‘We are in a catastrophe’

‘We are in a catastrophe’
Leaders of Africa’s Lake Chad Basin countries affected by Boko Haram’s intensifying insurgency over the past two weeks are calling on the international community to act urgently against the region’s ongoing humanitarian “catastrophe”. Presidents Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria), Mahamadou Issoufou (Niger), Idriss Deby Itno (Chad) and Paul Biya (Cameroon) are scheduled . . . Read More

Nigeria churches unite for first time to address violence in north

Nigeria churches unite for first time to address violence in north
The region of Africa that today is northern Nigeria has been governed by Muslim sultans and emirs for centuries, through British colonial rule and the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 19th Century, and into independence in the 1960s. The northern Christian population grew rapidly, to the point where Christians . . . Read More

Fleeing Boko Haram – nowhere to run, nowhere to hide

Fleeing Boko Haram – nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
A special report by IRIN, built on field visits to Nigeria’s north-eastern region which the military has re-taken from the Boko Haram insurgency, reveals an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in the Lake Chad Basin region. In Europe, Syrian refugees with the means head for their country of choice, armies of aid . . . Read More

Claim of truce raises hope that kidnapped Nigerian girls will be released

Claim of truce raises hope that kidnapped Nigerian girls will be released
The deserted streets of Chibok in August.World Watch Monitor   Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls will be released as part of a truce between militant Islamist group Boko Haram and government forces, the Nigerian army said Friday. The Nigerian chief of defence, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, made the announcement. Boko Haram . . . Read More

‘Future of Church in NE Nigeria also threatened’ says Chibok leader

‘Future of Church in NE Nigeria also threatened’ says Chibok leader
Some Christian families displaced by violence in Yobe State, have moved to Jos. Nigeria, January 2014.World Watch Monitor   Nigeria’s radical Islamist sect, responsible for the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls in Chibok in April, appears relentless in its fight for the establishment of an Islamic state in Africa’s most . . . Read More

Chibok, 3 months later

Chibok, 3 months later
Three months to the day after more than 200 teenage girls were kidnapped from their school in northeast Nigeria, headlines have been dominated by the visit of another teenager, 17 year old Pakistani Malala Yusufzai, to some of the missing girls’ families and the Nigerian President. But there is no . . . Read More