Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said he hopes that all territory seized by Islamist militant group Boko Haram will be retaken within a month.
"They are getting weaker and weaker by the day," he told the BBC.
But the president - who faces elections in a week - admitted the response to the insurgents' initial advance in north-east Nigeria had been too slow.
The army has claimed recent victories over Boko Haram in a conflict that has killed thousands since 2012.
Backed by neighbouring countries Chad, Niger and Cameroon, Nigeria's military says it has recaptured 11 of the 14 districts which had been under militant control.
On Thursday, however, Boko Haram attacked the town of Ngala, killing 11 people, after the army said it had retaken it.
President Jonathan's government has been heavily criticised for its failure to end the insurgency.
The government has made similar claims in the past about defeating or driving back Boko Haram within a specific period - but these have not been borne out by events.
The Nigerian insurgents this month pledged their allegiance to Islamic State militants, who control large parts of Syria and Iraq.
BBC
Friday, March 20, 2015
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Presidential candidate Buhari says missing kidnapped schoolgirls greatest embarrasment for Nigeria
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General Mohammadu Buhari Wednesday tasked the federal government on the over 200 missing girls, saying the ill development was the greatest embarrassment Nigerian has received since independence in 1960.
Buhari also said that his regime in 1983 built refineries that could produce 50,000 to 450,000 barrel of oil per day with money realized from the Nigerian economy without borrowing a dime from external sources.
The candidate who spoke at a town hall meeting on security in Abuja on Wednesday as part of the electioneering campaign said that his party had identified three key areas which had become the core problems starring the country in the face.
His position was a response to questions raised by some participants to the meeting.
According to buhari, the problems were insecurity, destruction of the economy and corruption which he said has become vicious.
He faulted the federal government's approach in fighting the insurgency in the north east in the absence of comprehensive welfare policy or plan for the soldiers in the battle field.
He said that no one should expect any soldier to perform miracles in the battle field when there were no good welfare packages for them and their families.
He said: "I have said that the APC as a party has identified three fundamental problems in this country. You cannot repeat them so often because everybody talk about them. They are insecurity, the destruction of the economy and corruption which has become a vicious.
"The state of insecurity as we said when the election was extended by six weeks is that if the Nigerian government and the military could me not tame Boko Haram for five years, what will they do in six weeks. But I think that some positive moves have been made, but we are still at it.
"The first thing they should have done is to make sure that you have a good plan on the ground to take care of the welfare of the law enforcement agents.
"You can't send someone on an operation for months when his family is living in wants without medical care, no school and no good neighborhood and you want him to serve the country. So, if you get disappointed now that soldiers on road block have started saying "wetin you chop remain" as many of their colleagues were doing many years ago.
Vanguard
Buhari also said that his regime in 1983 built refineries that could produce 50,000 to 450,000 barrel of oil per day with money realized from the Nigerian economy without borrowing a dime from external sources.
The candidate who spoke at a town hall meeting on security in Abuja on Wednesday as part of the electioneering campaign said that his party had identified three key areas which had become the core problems starring the country in the face.
His position was a response to questions raised by some participants to the meeting.
According to buhari, the problems were insecurity, destruction of the economy and corruption which he said has become vicious.
He faulted the federal government's approach in fighting the insurgency in the north east in the absence of comprehensive welfare policy or plan for the soldiers in the battle field.
He said that no one should expect any soldier to perform miracles in the battle field when there were no good welfare packages for them and their families.
He said: "I have said that the APC as a party has identified three fundamental problems in this country. You cannot repeat them so often because everybody talk about them. They are insecurity, the destruction of the economy and corruption which has become a vicious.
"The state of insecurity as we said when the election was extended by six weeks is that if the Nigerian government and the military could me not tame Boko Haram for five years, what will they do in six weeks. But I think that some positive moves have been made, but we are still at it.
"The first thing they should have done is to make sure that you have a good plan on the ground to take care of the welfare of the law enforcement agents.
"You can't send someone on an operation for months when his family is living in wants without medical care, no school and no good neighborhood and you want him to serve the country. So, if you get disappointed now that soldiers on road block have started saying "wetin you chop remain" as many of their colleagues were doing many years ago.
Vanguard
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Video - Schools re-open in Adamawa, Nigeria
Militant group Boko Haram has killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds during a six-year campaign to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria. The insurgency has been a major blow to education in the north east. In Adamawa state however- a territory retaken by the Nigerian military from the control of the militants, are slowly returning to the classroom.
Canada selling most weapons to Nigeria
A report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows a growth in the number of countries supplying arms and weapons to Nigeria and Cameroon to aid their fight against Boko Haram. Canada has been found to be the top seller among those nations.
The report listed Canada as the world’s 13th-biggest arms exporter over the past five years. It was the 14th-biggest weapons exporter in the previous five-year period.
According to the list, Canada facilitated the sale of 40 armoured vehicles to Nigeria in 2013 and 2014. It wasn’t detailed if all came from private companies. Two of those companies were identified as the Streit Group and INKAS.
Founded in Canada in 1992, the Streit Group said it has sold at least 12,000 armoured vehicles worldwide, and just recently, Nigeria bought one of its Spartan armoured vehicles. On the other hand, INKAS, according to Peter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm institute, has sold light armoured patrol vehicles to Nigeria. The vehicles were produced from a plant located right in Nigeria.
While Wezeman did not condone Canada’s shipment of arms and weapons to Nigeria, he told The Globe and Mail, the North American country should at least be sensitive on dealings regarding the matter. He said Canada should ensure it “understands the risks involved in arms exports” and should try to help Nigeria to deal with Boko Haram “in a way that involves the minimum amount of violence needed.”
“Just allowing the supply of weapons is not enough,” he said, noting that it comes with a moral responsibility that the arms should not be used by the Nigerian government other than for the purpose it was bought.
Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist movement based in north-east Nigeria. It is also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. The group had pledged formal allegiance to the ISIS Daesh in March 2015 and has killed over 5,000 civilians between July 2009 and June 2014, including at least 2,000 in the first half of 2014.
IBT
The report listed Canada as the world’s 13th-biggest arms exporter over the past five years. It was the 14th-biggest weapons exporter in the previous five-year period.
According to the list, Canada facilitated the sale of 40 armoured vehicles to Nigeria in 2013 and 2014. It wasn’t detailed if all came from private companies. Two of those companies were identified as the Streit Group and INKAS.
Founded in Canada in 1992, the Streit Group said it has sold at least 12,000 armoured vehicles worldwide, and just recently, Nigeria bought one of its Spartan armoured vehicles. On the other hand, INKAS, according to Peter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm institute, has sold light armoured patrol vehicles to Nigeria. The vehicles were produced from a plant located right in Nigeria.
While Wezeman did not condone Canada’s shipment of arms and weapons to Nigeria, he told The Globe and Mail, the North American country should at least be sensitive on dealings regarding the matter. He said Canada should ensure it “understands the risks involved in arms exports” and should try to help Nigeria to deal with Boko Haram “in a way that involves the minimum amount of violence needed.”
“Just allowing the supply of weapons is not enough,” he said, noting that it comes with a moral responsibility that the arms should not be used by the Nigerian government other than for the purpose it was bought.
Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist movement based in north-east Nigeria. It is also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. The group had pledged formal allegiance to the ISIS Daesh in March 2015 and has killed over 5,000 civilians between July 2009 and June 2014, including at least 2,000 in the first half of 2014.
IBT
Electricity bills in Nigeria cut by half
Nigerians’ electricity bills will be cut by as much as half after the regulator said on Tuesday it banned distribution companies from charging consumers for losses caused by billing mistakes.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who is standing for re-election in a postponed vote scheduled for March 28, pledged to improve Nigeria’s chronically unreliable power supply in his administration’s current term in office. South Africa, with a third of Nigeria’s population, has eight times more installed capacity.
“Removing the collection losses will lead to lower tariffs for consumers,” Sam Amadi, chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, said in a statement posted on the Abuja-based agency’s website. “The removal of collection losses from customer tariff has reduced tariff by more than 50 percent in some places.”
Peak electricity output in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, reaches about 3,800 megawatts, with another 1,500 megawatts unavailable because of gas shortages, the NERC said this month.
“While the move will be welcomed by many, low levels of electrification in Nigeria will limit its economic impact,” John Ashbourne, an Africa economist at Capital Economics in London, said in an e-mailed note on Wednesday. “Fewer than half of Nigerians have access to electricity, and spending on power tariffs makes up a tiny fraction of consumer spending.”
In 2013, Nigeria broke up the state electricity monopoly and sold power utilities to companies including Korea Electric Power Corp., and Siemens AG, in an effort to bring in much-needed investment. In September, authorities set up a $1 billion bailout fund to help generation and distribution companies pay off gas-supply debts. They also raised the price of gas supplied to power stations in order to encourage more gas to flow into the system.
The move to cut electricity bills “will be a boost to both consumers and commercial users, and has been conveniently announced only 10 days before President Goodluck Jonathan faces a close re-election battle,” Ashbourne said.
Bloomberg
President Goodluck Jonathan, who is standing for re-election in a postponed vote scheduled for March 28, pledged to improve Nigeria’s chronically unreliable power supply in his administration’s current term in office. South Africa, with a third of Nigeria’s population, has eight times more installed capacity.
“Removing the collection losses will lead to lower tariffs for consumers,” Sam Amadi, chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, said in a statement posted on the Abuja-based agency’s website. “The removal of collection losses from customer tariff has reduced tariff by more than 50 percent in some places.”
Peak electricity output in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, reaches about 3,800 megawatts, with another 1,500 megawatts unavailable because of gas shortages, the NERC said this month.
“While the move will be welcomed by many, low levels of electrification in Nigeria will limit its economic impact,” John Ashbourne, an Africa economist at Capital Economics in London, said in an e-mailed note on Wednesday. “Fewer than half of Nigerians have access to electricity, and spending on power tariffs makes up a tiny fraction of consumer spending.”
In 2013, Nigeria broke up the state electricity monopoly and sold power utilities to companies including Korea Electric Power Corp., and Siemens AG, in an effort to bring in much-needed investment. In September, authorities set up a $1 billion bailout fund to help generation and distribution companies pay off gas-supply debts. They also raised the price of gas supplied to power stations in order to encourage more gas to flow into the system.
The move to cut electricity bills “will be a boost to both consumers and commercial users, and has been conveniently announced only 10 days before President Goodluck Jonathan faces a close re-election battle,” Ashbourne said.
Bloomberg
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote's oil refinery to go online in Nigeria by 2017
Outside Boko Haram carnage and pre-election tension and fears, here is at least some good news from Nigeria.
A new $9 billion oil refinery producing 500,000 barrels per day being developed by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is expected to come onstream in Nigeria by 2017, a senior Dangote Group official said Tuesday.
The refinery, to be located in Lagos, will cut reliance on international markets for Africa’s largest oil producer, which imports more than 80 percent of its fuel needs.
The lack of sufficient refining capacity is a major handicap in Africa’s biggest economy.
“By the third quarter of 2017, we expect to be looking at commissioning,” Mansur Ahmed, Dangote Industries Ltd’s executive director of stakeholder management and corporate communications, told Reuters at an African refiners conference in Cape Town.
The refinery is being designed to process Nigerian crude mix and produce products conforming to Euro V fuel specifications, as fuel demands across the continent are forecast to rise rapidly with many countries enjoying strong economic growth.
Poor infrastructure, competitive global markets and financial constraints have traditionally held back Africa’s refining capacity, while fuel subsidies in Nigeria are also an issue, said Ahmed, who spoke on behalf of Aliko Dangote.
Ahmed said the refinery, which is being funded by debt and equity, including a $3 billion commitment from Dangote himself, could list in future should additional capital be needed.
“In the past when we have reached a point where we feel we need to increase capital we have listed,” Ahmed said.
“We have listed our cement business, we have listed our sugar business and our salt business… and, if you like, history is the best teacher.”
The Dangote Group has interests ranging from cement to basic food processing to oil and gas.
A boost to its refining capacity would be a blow to European refiners and oil traders, which make huge profits bringing gasoline into the country.
The News
Related story: Video - Aljazeera speaks with Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote
A new $9 billion oil refinery producing 500,000 barrels per day being developed by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is expected to come onstream in Nigeria by 2017, a senior Dangote Group official said Tuesday.
The refinery, to be located in Lagos, will cut reliance on international markets for Africa’s largest oil producer, which imports more than 80 percent of its fuel needs.
The lack of sufficient refining capacity is a major handicap in Africa’s biggest economy.
“By the third quarter of 2017, we expect to be looking at commissioning,” Mansur Ahmed, Dangote Industries Ltd’s executive director of stakeholder management and corporate communications, told Reuters at an African refiners conference in Cape Town.
The refinery is being designed to process Nigerian crude mix and produce products conforming to Euro V fuel specifications, as fuel demands across the continent are forecast to rise rapidly with many countries enjoying strong economic growth.
Poor infrastructure, competitive global markets and financial constraints have traditionally held back Africa’s refining capacity, while fuel subsidies in Nigeria are also an issue, said Ahmed, who spoke on behalf of Aliko Dangote.
Ahmed said the refinery, which is being funded by debt and equity, including a $3 billion commitment from Dangote himself, could list in future should additional capital be needed.
“In the past when we have reached a point where we feel we need to increase capital we have listed,” Ahmed said.
“We have listed our cement business, we have listed our sugar business and our salt business… and, if you like, history is the best teacher.”
The Dangote Group has interests ranging from cement to basic food processing to oil and gas.
A boost to its refining capacity would be a blow to European refiners and oil traders, which make huge profits bringing gasoline into the country.
The News
Related story: Video - Aljazeera speaks with Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote
Monday, March 16, 2015
Nigerian government denies hiring mercenaries to fight Boko Haram
The Nigerian government has not hired any foreign mercenaries in its battle to defeat the Boko Haram insurgents, an official said on Sunday.
Mike Omeri, the Director General of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, stated this on Sunday when he paid a courtesy call to PREMIUM TIMES head office in Abuja.
The official’s statement comes amidst reports that the Nigerian military hired mercenaries from South Africa and other countries since the renewed offensive against the insurgents began on February 14. Several territories initially captured by the insurgents have since been retaken by Nigerian soldiers working with soldiers from neighbouring West African countries. Mr. Omeri said a lot of Nigerians mistake consultants helping in the deployment and use of newly acquired military hardware as mercenaries.
“When our weapons were acquired recently, we needed training because training component came with the people who supplied these weapons,” he said. “It is therefore easy to see a white man where these things are happening like in Maiduguri and elsewhere and conclude that we have mercenaries.”
“What we have are trainers who came from security companies to help us manage and learn how to use some of the much more modern weapons because there is no time; we are in a war situation and we need the capability to use the weapons immediately.”
Mr. Omeri, who coordinates the National Information Centre, where Nigerians are briefed on the progress made in the fight against Boko Haram, also questioned why some Nigerians appeared more concerned with the presence of mercenaries to the neglect of the insurgency.
“Why are we leaving the issue of fighting insurgency and concentrating on the issue of mercenaries, when the use of mercenaries by governments the world over, including the United States has been on since the 1840s,” he said.
“Mercenaries such as the foreign legion in France, Gurkhas in the UK, and even the US Marines are foreigners. They are mercenaries. It is at the completion of their terms that they are made either citizens through green cards or passports.
“They recruit them give them very hard training and send them to the toughest of battles and they are mostly foreigners.” Mr. Omeri said the Nigerian government has not hired any mercenary, despite having the right to do so.
“If Nigeria wants to recruit mercenaries, there are legitimate ways of doing it and this government knows how to do it and it would have gone that way to do it and to inform citizens appropriately,” he said.
Premium Times
Mike Omeri, the Director General of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, stated this on Sunday when he paid a courtesy call to PREMIUM TIMES head office in Abuja.
The official’s statement comes amidst reports that the Nigerian military hired mercenaries from South Africa and other countries since the renewed offensive against the insurgents began on February 14. Several territories initially captured by the insurgents have since been retaken by Nigerian soldiers working with soldiers from neighbouring West African countries. Mr. Omeri said a lot of Nigerians mistake consultants helping in the deployment and use of newly acquired military hardware as mercenaries.
“When our weapons were acquired recently, we needed training because training component came with the people who supplied these weapons,” he said. “It is therefore easy to see a white man where these things are happening like in Maiduguri and elsewhere and conclude that we have mercenaries.”
“What we have are trainers who came from security companies to help us manage and learn how to use some of the much more modern weapons because there is no time; we are in a war situation and we need the capability to use the weapons immediately.”
Mr. Omeri, who coordinates the National Information Centre, where Nigerians are briefed on the progress made in the fight against Boko Haram, also questioned why some Nigerians appeared more concerned with the presence of mercenaries to the neglect of the insurgency.
“Why are we leaving the issue of fighting insurgency and concentrating on the issue of mercenaries, when the use of mercenaries by governments the world over, including the United States has been on since the 1840s,” he said.
“Mercenaries such as the foreign legion in France, Gurkhas in the UK, and even the US Marines are foreigners. They are mercenaries. It is at the completion of their terms that they are made either citizens through green cards or passports.
“They recruit them give them very hard training and send them to the toughest of battles and they are mostly foreigners.” Mr. Omeri said the Nigerian government has not hired any mercenary, despite having the right to do so.
“If Nigeria wants to recruit mercenaries, there are legitimate ways of doing it and this government knows how to do it and it would have gone that way to do it and to inform citizens appropriately,” he said.
Premium Times
Friday, March 13, 2015
Nigeria is PayPal's second largest market in Africa
Malvina Goldfeld, PayPal’s Head of Business Development, sub-Saharan Africa, recently made the revelation to tech news site IT Web Africa, while expressing satisfaction with PayPal’s overwhelming success in Nigeria since it officially launched in July last year.
“We are very happy to see that PayPal has been widely welcomed by Nigerians since the launch of the service in the country last year,” Goldfeld said.
South Africa is PayPal’s largest market in the continent, with more than one million active accounts; Nigeria and Kenya follow closely.
Goldfeld said PayPal is meeting the needs of Nigerians that purchase goods and services on foreign platforms.
“There are millions of people in Nigeria who are eager to engage in online commerce and our goal is to help them make payments more easily and securely. Currently, we offer Nigerians the opportunity to register for free for a PayPal account to make payments on overseas websites,” she said.
But PayPal’s relationship with Nigerian users is one-sided. Nigerians are only allowed to send payments abroad through the platform. Users are currently unable to receive money, and even though Nigerian internet users have continuously demanded for this service, PayPal and Goldfeld have been elusive as to if and when the service will be accessible to Nigerians.
“Nigeria is a very interesting market and over time we may expand our presence, but for now we are satisfied to help Nigerians register for free for a PayPal account and make payments on overseas websites,” she told ITWeb Africa.
When PayPal opened up its services to Nigerians last year, it signed up tens of thousands of users within its first week as consumers scrabbled to purchase goods from foreign e-commerce sites. Before then, PayPal was inaccessible to Nigerians even though much smaller African countries like Tanzania, Kenya, Chad and Mauritius were included in PayPal’s network. It is generally believed that the online payment processor avoided Nigeria for many years owing to its reputation as a hub for internet-related fraud.
Last year, PayPal made its entry into Nigeria and 9 other countries – Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Monaco, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe and Paraguay, bringing the total number of countries under the PayPal network to 203.
Forbes
Related stories: PayPal signs "tens of thousands" in first week of launch in Nigeria
Bitcoin exchange market coming to Nigeria
ISIS accepts Nigeria's Boko Haram pledge
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants have accepted a pledge of allegiance by the Nigerian-grown Boko Haram extremist group, a spokesman for ISIS said Thursday.
The development comes as both movements, which are among the most ruthless in the world, are under increasing military pressure.
ISIS seized much of northern and western Iraq last summer giving it control of about a third of both Iraq and Syria. But it is now struggling against Iraqi forces seeking to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, while coming under fire from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in other parts of the country and in Syria.
Boko Haram, meanwhile, has been weakened by a multinational force that has dislodged it from a score of northeastern Nigerian towns. But its new Twitter account, increasingly slick and more frequent video messages and a new media arm all were considered signs that the group is now being helped by ISIS propagandists.
Then on Saturday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau posted an audio recording online that pledged allegiance to ISIS. On Thursday, ISIS's media arm Al-Furqan, in an audio recording by spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said that Boko Haram's pledge of allegiance has been accepted, claiming the caliphate has now expanded to West Africa.
Al-Adnani had urged foreign fighters from around the world to migrate and join Boko Haram.
"We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims ... and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah," said the message.
J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, noted the Islamic State group's quick acceptance of Boko Haram's allegiance and said that the bond highlights a new risk.
"Militants finding it increasingly harder to get to Syria and Iraq may choose instead to go to northeastern Nigeria and internationalize that conflict," he said.
The Boko Haram pledge of allegiance to ISIS comes as the militants reportedly were massing in the northeastern Nigerian town of Gwoza, considered their headquarters, for a showdown with the Chadian-led multinational force.
Boko Haram killed an estimated 10,000 people last year, and it is blamed for last April's abduction of more than 275 schoolgirls. Thousands of Nigerians have fled to neighbouring Chad.
The group is waging a nearly six-year insurgency to impose Muslim Shariah law in Nigeria. It began launching attacks across the border into Cameroon last year, and this year its fighters struck in Niger and Chad in retaliation to their agreement to form a multinational force to fight the militants.
Boko Haram followed the lead of ISIS in August by declaring an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria that grew to cover an area the size of Belgium. ISIS had declared a caliphate in vast swaths of territory that it controls in Iraq and Syria.
The Nigerian group has also followed ISIS in publishing videos of beheadings. The latest one, published March 2, borrowed certain elements from ISIS productions, such as the sound of a beating heart and heavy breathing immediately before the execution, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
In video messages last year, Boko Haram's leader sent greetings and praise to both ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and leaders of al-Qaeda. But Boko Haram has never been an affiliate of al-Qaeda, some analysts surmise because al-Qaeda considers the Nigerians' indiscriminate slaughter of Muslim civilians as un-Islamic.
Recent offensives have marked a sharp escalation by African nations against Boko Haram. An African Union summit agreed on sending a force of 8,750 troops to fight Boko Haram.
Military operations in Niger's east have killed at least 500 Boko Haram fighters since Feb. 8, Nigerien officials have said.
Members of the UN Security Council proposed Thursday that the international community supply money, equipment, troops and intelligence to a five-nation African force fighting Boko Haram.
CBC
Related story: Video - Boko Haram pledge allegiance to ISIS
The development comes as both movements, which are among the most ruthless in the world, are under increasing military pressure.
ISIS seized much of northern and western Iraq last summer giving it control of about a third of both Iraq and Syria. But it is now struggling against Iraqi forces seeking to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, while coming under fire from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in other parts of the country and in Syria.
Boko Haram, meanwhile, has been weakened by a multinational force that has dislodged it from a score of northeastern Nigerian towns. But its new Twitter account, increasingly slick and more frequent video messages and a new media arm all were considered signs that the group is now being helped by ISIS propagandists.
Then on Saturday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau posted an audio recording online that pledged allegiance to ISIS. On Thursday, ISIS's media arm Al-Furqan, in an audio recording by spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said that Boko Haram's pledge of allegiance has been accepted, claiming the caliphate has now expanded to West Africa.
Al-Adnani had urged foreign fighters from around the world to migrate and join Boko Haram.
"We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims ... and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah," said the message.
J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, noted the Islamic State group's quick acceptance of Boko Haram's allegiance and said that the bond highlights a new risk.
"Militants finding it increasingly harder to get to Syria and Iraq may choose instead to go to northeastern Nigeria and internationalize that conflict," he said.
The Boko Haram pledge of allegiance to ISIS comes as the militants reportedly were massing in the northeastern Nigerian town of Gwoza, considered their headquarters, for a showdown with the Chadian-led multinational force.
Boko Haram killed an estimated 10,000 people last year, and it is blamed for last April's abduction of more than 275 schoolgirls. Thousands of Nigerians have fled to neighbouring Chad.
The group is waging a nearly six-year insurgency to impose Muslim Shariah law in Nigeria. It began launching attacks across the border into Cameroon last year, and this year its fighters struck in Niger and Chad in retaliation to their agreement to form a multinational force to fight the militants.
Boko Haram followed the lead of ISIS in August by declaring an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria that grew to cover an area the size of Belgium. ISIS had declared a caliphate in vast swaths of territory that it controls in Iraq and Syria.
The Nigerian group has also followed ISIS in publishing videos of beheadings. The latest one, published March 2, borrowed certain elements from ISIS productions, such as the sound of a beating heart and heavy breathing immediately before the execution, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
In video messages last year, Boko Haram's leader sent greetings and praise to both ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and leaders of al-Qaeda. But Boko Haram has never been an affiliate of al-Qaeda, some analysts surmise because al-Qaeda considers the Nigerians' indiscriminate slaughter of Muslim civilians as un-Islamic.
Recent offensives have marked a sharp escalation by African nations against Boko Haram. An African Union summit agreed on sending a force of 8,750 troops to fight Boko Haram.
Military operations in Niger's east have killed at least 500 Boko Haram fighters since Feb. 8, Nigerien officials have said.
Members of the UN Security Council proposed Thursday that the international community supply money, equipment, troops and intelligence to a five-nation African force fighting Boko Haram.
CBC
Related story: Video - Boko Haram pledge allegiance to ISIS
Thursday, March 12, 2015
President Goodluck Jonathan accuses opponent Muhammmadu Buhari of support of same sex marriage
President Goodluck Jonathan has accused his main challenger in March 28 election, Muhammadu Buhari, of assuring western nations of his preparedness to support same-sex marriage if he wins the forthcoming polls.
Mr. Jonathan, who spoke through his campaign organization, said Mr. Buhari made the pledge to secure the support of the countries to win election.
Femi Fani-Kayode, the Spokesperson of President Jonathan, said four western countries extracted a commitment from Mr. Buhari, who represents the All Progressives Congress, to support a legislation enabling same sex marriage.
Amid a flurry of apparently election-fuelled allegations, the claim by the Jonathan camp Wednesday seemed one of the most serious.
Still, Mr. Fani-Kayode, reputed for making unsubstantiated allegations against political opponents, refused to give the names of the four countries he was referring to.
Mr. Buhari, seen by his supporters as a non-nonsense former military leader, whose brief administration in the 1980s waged campaigns against indiscipline and corruption, has not given any hint suggesting he would condone same-sex relationship, already outlawed in Nigeria.
Nigeria's National Assembly has already passed a bill making gay marriage a criminal offense, and offenders risk spending 14 years in jail if convicted.
But addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Mr. Fani-Kayode said the proposition was made to Mr. Buhari by the representatives of a number of western governments when he was in the United Kingdom recently.
Mr. Fani Kayode said Mr. Buhari had appealed to the western leaders for support and to get their endorsement.
"He had talks with the representatives of at least four western countries. The leaders of those countries made an offer to General Muhammadu Buhari and we are reliably informed that he has put the offer under consideration.
"The proposition and offer was that if he was prepared to support legislation in Nigeria to allow same sex marriage and if he was prepared to repeal the anti-gay laws in Nigeria they will, in return, endorse, support and fund him, initially covertly and eventually publicly, at the right time," he said.
He also said that instead of out rightly rejecting these offers and spurning this proposition, Mr. Buhari "apparently refused to rule it out and has put the matter under consideration.
"Instead of him to say NO he assured them that he would consider these two things.
"We believe that this is a matter that ought to be brought to the attention of the Nigerian people as a matter of urgency," he said.
Mr. Fani-Kayode added that the APC are so desperate to ensure that Mr. Buhari becomes the President of Nigeria that they are actually prepared to consider the scrapping of all anti-gay or anti-homosexual legislations and at the same time, endorsing and supporting fresh legislation that would allow same sex marriage in the country.
"They are considering this despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Nigerian people find same sex marriage and, indeed, homosexuality repugnant and unacceptable.
"We are using this occasion to challenge General Buhari to come clean and to tell the Nigerian people whether this is true and whether, in the unlikely event of his being elected President, he is seriously considering scrapping the anti-homosexual laws in our country and pushing through new legislation which would allow same sex marriage," Mr. Fani-Kayode said.
Premium Times
Mr. Jonathan, who spoke through his campaign organization, said Mr. Buhari made the pledge to secure the support of the countries to win election.
Femi Fani-Kayode, the Spokesperson of President Jonathan, said four western countries extracted a commitment from Mr. Buhari, who represents the All Progressives Congress, to support a legislation enabling same sex marriage.
Amid a flurry of apparently election-fuelled allegations, the claim by the Jonathan camp Wednesday seemed one of the most serious.
Still, Mr. Fani-Kayode, reputed for making unsubstantiated allegations against political opponents, refused to give the names of the four countries he was referring to.
Mr. Buhari, seen by his supporters as a non-nonsense former military leader, whose brief administration in the 1980s waged campaigns against indiscipline and corruption, has not given any hint suggesting he would condone same-sex relationship, already outlawed in Nigeria.
Nigeria's National Assembly has already passed a bill making gay marriage a criminal offense, and offenders risk spending 14 years in jail if convicted.
But addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Mr. Fani-Kayode said the proposition was made to Mr. Buhari by the representatives of a number of western governments when he was in the United Kingdom recently.
Mr. Fani Kayode said Mr. Buhari had appealed to the western leaders for support and to get their endorsement.
"He had talks with the representatives of at least four western countries. The leaders of those countries made an offer to General Muhammadu Buhari and we are reliably informed that he has put the offer under consideration.
"The proposition and offer was that if he was prepared to support legislation in Nigeria to allow same sex marriage and if he was prepared to repeal the anti-gay laws in Nigeria they will, in return, endorse, support and fund him, initially covertly and eventually publicly, at the right time," he said.
He also said that instead of out rightly rejecting these offers and spurning this proposition, Mr. Buhari "apparently refused to rule it out and has put the matter under consideration.
"Instead of him to say NO he assured them that he would consider these two things.
"We believe that this is a matter that ought to be brought to the attention of the Nigerian people as a matter of urgency," he said.
Mr. Fani-Kayode added that the APC are so desperate to ensure that Mr. Buhari becomes the President of Nigeria that they are actually prepared to consider the scrapping of all anti-gay or anti-homosexual legislations and at the same time, endorsing and supporting fresh legislation that would allow same sex marriage in the country.
"They are considering this despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Nigerian people find same sex marriage and, indeed, homosexuality repugnant and unacceptable.
"We are using this occasion to challenge General Buhari to come clean and to tell the Nigerian people whether this is true and whether, in the unlikely event of his being elected President, he is seriously considering scrapping the anti-homosexual laws in our country and pushing through new legislation which would allow same sex marriage," Mr. Fani-Kayode said.
Premium Times
Morocco recalls its ambassador to Nigeria
Morocco has recalled its ambassador to Nigeria, in a row over whether the president of Nigeria is trying to use the king of Morocco to win over Muslim voters before Nigeria's elections this month.
Last week, the Moroccan royal palace said the king had declined a request for a telephone conversation with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Nigeria's foreign ministry denied the snub on Monday and said the two leaders had spoken extensively.
Jonathan, a Christian from southern Nigeria, will face former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim northerner, in elections on March 28. The election is expected to be the most closely fought since the end of military rule in 1999.
Nigeria's population is roughly split between Christians and Muslims. Both parties, the ruling People's Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, have been using religion to bolster support.
"Morocco confirms, in the clearest and strongest terms, that there has never been a phone conversation between the King Mohammed VI and the president of this country," a statement from the Moroccan foreign ministry said.
The Nigerian foreign ministry said it was "preposterous to suggest that Mr. President's telephone call to the Moroccan monarch was intended to confer any electoral advantage."
A spokesman for the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the recall.
Morocco cited "the hostile, recurrent and unfriendly positions of the Nigerian government with regard to the Moroccan Sahara issue and the sacred Arab-Muslim causes" as a reason for declining Jonathan's call.
Nigeria is one of the main supporters, along with Algeria and South Africa on the continent, of the independence movement Polisario Front in the disputed Western Sahara.
The territory is a tract of desert the size of Britain that has lucrative phosphate reserves and possibly oil, is the focus of Africa's longest-running territorial dispute, between Morocco and the Polisario guerrillas.
Reuters
Last week, the Moroccan royal palace said the king had declined a request for a telephone conversation with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Nigeria's foreign ministry denied the snub on Monday and said the two leaders had spoken extensively.
Jonathan, a Christian from southern Nigeria, will face former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim northerner, in elections on March 28. The election is expected to be the most closely fought since the end of military rule in 1999.
Nigeria's population is roughly split between Christians and Muslims. Both parties, the ruling People's Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, have been using religion to bolster support.
"Morocco confirms, in the clearest and strongest terms, that there has never been a phone conversation between the King Mohammed VI and the president of this country," a statement from the Moroccan foreign ministry said.
The Nigerian foreign ministry said it was "preposterous to suggest that Mr. President's telephone call to the Moroccan monarch was intended to confer any electoral advantage."
A spokesman for the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the recall.
Morocco cited "the hostile, recurrent and unfriendly positions of the Nigerian government with regard to the Moroccan Sahara issue and the sacred Arab-Muslim causes" as a reason for declining Jonathan's call.
Nigeria is one of the main supporters, along with Algeria and South Africa on the continent, of the independence movement Polisario Front in the disputed Western Sahara.
The territory is a tract of desert the size of Britain that has lucrative phosphate reserves and possibly oil, is the focus of Africa's longest-running territorial dispute, between Morocco and the Polisario guerrillas.
Reuters
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Video - Nigerian military re-capture more towns from Boko Haram
Nigeria's military said Tuesday it had only one town left to recapture from Boko Haram militants in the north-eastern state of Yobe, a former stronghold of the group. This as Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin mobilize forces to help Nigeria defeat the group, after it seized large swathes of territory and staged cross border attacks.
Nigeria ranked 2nd in most affordable internet service in emerging economies
Nigeria has ranked second as the country with the most affordable Internet in emerging nations according to a study conducted by Alliance for Affordable internet (A4AI).
In a presentation by Sonia Jorge, executive director, A4Ai, at the Ericsson and Alliance for Affordable Internet programme at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain recently, Nigeria was buoyed by a strong leadership and regulation of the industry, robust broadband strategy, effective competition in the telecommunications sector, efficient spectrum allocation, universal access to rural and underserved population, and infrastructure sharing, among others.
Jorge said “Nigeria comes second in the Affordability Index’s ranking of developing economies – scoring higher than other African developing economies like Kenya, Morocco and Uganda, and higher even than some emerging economies, including Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia.
The backbone infrastructure in Nigeria has improved significantly over the last decade, with multiple players, including Phase 3, Glo 1, Suburban Telecom, Multilink and MTN, building fibre networks that crisscross the country.
Minister of Communications Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson who spoke at the forum said what will grow the internet in Nigeria is local content and not over-reliance on YouTube and other such social media channels.
She said “What will drive the internet is relevant, local content. The most visited sites in Nigeria are the job and the news sites, not social media.”
Johnson informed that the decision of the Nigerian government that ICT was primary leading to creation of the Communication Technology Ministry has positively affected the fortunes of the sector.
She hailed the commitment of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to the development of broadband technology in the country, pointing out that on presentation of the Broadband Report to him in 2013, the president immediately gave the implementation go-ahead.
His action has added impetus to what is happening in the sector.
Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), plans to award seven licenses to regional infrastructure companies to extend broadband infrastructure nationally.
The first two of these were awarded in early 2015 to MainOne and HIS Communications to provide services in Lagos and North Central states, respectively.
The government is also working to improve infrastructure sharing among these operators, who have traditionally built overlapping fibre networks.
The nascent “Smart States” initiative, which sees states committing to reduce the cost of broadband access by reducing taxation and simplifying regulation, is also a positive step.
Nigeria’s mobile broadband penetration rate stands at just 10 per cent despite the fact that close to 40 per cent of Nigerians use the Internet – and the government has put in place policies to increase this penetration level to 30 per cent by 2018.
Leadership
In a presentation by Sonia Jorge, executive director, A4Ai, at the Ericsson and Alliance for Affordable Internet programme at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain recently, Nigeria was buoyed by a strong leadership and regulation of the industry, robust broadband strategy, effective competition in the telecommunications sector, efficient spectrum allocation, universal access to rural and underserved population, and infrastructure sharing, among others.
Jorge said “Nigeria comes second in the Affordability Index’s ranking of developing economies – scoring higher than other African developing economies like Kenya, Morocco and Uganda, and higher even than some emerging economies, including Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia.
The backbone infrastructure in Nigeria has improved significantly over the last decade, with multiple players, including Phase 3, Glo 1, Suburban Telecom, Multilink and MTN, building fibre networks that crisscross the country.
Minister of Communications Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson who spoke at the forum said what will grow the internet in Nigeria is local content and not over-reliance on YouTube and other such social media channels.
She said “What will drive the internet is relevant, local content. The most visited sites in Nigeria are the job and the news sites, not social media.”
Johnson informed that the decision of the Nigerian government that ICT was primary leading to creation of the Communication Technology Ministry has positively affected the fortunes of the sector.
She hailed the commitment of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to the development of broadband technology in the country, pointing out that on presentation of the Broadband Report to him in 2013, the president immediately gave the implementation go-ahead.
His action has added impetus to what is happening in the sector.
Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), plans to award seven licenses to regional infrastructure companies to extend broadband infrastructure nationally.
The first two of these were awarded in early 2015 to MainOne and HIS Communications to provide services in Lagos and North Central states, respectively.
The government is also working to improve infrastructure sharing among these operators, who have traditionally built overlapping fibre networks.
The nascent “Smart States” initiative, which sees states committing to reduce the cost of broadband access by reducing taxation and simplifying regulation, is also a positive step.
Nigeria’s mobile broadband penetration rate stands at just 10 per cent despite the fact that close to 40 per cent of Nigerians use the Internet – and the government has put in place policies to increase this penetration level to 30 per cent by 2018.
Leadership
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Video - Activists pressure Nigerian government to find kidnapped schoolgirls
The abduction of some 270 school girls in northeastern Nigeria highlighted the dangers that women caught up in armed conflict face. The incident sparked global condemnation and a social media campaign to rescue the girls. But today, the hashtag 'Bring-Back-Our-Girls' is only being used by a small group of activists in the capital Abuja.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Uber is recording exponential grown in Lagos, Nigeria
Atawodi said this was due to the company’s strict adherence to top-quality service, safety, innovation and price transparency. She added the company was boosting the Nigerian economy by promoting job creation, creating more opportunities for drivers and making the roads in Lagos less congested.
“Our vision is to have fewer cars on Lagos roads,” Atawodi said. That’s a noble goal. With a population of well over 5-million people, the mega city is a leading contender for the worst traffic in the world.
Prior to the arrival of Uber, the general manager said taxi drivers in Lagos often had to drive along roads in search of passengers, burning costly fuel and wearing out their vehicles.
“What we are now telling them is to sit in their cars and customers will reach them. That way they will save fuel and prolong the lifespan of their vehicles,” she said.
As a global company focused on ensuring top-quality services are provided in all its operating cities, Uber Lagos — according to its general manager — is striving to ensure that services offered in Lagos are similar to those offered in London, New York and elsewhere.
Atawodi said the company was achieving this, as evident in the observation that about 20% of Uber Lagos customers have used Uber services in other parts of the world.
To achieve this, the company is striving to uphold Uber’s global standards of reliability and transparency. Drivers are trained and must qualify before they are added to the system. Furthermore, the oldest car model allowed on Uber Lagos is pegged at 2008, and all cars must be insured.
Atawodi noted that Lagos is one of the world’s most rapidly growing cities, but its landmass is not expanding. She noted that individuals buying more cars would further worsen the city’s traffic situation. A solution, she said, is via asset-sharing.
When Uber rides are shared, more people will be transported per trip than expected and more revenue would accrue to the drivers. Today in Lagos, Uber customers have the option of splitting the transport fare with friends, but this is expected to further expand with the introduction of UberPool.
“UberPool is a car pooling service using our world-class technology. It will maximise car utilisation by seven times and dramatically reduce the number of cars on the road,” Atawodi said.
Within the six months Uber has been operating in Nigeria, Atawodi revealed it’s also been involved in the global Uber on Demand culture, in which unique products and services — including personnel — are delivered via the Uber-backed service. Such services include delivery of kittens, ice cream, and helicopters.
“On Valentine’s Day, we also delivered hampers and cupcakes. I’m looking forward to a time when we can also deliver Gele [a popular type of Nigerian female fashion head gear],” she said.
She also announced that some companies in Nigeria were signing up with Uber for Business, a service that allows officials of an organisation to use Uber service while the registered corporate account takes care of the bill.
Towards the tail end of our interactive session, the issue of customers enjoying rides without having sufficient money in their account to offset the bill was raised. However, Atawodi revealed the incidence of this is very low in Nigeria compared to other parts of the world. She also commended Nigerian banks, which she said were way ahead of those in other emerging markets.
“Lagos is surprising the world, payments are going through in Lagos and Nigerian banks are moved ahead of their counterparts in other emerging markets. They deserve to be commended,” she said.
When the session finally ended, I asked her about the impact Uber Nairobi could have on Uber’s operations in Lagos and other African countries, where more citizens rely on mobile money rather than credit cards. She admitted that there were discussions underway about the possibility of introducing mobile money in African cities but no decision has yet been made.
The general manager and other Uber reps said the company currently has a 10-minute average estimated time of arrival (ETA) in Lagos. Similarly, personal experience revealed Uber Lagos’ ETA varies from one part of the city to another. I requested a ride at Obalende and the driver’s ETA was about 15 minutes, but when I requested a ride from Federal Palace Hotel, the driver arrived around five minutes later.
“We are aiming to have an average ETA of less than three minutes and to achieve this we will be aiming to achieve exponential growth in supply,” Atawodi said.
But signing up more drivers isn’t the only step Uber needs to take to achieve the set goal and to remain successful in Nigeria. It also has to ensure customer experience is similar on all Uber rides — from simple touches, such as opening the door for the customer and inquiring about their choice of music or radio, to more serious issues such as preventing the occurrence of incidents such as the alleged passenger rape in India. Uber still has a long way to go. But it’s good to know the company knows this.
Ventureburn
Related story: Bitcoin exchange market coming to Nigeria
kidnapped American missionary released
A Free Methodist missionary from Seattle was released Friday evening, Nigeria time, March 6, after being abducted Feb. 23 and held for ransom.
The ransom for Phyllis Sortor, 71, originally was set at about $300,000 in U.S. funds, but about a week later the amount was dropped to about $150,000.
No information was given as to the terms, if any, of her release, or the name of the group or gang that kidnapped her.
"We are deeply grateful to all who prayed for Phyllis' safe return and praise God the family representative was able to secure her release," said David Kendall in a statement. He is bishop of the 850,000-member worldwide denomination.
Related story: American missionary kidnapped in Kogi, Nigeria
The ransom for Phyllis Sortor, 71, originally was set at about $300,000 in U.S. funds, but about a week later the amount was dropped to about $150,000.
No information was given as to the terms, if any, of her release, or the name of the group or gang that kidnapped her.
"We are deeply grateful to all who prayed for Phyllis' safe return and praise God the family representative was able to secure her release," said David Kendall in a statement. He is bishop of the 850,000-member worldwide denomination.
Related story: American missionary kidnapped in Kogi, Nigeria
Chad and Niger military forces join Nigeria in tackling Boko Haram
A Chadian general has confirmed that military forces from Chad and Niger have gone into northeast Nigeria to attack Boko Haram.
Gen. Zakaria Ngobongue told The Associated Press in Chad on Monday that the troop movement marks a second front in northeast Nigeria against the extremist Islamic group. Soldiers opened the first front recently.
Adam Boukarna, a resident of Bosso which in Niger across Nigeria’s northeast border, said that vehicles have been crossing since Saturday. He said after they all crossed into Nigeria loud detonations could be heard, signalling fighting against Boko Haram members.
Nigeria’s neighbours are forming a multinational army to confront Boko Haram.
Niger’s government has not publicly confirmed this ground assault.
Cameroon’s minister of defence Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o confirmed there was an offensive by Nigeria and Chad but that Cameroon’s military was not present because they’ve been asked to protect Cameroon’s borders from the militants. Boko Haram members have been hiding themselves and supplies in Cameroon, and there are fears that the group may want to escape there when fighting intensifies in Nigeria, he said.
Residents in potential conflict zones in Cameroon have been asked to leave, he said.
Boko Haram’s Islamic uprising has killed about 12,000 people in the nearly 6-year-old Islamic uprising in northeastern Nigeria.
AP
Related story: Video - Nigerian military will continue to take fight to Boko haram during Presidential elections
Gen. Zakaria Ngobongue told The Associated Press in Chad on Monday that the troop movement marks a second front in northeast Nigeria against the extremist Islamic group. Soldiers opened the first front recently.
Adam Boukarna, a resident of Bosso which in Niger across Nigeria’s northeast border, said that vehicles have been crossing since Saturday. He said after they all crossed into Nigeria loud detonations could be heard, signalling fighting against Boko Haram members.
Nigeria’s neighbours are forming a multinational army to confront Boko Haram.
Niger’s government has not publicly confirmed this ground assault.
Cameroon’s minister of defence Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o confirmed there was an offensive by Nigeria and Chad but that Cameroon’s military was not present because they’ve been asked to protect Cameroon’s borders from the militants. Boko Haram members have been hiding themselves and supplies in Cameroon, and there are fears that the group may want to escape there when fighting intensifies in Nigeria, he said.
Residents in potential conflict zones in Cameroon have been asked to leave, he said.
Boko Haram’s Islamic uprising has killed about 12,000 people in the nearly 6-year-old Islamic uprising in northeastern Nigeria.
AP
Related story: Video - Nigerian military will continue to take fight to Boko haram during Presidential elections
Friday, March 6, 2015
Video - Nigerian military will continue to take fight to Boko haram during Presidential elections
Nigeria's military has signalled its offensive against Boko Haram will continue through the elections scheduled later this month. The government had given the army six weeks to defeat the Islamist militant group. But the military says it's unlikely to hold to that deadline.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Video - Poverty persists in oil rich Niger Delta in Nigeria
The Niger Delta is where almost all of Nigeria’s oil comes from, but the region remains one of the poorest in Nigeria.President Goodluck Jonathan hails from the region, and when he was elected, many people hoped their lives would improve. However, little has changed.
Related stories: Shell to pay 55 million pounds for oil spills in Nigeria
Video - Farmers await verdict in historical case against Shell for oil pollution
Woman beaten to death by mob in Nigeria was not suicide bomber
A woman who was beaten to death in northern Nigeria on suspicion of being a suicide bomber was in fact mentally ill and not involved in terrorism, according to police and her family.
Thabita Haruna, 33, was attacked by a mob on Sunday after she refused to be screened at a marketplace in Bauchi.
Police are investigating the attack and have yet to make any arrests.
Boko Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have been using women to carry out suicide bombings.
The militants want to impose a strict version of Islam and have declared a caliphate in the territory under their control.
Ms Haruna was set upon by a mob last Sunday after she refused to be searched by vigilantes at the entrance to a marketplace.
A witness told the AFP news agency that the woman came under suspicion when two bottles were found strapped to her waist.
The mob placed a tyre sprinkled with petrol over the woman's head and set it alight after she was beaten, according to witnesses.
Police say that she was dead by the time they arrived at the scene. Earlier reports had indicated that the woman was a teenager.
The woman's family says she had worked as a market trader until 2007, when she became mentally ill.
"I feel very very sad because she is my blood," Ms Haruna's sister told the BBC this week. "We sleep in the same bed, we eat at the same plate…. That really pains me."
According to the BBC Hausa service's Ishaq Khalid in Bauchi, the people in the town have condemned the attack.
Boko Haram has taken to sending women on suicide missions, fuelling concern that its insurgency has entered a more ruthless phase.
Teenagers have been used to carry explosives into busy markets and bus stations, raising additional fears that some of Boko Haram's hundreds of kidnap victims may have been forced into carrying out bomb attacks.
February's presidential election has been postponed because of the unrest. The vote is now due to take place on 28 March.
BBC
Related story: Mob in Nigeria beat to death suspected female suicide bomber
Thabita Haruna, 33, was attacked by a mob on Sunday after she refused to be screened at a marketplace in Bauchi.
Police are investigating the attack and have yet to make any arrests.
Boko Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have been using women to carry out suicide bombings.
The militants want to impose a strict version of Islam and have declared a caliphate in the territory under their control.
Ms Haruna was set upon by a mob last Sunday after she refused to be searched by vigilantes at the entrance to a marketplace.
A witness told the AFP news agency that the woman came under suspicion when two bottles were found strapped to her waist.
The mob placed a tyre sprinkled with petrol over the woman's head and set it alight after she was beaten, according to witnesses.
Police say that she was dead by the time they arrived at the scene. Earlier reports had indicated that the woman was a teenager.
The woman's family says she had worked as a market trader until 2007, when she became mentally ill.
"I feel very very sad because she is my blood," Ms Haruna's sister told the BBC this week. "We sleep in the same bed, we eat at the same plate…. That really pains me."
According to the BBC Hausa service's Ishaq Khalid in Bauchi, the people in the town have condemned the attack.
Boko Haram has taken to sending women on suicide missions, fuelling concern that its insurgency has entered a more ruthless phase.
Teenagers have been used to carry explosives into busy markets and bus stations, raising additional fears that some of Boko Haram's hundreds of kidnap victims may have been forced into carrying out bomb attacks.
February's presidential election has been postponed because of the unrest. The vote is now due to take place on 28 March.
BBC
Related story: Mob in Nigeria beat to death suspected female suicide bomber
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Video - Short film about business man facilitating desperate Nigerian illegal immigration to North America
Chuks is a businessman who deals in a peculiar business. For a handsome fee, he facilitates the transportation of desperate Nigerian illegal immigrants looking for greener pastures in North America.
2014 official selection at Toronto International Short Film Festival
2015 official selection at Pan African Film Festival - Los Angeles
Video - Aljazeera talks to President Goodluck Jonathan
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan vowed to defeat Boko Haram.
The armed group has killed thousands of people in the country's north east.
Jonathan denied mishandling the Boko Haram crisis, and allegations a recent step up in military operations against the group, was politically motivated. He also expressed fears about violence during the upcoming presidential election which was postponed because of a lack of security.
The President also touched on corruption. And whether the country's elections will be moved again.
Boko Haram releases beheading video in similar style to ISIL
Nigeria’s militant sect Boko Haram released a video purporting to show it beheading two men, its first online posting using advanced graphics and editing techniques reminiscent of footage from ISIL.
The film, released on Monday, shows militants standing behind the two men who are on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs, with one man standing over them, holding a knife.
One of the men is made to tell the camera that they had been paid by authorities to spy on the militant group, before the film moves to another scene showing their decapitated bodies. It was not possible to confirm the film’s authenticity or date.
The footage will stoke concerns that Boko Haram, which evolved out of a clerical movement focused on northeast Nigeria, is expanding its scope and seeking inspiration from global militant networks.
The militants who have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in their bid to carve out an Islamist state in their homeland, have in recent months stepped up cross-border raids into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has said Boko Haram is allied to both Al Qaida and its offshoot ISIL, though that has not been confirmed by the group itself.
The Boko Haram film’s use of graphics, the footage of black-clad militants with a black flag, and the editing to show only the aftermath of the beheading, were particularly reminiscent of footage from Daesh, which has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and killed several hostages.
In the film, one of the men says he comes from Baga in Borno state, and the other says he is from Michika in Adamawa state, both areas where the army says it has recently recaptured territory from Boko Haram.
Past Boko Haram films have been much cruder affairs, often featuring a man identified as leader Abubakar Shekau talking about local gripes. A number of recent releases have included much more gruesome footage of beheadings.
Gulf News
The film, released on Monday, shows militants standing behind the two men who are on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs, with one man standing over them, holding a knife.
One of the men is made to tell the camera that they had been paid by authorities to spy on the militant group, before the film moves to another scene showing their decapitated bodies. It was not possible to confirm the film’s authenticity or date.
The footage will stoke concerns that Boko Haram, which evolved out of a clerical movement focused on northeast Nigeria, is expanding its scope and seeking inspiration from global militant networks.
The militants who have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in their bid to carve out an Islamist state in their homeland, have in recent months stepped up cross-border raids into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has said Boko Haram is allied to both Al Qaida and its offshoot ISIL, though that has not been confirmed by the group itself.
The Boko Haram film’s use of graphics, the footage of black-clad militants with a black flag, and the editing to show only the aftermath of the beheading, were particularly reminiscent of footage from Daesh, which has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and killed several hostages.
In the film, one of the men says he comes from Baga in Borno state, and the other says he is from Michika in Adamawa state, both areas where the army says it has recently recaptured territory from Boko Haram.
Past Boko Haram films have been much cruder affairs, often featuring a man identified as leader Abubakar Shekau talking about local gripes. A number of recent releases have included much more gruesome footage of beheadings.
Gulf News
Online tax filing now available in Nigeria
The Federal Inland Revenue Service on Monday announced the take-off of the online tax payers' platform to ease the payment of taxes in the country.
The Service explained that with the new arrangement, anybody who wishes to pay tax can easily do so online by logging into the internet banking platform of any of the commercial banks, choose the FIRS link and follow the prompts.
Acting Chairman of the FIRS, Kabir Mashi, said the new platform is the product of the electronic tax-pay solution, an ease of tax payment initiative of the Service in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System and Systemspecs Limited.
At the launch and public sensitization of the new platform in Lagos, Mr. Mashi explained that the e-Tax Pay Solution was a self-service FIRS channel available on all commercial banks.'
He said once a taxpayer logs into any bank's Internet banking platform, he can access the FIRS link to pay his taxes and submit necessary documents the same way he may chose to pay other bills.
The Chairman, who was represented at the occasion by an official of the FIRS, Achilis Amahwe, explained that the system is simple and convenient to operate.
"It is that accessible and it is very secure," he said. "Taxpayers do not have to go to any tax office before taxes are paid. Tax payment is just a click away," he said.
According to him, it was the quest for simplification of the tax payment process and ease of access to tax services that led FIRS to roll out the electronic filing service under the Integrated Tax Administration System.
The new system, he said, serves as a means of reducing time and cost of compliance for taxpayers as well as ease interface between taxpayers and authorities.
Besides, he said the system provides additional convenience for taxpayers interested in, from the comfort of their homes and offices, uploading their tax returns on the e-Tax Pay Solution platform.
Mr. Mashi urged taxpayers to cultivate the attitude of using the e-Tax Pay Solution, or e-filing platforms, as those were created for their convenience and ultimately engender a transparent and efficient tax system that optimizes tax revenue collection and voluntary compliance.
He said the FIRS was hoping that taxpayers would respond positively to these innovations and utilize them to a large scale.
The new system would not only ease compliance for the taxpayers, but also enable FIRS to ensure greater transparency in tax operations.
This would give Nigerians full access to their records, which they uploaded as well as payments they make," the Chairman said.
The Coordinating Director, Field Operations Group, who was represented by Director, Medium Tax Department, Peter Olayemi, said the e-Tax Pay Solution would boost tax revenue collection.
The self-service initiatives, he said, were introduced to strengthen the self-assessment regime and improve voluntary tax compliance using the online payment options.
These initiatives would bring in more tax revenues and also provide convenience for both the taxpayers and the tax authorities." Mr. Olayemi said.
Also speaking at the event, the Director, Programme Management Office (Tax), Gbolaga Oshiga, said the platform was so user-friendly and interactive that a first-time user would not find it difficult to complete the process.
The launch and demonstration of the platform attracted stakeholders from various sectors of the Nigerian economy including Dangote Plc, Guiness Nigeria, Chevron, banks and telecommunications operators.
The e-Tax Pay Solution is an initiative put together by the FIRS in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and System Specs Limited to meet the expectations of taxation stakeholders in the area of service delivery.
Premium Times
The Service explained that with the new arrangement, anybody who wishes to pay tax can easily do so online by logging into the internet banking platform of any of the commercial banks, choose the FIRS link and follow the prompts.
Acting Chairman of the FIRS, Kabir Mashi, said the new platform is the product of the electronic tax-pay solution, an ease of tax payment initiative of the Service in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System and Systemspecs Limited.
At the launch and public sensitization of the new platform in Lagos, Mr. Mashi explained that the e-Tax Pay Solution was a self-service FIRS channel available on all commercial banks.'
He said once a taxpayer logs into any bank's Internet banking platform, he can access the FIRS link to pay his taxes and submit necessary documents the same way he may chose to pay other bills.
The Chairman, who was represented at the occasion by an official of the FIRS, Achilis Amahwe, explained that the system is simple and convenient to operate.
"It is that accessible and it is very secure," he said. "Taxpayers do not have to go to any tax office before taxes are paid. Tax payment is just a click away," he said.
According to him, it was the quest for simplification of the tax payment process and ease of access to tax services that led FIRS to roll out the electronic filing service under the Integrated Tax Administration System.
The new system, he said, serves as a means of reducing time and cost of compliance for taxpayers as well as ease interface between taxpayers and authorities.
Besides, he said the system provides additional convenience for taxpayers interested in, from the comfort of their homes and offices, uploading their tax returns on the e-Tax Pay Solution platform.
Mr. Mashi urged taxpayers to cultivate the attitude of using the e-Tax Pay Solution, or e-filing platforms, as those were created for their convenience and ultimately engender a transparent and efficient tax system that optimizes tax revenue collection and voluntary compliance.
He said the FIRS was hoping that taxpayers would respond positively to these innovations and utilize them to a large scale.
The new system would not only ease compliance for the taxpayers, but also enable FIRS to ensure greater transparency in tax operations.
This would give Nigerians full access to their records, which they uploaded as well as payments they make," the Chairman said.
The Coordinating Director, Field Operations Group, who was represented by Director, Medium Tax Department, Peter Olayemi, said the e-Tax Pay Solution would boost tax revenue collection.
The self-service initiatives, he said, were introduced to strengthen the self-assessment regime and improve voluntary tax compliance using the online payment options.
These initiatives would bring in more tax revenues and also provide convenience for both the taxpayers and the tax authorities." Mr. Olayemi said.
Also speaking at the event, the Director, Programme Management Office (Tax), Gbolaga Oshiga, said the platform was so user-friendly and interactive that a first-time user would not find it difficult to complete the process.
The launch and demonstration of the platform attracted stakeholders from various sectors of the Nigerian economy including Dangote Plc, Guiness Nigeria, Chevron, banks and telecommunications operators.
The e-Tax Pay Solution is an initiative put together by the FIRS in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and System Specs Limited to meet the expectations of taxation stakeholders in the area of service delivery.
Premium Times
Monday, March 2, 2015
Video - Nigerian military making advancements against Boko Haram
Nigeria's military says never again will it suffer a defeat at the hands of Boko Haram like it did at Baga. It is racing against a tight deadline to defeat Boko Haram insurgents ahead of the March 28th presidential elections. But with just four weeks to go, the militants have been resurgent this past week with at least 86 people killed in explosions at bus stations in the north and central regions.
Mob in Nigeria beat to death suspected female suicide bomber
A mob in northeastern Nigeria has beaten a woman to death and burnt her body over suspicion she was planning to carry out a suicide bombing, police and witnesses have said.
Witnesses said the victim and a second woman had refused to be searched at the entrance of the largest market in the city of Bauchi on Sunday morning.Bauchi state police spokesman Haruna Mohammed described the slain woman as the victim of "mob action carried out by an irate crowd".
It seemed doubtful the woman was actually a bomber as she did not detonate any explosives when she was attacked, Mohammed said.
He said police had deployed to the scene to disperse the mob but the woman died before officers could rescue her. None of the attackers were arrested, he said.
However, the second woman who allegedly refused to be searched was arrested, the Associated Press reported. The news agency said both women were teenagers.
Vegetable vendor Mohd Adamu told the AP that when the women refused to be screened, people overpowered one girl and discovered she had two bottles strapped to her body. They clubbed her to death, put a tyre doused in fuel over her head and set it on fire, he said.
A spate of suicide bombings has been blamed on Nigeria's Boko Haram group, which wants to enforce strict Islamic law in the north.
Recently some girls as young as 10 years old have been used to carry explosives that detonated in busy markets and bus stations. It is unclear whether the girls detonated explosives themselves or whether the bombs were controlled remotely.
About 10,000 people died in Nigeria from Boko Haram's violence last year, compared to 2,000 in the first four years of the group's armed campaign, according to the US Council on Foreign Relations. About 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes.
Aljazeera
Witnesses said the victim and a second woman had refused to be searched at the entrance of the largest market in the city of Bauchi on Sunday morning.Bauchi state police spokesman Haruna Mohammed described the slain woman as the victim of "mob action carried out by an irate crowd".
It seemed doubtful the woman was actually a bomber as she did not detonate any explosives when she was attacked, Mohammed said.
He said police had deployed to the scene to disperse the mob but the woman died before officers could rescue her. None of the attackers were arrested, he said.
However, the second woman who allegedly refused to be searched was arrested, the Associated Press reported. The news agency said both women were teenagers.
Vegetable vendor Mohd Adamu told the AP that when the women refused to be screened, people overpowered one girl and discovered she had two bottles strapped to her body. They clubbed her to death, put a tyre doused in fuel over her head and set it on fire, he said.
A spate of suicide bombings has been blamed on Nigeria's Boko Haram group, which wants to enforce strict Islamic law in the north.
Recently some girls as young as 10 years old have been used to carry explosives that detonated in busy markets and bus stations. It is unclear whether the girls detonated explosives themselves or whether the bombs were controlled remotely.
About 10,000 people died in Nigeria from Boko Haram's violence last year, compared to 2,000 in the first four years of the group's armed campaign, according to the US Council on Foreign Relations. About 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes.
Aljazeera
Friday, February 27, 2015
Video - The mass unemployed in Nigeria
Goodluck Jonathan says he'll create two million jobs if he's re-elected as President of Nigeria.
But the low price of oil, which is the bedrock of their economy, may impact those plans.
Around a quarter of Nigerians of working age are currently unemployed.
Amongst the youth, the figure is much higher, at more than 50 percent.
Suicide bombings in Jos and Biu kill 35 people
At least 35 people were killed on Thursday in two attacks in the northeast Nigerian town of Biu and central Nigerian city of Jos, according to residents and the military.
In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at Tashar Gandu bus station on the outskirts of the town of Biu in northeast Nigerian Borno state, killing 18 people and injuring six others.
A second bomber was mobbed and killed before he could detonate his explosives at the scene of the carnage, residents and local vigilantes said.
"We have received 18 dead bodies from the scene of the suicide explosion along with six injured victims," said a nurse at the Biu General Hospital who asked not to be named to protect her safety.
"The two men came to the bus station around 2:55 p.m. pretending to be traders intending to take a bus back to their village and one of them detonated his explosives among a group of passengers waiting to board a bus," local vigilante Ahmad Girema said.
"He killed 18 people, including three women. His accomplice was, however, restrained by the crowd around before he could pull the trigger ... and (he was) beaten to death," Girema said.
His account was supported by Laminu Kolo, a driver at the bus station.
An angry mob later doused the body of the failed bomber with gasoline and set it alight from a distance, causing the unexploded devices on him to explode, Kolo said.
Hours later, 17 people were killed in the central city of Jos when explosives were thrown on two crowds from a moving car.
"There were twin explosions along Bauchi Road this evening, which killed 17 people and injured some others," said Iweaha Ikedichi, military spokesman in the city.
Ikedichi declined to provide details of the incident.
However, witnesses said two explosives were thrown at an open-air bus station along Bauchi Road, killing five people and injuring several others.
"There was a heavy downpour today and soon after the rains stopped, a car drove along the road and two explosives were thrown at the motor park, which killed five people," said Sagir Badaru, a driver at the Bauchi Road bus station.
"The car threw another explosive in the midst of grocers outside the main bus station some hundreds of meters away, killing 12 people and wounding many," Badaru said.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Boko Haram Islamists, who have carried out deadly bombings in Biu and Jos, are the prime suspects.
The Islamists are believed to be behind a recent spate of suicide bombings and attacks in parts of the north in response to a sweeping offensive on Boko Haram strongholds in northeast Nigeria by a regional alliance of troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
CNN
In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at Tashar Gandu bus station on the outskirts of the town of Biu in northeast Nigerian Borno state, killing 18 people and injuring six others.
A second bomber was mobbed and killed before he could detonate his explosives at the scene of the carnage, residents and local vigilantes said.
"We have received 18 dead bodies from the scene of the suicide explosion along with six injured victims," said a nurse at the Biu General Hospital who asked not to be named to protect her safety.
"The two men came to the bus station around 2:55 p.m. pretending to be traders intending to take a bus back to their village and one of them detonated his explosives among a group of passengers waiting to board a bus," local vigilante Ahmad Girema said.
"He killed 18 people, including three women. His accomplice was, however, restrained by the crowd around before he could pull the trigger ... and (he was) beaten to death," Girema said.
His account was supported by Laminu Kolo, a driver at the bus station.
An angry mob later doused the body of the failed bomber with gasoline and set it alight from a distance, causing the unexploded devices on him to explode, Kolo said.
Hours later, 17 people were killed in the central city of Jos when explosives were thrown on two crowds from a moving car.
"There were twin explosions along Bauchi Road this evening, which killed 17 people and injured some others," said Iweaha Ikedichi, military spokesman in the city.
Ikedichi declined to provide details of the incident.
However, witnesses said two explosives were thrown at an open-air bus station along Bauchi Road, killing five people and injuring several others.
"There was a heavy downpour today and soon after the rains stopped, a car drove along the road and two explosives were thrown at the motor park, which killed five people," said Sagir Badaru, a driver at the Bauchi Road bus station.
"The car threw another explosive in the midst of grocers outside the main bus station some hundreds of meters away, killing 12 people and wounding many," Badaru said.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Boko Haram Islamists, who have carried out deadly bombings in Biu and Jos, are the prime suspects.
The Islamists are believed to be behind a recent spate of suicide bombings and attacks in parts of the north in response to a sweeping offensive on Boko Haram strongholds in northeast Nigeria by a regional alliance of troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
CNN
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Video - Printing business capitalizing on upcoming presidential elections in Nigeria
The business boom for printers in Nigeria continues, given the postponement of the country's elections to the 28th of March. Demand for posters, banners and t-shirts from politicians, so far, remains strong. In the south of the country, the printing industry is very, very busy.
Chinese construction worker kidnapped in Nasarawa, Nigeria
Gunmen on Tuesday kidnapped a Chinese National, Chui Fu Long, the police in Nasarawa State have said.
Mr. Long works with a construction company in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The state police spokesperson, Ismaila Numan, said that security agencies have commenced a search and rescue mission to ensure the release of the Chinese.
Mr. Numan explained that officers of Command are ensuring that the culprits are apprehended and the expatriate released as soon as possible.
He appealed to members of the public to avail the police any information that will lead to immediate release of the kidnapped man.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that about seven gunmen stormed the Adadu construction site at about 4:30 p.m. shooting sporadically in the air before kidnapping the expatriate.
Premium Times
Related story: American missionary kidnapped in Kogi, Nigeria
Mr. Long works with a construction company in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The state police spokesperson, Ismaila Numan, said that security agencies have commenced a search and rescue mission to ensure the release of the Chinese.
Mr. Numan explained that officers of Command are ensuring that the culprits are apprehended and the expatriate released as soon as possible.
He appealed to members of the public to avail the police any information that will lead to immediate release of the kidnapped man.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that about seven gunmen stormed the Adadu construction site at about 4:30 p.m. shooting sporadically in the air before kidnapping the expatriate.
Premium Times
Related story: American missionary kidnapped in Kogi, Nigeria
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Video - Nigerian army takes back Baga territory from Boko Haram
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan says the military is gaining the upper hand against Boko Haram, despite two bombings in the country's north that killed at least 27. Goodluck, who has been criticised for his inability to end the six-year insurgency, described the attacks as the "callous bombing of soft targets".
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
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
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
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
158 kidnapped women and children freed from Boko Haram in Nigeria
A group of 158 women and children abducted by Boko Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria in December have been reunited with their families.
They were kidnapped during a raid on Katarko village in Yobe state and spent about a month in captivity.
The circumstances of their release are unclear but they were eventually handed over to the state authorities for counselling and rehabilitation.
Officials said the reunion in the state capital, Damaturu, was jubilant.
In April last year, the Islamist insurgents caused worldwide outrage when they kidnapped more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok in Borno state, which borders Yobe.
The schoolgirls have yet to be rescued despite military assistance from countries such as China, France, the UK and the US.
'Very happy'
Of the 158 people reunited with their families, 62 were married women and the rest were children, Musa Idi Jidawa, the secretary of Yobe's State Emergency Management Agency (Sema), told the BBC.
He said husbands of 16 of the women had been killed by Boko Haram during the attack.
Muhammdu Katarko said he was very happy to see his two daughters at the reunion on Thursday.
"I had given up when they were kidnapped; my hope was to see even their dead bodies," he told the BBC Hausa service.
"But fortunately I have now seen them alive, health and hearty."
One of the abductees, who requested anonymity, told reporters in Damaturu that they were treated humanely by the militants.
She said the insurgents did not rape or abuse the women during their stay.
The BBC's Ishaq Khalid reporting from neighbouring Bauchi state says there were conflicting accounts about how the abductees gained their freedom.
Some reports suggested the insurgents released them voluntarily and took them to the outskirts of Damaturu, he says.
But Mr Jidawa said the militants had come under attack from the security forces and they had run away, leaving behind their captives.
The reunited families will stay in Damaturu until it is safe to return to their village, which is still occupied by Boko Haram fighters and is in an area where the military is carrying out operations.
BBC
They were kidnapped during a raid on Katarko village in Yobe state and spent about a month in captivity.
The circumstances of their release are unclear but they were eventually handed over to the state authorities for counselling and rehabilitation.
Officials said the reunion in the state capital, Damaturu, was jubilant.
In April last year, the Islamist insurgents caused worldwide outrage when they kidnapped more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok in Borno state, which borders Yobe.
The schoolgirls have yet to be rescued despite military assistance from countries such as China, France, the UK and the US.
'Very happy'
Of the 158 people reunited with their families, 62 were married women and the rest were children, Musa Idi Jidawa, the secretary of Yobe's State Emergency Management Agency (Sema), told the BBC.
He said husbands of 16 of the women had been killed by Boko Haram during the attack.
Muhammdu Katarko said he was very happy to see his two daughters at the reunion on Thursday.
"I had given up when they were kidnapped; my hope was to see even their dead bodies," he told the BBC Hausa service.
"But fortunately I have now seen them alive, health and hearty."
One of the abductees, who requested anonymity, told reporters in Damaturu that they were treated humanely by the militants.
She said the insurgents did not rape or abuse the women during their stay.
The BBC's Ishaq Khalid reporting from neighbouring Bauchi state says there were conflicting accounts about how the abductees gained their freedom.
Some reports suggested the insurgents released them voluntarily and took them to the outskirts of Damaturu, he says.
But Mr Jidawa said the militants had come under attack from the security forces and they had run away, leaving behind their captives.
The reunited families will stay in Damaturu until it is safe to return to their village, which is still occupied by Boko Haram fighters and is in an area where the military is carrying out operations.
BBC
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Air Strike in Niger kills 37 civilians
Thirty-seven people have died in an air strike in southern Niger, local officials say.
They were attending a funeral ceremony in Abadam village on the border with Nigeria when an unidentified plane began dropping bombs.
The incident came as the Nigerian army said more than 300 militants were killed in nearby north-east Nigeria during operations targeting Boko Haram.
Two soldiers lost their lives and 10 more were wounded in Borno state.
Nigerian defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said that a number of Boko Haram fighters had been captured and weapons and equipment seized.
The number of militant deaths has not been independently verified.
'Three bombs'
A military official told AFP news agency that an air strike had hit a mosque in the village of Abadam.
The deputy mayor of Abadam, Ibrahim Ari, told the BBC that a plane had dropped three bombs. One struck a group of mourners sitting in front of the residence of a local chief.
He added that more than 20 people had been injured during the incident.
It is not yet clear who was responsible for the bombardment, but Nigeria has denied responsibility.
"It's not to my knowledge and there has not been any report from our people of such an incident," said Dele Alonge, a spokesman for Nigeria's air force.
'Desperate response'
Niger has been the target of bombings in the past, blamed on Boko Haram since it widened its brutal insurgency.
Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed during the group's campaign for a breakaway Islamic state.
Niger, Chad and Cameroon have recently formed a military coalition with Nigeria to help combat the threat.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
But the two-day operation against militants in Borno State had inflicted "massive casualties", Mr Olukolade said.
He told the BBC he was not surprised Boko Haram was continuing to carry out attacks despite "heat" from coalition troops.
"What you see are elements of their desperate response to the ongoing onslaught on their various camps and locations.
"It is expected and it will be contained accordingly," he added.
BBC
They were attending a funeral ceremony in Abadam village on the border with Nigeria when an unidentified plane began dropping bombs.
The incident came as the Nigerian army said more than 300 militants were killed in nearby north-east Nigeria during operations targeting Boko Haram.
Two soldiers lost their lives and 10 more were wounded in Borno state.
Nigerian defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said that a number of Boko Haram fighters had been captured and weapons and equipment seized.
The number of militant deaths has not been independently verified.
'Three bombs'
A military official told AFP news agency that an air strike had hit a mosque in the village of Abadam.
The deputy mayor of Abadam, Ibrahim Ari, told the BBC that a plane had dropped three bombs. One struck a group of mourners sitting in front of the residence of a local chief.
He added that more than 20 people had been injured during the incident.
It is not yet clear who was responsible for the bombardment, but Nigeria has denied responsibility.
"It's not to my knowledge and there has not been any report from our people of such an incident," said Dele Alonge, a spokesman for Nigeria's air force.
'Desperate response'
Niger has been the target of bombings in the past, blamed on Boko Haram since it widened its brutal insurgency.
Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed during the group's campaign for a breakaway Islamic state.
Niger, Chad and Cameroon have recently formed a military coalition with Nigeria to help combat the threat.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
But the two-day operation against militants in Borno State had inflicted "massive casualties", Mr Olukolade said.
He told the BBC he was not surprised Boko Haram was continuing to carry out attacks despite "heat" from coalition troops.
"What you see are elements of their desperate response to the ongoing onslaught on their various camps and locations.
"It is expected and it will be contained accordingly," he added.
BBC
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Boko Haram says postponed Nigerian Presidential elections will not take place peacefully
Nigeria's presidential election on March 28 will not take place peacefully, AbuBakr Shekau, leader of Boko Haram, has said in a new video purportedly released by the group.
In the video, released on social media on Tuesday and obtained by US based SITE intelligence group, Shekau issued a warning to the Goodluck Jonathan's government that next month's elections would be disrupted with violence.
"Allah will not leave you to proceed with these elections even after us, because you are saying that authority is from people to people, which means that people should rule each other, but Allah says that the authority is only to him, only his rule is the one which applies on this land," he said.
"And finally we say that these elections that you are planning to do, will not happen in peace, even if that costs us our lives.
In the video message, titled "A message to the leaders of the disbelievers", the contents of which Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify, Shekau also takes aim at the leadership of regional countries who are co-ordinating efforts against the group.
"You are claiming that we don't know how to fight, but we forced your forces to flee from their bases and we freed our imprisoned brothers from the prisons that you oppressed them in, only praise be to Allah."
Nigeria's presidential election was to be originally held on February 14, but was postponed due to security concerns.
Speaking before Shekau's threat, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou vowed that his country would herald the end for the rebels, whose six-year insurgency has cost more than 13,000 lives.
Renewed attacks
"Niger will be the death of Boko Haram," he told a cheering crowd after a protest against the insurgents in the capital Niamey.
But Boko Haram has proved resilient and experts question whether the group can be overpowered in the short-term.
On Tuesday, two suicide attacks ripped through northeast Nigeria, killing at least 38 people and injuring 20 others.
In a separate development, the United States military said on Tuesday they would be providing communications equipment and intelligence to help African nations in the fight against Boko Haram.
Major General James Linder said that, as part of the annual US-backed 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United States would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.
The renewed attacks on Tuesday came as heads of states from Central African countries were ending a meeting in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to plan the creation of a joint military response to the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram.
The 10 member states announced that they had contributed more than 50 percent of the $100m needed to fight Boko Haram. They also called on Nigeria to cooperate by allowing the multinational joint task force to attack Boko Haram in its strongholds in Nigeria.
Boko Haram has fought a five-year insurgency, has recently begun stepping up its attacks against neighbouring countries after Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin agreed to contribute troops toward a regional military effort.
The violence has forced some 157,000 people to seek refuge in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, the UN said.
Almost one million Nigerians are internally displaced, according to the country's own statistics.
Aljazeera
In the video, released on social media on Tuesday and obtained by US based SITE intelligence group, Shekau issued a warning to the Goodluck Jonathan's government that next month's elections would be disrupted with violence.
"Allah will not leave you to proceed with these elections even after us, because you are saying that authority is from people to people, which means that people should rule each other, but Allah says that the authority is only to him, only his rule is the one which applies on this land," he said.
"And finally we say that these elections that you are planning to do, will not happen in peace, even if that costs us our lives.
In the video message, titled "A message to the leaders of the disbelievers", the contents of which Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify, Shekau also takes aim at the leadership of regional countries who are co-ordinating efforts against the group.
"You are claiming that we don't know how to fight, but we forced your forces to flee from their bases and we freed our imprisoned brothers from the prisons that you oppressed them in, only praise be to Allah."
Nigeria's presidential election was to be originally held on February 14, but was postponed due to security concerns.
Speaking before Shekau's threat, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou vowed that his country would herald the end for the rebels, whose six-year insurgency has cost more than 13,000 lives.
Renewed attacks
"Niger will be the death of Boko Haram," he told a cheering crowd after a protest against the insurgents in the capital Niamey.
But Boko Haram has proved resilient and experts question whether the group can be overpowered in the short-term.
On Tuesday, two suicide attacks ripped through northeast Nigeria, killing at least 38 people and injuring 20 others.
In a separate development, the United States military said on Tuesday they would be providing communications equipment and intelligence to help African nations in the fight against Boko Haram.
Major General James Linder said that, as part of the annual US-backed 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United States would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.
The renewed attacks on Tuesday came as heads of states from Central African countries were ending a meeting in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to plan the creation of a joint military response to the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram.
The 10 member states announced that they had contributed more than 50 percent of the $100m needed to fight Boko Haram. They also called on Nigeria to cooperate by allowing the multinational joint task force to attack Boko Haram in its strongholds in Nigeria.
Boko Haram has fought a five-year insurgency, has recently begun stepping up its attacks against neighbouring countries after Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin agreed to contribute troops toward a regional military effort.
The violence has forced some 157,000 people to seek refuge in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, the UN said.
Almost one million Nigerians are internally displaced, according to the country's own statistics.
Aljazeera
300 Boko Haram fighters killed by Nigerian army
More than 300 Boko Haram fighters have been killed in military operations in north-east Nigeria, the army says.
A number of militants had also been captured and weapons and equipment seized, defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said.
Two soldiers had lost their lives and 10 others were wounded during the operation over the last two days in Borno state, he added.
The deaths have not been independently verified.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
Boko Haram attacks on civilians and the military have killed thousands since the group launched its violent campaign for a breakaway Islamic state in 2009.
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have recently formed a military coalition and have claimed gains against the group.
BBC
A number of militants had also been captured and weapons and equipment seized, defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said.
Two soldiers had lost their lives and 10 others were wounded during the operation over the last two days in Borno state, he added.
The deaths have not been independently verified.
Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
Boko Haram attacks on civilians and the military have killed thousands since the group launched its violent campaign for a breakaway Islamic state in 2009.
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have recently formed a military coalition and have claimed gains against the group.
BBC
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
FMR Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo quits ruling party PDP after criticising President Goodluck Jonathan
Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo has quit the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 28 March elections, tearing up his membership card in public.
Mr Obasanjo has been fiercely critical of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election on a PDP ticket.
Mr Jonathan is facing a strong challenge from opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari.
The elections, due on 14 February, were postponed over security concerns.
BBC Nigeria analyst Ibrahim Shehu Adamu says Mr Obasanjo's decision is a major blow to the PDP, showing the divisions that have hit the party as it battles to extend its 15-year rule.'Serious embarrassment'
In a statement, the PDP described Mr Obasanjo as a "revered leader of our party" and said it was "deeply saddened" by his resignation.
It added that it was "bewildered" by the former president's choice to tear up his party membership card in public.
Mr Obasanjo, 77, was a founding member of the PDP and led the party to two resounding victories after military rule ended in 1999.
So, his decision to quit the PDP may knock the morale of some party activists and persuade undecided voters to back the opposition in the hard-fought presidential and parliamentary elections.
But Mr Obasanjo's move does not come as a complete surprise. His influence within the party has been declining for quite some time and he probably found it difficult to see President Jonathan - whom he once mentored - ignoring his advice.
More worrying for Nigerians will be the role of the military. There are growing suspicions that it is backing Mr Jonathan, raising doubts about its impartiality and the credibility of the elections.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo raised fears of a coup. Many Nigerians will be hoping that his fears are misplaced and that Nigeria holds a free and fair election in which the losing candidate gracefully accepts defeat.
The Nigerian military issued its own statement, calling Mr Obasanjo, a former military ruler as well as an elected president, "a serious embarrassment" after he criticised its role in the postponement of the elections.
Our correspondent says the military's statement has raised concern among many Nigerians that it is taking sides in a political dispute rather than remaining neutral.
Prior to tearing up his membership, Mr Obasanjo told local media outside his residence that he was expecting to be ejected from the party.
"They said they want to expel me from PDP, although I have not been told, but I have my ears on the ground," he said.
'Going for broke'
Mr Obasanjo said he would not be joining another party.
"I will only be a Nigerian, I'm ready to work with anybody regardless of political affiliation. Why would some people say they want to send me away, they don't need to bother themselves, here's your membership card, take it," he added.
Despite his pledge not to defect to another party, Mr Obasanjo has been vocal in his support for Mr Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), although he has fallen short of offering an outright endorsement.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo told London's Financial Times newspaper that he hoped the president was "not going for broke and saying: 'Either I have it or nobody has it'".
Mr Jonathan hit back at Mr Obasanjo, accusing him of threatening "national security" by whipping up opposition to his rule.
"It is very regrettable that in your letter, you seem to place sole responsibility for the ongoing intrigues and tensions in the PDP at my doorstep, and going on from that position, you direct all your appeals for a resolution at me," Mr Jonathan said.
Nigeria's election commission postponed the presidential and parliamentary election after the military said it would not be able to guarantee security at polling stations while it fought militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-east.
Mr Jonathan is contesting his second presidential election. His presidency has been marred by powerful PDP members defecting to the newly formed APC, fuelling speculation that he could be defeated in the election.
He has also been strongly criticised for failing to curb Boko Haram's insurgency.
Thousands of people have died as a result of the conflict over the past six years, while more than three million people have been forced from their homes.
The militants control a large stretch of land in north-eastern Nigeria and have stepped up attacks on neighbouring countries.
BBC
Mr Obasanjo has been fiercely critical of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election on a PDP ticket.
Mr Jonathan is facing a strong challenge from opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari.
The elections, due on 14 February, were postponed over security concerns.
BBC Nigeria analyst Ibrahim Shehu Adamu says Mr Obasanjo's decision is a major blow to the PDP, showing the divisions that have hit the party as it battles to extend its 15-year rule.'Serious embarrassment'
In a statement, the PDP described Mr Obasanjo as a "revered leader of our party" and said it was "deeply saddened" by his resignation.
It added that it was "bewildered" by the former president's choice to tear up his party membership card in public.
Mr Obasanjo, 77, was a founding member of the PDP and led the party to two resounding victories after military rule ended in 1999.
So, his decision to quit the PDP may knock the morale of some party activists and persuade undecided voters to back the opposition in the hard-fought presidential and parliamentary elections.
But Mr Obasanjo's move does not come as a complete surprise. His influence within the party has been declining for quite some time and he probably found it difficult to see President Jonathan - whom he once mentored - ignoring his advice.
More worrying for Nigerians will be the role of the military. There are growing suspicions that it is backing Mr Jonathan, raising doubts about its impartiality and the credibility of the elections.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo raised fears of a coup. Many Nigerians will be hoping that his fears are misplaced and that Nigeria holds a free and fair election in which the losing candidate gracefully accepts defeat.
The Nigerian military issued its own statement, calling Mr Obasanjo, a former military ruler as well as an elected president, "a serious embarrassment" after he criticised its role in the postponement of the elections.
Our correspondent says the military's statement has raised concern among many Nigerians that it is taking sides in a political dispute rather than remaining neutral.
Prior to tearing up his membership, Mr Obasanjo told local media outside his residence that he was expecting to be ejected from the party.
"They said they want to expel me from PDP, although I have not been told, but I have my ears on the ground," he said.
'Going for broke'
Mr Obasanjo said he would not be joining another party.
"I will only be a Nigerian, I'm ready to work with anybody regardless of political affiliation. Why would some people say they want to send me away, they don't need to bother themselves, here's your membership card, take it," he added.
Despite his pledge not to defect to another party, Mr Obasanjo has been vocal in his support for Mr Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), although he has fallen short of offering an outright endorsement.
Last week, Mr Obasanjo told London's Financial Times newspaper that he hoped the president was "not going for broke and saying: 'Either I have it or nobody has it'".
Mr Jonathan hit back at Mr Obasanjo, accusing him of threatening "national security" by whipping up opposition to his rule.
"It is very regrettable that in your letter, you seem to place sole responsibility for the ongoing intrigues and tensions in the PDP at my doorstep, and going on from that position, you direct all your appeals for a resolution at me," Mr Jonathan said.
Nigeria's election commission postponed the presidential and parliamentary election after the military said it would not be able to guarantee security at polling stations while it fought militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-east.
Mr Jonathan is contesting his second presidential election. His presidency has been marred by powerful PDP members defecting to the newly formed APC, fuelling speculation that he could be defeated in the election.
He has also been strongly criticised for failing to curb Boko Haram's insurgency.
Thousands of people have died as a result of the conflict over the past six years, while more than three million people have been forced from their homes.
The militants control a large stretch of land in north-eastern Nigeria and have stepped up attacks on neighbouring countries.
BBC
Monday, February 16, 2015
Video - Nigeria presidential campaign on social media
Nigeria's two main Presidential candidates are not only fighting for votes on the streets, they are doing so on social media as well.
Suicide bomber kills seven in Yobe, Nigeria
A female suicide bomber has killed at least seven people at a crowded bus station in north-eastern Nigeria.
Police say more than 30 others were wounded in the city of Damaturu, capital of Yobe State.
No group has said it carried out the bombing but the jihadist group Boko Haram has previously launched attacks in the city.
On Saturday, Boko Haram fighters tried to take over the regional capital of neighbouring Gombe state.
They were repelled by Nigerian troops backed by a fighter jet.
Marcos Danladi, police commissioner of Yobe State, said Sunday's attack took place at the Damaturu Central Motor Park.
According to reports, the female suicide bomber arrived in a vehicle and walked into a crowd outside a grocery store at the end of the terminal where she detonated her explosives.
Witness Adamu Muhammad said the bus station "descended into panic".
A shop owner told AFP news agency that an angry mob stopped emergency workers from retrieving the remains of the bomber and instead set them on fire.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than three million displaced by Boko Haram's insurgency.
The Islamist militants, who are fighting to create an Islamic state in north-eastern Nigeria, have become a regional threat.
In response, Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon have agreed to form a regional military force to combat the group.
Growing insecurity in the north-east led Nigeria to postpone elections due to be held on 14 February.
Correspondents say the insurgency has also cast doubt on the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is accused of not having done enough to contain it.
BBC
Police say more than 30 others were wounded in the city of Damaturu, capital of Yobe State.
No group has said it carried out the bombing but the jihadist group Boko Haram has previously launched attacks in the city.
On Saturday, Boko Haram fighters tried to take over the regional capital of neighbouring Gombe state.
They were repelled by Nigerian troops backed by a fighter jet.
Marcos Danladi, police commissioner of Yobe State, said Sunday's attack took place at the Damaturu Central Motor Park.
According to reports, the female suicide bomber arrived in a vehicle and walked into a crowd outside a grocery store at the end of the terminal where she detonated her explosives.
Witness Adamu Muhammad said the bus station "descended into panic".
A shop owner told AFP news agency that an angry mob stopped emergency workers from retrieving the remains of the bomber and instead set them on fire.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than three million displaced by Boko Haram's insurgency.
The Islamist militants, who are fighting to create an Islamic state in north-eastern Nigeria, have become a regional threat.
In response, Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon have agreed to form a regional military force to combat the group.
Growing insecurity in the north-east led Nigeria to postpone elections due to be held on 14 February.
Correspondents say the insurgency has also cast doubt on the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is accused of not having done enough to contain it.
BBC
Friday, February 13, 2015
Video - President Goodluck Jonathan says Nigeria wasn't ready for elections
Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan has defended the 6-week delay imposed on the country's elections. He's denied pushing for the postponement and says Nigeria's election commission was just not ready to run the vote.
Seven confirmed dead from Boko Haram suicide bomber in North Eastern Nigeria
At least seven people have been killed by a female suicide bomber who blew herself up at a crowded market in northeast Nigeria, according to witnesses and officials.
The mid-afternoon attack on Thursday in Biu, 180km south of the Borno state capital Maiduguri, is the latest in a spate of similar attacks in the region.
This was the first bombing in the area, which came before a visit by the former governor to Biu, according to a witness who is a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF).
Biu is the biggest town in southern Borno, and Boko Haram fighters have made repeated attempts to bomb the market, which is open on Mondays and Thursdays.
The JTF was formed by residents to combat Boko Haram, the Nigerian armed group.
Boko Haram has been blamed for using women and young girls as human bombs as part of its deadly campaign to create an Islamic state in the country's far northeast.
A senior security source in Maiduguri confirmed the deadly suicide blast but had no immediate details on casualties.
But multiple witnesses and a nurse at the Biu general hospital said that at least seven people were killed by the explosion.
Al Jazeera
The mid-afternoon attack on Thursday in Biu, 180km south of the Borno state capital Maiduguri, is the latest in a spate of similar attacks in the region.
This was the first bombing in the area, which came before a visit by the former governor to Biu, according to a witness who is a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF).
Biu is the biggest town in southern Borno, and Boko Haram fighters have made repeated attempts to bomb the market, which is open on Mondays and Thursdays.
The JTF was formed by residents to combat Boko Haram, the Nigerian armed group.
Boko Haram has been blamed for using women and young girls as human bombs as part of its deadly campaign to create an Islamic state in the country's far northeast.
A senior security source in Maiduguri confirmed the deadly suicide blast but had no immediate details on casualties.
But multiple witnesses and a nurse at the Biu general hospital said that at least seven people were killed by the explosion.
Al Jazeera
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Video - Nigeria to investigate reports of child rape and trafficking in refugee camps
Officials are investigating claims of widespread abuse in the camps set up for people who've fled Boko Haram. There've been allegations of rape and child-trafficking.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Video - Boko Haram leader releases video promising to take on African Union troops
Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has mocked plans by the African Union to send a regional force into north-east Nigeria. The group's released a video welcoming the AU force and vowing to seize the soldiers, one by one.
Related stories: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau apparently alive - releases new video
Military of Nigeria confirm Boko Haram leader dead
Nigeria military pledges neutrality in Presidential campaign
Nigeria's military pledged not to get involved in party politics on Wednesday, after concerns grew about its role in pushing for the country's presidential election to be delayed by six weeks.
Defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade noted "the palpable tension being generated ... with regards to the roles of the Nigerian military in the ongoing political activities and recent developments, especially in relation to electioneering."
"It is important to reassure Nigerians that the military will remain professional, apolitical and non-partisan in all operations ... related to (elections)," he said in a statement.
The military faced accusations of interference when chairman of the electoral commission Attahiru Jega revealed that the office of the National Security Advisor had written a letter to him saying that unless he delayed the Feb. 14 election, it could not guarantee his security.
It urged a six week delay to enable them to contain the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency.
There have also been reports in the local press that the military colluded with the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to try to influence the election in Ekiti state in May, a claim the military has not directly commented on.
Nigeria's decision to delay the poll on the advice of security forces was a worrying echo for some of the annulment of 1993's democratic vote by a military government.
President Goodluck Jonathan's PDP had pushed for a delay, while his main opponent Muhammadu Buhari of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) had urged the vote go ahead on time, arguing that a six-year old insurgency was hardly going to be solved in six weeks.
But the PDP also argued that the commission was not ready because millions of voters had not picked up their ID cards.
Reuters
Defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade noted "the palpable tension being generated ... with regards to the roles of the Nigerian military in the ongoing political activities and recent developments, especially in relation to electioneering."
"It is important to reassure Nigerians that the military will remain professional, apolitical and non-partisan in all operations ... related to (elections)," he said in a statement.
The military faced accusations of interference when chairman of the electoral commission Attahiru Jega revealed that the office of the National Security Advisor had written a letter to him saying that unless he delayed the Feb. 14 election, it could not guarantee his security.
It urged a six week delay to enable them to contain the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency.
There have also been reports in the local press that the military colluded with the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to try to influence the election in Ekiti state in May, a claim the military has not directly commented on.
Nigeria's decision to delay the poll on the advice of security forces was a worrying echo for some of the annulment of 1993's democratic vote by a military government.
President Goodluck Jonathan's PDP had pushed for a delay, while his main opponent Muhammadu Buhari of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) had urged the vote go ahead on time, arguing that a six-year old insurgency was hardly going to be solved in six weeks.
But the PDP also argued that the commission was not ready because millions of voters had not picked up their ID cards.
Reuters
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