The United States says the U.N. Security Council has approved sanctions against the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group Boko Haram which has carried out a wave of deadly attacks and the recent abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power welcomed the council's action on Thursday, calling it "an important step in support of the government of Nigeria's efforts to defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities."
Nigeria asked the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida to add Boko Haram to the list of al-Qaida-linked organizations subject to an arms embargo and asset freeze.
The 14 other council member had until 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Thursday to object and none did, so the committee will now add Boko Haram to the al-Qaida sanctions list.
AP
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Former UN Secretary Generaly says Africa should have reacted faster to kidnapped schoolgirls
Friday, May 23, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Teachers in Nigeria go on strike in protest of kidnapped schoolgirls
Nigerian teachers went on strike and staged rallies nationwide on Thursday in protest against the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by the Islamist Boko Haram sect and the killing of nearly as many teachers during its insurgency.
Boko Haram gunmen stormed a school outside the remote northeastern town of Chibok on April 14, carting some 270 girls away in trucks. More than 50 have since escaped but at least 200 remain in captivity, as do scores of other girls kidnapped previously.
National Union of Teachers (NUT) President Micheal Alogba Olukoya told reporters Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful," had killed 173 teachers over five years.
In Maiduguri, capital of the northeastern state of Borno where the insurgency is most intense, around 40 teachers marched down a street past rows of cicada trees to the office of Governor Kashim Shettima chanting "bring back our girls" and holding placards saying "vulnerable schools should be fenced".Shettima came to the gates of the compound to meet the teachers, who were clothed in black union vests over their long, flowing traditional robes and were escorted by the military.
President Goodluck Jonathan and the military have come under intense criticism for their slow reaction to the mass abduction, although last week Nigeria accepted help from the United States, Britain, France and China to help find the girls.
The United States has deployed about 80 military personnel to Chad in its effort to help find the girls, President Barack Obama told Congress on Wednesday.
Boko Haram has threatened to sell the girls into slavery but has also offered to swap them for jailed militants.
"All schools nationwide shall be closed as the day will be our day of protest against the abduction of the Chibok female students and the heartless murder of the 173 teachers," NUT President Micheal Alogba Olukoya told reporters.
Boko Haram wants to create a breakaway Islamic state in a religiously-mixed, Muslim and Christian country of 170 million people, Africa's most populous. Its militants have attacked hundreds of school, killing hundreds of teachers and students.
No teachers were killed in the Chibok attack.
"We remain resolute in our resolve to continue the campaign even as we mourn the death of our colleagues until our girls are brought back safe and alive and the perpetrators of the heinous crime are brought to book," Olukoya said.
In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial metropolis and port of 21 million people in the south, around 350 teachers gathered in the green Gani Fawehinmi park. One carried a placard reading: "You can't intimidate us."
"Children's lives are being threatened, kidnapping all over the place, stealing, maiming of life, that's what we are saying should stop," teacher Ojo Veronica told Reuters Television.
The Boko Haram insurgency has killed an estimated 5,000 people since an initial uprising in 2009.
Reuters
Related stories: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Video - Muslims in Nigeria condemn Boko Haram's kidnapping of schoolgirls
Boko Haram gunmen stormed a school outside the remote northeastern town of Chibok on April 14, carting some 270 girls away in trucks. More than 50 have since escaped but at least 200 remain in captivity, as do scores of other girls kidnapped previously.
National Union of Teachers (NUT) President Micheal Alogba Olukoya told reporters Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful," had killed 173 teachers over five years.
In Maiduguri, capital of the northeastern state of Borno where the insurgency is most intense, around 40 teachers marched down a street past rows of cicada trees to the office of Governor Kashim Shettima chanting "bring back our girls" and holding placards saying "vulnerable schools should be fenced".Shettima came to the gates of the compound to meet the teachers, who were clothed in black union vests over their long, flowing traditional robes and were escorted by the military.
President Goodluck Jonathan and the military have come under intense criticism for their slow reaction to the mass abduction, although last week Nigeria accepted help from the United States, Britain, France and China to help find the girls.
The United States has deployed about 80 military personnel to Chad in its effort to help find the girls, President Barack Obama told Congress on Wednesday.
Boko Haram has threatened to sell the girls into slavery but has also offered to swap them for jailed militants.
"All schools nationwide shall be closed as the day will be our day of protest against the abduction of the Chibok female students and the heartless murder of the 173 teachers," NUT President Micheal Alogba Olukoya told reporters.
Boko Haram wants to create a breakaway Islamic state in a religiously-mixed, Muslim and Christian country of 170 million people, Africa's most populous. Its militants have attacked hundreds of school, killing hundreds of teachers and students.
No teachers were killed in the Chibok attack.
"We remain resolute in our resolve to continue the campaign even as we mourn the death of our colleagues until our girls are brought back safe and alive and the perpetrators of the heinous crime are brought to book," Olukoya said.
In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial metropolis and port of 21 million people in the south, around 350 teachers gathered in the green Gani Fawehinmi park. One carried a placard reading: "You can't intimidate us."
"Children's lives are being threatened, kidnapping all over the place, stealing, maiming of life, that's what we are saying should stop," teacher Ojo Veronica told Reuters Television.
The Boko Haram insurgency has killed an estimated 5,000 people since an initial uprising in 2009.
Reuters
Related stories: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Video - Muslims in Nigeria condemn Boko Haram's kidnapping of schoolgirls
US military deploy 80 troop to neighbouring Chad to find kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls
The United States has deployed about 80 military personnel to Chad in its effort to help find and return more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, President Obama said in a letter to Congress on Wednesday.
"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," Obama said in the letter.
"The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required," he said.
The girls were taken in April from a boarding school close to Nigeria's border with Cameroon, Niger and Chad in a sparsely populated region. Their whereabouts are unknown.
US surveillance aircraft have been flying over remote areas of northeast Nigeria for two weeks, and the Pentagon struck an agreement last weekend to allow it to share intelligence directly with the Nigerian government.
The US government has also sent officials from the State Department and the FBI to Nigeria to help in the search.
The Guardian
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Video - Discussion about African leaders declaring total war on Boko Haram
"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," Obama said in the letter.
"The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required," he said.
The girls were taken in April from a boarding school close to Nigeria's border with Cameroon, Niger and Chad in a sparsely populated region. Their whereabouts are unknown.
US surveillance aircraft have been flying over remote areas of northeast Nigeria for two weeks, and the Pentagon struck an agreement last weekend to allow it to share intelligence directly with the Nigerian government.
The US government has also sent officials from the State Department and the FBI to Nigeria to help in the search.
The Guardian
Related stories: UK Spy Plan sent to help find kidnapped schoolgirls breaks down
US commence aerial search for kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria
Video - Discussion about African leaders declaring total war on Boko Haram
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Boko Haram attack village - 17 dead
The Islamist group Boko Haram has been accused of killing at least 17 people in an attack on a village in north-east Nigeria, close to where hundreds of schoolgirls were seized.
It comes a day after 118 people died in a double bombing in the central city of Jos, also blamed on Boko Haram.
In the latest attack, Boko Haram fighters reportedly spent hours killing and looting in the village of Alagarno.
Alagarno is near Chibok, from where the schoolgirls were abducted last month.
The abductions of more than 200 girls caused international outrage and prompted foreign powers to send military advisers to assist Nigeria's army.
People in north-east Nigeria are extremely vulnerable to attacks because many areas are no-go zones for the military and the insurgents operate freely, correspondents say.
BBC
Related stories: Twin bombings in Jos, Nigeria leaves at least 118 dead
Video - Fatality count in Abuja bomb blast rises to 75
It comes a day after 118 people died in a double bombing in the central city of Jos, also blamed on Boko Haram.
In the latest attack, Boko Haram fighters reportedly spent hours killing and looting in the village of Alagarno.
Alagarno is near Chibok, from where the schoolgirls were abducted last month.
The abductions of more than 200 girls caused international outrage and prompted foreign powers to send military advisers to assist Nigeria's army.
People in north-east Nigeria are extremely vulnerable to attacks because many areas are no-go zones for the military and the insurgents operate freely, correspondents say.
BBC
Related stories: Twin bombings in Jos, Nigeria leaves at least 118 dead
Video - Fatality count in Abuja bomb blast rises to 75
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Twin bombings in Jos, Nigeria leaves at least 118 dead
Dozens of people have been killed by two bomb explosions in the volatile central Nigerian city of Jos.
Police in Plateau state say that 118 have been confirmed dead so far and many more have been injured.
Journalist Hassan Ibrahim told the BBC that tension was rising in the area, with youths blocking some roads.
Jos has seen several deadly clashes between Christian and Muslim groups in recent years. Islamist group Boko Haram has also previously targeted the area.
A suicide attack in the northern city of Kano on Monday killed four people. Abducted girls
A spokesperson for the regional governor confirmed to AFP news agency that scores had been killed in Jos, most of them women.
Images posted on social media showed a huge pall of smoke over the scene.
The BBC's Will Ross in Abuja says the bombs were in a lorry and a minibus and exploded several minutes apart - one in a shopping area and one not far from a hospital.
Nobody has admitted carrying out the bombings.
Although Boko Haram has previously targeted Jos, the capital of Plateau state, the city has been relatively calm for almost two years, our correspondent says.
Plateau state lies on the fault-line which divides Nigeria's largely Muslim north from its mainly Christian south.
The state has witnessed violence blamed on land disputes between semi-nomadic Muslim Fulani herdsmen and mainly Christian Berom farmers.
The Nigerian government is also currently trying to trace more than 200 girls captured by Boko Haram in April from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok.
The case has shocked the world and prompted foreign powers to send military advisers to assist Nigeria's army tackle the insurgency.
On Tuesday, parliament approved a six-month extension of a state of emergency in three north-eastern states - Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks this year but the government says it has pushed the militants back into their strongholds in Borno.
Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
However, Nigeria's violence is not confined to the north.
Earlier this month a car bomb in the capital Abuja killed at least 19 people and injured 60 more.
The explosion happened close to a bus station where at least 70 people died in a bomb blast on 14 April.
BBC
Related stories: Suicide bomber kills 4 in Kano, Nigeria
Video - Fatality count in Abuja bomb blast rises to 75
Police in Plateau state say that 118 have been confirmed dead so far and many more have been injured.
Journalist Hassan Ibrahim told the BBC that tension was rising in the area, with youths blocking some roads.
Jos has seen several deadly clashes between Christian and Muslim groups in recent years. Islamist group Boko Haram has also previously targeted the area.
A suicide attack in the northern city of Kano on Monday killed four people. Abducted girls
A spokesperson for the regional governor confirmed to AFP news agency that scores had been killed in Jos, most of them women.
Images posted on social media showed a huge pall of smoke over the scene.
The BBC's Will Ross in Abuja says the bombs were in a lorry and a minibus and exploded several minutes apart - one in a shopping area and one not far from a hospital.
Nobody has admitted carrying out the bombings.
Although Boko Haram has previously targeted Jos, the capital of Plateau state, the city has been relatively calm for almost two years, our correspondent says.
Plateau state lies on the fault-line which divides Nigeria's largely Muslim north from its mainly Christian south.
The state has witnessed violence blamed on land disputes between semi-nomadic Muslim Fulani herdsmen and mainly Christian Berom farmers.
The Nigerian government is also currently trying to trace more than 200 girls captured by Boko Haram in April from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok.
The case has shocked the world and prompted foreign powers to send military advisers to assist Nigeria's army tackle the insurgency.
On Tuesday, parliament approved a six-month extension of a state of emergency in three north-eastern states - Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks this year but the government says it has pushed the militants back into their strongholds in Borno.
Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
However, Nigeria's violence is not confined to the north.
Earlier this month a car bomb in the capital Abuja killed at least 19 people and injured 60 more.
The explosion happened close to a bus station where at least 70 people died in a bomb blast on 14 April.
BBC
Related stories: Suicide bomber kills 4 in Kano, Nigeria
Video - Fatality count in Abuja bomb blast rises to 75
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