Wednesday, February 25, 2015

American missionary kidnapped in Kogi, Nigeria

An American missionary in Nigeria has been kidnapped in what authorities call a "purely criminal" act.

Kogi state Police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi says five men kidnapped the woman from her workplace and are demanding a ransom of 60 million Naira ($301,500).

The Free Methodist Church has identified the woman as the Rev. Phyllis Sortor, a missionary based at the Hope Academy compound in Kogi state.

Kogi state is located away from the areas where Boko Haram operates, making it likely that the kidnapping is not related to terrorism. But there is also the possibility that an offshoot group could have kidnapped Sortor, or that she might be sold to another group. Police have not said if they suspect a certain group or band of criminals.

Sortor was kidnapped on Monday, Ogunjemilusi said.

The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and the FBI have been notified of the incident, the Free Methodist Church said.

Sortor runs a nongovernmental organization that educates nomadic Fulani children, the police commissioner said.

According to her biography on the church's website, Sortor is the financial administrator of Hope Academy.

"A special friendship with a clan of nomadic Fulani has given Phyllis the opportunity to open additional schools for Fulani children and their parents," the website says.

The commissioner said five men scaled the wall of the school where Sortor's office is and "whisked her away," jumping back over the wall and fleeing to the nearby mountains.

Two of the men were masked, and they fired shots into the air to scare people away during the kidnapping, Ogunjemilusi said.

CNN

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Video - Nigeria raises import tax on imported cars


The Nigerian government has introduced a tax of up to 70 percent on new and used imported cars. It hopes the decision will help local car manufacturers. However, many worry it will hurt the used car industry. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Kaduna.

Suicide bomber kills more than a dozen at bus station in North Eastern Nigeria

A suicide bomb attack has killed more than a dozen people at a crowded bus station in Potiskum, north-eastern Nigeria.

A witness told the BBC that a bomber tried to board a bus as transport officials were loading it.

Hospital sources say 13 corpses have been taken to the town's mortuary and more than 30 people have been injured.

It is the second attack on Potiskum in recent days. Both have been blamed on the militant group Boko Haram.

The Kano-bound bus was completely destroyed and other vehicles at the Dan-Borno bus station were also affected in Tuesday's explosion.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, Boko Haram has stepped up suicide bombings against civilians in recent months.

On Sunday, a young girl with explosives strapped to her killed five people and wounded dozens at a security checkpoint outside a market in Potiskum.

Boko Haram now controls vast swathes of north-east Nigeria and has displaced over 1.5 million people.

The mounting threat of the Islamist insurgency has already led to postponement of February's presidential elections, with the vote now due to take place on 28 March.

The delay is designed to give the Nigerian military time to re-establish its presence in the area. However, opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan have claimed that the delay is actually a political tactic.

The group is under increased pressure from the Nigerian troops as well as those of Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.

BBC

Monday, February 23, 2015

Suicide bomb attack by young girl leaves 5 dead in North Eastern Nigeria

A girl suicide bomber as young as 7 blew herself up at a busy market in the northeastern Nigerian town of Potiskum on Sunday, killing four others and seriously wounding 46 people, a witness and hospital records show.

The girl who appeared no more than 10 years old got out of a tricycle taxi in front of the cellphone market and detonated her explosives on Potiskum’s main market day, according to survivor Anazumi Saleh, who suffered injuries to his head.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack bears all the signs of similar bombings by Boko Haram and raises fears that Nigeria’s home-grown Islamic extremists are using kidnap victims as bombers.

Meanwhile, a new group releasing propaganda for Boko Haram denied a Ministry of Defence statement that troops Friday seized back the border garrison town of Baga.

It comes amid reports that military from Nigeria and neighbouring Chad are retaking towns and villages held for months by Boko Haram even as the extremists attack other northeastern communities. Scores of civilians have been killed in such attacks in recent days.

“Baga still is under the control of the mujahedeen and any claim by the regime that they took the city is their usual lie,” said a brief message posted on the Twitter account of Al-Urwa Al-Wuthqa, according to the SITE intelligence monitoring service.

The Associated Press was trying to verify the situation in Baga, a town on Lake Chad and the border with Cameroon where the extremists are accused of killing hundreds of people in a January attack after Nigerian troops fled.

The government hopes the military will be able to reclaim enough territory to allowpresidential elections March 28, which Boko Haram is threatening to disrupt.

The vote looks like it will be the most closely contested in the history of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and its biggest oil producer. Boko Haram has warned it will disrupt the elections by attacking polling stations and denounced democracy as a corrupt Western concept.


The Star

Friday, February 20, 2015

Video - Nigeria prepares for presidential elections


Nigerians were due to vote this week – but plans have changed. Citing security concerns, the electoral body has postponed the elections until 28 March – a move welcomed by the ruling party but taken with contention by many onlookers. Was the postponement warranted? And will it make a difference?

Related story: Video - Nigeria presidential campaign on social media