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Thursday, March 5, 2015
Woman beaten to death by mob in Nigeria was not suicide bomber
A woman who was beaten to death in northern Nigeria on suspicion of being a suicide bomber was in fact mentally ill and not involved in terrorism, according to police and her family.
Thabita Haruna, 33, was attacked by a mob on Sunday after she refused to be screened at a marketplace in Bauchi.
Police are investigating the attack and have yet to make any arrests.
Boko Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have been using women to carry out suicide bombings.
The militants want to impose a strict version of Islam and have declared a caliphate in the territory under their control.
Ms Haruna was set upon by a mob last Sunday after she refused to be searched by vigilantes at the entrance to a marketplace.
A witness told the AFP news agency that the woman came under suspicion when two bottles were found strapped to her waist.
The mob placed a tyre sprinkled with petrol over the woman's head and set it alight after she was beaten, according to witnesses.
Police say that she was dead by the time they arrived at the scene. Earlier reports had indicated that the woman was a teenager.
The woman's family says she had worked as a market trader until 2007, when she became mentally ill.
"I feel very very sad because she is my blood," Ms Haruna's sister told the BBC this week. "We sleep in the same bed, we eat at the same plate…. That really pains me."
According to the BBC Hausa service's Ishaq Khalid in Bauchi, the people in the town have condemned the attack.
Boko Haram has taken to sending women on suicide missions, fuelling concern that its insurgency has entered a more ruthless phase.
Teenagers have been used to carry explosives into busy markets and bus stations, raising additional fears that some of Boko Haram's hundreds of kidnap victims may have been forced into carrying out bomb attacks.
February's presidential election has been postponed because of the unrest. The vote is now due to take place on 28 March.
BBC
Related story: Mob in Nigeria beat to death suspected female suicide bomber
Thabita Haruna, 33, was attacked by a mob on Sunday after she refused to be screened at a marketplace in Bauchi.
Police are investigating the attack and have yet to make any arrests.
Boko Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have been using women to carry out suicide bombings.
The militants want to impose a strict version of Islam and have declared a caliphate in the territory under their control.
Ms Haruna was set upon by a mob last Sunday after she refused to be searched by vigilantes at the entrance to a marketplace.
A witness told the AFP news agency that the woman came under suspicion when two bottles were found strapped to her waist.
The mob placed a tyre sprinkled with petrol over the woman's head and set it alight after she was beaten, according to witnesses.
Police say that she was dead by the time they arrived at the scene. Earlier reports had indicated that the woman was a teenager.
The woman's family says she had worked as a market trader until 2007, when she became mentally ill.
"I feel very very sad because she is my blood," Ms Haruna's sister told the BBC this week. "We sleep in the same bed, we eat at the same plate…. That really pains me."
According to the BBC Hausa service's Ishaq Khalid in Bauchi, the people in the town have condemned the attack.
Boko Haram has taken to sending women on suicide missions, fuelling concern that its insurgency has entered a more ruthless phase.
Teenagers have been used to carry explosives into busy markets and bus stations, raising additional fears that some of Boko Haram's hundreds of kidnap victims may have been forced into carrying out bomb attacks.
February's presidential election has been postponed because of the unrest. The vote is now due to take place on 28 March.
BBC
Related story: Mob in Nigeria beat to death suspected female suicide bomber
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Video - Short film about business man facilitating desperate Nigerian illegal immigration to North America
Chuks is a businessman who deals in a peculiar business. For a handsome fee, he facilitates the transportation of desperate Nigerian illegal immigrants looking for greener pastures in North America.
2014 official selection at Toronto International Short Film Festival
2015 official selection at Pan African Film Festival - Los Angeles
Video - Aljazeera talks to President Goodluck Jonathan
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan vowed to defeat Boko Haram.
The armed group has killed thousands of people in the country's north east.
Jonathan denied mishandling the Boko Haram crisis, and allegations a recent step up in military operations against the group, was politically motivated. He also expressed fears about violence during the upcoming presidential election which was postponed because of a lack of security.
The President also touched on corruption. And whether the country's elections will be moved again.
Boko Haram releases beheading video in similar style to ISIL
Nigeria’s militant sect Boko Haram released a video purporting to show it beheading two men, its first online posting using advanced graphics and editing techniques reminiscent of footage from ISIL.
The film, released on Monday, shows militants standing behind the two men who are on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs, with one man standing over them, holding a knife.
One of the men is made to tell the camera that they had been paid by authorities to spy on the militant group, before the film moves to another scene showing their decapitated bodies. It was not possible to confirm the film’s authenticity or date.
The footage will stoke concerns that Boko Haram, which evolved out of a clerical movement focused on northeast Nigeria, is expanding its scope and seeking inspiration from global militant networks.
The militants who have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in their bid to carve out an Islamist state in their homeland, have in recent months stepped up cross-border raids into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has said Boko Haram is allied to both Al Qaida and its offshoot ISIL, though that has not been confirmed by the group itself.
The Boko Haram film’s use of graphics, the footage of black-clad militants with a black flag, and the editing to show only the aftermath of the beheading, were particularly reminiscent of footage from Daesh, which has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and killed several hostages.
In the film, one of the men says he comes from Baga in Borno state, and the other says he is from Michika in Adamawa state, both areas where the army says it has recently recaptured territory from Boko Haram.
Past Boko Haram films have been much cruder affairs, often featuring a man identified as leader Abubakar Shekau talking about local gripes. A number of recent releases have included much more gruesome footage of beheadings.
Gulf News
The film, released on Monday, shows militants standing behind the two men who are on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs, with one man standing over them, holding a knife.
One of the men is made to tell the camera that they had been paid by authorities to spy on the militant group, before the film moves to another scene showing their decapitated bodies. It was not possible to confirm the film’s authenticity or date.
The footage will stoke concerns that Boko Haram, which evolved out of a clerical movement focused on northeast Nigeria, is expanding its scope and seeking inspiration from global militant networks.
The militants who have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in their bid to carve out an Islamist state in their homeland, have in recent months stepped up cross-border raids into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has said Boko Haram is allied to both Al Qaida and its offshoot ISIL, though that has not been confirmed by the group itself.
The Boko Haram film’s use of graphics, the footage of black-clad militants with a black flag, and the editing to show only the aftermath of the beheading, were particularly reminiscent of footage from Daesh, which has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and killed several hostages.
In the film, one of the men says he comes from Baga in Borno state, and the other says he is from Michika in Adamawa state, both areas where the army says it has recently recaptured territory from Boko Haram.
Past Boko Haram films have been much cruder affairs, often featuring a man identified as leader Abubakar Shekau talking about local gripes. A number of recent releases have included much more gruesome footage of beheadings.
Gulf News
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