nigerian schoolgirls still missing after being abducted last week have escaped, the local state governor says.

Another girl had run home on the day of the attack, meaning 77 are still missing, said Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima.

About 130 girls were seized from their school hostel by gunmen last Monday.

Islamist group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the kidnapping but has not issued any statement. Some 1,500 people are believed to have been killed in attacks blamed on Boko Haram this year alone.

Mr Shettima did not give details of how the girls had escaped, for security reasons.

The headmistress of the school in the town of Chibok on Saturday called on the kidnappers to "have mercy on the students".

It is thought that the militants took the girls to forested areas near the Cameroonian border.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27101714
 
Girls being sold into slavery by the Islamists.

Chibok abductions: Nigeria girls' taken abroad'

Boko Haram has often targeted educational establishments

Some of the schoolgirls abducted by suspected militant Islamists in northern Nigeria are believed to have been taken to neighbouring states, a local leader has told the BBC.

Pogo Bitrus said there had been "sightings" of gunmen crossing with the girls into Cameroon and Chad.

Some of the girls had been forced to marry the militants, he added.

Mr Bitrus said 230 girls were missing since militants attacked the school in Chibok, Borno state, two weeks ago.

The Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for the night-time raid on the school hostel in Chibok town. It has not yet commented.

In this photo taken Monday, April, 21. 2014. Security walk past burned government secondary school Chibok, were gunmen abducted more than 200 students in Chibok, Nigeria.

The girls were seized from their hostel late at night

Mr Bitrus, a Chibok community leader, said 43 of the girls had "regained their freedom" after escaping, while 230 were still in captivity. This is a higher number than previous estimates, however he was adamant it was the correct figure.

"Some of them have been taken across Lake Chad and some have been ferried across the border into parts of Cameroon," he told the BBC.

"And then we got this information that the captors went and auctioned these girls into marriage for a bride price," he added.

The students were about to sit their final year exam and so are mostly aged 16-18.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27206449
 
Vids and images at link.

Abuja blast: Car bomb attack rocks Nigerian capital

Will Ross reports on fresh security fears over next week's World Economic Forum in Abuja

A car bomb attack has killed at least 19 people and injured 60 more in the Nigerian capital Abuja, officials say.

The explosion happened in the suburb of Nyanya, close to a bus station where at least 70 people died in a bomb blast on 14 April.

Witnesses said the explosion targeted a police checkpoint near a bus station.

No group has said it carried out Thursday's attack. The Islamist militant group Boko Haram said it was behind the fatal explosion last month.

The BBC's Will Ross in Abuja says Nyanya is a religiously mixed area and it is not clear why the area has been targeted.

Fears over security
Charles Osueke, who was in the area at the time of the blast, told the BBC that it was just 200m (650ft) away from the 14 April explosion.

"People in the crowd were saying that a man parked his car, walked away and the next thing they know, the car blew up," he said.

"I'm worried about our security here. After the last explosion, the president said he would increase security," Mr Osueke added.

"There were policemen around when this explosion happened and they didn't manage to stop it."

The head of Nigeria's Emergency Management Agency, Abbas Idriss, told the BBC that 19 people were killed in the blast and 60 others were injured.

Most of Boko Haram's attacks have been in the north-east of Nigeria.

But the bombing on 14 April raised fears that the militants could be trying to expand their area of operation.

In a video message after that attack, the group's leader Abubakar Shekau said: "We are in your city but you don't know where we are."

The latest attack comes just days before Abuja is set to host the World Economic Forum on Africa. Figures released last month showed Nigeria is now Africa's biggest economy.

Insecurity will be a major concern: Several world leaders, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, are due to attend the event.

Correspondents say the blast comes at a terrible time for Nigeria, which is also dealing with the abduction of 230 schoolgirls that happened hours after the previous Nyanya attack.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for international military assistance to be offered to Nigeria in the hunt for the girls.

"We could provide military help to the Nigerians to track down the whereabouts of the girls before they're dispersed throughout Africa - like air support, for example, if that was thought necessary," he told the UK's Guardian newspaper.

Last week, an advisor to Nigeria's president said the government would welcome international assistance.

Analysis

Will Ross
BBC News, Abuja

Around Abuja there are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends searching for missing loved ones.

With this, the second attack in less than three weeks, there are mounting worries over the nation's insecurity. It is not clear why the suburb of Nyanya was targeted once more. If it was Boko Haram again, it could be the Islamist insurgents' way of saying: "You cannot stop us even where you put your checkpoints."

On top of the dreadful insecurity in the north-east and the plight of the missing schoolgirls, this is more bad news for the government. Abuja is hosting the World Economic Forum on Africa next week, so leaders from across the world are expected in the city. They will not be mingling with the crowds at bus stations but the worry is that cursory security checks are unlikely to stop another car bomb from being detonated elsewhere in this city.

There is of course anger with the government, especially as the annual security budget has almost doubled over the past five years to $6bn (£3.6bn) and people are asking: "So why are we not safer?"
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27249097
 
And again. Full text, Vid and images at link.

More Nigerian girls abducted by suspected Boko Haram militants

Abubakar Shekau leads the Islamist group, which has killed thousands in northern Nigeria

Suspected Boko Haram militants have kidnapped eight more girls in northeastern Nigeria.

The latest kidnapping happened on Sunday night in the village of Warabe, in Borno state. The girls taken were between the ages of 12 and 15.

On Monday, Boko Haram's leader threatened to "sell" more than 230 girls seized from their school, also in Borno, on 14 April.

The Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram has left thousands dead since 2009.

Map showing Warabe
The BBC's Mansur Liman in Abuja says the area around Warabe, the site of the latest abductions, is a stronghold of the Islamist movement.

The gunmen arrived in two trucks and also seized animals and food from the village.

Communications are very poor in the area, which explains why the news took several days to emerge, our correspondent says.

Residents from a nearby town told AFP that they feared Boko Haram would target them next.

Rally in support of missing girls in Abuja, Nigeria. 6 May 2014
Protesters took to the streets of Abuja on Tuesday, calling for the girls taken on 14 April to be released
"We in Gwoza are also living in fear because of the kidnap of eight girls in Warabe," Peter Gambo said.

"We have no security here. If the gunmen decide to pick our own girls, nobody can stop them" he said.

Warabe is also close to the Sambisa forest, where the first group of schoolgirls is thought to have been taken.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video on Monday confirming that his group had abducted them.

"God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instructions," he said. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27298614
 
Full text at link.

Nigeria violence: Islamist gunmen kill hundreds after opening fire in busy village market

Hundreds of people were killed when Islamic militants opened fire in a busy market in north-east Nigeria, it has emerged, as violence in the region intensified.

As many as 300 people are thought to have been slaughtered in the remote town of Gamboru Ngala. Gunmen burnt homes and shops to the ground during the 12-hour raid on Monday night, a government minister said.

Residents who tried to flee the flames were gunned down or had their throats cut, according to federal senator Ahmed Zannah.

He said hundreds had been killed but that he was still waiting for more details from the military authorities.

Mr Zannah blamed Boko Haram – the group behind the kidnapping of 267 schoolgirls last month – for the attack.

The latest mass killings will increase pressure on Nigeria to deal with the Islamic insurrection in the north of the country. Boko Haram has killed thousands of Muslims and Christians in the past five years. This year alone, more than 1,500 people have died. ...
http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/n ... 34388.html
 
Goodluck Jonathan was on the news predicting this cult's days were numbered now Nigeria was getting outside assistance. Hope he's right.
 
A spokesman on Radio 4 this morning made the interesting point that this was not a football match and we shouldn't expect continuous commentary.
I think he has a good case. While the news demands continuous updates, tipping off the culprits or making them aware of the scope of investigation may prove to do more harm than good.

Our appetite for news feed can work both ways.
 
gncxx said:
Goodluck Jonathan was on the news predicting this cult's days were numbered now Nigeria was getting outside assistance. Hope he's right.

I'd hope so too, apart from the fact that Goodluck and Patience are appalling kleptocrats, who would rather bring the weight of the 'law', such as it is in Nigeria, against the masses demonstrating outside his palace and government buildings over this latest audacious BH act, rather than engage in any meaningful counter-insurgency campaign against the various factions in the north of the country, of which admittedly BH is just the most active at present. I have no answers on the wider African question, i mean fuck me, who does?, but money being diverted to the Nigerian govt will surely end up being spent on his football team, burger chain or vodka company.

Boots on the ground by all means, whether thats the Pan African Defence Force, or just the good old Foreign Legion, but a handful of US led military advisers really won't cut it. The Nigerian army is essentially a turd, and refuses to be polished...
 
Vid at link.

Nigeria kidnapped girls 'shown' in new Boko Haram video

The BBC's John Simpson says the video, which shows more than 100 girls in hijabs, could be the first step in a negotiated settlement

A new video released by Islamist militants Boko Haram claims to show around 100 girls kidnapped from a school in Nigeria last month.

The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, said they would be held until all imprisoned militants had been freed.

He said the girls had converted to Islam. The video, released on Monday, claims to show them praying.

Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls from northern Nigeria on 14 April and threatened to sell them.

The BBC's John Simpson in the northern city of Maiduguri said Boko Haram's comments showed signs that the group was willing to negotiate.

Three of the girls are shown speaking in the 17-minute video, obtained by French news agency AFP, wearing the full-length hijab.

Two girls say they were Christian and have converted to Islam, while the other says she is Muslim.

"These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with... we have indeed liberated them. These girls have become Muslims," Abubakar Shekau says in the video.

It is thought the majority of the abducuted girls are Christians, although there are a number of Muslims among them.

Correspondents said the girls appeared calm and one said that they had not been harmed.

There is no indication of when or where the video was taken.

It is estimated to show about 130 girls - just under half of the 276 pupils abducted from their school in the northern state of Borno.

Our correspondent says this could mean the group has been split into smaller groups to help avoid detection.

Boko Haram had previously admitted to kidnapping the girls.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27373287
 
Nigeria soldiers 'fire at army commander in Maiduguri'

Soldiers in Nigeria have opened fire on their commander in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, witnesses say.

Maj-Gen Ahmed Mohammed escaped unhurt after soldiers shot at his car at the Maimalari barracks, the sources said.

The soldiers blamed him for the killing of their colleagues in an ambush by suspected Boko Haram militants.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's president has ruled out freeing Boko Haram prisoners in exchange for the release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.

Visiting British minister Mark Simmonds drew another red line. He said that once the crisis was over, it was important there was no impunity for those who had committed this criminal act.

In other words, Abubacar Shekau and other Boko Haram members involved in the kidnapping should be arrested. These red lines will make holding any sort of talks between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram very difficult, to say the least.

A government minister had earlier said authorities were ready to negotiate with Boko Haram, but President Goodluck Jonathan insisted on Wednesday that this was out of the question.

"He made it very clear that there will be no negotiation with Boko Haram that involves a swap of abducted schoolgirls for prisoners," said British Africa Minister Mark Simmonds after meeting Mr Jonathan in the capital, Abuja, to discuss an international recue mission for the girls.

Their kidnapping in Borno state on 14 April has caused international outrage, and foreign teams of experts are in the country to assist the security forces in tracking them down.

'Internal matter'
Army spokesman Maj-Gen Chris Olukolade described the incident in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, as an internal matter and said there was no need for public concern.

But the shooting shows that morale within the army is low as it battles Boko Haram, says BBC Nigeria analyst Naziru Mikailu.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27417778
 
Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis: Kano suicide attack

A man checks the wreckage of a car at the scene of a suicide blast at the predominantly Christian Sabon Gari neighbourhood in Kano, northern Nigeria.

The bars in Sabon Gari have been attacked several times in recent years

A suicide blast in a street full of bars and restaurants in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has killed four people, police say.

One of those killed was a girl aged 12, they say.

Witnesses say the explosion was caused by a bomb in a car in the mainly Christian area of Sabon Gari.

The area has previously been targeted by Boko Haram Islamist militants but it is the first attack on Nigeria's second biggest city for several months.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks this year but the government has said it has pushed the militants back into their strongholds in the north-eastern Borno state.

This is where they seized more than 200 girls last month, in a case which shocked the world and prompted foreign powers to send military advisors to assist Nigeria's army tackle the insurgency.

School girls abducted by Boko Haram (May 2014)
A video emerged last week showing about 130 of the girls wearing hijabs and reciting Koranic verses
Scene of a suspected Boko Haram suicide attack on a bus stop in the city of Kano in March 2013
At least 22 people were killed in a suicide car bomb attack blamed on Boko Haram at a bus stop in Kano in March last year
The street in Sabon Gari was full of revellers and street hawkers when a car exploded.

The BBC's Will Ross in Nigeria says that Sunday's blast was so powerful that all that remains of the car is its engine. The blast could be heard from several miles away.

"At about 22:00 [21:00 GMT], we heard an explosion and immediately mobilised to the scene where we discovered a suicide bomber... Five people, including the bomber, were killed," Kano Police Commissioner Adelere Shinaba said.

He said that the victims were "three men and a girl of about 12".

Kano is the largest city in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria.

The bars and alcohol-sellers in its Sabon Gari area have been targeted on numerous other occasions. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27465113
 
Nigeria bombings: 'Death toll passes 100'

The BBC's Will Ross: "For the last two years Jos has been fairly free of attacks"

The bodies of at least 118 people have now been recovered from the sites of twin bombings in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the nation's emergency management agency says.

The first blast was in a busy market, the second outside a nearby hospital.

No group has said it was behind the attack but Boko Haram militants have carried out a spate of recent bombings.

Jos has also seen deadly clashes between Christian and Muslim groups in recent years.

A spokesperson for the regional governor told AFP news agency that most of the victims were women. The market and bus terminal are part of the commercial centre of Jos.

The second blast was some 30 minutes after the first and killed some rescue workers.

Journalist Hassan Ibrahim told the BBC that tension was rising in the area, with youths blocking some roads. Religious leaders are appealing for calm.

National Emergency Management Agency coordinator Mohammed Abdulsalam said: "We've now recovered 118 bodies from the rubble. This could rise by morning, as there is still some rubble we haven't shifted." He said 56 people were injured. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27493940
 
Nigeria violence: 'Boko Haram kill 17' in village attack

The BBC's Will Ross says the spate of attacks is "extremely ruthless"

The Islamist group Boko Haram has been accused of killing at least 17 people in an attack on a village in north-east Nigeria, close to where hundreds of schoolgirls were seized.

It comes a day after 118 people died in a double bombing in the central city of Jos, also blamed on Boko Haram.

In the latest attack, Boko Haram fighters reportedly spent hours killing and looting in the village of Alagarno.

Alagarno is near Chibok, from where the schoolgirls were abducted last month.

The abductions of more than 200 girls caused international outrage and prompted foreign powers to send military advisers to assist Nigeria's army.

People in north-east Nigeria are extremely vulnerable to attacks because many areas are no-go zones for the military and the insurgents operate freely, correspondents say. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27498598
 
Nigeria's Boko Haram 'targets village vigilantes'

Villagers have been forming vigilante groups to protect their communities from militant attacks

Militants in Nigeria have raided three villages and killed those they accused of being anti-Boko Haram vigilantes, residents have told the BBC.

More than 30 people were killed in the attacks overnight into Friday in north-eastern Borno state, they said.

The raids took place as the UN Security Council approved sanctions against the Islamist group.

Nigerian officials say President Goodluck Jonathan is due to travel to South Africa for discussions with other African heads of state on combating terrorism in Africa following on from last weekend's summit hosted by France.

Earlier his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, said African presidents should take responsibility for their failures and resolve their own conflicts together.

"I find that our leaders, who should have been working together all along to address these problems that only affect their countries, wait until they are invited to go to Europe. Why does anybody wait for that? What image does it even give about Africa?" he said.

'Military alerted'

Residents from two of the villages that came under attack said militants had arrived in a convoy and gathered the men of the community together.

They accused them of being members of vigilante groups and killed them all, one villager from Moforo in Marte district who escaped across the border to Cameroon told the BBC Hausa service.

They then burnt down all the shops in the market, leaving the villagers destitute, he said.

Correspondents say that most villages have formed vigilante groups to try to protect their communities from militant attacks.

A resident of Kimbi village in Biu district said the villagers contacted the security forces to alert them to their attack, but were told it was not an area under military control so they could not be helped. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27547214
 
Deadly blast hits Nigerian city of Jos

An explosion in the central Nigerian city of Jos has killed at least three people in a suicide attack, police say.

Police said the blast happened near an open-air TV viewing centre where people were watching the Champions League football final.

No group has said it carried out the attack.

However it comes days after a twin car bomb attack blamed on Boko Haram militants killed 118 people in Jos.

A spokesman for Plateau state governor Jonah Jang said the latest blast happened on Bauchi Road at about 21:30 local time (20:30 GMT). ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27562189
 
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