The authorities in Northern Nigeria are warning soccer fans that venues showing live coverage of the World Cup starting today may be targets of bomb attacks.
Police spokesman Frank Mba urged people “to exercise a lot of caution” and said in a statement yesterday that the security agencies will step up surveillance around viewing centers such as outdoor bars. The government has been battling militants loyal to Islamist group Boko Haram for the past five years.
A suspected suicide bomber killed three people on May 24 when his explosives detonated while he was driving toward a viewing site for the European Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the central Nigerian city of Jos.
During the 2010 World Cup, the al-Qaeda-linked militia based in Somalia, al-Shabaab, killed more than 70 people in twin bombings in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, at venues where crowds had gathered to watch the final on television.
Soldiers have closed venues preparing to screen World Cup matches in the northeastern Nigerian state of Adamawa to protect people from potential attacks, Ahmad Sajoh, a spokesman for the state governor, said yesterday. Adamawa has been under a state of emergency since May last year.
“Terrorists have previously targeted places where football matches are being viewed,” Britain’s Foreign Office said in its most recent travel advisory, issued on June 10.
Suicide Bombers
“Most suicide bombers are strangers in areas they are trying to attack and that is the reason why most often they ask questions about directions, especially if they are the ones driving themselves to the scene,” Mba said.
The World Cup kicks off at 9:00 p.m. Nigerian time today when host Brazil plays Croatia.
Boko Haram’s April 14 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, 386 miles (622 kilometers) to the northeast of the capital, Abuja, sparked international outrage and prompted the U.S. and the U.K. to send help to Nigeria to rescue them.
“Boko Haram remains primarily focused on delegitimizing the Nigerian government and terrorizing the Nigerian population, Muslims and Christians alike,” a U.S. State Department official, who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record, said on June 9.
Suspected Islamist militants abducted 20 women from near Chibok on June 8. Ethnic Fulani herders received a ransom demand of 40 head of cattle for each of those women, a local vigilante group leader said.
Bloomberg
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Thursday, June 12, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Video - FIFA World Cup 2014 Team Profle: Nigeria Super Eagles
Featuring interviews with John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and coach Stephen Keshi, this preview examines what to expect from the African champions in Group F against Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina and looks at Nigeria's FIFA World Cup history.
Related stories: Aljazeera profiles Nigeria Super Eagles ahead of FIFA World Cup 2014
Video - Nigeria Super Eagles putting faith in young squad for 2014 World Cup
Aljazeera profiles Nigeria Super Eagles ahead of FIFA World Cup 2014
Players to watch
Ogenyi Onaze. The 21-year-old midfielder who plies his trade with Lazio in Italy’s Serie A just can’t stay out of the headlines. One minute he’s narrowly surviving a Boko Haram bombing in Jos; the next he finds himself used – unknowingly – by a Nigerian sports agent who was caught on videotape boasting that he could fix World Cup matches.
In between all of that, he’s a critical source of strength at the base of Nigeria’s midfield. While striker Emmanuel Emenike is on most pundits' cards as the man most likely to provide the goals up front, keep an eye on Peter Osaze Odemwingie. The Tashkent-born son of a Nigerian father and Russian mother has been recalled after 18 months in the wilderness, and the Stoke striker remains a prolific scorer at the age of 32.
Greatest moment
The Super Eagles marked their World Cup debut in 1994 with an emphatic 3-0 drubbing of Bulgaria, lost narrowly to Argentina and then beat Greece to make the round of 16 where they were agonizingly bested by Italy after extra time.
Conventional wisdom
Beset by corruption and mismanagement, Nigerian football endured a long slump following its mid-'90s heyday – a slump that arguably continues even though the Super Eagles won last year’s African Cup of Nations. The squad heads to the World Cup with few standout players, and coach Stephen Keshi at odds with the Nigerian Football Association. Still, with Iran and Bosnia to beat for second place in Group F behind Argentina, they should make it at least as far as the Group of 16, but no further.
Unconventional wisdom
The squad have won the African Cup of Nations, and enjoy a measure of stability under coach Stephen Keshi, himself a player in 1994. Their round-of-16 opponent would likely be France, against whom they may get lucky. If so, though, they’re unlikely to get past Germany in the quarterfinal.
Did you know?
Boko Haram, notorious kidnappers of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls and perpetrators of dozens of attacks on civilians, sees soccer as part of the Western influence they’re trying to violently eliminate. In recent weeks, they’ve killed dozens of Nigerians in attacks on crowds watching soccer games, and Nigerians gathering in public places to watch World Cup broadcasts in areas where the group is active do so under the shadow of Boko Haram’s violent objections.
Aljazeera
Related stories: Nigeria Super Eagles touch down in Brazil for FIFA World Cup
Video - Nigeria Super Eagles putting faith in young squad for 2014 World Cup
Ogenyi Onaze. The 21-year-old midfielder who plies his trade with Lazio in Italy’s Serie A just can’t stay out of the headlines. One minute he’s narrowly surviving a Boko Haram bombing in Jos; the next he finds himself used – unknowingly – by a Nigerian sports agent who was caught on videotape boasting that he could fix World Cup matches.
In between all of that, he’s a critical source of strength at the base of Nigeria’s midfield. While striker Emmanuel Emenike is on most pundits' cards as the man most likely to provide the goals up front, keep an eye on Peter Osaze Odemwingie. The Tashkent-born son of a Nigerian father and Russian mother has been recalled after 18 months in the wilderness, and the Stoke striker remains a prolific scorer at the age of 32.
Greatest moment
The Super Eagles marked their World Cup debut in 1994 with an emphatic 3-0 drubbing of Bulgaria, lost narrowly to Argentina and then beat Greece to make the round of 16 where they were agonizingly bested by Italy after extra time.
Conventional wisdom
Beset by corruption and mismanagement, Nigerian football endured a long slump following its mid-'90s heyday – a slump that arguably continues even though the Super Eagles won last year’s African Cup of Nations. The squad heads to the World Cup with few standout players, and coach Stephen Keshi at odds with the Nigerian Football Association. Still, with Iran and Bosnia to beat for second place in Group F behind Argentina, they should make it at least as far as the Group of 16, but no further.
Unconventional wisdom
The squad have won the African Cup of Nations, and enjoy a measure of stability under coach Stephen Keshi, himself a player in 1994. Their round-of-16 opponent would likely be France, against whom they may get lucky. If so, though, they’re unlikely to get past Germany in the quarterfinal.
Did you know?
Boko Haram, notorious kidnappers of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls and perpetrators of dozens of attacks on civilians, sees soccer as part of the Western influence they’re trying to violently eliminate. In recent weeks, they’ve killed dozens of Nigerians in attacks on crowds watching soccer games, and Nigerians gathering in public places to watch World Cup broadcasts in areas where the group is active do so under the shadow of Boko Haram’s violent objections.
Aljazeera
Related stories: Nigeria Super Eagles touch down in Brazil for FIFA World Cup
Video - Nigeria Super Eagles putting faith in young squad for 2014 World Cup
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Nigeria Super Eagles touch down in Brazil for FIFA World Cup
Two more teams arrived in Brazil on Tuesday with Belgium and Nigeria touching down at Sao Paulo International Airport, ahead of the 20th FIFA World Cup™.
The Belgium squad travelled to Jaguariuna, in the state of Sao Paulo, where they will train at Paradise Golf & Lake Resort Team Base Camp for the matches against Algeria (17 June), Russia (22 June) and Korea Republic (26 June).
Nigeria will travel to Campinas to start their preparation to face Iran (16 June), Bosnia-Herzegovina (21 June) and Argentina (25 June) at Estadio Brinco de Ouro da Princesa Team Base Camp.
Following the arrival of USA, Ecuador, France, Argentina, Uruguay and Honduras, Costa Rica was the seventh team to arrive on Monday.
At Sao Paulo International Airport, coach Jorge Luis Pinto said that his team has great expectations for the FIFA World Cup.
“We are very happy to be here in Brazil,” he said. “All the players, the coaching staff, the national football federation and the whole country believe we can do great things in the FIFA World Cup.”
FIFA
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Nigeria draw with Scotland 2-2 in international football friendly
The Belgium squad travelled to Jaguariuna, in the state of Sao Paulo, where they will train at Paradise Golf & Lake Resort Team Base Camp for the matches against Algeria (17 June), Russia (22 June) and Korea Republic (26 June).
Nigeria will travel to Campinas to start their preparation to face Iran (16 June), Bosnia-Herzegovina (21 June) and Argentina (25 June) at Estadio Brinco de Ouro da Princesa Team Base Camp.
Following the arrival of USA, Ecuador, France, Argentina, Uruguay and Honduras, Costa Rica was the seventh team to arrive on Monday.
At Sao Paulo International Airport, coach Jorge Luis Pinto said that his team has great expectations for the FIFA World Cup.
“We are very happy to be here in Brazil,” he said. “All the players, the coaching staff, the national football federation and the whole country believe we can do great things in the FIFA World Cup.”
FIFA
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Protests as former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi made Emir of Kano
Hundreds of youths protested on Monday against a decision to appoint Nigeria's former central bank governor as the country's second-highest Islamic authority.
Sunday's state government decision to make Lamido Sanusi the Emir of Kano, one of the most influential positions in the largely Muslim north, surprised many who had expected the job to pass from father to son as a sign of stability when the north faces an Islamist insurgency.
Sanusi, an outspoken critic of the government's record on corruption, became the Emir two days after the death of his great uncle, the last emir.
Protesters backing the late emir's oldest son, Lamido Ado Bayero, chanted "Ba ma son", or "We don't want" in the Hausa language, and "Kariya ne", meaning "It's a lie", near the emir's palace in Kano, the north's main city, witnesses told Reuters.
Sanusi was popular among international investors for his inflation-fighting policies. But his past clashes with the government could make him a more divisive figure on the local stage than his predecessor, who largely stayed out of politics.
"They are really wild and angry with the state governor about the choice of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the emir ... They stopped our vehicle and insisted that we must put tree branches on it as solidarity with their protest," said tailor Alhaji Adamu Scorer.
The crowd tore up pictures of the governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, who with the state authorities made the final decision to appoint Sanusi, and attacked anyone they thought had supported the decision, he added.
There is no automatic father-to-son succession for the position which has few formal constitutional powers but has significant influence over the region's Muslims. Candidates, who are shortlisted by a panel of "kingmakers", have to come from leading families.
Sanusi was suspended from his post at the bank in February by President Goodluck Jonathan after presenting parliament with evidence that the state oil firm Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had failed to pay $20 billion into federal coffers.
NNPC has repeatedly denied Sanusi's allegations, which brought him into conflict with Jonathan's administration a year before national elections.
The administration of Jonathan, a southern Christian, denied any link between Sanusi's removal and his allegations and went on to accuse the central bank of procurement irregularities during his tenure. He has dismissed those charges.
Reuters
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Sunday's state government decision to make Lamido Sanusi the Emir of Kano, one of the most influential positions in the largely Muslim north, surprised many who had expected the job to pass from father to son as a sign of stability when the north faces an Islamist insurgency.
Sanusi, an outspoken critic of the government's record on corruption, became the Emir two days after the death of his great uncle, the last emir.
Protesters backing the late emir's oldest son, Lamido Ado Bayero, chanted "Ba ma son", or "We don't want" in the Hausa language, and "Kariya ne", meaning "It's a lie", near the emir's palace in Kano, the north's main city, witnesses told Reuters.
Sanusi was popular among international investors for his inflation-fighting policies. But his past clashes with the government could make him a more divisive figure on the local stage than his predecessor, who largely stayed out of politics.
"They are really wild and angry with the state governor about the choice of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the emir ... They stopped our vehicle and insisted that we must put tree branches on it as solidarity with their protest," said tailor Alhaji Adamu Scorer.
The crowd tore up pictures of the governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, who with the state authorities made the final decision to appoint Sanusi, and attacked anyone they thought had supported the decision, he added.
There is no automatic father-to-son succession for the position which has few formal constitutional powers but has significant influence over the region's Muslims. Candidates, who are shortlisted by a panel of "kingmakers", have to come from leading families.
Sanusi was suspended from his post at the bank in February by President Goodluck Jonathan after presenting parliament with evidence that the state oil firm Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had failed to pay $20 billion into federal coffers.
NNPC has repeatedly denied Sanusi's allegations, which brought him into conflict with Jonathan's administration a year before national elections.
The administration of Jonathan, a southern Christian, denied any link between Sanusi's removal and his allegations and went on to accuse the central bank of procurement irregularities during his tenure. He has dismissed those charges.
Reuters
Related stories: Video - Sanusi Lamido's TEDx speech - Overcoming the fear of vested interest
Video - Suspended central bank governor Lamido Sanusi saw it coming
President Goodluck Jonathan calls for Sanusi Lamido to resign
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