Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Terrorism spreads south

Boko Haram, hunted in the north of Nigeria, may be taking refuge far from its Islamic homeland.

Nigeria Arrests 42 Boko Haram Suspects in Lagos, Ogun

Nigerian authorities have arrested 42 suspected members of Islamist sect Boko Haram in Lagos and the neighboring southwest state of Ogun, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.

During a four-year insurgency Boko Haram's attacks have been focused mostly in the Muslim north, far from the commercial capital Lagos and the southern oil fields which provide more than 2 million barrels per day to world markets.

The sect, which wants to carve out an Islamic state in the religiously-mixed country, has never claimed responsibility or been blamed for an attack in Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city.

"We have arrested 42 suspected members of Boko Haram in Lagos and Ogun," said a spokesman for Lagos police, Kingsley Umoh. "Some have already confessed to being Boko Haram and said they fled the northeast due to the military efforts there."…

Nigeria's Kano city hit by blasts targeting bars

At least 28 are people have been killed in a series of explosions that targeted bars in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, a hospital source tells the BBC.

Witnesses said the blasts shook a Christian neighbourhood that has previously been attacked by militants from the Islamist group Boko Haram.

The army said 12 people had been killed when explosions placed in packages were dropped in the area on Monday evening…

The same neighbourhood has been targeted in the past by the militant Islamist Boko Haram group, which is fighting to create an Islamic state in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria…

Correspondents say the Muslim majority in the city are now anxious about possible reprisals, as people come out onto the streets after breaking their daytime fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan…