Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Video - Boko Haram raid on military base leaves 24 dead
At least 24 people have reportedly been killed by Boko Haram fighters at a military base in Nigeria. The attack happened in the northeastern town of Buni Yadi, in Yobe State. It is close to where Boko Haram gunmen fired at a high school in February, killing at least 59 students. The armed group has been fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.
Related stories:Nigerian police received warning hours before fatal car bombing in Jos, Nigeria
Market attack leaves 20 dead in Maiduguri, Nigeria
Nigeria vs Scotland international friendly marred by match-fixing claims
The Scottish Football Association has been contacted by the National Crime Agency about a match-fixing threat to Wednesday's friendly against Nigeria.
Scotland are playing Nigeria at Fulham's Craven Cottage ground.
The SFA has released a statement saying it is liaising with the relevant authorities and is preparing for the match as normal.
Leading bookmakers contacted by BBC Sport say they are unaware of any specific threat to the game.
While they are exercising extra vigilance for any suspicious betting patterns, a spokesperson for one bookmaker said: "We've seen no evidence of the reported issues and we wouldn't expect to.
"This sort of activity will be executed in the illegal betting market, and is unlikely to be seen in the UK or European regulated sector."
The BBC has learned that no Scotland players are under suspicion. It is also understood a number of other friendly matches on Wednesday have been highlighted as games potentially at risk.
A spokesperson for the NCA explained: "The NCA will from time to time provide operational detail necessary for public reassurance purposes.
"It does not routinely confirm or deny the existence of specific operations or provide ongoing commentary on operational activity."
Football's world governing body, Fifa, added in a statement: "We are aware of the claims published recently.
"Generally speaking, we are not in a position to comment or provide information on any match-manipulation investigations that are ongoing so as not to compromise investigations, nor do we provide any comments as to whether or not any investigations are under way"
"It would only be after a decision has been taken by the Fifa disciplinary committee or Fifa ethics committee and first notified to the parties concerned that Fifa would be in a position to communicate the contents of that decision publicly."
News of the threat came as a shock to Nigeria defender Efe Ambrose, who plays for Scottish champions Celtic.
"I'm surprised, just like everyone," he said. "This kind of thing is not good, but I don't think something is going on around this game."
BBC
Related stories: Nigeria Super Eagles move up to 45th in FIFA rankings
Scotland are playing Nigeria at Fulham's Craven Cottage ground.
The SFA has released a statement saying it is liaising with the relevant authorities and is preparing for the match as normal.
Leading bookmakers contacted by BBC Sport say they are unaware of any specific threat to the game.
While they are exercising extra vigilance for any suspicious betting patterns, a spokesperson for one bookmaker said: "We've seen no evidence of the reported issues and we wouldn't expect to.
"This sort of activity will be executed in the illegal betting market, and is unlikely to be seen in the UK or European regulated sector."
The BBC has learned that no Scotland players are under suspicion. It is also understood a number of other friendly matches on Wednesday have been highlighted as games potentially at risk.
A spokesperson for the NCA explained: "The NCA will from time to time provide operational detail necessary for public reassurance purposes.
"It does not routinely confirm or deny the existence of specific operations or provide ongoing commentary on operational activity."
Football's world governing body, Fifa, added in a statement: "We are aware of the claims published recently.
"Generally speaking, we are not in a position to comment or provide information on any match-manipulation investigations that are ongoing so as not to compromise investigations, nor do we provide any comments as to whether or not any investigations are under way"
"It would only be after a decision has been taken by the Fifa disciplinary committee or Fifa ethics committee and first notified to the parties concerned that Fifa would be in a position to communicate the contents of that decision publicly."
News of the threat came as a shock to Nigeria defender Efe Ambrose, who plays for Scottish champions Celtic.
"I'm surprised, just like everyone," he said. "This kind of thing is not good, but I don't think something is going on around this game."
BBC
Related stories: Nigeria Super Eagles move up to 45th in FIFA rankings
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Nigerian police received warning hours before fatal car bombing in Jos, Nigeria
Traders in the market in Nigeria's central city of Jos, where two explosions left more than 130 people dead, said police failed to act after traders warned them about an abandoned car hours before the bombings.
"Our members reported to the police that they noticed the presence of the (Peugeot) J5 bus parked early morning on that fateful date, and we don't know the owner," said Kabiru Muhammad Idris, a member of the traders welfare committee at the Terminus market in Jos, the capital of Plateau state. "When the police came, they removed the plate number of the J5 Bus."
Idris, whose testimony was backed by other traders, said police didn't check the contents of the bus that later exploded.
Plateau state police spokeswoman Felicia Anslem, denied the allegations.
"No one informed the police about the J5 bus that was allegedly parked," Anslem said, adding that traffic is high around the area so "there is no way a car could have been parked there from morning til evening." The explosion also took place in the center of the road, she said.
A second explosion followed the bomb from the bus on May 20, boosting the number of casualties as first respondents arrived.
This isn't the first time that security forces were accused of ignoring tips about imminent attacks or allegedly declining to take action to prevent them.
Amnesty International said the authorities failed to act even though they were warned hours before Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 300 schoolgirls from the remote town of Chibok in April.
Four days after the dual explosions, another attack was carried out in Jos, killing three people.
No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, though they carried the marks of Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group that killed thousands since it began its violent campaign in 2009 to impose Islamic law on Nigeria.
The West African country is the most populous in Africa, with more than 170 million people almost evenly divided between a mainly Muslim north and a largely Christian south.
AP
Related stories: Twin bombings in Jos, Nigeria leaves at least 118 dead
Video - Fatality count in Abuja bomb blast rises to 75
"Our members reported to the police that they noticed the presence of the (Peugeot) J5 bus parked early morning on that fateful date, and we don't know the owner," said Kabiru Muhammad Idris, a member of the traders welfare committee at the Terminus market in Jos, the capital of Plateau state. "When the police came, they removed the plate number of the J5 Bus."
Idris, whose testimony was backed by other traders, said police didn't check the contents of the bus that later exploded.
Plateau state police spokeswoman Felicia Anslem, denied the allegations.
"No one informed the police about the J5 bus that was allegedly parked," Anslem said, adding that traffic is high around the area so "there is no way a car could have been parked there from morning til evening." The explosion also took place in the center of the road, she said.
A second explosion followed the bomb from the bus on May 20, boosting the number of casualties as first respondents arrived.
This isn't the first time that security forces were accused of ignoring tips about imminent attacks or allegedly declining to take action to prevent them.
Amnesty International said the authorities failed to act even though they were warned hours before Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 300 schoolgirls from the remote town of Chibok in April.
Four days after the dual explosions, another attack was carried out in Jos, killing three people.
No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, though they carried the marks of Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group that killed thousands since it began its violent campaign in 2009 to impose Islamic law on Nigeria.
The West African country is the most populous in Africa, with more than 170 million people almost evenly divided between a mainly Muslim north and a largely Christian south.
AP
Related stories: Twin bombings in Jos, Nigeria leaves at least 118 dead
Video - Fatality count in Abuja bomb blast rises to 75
Nigerian military claims to have found location of kidnapped schoolgirls
Nigeria's military has located nearly 300 school girls abducted by Boko Haram almost seven weeks ago, the country's chief of defence said.
Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, said on Monday that any potential armed rescue operation was fraught with danger as the 223 girls still held hostage could be caught in the crossfire.
Boko Haram fighters kidnapped 276 girls from the remote northeastern town of Chibok on April 14, leading to global outrage.
"The good news for the girls is that we know where they are but we cannot tell you," Badeh told reporters in the capital Abuja, as the hostage crisis entered its seventh week.
"We can't go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back," he said.
Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from the capital Abuja, says it is still not clear how accurate the military's comments are, and there remains a lot of scepticism in the minds of the public.
Nigeria's government and military have been sharply criticised for their slow response to the mass abduction and were finally forced to accept foreign help in the rescue effort.
US drones have been surveying northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Chad from the air while British, French and Israeli teams have been on the ground providing specialist assistance.
The military has previously said that the search was centred around the Sambisa forest area of Borno, in northeast Nigeria, where makeshift fighter camps have previously been found as well as arms and ammunition caches.
On Monday, gunmen killed four Nigerian soldiers in an ambush on a military patrol in central Plateau state, about 180kms southeast of Jos, a local government official said.
It was not immediately clear if Boko Haram had carried out this attack.
Since the girls were captured, according to a Reuters count, at least 470 civilians have died violent deaths in various locations at the hands of Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has branded the group an "al-Qaeda of West Africa".
The United Nations Security Council last week designated Boko Haram an al-Qaeda-linked organisation, in a move designed to curb any overseas funding and support, as well as restrict its leaders' movements.
But analysts have questioned whether the sanctions would have any effect on the ground, given the group's largely localised campaign of murderous violence to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
Aljazeera
Related stories: Teachers in Nigeria go on strike in protest of kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, said on Monday that any potential armed rescue operation was fraught with danger as the 223 girls still held hostage could be caught in the crossfire.
Boko Haram fighters kidnapped 276 girls from the remote northeastern town of Chibok on April 14, leading to global outrage.
"The good news for the girls is that we know where they are but we cannot tell you," Badeh told reporters in the capital Abuja, as the hostage crisis entered its seventh week.
"We can't go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back," he said.
Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from the capital Abuja, says it is still not clear how accurate the military's comments are, and there remains a lot of scepticism in the minds of the public.
Nigeria's government and military have been sharply criticised for their slow response to the mass abduction and were finally forced to accept foreign help in the rescue effort.
US drones have been surveying northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Chad from the air while British, French and Israeli teams have been on the ground providing specialist assistance.
The military has previously said that the search was centred around the Sambisa forest area of Borno, in northeast Nigeria, where makeshift fighter camps have previously been found as well as arms and ammunition caches.
On Monday, gunmen killed four Nigerian soldiers in an ambush on a military patrol in central Plateau state, about 180kms southeast of Jos, a local government official said.
It was not immediately clear if Boko Haram had carried out this attack.
Since the girls were captured, according to a Reuters count, at least 470 civilians have died violent deaths in various locations at the hands of Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has branded the group an "al-Qaeda of West Africa".
The United Nations Security Council last week designated Boko Haram an al-Qaeda-linked organisation, in a move designed to curb any overseas funding and support, as well as restrict its leaders' movements.
But analysts have questioned whether the sanctions would have any effect on the ground, given the group's largely localised campaign of murderous violence to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
Aljazeera
Related stories: Teachers in Nigeria go on strike in protest of kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Monday, May 26, 2014
Market attack leaves 20 dead in Maiduguri, Nigeria
Suspected Islamist gunmen opened fire on a market in a Nigerian village on Sunday, killing 20 people in the latest violence against civilians in the northeast of Africa's top oil producer.
The assailants surrounded the village of Kamuyya, a military source based in the nearest town told Reuters. The militants shot people as they gathered to trade in its open air market.
Villages in Borno state, the epicentre of Boko Haram's violent campaign to carve an Islamic caliphate out of religiously mixed Nigeria, have been under almost daily attack.
On Thursday, suspected Boko Haram gunmen rampaged through three villages in northern Nigeria, killing 28 people and burning houses to the ground.
Boko Haram made world headlines when it claimed the abduction of more than 200 school girls from the village of Chibok last month, prompting international outrage and persuading President Goodluck Jonathan to accept foreign help to try to free them, including a team of around 80 U.S. troops deployed to neighbouring Chad, and surveillance drones.
Since the girl were snatched on April 14, at least 470 civilians have been killed by the insurgents in various attacks, according to a Reuters count.
A spate of bombings across north and central Nigeria has killed hundreds, including two in the capital Abuja and one in the central city of Jos on Tuesday that killed 118 people.
A suicide bombing on Saturday that was meant to strike an open air viewing of the Champions League soccer final match in the central Nigerian city of Jos killed four people but failed to hit its target, the National Emergency Management Agency said.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan travelled to South Africa over the weekend, his office said, to discuss ways of tackling Islamist militancy across the continent with African heads of state.
The meeting "defined a stronger framework for cooperation among African states to deal with this menace", presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said, giving no details.
A presidential team tasked with locating the girls returned from Borno state to the capital Abuja on Sunday, they said in a statement. It did not say if any progress had been made.
Reuters
Related stories: Video - State of emergency extended in north east Nigeria
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
The assailants surrounded the village of Kamuyya, a military source based in the nearest town told Reuters. The militants shot people as they gathered to trade in its open air market.
Villages in Borno state, the epicentre of Boko Haram's violent campaign to carve an Islamic caliphate out of religiously mixed Nigeria, have been under almost daily attack.
On Thursday, suspected Boko Haram gunmen rampaged through three villages in northern Nigeria, killing 28 people and burning houses to the ground.
Boko Haram made world headlines when it claimed the abduction of more than 200 school girls from the village of Chibok last month, prompting international outrage and persuading President Goodluck Jonathan to accept foreign help to try to free them, including a team of around 80 U.S. troops deployed to neighbouring Chad, and surveillance drones.
Since the girl were snatched on April 14, at least 470 civilians have been killed by the insurgents in various attacks, according to a Reuters count.
A spate of bombings across north and central Nigeria has killed hundreds, including two in the capital Abuja and one in the central city of Jos on Tuesday that killed 118 people.
A suicide bombing on Saturday that was meant to strike an open air viewing of the Champions League soccer final match in the central Nigerian city of Jos killed four people but failed to hit its target, the National Emergency Management Agency said.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan travelled to South Africa over the weekend, his office said, to discuss ways of tackling Islamist militancy across the continent with African heads of state.
The meeting "defined a stronger framework for cooperation among African states to deal with this menace", presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said, giving no details.
A presidential team tasked with locating the girls returned from Borno state to the capital Abuja on Sunday, they said in a statement. It did not say if any progress had been made.
Reuters
Related stories: Video - State of emergency extended in north east Nigeria
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
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