Video - African counter-terrorism summit held in Nigeria

The meeting aims to increase cooperation between governments in ongoing counter-terrorism efforts across Africa and find ways to combat militant groups and their proxies more effectively. It comes as many countries on the continent are stepping up security operations against terror groups.

CGTN

Ending sexual abuse in IDP camps in Nigeria

Young women and girls living in Nigerian camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) say they have to deal with sexual harassment every day. Now they are calling for more protection from their host communities.

Having escaped attacks by violent criminals and armed gangs known as bandits in their villages, many displaced women and girls in Nigeria are now facing a new challenge.

Sexual harassment is rife in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) across northern Nigeria — mostly when it comes to access to food or money.

With little protection, IDPs are also at risk of being kidnapped by bandits and jihadists.
What are IDPs fleeing from?

A bloody conflict between the army and jihadist groups, including Boko Haram, has been raging in Nigeria since 2009.

It is estimated that more than 40,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million more displaced — 80% of whom are women and children who live in government-registered or unregistered camps for IDPs.

Amina Rabo, who lives in an unofficial camp in the northern Nigerian city of Katsina, fled her village after it was attacked by bandits.

Since arriving there, Amina says she has suffered various forms of violence. Apart from sexual harassment, she also lives with the fear of being kidnapped.

"We experience different kinds of harassment from bad actors within our host community. Our rooms don't have doors, making it easy for the attackers," Amina told DW.

"They rape our girls in the night, and the older women are not spared either," Amina said, adding that that seeing her young daughters being assaulted every night has left her distraught.

Amina told DW that she had to marry off one of her daughters outside the camp. After the wedding, she said that several people tried to rape her.

A call for more protection

To prevent further sexual assaults on IDPs, Sani Barau, who works for a humanitarian agency, told DW that his organization is now working closely with the police to monitor the safety of displaced people.

"We call the police whenever we see suspicious people lurking around the camp or individuals trying to harass young girls," Barau said. "And indeed the police have carried out some arrests."

Despite plans to guarantee protection against sexual assault and possible kidnapping by resettling individuals currently sheltering in IDP camps — challenges remain.
 

Jihadists target women in IDP camps

Since the beginning of March, more than 100 people — mostly children and women — have gone missing after jihadists in conflict-torn northeastern Nigeria carried out a mass kidnapping that targeted mostly women from IDP camps, officials told AFP news agency.

Nigeria's northeast remains the heart of an insurgency that has left more than 40,000 people dead and 2 million displaced since 2009.

Several details about the attack on the IDP camp in rural Ngala are still unclear and officials have given conflicting accounts. The number of people reported missing does not necessarily reflect the number held in captivity.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the attack took place a week earlier than reported and estimated that over 200 people had been abducted from IDP camps.

The organization said armed attackers took the women while they were out collecting firewood.

"The United Nations strongly condemns the reported abduction of internally displaced persons (IDPs), many of them women, boys and girls," it said.
Kidnapping — a lucrative business

Kidnapping is a major problem across Nigeria, which is also grappling with criminal militias in the northwest and a flare-up of intercommunal violence in central states.

On March 7, more than 130 schoolchildren were kidnapped from a school in Kaduna but later freed after two weeks in captivity.

Arrests are rare as most victims are released only after ransom payments by their families or through deals that sometimes involve the release of gang members.

The government, however, does not admit to such deals.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to power last year promising to address insecurity in Nigeria, but critics say the violence is still out of control.

By Shehu Salmanu, DW

Related stories: Suspected insurgents kidnap 50 people in northeast Nigeria

School in Nigeria helps girls to heal after Boko Haram

Nigeria indicts 19 ‘terrorism financiers’

The Nigerian government has identified and sanctioned 19 terrorism financiers including six Bureau De Change (BDC) firms, a document obtained by PREMIUM TIMES has shown.

The identities of the alleged terrorism funders were revealed in the document issued by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC), headed by the Attorney General of the Federation.

Those named as financiers of terrorism include Tukur Mamu, a Kaduna-based publisher, Abdulsamad Ohida, Mohammed Abdurrahaman (FNU), Fatima Ishaq, Yusuf Ghazali, Muhammad Sani, Abubakar Muhammad, Sallamudeen Hassan, Adamu Ishak, Hassana Isah, Abdulkareem Musa and Umar Abdullahi.

Six firms – West and East Africa General Trading Co. Ltd, Settings Bureau De Change Ltd, G. Side General Enterprises, Desert Exchange Ventures Limited, Eagle Square General Trading Co Ltd, and Alfa Exchange BDC – were also named.

The committee gave a brief background of some of the indicted persons and subsequently detailed their alleged involvement in terrorism financing.
 

How named individuals financed terrorism

Mr Mamu, the Kaduna-based publisher of Desert Herald newspaper, was a spokesman to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric who has repeatedly called for negotiations with terrorists.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Mamu was arrested by Interpol in Cairo, Egypt, on 6 September 2022, while operatives of the State Security Service (SSS), raided his Kaduna residence and office. He is still being prosecuted.

The NSC said Mr Mamu “participated in the financing of terrorism by receiving and delivering ransom payments over the sum of $200,000 US dollars in support of ISWAP terrorists for the release of hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.”

The second person, Mr Ohida, according to the committee, was “a senior commander (Quaid) of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) Okene.”

He was described as the “suspected attacker of the St. Francis Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State on 5th June 2022 and the Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja on 5th July 2022.”

List of the persons and entities indicted for terrorism financing. SOURCE: Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC)

Thirty-seven-year-old Mr Sani is a member of the Ansaru terror group, the committee stated, adding he was trained and served under Muktar Belmokhtar [aka One-Eyed], a notorious leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who was reportedly killed in 2016.

Mr Sani who was into carpentry, also allegedly specialises in designing terrorist clandestine communication codes and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). He was identified as one of the terrorists who escaped during the 2022 Kuje prison break.

The committee added that he is “a gatekeeper to ANSARU leader, Mohammed Usman aka Khalid Al-Bamawi. Equally, he was a courier and travel guide to AQIM Katibat in the desert of Algeria and Mali.”

Another indicted person simply identified as Abdurrahaman (FNU), was a senior commander of ISWAP in Okene, Kogi State, the committee disclosed.

ISWAP parted ways with Boko Haram in 2016 over doctrinal differences. It has since claimed responsibility for various attacks in some parts of the country, especially in the northeast and Lake Chad region.

Ms Ishaq, a resident of Unguwan Sarki in Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State, was said to be a “financial courier to ISWAP Okene.”

The committee said she was “responsible for the disbursement of funds to the widows/wives of the terrorist fighters of the group.”

Ms Isah, the other woman among the indicted persons, is the wife of Abdulkareem Musa (AKA Abu Khalid/Abu Aiman), the committee revealed, adding “She receives money from ISWAP and then goes on to pay the wives of the ISWAP soldiers.”

Her husband, Mr Musa, is a top commander of the ISWAP cell in central and southern Nigeria. He “worked as the manager of Star bread bakery, owned by ISWAP and located opposite Abusito Mosque, Irubucheba area, Okene, Kogi State, before being arrested and sent to jail in 2011.”

In 2015, Kano-based Mr Ghazali allegedly transferred N20 million to Surajo Muhammad, one of the six Nigerians convicted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020 for a similar offence.

That same year, he “transferred” N40 million to Ibrahim Alhassan, another convict, the report states.

“Abubakar Adamu Yellow who had calls and financial transactions with Alhaji Saidu Ahmed (the leader of the group) and direct financial transaction with two of the convicts (Surajo Abubakar Muhammad, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan) received a sum of N189 million from Yusuf Ghazali between 2016 and 2018,” the committee stated, noting Mr Ghazali owns entities and businesses reported in the UAE court judgment as facilitating the transfer of terrorist funds from Dubai to Nigeria.

Like Mr Ghazali, two other Kano-based residents, Messrs Sani and Muhammad, were accused of financing terrorism by engaging in financial transactions with the Nigerian-UAE convicts.

Borno-born Mr Hassan who lived in Lagos was also accused of the same offence.

The committee said he was a top ISWAP member and one of the founders of the ISWAP cell in the South-west geopolitical zone.

“He sources and coordinates their finances through cryptocurrency, dating and tax/covid19 palliative scams in the USA,” the committee stated.

Also, Mr Ishaq who was based in Kaduna was indicted as a logistics provider for ISWAP. The committee reported that he bought lands, and built and bought houses for ISWAP members in Jigawa and Kaduna states.

He was not alone. Mr Abdullahi, described as a Kano State resident and a top member of ISWAP from the Lake Chad region, was described as a “top logistics provider for the ISWAP.”

The committee stated that Mr Abdullahi was a grain merchant in Kano State and was “in charge of the ISWAP farm in Doma, Kebbi state.”
 

BDC operators indicted

According to the committee, West And East Africa General Trading Co. Ltd, in 2017, “transferred the sum of N153 million” to one Mustapha Adamu.

That same year, the firm transferred N50 million to Ali Yusuf, who was named as the brother to two of the Nigerians convicted in UAE — Ibrahim Alhassan and Bashir Yusuf.

A year before, the firm “transferred the sum of N160 million to Ambare Mohammed who is a major suspect in Maiduguri.”

Between 2014 and 2015, the committee reported that Settings Bureau De Change Ltd received N100 million from Mr Ghazali who had financial transactions with three UAE convicts — Surajo Muhammad, Ibrahim Alhassan and Bashir Yusuf.

“The connection of the entity to the mentioned suspect covers over 80% of the entity’s entire transactions within the reporting threshold,” the committee explained. “This made the entity a likely accomplice in the group’s activities.”

Detailing how G. Side General Enterprises made the list, the committee wrote: “The Director/Promoter Yusuf Ghazali transferred N20 Million to Surajo Abubakar Muhammad (who is the number one convict in UAE for Financing Terrorism in Nigeria) in 2015. Yusuf Ghazali, the Company’s Director/Promoter transferred N40 million to Ibrahim Ali Alhassan (who was convicted in UAE for financing terrorism in Nigeria) in 2015.

“Abubakar Adamu Yellow who had calls and financial transactions with Alhaji Saidu Ahmed (alleged leader of the group) and directed financial transactions with two of the convicts (Surajo Abukakar Muhammad and Ali Alhassan) received a sum of N189 Million from Yusuf Ghazali, the Company’s Director/Promoter between 2016 and 2018.”

The Desert Exchange Ventures Limited, in 2015, transferred N20 million to the convict Surajo Abubakar Muhammad, N146 million to Habibu Sani Maigida and N195 million to Rashab Nig Enterprises.

A year later, it transferred the N198 million to one Usaini Adamu.

For Eagle Square General Trading Co Ltd, the committee said the firm “transferred the sum of N165 million to Abubakar Adamu Yellow in 2018, N480 million to Usaini Adamu between 2017 and 2018 and N347 million to Bahafs Global Ventures within the same period.”

“Alfa Exchange BDC received N5 million from Yawale Muhammad Sani between 2013 and 2015,” the committee reported, adding the firm received N498 million from Yusuf Gazali.

“Alfa Exchange UAE was mentioned as being used as a repository of Boko Haram money for onward transfer to Nigeria,” the committee stated.
 

The sanctions

The NSC said it recommended the specific individuals and entities “for designation following their involvement with terrorism financing.”

“The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, with the approval of the President, has thereupon designated the following individuals and entities to be listed on the Nigeria Sanctions List,” the NSC stated, rolling out sanctions against the indicted persons “in accordance with Section 54 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

It recommended that all funds, assets and any other economic resources belonging to the designated persons and entities be immediately frozen without prior notice.

The frozen assets or actions taken against the indicted persons and entities are to be reported to the NSC afterwards.

“Immediately file a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU for further analysis on the financial activities of such an individual or entity; and report as a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU, all cases of name matching in financial transactions prior to or after receipt of this list,” the committee stated.

The committee clarified that the sanctions affect “All funds or other assets that are owned or controlled by the designated persons and entities, and not only those that are tied to a particular act, plot, or threat of terrorism or terrorism financing.”

Assets and funds jointly owned or controlled [directly or indirectly] by the indicted persons and entities shall be frozen as well, the committee explained.

The sanction shall affect the “funds or other assets derived or generated from funds or other assets owned or controlled directly or indirectly by designated persons or entities.”

Funds or other assets of persons and entities acting on behalf of, or at the direction of designated persons or entities shall also be frozen, the committee clarified.

By Yakubu Mohammed, Premium Times 

Related story: Ex-Boko Haram fighters threaten return to arms in Nigeria

Terrorists kill traditional ruler, five residents, burn down vehicles in Katsina, Nigeria

Six residents, including the ward head, Haruna Wakili, were killed when terrorists attacked Yar Nasarawa, a community in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State on Monday.

Residents said the terrorists abducted about 38 residents, including women and children and left 10 residents with gunshot injuries. They also burnt down six houses, eight commercial vehicles and shops in the community.

Yar Nasarawa is less than five kilometres away from the Army Super Camp situated in Faskari. The camp was established by the former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, in 2018.

“The attackers came prepared. I have never seen them in such number,” a resident, Auwal Liman, who said he ran into the bush during the attack, said. “While some of them were shooting indiscriminately, others were putting vehicles and shops on fire.”

The terrorists stormed the community around 11 p.m. and blocked all entries and exits to ward off support from the military and members of the Community Watch Corps in the area.

The six dead residents were buried Tuesday morning in the community, according to Mr Liman.

“We are in a sorry situation. We can’t go to the farm. When we stay away from our farms and local markets, the terrorists follow us into our communities and kill us. Our lives hardly matter,” Mr Liman lamented.

Motorcycle-riding terrorists have been unleashing mayhem on residents in the north-west for over a decade. leading to layers of humanitarian crises in the sub-region.

“The terrorists were merciless in yesterday’s attack,” a resident, Abdullahi Adamu, said. “They burnt down a child. They took him inside his mother’s room set the room ablaze and slaughtered another old man in the same house. It was barbaric.”

Mr Adamu, who said he climbed a rock outside the community and waited till early morning, said he has lost hope in the government and security agencies.

The police spokesperson in the state, Abubakar-Sadik Aliyu, confirmed the attack to journalists in Katsina but did not provide the details.

“The Commissioner of Police, CP Aliyu Musa, had since deployed the command’s tactical, operational and intelligence to the scene, and currently combing the surrounding bushes for the possible arrest of the perpetrators for diligent prosecution,” Mr Aliyu said.

By Mohammed Babangida, Premium Times

Related stories: Gunmen kill four, abduct at least 40 in northwest Nigeria

Judge kidnapped in Nigeria and guard killed

Traditional monarch shot dead and wife kidnapped from palace in Nigeria

Video - Gunmen kidnap more than 30 people in Zamfara state, Nigeria

According to the regional governor’s spokesperson, 24 students, ten workers and a security guard were seized in the early hours of Friday from the Federal University of Gusau in Nigeria. 

CGTN 

Related story: 14 killed, 60 kidnapped in Gunmen attack in Nigeria

Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

 

 

14 killed, 60 kidnapped in Gunmen attack in Nigeria

Gunmen in Nigeria killed eight people on Sunday and abducted at least 60 others in two communities of northwest Zamfara state, residents and a local traditional leader said, two days after armed men kidnapped dozens from a university in the state.

Elsewhere, in the northeast of the country suspected Islamist insurgents ambushed a convoy of vehicles under military escort, killing two soldiers and four civilians, said a police source and a motorist who witnessed the attack.

The attackers set fire to five vehicles and drove off with one truck, the witness said.

President Bola Tinubu is yet to spell out how he will tackle widespread insecurity. His economic reforms, including the removal of a costly fuel subsidy and freeing the naira currency, have increased the cost of leaving, angering citizens.

Residents said gunmen early on Sunday tried to attack a forward army base in a rural Magami community of Zamfara, but were repelled. Zamfara is one of the states worst affected by kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs known locally as bandits.

The gunmen in three groups attacked the army base and the communities of Magami and Kabasa, said a traditional leader who declined to be named for security reasons.

He said 60 people, mostly women and children, were kidnapped.

"The bandits rode many motorcycles with guns and other weapons (and) were shooting sporadically," Shuaibu Haruna, a resident of Magami, told Reuters by telephone.

Four people were killed during the attack, said Haruna, who attended their burial.

Isa Mohd from Kabasa community said four people were also killed and dozens of others kidnapped.

Police and army did not respond to requests for comment.

Attacks in the northwest are part of widespread insecurity in Nigeria. Islamist fighters still carry out deadly attacks in the northeast, gangs and separatists attack security forces and government buildings in the southeast, and clashes involving farmers and herders continue to claim lives.

By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

Related story: At least 20 villagers killed in latest attack in Nigeria

Video - Police warn of possible rise in crime across Nigeria

Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

25 killed by suspected ISWAP militants in Nigeria

Islamist militants killed at least 25 people and wounded others in attacks on two villages in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, a hotbed for insurgency, a police source and two residents said on Wednesday.

The militants killed 18 herders grazing their livestock in one village and seven other people in another village, both in Kukawa district of the state that borders neighbouring Chad on Tuesday, the police source said.

Habibu Ardo, a herder in the area, said "ISWAP fighters (riding) on more than 15 motorcycles attacked our people while grazing in Kukawa and beheaded 18 of them without firing a single bullet on them in order to avoid the attention of security forces.”

Bakura Mustapha, a local vigilante who helped bury the dead, said “about 18 of the corpses were recovered in the bush and they have been buried today according to Islamic rites.”

A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to calls to confirm the incident.

Borno state is at the heart of a 14-year Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, which has spilled into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon. The conflict was launched by Boko Haram and later joined by its offshoot ISWAP, a regional affiliate of the Islamic state.

The United Nations estimates that the conflict had killed some 350,000 people by the end of 2020 and has left millions dependent on aid.

By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

8 Killed, 10 Abducted by Islamic Extremists in Nigeria

Islamic extremists killed eight farmers and abducted 10 in an attack in northeastern Nigeria, officials said Friday — the latest in a volatile region that is a key part of the country's breadbasket and where militants have threatened food supplies.

The farmers were ambushed in the bush in the Borno state's Mafa district Thursday. The attackers slit their throats, authorities said.

Babagana Zulum, the state governor, said the attack was an attempt to "sabotage the successes of the government" as it struggles to have those displaced in Borno return to their villages and rebuild their lives.

He said the security forces need to rise to the challenge but also urged residents to take individual precautions.

"We must rise to our responsibility and address the situation," Zulum said. "I've told the people to be resilient, and they should be security-conscious and avoid remote locations."

Islamic extremist rebels launched an insurgency in Borno in 2009 to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in the region. At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced because of the violence by the militant Boko Haram group and a breakaway faction backed by the Islamic State group.

Borno's farming communities have been frequently targeted in recent months, raising fears of extreme hunger as U.N. agencies continue to warn of famine.

On Friday, local villagers are mourning the slain farmers while also decrying inadequate security measures in remote and volatile areas.

Modu Ibrahim, a resident, said there were no security forces where the farmers' bodies were found. The extremists spared one teenager whom they asked to "deliver the message" about the attack to other villagers, Ibrahim said.

The Islamic insurgency in the northeast has also overstretched Nigeria's security forces as they continue to battle other crises across the country, including continuing clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farming communities in northwest and central regions of the West African nation.

AP

29 villagers killed by gunmen in Nigeria

Gunmen attacked villages in troubled north-central Nigeria, killing 29 people and razing houses, survivors and authorities said Tuesday.

Many villagers remained unaccounted for Tuesday evening after the attack in Plateau state, residents said. It was the latest incident in a spiral of violence mainly targeting remote communities in the West African nation.

The gunmen targeted three villages in Plateau state’s Mangu local government area late Monday night and killed several people either with gunfire or after setting their houses ablaze, resident Philip Pamshak said.

“As I am talking to you, they are still attacking people. The tension is still high and there are places the bandits still control, so people are not able to go and check if there are others killed,” Pamshak said.

Plateau Gov. Simon Lalong said he was disturbed by the attack and directed security forces to search for the suspects and prosecute them, according to a statement issued by his spokesman.

“He (the governor) describes this as yet another attempt by crises merchants and criminals to return the state to the dark days of pain and agony,” said Makut Macham, Lalong's spokesman.

Such attacks have become rampant in many parts of Nigeria’s northern region, where several armed groups target villages with inadequate security, either killing or abducting residents and travelers for ransom.

Arrests are rare in such attacks, for which no group typically takes responsibility. However, authorities have in the past identified many of the attackers as former pastoralists who took up arms after decades of conflict with farmers over limited access to land and water.

The security crisis has led to thousands of deaths and defied several government and security measures in the last year.

After the latest killings in Plateau, Lalong directed the emergency response agency to visit the affected communities “to bring succor” to victims and their families, many of whom have either fled the area or have lost their homes, adding to Nigeria’s worsening humanitarian crisis.

By Chinedu Asadu, AP

Two soldiers from Nigeria killed by Islamist insurgents

Three soldiers from Nigeria and Niger were killed and at least 12 others were injured on Sunday after attacks by Islamist fighters in northeastern Nigeria, two military sources said on Monday.

The troops were part of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) made up of forces from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria that are seeking to end an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced millions more.

A Nigerian military source said that two Nigerian soldiers of the MNJTF were killed when their vehicle set off an improvised explosive device while they were pursuing insurgents in the Arege area in northeastern Borno state, the heartland of the insurgency.

Ten troops, including the commanding officer, were injured and another two civilians working with the troops were also wounded, the source added.

A Nigerien soldier was killed when the vehicle he was travelling in detonated another explosive device in a separate part of Arege, while the number of wounded was not immediately known, a source with the Nigerien army said.

An MNJTF situation report seen by Reuters confirmed the attacks.

MNJTF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kamarudeen Adegoke was not reachable for comment.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters

Fulani terrorists in Nigeria kill Pastor and kidnap wife

Fulani herdsmen killed a pastor last Thursday in Kaduna state, Nigeria, two weeks after terrorists killed a Baptist pastor’s son in the same state, sources said.

The Rev. Musa Mairimi of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Buda 2 village, near Kasuwan Magani in Kajuru County, was killed in his home and his wife kidnapped, said the chairman of the Kaduna state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Rev. Joseph Hayab.

“The herdsmen and terrorists invaded the community on Thursday, March 23, and killed the pastor in his house,” Hayab said. “His wife was taken into captivity at gunpoint.”

Hayab said that more than 100 Christians have been kidnapped in Kaduna state’s Kauru, Jaba, Kachia, Kagarko and Kajuru counties.

“Who will we cry to and who will we run to for help except God?” he said. “Imagine that since the carnage of kidnapping of Christians started in Kaduna state, no arrests have been made.”

Area resident Istifanus Ma’aji requested prayer.

“Let us pray for the safe return of the wife, the pastor, and other Christians taken captive by the herdsmen and bandits,” Ma’aji said.

Pastor’s son killed

In Kaduna state’s Karimbu-Kahugu village, Lere County, terrorists on March 10 broke into the home of Baptist Pastor Dadi Babas at 1 a.m., killed his son and kidnapped his wife and three other family members while the pastor was attending the funeral of this brother in Bauchi state, he said.

Pastor Babas said in a text message that he was informed of the attack at 4 a.m. and that his wife has been released.

“My son was brutally killed by the terrorists, while my wife, my daughter-in-law, who is nursing a baby, and two other members of my family were kidnapped,” he said. “As I send this message, three members of my family remain in captivity with the bandits, while my wife was abandoned by the terrorists because of her illness.”

He said the terrorists are demanding a ransom of 5 million naira ($10,841) for the release of his remaining family members.

Peter Mukaddas, vice chairman of the Kahugu National Development Association, identified the assailants as “Muslim bandits.”

“We are fervently praying to God to touch the hearts of the terrorists so that they can release the Christians,” Mukaddas said in a text message.

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List report. It also led the world in Christians abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.

In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.

“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation. … Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

Morning Star News

Related story: Church security guard killed, pastor kidnapped by radicals in Nigeria

 

25 people killed by Islamist militants in Nigeria

Islamist militants have killed at least 25 people in an attack in a fishing town in Nigeria's Borno state, police and residents said on Thursday.

Police commissioner Abdu Umar linked the attack in Dikwa to Boko Haram insurgents. He said a policeman was killed in a separate incident.

Dikwa is close to the Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram stronghold, which has been fought over by Islamic State West Africa Province, who are also active in the area.

Bulama Modu, a resident who assisted the military in recovery work, said a total of 33 fishermen had been killed. He said 25 bodies were found at the scene of Wednesday's attack while eight others were recovered on Thursday.

Another resident who escaped said the insurgents suspected that fishermen were providing information to the military after the army attacked them some weeks ago. The insurgents extort levies from the fishermen.

The military did not respond to a request for comment.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which erupted in northeast Nigeria in 2009, has killed more than 350,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

By Chijioke Ohuocha, Reuters

Nigeria church attack video restored to Instagram by Meta's Oversight Board

Meta's Oversight Board on Wednesday overturned a decision to remove a video that was shared on Instagram showing the gruesome aftermath of an attack on a church in Nigeria that killed at least 40 people.

The video showing motionless, bloodied bodies on the floor, apparently the aftermath of the church attack that took place on June 5 in Owo, southwest Nigeria, was shared by an Instagram user on the same day.

Meta removed the video, saying hashtags added by the user could be read as glorifying violence and minimizing suffering. The user appealed against the removal to the independent board.

The board on Wednesday asked Meta to restore the post with a "disturbing content" warning screen, saying this would protect victims' privacy while allowing for discussion of events.

"Nigeria is experiencing an ongoing series of terrorist attacks and the Nigerian government has suppressed coverage of some of them, though it does not appear to have done so in relation to the June 5 attack," the board said.

"The Board agrees that in such contexts freedom of expression is particularly important."

Nigerian authorities have accused insurgents from the Islamic State in West Africa group of carrying out the attack on St Francis Catholic Church, which took place during Pentecost Sunday mass. Five suspects were arrested in August.

The Nigerian government has been exploring ways to regulate social media use in the country, Africa's most populous. Millions of Nigerians are active users of YouTube, Twitter , Facebook (META.O) and TikTok.

The West African country has asked Google to block the use of YouTube channels and livestreams by banned groups and terrorist organizations in the country. 

By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters

Relates story: Video - Nigeria church attack: Survivors face grief, trauma

Nigerian Authorities Dismiss Terror Warnings by US, Other Foreign Missions

Nigerian authorities on Monday dismissed recent terror warnings by foreign missions for the capital, Abuja, as "false" and "irresponsible." Heads of Nigerian security agencies made the comments to journalists after an emergency security meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. But security experts are urging Nigerians to take the warnings seriously.

Top government officials including the national security adviser, defense chief, head of national intelligence, and foreign affairs minister, held a joint session with journalists soon after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The meeting comes in the wake of warnings issued by various foreign missions in the West African nation, of elevated risks of terror attacks, crimes, kidnapping and communal clashes, especially for the capital, Abuja.

The national security adviser, Babagana Monguno, addressed journalists.

"We're trying as much as possible within the domestic situation to work with our foreign partners without giving the impression that Nigeria is skating on thin ice and we're about to implode. I'll want to dispel any illusion about heightened sense of insecurity. It is false, it is irresponsible...," Monguno said.

The officials reiterated that there's no cause for alarm and urged citizens to go about their normal activities without fear.

The security alert last week was first issued by the U.S. embassy in Abuja, warning Americans that government buildings, places of worship, schools, markets, and malls in Nigeria could be attacked.

Soon after, the U.K., Ireland, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Bulgaria, Finland and Australia issued similar warnings, and began evacuating their citizens from the capital.

Security analyst Chidi Omeje says he's disappointed at authorities' stance and that citizens must treat the warnings seriously.

"I'm actually confounded that the national security adviser will be the one to make such dismissal of such serious matter," Omeje said. "A country like the U.S. has a robust intelligence asset, America ought to be your partner; we must take it seriously."

Nigeria's armed forces, though, have heightened alertness around the country. Police said they have beefed up security and ordered the activation of emergency numbers to help officials promptly respond to any incident.

The growing calls for caution have spread fear among many Abuja residents, leading to the shutdown of businesses.

Borno state-based peace and security expert Abba Ali Mustafa says the United States and other nations should have talked with authorities before issuing the warnings.

"Nigeria does have a security architecture and a security system and a functioning government, so what the foreign missions should have done is reach out to Nigerian security units, liaise with them, collaborate with them and pass out this information through the national medium," Mustafa said. "I think the position of the government on this matter is on the breaching of the national integrity of the country and nothing much. It might paint a picture of hopelessness."

President Buhari last week called for calm.

Nigerian forces have been battling Boko Haram and Islamic State militants in the northeast for more than a decade. In recent years, terror groups have expanded their activities to other regions. In July, Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP, claimed responsibility for a jailbreak in the capital that freed hundreds of inmates, dozens of whom remain at large.

By Timothy Obiezu

VOA

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Nigerian President Meets Security Chiefs Amid Terror Alerts by Foreign Missions

Video - Panic in the Nigerian capital Abuja after terror alert

Nigerian President Mohamadu #Buhari will chair an emergency meeting with top security chiefs in the capital Abuja. The meeting is in response to warnings from the U.S. and the UK about possible.

CGTN 

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U.S. authorities departure of non-emergency staff from Nigeria

US and UK warn of possible attack in Nigeria's capital

Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

 

 

Nigerian President Meets Security Chiefs Amid Terror Alerts by Foreign Missions

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is holding emergency meetings Monday with security chiefs after several foreign missions issued terror warnings last week for the capital, Abuja.

Buhar’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, made the announcement in a tweet late Sunday. He said top security officials including the defense minister, armed services chiefs, police and heads of other security agencies will meet the president in Abuja on Monday morning.

Shehu said the meeting is to further review and strengthen the security network in the country.

The meeting follows series of warning by various foreign missions in Nigeria of an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, especially the capital.

The U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Turkey and Austria last week issued advisories to their citizens warning against non-essential travel to Nigeria.

Nigerian authorities insist the country is safe and that there is no cause for alarm.

But the warning caused fears among residents and led to the shutdown of businesses and activities.

Security expert Senator Iruegbu said authorities are only trying to allay fears but that the warnings must be taken seriously.

"We have to continue as members of the public for one's safety, we have to continue demanding that they should improve. When they give assurances, I think that's the right thing to do because you don't need to create more panic or to show the public you're not in charge of the situation,” said Iruegbu.

Nigerian security forces have been battling jihadist groups in the northeast for years, but concerns that such groups may be expanding their attacks elsewhere are growing.

In June, authorities blamed Islamic State West Africa Province or ISWAP for an attack on a church in southwest Nigeria that killed 40 worshippers. It was the first attack in the region to be blamed on a terrorist group.

One month later, ISWAP claimed responsibility for a massive jailbreak in Abuja that freed more than 800 inmates. More than half of the escapees were recaptured but hundreds more are at large, including more than 60 terror detainees.

Last Wednesday, security agencies raided a residential area in the capital and arrested at least two terrorism suspects, according to local media reports.

By Timothy Obiezu

VOA

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Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

U.S. authorities departure of non-emergency staff from Nigeria

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday authorised the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families from Nigeria due to a heightened risk of terrorist attacks in the country.

The latest travel update comes after the United States and the United Kingdom warned on Sunday of a possible terrorist attack in the capital Abuja, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets.

"The U.S. Embassy Abuja continues to have limited ability to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Nigeria," the State Department said.

Nigeria's Department of State Services said the United States had previously issued similar warnings and urged citizens to remain alert.

Insecurity, which is rife across most Nigerian states, is a major issue among voters who will choose a new president next February.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

Reuters

Related stories: US and UK warn of possible attack in Nigeria's capital

Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

 

 

US and UK warn of possible attack in Nigeria's capital

The United States and Britain on Sunday warned of a possible terrorist attack in Nigeria's federal capital Abuja, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets.

Nigeria is fighting an Islamist insurgency mainly in the northeast, but in July the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a raid on a prison in Abuja, which freed around 440 inmates, raising fears that insurgents were venturing from their enclaves.

The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria said "there is an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically Abuja" and added that shopping malls, law enforcement facilities and international organisations were among places at risk.

"The U.S. Embassy will offer reduced services until further notice," the embassy said in an alert to citizens in Nigeria.

The United Kingdom government warned that its citizens in Nigeria should stay alert due to an "increased threat of terrorist attack in Abuja."

"Attacks could be indiscriminate and could affect western interests, as well as places visited by tourists," it said.

Insecurity, which has spread across Nigeria, is a major issue for voters when they go to the polls next February to elect a new president to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigeria's foreign affairs ministry was not immediately available to comment.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

Reuters

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Video - Security beefed up in public spaces amid terror threats in Nigeria

The Nigerian government says it's deploying more security personnel to protect schools, hospitals, and infrastructure across the country. This follows a recent threat by terrorists to attack national assets and infrastructure. But experts want the government to go beyond increased deployment of troops and use other means to address the threat of terror.

Islamic State affiliate suspected of Catholic church massacre, Nigeria says

Nigerian security officials suspect extremists from Islamic State’s affiliate in west Africa were behind an attack on a Catholic church last weekend that killed dozens.

Forty people are now thought to have died after gunmen stormed St Francis Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State, on Sunday, and 61 survivors are still being treated in hospital, according to local authorities. The total is double an earlier estimate.

Nigeria’s National Security Council said on Thursday that the attack was the work of the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) group, apparently reinforcing fears that the militants, who have been restricted to the north-east for many years, are looking to expand their influence and reach to other parts of the country. Ondo, in the south-west, has long been considered one of the safer parts of the country.

Nevertheless, some analysts have counselled caution, noting the absence of any claim of responsibility from Iswap.

“Iswap always claim big attacks, and always ones in the south,” said Vincent Foucher, a research fellow at the CNRS (National Centre of Scientific Research) in Paris. “They want to show they are strong and even expanding so they definitely would claim this one.”

He said, the modus operandi was different. “Most previous Iswap attacks have used hit-and-run tactics, not a big assault team as in this incident.”

Other possible perpetrators include militia involved in local conflicts, violence between farmers and herders, and even criminal networks. In one attack on a church in Anambra state in 2017, police arrested local racketeers and traffickers.

The growing instability of Africa’s most populous nation was underlined by attacks that killed at least 32 people in the rural north-west several days ago.

Armed gangs on motorcycles attacked four villages in the Kajuru area of Kaduna state on Sunday, witnesses said. Poor telecommunications delayed residents from reporting the attacks, as is often the case in parts of northern Nigeria.

Such attacks have become frequent in Nigeria’s troubled north-west, where thousands have been killed, according to data compiled by the US-based Council on Foreign Relations. Residents are often abducted and kept in detention for weeks, usually in forest reserves, until ransoms are paid.

The gunmen in the latest violence were “armed Fulani militia”, one resident said. “That is the language they were speaking. That was their outlook. They are not new to our environment because this is not the first time they were attacking.”

Fulani herdsmen, who are mostly Muslim, have been in conflict with the settled farmers for decades over access to land for grazing. The rivalry has become deadly in recent years as armed gangs attack rural communities.

Neither the police nor Kaduna state officials have yet confirmed the attacks. The limited security presence in many remote communities makes it difficult for government forces to protect residents from the attacks or quickly arrest the perpetrators, analysts say.

Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian president, has been accused of not doing enough to end the country’s security problems, one of the main campaign promises the former general made when he sought election in 2015. Buhari’s tenure as president ends in May 2023.

Iswap has been unable to fully capitalise on its spectacular victory over the rival extremist group Boko Haram last year.

“They have had mixed fortunes,” Foucher said. “The army has been more active and pretty good at putting them under pressure now that they are the main focus …. They are also facing unexpectedly tough resistance from other extremists.”

By Jason Burke

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