Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Video - BBC documentary on Boko Haram
The BBC covers the ongoing battle between Boko Haram and the Nigerian military that threatens to destabilize Nigeria.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Boko Haram kill 12 in Christian villages
Witnesses say suspected Islamic militants killed 12 civilians in weekend attacks on two Christian villages in Muslim-dominated northeast Nigeria. One attack targeted a wedding party.
The witnesses said eight victims died when extremists attacked a wedding reception at Tashan-Alede village in Borno state late Saturday night, and four in neighboring Kwajffa village on Sunday.
A security official confirmed the attacks but said they did not yet have casualty figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The leader of a 4-year-old Islamic uprising that has killed thousands in northeast Nigeria recently threatened to target Christians. Village attacks have become common with many more Muslims than Christians killed this year.
The attacks have continued despite a state of emergency and the deployment of thousands of troops since May.
AP
The witnesses said eight victims died when extremists attacked a wedding reception at Tashan-Alede village in Borno state late Saturday night, and four in neighboring Kwajffa village on Sunday.
A security official confirmed the attacks but said they did not yet have casualty figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The leader of a 4-year-old Islamic uprising that has killed thousands in northeast Nigeria recently threatened to target Christians. Village attacks have become common with many more Muslims than Christians killed this year.
The attacks have continued despite a state of emergency and the deployment of thousands of troops since May.
AP
Wole Soyinka's daughter passes away
A daughter of Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, Iyetade, is dead.
A statement signed on behalf of the family by a former Editor of the Guardian on Sunday, Mr. Jahman Anikulapo and a close aide to Soyinka, stated that Iyetade, a mother of two, died while receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Born on June 6, 1965, the deceased, according to Anikulapo, attended Staff School and Queens School, Ibadan before reading Medicine at the University of Ibadan.
He described Iyetade as an “affable, intelligent and sometimes capricious,” lady who “struggled with her health in recent years.
“In spite of this, she greeted every day with a smile and doted on her two children. She took ill quite suddenly and passed away while being treated at UCH, Ibadan. Iyetade leaves behind two children, both parents, numerous siblings, nieces and nephews,” the statement added.
The statement did not, however, disclose burial plans for the deceased.
PUNCH
A statement signed on behalf of the family by a former Editor of the Guardian on Sunday, Mr. Jahman Anikulapo and a close aide to Soyinka, stated that Iyetade, a mother of two, died while receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Born on June 6, 1965, the deceased, according to Anikulapo, attended Staff School and Queens School, Ibadan before reading Medicine at the University of Ibadan.
He described Iyetade as an “affable, intelligent and sometimes capricious,” lady who “struggled with her health in recent years.
“In spite of this, she greeted every day with a smile and doted on her two children. She took ill quite suddenly and passed away while being treated at UCH, Ibadan. Iyetade leaves behind two children, both parents, numerous siblings, nieces and nephews,” the statement added.
The statement did not, however, disclose burial plans for the deceased.
PUNCH
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
70 dead in battle with Boko Haram
Nigeria's military said on Tuesday it had killed at least 50 Islamist rebels fleeing towards Cameroon in a battle in which 15 of its own soldiers and five civilians also died.
Nigerian forces have stepped up an offensive in the volatile northeast in the past few days, after Boko Haram fighters armed with grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns attacked an army barracks in the town of Bama on Friday.
Boko Haram is fighting to revive a medieval Islamic caliphate in today's religiously-mixed Nigeria, a major oil producer and one of Africa's largest economies. The group rarely talks to the media but occasionally sends video statements anonymously.
The military often reports significant casualties among insurgents, while rarely admitting losses among its own troops or civilians. The figures it gave for Monday's battle near the Cameroon border could not immediately be verified.
Defence spokesman Brigadier General Chris Olukolade said the military had targeted insurgents behind Friday's Bama attack and that 20 vehicles used in that raid had been spotted from the air and destroyed.
"Although a good number of the insurgents escaped with bullet wounds, while some have been arrested, over 50 of them died in the course of exchange of fire with ground troops in the operations to apprehend fleeing terrorists," he said.
Thousands have died violent deaths since Boko Haram launched an uprising 2009, but the past few months have been the most violent, with hundreds of civilians killed by the insurgents since August.
Some details on the toll from the Bama attack emerged from Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the main mortuary for the region.
An attendant told Reuters Friday's attack left at least 20 soldiers dead. The military had not disclosed any death toll from the attack.
"There is no space left in the mortuary because the military brought in more than 20 dead soldiers killed in the Bama attack," the mortuary attendant, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak, said.
"These four were left on the floor as we're waiting for space to be created before we put them in," he added, gesturing to four bodies wrapped in shrouds.
President Goodluck Jonathan last month extended a state of emergency in areas worst affected by the insurgency.
The military began an offensive in May that initially drove the Islamists from large parts of the northeast, but they fell back into the hilly area of Gwoza, near the Cameroon border, from where they have launched deadly counter-attacks.
Boko Haram is still seen as the main security threat to Nigeria, Africa's leading energy producer.
The group claimed responsibility for a coordinated strike on December 2 on the air force base and military barracks in the main northeastern city of Maiduguri in the first major assault on the heavily guarded city this year.
Fearing Boko Haram attacks over Christmas, Nigerian police have ordered extra patrols, surveillance and covert operations to protect potential targets.
Reuters
Nigerian forces have stepped up an offensive in the volatile northeast in the past few days, after Boko Haram fighters armed with grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns attacked an army barracks in the town of Bama on Friday.
Boko Haram is fighting to revive a medieval Islamic caliphate in today's religiously-mixed Nigeria, a major oil producer and one of Africa's largest economies. The group rarely talks to the media but occasionally sends video statements anonymously.
The military often reports significant casualties among insurgents, while rarely admitting losses among its own troops or civilians. The figures it gave for Monday's battle near the Cameroon border could not immediately be verified.
Defence spokesman Brigadier General Chris Olukolade said the military had targeted insurgents behind Friday's Bama attack and that 20 vehicles used in that raid had been spotted from the air and destroyed.
"Although a good number of the insurgents escaped with bullet wounds, while some have been arrested, over 50 of them died in the course of exchange of fire with ground troops in the operations to apprehend fleeing terrorists," he said.
Thousands have died violent deaths since Boko Haram launched an uprising 2009, but the past few months have been the most violent, with hundreds of civilians killed by the insurgents since August.
Some details on the toll from the Bama attack emerged from Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the main mortuary for the region.
An attendant told Reuters Friday's attack left at least 20 soldiers dead. The military had not disclosed any death toll from the attack.
"There is no space left in the mortuary because the military brought in more than 20 dead soldiers killed in the Bama attack," the mortuary attendant, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak, said.
"These four were left on the floor as we're waiting for space to be created before we put them in," he added, gesturing to four bodies wrapped in shrouds.
President Goodluck Jonathan last month extended a state of emergency in areas worst affected by the insurgency.
The military began an offensive in May that initially drove the Islamists from large parts of the northeast, but they fell back into the hilly area of Gwoza, near the Cameroon border, from where they have launched deadly counter-attacks.
Boko Haram is still seen as the main security threat to Nigeria, Africa's leading energy producer.
The group claimed responsibility for a coordinated strike on December 2 on the air force base and military barracks in the main northeastern city of Maiduguri in the first major assault on the heavily guarded city this year.
Fearing Boko Haram attacks over Christmas, Nigerian police have ordered extra patrols, surveillance and covert operations to protect potential targets.
Reuters
Monday, December 23, 2013
Medical sector call off strike
President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Osahon Enabulele, yesterday said doctors in public hospitals would end their five-day warning strike and resume duty today.
Enabulele, in a statement in Lagos, said all doctors in the public health sector would resume full services with effect from 8 a.m. on December 23. The NMA had on December 15 directed its members to embark on the nationwide strike.
The action was to protest against the doctors' poor working conditions, inadequate funding, and poor infrastructure in the nation's health sector. "NMA wishes to inform the general public that doctors in the public health sector will resume services from December 23.
"This is in line with our earlier promise to give prime consideration to the Yuletide season in the prosecution of our warning strike. "Also, to give another opportunity for the federal government to concretely resolve all the demands of NMA for which it first issued a 21-day ultimatum on September 2," he said.
According an online news medium, Freedom Online, Enabulele called on the federal government to ensure that the demands of doctors were met. "Nigerian doctors shall not hesitate to commence a full blown strike from 8 a.m. on January 6, 2014, if government does not satisfactorily resolve the demands of doctors.
"We fervently call on all well-meaning Nigerians to assist in the resolution of the demands of the NMA," the statement.
The demand includes appropriate funding of Nigeria's healthcare system, expansion of universal health coverage to cover all Nigerians and health infrastructure upgrade.
Activities in all the government-owned hospitals nationwide were paralysed during the five-day strike by medical doctors. In Lagos, the strike paralysed activities in all the facilities as consultants and resident doctors were unavailable to attend to hundreds of patients who thronged the hospitals.
This Day
Related story: Video - Nigeria's medical sector goes on strike
Enabulele, in a statement in Lagos, said all doctors in the public health sector would resume full services with effect from 8 a.m. on December 23. The NMA had on December 15 directed its members to embark on the nationwide strike.
The action was to protest against the doctors' poor working conditions, inadequate funding, and poor infrastructure in the nation's health sector. "NMA wishes to inform the general public that doctors in the public health sector will resume services from December 23.
"This is in line with our earlier promise to give prime consideration to the Yuletide season in the prosecution of our warning strike. "Also, to give another opportunity for the federal government to concretely resolve all the demands of NMA for which it first issued a 21-day ultimatum on September 2," he said.
According an online news medium, Freedom Online, Enabulele called on the federal government to ensure that the demands of doctors were met. "Nigerian doctors shall not hesitate to commence a full blown strike from 8 a.m. on January 6, 2014, if government does not satisfactorily resolve the demands of doctors.
"We fervently call on all well-meaning Nigerians to assist in the resolution of the demands of the NMA," the statement.
The demand includes appropriate funding of Nigeria's healthcare system, expansion of universal health coverage to cover all Nigerians and health infrastructure upgrade.
Activities in all the government-owned hospitals nationwide were paralysed during the five-day strike by medical doctors. In Lagos, the strike paralysed activities in all the facilities as consultants and resident doctors were unavailable to attend to hundreds of patients who thronged the hospitals.
This Day
Related story: Video - Nigeria's medical sector goes on strike
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