Politics and warfare
President Buhari offers his campaign comment about the military attack.
Metele attack: President Buhari speaks of deep shock
Nigeria's leader has vowed to close the "loopholes" which allowed militants to reportedly kill dozens of soldiers at a base in north-eastern Borno state.
President Muhammadu Buhari addressed last Sunday's attack publicly after the army acknowledged it had taken place.
It had been reported that at least 40 soldiers died when an Islamist militant group targeted the base in Metele.
But the army refused to confirm the reports until Friday, when they put out a release disputing the death toll…
The president - who faces an election in three months time - added no responsible leader "would rest on his oars... to allow terrorists to endanger the lives of its military personnel and other citizens".
As a result, he planned to meet with military and intelligence chiefs "in the coming days" to plan their "next steps".
Mr Buhari came to power in 2015 after promising to defeat Boko Haram militants, who have caused havoc in Nigeria through a wave of attacks as they attempt to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
But while the army has retaken most of the territory the militants once controlled, they are still able to carry out deadly attacks.
In a statement, released on Friday evening, the army admits that it is operating in "trying times", which is a rare if veiled admission that the military is experiencing serious setbacks in the fight against the jihadists, says BBC Africa editor Will Ross…
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Labels: conflict, leadership, Nigeria, politics
Armed warfare in Nigeria
Armed warfare in Nigeria
As the presidential campaign begins in Nigeria, the warfare in the northeast continues and gets more complex. How will politics reflect this continuing warfare?
Nigerian Islamists kill scores of soldiers in military base attack
Islamic militants in Nigeria may have killed as many as 100 soldiers in an attack on a military base, according to media reports and security officials.
The reported death toll is among the highest since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015 and comes as the country prepares for elections in three months.
The worst losses came when militants overran a military base in the village of Metele in the north-eastern state of Borno on Sunday.
The area is the centre of an insurgency waged by Boko Haram, which was founded nine years ago to bring strict Islamic law to swaths of Nigeria, and a second newer group linked to Islamic State.
Nigeria’s military and government have repeatedly said they are on the point of defeating the militants. However, raids on military bases have continued over recent months, inflicting significant casualties…
The increase in violence in north-east Nigeria follows a power struggle among militant leaders.
In the first major rift, the Isis-linked group split from the one led by Boko Haram’s veteran leader, Abubakar Shekau, after arguments over his indiscriminate targeting of civilians in raids and suicide bombings…
Analysts believe this breakaway faction, known as the Islamic State in West Africa, has a new hardline leadership after a further internal struggle and is responsible for the recent kidnapping and killing of aid workers…
A spokesman for the presidency on Thursday said the military would issue a statement, while the military did not respond to requests for comment. The government and military often decline to acknowledge the scale of losses in the north-east.
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Labels: conflict, corruption, Nigeria, politics
Just what Nigeria needs: another dimension to internal conflict.
The Shia-Sunni conflict within Islam exists throughout the Muslim world. (This is a hint that you should get a basic understanding of Islam to understand at least Nigeria, Iran, and China.) I guess those of us outside of Nigeria have ignored the conflict there.
'Many shot' as Nigeria police and Shia pilgrims clash in Kano
A number of Nigerian Shia Muslims on a religious procession have been shot during clashes with police in the northern city of Kano, reports say…
The group behind the procession, the Iran-backed Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), has a history of tension with the security forces…
The IMN is Nigeria's biggest Shia organisation and has its headquarters in Zaria.
It has been outlawed in Kaduna state for carrying out unlawful processions.
Its followers have been involved in a series of clashes with the security forces and attacks by Sunni militants…
Meanwhile, last year's Shia procession from Kano to Zaria saw more than 20 people killed in an attack by a suicide bomber from the Boko Haram Sunni Islamist militant group…
The IMN is backed by Shia-dominated Iran and its members often go there to study.
Sunni jihadist group Boko Haram condemns Shias as heretics who should be killed…
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Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.
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Labels: cleavages, conflict, Nigeria
Mapping Nigeria's war
Thanks again to
Ken Halla for catching a valuable article I missed.
There are a couple maps here that dramatically show the territiory, the towns, the roads, and the battlefields of the Boko Haram's Islamic war on Nigeria.
Boko Haram:
The Other Islamic State
While much of the world has been focused on the rise of the Islamic State, another proto-Islamic state has been waging a campaign of terror while dreaming of a caliphate in Nigeria. Since the public execution of Boko Haram's founder in 2009 by Nigerian security forces, a hard-line militant, Abubakar Shekau, has led this makeshift army of Islamist fighters through years of escalating attacks on government personnel, religious leaders, young students, crowded mosques and marketplaces.
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| Borno and neighboring states |
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Labels: cleavages, conflict, Nigeria
A need for barbed wire
Here's a story we don't often hear. A peaceful resolution to conflict. Watch for further developments.
If you're unfamiliar with the situation, Fulani herders seeking more grazing lands have been moving south and farmers in states like Benue don't like goats, sheep, and donkeys grazing in their vegetable and grain fields.
This has led to violent conflict between the northerners (seen as immigrants and mostly Muslim) and the farmers (mostly non-Muslim and non-Fulani).
Benue Farmers, Fulani Herdsmen Sign Peace Accord
Feuding Benue farmers and the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, MACBAN, an umbrella body of Fulani herdsmen have signed a peace accord to end all hostilities currently going on in parts of Benue State…
[T]he truce was brokered at the end of a peace meeting between the Deputy Inspector General of Police,… the… Benue State Reconciliatory and Peace Building Committee… [and] Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association…
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| Fulani herders in Benue |
Reading the resolution of the meeting to newsmen, General Kpera… said both the Tiv/Agatu and Fulani have agreed to immediately cease hostilities, and also set up a task force to implement the peace agreement.
They vowed to fish out all criminal elements that were fuelling the dispute in order to effectively tackle the crisis…
"We have agreed to meet from time to time to build confidence and keep track of the implementation of the peace agreement."
The meeting also cautioned the feuding parties against taking laws into their hands, advising that all illegal road blocks set up my the parties for the purpose of searching vehicles to harass individuals be dismantled forthwith.
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Labels: cleavages, conflict, Nigeria, politics
Nigerian state of emergency
Things are as bad as some people feared.
Goodluck Jonathan declares emergency in states
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in three states after a series of deadly attacks by Islamist militant groups.
The military will take "all necessary action" to "put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists" in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, he said…
In a pre-recorded address broadcast on Tuesday, President Jonathan said: "What we are facing is not just militancy or criminality, but a rebellion and insurgency by terrorist groups which pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity."
Referring to recent attacks on government buildings and killings of officials and other civilians, he said that "these actions amount to a declaration of war".
"We will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to justice," the president said…
It is not the first time that the president has declared a state of emergency, but this is a clear admission that far from being weakened by the army offensive, the threat of the Islamist militants is growing, says the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos.
And it is the first time that Mr Jonathan has admitted that parts of the country are no longer under central government control, says our correspondent…
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Labels: conflict, Nigeria, politics
