Tag: Boko Haram

Freed Chibok girls finally head to university and home

September 14, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Yola

Some of the Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014 will start at the American University in Yola, Adamawa state this month, the Nigerian government says. Of the 276 girls abducted three years ago, 106 have been either found or freed so far. Eighty-two girls were released in . . . Read More

Nigerian government ‘complicit’ in ‘stealth jihad’, say Christian leaders

September 13, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

A group representing senior Christians in Nigeria has accused the government of trying to Islamise the country. In a statement on 6 September, ‘Jihad in Nigeria: burying the head in sand’, the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) said jihad threatened the unity of the country. NCEF is composed of a number . . . Read More

5 Things to know about violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt

September 11, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, Iran, Islamic extremism, Kaduna, Middle Belt, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Taraba, West Africa

A village head inside his destroyed home in one of the villages in Southern Kaduna that were attacked by Fulani herdsmen, in May 2017. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

In northern Nigeria, targeted violence against Christians comes not only from the Islamic militants of Boko Haram. Clashes with militants among the predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen have claimed thousands of Christian lives in Nigeria’s Middle Belt – the handful of states straddling the pre-colonial line dividing Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north from . . . Read More

‘There will never be peace for Nigeria’s Middle Belt unless there’s equality and justice’

September 11, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Kaduna, Middle Belt, Nigeria, Sahel, West Africa

Obscured by Boko Haram’s headlines, violence has also raged further south, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt: a less reported, years-long campaign which experts now believe has been responsible for more deaths than Boko Haram. Militants among the ethnic Fulani, a predominantly Muslim and nomadic population of cattle herders, are suspected of targeting . . . Read More

Boko Haram: 381 killed in Nigeria and Cameroon since April

September 5, 2017 Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Cameroon, Far North, Lake Chad, Maroua, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

An upsurge in Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria and Cameroon have claimed the lives of at least 381 civilians in the five months since the start of April 2017, with casualties more than double the previous five months, says Amnesty International in a new report. The radical Islamist group had . . . Read More

Boko Haram defector calls others to repent and leave

September 4, 2017 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Yobe

A Boko Haram defector has called on his former fellow fighters to repent and leave the Islamist group. Bana Umar, from Nigeria’s north-eastern town of Banki, was 27 when he joined Boko Haram in 2014, the same year the group kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls from their dormitory in the town . . . Read More

‘Prostitution is rife’ – sexual exploitation of Boko Haram survivors in IDP camps

September 1, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Cameroon, Divorce, IDPs, Maiduguri, Middle Belt, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Women

Thousands of Christians in north-east Nigeria displaced by Boko Haram’s insurgency now face discrimination and harsh treatment – including sexual exploitation – by government officials, reports Global Christian News (GCN). While many thousands have been killed, others sought refuge in neighbouring Cameroon or in the relatively safe states in the . . . Read More

Boko Haram in Cameroon: 8 children killed by boy suicide bomber, 6 others kidnapped

August 25, 2017 Cameroon Boko Haram, Cameroon, Far North, Nigeria, Union of Evangelical Churches

After a period of relative calm, the Far North region of Cameroon, along the Nigerian border, has witnessed an upsurge of attacks by Boko Haram in recent days. On 17 August, a church elder was killed in a night raid carried out by the radical Islamist group on Moskota village. . . . Read More

‘I identify with Chibok parents, I too am a victim, I lost my son’ – UN award winner Rebecca Dali

August 21, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, EYN, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Rebecca Dali

Rebecca Dali’s son Timothy, 18, left the house one evening, telling her he was going to visit his friend. “Are you sure?” she asked. It was immediately after the 2011 Nigerian elections, when inter-religious tensions were high. His friend lived across town, in an area where Timothy might be at . . . Read More

Nigeria: outrage at Chibok kidnappings ‘inspired’ Boko Haram to use female bombers

August 16, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Nigeria, Terrorism

As another attack by female suicide bombers in Nigeria leaves 27 dead, a new report claims that Boko Haram only started using women and girls in bomb attacks in response to the global outrage triggered by the 2014 Chibok schoolgirl abductions. The Exploding stereotypes report, by the Combating Terrorism Center . . . Read More

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