Two separate attacks by suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers - one by a female duo, the other by three men - have killed three people in northeast Nigeria, police said on Monday. All the attackers died.
The bombings late on Sunday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state where the Boko Haram insurgency began, followed a bloody clash on Saturday in which five soldiers and more than 15 jihadist fighters died in neighboring Yobe state.
The violence marks a resurgence in attacks weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari said Boko Haram fighters had been pushed out of their last stronghold in the northeast where they have been trying to set up an Islamic state.
Maiduguri police said the women bombers claimed two victims there late on Sunday evening shortly after the male group had killed one person in the city. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks but they bear the hallmarks of the group.
The deaths in Yobe state came in Boko Haram attack on an army base in the remote town of Buni Yadi.
The frequency of attacks had slowed down in the last few months, but security analysts say the spate of bombings in the last few weeks has coincided with the end of the rainy season, when movements in the bush are limited.
A man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has appeared in a video denying Buhari's statement that the group had been pushed out of the region.
Boko Haram's seven-year-old insurgency, which is aimed at creating an Islamic state in the northeast of Africa's most populous nation, has killed about 15,000 people and displaced more than 2 million people.
In early 2015, Boko Haram controlled an area about the size of Belgium. It has been pushed out of most of that territory over the past year by Nigeria's army and troops from neighboring countries, moving to a base in the Sambisa forest, a vast former game reserve in Borno state.
Security analysts say the group's ability to carry out attacks in neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad suggests it has multiple bases.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Friday, January 6, 2017
Video - Interrogation of captured militants leads authorities to missing girl
Ongoing interrogation of Boko Haram suspects have bourn fruits as one of the Chibok Girls captured --has been found. The Nigerian military confirmed this on Thursday. Rakiya Abubakar and her 6-month-old baby's identity were discovered in the course of grilling of over one thousand suspects captured in the Sambisa forest. Jubilation rang through amongst parents of the missing girls upon hearing the news and renewed optimism that more good news would soon follow. In May 2016, one girl fled captivity as the government negotiated the release of 21 girls in October. Another was freed in November when the army raided their camp in the Sambisa forest. It's been nearly 3 years since 300 girls vanished from a government school in Chibok in northern Borno State-most of whom still remain in captivity.
John Mikel Obi to make move to China
Midfielder John Mikel Obi has left Chelsea to join Chinese Super League side Tianjin TEDA.
The 29-year-old Nigerian has played 372 times for Chelsea since joining in 2006 but has not featured this season.
He said it had been "an honour" to play for the Stamford Bridge club but it was time to "seek a new challenge".
Mikel has won two Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the 2012 Champions League during his time at Stamford Bridge.
"I haven't featured as much this season as I would have liked and I still have many years in the game ahead of me," Mikel wrote on Twitter in a message to Chelsea fans.
"With this in mind, I feel now is the time to seek a new challenge.
"I'm delighted to be joining Tianjin TEDA FC at a time that the Chinese Super League is really taking off, and I look forward to helping Tianjin TEDA FC continue to grow.
"To play in the Premier League is every professional player's ambition.
"But to play for Chelsea, to become part of the Chelsea family to work with some of the best managers and players in the world, has truly been an honour.
Mikel is the second Chelsea player to move to the Chinese Super League in recent weeks following Oscar's transfer to Shanghai SIPG.
Chibok girl kidnapped by Boko Haram found with baby
Soldiers interrogating captured Boko Haram suspects have found one of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the extremist group nearly three years ago, along with her baby, Nigeria’s military said Thursday.
Nearly 300 girls were kidnapped by the insurgents from a government boarding school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014, a mass abduction that shocked the world and brought Boko Haram international attention. Most of the girls remain in captivity.
In May, one girl escaped. In October, the government negotiated the release of 21 more. Another girl was freed in November in an army raid on an extremist camp in the Sambisa Forest.
Army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman identified the latest girl to be freed as Rakiya Abubakar and said she has a 6-month-old baby. He said her identity was discovered when soldiers were interrogating some of more than 1,000 suspects detained in recent weeks of army raids on the Sambisa Forest.
The military released a photograph showing Abubakar with mournful eyes, her head covered by a white scarf, and clutching the baby wearing a white beanie cap.
Nigeria’s government announced that troops two weeks ago destroyed that last stronghold of Boko Haram, and President Muhammadu Buhari declared the extremist group was finally “crushed.”
That raised questions about the whereabouts of the other Chibok girls, believed held in the forest. Some 196 remained missing before Thursday’s discovery, though some of the freed girls have said that several in their group have died from things like malaria and snakebite.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau issued a video last week to contradict Buhari’s assertion that “the terrorists are on the run, and no longer have a place to hide.” Shekau declared that the war was just starting and urged his fighters to keep killing, bombing and abducting people.
Nigeria’s government has been criticized over its treatment of the freed girls, who have been sequestered in Abuja, the capital, allegedly for trauma counseling and rehabilitation.
The freed girls insisted on being taken to Chibok for Christmas, but they were kept in the home of a local legislator and prevented from attending Christmas service at their EYN Church of the Brethren, supposedly for security reasons. They were not reunited with their parents until the day after Christmas. Chibok is a small Christian enclave following a branch of the U.S.-based Brethren in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria. Many parents of the girls are translating the Bible into local languages.
More than a dozen of the parents have died since their daughters were kidnapped, relatives say from stress-related illnesses.
Nigeria’s government has said it continues to negotiate with Boko Haram for the release of all of the Chibok girls. But Chibok community leader Pogu Bitrus has told The Associated Press that more than 100 of the girls appear unwilling to leave their Boko Haram captors. He said the unwilling girls may have been radicalized or are ashamed to return home because they were forced to marry extremists and have babies.
In captivity, Boko Haram forced the girls to convert to Islam and “married” many of them to fighters. There have been unverified reports that some were carried across borders into Cameroon and Niger and Shekau had threatened to sell some of them into slavery.
Boko Haram’s seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people, spread across Nigeria’s borders, forced. 2.6 million from their homes and created a massive humanitarian crisis in which the U.N. says 5.1 million people face starvation in northeast Nigeria.
Hundreds of innocent victims have died in the hands of the military, Amnesty International has charged, including babies held with suspects detained in military raids on Boko Haram camps.
Nearly 300 girls were kidnapped by the insurgents from a government boarding school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014, a mass abduction that shocked the world and brought Boko Haram international attention. Most of the girls remain in captivity.
In May, one girl escaped. In October, the government negotiated the release of 21 more. Another girl was freed in November in an army raid on an extremist camp in the Sambisa Forest.
Army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman identified the latest girl to be freed as Rakiya Abubakar and said she has a 6-month-old baby. He said her identity was discovered when soldiers were interrogating some of more than 1,000 suspects detained in recent weeks of army raids on the Sambisa Forest.
The military released a photograph showing Abubakar with mournful eyes, her head covered by a white scarf, and clutching the baby wearing a white beanie cap.
Nigeria’s government announced that troops two weeks ago destroyed that last stronghold of Boko Haram, and President Muhammadu Buhari declared the extremist group was finally “crushed.”
That raised questions about the whereabouts of the other Chibok girls, believed held in the forest. Some 196 remained missing before Thursday’s discovery, though some of the freed girls have said that several in their group have died from things like malaria and snakebite.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau issued a video last week to contradict Buhari’s assertion that “the terrorists are on the run, and no longer have a place to hide.” Shekau declared that the war was just starting and urged his fighters to keep killing, bombing and abducting people.
Nigeria’s government has been criticized over its treatment of the freed girls, who have been sequestered in Abuja, the capital, allegedly for trauma counseling and rehabilitation.
The freed girls insisted on being taken to Chibok for Christmas, but they were kept in the home of a local legislator and prevented from attending Christmas service at their EYN Church of the Brethren, supposedly for security reasons. They were not reunited with their parents until the day after Christmas. Chibok is a small Christian enclave following a branch of the U.S.-based Brethren in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria. Many parents of the girls are translating the Bible into local languages.
More than a dozen of the parents have died since their daughters were kidnapped, relatives say from stress-related illnesses.
Nigeria’s government has said it continues to negotiate with Boko Haram for the release of all of the Chibok girls. But Chibok community leader Pogu Bitrus has told The Associated Press that more than 100 of the girls appear unwilling to leave their Boko Haram captors. He said the unwilling girls may have been radicalized or are ashamed to return home because they were forced to marry extremists and have babies.
In captivity, Boko Haram forced the girls to convert to Islam and “married” many of them to fighters. There have been unverified reports that some were carried across borders into Cameroon and Niger and Shekau had threatened to sell some of them into slavery.
Boko Haram’s seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people, spread across Nigeria’s borders, forced. 2.6 million from their homes and created a massive humanitarian crisis in which the U.N. says 5.1 million people face starvation in northeast Nigeria.
Hundreds of innocent victims have died in the hands of the military, Amnesty International has charged, including babies held with suspects detained in military raids on Boko Haram camps.
Abuja airport closed for six weeks due to unsafe runway
A Nigerian official has said the airport in the capital city of Abuja will close for six weeks beginning in March to repair its “dilapidated” and “unsafe” runway.
The closure beginning on 8 March will see flights diverted to an airport in Kaduna, a city about 180 km (110 miles) to the north, with additional security provided for shuttle busses travelling along a highway that has been the scene of high-profile kidnappings.
“I was conscious of the sheer size of dilapidation of our critical infrastructure in our aviation industry and especially the most critical ones such as the runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja,” junior aviation minister Hadi Sirika said as he announced the closure at a meeting.
Built in 1982 with a planned 20-year life span, Sirika said the “entire structure of the runway has failed” and was “unsafe for operation.”
Helicopter services will also be available between Kaduna and Abuja
In 2015, a travel website rated the Nigeria’s Port Harcourt International Airport the worst in the world, describing it as “the dirtiest and most corrupt airport in Africa.”
Nigeria’s aviation sector took a beating last year as currency controls made it difficult for airlines to obtain sufficient funds to pay suppliers, with many curtailing and some suspending operations.
The closure beginning on 8 March will see flights diverted to an airport in Kaduna, a city about 180 km (110 miles) to the north, with additional security provided for shuttle busses travelling along a highway that has been the scene of high-profile kidnappings.
“I was conscious of the sheer size of dilapidation of our critical infrastructure in our aviation industry and especially the most critical ones such as the runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja,” junior aviation minister Hadi Sirika said as he announced the closure at a meeting.
Built in 1982 with a planned 20-year life span, Sirika said the “entire structure of the runway has failed” and was “unsafe for operation.”
Helicopter services will also be available between Kaduna and Abuja
In 2015, a travel website rated the Nigeria’s Port Harcourt International Airport the worst in the world, describing it as “the dirtiest and most corrupt airport in Africa.”
Nigeria’s aviation sector took a beating last year as currency controls made it difficult for airlines to obtain sufficient funds to pay suppliers, with many curtailing and some suspending operations.
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