Category Archives: Nigeria

At least 30 militants have been killed during air raids on their training camps in north-eastern Nigeria, officials say. An army spokesman said jets and helicopter gunships had been used to attack several camps. He told the BBC that a plane had been hit by anti-aircraft fire but had managed to return to base. States of emergency were declared this week in three north-eastern states hit by Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency. Nigerian forces are trying to regain control in the states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno. Meanwhile, explosions and gunfire have been heard overnight in Katsina state. Residents have told the BBC’s Hausa service that banks, police stations and prisons … Continue reading →

Nigerian authorities charged a man on Friday with masterminding a 2011 Christmas Day bomb attack on a Catholic church in the capital that killed 37 people. Security forces captured Kabiru Sokoto, the main suspect in the attack, in January 2012. He escaped a day later but was recaptured the following month. In court on Friday he pleaded not guilty to charges of terrorism. Justice Adeniyi Ademola adjourned trial to May 2. Islamist militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, on the outskirts of Abuja, which killed 37 people and wounded 57, in the deadliest of a series of attacks at Christmas. … Continue reading →

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signalled on Wednesday he would consider offering an amnesty to Islamist militant group Boko Haram, in an effort to end an insurgency that has killed thousands. “Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of a Presidential Committee to constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity,” his office said in a statement. Boko Haram, a group fighting to create an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria, has become the greatest threat to stability in Africa’s biggest oil exporter and most populous country, since an uprising in 2009. The group mostly targets security forces but has … Continue reading →

The Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has rejected the idea of an amnesty. Last week President Goodluck Jonathan asked a high level team to look into the possibility of granting the militants a pardon. The announcement was made via an audio statement believed to be from the group’s leader Abubakar Shekau. In recent years Boko Haram has carried out a campaign of violence across northern and parts of central Nigeria killing at least 2,000 people. The group says its members are fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north. Mr Shekau said his group had done no wrong and so an amnesty would not be applicable to … Continue reading →

12 police officers are missing and feared dead after Nigerian militants  ambushed a police boat in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, security officials said Sunday.  The ambush came days after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main delta militant group prior to a 2009 amnesty, threatened to restart attacks in retaliation for the jailing of leader Henry Okah by a South African court. Police Commissioner Kingsley Omire said the ambush was carried out by militants once loyal to Kile Selky Torughedi, who headed MEND’s southern wing, but denied there was a link to the threat by the group, whose attacks cut oil production in Nigeria … Continue reading →

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a panel to look into the possibility of granting an amnesty to the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. The move came after religious and political leaders said the military approach did not solve the violence. Mr Jonathan had previously rejected any amnesty offer, saying the rebels were “ghosts” whose demands were not known. Hundreds of people have been killed since Boko Haram fighters stepped up their campaign in recent years. The new panel will include senior military representatives and has two weeks to come up with its recommendations, according to unnamed presidential sources. The board is tasked with considering the feasibility of granting … Continue reading →

A Nigerian court ruled on Friday that President Goodluck Jonathan can run for office again in 2015, rejecting his opponents’ complaints that he has already reached the constitutional limit of two terms. An increasingly bitter battle is raging between Jonathan’s supporters and opponents over whether he should run for office in 2015, in what analysts say is a distraction from such urgent tasks as fixing the power sector and passing crucial oil legislation. The president has declined to say whether or not he wishes to rule Africa’s top oil and gas producer again, although most pundits expect him to run. Jonathan first took power in May 2010, after the death … Continue reading →

Nigeria’s four main opposition parties have announced a merger, forming a coalition which could pose the biggest threat to President Goodluck Jonathan’s ruling party since the end of military rule in 1999. Previous attempts at opposition alliances have fallen apart due to infighting and regional differences. The newly created party will be tested when trying to agree on a presidential candidate for the 2015 election. “At no time in our national life has radical change become more urgent,” said a statement signed on Wednesday by representatives of the four parties. “We, the following progressive political parties, namely ACN, ANPP, APGA and CPC, have resolved to merge forthwith and become the … Continue reading →

Suspected Islamist fighters went on the rampage in northeast Nigeria overnight, killing 10 Christians with guns and machetes and burning down their houses, witnesses said on Sunday. The attack happened in a village called Chibok, in a remote part of north-eastern Borno state, at the heart of an insurgency led by Islamist sect Boko Haram. “Suspected Boko Haram came at night and set people’s houses on fire before killing their victims,” said Nuhu Clark, a former local councillor of the village who escaped the attack. He said he counted ten bodies afterwards. A police spokesman said they were aware of the incident but were still trying to confirm casualties. Islamist … Continue reading →