The Nigerian army has had some success subduing Islamist group Boko Haram, but Christians are still being killed in Nigeria. Many of the killings are carried out by nomadic Hausa-Fulani herdsmen, a largely Muslim ethnic group that frequently targets the more settled Christian farming communities of central Nigeria. Meanwhile, 12 of Nigeria’s northern states employ Sharia (Islamic law), and Christians in these states face discrimination and restrictions in accessing community resources, such as clean water, health clinics, and higher education.
Boko Haram hits back in Maiduguri
At least 54 were killed and 90 injured in three bomb blasts in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria – the base of the Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram – late on Sunday (20 Sept.). The city had been free from attacks for about a month. Last hit by a bomb at the […]
Boko Haram captives ‘lack skills’ to challenge orders
A Nigerian wants to roll out counter-radicalisation initiatives to help young people, in case of kidnap, to resist the pressure to carry out orders from jihadists. In a BBC interview, Dr Fatima Akilu, head of the Nigerian government’s Countering Violent Extremism Programme, said she found the ability of former captives […]
Rape as weapon of war prolongs victims’ agony
For hundreds of women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, their ordeal did not end when they escaped, or when Nigerian soldiers rescued them and reunited them with their families. Instead of being admired for their bravery, many have become outcasts in their communities, stigmatised due to their perceived […]
Maiduguri ‘open’ again despite renewed Boko Haram activity
As General Buhari’s term in office as Nigeria’s President reached 100 days last Saturday, new figures show a surge to over 2.1m people displaced in the country’s six north-eastern states by Islamist violence. According to the Swiss-based International Organisation for Migration, a recent spike in attacks by Boko Haram insurgents […]
Islamists’ attacks mark Nigerian Buhari’s 100 days
On Sep 5, Nigeria’s President marked 100 days in office. According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Boko Haram – to intimidate the new President – has intensified its attacks in Nigeria, and other Lake Chad Basin countries: Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The ISS says Boko Haram has carried […]
500 days since Chibok girls’ kidnap
It’s been 500 days this week, since the radical Islamic group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a secondary school in the predominantly Christian village of Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria. Since then, little has been heard of their fate: some are presumed to have been forced into marriages, or used […]
Claim: Mistrust slows defeat of Boko Haram
Archbishop Idowu-Fearon, a Nigerian who is the new secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, that Christian leaders sceptical of Muslim motives have hurt the Nigerian campaign against the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram. He said they believed Muslim leaders supported the insurgency that has left thousands of Christians and Muslims dead. […]
Are Nigeria’s ‘Middle Belt’ Christians victims of ethnic cleansing?
It has been a deadly July in Nigeria. More than 200 people have been killed since June 30 in attacks that have come almost daily in the country’s northern and northeastern regions, stronghold of the militant Islamic sect Boko Haram.
Boko Haram talks reopen, failed bomb-plot relief
Fresh negotiations have started with Boko Haram to release more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls, a Nigerian human rights activist told Reuters. Fred Eno said others had begun independent negotiations with the Islamist group but did not reveal who the ‘others’ were. The Nigerian government says it has no knowledge of […]
Are Nigeria’s ‘Middle Belt’ Christians victims of ethnic cleansing?
March 2014 attacks in Kaduna state, in central Nigeria, left more than 114 people dead and many houses burned.World Watch Monitor It has been a deadly July in Nigeria. More than 200 people have been killed since June 30 in attacks that have come almost daily in the country’s […]