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Boko Haram Islamist Cult

Nigeria's Kano rocked by multiple explosions
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16658493

Reports said at least seven people had been killed in about six explosions
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Boko Haram militants

On the brink?
Who are Boko Haram?
Can Boko Haram be stopped?
Maiduguri: Nigeria's city of fear
At least seven people have been killed in a series of co-ordinated bomb attacks in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, police say.

They say police stations and the regional police headquarters were among the targets. Gunfire has also been heard in several locations.

The militant Islamist group Boko Haram says it carried out the attacks.

The group has been behind a recent campaign of violence in the mainly Muslim north.

Authorities in Kano state have imposed an immediate 24-hour curfew.

Meanwhile, organisers of a controversial civil activists' mass rally set for Saturday in the commercial capital Lagos called off the event in light of the attacks.

'Smoke and panic'
In a statement on Friday, police said that "seven casualties have been confirmed from different locations of the attacks" in Nigeria's second biggest city.

It said that four police stations around the city, the headquarters of the State Security Service, as well as passport and immigration offices were targeted.

A doctor at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital earlier told the BBC that at least five dead bodies had been brought in.

The BBC's Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai in Kano says there was panic in the city as plumes of smoke rose into the sky.

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At the scene

Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai
BBC, Kano
Kano is reeling from the bombings that began at about 17:00 local time (16:00 GMT) and rocked this ancient holy Muslim city for more than an hour and a half.

As plumes of smoke rose over the city, residents fled from the streets in panic - not needing the prompt of the 24-hour curfew imposed by the authorities.

A witness at a police station in the south of the city said six gunmen arriving in a car and on a motorbike shot their way into the building before detonating a bomb.

Officers fled the scene - some taking refuge in ditches - and it took the military about 30 minutes to respond by which time the gunmen had escaped.

This seems to have been the pattern of attacks at other stations, except at the Bompai headquarters of the state police in the east of the city where a shoot-out between gunmen and security forces was continuing into the evening.

The roads are now deserted. Some residents are questioning how the security of so many key police buildings could have been compromised.

Another doctor told the BBC that some of the wounded included foreigners from an area near the SSS headquarters, where many expatriates - particularly Lebanese and Indians - live.

There has also been a shoot-out at the headquarters of the state police in the city's eastern district of Bompai, reports say.

A witness told the BBC's Hausa Service he was with a group of Christians and Muslims taking refuge in a mosque near the gun battle.

The man - a visitor to the city - said they were lying on the floor, praying together and had turned off the lights. He said his hearing was still affected by the blasts.

One witness told Nigerian television he rushed outside after hearing four explosions.

"On my way out I saw a dead body, a young man lying dead, and then I proceeded further towards the immigration office.

"That was really where the first bomb blast started. There were three dead bodies right there in front of the immigration office and now we also had... several bomb blasts, gunshots... in front of the police station."

Another local man, Andrew Samuel, said: "I was on the roadside and I just heard a 'boom'. As I came back, I saw the building of the police headquarters crashing down and I ran for my life."

A resident near the city centre told the BBC that he had seen bodies being carried out of a police station near the city centre, but did not know if they were injured or dead.

Continue reading the main story
Boko Haram: Timeline of terror

2002: Founded
2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed
2009: Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf captured by army, handed to police, later found dead
Sep 2010: Freed hundreds of prisoners from Maiduguri jail
Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people and blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks
2010-2011: Dozens killed in Maiduguri shootings
May 2011: Bombed several states after president's inauguration
Jun 2011: Police HQ bombed in Abuja
Aug 2011: UN HQ bombed in Abuja
Nov 2011: Co-ordinated bomb and gun attacks in Yobe and Borno states
Dec 2011: Multiple bomb attacks on Christmas Day kill dozens
Jan 2012: Hundreds flee areas of north-east Nigeria after a wave of violence
Who are Boko Haram?
A reporter for the AP news agency said one of the explosions was powerful enough to shake his car several miles away.

Witnesses said the bomber who attacked one of the police stations pulled up outside the building on a motorbike, dismounted and ran inside holding a bag.

Nigeria's Channels TV said one of its reporters, Enenche Akogwu, had been killed in the attacks.

It said he had been "shot by unknown gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect", outside the state government house.

Police and military roadblocks were put up across the city within minutes, officials told Reuters.

Claim of responsibility
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", has said it carried out the attacks.

A spokesman for the group, Abul Qaqa, told journalists in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, the group's base, that it had carried out the attacks because the authorities had refused to release members arrested in Kano.

The group wants to establish Islamic law in Nigeria. It started to stage drive-by shootings in 2010 on government targets in Maiduguri.

The death of the Boko Haram leader Muhammed Yusuf whilst being held by police in 2009 is also often cited as the reason for attacks on state institutions by the group, the BBC's Mark Lobel in Lagos reports.

Analysts say Friday's blasts were one of Boko Haram's largest simultaneous attacks, and certainly its largest assault on Kano.

It stepped up its attacks in 2011, targeting police headquarters and the UN in the capital Abuja.

In recent weeks, southerners, who are mostly Christians or animists, living in the north have been the targets of deadly attacks.
 
Nigeria violence: Scores dead after Kano blasts
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16663693

The BBC's Mark Doyle describes the scene at the mortuary in Kano

Boko Haram militants

On the brink?
Who are Boko Haram?
Can Boko Haram be stopped?
Maiduguri: Nigeria's city of fear

Co-ordinated attacks by Islamist militants in the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Friday killed about 150 people, witnesses and reports say.

Hospitals are struggling to deal with the numbers of killed and injured.

A series of explosions ripped apart police buildings, passport offices and immigration centres around the city, which is now under a 24-hour curfew.

Boko Haram militants said they carried out the attacks, which would be their bloodiest assault to date.

The group has said it wants to overthrow the national government and install an Islamic state.

Its members have frequently attacked police stations and other symbols of state power, but the group has also bombed churches and killed hundreds of people - including many Muslim and Christian civilians.

President Goodluck Jonathan promised that the perpetrators would "face the full wrath of the law".

"As a responsible government, we will not fold our hands and watch enemies of democracy, for that is what these mindless killers are, perpetrate unprecedented evil in our land,'' he said.

Wave of attacks
On Saturday in Kano, a city of nine million people, most of them Muslims, Red Cross teams have been collecting bodies from the streets and taking them to mortuaries.

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At the scene


Mark Doyle
BBC News, Kano
All day long people have been streaming towards the mortuary of the main hospital in Kano to look for the bodies of loved ones so they can be taken for burial. The cars used to collect the corpses are then marked with a small tree branch - a traditional symbol showing that a body is being transported.

Mortuary workers have been struggling to cope with the large number of bodies - the majority of victims appeared to be civilians but there were some uniformed police officers among the dead as well.

The Red Cross and various Nigerian emergency response organisations have been helping to deliver wounded people to hospital and move corpses. The number of dead is likely to rise in the coming days as buildings that were blown up are searched.

A BBC reporter in Kano said he had counted 150 bodies in the mortuary of the city's main hospital.

A medical official told the AP news agency that 143 people had been killed, and another official told AFP that 162 bodies had been counted.

Boko Haram, which loosely translates from the local Hausa language as "Western education is forbidden", has been behind a string of attacks in recent years.

The group wants Islamic law across Nigeria, whose population is split between the largely Muslim north, and the south where Christianity and traditional beliefs predominate.

It first hit the headlines in 2009 when a spate of attacks by its followers on police and government buildings in the city of Maiduguri led to a crackdown in which hundreds died.

More recently, the group has launched bomb attacks on churches, drive-by shootings on government targets and other attacks across northern Nigeria, killing scores and forcing many more to flee.

But the Kano attacks appear to be the group's most deadly co-ordinated assault.

Continue reading the main story
Boko Haram: Timeline of terror

2002: Founded
2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed; leader Mohammed Yusuf captured and killed
Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people; blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks
Jun-Aug 2011: Bomb attacks on Abuja police HQ and UN building
Dec 2011: Multiple bomb attacks on Christmas Day kill dozens
Jan 2012: Wave of violence across north-east Nigeria
Who are Boko Haram?
The police said in a statement that four police stations around the city, the headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS), as well as passport and immigration offices had been targeted.

There was also a shoot-out at the headquarters of the state police in the city's eastern district of Bompai, reports said.

A local man, Andrew Samuel, described the scene of one blast: "I was on the roadside and I just heard a 'boom'. As I came back, I saw the building of the police headquarters crashing down and I ran for my life."

Witnesses said the bomber who attacked one of the police stations pulled up outside the building on a motorbike, dismounted and ran inside holding a bag.

Some unconfirmed reports have claimed suicide bombers carried out some of the attacks.

The BBC's Mark Doyle, in Kano, says he has seen one police station with its roof completely burnt off, though it was not clear whether this was caused directly by an explosion or by fire.


He says the atmosphere is nervous, and a large crowd outside the police station quickly dispersed when soldiers arrived.

Nigeria's Channels TV said in a statement that one of its reporters, Enenche Akogwu, had been killed in the attacks .

It said he had been "shot by unknown gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect", outside the state government house.

The wounded were reported to include foreigners from an area near the SSS headquarters, which is home to many expatriates, particularly Lebanese and Indians.

A Boko Haram spokesman, Abul Qaqa, told journalists that it had carried out the attacks because the authorities had refused to release group members arrested in Kano.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "shocked and appalled" by the attacks.
 
Nigeria's police chief Hafiz Ringim 'forced to retire'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16731799

An official statement said that Hafiz Ringim had been put on "terminal leave"
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Nigeria under attack

Will attacks unite or divide the country?
What Kano attacks mean
Who are Boko Haram?
Can Boko Haram be stopped?
Nigeria's president has sacked the chief of police, Hafiz Ringim, forcing him to retire early, a statement from the presidency says.

It follows a wave of attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram, the latest in Kano on Friday in which 185 people died.

The group says it wants to overthrow the government and impose Islamic law.

President Goodluck Jonathan's move was aimed at "meeting emerging internal security challenges", AFP reports.

There have been calls for the police chief's resignation since a man suspected of masterminding Christmas Day bomb attacks on churches escaped from police custody earlier this month.

According to the AP news agency, a statement from the presidency said Mr Ringim had been placed on "terminal leave" pending his planned retirement in the coming months.

Mohammed Abubakar has been appointed as his replacement "as a first step towards the comprehensive reorganisation and repositioning of the Nigeria police force to make it more effective and capable of meeting emerging internal security challenges", AFP news agency quotes the statement as saying.

The statement said all six of Mr Ringim's deputies had also been approved for immediate retirement.

Continue reading the main story
Boko Haram: Timeline of terror

2002: Founded
2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed; leader Mohammed Yusuf captured and killed
Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people; blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks
Jun-Aug 2011: Bomb attacks on Abuja police HQ and UN building
Dec 2011: Multiple bomb attacks on Christmas Day kill dozens
Jan 2012: Wave of violence across north-east Nigeria
The BBC's Mark Lobel in Lagos says the early retirement of Mr Ringim - just weeks before his official leaving date - illustrates the urgent pressure on the authorities to restore public faith in the force after the deadly attacks.

A full reorganisation of the Nigerian police force is now expected, our reporter says.

The attack on Kano, which targeted police stations and other official buildings, was the deadliest attack Boko Haram had launched, although it has killed hundreds of people in recent years.

Its members have bombed churches, government buildings and police stations - mostly in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram, which loosely translates from the local Hausa language as "Western education is forbidden", first came to prominence in 2009 when hundreds of its followers were killed when they attacked police stations in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.

Its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested but died in police custody.

In 2010 the group started to stage drive-by shootings on government targets in revenge for his killing.

Last year, it carried out suicide bombings on high-profile targets such as the headquarters of the UN and the police in the capital, Abuja.
 
Goodluck Jonathan in challenge to Boko Haram
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16739322

Mr Jonathan said it would be impossible to beat Boko Haram through military means alone
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Related Stories

Why can't Nigeria defeat Boko Haram?
Who are Boko Haram?
Maiduguri: Nigeria's city of fear
The president of Nigeria has challenged the Islamist militant group Boko Haram to identify themselves and state their demands as a basis for dialogue.

Goodluck Jonathan said there was no doubt that Boko Haram had links with other Jihadist groups outside Nigeria.

He said if they did not identify themselves, talks were impossible.

It comes as the leader of Boko Haram denies killing civilians in last week's Kano bombings, in which 185 people died.

In an interview with Reuters, Mr Jonathan said: "If they clearly identify themselves now and say this is the reason why we are resisting, this is the reason why we are confronting government or this is the reason why we destroyed some innocent people and their properties, why not.

"See, as a president of a country you will not preside over dead bodies. You will be a president of people who are alive. So if they clearly identify themselves then there will be a basis for dialogue."

He acknowledged the fears of the United Nations and neighbouring governments that the groups training and arming were being bolstered by Jihadist allies such al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabaab.

In Kano, Christian leaders have welcomed the President's appeal for dialogue to end the current state of insecurity.

Denial
The group has acknowledged carrying out attacks on police stations and other official buildings.

But in a message posted on YouTube, Abubakar Shekau blamed the deaths of "innocent civilians" on Nigeria's security forces.

Nigeria's authorities deny the allegations.

Continue reading the main story
Boko Haram: Timeline of terror

2002: Founded
2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed; leader Mohammed Yusuf captured and killed
Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people; blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks
Jun-Aug 2011: Bomb attacks on Abuja police HQ and UN building
Dec 2011: Multiple bomb attacks on Christmas Day kill dozens
Jan 2012: Wave of violence across north-east Nigeria
Last Friday's attack in Nigeria's second-biggest city was the deadliest in Boko Haram's recent campaign of violence, carried out in the mainly Muslim north.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", says it wants to overthrow the government and impose Islamic law.

This week security forces arrested more than 150 suspected members of the organisation.

In his 40-minute audio message, Mr Shekau also threatened to carry out a bombing campaign against Nigeria's secondary schools and universities - unless security forces stopped what he claimed was a series of recent attacks on Islamic schools or madrassas in the northern town of Maiduguri.

The still picture posted on YouTube shows Mr Shekau dressed in a black turban and a white gown and bullet-proof vest - holding an AK 47 rifle.

He reiterated claims that the Nigerian government would not be able to stop Boko Haram - and demanded the release from prison of all its members.

On Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan sacked the chief of police, Hafiz Ringim, forcing him to retire early, a statement from the presidency said.

There had been calls for the police chief's resignation since a man suspected of masterminding Boko Haram's Christmas Day bomb attacks on churches escaped from police custody earlier this month.
 
Kano bombings: 'Extra-judicial' killings spark Nigeria fury
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16860954
By Mark Lobel
BBC News, Kano

Bloodstains in the Kano house betray the residents' violent deaths

Nigeria under attack

Kano schools empty
Will dialogue end the insurgency?
Who are Boko Haram?
Will attacks divide Nigeria?

It was, by all accounts, a devastating dawn raid on a married couple in their suburban house in northern Kano, Nigeria.

The security force's bullets tore through the walls, leaving gaping holes an inch wide, and a car was shot to pieces.

Tiles outside the door of the bedroom - which had been turned upside down in what appeared to be a frantic search for evidence - were stained with blood.

It was part of a sweep by security forces in which 150 people were arrested in the northern city of Kano.

It came three days after the 20 January string of bombings by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram killed at least 185 people - mostly civilians.

'Decent man'
One woman, who said she had raised the man killed in the attack from birth, is inconsolable.

"Alhaji was a decent man all his life. We always praised his attitude. We're all in shock," she told the BBC, as she wept heavily.

"I will never forgive those who killed him. I can't forgive them."

The disappearance of the Muslim man, a fabric seller in the local market, and his pregnant wife, has caused fury amongst the local community.

"The man is good, I never heard anything bad about him. I am afraid," local resident Ali Muhammed Kamil told me, as his voice trembled.

"I am begging the military, or the Nigerian government, in the name of Allah, that they should not be killing people anyhow. If they suspect something, they're supposed to use their intelligence to arrest him, interview him and find out who he is.

"They should not be killing people like this - they can sue him [in] court," he added.

Identity question

The front gate of the house bears no sign of forced entry
As I left the raided house through the bullet-ridden gate, I saw it was still intact, suggesting there had been no forced entry.

I did spot a few holes made by bullets fired from inside the compound, but it was unclear where they came from and when.

The security services have let it be known privately that those targeted were Boko Haram supporters.

The group wants a strict form of Islamic law adopted in the whole of Nigeria, not just the dozen northern states already using it.

They also want captured members released and for Christians to leave Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.

But it is not clear who they actually are, which makes them difficult to trace.

The national federal authorities are yet to officially account for what happened in the raided house.

Local state officials said they are powerless to ensure justice in such situations, once federal security forces are mobilised.

"No, you see, it's not [for] me to determine that," Kano state Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso told me.

"It's the responsibility of the security agencies, the judges and lawyers, to put their heads together, to look at the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. Also to look at the laws of the land, be it state, federal or whatever laws, to ensure that those who are detained are detained for a just reason."

Crackdown
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Start Quote


Violence never solves anything. Invariably it has to be sorted out through dialogue and through normal, good old police work”

Abbas Dalhatu
Freedom Radio
Rights groups worry that the national government's track record is not good.

Amnesty International told the BBC that suspected members of Boko Haram have been subjected to extra-judicial execution and enforced disappearance.

Worryingly for the authorities, Boko Haram has now successfully extended its area of operations beyond its traditional stronghold in the state of Borno in north-eastern Nigeria.

Borno, and its capital Maiduguri, is still the focus of much of the crackdown. Recently 11 members were killed by the police in disputed circumstances.

The police said it was during a gunfight as they conducted a search operation. Boko Haram claimed their members were picked up as they slept.

While incidents like these are not uncommon in the north-east, they are in Kano - the country's second biggest city.

"Violence never solves anything," Abbas Dalhatu, executive director of Kano independent broadcaster Freedom Radio, told me.

"Invariably it has to be sorted out through dialogue and through normal, good old police work."

Persecution risk
Continue reading the main story
Boko Haram: Timeline of terror

2002: Founded
2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed; leader Mohammed Yusuf captured and killed
Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people; blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks
Jun-Aug 2011: Bomb attacks on Abuja police HQ and UN building
Dec 2011: Multiple bomb attacks on Christmas Day kill dozens
Jan 2012: Wave of violence across north-east Nigeria
What Boko Haram attacks mean
Mr Dalhatu's radio station has been chasing the military for an explanation of what happened in the raided house for over a week.

He fears the lawlessness of the north-east, like in Maiduguri - a Boko Haram stronghold - is spreading south to Kano.

"There is every indication that Maiduguri is turning into a ghost town. A state of emergency has been declared and the security agencies are able to do a lot of the things without the constitutional checks and balances.

"It would be really unfortunate if it degenerates into that in our own local environment."

Worse, perhaps, is the feeling of persecution such actions allow to fester within the Muslim community.

After holding funeral prayers for her disappeared son - in the absence of a corpse - the bereft woman revealed something else to me about Alhaji.

"My son was a bearded man and very religious. He was a man of principle, well-versed in the Holy Koran. His only crime was having a long beard," she said.

"But that didn't make him Boko Haram."

There is a growing fear that security forces do not appear to be differentiating between devout Muslims and those who choose to use violent means to further their political goals.

Without addressing those concerns, the government could find its tactics backfire in its quest to rid itself of Boko Haram.
 
Nigeria unrest: Blasts rock Kano and Maiduguri
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16918189

Nigeria under attack

Killed for his beard?
Kano schools empty
Will dialogue end the insurgency?
Who are Boko Haram?

A police station has been hit by an explosion and attacked by gunmen in the flashpoint northern Nigerian city of Kano, injuring an officer.

Further east, at around the same time, witnesses spoke of hearing explosions in the market area of Maiduguri.

Suspicion for the attacks will fall on Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Boko Haram is waging an insurgency in the region in a bid to try and overthrow the national government and install an Islamic state.

Kano saw a series of attacks last month that left more than 185 people dead.

'Plumes of smoke'
The attack on the police station in the Sharada district of Kano happened at just after 18:00 (17:00 GMT).

Gunmen carrying bombs had descended on the police station from different directions, Kano police spokesman Magaji Musa Maji'a told Reuters news agency.

"One policeman was shot on the leg and he is receiving treatment in hospital," he said.

Resident Bala Salisu told the AFP news agency he had just arrived home in time for a curfew when he heard a loud blast.

"Shortly, gunshots followed. From what I heard it sounded like a shoot-out," he said.

A Reuters reporter in the area said the explosion - so powerful it shook windows - was followed by a sustained gun battle which lasted more than an hour.

Magaji Musa Maji'a said that the police officers eventually got control of the station.

Meanwhile, in Maiduguri - Boko Haram's heartland - a series of explosions were heard in the market and black smoke was seen billowing from the area.

"I heard five explosions around the market and plumes of black smoke... filled the air," nearby resident Aisha Goni told AFP.

"The market is still on fire. Soldiers and policeman have taken over the whole area."
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Thirty-three cut and pasted articles. Enough already! Why? :?:

Because its collating information about an extreme Islamist cult. Part of the Fortean approach is to collate information, to create data- bases.

If people aren't interested in this approach then they would stop accessing such thrads; however the opposite is the case. This is shown by the number of views.
 
I only heard of Boko Haram the other day and I have found this thread quite useful as an aid to my understanding what is going on.
 
Nigeria forces 'kill Islamist Boko Haram militants'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17101745

Killed for his beard?
Kano schools empty
Will dialogue end the insurgency?
Who are Boko Haram?

Nigerian security forces say they have killed at least eight militants in fighting in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.

The army said the members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram died in an exchange of gunfire following explosions at a market.

Three civilians were also injured, said the army, although witnesses reported seeing at least 20 corpses at a market.

Boko Haram has launched a series of deadly attacks across northern Nigeria.

Residents told the BBC they had heard several explosions coming from the Baga market.

A military spokesman told the BBC that soldiers had responded to the explosions and engaged in a gun battle with militants.

The spokesman said eight militants were killed and several others who escaped were being hunted.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", wants to establish Islamic law in Nigeria.

Last week the group said it had carried out an attack on a prison in central Kogi state, freeing seven of its members.
 
Likely a Boko Haram action.

Nigeria unrest: Suicide bomb targets church in Jos
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17169935

A suicide car bomber has killed at least three people at a prominent church in the troubled central Nigerian city of Jos.

Witnesses said the suicide bomber rammed his car into the Church of Christ during an early morning service.

A woman was killed as he sped towards the church, and a father and child died in the resulting explosion.

No group has said it carried out the attack, but suspicion will fall on the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.

The group has carried out a number of bloody attacks across Nigeria in its quest to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.

Christmas Day attacks
The bomber drove towards the church through unmanned gates, killing a woman in the process, eyewitnesses said.

The bomber then detonated the explosives and pieces of the car tore into the church. Local officials later said the blast killed a father and his child who were worshipping inside the church at the time.

At least 38 people had to be taken to hospital for treatment, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

Christian human rights activists suspect Boko Haram of carrying out the attack, which they say is the deadliest on a church in Jos, the BBC's Mark Lobel reports from Lagos.

Boko Haram has admitted attacking several churches across the country on Christmas Day 2011, killing nearly 40 people at one church outside the capital, Abuja, alone.

The group has also claimed responsibility for a string of bomb blasts around Jos on Christmas Eve 2010 that killed at least 80 people.

Hundreds have died in religious and ethnic violence in Jos - the capital of Plateau state - in recent years, our correspondent says.
 
Boko Harum were behind the previous bombing.

Nigeria attack targets Catholic church in Jos
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17331707

The attack was the second on a church in Jos in two weeks

Nigeria under attack

Killed for his beard?
Kano schools empty
Will dialogue end the insurgency?
Who are Boko Haram?

Up to 11 people were killed after a Catholic church was targeted by suspected suicide car bombers in the restive central Nigerian city of Jos, officials say.

The car was apparently stopped before it could enter the church compound.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

A bombing at a Jos church two weeks ago killed three people and injured nearly 40. Islamist militants from Boko Haram said they carried out that attack.

Emergency officials said that four people - including the bomber - were immediately pronounced dead at St Finbar's church in the Rayfield area of Jos.

Eyewitnesses said the suicide bombers refused to open the boot of their car when challenged at the church gates before detonating the explosives as worshippers approached them.

Pam Ayuba, a spokesperson for Plateau state where Jos is located, told Associated Press that the blast damaged the church's roof, blew out its windows and destroyed a portion of the perimeter fence.


Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack but said the government was "winning the war against the terrorists".

He called on people "to remain patient and refrain from taking matters into their own hands through actions such as reprisal attacks".

Reprisal attacks were reported on Muslims close to the church, but the number of casualties remains unclear.

Plateau state lies on the fault line between Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and Christian and animist south.

It has witnessed numerous inter-communal clashes in recent years and Islamist group Boko Haram has targeted several churches in Jos, the state capital.
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Thirty-three cut and pasted articles. Enough already! Why? :?:

I so agree. I didn't read any of them because if I wanted to know more, I'd go and look for info online myself, [preferably with pictures]. The reason I entered the thread was to see the ensuing discussions about this cult/sect. Alas there is none. So I'm out.
 
Dingo667 said:
JamesWhitehead said:
Thirty-three cut and pasted articles. Enough already! Why? :?:

I so agree. I didn't read any of them because if I wanted to know more, I'd go and look for info online myself, [preferably with pictures]. The reason I entered the thread was to see the ensuing discussions about this cult/sect. Alas there is none. So I'm out.

Why don't you start up a discussion? There was debate here earlier but it died out.

Its obvious that some members are interested, the number of views establishes that.

Until the mods say otherwise I will continue to collate articles on the cult. Collating info is part of the Fortean method.
 
well i've read it and i'll keep reading all you post. cant say as i'd heard of this particular band of howlers at the moon before this thread, but it just goes to show. it does indeed take all sorts and i am much enlightened. :(
 
jacolantern said:
well i've read it and i'll keep reading all you post. cant say as i'd heard of this particular band of howlers at the moon before this thread, but it just goes to show. it does indeed take all sorts and i am much enlightened. :(

They suffered a major setback in August 2009 when most of their leadership were killed or captured. Some of them escaped in a jailbreak in September 2010 but it was March 2011 before they were back to their 2009 strength.

Their actions could well lead to a split between the North and South of Nigeria. This would be bad for the North as most of the oil is in the South.
 
surprised the US havent stuck their two penneth worth in yet tbh. its not like them to be so reticent when there's oil involved. surely if there's any chance that this will cause a split in the country, with all the economic implications etc, then they'll have more or less shot themselves in the foot? (rather than forced the entire country to live under one law which is the excuse they seem to be using).
 
I think its due to a question of scale. The population is 155,215,573 (July 2011 est.). To properly intervene it would take hundreds of thousands of troops and they would have to be invited in. They won't find an excuse for invading.

Boko tend to melt away so the US might offer special forces. But even gangsters can outwit the SBS.

Its a tough one.
 
maybe the best thing to be hoped for then is a north south divide. It doesnt seem that the government have either the will or the wherewithall to make any long term difference, so this could have the potential to drag on for years becoming ever more vicious and destructive.
 
Difficult to see what they are discussing. What could the government concede to people who want to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state.

Exclusive: Nigeria starts mediated talks with Boko Haram: sources
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre82e ... ram-talks/
Posted 2012/03/15 at 9:02 am EDT

ABUJA, Mar. 15, 2012 (Reuters) — Nigeria's government has in the last week held its first indirect peace talks with Islamist sect Boko Haram, meeting mediators to discuss a possible ceasefire, political and diplomatic sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Two people close to Boko Haram have been carrying messages back and forth between the sect's self-proclaimed leader Abubakar Shekau and government officials, the sources, who asked not to be named, said

(Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Tim Cocks and Toby Chopra)
 
A raid in the South, illustrates their logistacal support.

Raid hits Nigeria Islamist sect Boko Haram 'bomb factory'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17580795

Nigeria under attack

'They bombed my church'
Killed for his beard?
Will dialogue end the insurgency?
Who are Boko Haram?

Nigerian security forces have raided a suspected bomb-making factory, killing at least nine alleged Islamist militants, officials say.

The raid, in the Okene district of Kogi state, came after the authorities discovered the facility they believe was run by the Boko Haram sect.

Two members of the security forces were killed in the firefight.

Boko Haram has launched a series of deadly attacks across northern Nigeria since 2009.

Sunday's raid took place much further south, in Kogi state, and involved helicopters and dozens of security personnel, according to local media.

"There were some skirmishes between some hoodlums and the military," Jacob Edi, a spokesman for the state governor, told AFP news agency.

Officials said they believed the hideout belonged to Boko Haram, and described the nine people killed as "terrorists".

Boko Haram's name means "Western education is sinful" in the Hausa language, and their stated aim is to overthrow the national government and install an extreme form of Islamic law.

Their attacks, mostly in the north of the country, have killed hundreds of civilians, both Muslim and Christian.
 
Bakers? Perhaps they were preparing communion wafers.

Nigeria: Maiduguri bakers shot by 'suspected Islamists'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17783586

A security crackdown has led to fewer attacks across the north in recent weeks

Nigeria under attack

'They bombed my church'
Killed for his beard?
Will dialogue end the insurgency?
Who are Boko Haram?

Five bakers in Nigeria have been killed by gunmen in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri - a base of the Islamist Boko Haram sect, police have said.

Their deaths follow the assassination of a customs officer and water vendor on Wednesday by suspected militants.

The group has carried out a series of deadly attacks in northern Nigeria in the past 19 months - often targeting officials and security officers.

Boko Haram says it wants to establish Islamic law in Nigeria.

Correspondents say a security crackdown seems to have led to fewer attacks in recent weeks, but the uprising remains a huge challenge for the authorities.

Borno state police spokesman Samuel Tizhe said it was not clear why the gunmen had opened fire on the bakery on Thursday.

Boko Haram - whose means "Western education is forbidden" - has attacked churches and this year began to target schools.

The group first came to prominence in 2009 when hundreds of its followers were killed when they attacked police stations in Maiduguri.

Its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested but died in police custody.

In 2010 the group started to stage drive-by shootings on government targets in revenge for his killing.

Last year, it carried out suicide bombings on high-profile targets such as the headquarters of the UN and police in the capital, Abuja.

Their attacks, mostly in the north of the country, have killed hundreds of civilians, both Muslim and Christian.
 
This attack went on for 30 minutes, yet the attackers had disappeared by the time police arrived.

Deadly attack on Nigeria's Bayero university in Kano
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17886143

Kano has suffered high casualties from attacks by Islamist militants

Related Stories

Trouble spots
Dialogue v violence
Profile: Boko Haram

At least 15 people have been killed in a gun and bomb attack at a university in Nigeria's northern city of Kano, witnesses and police said.

Bodies were lying around Bayero University campus where Christian worshippers were holding a service.

A bomb squad and military units are searching for the gunmen.

No group has said it launched the attack, but the violent Islamist Boko Haram group is active in Kano. It has recently attacked churches.

Nigeria's central government has struggled to contain the militant group, which operates mainly in the predominantly Muslim north, but has also struck as far south as the capital, Abuja.

Sunday's attack took place in one of the lecture theatres used as a place of worship by Christians.

A witness told AFP news agency the attackers had first thrown in explosives and fired shots, "causing a stampede among worshippers".

"They now pursued them, shooting them with guns. They also attacked another service at the sporting complex."

Another witness spoke of "pandemonium", and said he had seen two men shooting indiscriminately.

Mohammed Suleiman, a history lecturer at the university, said security guards had to run for their lives when the violence broke out.

"For over 30 minutes a series of bomb explosions and gun shots took over the old campus, around the academic blocks," he told Reuters news agency.

Officials have confirmed seven deaths so far, but warn that up to 20 were killed as bodies were lying around and being taken to hospitals.

"I counted at least 15 dead bodies. I think they were being taken to the Amino Kano teaching hospital," a witness told the agency.

He added that he had seen many more people being treated for injuries. Security officials and doctors at local hospitals also say at least 15 people were killed.

Kano state police spokesman Ibrahim Idris said that by the time police arrived, the attackers had "disappeared into the neighbourhood". A manhunt is under way.

Boko Haram carried out a bombing in Kano in January that killed more than 180 people, its deadliest attack to date.

Analysis
Mark Lobel
BBC News, Lagos

Police say small explosives inside soft drink cans were used in the attack on the university campus in Kano - trademarks of of the Islamist group of Boko Haram. There are other signs pointing to them - the use of attackers on motorbikes for instance.

The attack - on an apparent Christian service at an education establishment - would match up to threats the group has made in the past. Their name Boko Haram, translated from the local Hausa language, means "Western education is forbidden". It is a good reflection on the group.

Its purported aim is to destabilise the Nigerian state. Following the failure of talks to get the group to relinquish violence, the government in Abuja has conducted a number of crackdowns. But it appears to be unable to confront the group that is attacking Nigeria on a new front almost every week.
 
Boko Haram: Regional force 'should help Nigeria'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17906504

The group often use car bombs and suicide bombers to perpetrate their attacks

Nigeria under attack

'My city of fear'
'They bombed my church'
Who are Boko Haram?
Need to know: Boko Haram Watch

Chad's leader has called for the urgent creation of a regional force to tackle Nigerian Boko Haram militants.

The Islamist group operates in northern Nigeria, but President Idriss Deby said it was posing a threat to its neighbours around Lake Chad.

"Our basin is exposed to insecurity because of the permanent threat posed by Boko Haram," he said.

Nigeria has been struggling to contain attacks by the militants who want to impose Islamic law in the country.

On Monday, a suicide attack on a police station in Taraba state, which borders Cameroon, killed at least 11 people. No-one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Boko Haram militants have carried out many similar attacks.

They have targeted government institutions, churches and bars as well as mosques belonging to rival Muslim groups across northern Nigeria over the last 20 months.

Last year, the group also attacked the UN headquarters in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

'Hideout' raided

"I am demanding the creation of a joint deterrence force. We have to make this decision here today," President Deby told a meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, which includes Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and the Central African Republic.

"If we don't eradicate them, we won't be capable of saving our Lake Chad," he said.

Some experts have warned that the group is building links with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb which has mainly been active in the Sahara - across Niger, Mali and Algeria.

In Nigeria on Tuesday morning, troops raided a suspected hideout of Boko Haram in the city of Kano.

The BBC's Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai in Kano says a heavy gun battle started at about 04:00 GMT and continued for two hours, but security officials did not confirm whether the hideout belonged to Boko Haram.

Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told Reuters news agency that explosives and weapons were discovered during the raid in the Sabuwar Gandu area of the city.

An 18-year-old woman arrested in the raid told AFP news agency that her husband was a Boko Haram member and had escaped during the fighting.

The group has killed more than 1,000 people since it first came to prominence in 2009 when hundreds of its followers were killed when they attacked police stations in Maiduguri.

Its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested but died in police custody.

In 2010 the group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", started to stage drive-by shootings on government targets in revenge for his killing.

Their attacks have killed hundreds of civilians, both Muslim and Christian.
 
Lets see how this affects their capability as they are leader centred.

Boko Haram 'militant leader' captured in north Nigeria
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18048617

Kano is a flashpoint in northern Nigeria

Nigeria under attack

'My city of fear'
'They bombed my church'
Who are Boko Haram?
Need to know: Boko Haram Watch

Nigerian police say they have arrested a senior commander of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The group has carried out numerous attacks across northern Nigeria, killing hundreds of people.

The detainee, Suleiman Mohammed, is said to be a Boko Haram commander in the northern city of Kano.

It has been the scene of several deadly attacks, including one on a church service two weeks ago that left 16 people dead.

Another attack in January killed more than 180.

It has, however, been impossible to independently verify whether or not Suleiman Mohammed is indeed a key figure in the Boko Haram group, the BBC's Will Ross reports from Lagos.

The commissioner of police for Kano State said the man was with his wife and children in what he described as a hideout in Kano when he was arrested.

Explosives, ammunition and guns were found there, police said.

The suspect has been flown to the capital, Abuja, for questioning.
 
This is the modus operandi of Boko Haram: explode the bomb if they cannot get to the main target.

Deadly blast hits Nigeria church
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18314722

Nigeria under attack

Boko Haram's shadowy leader
'My city of fear'
'They bombed my church'
Who are Boko Haram?

At least 12 people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack near a church in the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi, witnesses say.

Many are reported to have been injured in the blast. No group has said it carried out the attack.

It comes amid a wave of violence by the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram.

The group, whose name means "no to Western education", has carried out numerous attacks across northern Nigeria, killing hundreds of people.

According to Bauchi residents, a man tried to drive a car through a fence outside the Harvest Field Pentecostal church on Sunday.

The vehicle did not break through the fence and the bomb was detonated. Some of those killed by the blast were inside the church and others were standing outside.

The BBC's Will Ross in Nigeria says is suspected the target was a larger church in the same compound.

Boko Haram has its stronghold in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri and wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.

It has targeted churches as well as schools, police stations, and other government buildings.
 
Suspected Boko Haram members killed in Maiduguri, Nigeria
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18338321

Nigeria under attack

Boko Haram's shadowy leader
'My city of fear'
'They bombed my church'
Who are Boko Haram?

Nigerian security forces have shot dead 16 suspected militants from the Islamic sect Boko Haram in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, officials say.

They were killed in a fierce gunfight overnight, witnesses say.

They say civilians were hit by stray bullets in the fighting, which lasted for hours. The army says none of soldiers died.

Boko Haram has carried numerous attacks in northern Nigeria, killing hundreds of people since 2009.

Weapons seized
The authorities have blamed the latest violence on Boko Haram, which has its stronghold in Maiduguri - there has been no comment so far from the group.

"Some suspected Boko Haram terrorists attempted to open fire on (security) operatives but could not succeed," said army spokesman Col Victor Ebhaleme.

"We have so far shot dead 16 of the terrorists during a shoot out," Col Ebhaleme told Reuters news agency.

Tuesday's late-night attack took place in Maiduguri's district of Lawan Bukar.

Correspondents say the area is home to some Boko Haram members, and is regularly patrolled by troops of Nigeria's joint task force set up to counter the group.

After the fighting, Col Ebhaleme say troops had also seized weapons and explosives during house-to-house searches.

Meanwhile, in a separate attack in the city of Kano, suspected Boko Haram gunmen opened fire on Tuesday night, killing a retired policeman and two serving officers.

Boko Haram - whose name means "No to Western education" - wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.

It has targeted churches, including the most recent suicide attack on Sunday on a church in the northern state of Bauchi, in which at least nine people were killed by a blast and 30 other people injured.

The group has also attacked schools, police stations, and other government buildings.
 
Part of an ongoing campaign to provoke a sectarian civil war.

Nigeria: Gunmen attack churches
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18386156

Nigeria under attack

Boko Haram's shadowy leader
'My city of fear'
'They bombed my church'
Who are Boko Haram?

Gunmen in Nigeria have attacked two churches during Sunday services, killing and wounding worshippers.

In the central city of Jos, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a church, killing at least two people and wounding dozens more.

Five gunmen opened fire in Biu in Borno state, killing one woman and injuring three other people.

No-one has admitted the latest attacks, but radical Islamic sect Boko Haram has targeted churches before.

One witness at the church in Biu said that "gunmen came to the premises of the church and started firing at people outside the church before going into the main building to carry on their killings", Reuters news agency reported.

"Many people have been killed and wounded," witness Hamidu Wakawa was quoted as saying.

Moments after the suicide bombing in Jos, Christian youths set up roadblocks and had to be dispersed by police, according to one witness.

"Angry youths have gone wild, even attempting to prevent the security personnel from getting to the scene of the incident. They had to force their way out by shooting in the air to disperse them," Emmanuel Davou was quotyed by Reuters as saying.

The explosion killed at least two worshippers and the suicide bomber, while wounding more than 40 others.

But government sources feared "scores" may have died, according to news agency AFP.

Boko Haram has carried out numerous attacks in northern Nigeria, killing hundreds of people since 2009.

The group - whose name means "No to Western education" - wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.

It has targeted churches, schools, police stations, and other government buildings.

The group has said it was behind the suicide bombing of a church last weekend which left at least 12 people dead in Bauchi City.
 
Update. Mission accomplished. Mobs kill six in revenge attacks.

Nigeria violence: Seven dead after Boko Haram attacks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18386156

The church in Jos was severely damaged in the suicide bombing

Nigeria under attack

Boko Haram's shadowy leader
'My city of fear'
'They bombed my church'
Who are Boko Haram?

Boko Haram militants have attacked two churches during Sunday services, triggering deadly reprisal attacks.

In the central city of Jos, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a church, wounding at least 50 people.

In a separate attack, gunmen opened fire during a service in Biu in northeastern Borno state, leaving at least one person dead.

Six people were then killed in Jos in reprisals when angry demonstrators took to the streets in protest.

Radical Islamist sect Boko Haram said it carried out the attacks. The group has carried out a number of attacks on churches in recent years, killing hundreds of people.

One witness at the church in Biu, Hamidu Wakawa, said that "gunmen came to the premises of the church and started firing at people outside the church before going into the main building to carry on their killings", Reuters reported.

Officials said one woman had been killed and at least three wounded.

Continue reading the main story
Analysis


Will Ross
BBC News, Lagos
In a country already divided along religious lines these attacks have the potential to trigger further clashes between Muslims and Christians.

The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has admitted carrying out past attacks on churches. They said these were in revenge for killings of Muslims in central Nigeria during previous bouts of violence.

Boko Haram says it wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria. A recent statement from the group rejected the idea of peace talks with the government and vowed to increase the attacks.

In Jos, police said the attacker had driven as close to the church as he could before detonating himself.

"The suicide bomber did not drive into the church before the explosion. He was in front of it," police spokesman Abuh Emmanuel told Reuters.

"The church building collapsed entirely due to the intensity of the bombing."

Moments after the bombing, Christian youths set up roadblocks and had to be dispersed by police, according to one witness.

"Angry youths have gone wild, even attempting to prevent the security personnel from getting to the scene of the incident. They had to force their way out by shooting in the air to disperse them," Emmanuel Davou was quoted as saying.

The Red Cross later said demonstrators killed six people.

The Anglican archbishop of Jos, Ben Kwashi, condemned the church attacks, but said reprisals were "futile" and only served to aggravate the situation.


"We've been working with Muslim leaders, Roman Catholic bishops, and myself and many other church leaders, and we have worked so very hard - and this kind of terrorism just takes us back again," he said.

Boko Haram has carried out numerous attacks on churches, schools, police stations and government buildings in northern Nigeria, and is said to be continually widening its targets.

The group - whose name means "No to Western education" - wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.

The group has said it was behind the suicide bombing of a church last weekend which left at least 12 people dead in Bauchi City.

The state of Borno has been Boko Haram's base. The group's mosque and headquarters had been located in Maiduguri, the state capital, until a military assault in 2009 destroyed them and left hundreds dead.
 
Things are getting worse.

Nigeria gang in deadly 'revenge' attack on village
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18404325

A gang of around 80 armed robbers are thought to have attacked the two villages

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A gang of armed robbers has killed 23 people in two villages in northern Nigeria, witnesses and police say.

An eyewitness told the BBC that about 80 people on motorbikes launched an attack in the remote villages of Dan-Gulbi and Guru in Zamfara state.

Some victims had their throat cut, according to reports.

The attack is believed to be in revenge for the killing of a suspected group of armed robbers by villagers and vigilante groups last year.

A policeman was said to be among the dead, who were primarily from the village of Dan-Gulbi.

According to a police officer who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, 19 people died in Dan-Gulbi and four were killed in Guru. Other reports have put the death toll at 27.

"They went door-to-door shooting villagers and in some cases slitting their throats with knives," a police source told the AFP news agency.

Islamist group Boko Haram has previously been responsible for a number of attacks in northern Nigeria, but there has been no suggestion that that it was connected to these murders.

Nigeria has one of the highest crime rates in Africa and is notorious for gun-related violence, including kidnapping and robbery.
 
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