Nigeria's military had advance warning of an attack on the town where some 270 girls were kidnapped but failed to act, Amnesty International says.
The human rights group says it was told by credible sources that the military had more than four hours' warning of the raid by Boko Haram militants.
Fifty-three of the girls escaped soon after being seized in Chibok on 14 April but more than 200 remain captive.
Nigeria's authorities say they "doubt the veracity" of the Amnesty report.
"If the government was aware [beforehand] there would have been an intervention [against the militants]," Nigerian Information Minister Labaran Maku told BBC World TV.
However, he said the authorities would still investigate the claims. 'Gross dereliction of duty' Amnesty says it was told by several people that the military in Maiduguri, capital of the north-eastern Borno state, was informed of the impending attack on Chibok town soon after 19:00 local time.
It says that a local official was contacted by herdsmen who said that armed men had asked them where the Government Girls' Secondary School was located in the town.
Despite the warning, reinforcements were not sent to help protect the town in the remote area, which was attacked at around midnight, Amnesty says.
One reason, the rights group says, was a "reported fear of engaging with the often better-equipped armed groups".
In its report, Amnesty International said the failure of the Nigerian security forces to stop the raid - despite knowing about it in advance - will "amplify the national and international outcry at this horrific crime".
The organisation's Africa Director Netsanet Belay said it amounted to a "gross dereliction of Nigeria's duty to protect civilians" and called on the leadership to "use all lawful means at their disposal to secure the girls' safe release and ensure nothing like this can happen again".
A father of one of two of the missing schoolgirls told the BBC's John Simpson that he believed there was "politics" behind the kidnappings because there was prior information that the militants would be coming to Chibok.
Boko Haram has admitted capturing the girls, saying they should not have been in school and should get married instead.
In a video released earlier this week, leader Abubakar Shekau threatened to "sell" the students.
It is believed the schoolgirls are being held somewhere, perhaps in scattered groups, in the vast forested areas that stretch from near Chibok into neighbouring Cameroon.
Teams of experts from the US and UK - including military advisers, negotiators and counsellors - have arrived in Nigeria to help locate and rescue the abductees.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier that an inter-agency team will work with the Nigerian authorities to secure the girls' release and stressed: "We are also going to do everything possible to counter the menace of Boko Haram".
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language, began its insurgency in Borno state in 2009.
At least 1,200 people are estimated to have died in the violence this year alone.
The Nigerian leadership has been widely criticised for its perceived slow response to the girls' kidnapping.
More protests were held in the British capital, London, and Nigeria's main city, Lagos, on Friday.
Speaking to the BBC's World Have Your Say programme, Mr Maku said it was important to remember that the army was not fighting an "easy war" against Boko Haram, which operates over a huge area in the remote north.
BBC
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Former UN Secretary Generaly says Africa should have reacted faster to kidnapped schoolgirls
Friday, May 9, 2014
Unimpeded corruption in Nigerian government possible cause of Boko Haram's inception
The wide-scale kleptocracy of the Nigerian government, which is accused of pilfering billions of dollars of oil revenues and having spawned a massively corrupt civil service, may have played a role in giving birth to Boko Haram, the group behind the kidnappings of nearly 300 schoolgirls, experts say.
Sarah Chayes, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, studied the links between systemic corruption in governments around the world and the emergence of extremist insurgencies. She said all those countries, including Nigeria, were run by a kleptocratic clique.
“Many Nigerians suggest the emergence of Boko Haram was in part a reaction to this systematized corruption,” Chayes wrote in an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times.
“Corruption, in other words, has security implications."
And corruption permeates throughout the Nigerian bureaucracy. The U.S. State Department's 2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices found that in Nigeria, "massive widespread, and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government and the security forces."
Money from oil revenue, supposed to go to programs like health and education, instead ends up in the pockets of senior government officials and civil servants.
'Massive procurement fraud'
“One of the biggest means of siphoning money into government pockets is the civil service. And so what happens is just massive massive procurement fraud," Chayes said in an interview with CBC News.
As recently as February, questions were raised about Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's firing of the central bank governor who was investigating the disappearance of $20 billion in oil revenue over an 18-month period.
"I don’t see any public policy focusing on that issue," Chayes said. "I see all the repression aimed at Boko Haram and none of it aimed at Goodluck Jonathan and what happened to the $20 billion."
Chayes made it clear that none of this excuses Boko Haram for its violent actions and that she's only observing that its emergence is in opposition to a system, something that has repeatedly occurred throughout history.
"If we don’t like Boko Haram or al-Qaeda or their methods then we better look at the the cause."
Founded in 2002 , the name itself translates to “Western education is a sin.” But this was not necessarily meant as a Taliban-like medieval rejection of critical thinking that the West automatically assumes, Chayes said.
Instead, Nigerians say it was meant more as a rejection of a corrupt and elitist school system that is thought to be linked to the corrupt civil service.
In order to get a job in the Nigerian civil service, one must go to school. But Nigerians say the educational system is a leftover institution from British colonialism.
When Nigerian students went through this system, they were able to get jobs in the civil service because of their school connections. This deeply corrupted educational system has persisted, with students having to buy their way in, and buy their way through exams.
“That is the context in which people said, at least initially, the notion of 'Western education is sinful' is understood. The whole education system was seen as part of the crystallization of the government into an abusive corrupt system.”
But while this may have been the genesis of Boko Haram, it has certainly morphed over the years into a violent extremist organization. Darren Kew — a professor of conflict resolution at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and executive director of its Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development — said, in the beginning, there was an ongoing debate over whether the movement should become more violent.
But as the movement grew, the Nigerian police began to crack down on members. Many were beaten or killed by security officers.
"During the growth of the movement, an essential part of their adoption of violence as the solution was the fact that they were themselves victims of government violence in the early stages," Kew said.
"There was a spiral violence that took place that certainly pushed Boko Haram on the road to violence."
CBC
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Sarah Chayes, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, studied the links between systemic corruption in governments around the world and the emergence of extremist insurgencies. She said all those countries, including Nigeria, were run by a kleptocratic clique.
“Many Nigerians suggest the emergence of Boko Haram was in part a reaction to this systematized corruption,” Chayes wrote in an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times.
“Corruption, in other words, has security implications."
And corruption permeates throughout the Nigerian bureaucracy. The U.S. State Department's 2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices found that in Nigeria, "massive widespread, and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government and the security forces."
Money from oil revenue, supposed to go to programs like health and education, instead ends up in the pockets of senior government officials and civil servants.
'Massive procurement fraud'
“One of the biggest means of siphoning money into government pockets is the civil service. And so what happens is just massive massive procurement fraud," Chayes said in an interview with CBC News.
As recently as February, questions were raised about Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's firing of the central bank governor who was investigating the disappearance of $20 billion in oil revenue over an 18-month period.
"I don’t see any public policy focusing on that issue," Chayes said. "I see all the repression aimed at Boko Haram and none of it aimed at Goodluck Jonathan and what happened to the $20 billion."
Chayes made it clear that none of this excuses Boko Haram for its violent actions and that she's only observing that its emergence is in opposition to a system, something that has repeatedly occurred throughout history.
"If we don’t like Boko Haram or al-Qaeda or their methods then we better look at the the cause."
Founded in 2002 , the name itself translates to “Western education is a sin.” But this was not necessarily meant as a Taliban-like medieval rejection of critical thinking that the West automatically assumes, Chayes said.
Instead, Nigerians say it was meant more as a rejection of a corrupt and elitist school system that is thought to be linked to the corrupt civil service.
In order to get a job in the Nigerian civil service, one must go to school. But Nigerians say the educational system is a leftover institution from British colonialism.
When Nigerian students went through this system, they were able to get jobs in the civil service because of their school connections. This deeply corrupted educational system has persisted, with students having to buy their way in, and buy their way through exams.
“That is the context in which people said, at least initially, the notion of 'Western education is sinful' is understood. The whole education system was seen as part of the crystallization of the government into an abusive corrupt system.”
But while this may have been the genesis of Boko Haram, it has certainly morphed over the years into a violent extremist organization. Darren Kew — a professor of conflict resolution at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and executive director of its Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development — said, in the beginning, there was an ongoing debate over whether the movement should become more violent.
But as the movement grew, the Nigerian police began to crack down on members. Many were beaten or killed by security officers.
"During the growth of the movement, an essential part of their adoption of violence as the solution was the fact that they were themselves victims of government violence in the early stages," Kew said.
"There was a spiral violence that took place that certainly pushed Boko Haram on the road to violence."
CBC
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Thursday, May 8, 2014
Video - Chinese funded railway system in Nigeria almost complete
A Chinese funded standard gauge railway construction project that connects the Nigerian federal capital Abuja with the country's central commercial hub Kaduna, is nearing completion and is expected to reduce road congestion and the time it takes to travel between the two points. The Abuja Kaduna line, scheduled to be completed by December 2014, is co-funded by the China Exim bank and the government of Nigeria. And as CCTV's Peter Wakaba reports this project is just one of many that are transforming lives in Nigeria.
Related stories: Nigerian government signs $1.49 billion construction deal with China
Video - Parents of kidnapped schoolgirls traumatized
The parents of the 276 schoolgirls taken by Boko Haram three weeks ago have accused President Goodluck Jonathan of abandoning them. And they are equally outraged at suggestions by the President's wife that the abduction never happened.
Al Jazeera is the first international media outlet to visit the village where the girls were kidnapped.
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Nigerian police offer cash reward for information on kidnapped schoolgirls
Former UN Secretary Generaly says Africa should have reacted faster to kidnapped schoolgirls
As the UK and the US give practical assistance to Nigeria over the abduction of 200 girls, what of Africa's response?
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World Economic forum underway in Abuja, Nigeria
The World Economic Forum on Africa opened in Abuja, Nigeria, on Wednesday, with a focus on bilateral-relations and Intra-Africa-Trade. Various Presenters, made a case, for continued-political and economic-integration, within the continent, to realize the benefits, of a larger market.
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Boko Haram attack market - 150 dead
Nigeria's government has confirmed that suspected Islamist insurgents attacked a town in the north-east, massacring civilians during a busy market day.
Presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe told the BBC the official death toll was between 100 and 150.
Residents and the area's MP have said more than 300 residents died in Gamboru Ngala during the five-hour attack.
Mr Okupe said the country welcomed international support to defeat Boko Haram, but defended its record.
"We are even fighting a war that we have to limit and manage collateral damages - but the insurgents do not care," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.
"They can kill soldiers, they can kill villagers, but we cannot do that. And people must understand that, we have to fight this war within the rules of engagement that is accepted internationally."
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, began its insurgency in Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state in 2009.
At least 1,200 people are estimated to have died in the violence and security crackdown this year alone.
International attention to the crisis has been galvanised by the kidnapping more than three weeks ago of more than 200 teenage girls from their school in Borno's Chibok town.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived a shooting by Taliban insurgents, has said the world must not stay silent over the abduction.
She told the BBC that "if we remain silent then this will spread, this will happen more and more and more".
Former UN chief Kofi Annan also appealed for action. He criticised both the Nigerian government and other African nations for not reacting faster to the kidnapping, and called on them to use whatever was at their disposal to help free the girls.
The abduction of the girls has overshadowed the World Economic Forum which opened in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Wednesday evening.
The US, UK and France have despatched teams of experts to Nigeria to help recover the girls.
'Diversion'
The town of Gamboru Ngala, near the border with Cameroon, was crowded with traders for the market day on Monday when the suspect Islamists militants attacked.
Senator Ahmed Zanna told the BBC's Hausa service that they arrived in a convoy of vehicles, shooting, stealing food and motorbikes and burning hundreds of cars and buildings during their rampage.
Another resident said they were shouting "Allahu Akbar [God is great]".
The militants had used a diversionary tactic to get the security forces out of Gamboru Ngala by spreading rumours that the abducted schoolgirls had been spotted somewhere else, Mr Zanna and several residents said.
A resident of Gamboru Ngala told the BBC that 310 people had been buried on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"At the big cemetery of Gamboru Ngala, I recorded 165 buried. At the small graveyard, I recorded 145 graves. But we are still picking corpses from the main market," he said.
"Many people locked themselves up in the market when the attacks started so they got burnt in their shops."
Correspondents say it often takes time for news of such attacks to spread as mobile phone networks can be affected by the security crackdown in the region.
BBC
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Presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe told the BBC the official death toll was between 100 and 150.
Residents and the area's MP have said more than 300 residents died in Gamboru Ngala during the five-hour attack.
Mr Okupe said the country welcomed international support to defeat Boko Haram, but defended its record.
"We are even fighting a war that we have to limit and manage collateral damages - but the insurgents do not care," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.
"They can kill soldiers, they can kill villagers, but we cannot do that. And people must understand that, we have to fight this war within the rules of engagement that is accepted internationally."
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, began its insurgency in Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state in 2009.
At least 1,200 people are estimated to have died in the violence and security crackdown this year alone.
International attention to the crisis has been galvanised by the kidnapping more than three weeks ago of more than 200 teenage girls from their school in Borno's Chibok town.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived a shooting by Taliban insurgents, has said the world must not stay silent over the abduction.
She told the BBC that "if we remain silent then this will spread, this will happen more and more and more".
Former UN chief Kofi Annan also appealed for action. He criticised both the Nigerian government and other African nations for not reacting faster to the kidnapping, and called on them to use whatever was at their disposal to help free the girls.
The abduction of the girls has overshadowed the World Economic Forum which opened in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Wednesday evening.
The US, UK and France have despatched teams of experts to Nigeria to help recover the girls.
'Diversion'
The town of Gamboru Ngala, near the border with Cameroon, was crowded with traders for the market day on Monday when the suspect Islamists militants attacked.
Senator Ahmed Zanna told the BBC's Hausa service that they arrived in a convoy of vehicles, shooting, stealing food and motorbikes and burning hundreds of cars and buildings during their rampage.
Another resident said they were shouting "Allahu Akbar [God is great]".
The militants had used a diversionary tactic to get the security forces out of Gamboru Ngala by spreading rumours that the abducted schoolgirls had been spotted somewhere else, Mr Zanna and several residents said.
A resident of Gamboru Ngala told the BBC that 310 people had been buried on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"At the big cemetery of Gamboru Ngala, I recorded 165 buried. At the small graveyard, I recorded 145 graves. But we are still picking corpses from the main market," he said.
"Many people locked themselves up in the market when the attacks started so they got burnt in their shops."
Correspondents say it often takes time for news of such attacks to spread as mobile phone networks can be affected by the security crackdown in the region.
BBC
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Canada offers assistance in finding the kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria
Canada will provide Nigeria with surveillance equipment to help locate more than 270 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamic insurgents who have been terrorized the African country for more than five years.
Jason MacDonald, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said in an email that Canada will also provide “the technical expertise” to operate the equipment.
The government responded Wednesday to a report that Nigeria was asking Canada’s help in the hunt for the missing girls.
During question period, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said any equipment that goes to Nigeria would be accompanied by Canadian military personnel to operate it.
"We've offered support to the Nigerian government. If Canada has surveillance equipment that is not in the region that could provide assistance to find these young girls, we'd obviously be pleased to provide it," he said Wednesday.
"What we do have a concern is we will not hand over military equipment unless we can send the Canadians who can properly operate it."
Outside the House of Commons, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair told reporters: “Whatever Canada can do in the way of personnel and equipment, we should do.”
Nigerian Vice-President Namadi Sambo said the government “was anxious to put an end to the menace” of a five-year Islamic insurgency led by terror group Boko Haram that has killed more than 1,500 people so far this year alone. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, and its leader has threatened to sell the girls into slavery.
According to a Nigerian media report, Sambo said that "'as we approach elections, we should not play politics with serious matters of state such as security,' and pleaded for support and assistance from Canada in areas of surveillance equipment and other vital security hardware" to help Nigeria address the insurgency.
Sambo made his comments when Canadian International Development Minister Christian Paradis was in his office in the capital of Abuja, according to the report.
In addition to issues regarding security, the two discussed maternal and child health, resource development, and the upcoming general election in Nigeria in 2015, the report said.
NDP MP Paul Dewar requested an emergency debate on the issue on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the U.S. government announced that it will send military personnel and law enforcement officials to assist with the investigation into the kidnapped 276 schoolgirls, who have been missing for three weeks.
Mike Baker, a former covert operations officer with the CIA, said the fact that the Nigerian government is finally willing to accept outside help in dealing with the insurgency is a step in the right direction.
But a team of U.S. investigators and hostage negotiators is not going to “solve the problem,” Baker told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.
“There has to be a stepped-up effort to actually resolve this and try to minimize the impact of this organization,” Baker said from Boise, Idaho. “Right now they are just running amok, particularly in the northeast areas.”
Last December, Canada listed Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. Under the Criminal Code, it is illegal to be a member of, or transfer money to, the group.
CTV
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Jason MacDonald, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said in an email that Canada will also provide “the technical expertise” to operate the equipment.
The government responded Wednesday to a report that Nigeria was asking Canada’s help in the hunt for the missing girls.
During question period, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said any equipment that goes to Nigeria would be accompanied by Canadian military personnel to operate it.
"We've offered support to the Nigerian government. If Canada has surveillance equipment that is not in the region that could provide assistance to find these young girls, we'd obviously be pleased to provide it," he said Wednesday.
"What we do have a concern is we will not hand over military equipment unless we can send the Canadians who can properly operate it."
Outside the House of Commons, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair told reporters: “Whatever Canada can do in the way of personnel and equipment, we should do.”
Nigerian Vice-President Namadi Sambo said the government “was anxious to put an end to the menace” of a five-year Islamic insurgency led by terror group Boko Haram that has killed more than 1,500 people so far this year alone. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, and its leader has threatened to sell the girls into slavery.
According to a Nigerian media report, Sambo said that "'as we approach elections, we should not play politics with serious matters of state such as security,' and pleaded for support and assistance from Canada in areas of surveillance equipment and other vital security hardware" to help Nigeria address the insurgency.
Sambo made his comments when Canadian International Development Minister Christian Paradis was in his office in the capital of Abuja, according to the report.
In addition to issues regarding security, the two discussed maternal and child health, resource development, and the upcoming general election in Nigeria in 2015, the report said.
NDP MP Paul Dewar requested an emergency debate on the issue on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the U.S. government announced that it will send military personnel and law enforcement officials to assist with the investigation into the kidnapped 276 schoolgirls, who have been missing for three weeks.
Mike Baker, a former covert operations officer with the CIA, said the fact that the Nigerian government is finally willing to accept outside help in dealing with the insurgency is a step in the right direction.
But a team of U.S. investigators and hostage negotiators is not going to “solve the problem,” Baker told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.
“There has to be a stepped-up effort to actually resolve this and try to minimize the impact of this organization,” Baker said from Boise, Idaho. “Right now they are just running amok, particularly in the northeast areas.”
Last December, Canada listed Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. Under the Criminal Code, it is illegal to be a member of, or transfer money to, the group.
CTV
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Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Video - World Economic Forum focuses on Africa
This year's theme, for the World Economic Forum on Africa, is "Forging Inclusive Growth and Creating Jobs" Two issues that are critically affecting Nigeria, the host country for the Forum. The Nigerian government says, it is working, on ways, to resolve the unemployment problem, but some analysts say, the approach being used, is defective.
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France to join US in help to find more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria
France on Wednesday offered to send security service agents to Nigeria to help recover more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
With more than 4,000 troops operating between Mali to the west and Central African Republic to the east, Paris has a major interest in preventing Nigeria's security situation from deteriorating, having previously voiced concerns Boko Haram could spread further north into the Sahel.
"The President has instructed ... to put the (intelligence) services at the disposal of Nigeria and neighboring countries," Fabius told lawmakers.
"This morning he asked us to contact the Nigerian president to tell him that a specialized unit with all the means we have in the region was at the disposal of Nigeria to help find and recover these young girls."
Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last month and has threatened to sell them into slavery. Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped eight more girls from a village near one of the Islamists' strongholds in northeastern Nigeria overnight, police and residents said on Tuesday
"In the face of such ignominy France must react. This crime cannot be left unpunished," Fabius said.
Reuters
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With more than 4,000 troops operating between Mali to the west and Central African Republic to the east, Paris has a major interest in preventing Nigeria's security situation from deteriorating, having previously voiced concerns Boko Haram could spread further north into the Sahel.
"The President has instructed ... to put the (intelligence) services at the disposal of Nigeria and neighboring countries," Fabius told lawmakers.
"This morning he asked us to contact the Nigerian president to tell him that a specialized unit with all the means we have in the region was at the disposal of Nigeria to help find and recover these young girls."
Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last month and has threatened to sell them into slavery. Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped eight more girls from a village near one of the Islamists' strongholds in northeastern Nigeria overnight, police and residents said on Tuesday
"In the face of such ignominy France must react. This crime cannot be left unpunished," Fabius said.
Reuters
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Nigerian police offer cash reward for information on kidnapped schoolgirls
Nigeria's police have offered a $300,000 (£177,000) reward to anyone who can help locate and rescue more than 200 abducted schoolgirls.
They were kidnapped more than three weeks ago by Islamist Boko Haram militants from their boarding school in the north-eastern state of Borno.
Eleven other girls were taken on Sunday night after two villages were attacked.
Another militant raid on a town near Cameroon killed some 300 people on Monday, a senator has told the BBC.
Ahmed Zanna said the gunmen arrived in a convoy of vans in Gamboru Ngala during the town's busy market day.
They stole food and motorbikes, burned hundreds of cars and buildings during their rampage, the politician told the BBC's Hausa service.
It is the latest attack to be blamed on Boko Haram, whose leader admitted earlier this week that his fighters had abducted the girls in the middle of the night from their school in the town of Chibok on 14 April.
Abubakar Shekau threatened to "sell" the students, saying they should not have been in school in the first place, but rather should get married.
The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, began its insurgency in 2009.
More than 1,500 have been killed in the violence and subsequent security crackdown this year alone.'Heart-breaking'
A statement from the police said the 50m naira reward would be given to anyone who "volunteers credible information that will lead to the location and rescue of the female students".
Six telephone numbers are provided, calling on the general public to be "part of the solution to the present security challenge".
"The police high command also reassures all citizens that any information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality," the statement said.
The abductions have prompted widespread criticism of the Nigerian government and demonstrations countrywide.
The BBC's Mansur Liman in the capital, Abuja, says many are questioning why it has taken so long for such a reward to be offered.
The girls are mostly aged between 16 and 18 and were taking their final year exams.
The governments of Chad and Cameroon have denied suggestions that the abducted girls may have already been smuggled over Nigeria's porous borders into their territory.
A team of US experts has been sent to Nigeria to help in the hunt.
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama described the abductions as "heart-breaking" and "outrageous" and said he hoped the kidnapping might galvanise the international community to take action against Boko Haram.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron will be speaking by phone to Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday afternoon regarding the abductions.
Security has been tightened in Abuja as several African leaders and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang are attending the World Economic Forum for Africa in the city, following two recent attacks there blamed on the insurgents.
BBC
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They were kidnapped more than three weeks ago by Islamist Boko Haram militants from their boarding school in the north-eastern state of Borno.
Eleven other girls were taken on Sunday night after two villages were attacked.
Another militant raid on a town near Cameroon killed some 300 people on Monday, a senator has told the BBC.
Ahmed Zanna said the gunmen arrived in a convoy of vans in Gamboru Ngala during the town's busy market day.
They stole food and motorbikes, burned hundreds of cars and buildings during their rampage, the politician told the BBC's Hausa service.
It is the latest attack to be blamed on Boko Haram, whose leader admitted earlier this week that his fighters had abducted the girls in the middle of the night from their school in the town of Chibok on 14 April.
Abubakar Shekau threatened to "sell" the students, saying they should not have been in school in the first place, but rather should get married.
The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, began its insurgency in 2009.
More than 1,500 have been killed in the violence and subsequent security crackdown this year alone.'Heart-breaking'
A statement from the police said the 50m naira reward would be given to anyone who "volunteers credible information that will lead to the location and rescue of the female students".
Six telephone numbers are provided, calling on the general public to be "part of the solution to the present security challenge".
"The police high command also reassures all citizens that any information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality," the statement said.
The abductions have prompted widespread criticism of the Nigerian government and demonstrations countrywide.
The BBC's Mansur Liman in the capital, Abuja, says many are questioning why it has taken so long for such a reward to be offered.
The girls are mostly aged between 16 and 18 and were taking their final year exams.
The governments of Chad and Cameroon have denied suggestions that the abducted girls may have already been smuggled over Nigeria's porous borders into their territory.
A team of US experts has been sent to Nigeria to help in the hunt.
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama described the abductions as "heart-breaking" and "outrageous" and said he hoped the kidnapping might galvanise the international community to take action against Boko Haram.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron will be speaking by phone to Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday afternoon regarding the abductions.
Security has been tightened in Abuja as several African leaders and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang are attending the World Economic Forum for Africa in the city, following two recent attacks there blamed on the insurgents.
BBC
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Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Video - Boko Haram threatens to sell kidnapped school girls
The leader of Nigeria's Islamic extremist group Boko Haram is threatening to sell the nearly 300 teenage schoolgirls abducted from a school in the remote northeast three weeks ago, in a new videotape received Monday.
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Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
Boko Haram kidnap eight more schoolgirls in Nigeria
Members of Boko Haram have allegedly kidnapped eight more girls aged 12 to 15 years from the northeastern Nigerian village of Warabe, hours after the armed group claimed responsibility for abducting nearly 300 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok, police and residents have said.
A police source, who could not be named, said on Tuesday that the eight girls were taken away overnight on trucks, along with looted livestock and food.
"They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army colour. They started shooting in our village," said Lazarus Musa, a resident of Warabe.
In a video released on Monday, the armed group threatened to sell the 276 girls abducted on April 14 from a secondary school in Chibok "in the marketplace".
Boko Haram's leader Abubaker Shekau criticised the female students for being taught "western education", which the group is avidly against.
He also warned that his group planned to attack more schools and abduct more girls.
UN warning
He said the girls, some as young as nine-years-old, would be sold for marriage, stating that "God has commanded me to sell".
The statement prompted a warning from the United Nations against "slavery" or "sexual slavery".
"We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law. These can under certain circumstances constitute crimes against humanity," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.
"That means anyone responsible can be arrested, charged, prosecuted, and jailed at any time in the future. So just
because they think they are safe now, they won't necessarily be in two years, five years or 10 years time," he said.
He also urged Nigeria's federal and local authorities to work together to rescue the girls.
On Sunday night, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said his administration was doing everything possible to ensure the schoolgirls were released.
Aljazeera
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US to help Nigerian government rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
Leader of protest of government inaction to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls detained
A police source, who could not be named, said on Tuesday that the eight girls were taken away overnight on trucks, along with looted livestock and food.
"They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army colour. They started shooting in our village," said Lazarus Musa, a resident of Warabe.
In a video released on Monday, the armed group threatened to sell the 276 girls abducted on April 14 from a secondary school in Chibok "in the marketplace".
Boko Haram's leader Abubaker Shekau criticised the female students for being taught "western education", which the group is avidly against.
He also warned that his group planned to attack more schools and abduct more girls.
UN warning
He said the girls, some as young as nine-years-old, would be sold for marriage, stating that "God has commanded me to sell".
The statement prompted a warning from the United Nations against "slavery" or "sexual slavery".
"We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law. These can under certain circumstances constitute crimes against humanity," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.
"That means anyone responsible can be arrested, charged, prosecuted, and jailed at any time in the future. So just
because they think they are safe now, they won't necessarily be in two years, five years or 10 years time," he said.
He also urged Nigeria's federal and local authorities to work together to rescue the girls.
On Sunday night, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said his administration was doing everything possible to ensure the schoolgirls were released.
Aljazeera
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US to help Nigerian government rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
Leader of protest of government inaction to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls detained
Monday, May 5, 2014
Video - President Goodluck Jonathan makes public address on kidnapped schoolgirls
Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, makes his first comments about the 276 schoolgirls abducted by Islamic extremists three weeks ago. There has been growing public anger at the way the government has reacted to the mass kidnapping. Speaking during a televised debate, Jonathan promised the parents of the missing children that the government would rescue them. 'We promise that wherever these girls are, we will surely get them out,' he said.
Related stories: US to help Nigerian government rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
Leader of protest of government inaction to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls detained
US to help Nigerian government rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
US Secretary of State John Kerry has vowed that Washington will do "everything possible" to help Nigeria deal with the armed group Boko Haram, following the kidnapping of scores of schoolgirls.
"Let me be clear. The kidnapping of hundreds of children by Boko Haram is an unconscionable crime," Kerry said in a policy speech in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Saturday.
"We will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return these young women to their homes and hold the perpetrators to justice. That is our responsibility and the world's responsibility," Kerry said.
The US, he said, was "working to strengthen Nigeria's institutions and its military to combat Boko Haram's campaign of terror and violence".
The schoolgirls were abducted by gunmen from the Chibok Government Girls' Secondary School school in Nigeria's Borno state on Tuesday last week.
Nigerian police on Friday said Boko Haram was holding 223 girls of the 276 seized from the school, revising upwards the number of youngsters abducted.
The girls' abduction has triggered global outrage and prompted protests in a number of Nigerian cities, as desperate parents call on the government to secure their release.
More than 200 people also held a rally on Saturday in front of Washington's Lincoln Memorial to bring attention to the girls' plight.
'No effort' to rescue girls
Nigerian mothers on Saturday vowed to hold more protests to push for a greater rescue effort from the authorities.
"We need to sustain the message and the pressure on political and military authorities to do everything in their power to ensure these girls are freed," Nigerian protest organiser Hadiza Bala Usman told AFP.
She said that women and mothers would on Tuesday march to the offices of the defence minister and chief of defence staff "to ask them what they are doing to rescue our daughters".
"We believe there is little or no effort for now on the part of the military and government to rescue these abducted girls, who are languishing in some dingy forest," she said.
Nigeria's information minister, Labaran Maku, said on Friday that Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, had chaired a top-level meeting with military and security chiefs about a possible rescue mission.
The mass kidnapping is one of the most shocking attacks in Boko Haram's five-year offensive, which has killed thousands across the north and centre of the country, including 1,500 people this year alone.
Boko Haram, an armed group whose name means "Western education is sinful", is fighting what it calls Western influence and wants to form an Islamic state in Africa's largest oil producer country.
AFP
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Video - Search continues for the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown requests UK military assist in finding kidnapped girls
"Let me be clear. The kidnapping of hundreds of children by Boko Haram is an unconscionable crime," Kerry said in a policy speech in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Saturday.
"We will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return these young women to their homes and hold the perpetrators to justice. That is our responsibility and the world's responsibility," Kerry said.
The US, he said, was "working to strengthen Nigeria's institutions and its military to combat Boko Haram's campaign of terror and violence".
The schoolgirls were abducted by gunmen from the Chibok Government Girls' Secondary School school in Nigeria's Borno state on Tuesday last week.
Nigerian police on Friday said Boko Haram was holding 223 girls of the 276 seized from the school, revising upwards the number of youngsters abducted.
The girls' abduction has triggered global outrage and prompted protests in a number of Nigerian cities, as desperate parents call on the government to secure their release.
More than 200 people also held a rally on Saturday in front of Washington's Lincoln Memorial to bring attention to the girls' plight.
'No effort' to rescue girls
Nigerian mothers on Saturday vowed to hold more protests to push for a greater rescue effort from the authorities.
"We need to sustain the message and the pressure on political and military authorities to do everything in their power to ensure these girls are freed," Nigerian protest organiser Hadiza Bala Usman told AFP.
She said that women and mothers would on Tuesday march to the offices of the defence minister and chief of defence staff "to ask them what they are doing to rescue our daughters".
"We believe there is little or no effort for now on the part of the military and government to rescue these abducted girls, who are languishing in some dingy forest," she said.
Nigeria's information minister, Labaran Maku, said on Friday that Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, had chaired a top-level meeting with military and security chiefs about a possible rescue mission.
The mass kidnapping is one of the most shocking attacks in Boko Haram's five-year offensive, which has killed thousands across the north and centre of the country, including 1,500 people this year alone.
Boko Haram, an armed group whose name means "Western education is sinful", is fighting what it calls Western influence and wants to form an Islamic state in Africa's largest oil producer country.
AFP
Related stories: Video - Nigerian government set up plan to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - Search continues for the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown requests UK military assist in finding kidnapped girls
Leader of protest of government inaction to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls detained
A woman leading protests over the abduction of more than 200 girls in Nigeria has been detained on the orders of the president's wife, activists say.
Naomi Mutah took part in a meeting called by First Lady Patience Jonathan and was then taken to a police station, they say.Mrs Jonathan reportedly felt slighted that the mothers of the abducted girls had sent Ms Mutah to the meeting.
Analysts say Mrs Jonathan is a politically powerful figure.
Ms Mutah, a representative of the Chibok community where the girls were seized from their school more than two weeks ago, last week organised a protest outside parliament in the capital, Abuja.
The protesters, and many Nigerians, feel the government has not done enough to find the missing girls, who are thought to have been kidnapped by militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
Boko Haram has not commented on the accusation.
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday night spoke for the first time about the abductions.
In a live TV broadcast, he said he did not know where the girls were but said everything was being done to find them.
Pogo Bitrus, another Chibok community leader, told the BBC he had been to the Asokoro police station where Ms Mutah is reported to have been taken but could find no written record of her being there.
He described the detention as "unfortunate" and "insensitive".
He said he hoped Mrs Jonathan would soon "realise her mistake".
Mr Bitrus noted that Mrs Jonathan has no constitutional power to order arrests.
The AP news agency quotes another community leader, Saratu Angus Ndirpaya, as saying that Mrs Jonathan accused the activists of fabricating the abductions to give the government a bad name.
She also said the First Lady accused them of supporting Boko Haram.
BBC
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kidnapped school girls believed to have been taken out of Nigeria
Naomi Mutah took part in a meeting called by First Lady Patience Jonathan and was then taken to a police station, they say.Mrs Jonathan reportedly felt slighted that the mothers of the abducted girls had sent Ms Mutah to the meeting.
Analysts say Mrs Jonathan is a politically powerful figure.
Ms Mutah, a representative of the Chibok community where the girls were seized from their school more than two weeks ago, last week organised a protest outside parliament in the capital, Abuja.
The protesters, and many Nigerians, feel the government has not done enough to find the missing girls, who are thought to have been kidnapped by militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
Boko Haram has not commented on the accusation.
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday night spoke for the first time about the abductions.
In a live TV broadcast, he said he did not know where the girls were but said everything was being done to find them.
Pogo Bitrus, another Chibok community leader, told the BBC he had been to the Asokoro police station where Ms Mutah is reported to have been taken but could find no written record of her being there.
He described the detention as "unfortunate" and "insensitive".
He said he hoped Mrs Jonathan would soon "realise her mistake".
Mr Bitrus noted that Mrs Jonathan has no constitutional power to order arrests.
The AP news agency quotes another community leader, Saratu Angus Ndirpaya, as saying that Mrs Jonathan accused the activists of fabricating the abductions to give the government a bad name.
She also said the First Lady accused them of supporting Boko Haram.
BBC
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Police open fire at peaceful protest of government inability to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
kidnapped school girls believed to have been taken out of Nigeria
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Video - Nigerian government set up plan to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
Three weeks after 300 school girls were abducted in Nigeria, the country's President has set up a committee to help secure their release. He has ordered security chiefs to do everything possible to get the girls back - but people are becoming increasingly angry.
Related stories: Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown requests UK military assist in finding kidnapped girls
Some of the 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls sold into marriage
Friday, May 2, 2014
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown requests UK military assist in finding kidnapped girls
The former prime minister said he had approached the British government to discuss the possibility of military assistance. Asked if he anticipated a positive response, he said: "I think people will want to help, yes."
Stressing the urgency of locating the kidnapped girls, Brown told the Guardian: "The international community must do something to protect these girls. We could provide military help to the Nigerians to track down the whereabouts of the girls before they're dispersed throughout Africa – like air support, for example, if that was thought necessary."
Brown will meet the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja next week to discuss the abduction. He declined to say whether he planned to travel to the remote and dangerous Borno province in the north of the country, from which the girls were kidnapped on 14 April.
Amid widespread criticism in Nigeria of the government's failure to locate the girls, Brown said his intention was to support Jonathan. "I'm not prepared to criticise the Nigerian government. We're dealing with a group of terrorists who have kidnapped children … The sensible way of dealing with this is to help the Nigerian government to deal with a problem in their own country that is very substantial."
The girls, aged between 16 and 18, were snatched in the middle of the night from dormitories at a school in Chibok. Parents and local activists put the number at 230, of whom more than 40 managed to escape from trucks transporting them into the forest. The rest are still missing.
The provincial government in Borno initially said 129 girls were abducted, of whom 52 escaped. The violent jihadi organisation Boko Haram is believed to be responsible.
Since the abduction, there have been conflicting reports of the girls' fate, including claims that they have been trafficked across the border into Cameroon.
"Two hundred girls have been abducted, kidnapped, taken into a forest area, and their parents don't know whether they are about to be murdered, or used as sex slaves, or about to be trafficked into other countries," said Brown.
Relatives told the Guardian this week that the girls had been forced into marriage. "We have heard from members of the forest community where they took the girls. They said there had been mass marriages and the girls are being shared out as wives among the Boko Haram militants," said Samson Dawah, a retired teacher whose niece Saratu was among those kidnapped.
Nigerian armed forces have been searching the 60,000-sq-km Sambisa forest, but say their efforts are being hampered by tip-offs to the militants.
The incident was not isolated, said Brown: "For years now girls in northern Nigeria have been prevented from going to school by terrorists and by the failure to protect them in safety. We've seen hundreds of girls and boys who've been murdered over recent years."
In his capacity as United Nations special envoy on education, he said, he would be urging the Nigerian government to take measures, with international support, to make schools more accessible and safer.
More than 10 million children in Nigeria did not attend school, Brown said. As well as widespread barriers to children's attendance – including child labour, child marriage, child trafficking and discrimination against girls – he added that in northern Nigeria there was "a persistent campaign to deprive children of the opportunity to go to school as part of the wider aims of Boko Haram".
The jihadi group was responsible for "probably 5,000 deaths" in northern Nigeria in the past five years, "including a very large number of pupils, because a target of Boko Haram is to go into schools to bomb and to burn them". Boko Haram means "western education is a sin".
Children, said Brown, should "not be afraid of having to go to school in the face of terrorism". He added that schools should be protected places, like hospitals, under the auspices of the UN or Red Cross.
Amnesty International believes about 1,500 people have been killed by the group in the past year. On the same day as the Chibok kidnappings, 70 died in a bombing in Abuja.
Several hundred people marched through Abuja on Wednesday, many accusing the government of laxity in finding the girls.
Pogo Bitrus, the leader of the Chibok elders forum, told AFP it was "unbelievable" that the military had not tracked down the girls.
Brown attacked the international media for being slow to report the mass abduction. "I'm absolutely shocked at the failure of the international media to take up this issue – including, for several days, the Guardian." The Guardian first reported the story on 15 April.
Guardian
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Video - 19 people killed by car bomb attack in Abuja, Nigeria
A blast on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja has killed at least a dozen people. The car bomb hit the suburb of Nyanya on Thursday, close to the site of a morning rush hour bomb attack at a bus station on April 14 that killed at least 75 people.
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Thursday, May 1, 2014
Police open fire at peaceful protest of government inability to rescue kidnapped schoolgirls
Dozens of armed police officers have attempted to disperse a crowd protesting the abduction of secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno state.
Gunshots were fired by the officers in an attempt to break the protest but the protesters stood their ground.
Some of those who heard the shots first thought it was just teargas, but our reporter and other witnesses who arrived the scene shortly after the shots were fired did not notice any fume to indicate it was teargas.
Some witnesses however say teargas canisters were fired too.There is no report of injury to any of the protesters yet.The crowd are also protesting the hike in the school fees of the Lagos State University, Ojo.Several fully armed police officers have now joined the protesters as they march from CMS bus stop in Lagos Island towards Victoria Island.
Scores of Nigerian women, and a few men, had also protested Wednesday in Abuja to demand the release of over 200 girls kidnapped on April 14 by insurgents believed to be members of the extremist Boko Haram sect.
The girls were kidnapped from the their hostel at the Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State.
The protest began at about 3:15 p.m. at the Unity Fountain in the Abuja city centre, with many of the women wearing red to demonstrate anger and outrage at the abduction of the girls.
The women, including some mothers from the troubled Chibok community, carried banners and placards demanding that the Nigerian government do more to free the girls.
Premium Times
Related story: Some of the 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls sold into marriage
Gunshots were fired by the officers in an attempt to break the protest but the protesters stood their ground.
Some of those who heard the shots first thought it was just teargas, but our reporter and other witnesses who arrived the scene shortly after the shots were fired did not notice any fume to indicate it was teargas.
Some witnesses however say teargas canisters were fired too.There is no report of injury to any of the protesters yet.The crowd are also protesting the hike in the school fees of the Lagos State University, Ojo.Several fully armed police officers have now joined the protesters as they march from CMS bus stop in Lagos Island towards Victoria Island.
Scores of Nigerian women, and a few men, had also protested Wednesday in Abuja to demand the release of over 200 girls kidnapped on April 14 by insurgents believed to be members of the extremist Boko Haram sect.
The girls were kidnapped from the their hostel at the Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State.
The protest began at about 3:15 p.m. at the Unity Fountain in the Abuja city centre, with many of the women wearing red to demonstrate anger and outrage at the abduction of the girls.
The women, including some mothers from the troubled Chibok community, carried banners and placards demanding that the Nigerian government do more to free the girls.
Premium Times
Related story: Some of the 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls sold into marriage
Denmark bans adopting babies from Nigeria
Denmark has suspended adoptions from Nigeria less than a month after Lagos police arrested eight people at a suspected baby factory.
"I have decided to suspend all adoption from Nigeria with immediate effect," Denmark's minister for children tweeted. "We must do everything we can to protect the children and to give the families peace of mind," he said in a separate statement.
The minister, Manu Sareen, said he had taken the decision after the Danish regulator, the National Social Appeals Board, said it was "no longer justifiable to adopt children from the country".
The board said it was difficult to ensure a lawful and ethical adoption process from Nigeria, but added that couples who had been matched with a child would not be affected by the ban. Further information was required from the organisation that helps Danish couples adopt from Nigeria, AC International Child Support, before making a permanent decision, it added.
In March, Nigerian police arrested several people, including eight pregnant women, during a raid on a house in Lagos. The women planned to sell their newborns for $2,000 (£1,200) each, reports suggest.
There have been several raids on supposed Nigerian baby factories since 2011, with more than 100 women discovered during such operations. Investigations by Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency that year revealed that babies were being sold for up to $6,400 each.
Buyers tend to be couples who are unable to conceive, and boys typically fetch a much higher price than girls.
According to the EU, Nigeria is one of the biggest sources of people trafficked into Europe, where victims are often forced into prostitution.
Human trafficking is widespread in west Africa, where children are sometimes bought to work on plantations and in mines and factories, or as domestic help. Others are sold into sexual slavery or, less commonly, sacrificed in magic rituals.
The Guardian
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Another baby factory busted in Nigeria
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"I have decided to suspend all adoption from Nigeria with immediate effect," Denmark's minister for children tweeted. "We must do everything we can to protect the children and to give the families peace of mind," he said in a separate statement.
The minister, Manu Sareen, said he had taken the decision after the Danish regulator, the National Social Appeals Board, said it was "no longer justifiable to adopt children from the country".
The board said it was difficult to ensure a lawful and ethical adoption process from Nigeria, but added that couples who had been matched with a child would not be affected by the ban. Further information was required from the organisation that helps Danish couples adopt from Nigeria, AC International Child Support, before making a permanent decision, it added.
In March, Nigerian police arrested several people, including eight pregnant women, during a raid on a house in Lagos. The women planned to sell their newborns for $2,000 (£1,200) each, reports suggest.
There have been several raids on supposed Nigerian baby factories since 2011, with more than 100 women discovered during such operations. Investigations by Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency that year revealed that babies were being sold for up to $6,400 each.
Buyers tend to be couples who are unable to conceive, and boys typically fetch a much higher price than girls.
According to the EU, Nigeria is one of the biggest sources of people trafficked into Europe, where victims are often forced into prostitution.
Human trafficking is widespread in west Africa, where children are sometimes bought to work on plantations and in mines and factories, or as domestic help. Others are sold into sexual slavery or, less commonly, sacrificed in magic rituals.
The Guardian
Related stories: Video - Baby trafficking syndicate arrested in Imo state
Another baby factory busted in Nigeria
16 pregnant women freed from baby factory in Nigeria
Some of the 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls sold into marriage
Scores of young girls and women kidnapped from a school in Nigeria are being forced to marry their Boko Haram abductors, a local human rights group has reported.
Halite Aliyu, of the Borno-Yobe People’s Forum, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that more than 200 girls who were kidnapped two weeks ago had been sold to the fighters for $12.
Aliyu said the information given about the mass weddings was coming from villagers in the Sambisa Forest, on Nigeria’s border with Cameroon where Boko Haram was known to have a number of hideouts.
"The latest reports are that they have been taken across the borders, some to Cameroon and Chad,'' Aliyu said.
It was not possible to verify the reports.
Community elder Pogu Bitrus of Chibok town, from where the girls were abducted, told the BBC's Hausa service that some of the kidnapped girls "have been married off to insurgents".
"A medieval kind of slavery. You go and capture women and then sell them off,'' Bitrus said.
At the same time, the Boko Haram network was reportedly negotiating over the students' fate and demanding an unspecified ransom for their release, a Borno state civic leader told The Associated Press. The abductors have also claimed that two of the girls have died from snake bites.
Information regarding the girls’ exact whereabouts still remains unclear.
About 50 of the kidnapped girls managed to escape from the captors in the first days after their abduction, but some 220 remained missing, according to the principal of the Chibok Girls Secondary School, Asabe Kwambura. They are between 16 and 18 years old and had been recalled to the school to write a physics exam.
"Find Our Daughters"
The government and military's failure to rescue the girls prompted Nigerian protesters to march on the country's parliament on Wednesday.
The march, dubbed "A Million-Woman March" was promoted on Twitter and attracted several hundred women and men, mostly dressed in red, carrying placards that read "Find Our Daughters".
Parents have voiced fury at the military's rescue operation, accusing the security services of ignoring their daughters' plight.
Former World Bank vice president and ex-Nigerian cabinet member Obiageli Ezekwesili, addressed protesters at Unity Fountain in Abuja as the march kicked off.
She accused the military of having "no coherent search-and-rescue" plan.
"If this happened anywhere else in the world, more than 200 girls kidnapped and no information for more than two weeks, the country would be brought to a standstill," she told AFP.
The protest underscored how large parts of northeastern Nigeria remained beyond the control of the government.
Until the kidnappings, the air force had been mounting near-daily bombing raids since mid-January on the Sambisa Forest and mountain caves bordering Chad.
Aliyu said that in northeastern Nigeria "life has become nasty, short and brutish.
"We are living in a state of anarchy.''
Aljazeera
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Video - Search continues for the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls
Wole Soyinka calls for the release of the kidnapped school girls
Halite Aliyu, of the Borno-Yobe People’s Forum, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that more than 200 girls who were kidnapped two weeks ago had been sold to the fighters for $12.
Aliyu said the information given about the mass weddings was coming from villagers in the Sambisa Forest, on Nigeria’s border with Cameroon where Boko Haram was known to have a number of hideouts.
"The latest reports are that they have been taken across the borders, some to Cameroon and Chad,'' Aliyu said.
It was not possible to verify the reports.
Community elder Pogu Bitrus of Chibok town, from where the girls were abducted, told the BBC's Hausa service that some of the kidnapped girls "have been married off to insurgents".
"A medieval kind of slavery. You go and capture women and then sell them off,'' Bitrus said.
At the same time, the Boko Haram network was reportedly negotiating over the students' fate and demanding an unspecified ransom for their release, a Borno state civic leader told The Associated Press. The abductors have also claimed that two of the girls have died from snake bites.
Information regarding the girls’ exact whereabouts still remains unclear.
About 50 of the kidnapped girls managed to escape from the captors in the first days after their abduction, but some 220 remained missing, according to the principal of the Chibok Girls Secondary School, Asabe Kwambura. They are between 16 and 18 years old and had been recalled to the school to write a physics exam.
"Find Our Daughters"
The government and military's failure to rescue the girls prompted Nigerian protesters to march on the country's parliament on Wednesday.
The march, dubbed "A Million-Woman March" was promoted on Twitter and attracted several hundred women and men, mostly dressed in red, carrying placards that read "Find Our Daughters".
Parents have voiced fury at the military's rescue operation, accusing the security services of ignoring their daughters' plight.
Former World Bank vice president and ex-Nigerian cabinet member Obiageli Ezekwesili, addressed protesters at Unity Fountain in Abuja as the march kicked off.
She accused the military of having "no coherent search-and-rescue" plan.
"If this happened anywhere else in the world, more than 200 girls kidnapped and no information for more than two weeks, the country would be brought to a standstill," she told AFP.
The protest underscored how large parts of northeastern Nigeria remained beyond the control of the government.
Until the kidnappings, the air force had been mounting near-daily bombing raids since mid-January on the Sambisa Forest and mountain caves bordering Chad.
Aliyu said that in northeastern Nigeria "life has become nasty, short and brutish.
"We are living in a state of anarchy.''
Aljazeera
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Video - Search continues for the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls
Wole Soyinka calls for the release of the kidnapped school girls
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Video - Herbal medicine still in demand despite access to modern medicine
Traditional medicine in Nigeria appears set to continue attracting the interest of the general population. This, despite the advent of advanced medical treatment and technology. Herbal medicine provides a cheaper option for many, who say they cannot afford conventional treatment.
kidnapped school girls believed to have been taken out of Nigeria
Some of the schoolgirls abducted by suspected militant Islamists in northern Nigeria are believed to have been taken to neighbouring states, a local leader has told the BBC.
Pogo Bitrus said there had been "sightings" of gunmen crossing with the girls into Cameroon and Chad.
Some of the girls had been forced to marry the militants, he added.
Mr Bitrus said 230 girls were missing since militants attacked the school in Chibok, Borno state, two weeks ago.
The Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for the night-time raid on the school hostel in Chibok town. It has not yet commented.
Mr Bitrus, a Chibok community leader, said 43 of the girls had "regained their freedom" after escaping, while 230 were still in captivity. This is a higher number than previous estimates, however he was adamant it was the correct figure.
"Some of them have been taken across Lake Chad and some have been ferried across the border into parts of Cameroon," he told the BBC.
"And then we got this information that the captors went and auctioned these girls into marriage for a bride price," he added.
The students were about to sit their final year exam and so are mostly aged 16-18.
Boko Haram has staged a wave of attacks in northern Nigeria in recent years, with an estimated 1,500 killed this year alone.
BBC
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Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
Pogo Bitrus said there had been "sightings" of gunmen crossing with the girls into Cameroon and Chad.
Some of the girls had been forced to marry the militants, he added.
Mr Bitrus said 230 girls were missing since militants attacked the school in Chibok, Borno state, two weeks ago.
The Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for the night-time raid on the school hostel in Chibok town. It has not yet commented.
Mr Bitrus, a Chibok community leader, said 43 of the girls had "regained their freedom" after escaping, while 230 were still in captivity. This is a higher number than previous estimates, however he was adamant it was the correct figure.
"Some of them have been taken across Lake Chad and some have been ferried across the border into parts of Cameroon," he told the BBC.
"And then we got this information that the captors went and auctioned these girls into marriage for a bride price," he added.
The students were about to sit their final year exam and so are mostly aged 16-18.
Boko Haram has staged a wave of attacks in northern Nigeria in recent years, with an estimated 1,500 killed this year alone.
BBC
Related stories: Video - Search continues for the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls
Wole Soyinka calls for the release of the kidnapped school girls
Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
Monday, April 28, 2014
Video - Fake anti-malaria drugs flood Nigerian market
Nigeria is flooded with countless brands of malaria medicine and most of them are counterfeit. The World Health Organisation estimates that two-thirds of malaria drugs in the country are bogus or sub-standard.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Video - Search continues for the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls
In Nigeria, parents have joined the army to search for almost 200 schoolgirls kidnapped last week.They were taken from their school in Chibok in the northeastern Borno state.
Related stories: Wole Soyinka calls for the release of the kidnapped school girls
Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
I was born in Britain and not Nigeria because of Biafra civil war - Chiwetel Ejiofor
His own grandfather had lived through the nightmare played out in “Half of a Yellow Sun”, which premiers in Nigeria on Friday, and spent long hours years later recounting the painful memories to Ejiofor.
While the actor won his Academy Award nomination for “12 Years a Slave”, 2014′s Best Picture winner, he said he felt particular “connective tissue” with the lead character in the Nigerian war film.
The movie — now showing in Britain and Australia and opening soon in the US and other countries — is based on the best-selling novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about the 1967-1970 Biafra War, which began after the eastern region tried to secede from newly independent Nigeria.
“The Biafra War was a seminal part of my upbringing and my family history,” said Ejiofor, 36, the first black actor from Britain nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.
“In fact, I would say that the Biafra War was the reason I was born in London and not in Nigeria,” he told journalists in Lagos earlier this month.
His parents, natives of eastern Nigeria, left the country after the horrific conflict that killed more than one million people, including many from starvation.
The war was a regular family discussion topic throughout his upbringing in London, but Ejiofor said he acquired a fuller understanding of the conflict during a visit to Nigeria six years ago.
- Grandfather’s memories -
At independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria was divided into three geopolitical zones: the north, dominated the mainly Muslim Hausa tribe, and two predominantly Christian regions, the west where the Yoruba were the majority and the east, led by the Igbo people.
In 1967, Igbo leaders declared independence after claiming that their tribesman living in the north were being massacred by Hausas. They charged the federal government with failing to provide protection.
Ejiofor’s maternal grandfather was among the Igbos based in the north during those violent, chaotic years.
The actor said he recorded 10 hours of conversation in Nigeria with his grandfather — who died three years ago — and played the material for “Half of a Yellow Sun” director Biyi Bandele and other cast members.
“It was an extremely powerful and moving account of an ordinary Igbo man in the north,” Ejiofor said.
“An ordinary Nigerian experiencing this extraordinarily turbulent time, from the hope of independence to the seismic cost of the war.”
The attempt to create an Igbo-led republic was crushed by the British-backed Nigerian federal forces, who had military superiority and used scorched earth tactics, including the blockage of all food imports to the breakaway Biafra region.
In “Half of a Yellow Sun”, Ejiofor plays Odenigbo, an idealistic math professor at the University of Nigeria in the eastern town of Nsukka.
Odenigbo hosts colleagues and friends for long-nights of drinking and discussion about Nigeria’s immense promise following the dismantling of colonialism.
His dreams are destroyed by the massacres and ultimately by the civil war.
“I had Chiwetel (Ejiofor) in mind for the part of Odenigbo,” Bandele told AFP.
“I did not have to audition him. I knew that he was going to be perfect. And he was.”
- ‘Helpful’ typhoid -
“Half of a Yellow Sun”, produced by Andrea Calderwood who also made “The last king of Scotland” about the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, was filmed entirely in the southeastern Nigeria city of Calabar and a nearby village called Creek Town.
The latter half of the film, which unfolds after the Biafra War has broken out, was shot first and the cast’s war-ravaged look was a product of more than just make-up and strong acting, Bandele said.
“Some of us had typhoid,” and likely contracted it on the first day of filming in Creek Town, he said.
“People started falling like flies three days into the shoot.”
Female lead Thandie Newton was among those who got sick and looked like “something the cat dragged into the house.”
“And it’s because she had typhoid! And her character is supposed to be going through a tough time here, so it actually worked really well!” Bandele said.
“I mean I wouldn’t recommend that as a way of making movies, but it worked, it really worked for us.”
Vanguard
Related stories: Chiwetel Ejiofor on shooting Half of a Yellow Sun in rural Nigeria
Nigerian censors delaying Half of a Yellow Sun premiere
The movie director says censors are delaying the Nigerian premiere of the movie "Half of a Yellow Sun."
The screen adaptation of Chinamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel is the story of two sisters caught up in Nigeria's 1960s civil war, when the southeast tried to form an independent nation called Biafra. About 1 million people died, most of famine.
Nigerian-born British director Biyi Bandele posted a tweet Friday saying "It's all true" that they were having difficulty with the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board. No one answered the telephone at the board Friday. Some say the film may be banned because it could whip up tribal sentiment.
It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton and made it to the top 10 in London cinemas over Easter.
The screen adaptation of Chinamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel is the story of two sisters caught up in Nigeria's 1960s civil war, when the southeast tried to form an independent nation called Biafra. About 1 million people died, most of famine.
Nigerian-born British director Biyi Bandele posted a tweet Friday saying "It's all true" that they were having difficulty with the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board. No one answered the telephone at the board Friday. Some say the film may be banned because it could whip up tribal sentiment.
It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton and made it to the top 10 in London cinemas over Easter.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Video - Traditional textile business in Nigeria
Kano is famous for its pits, where fabrics have been dyed for over 500 years. But the ancient industry that once thrived in the days of the trans-Saharan trade, is no longer as popular as it once was. And as CCTV's Carol Oyola reports, many unemployed traders now want the state to invest in the pits, in order to revive and grow the local textile market.
Wole Soyinka calls for the release of the kidnapped school girls
Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to ensure the release of 230 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, who were abducted by members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram. Professor Soyinka made the call on a day a coalition of women’s rights in Borno expressed their readiness to mobilise thousands of women to embark on a voluntary search and rescue mission into the notorious Sambisa forest, to ensure the release of the abducted students.
Senate President, David Mark, on his part described the abduction of the girls as sacrilegious.
Meanwhile, members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, have threatened to kill the abducted students, should the search to recover them continue.
Soyinka tasks FG
Professor Soyinka, who gave the keynote address in Port Harcourt at the opening ceremony of declaration of Port Harcourt as UNESCO World Book Capital 2014, said the focus of the event was for the Federal Government to ensure the safe release of the students.
He said he had expected President Goodluck Jonathan to convene an emergency security meeting over the ugly development in the school after the abduction of the students.
He noted that the ongoing book fair in Port Harcourt was a national rejection of Boko Haram, adding that the Islamic sect does not reflect the teachings and values of Islam.
Minutes after his address, former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and the Project Director, Rainbow Book Club, Mrs Koko Kalango led the gathering to make a collective demand for the girls’ release.
Storming Sambisa forest
The Borno women, under the auspices of BAOBAB Women’s Right, have said they were ready to storm the major hide out of the insurgents in Sambisa forest, where the abducted girls were believed to be held.
Spokesperson for the group, Professor Hauwa Biu, told newsmen that they resolved to embark on the rescue mission when it was evident that no reasonable progress was being achieved in the rescue efforts.
Biu said: “We are ready to go into the forest and search for the girls. In fact, we are prepared to risk our lives and get up to Boko Haram camp and appeal to them to release the children to us so that they can re unite with their parents.
“There is nothing extraordinary in our quest to enter the dangerous forest. We learnt that some men in Chibok had earlier embarked on such mission, which later turned out to be fruitless.
“We felt that as mothers, we are in a better position to have the sympathy and concern over the fate of the missing girls.
“Our target is not to fight the abductors, but we want to beg them to release the girls in the name of the God that we all worship.”
The group urged security forces to expedite action in their search and rescue mission of the students so that their parents can have rest of mind.
Biu appealed to security agents to make use of sophisticated weapons in detecting the location of the abductors for easy rescue operation.
She described the abduction of the school girls as inhuman, abuse of human rights, capable of scuttling efforts for enhanced girl child education in the state and the country at large.
She said: “The abduction of the innocent girls violates their human rights, and it is a crime against humanity and prohibited under international humanitarian law.
“Women in Borno strongly condemn this act in its totality as it deprives children their right to learn in a safe environment, thereby jeopardising their future.”
Appeal
Biu also appealed to the insurgents to lay down their arms and hold dialogue with the government.
She said: “We wish to appeal to the insurgents to lay down their arms and embrace dialogue. We assure them of our motherly support toward rehabilitating them when the need arises
“We condemn all other attacks in form of bomb blasts and serial killings all over the country and commiserate with the families of those who lost their relations during the unfortunate incidents.
“We commend the efforts of Borno and Federal governments as well as youths and vigilantes in addressing the current insurgency in the country.
“However, bearing in mind the continuous attacks on schools, we appeal for the provision of adequate security to all schools so as to have a safe learning environment for our children.”
It’s sacrilegious—Mark
Meanwhile, Senate President, Senator David Mark has described as sacrilegious the abduction of the female students and called for their release.
The Senate President, in a statement by his Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, in Abuja, yesterday, said the abduction was embarrassing and that no nation that had the desire to develop would indulge in such dastardly act.
He pleaded with the captors to listen to the voices of reason and release the teenagers.
According to the statement, “Senator Mark imagined the harrowing experience the students had been subjected to by their captors and the mental and psychological torture parents and guardians of the students had faced.”
He said no nation could justify the abduction of the children whose only offence was that they chose to go to school to better their lots and contribute to the socio economic and political development of their fatherland.
Mark said: “It is a sad commentary and a terrible assault on our psyche as a people. In the good old days of Nigeria this was a taboo and unarguably unheard of.”
The Senate President canvassed for synergy between and among security agencies, especially in the area of information gathering and sharing to facilitate their rescue, stressing that the deteriorating situation was making a mockery of the nation.
Vanguard
Related stories: Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
Boko Haram abduct 100 schoolgirls from boarding school in North Eastern Nigeria
Heineken experience growth due to double-digit sales in Nigeria
Heineken sold more beer in the first three months of 2014, with a pick-up in Africa, especially Nigeria where beer volumes grew by a double-digit percentage in the first three months of 2014, the Americas and some of Europe.
The world’s third largest brewer recorded a flat Asia and weakness in Russia.
The brewer of Europe’s best-selling Heineken lager, Sol, Tiger and Strongbow cider said on Thursday it was encouraged by a positive start to the year in Africa and the Americas and its sharper European business.
“This is offsetting continued challenging beer market conditions in Russia and softer consumer spending in Vietnam,” Chief Executive Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said in a statement, adding that economic conditions as a whole were mixed.
Heineken shares were trading up 1.0 percent at 51.68 euros at 0715 GMT, making them among the stronger performers in the a largely flat STOXX European food and beverage index.
“Volumes were a bit weaker than expected, revenue broadly in line. Regionally, Africa was very strong, Americas pretty solid and western Europe having an easy comparison,” said Trevor Stirling, beverage analyst at Bernstein. “The bears will look at Asia-Pacific, the bulls at Africa.”
The Dutch brewer said consolidated beer volumes rose 1.5 percent on a like-for-like basis to 38.2 million hectolitres. Consolidated revenue was up 3.4 percent to 4.04 billion euros ($5.59 billion).
Heineken, the largest seller of beer in Europe, repeated its forecast that revenue should grow in 2014 on a like-for-like basis and excluding currency effects. It grew by just 0.1 percent in 2013.
Heineken suffered a year ago from an exceptionally long winter in northern Europe making people less inclined to drink, a 160 percent increase in beer duty in France and a slowdown in Nigeria, one of its major growth markets where high inflation hit disposable income.
In the first three months of 2014, Heineken said beer volumes grew by a double-digit percentage in Nigeria and by 8.7 percent as a whole in Africa.
Beer volumes also grew, by a more modest 2.1 percent in western Europe, with increases in the France, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland and Belgium, but declines in Britain, Italy and Switzerland.
Heineken also benefited from price increases in Brazil and Mexico.
However, in Asia, a reliable source of growth in recent years, volumes were stable, with declines in India, Malaysia, Taiwan and large market Vietnam, where currency weakness and economic slowdown hit.
Russia, with sales down by a mid-teen percentage after yet another excise increase, also dragged down earnings in eastern Europe.
Heineken, like brewing rivals, has sought to increase its emerging market presence to tap higher growth, while hiking prices in developed markets. It bought the brewing operations of Mexico’s Femsa in 2010 and took full control of Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in 2012.
About 60 percent of operating profit now comes from emerging markets, on a par with rival Anheuser-Busch InBev ABI.BR, from 40 percent in 2007, although emerging markets are less reliable growth engines, with a number suffering growing pains in recent months.
SABMiller, the world’s second largest beer maker, reported a modest 2 percent increase in volumes in the year to the end of March, with political and economic issues and a tax hike causing problems in some African nations.
Business Day
The world’s third largest brewer recorded a flat Asia and weakness in Russia.
The brewer of Europe’s best-selling Heineken lager, Sol, Tiger and Strongbow cider said on Thursday it was encouraged by a positive start to the year in Africa and the Americas and its sharper European business.
“This is offsetting continued challenging beer market conditions in Russia and softer consumer spending in Vietnam,” Chief Executive Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said in a statement, adding that economic conditions as a whole were mixed.
Heineken shares were trading up 1.0 percent at 51.68 euros at 0715 GMT, making them among the stronger performers in the a largely flat STOXX European food and beverage index.
“Volumes were a bit weaker than expected, revenue broadly in line. Regionally, Africa was very strong, Americas pretty solid and western Europe having an easy comparison,” said Trevor Stirling, beverage analyst at Bernstein. “The bears will look at Asia-Pacific, the bulls at Africa.”
The Dutch brewer said consolidated beer volumes rose 1.5 percent on a like-for-like basis to 38.2 million hectolitres. Consolidated revenue was up 3.4 percent to 4.04 billion euros ($5.59 billion).
Heineken, the largest seller of beer in Europe, repeated its forecast that revenue should grow in 2014 on a like-for-like basis and excluding currency effects. It grew by just 0.1 percent in 2013.
Heineken suffered a year ago from an exceptionally long winter in northern Europe making people less inclined to drink, a 160 percent increase in beer duty in France and a slowdown in Nigeria, one of its major growth markets where high inflation hit disposable income.
In the first three months of 2014, Heineken said beer volumes grew by a double-digit percentage in Nigeria and by 8.7 percent as a whole in Africa.
Beer volumes also grew, by a more modest 2.1 percent in western Europe, with increases in the France, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland and Belgium, but declines in Britain, Italy and Switzerland.
Heineken also benefited from price increases in Brazil and Mexico.
However, in Asia, a reliable source of growth in recent years, volumes were stable, with declines in India, Malaysia, Taiwan and large market Vietnam, where currency weakness and economic slowdown hit.
Russia, with sales down by a mid-teen percentage after yet another excise increase, also dragged down earnings in eastern Europe.
Heineken, like brewing rivals, has sought to increase its emerging market presence to tap higher growth, while hiking prices in developed markets. It bought the brewing operations of Mexico’s Femsa in 2010 and took full control of Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in 2012.
About 60 percent of operating profit now comes from emerging markets, on a par with rival Anheuser-Busch InBev ABI.BR, from 40 percent in 2007, although emerging markets are less reliable growth engines, with a number suffering growing pains in recent months.
SABMiller, the world’s second largest beer maker, reported a modest 2 percent increase in volumes in the year to the end of March, with political and economic issues and a tax hike causing problems in some African nations.
Business Day
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
50 dead in attack in Taraba, Nigeria
Wukari—Daring gunmen, yesterday, defied the dusk-to-dawn curfew and attacked Gidan Aku community on the outskirts of Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, killing no fewer than 50 persons and injuring many others.
The attackers, armed with sophisticated weapons allegedly came from Nasarawa State through the plains of Benue River and descended on their victims while the residents were asleep.
According to a lawyer in the community, Luka Agbu, the “attackers were very hostile to us and did not spare even children or the aged.
“The attackers shot at people and burnt houses at the same time without any intervention by the security forces. We are helpless here and we plead with the Federal Government to deploy special troops to rescue us from this unfortunate and deadly attacks.
“Our people are being killed by gunmen, we are losing property on a daily basis. What kind of a country is this?” Agbu queried.
But as the dust began to settle, a contingent of soldiers and anti-riot policemen were drafted to Wukari community to contain the situation although most of the community members had deserted the area for fear of further attacks.
In the meantime, acting Governor of Taraba State, Garba Umar, has warned the people of the state to desist from politicising the current spate of violence and join hands with government in finding a lasting solution.
Addressing journalists Wednesday, Umar said that the lingering insurgency in four local government areas of the state was not peculiar to Taraba but was a national crisis affecting no fewer than 15 states of the federation.
While regretting that the attacks have seriously affected the state, Umar announced the deployment of 50 more soldiers from Yola to assist the ones on the ground in quelling rising violent attacks in the state.
“Information available shows that the insurgents came from Nasarawa State and they camped at the Coast of River Benue close to Ibi”, the governor said.
“We have deployed 50 soldiers from Yola to add to the troops on the ground who were deployed from Serti and Takum and with a reasonable number of policemen on the ground, we hope the situation would improve.
“We have concluded arrangements on how to visit the internally displaced persons and render immediate succour to them. That is why we have dispatched 28 trailers laden with relief materials to the affected LGAs.
‘I have ordered that despite the curfew in Wukari, the General Hospital there should be open for the treatment of the victims of the crisis. The 24-hour curfew earlier imposed in the area had been relaxed and would be in force from 12 noon to 6 a.m.,” the governor said.
“We remain committed to the security and well being of the public. Unfortunately some people are using these security challenges to achieve political goals. Security of our dear state is too sensitive to play politics with,” he said.
The Acting Governor sympathised with four women who delivered at the Mutum-Biyu refugee camp and promised that government would render free treatment to every victim of the attacks in the area.
….Ambush motorists, kill 2 APC leaders.
Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists have shot dead the Kala/Balge council chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Modu Janga and the party’s youth leader, Alhaji Abba near Mafa town on the Maiduguri-Dikwa Road.
The deceased were returning to Gudumbali from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when their vehicle was ambushed near Mafa town.
According to an eyewitness and resident of Mafa, Babagana Usman Mafa, “the insurgents blocked the road with wood and tree branches, after identifying occupants of the vehicle, the gunmen shot them on the spot, and fled towards Dikwa, a border town with Cameroon.
“The party chairman alongside other passengers in the ambushed vehicle, were first stopped by flagging down the driver for identification, before three gunmen on motorcycle shot dead two people at close range; and fled towards Dikwa,” Usmani said in a telephone chat Wednesday in Maiduguri.
He said the gunmen did not rob the party officials, as their vehicle was abandoned at the scene of the incident, adding that the road was also closed for two hours by soldiers and policemen to prevent further attacks.
On whether other vehicles were ambushed during the attack, he said: “These gunmen could have targeted the APC officials returning to the council area of Kala/Balge, before they were ambushed on that road leading to Gudumbali, the council headquarters.”
Council chairman of Kala/Balge, Alhaji Alifa Bukar Rann confirmed the incident, yesterday, in Maiduguri. He said: “Two officials of APC were shot dead near Mafa town while returning to Gudumbali for party official engagements”.
When contacted for confirmation over the incident, yesterday, in Maiduguri, the Borno State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Gideon Jibrin’s phone number could not be reached, but a security source who is not authorized to speak on the matter said “armed hoodlums ambushed a vehicle on Dikwa Road on Monday; and two people were feared dead, before the security agents closed the road for two hours to prevent further attacks”.
Vanguard
The attackers, armed with sophisticated weapons allegedly came from Nasarawa State through the plains of Benue River and descended on their victims while the residents were asleep.
According to a lawyer in the community, Luka Agbu, the “attackers were very hostile to us and did not spare even children or the aged.
“The attackers shot at people and burnt houses at the same time without any intervention by the security forces. We are helpless here and we plead with the Federal Government to deploy special troops to rescue us from this unfortunate and deadly attacks.
“Our people are being killed by gunmen, we are losing property on a daily basis. What kind of a country is this?” Agbu queried.
But as the dust began to settle, a contingent of soldiers and anti-riot policemen were drafted to Wukari community to contain the situation although most of the community members had deserted the area for fear of further attacks.
In the meantime, acting Governor of Taraba State, Garba Umar, has warned the people of the state to desist from politicising the current spate of violence and join hands with government in finding a lasting solution.
Addressing journalists Wednesday, Umar said that the lingering insurgency in four local government areas of the state was not peculiar to Taraba but was a national crisis affecting no fewer than 15 states of the federation.
While regretting that the attacks have seriously affected the state, Umar announced the deployment of 50 more soldiers from Yola to assist the ones on the ground in quelling rising violent attacks in the state.
“Information available shows that the insurgents came from Nasarawa State and they camped at the Coast of River Benue close to Ibi”, the governor said.
“We have deployed 50 soldiers from Yola to add to the troops on the ground who were deployed from Serti and Takum and with a reasonable number of policemen on the ground, we hope the situation would improve.
“We have concluded arrangements on how to visit the internally displaced persons and render immediate succour to them. That is why we have dispatched 28 trailers laden with relief materials to the affected LGAs.
‘I have ordered that despite the curfew in Wukari, the General Hospital there should be open for the treatment of the victims of the crisis. The 24-hour curfew earlier imposed in the area had been relaxed and would be in force from 12 noon to 6 a.m.,” the governor said.
“We remain committed to the security and well being of the public. Unfortunately some people are using these security challenges to achieve political goals. Security of our dear state is too sensitive to play politics with,” he said.
The Acting Governor sympathised with four women who delivered at the Mutum-Biyu refugee camp and promised that government would render free treatment to every victim of the attacks in the area.
….Ambush motorists, kill 2 APC leaders.
Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists have shot dead the Kala/Balge council chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Modu Janga and the party’s youth leader, Alhaji Abba near Mafa town on the Maiduguri-Dikwa Road.
The deceased were returning to Gudumbali from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when their vehicle was ambushed near Mafa town.
According to an eyewitness and resident of Mafa, Babagana Usman Mafa, “the insurgents blocked the road with wood and tree branches, after identifying occupants of the vehicle, the gunmen shot them on the spot, and fled towards Dikwa, a border town with Cameroon.
“The party chairman alongside other passengers in the ambushed vehicle, were first stopped by flagging down the driver for identification, before three gunmen on motorcycle shot dead two people at close range; and fled towards Dikwa,” Usmani said in a telephone chat Wednesday in Maiduguri.
He said the gunmen did not rob the party officials, as their vehicle was abandoned at the scene of the incident, adding that the road was also closed for two hours by soldiers and policemen to prevent further attacks.
On whether other vehicles were ambushed during the attack, he said: “These gunmen could have targeted the APC officials returning to the council area of Kala/Balge, before they were ambushed on that road leading to Gudumbali, the council headquarters.”
Council chairman of Kala/Balge, Alhaji Alifa Bukar Rann confirmed the incident, yesterday, in Maiduguri. He said: “Two officials of APC were shot dead near Mafa town while returning to Gudumbali for party official engagements”.
When contacted for confirmation over the incident, yesterday, in Maiduguri, the Borno State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Gideon Jibrin’s phone number could not be reached, but a security source who is not authorized to speak on the matter said “armed hoodlums ambushed a vehicle on Dikwa Road on Monday; and two people were feared dead, before the security agents closed the road for two hours to prevent further attacks”.
Vanguard
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Video - Number of kidnapped girls revised to at least 230
Nigerian officials revised the number of girls abducted by the muslim terror group Boko Haram.
Related stories: Boko Haram abduct 100 schoolgirls from boarding school in North Eastern Nigeria
Monday, April 21, 2014
Video - Challenges for Nigeria's security
Nigeria is currently facing serious security challenges. Since the beginning of this year, about 1,500 people have been killed in the Boko Haram insurgency, in the country's northeast. The insurgency which began in 2009 is not showing any sign of abating despite several measures the government has taken to end it. The crisis has now put Nigeria in the frontline of states battling terrorism. But is Africa's most populous country doing enough to stem the tide?
Related stories: Video - Bomb blast in Abuja kills 71
Boko Haram abduct 100 schoolgirls from boarding school in North Eastern Nigeria
Video - Low key easter celebrations in Nigeria
Five days after the blast that killed at least 74 people at a bus terminal in Nigeria"s capital Abuja, the Easter celebrations were low key, with a high security presence. Soldiers mounted checkpoints at major junctions, hotels and churches. Even at fun spots, which are crowded on public holidays, the turnout was relatively scanty and even those, who dared to have a good time, made it clear they were taking a risk. However, children managed to have a good time in spite of the security situation.
Related story: Video - Bomb blast in Abuja kills 71
Video - Recycling incetive introduced in Lagos, Nigeria
Nigeria's largest city, Lagos produces around 10,000 tonnes of waste every day. To tackle the problem, working class neighbourhoods are being offered incentives to recycle trash. An innovative loyalty scheme offers electrical equipment, groceries and phone credit in return for garbage.
More girls escape from kidnappers
Seven of the 85 Nigerian schoolgirls still missing after being abducted last week have escaped, the local state governor says.
Another girl had run home on the day of the attack, meaning 77 are still missing, said Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima.
About 130 girls were seized from their school hostel by gunmen last Monday.
Islamist group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the kidnapping but has not issued any statement.
Some 1,500 people are believed to have been killed in attacks blamed on Boko Haram this year alone.
The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", is fighting to establish Islamic law in Nigeria. It often targets educational establishments.
Mr Shettima did not give details of how the girls had escaped, for security reasons.
The headmistress of the school in the town of Chibok on Saturday called on the kidnappers to "have mercy on the students".
It is thought that the militants took the girls to forested areas near the Cameroonian border.
Parents and vigilante group have gone there to help search for the teenage girls.
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in north-east Nigeria have been under emergency rule since last May.
BBC
Another girl had run home on the day of the attack, meaning 77 are still missing, said Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima.
About 130 girls were seized from their school hostel by gunmen last Monday.
Islamist group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the kidnapping but has not issued any statement.
Some 1,500 people are believed to have been killed in attacks blamed on Boko Haram this year alone.
The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", is fighting to establish Islamic law in Nigeria. It often targets educational establishments.
Mr Shettima did not give details of how the girls had escaped, for security reasons.
The headmistress of the school in the town of Chibok on Saturday called on the kidnappers to "have mercy on the students".
It is thought that the militants took the girls to forested areas near the Cameroonian border.
Parents and vigilante group have gone there to help search for the teenage girls.
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in north-east Nigeria have been under emergency rule since last May.
BBC
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Video - Chimamanda Adichie on the theatrical release of Half of a Yellow Sun
Best selling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Oscar nominated Chiwetel Ejiofor and film director Biyi Bandele. shares their thoughts on the film adaptation of best-selling novel Half of a Yellow Sun.
Related stories: Chimamanda Adichie's Americanah tops BBC top 10 book of 2013
Search continues for kidnapped school girls
Security forces in Borno State in Nigeria are searching for dozens of teenage girls abducted by suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
It is thought that they were taken to a forest near the Cameroonian border.
The abductions are the latest in a series of attacks being blamed on Boko Haram. On Monday, 71 people were killed in two explosions at a bus station in the capital Abuja.
BBC
It is thought that they were taken to a forest near the Cameroonian border.
The abductions are the latest in a series of attacks being blamed on Boko Haram. On Monday, 71 people were killed in two explosions at a bus station in the capital Abuja.
BBC
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Video - Fatality count in Abuja bomb blast rises to 75
The death toll from Monday's massive explosion at a busy bus station in Nigeria's capital Abuja has now risen to 75 and is expected to grow. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, but President Goodluck Jonathan is blaming the attack, the deadliest to have struck the capital, on Islamist militants Boko Haram.
Related story: Video - Bomb blast in Abuja kills 71
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Boko Haram abduct 100 schoolgirls from boarding school in North Eastern Nigeria
Around 100 girls are thought to have been abducted in an attack on a school in north-east Nigeria, officials say.
Gunmen reportedly arrived at the school in Chibok, Borno state, late last night, and ordered the hostel's teenage residents on to lorries.
The attackers are believed to be from the Islamist group, Boko Haram, whose militants frequently target schools.
On Monday, bombings blamed on the group killed more than 70 people in the capital, Abuja.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, has been waging an armed campaign for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
A government official in Borno state told the BBC around 100 girls were thought to have been abducted from the school.
The exact number of missing students had yet to be established, as some of the girls had managed to return to their homes.
Parents had earlier told the BBC that more than 200 students had been taken from the school.
Residents in the area reported hearing explosions followed by gunfire last night, said BBC reporter Mohammed Kabir Mohammed in the capital, Abuja.
"Many girls were abducted by the rampaging gunmen who stormed the school in a convoy of vehicles," AFP news agency quotes Emmanuel Sam, an education official in Chibok, as saying.
Another witness, who requested anonymity, told AFP that gunmen overpowered soldiers who had been deployed to provide extra security ahead of annual exams.
A girl, who managed to escape and wished not to be named, told the BBC she and fellow students were sleeping when armed men burst into their hostel.
"Three men came into our room and told us not to panic. We later found out later that they were among the attackers," she said.
The girls said she and her schoolmates were taken away in a convoy, which had to slow down after some of the vehicles developed a fault.
Around 10 to 15 girls seized the opportunity to escape.
"We ran into the bush and waited until daybreak before we went back home," she said.
Nigerian media reported that two members of the security forces had been killed, and residents said 170 houses were burnt down during the attack.
Boko Haram emerged as a critic of Western-style education, and its militants frequently target schools and educational institutions.
This year, the group's fighters have killed more than 1,500 civilians in three states in north-east Nigeria, which are currently under emergency rule.
The government recently said that Boko Haram's activities were confined to that part of the country.
However, Monday's bombings in Abuja prompted renewed fears that the militants were extending their campaign to the capital.
BBC
Nigeria continues with plans to host World Economic Forum after terrorist attack on capital
Nigeria will continue to host the World Economic Forum in Abuja despite yesterdays bomb attack that killed 71.
Nigeria has pledged that they will put together the "largest security operation ever mounted in the country for an international summit" to protect guests - Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement sent to forum participants.
The 24th World Economic Forum on Africa will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 7-9 May 2014.
ITV
Nigeria has pledged that they will put together the "largest security operation ever mounted in the country for an international summit" to protect guests - Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement sent to forum participants.
The 24th World Economic Forum on Africa will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 7-9 May 2014.
ITV
Related story: Video - Bomb blast in Abuja kills 71
Monday, April 14, 2014
Video - Some Lagosians forced to turn to alternate water supply
In Nigeria's Lagos state many residents have turned to informal wells to provide them with water. Some of the state's water infrastructure has been neglected for decades and officials say the little infrastructre that does exist, is over burdened. Millions of residents now rely on informal well diggers to get their water supply.
Video - Bomb blast in Abuja kills 71
A morning rush hour bomb killed at least 71 people at a Nigerian bus station on the outskirts of the capital on Monday, raising concerns about the spread of an Islamist insurgency after the deadliest ever attack on Abuja.
Suspicion fell on Boko Haram, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Islamists who are mainly active in the northeast. As well as 71 dead, police said 124 were wounded in the first attack on the federal capital in two years.
Security experts suspect the explosion was inside a vehicle, said Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, director of search and rescue operations. The bus station, 8 km (5 miles) southwest of central Abuja, serves Nyanya, a poor, ethnically and religiously mixed satellite town where many residents work in the city.
"I was waiting to get on a bus when I heard a deafening explosion, then saw smoke," said Mimi Daniels, who escaped from the blast with minor injuries to her arm.
"People were running around in panic."
Bloody remains lay strewn over the ground as security forces struggled to hold back a crowd of onlookers and fire crews hosed down a bus still holding the charred bodies of commuters.
"These are the remains of my friend," said a man, who gave his name as John, holding up a bloodied shirt. "His travel ticket with his name on was in the shirt pocket."
The attack underscored the vulnerability of Nigeria's federal capital, built in the 1980s in the geographic center of the country to replace coastal Lagos as the seat of government for what is now Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer.
Boko Haram militants fighting for an Islamic state have largely been confined to the remote northeast. They have been particularly active there over the past few months and are increasingly targeting civilians they accuse of collaborating with the government or security forces.
"NO SURPRISE"
"In some ways it's not a big surprise," said Kole Shettima, director of the Abuja office of U.S. charitable institution, the
MacArthur Foundation. "The situation has been escalating.
"It's a statement that they are still around and they can attack Abuja when they want, and instill fear."
The Islamists, who want to carve an Islamic state out of Nigeria, have in the past year mostly concentrated their attacks in the northeast, where their insurgency started.
There had been no such violence near the capital since suicide car bombers targeted the offices of the newspaper This Day in Abuja and the northern city of Kaduna in April 2012.
Security forces at the time said that was because a Boko Haram cell in neighboring Niger state had been broken up.
A Christmas Day bombing of a church in Madalla, on the outskirts of Abuja, killed 37 people in 2011, although the main suspect in that attack is now behind bars. Boko Haram also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the United Nations' Nigeria headquarters that killed 24 people on August 26, 2011.
Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language of largely Muslim northern Nigeria means broadly "Western education is sinful", is loosely modeled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, and has forged ties with al Qaeda-linked militants in the Sahara.
Reuters
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