Police: Radical sect kills 6 in northeast Nigeria
(AP) – 40 minutes ago
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Police say suspected members of a radical Islamist sect have killed six people in two attacks in northeast Nigeria.
Police said gunmen attacked a military vehicle Sunday afternoon in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed says the attack killed three civilians and wounded six civilians and one soldier.
Local police commissioner Simeon Midenda said another attack on a tea shop Saturday night in Biu in Borno state killed three people.
At least 52 people have been killed in recent days by Boko Haram, which is carrying out an increasingly bloody sectarian assault against Nigeria's weak central government. The group says it has started specifically targeting Christians, exploiting religious tension in the nation.





13 killed in attacks in northeast Nigeria

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press – 24 minutes ago 
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Members of a radical Muslim sect attacked a church in northeast Nigeria during a worship service, part of a series of assaults that killed at least 13 people, authorities said Saturday.

The church shooting came as Boko Haram members attacked a beauty salon and fought government forces Friday night as part of its continuing sectarian battle against Nigeria's weak central government. In the last few days alone, the group has killed at least 44 people, despite the oil-rich nation's president declaring a state of emergency in regions hit by the sect.

In Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, gunmen covered their faces with black cloth when they attacked Apostolic Church, local police commissioner Ade Shinaba said. Shinaba said at least eight worshippers died in that attack.

At a nearby beauty salon, at least three others were killed in a similar attack.

"Three gunmen with their faces covered with black cloth burst into my salon and started shooting at customers, chanting, 'God is great, God is great,'" said Stephen Tizhe, 35.

In the town of Potiskum in Yobe state, gunmen set two banks ablaze with gasoline bombs, starting a gunfight with police that lasted three hours, local police commissioner Tanko Lawan said. At least two people were killed in the fight, he said.

No arrests have been made in either attack, authorities said.

The attacks Friday night came after gunmen claimed by Boko Haram attacked a town hall earlier that day in Mubi, Adamawa state, killing at least 20 people who had gathered for a meeting of the Christian Igbo ethnic group. On Thursday night, the sect also attacked a church in Gombe state, killing at least eight people.
In a statement Friday to The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record in Nigeria's north, a Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in Gombe and Mubi.

"We want to prove to the federal government of Nigeria that we can always change our tactics," the spokesman said.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an Associated Press count. It has targeted churches in the past in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria.
The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed at least 42 people in a Christmas Day strikes that included the bombing of a Catholic church near Abuja. The group also claimed an August suicide car bombing that targeted the U.N. headquarters in the capital, killing 25 people and wounding more than 100.
Nigeria's central government has been slow to respond to the sect. On Dec. 31, President Goodluck Jonathan declared regions of Borno, Niger, Plateau and Yobe states to be under a state of emergency, meaning authorities can make arrests without proof and conduct searches without warrants. He also ordered international borders near Borno and Yobe state to be closed.
However, the areas where the recent church and town hall attacks happened are not in the areas marked by the president.
Jon Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria and can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.







By Simon Tswam-Imobo, David Hassan with Agency report

SUSPECTED members of  the  Islamic sect, Boko Haram, made well its threat by killing 36 Igbo people in the North, three days after the expiration of its ultimatum to southerners to leave the region.

The Moment On Saturday gathered that 30 of the people were killed yesterday in separate attacks in Mubi, Adamawa State and Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by assailants suspected to be members of the Boko Haram.

While the Boko Haram members killed at least 20 people in Mubi, where they were attending a town hall meeting, the other 10 were killed in Maiduguri.

In a similar attack, six Christian worshippers were shot dead while 14 others were critically injured yesterday when the assailants stormed Deeper Life Church, Bogo, opposite Nasarawu junction in Gombe State in the night.

The Moment On Saturday gathered that at about noon yesterday, armed men, numbering over 10, opened fire at a town hall in Mubi, a town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon.

Adamawa State Police Commissioner, Ade Shinaba, who confirmed the figure in the Mubi attack, said the it was targeted at a hall where Igbo people were holding a town’s meeting.

Shinaba told the media that the armed Boko Haram members were suspected to be responsible for the killings, although the group has not yet claimed responsibility.

Okey Raymond, 48, who was at the town hall at the time of the attack, recounted  that assailed southerners started hearing gunshots through the windows and this made them scamper for safety, but the gunmen chanted: ‘God is great God is great' while shooting at them.

Raymond said he hid under a table and escaped through a back door.

Residents of Mubi told newsmen the attacks occurred at a meeting to discuss the deaths of four others from the Igbo community who were killed in the town on Wednesday.

An eye witness further buttressed Raymond’s story.‘The first attack took place last night when four people were killed, and as people gathered this morning to discuss the matter and deliberate, gunmen suddenly appeared on the scene and started shooting and another 10 to 12 people were killed there,’ he told our correspondent on Friday.

The Mubi attack in Adamawa followed the killing of six people who were shot at a church in Gombe, on Thursday.

Ahmed Mohammad, the state police spokesman, confirmed in Gombe city on Friday that six people were killed and eight others wounded in the shootings at the Deeper Life Christian Ministry Church.

The church pastor, John Jauro, said confusion broke out when the assailants opened fire and that his wife was among the dead.

A Red Cross official confirmed the incident but gave no details on the number of dead.
The residents said 10 who were killed at the hall in Mubi were mostly from the Igbo ethnic group, who are Christians and a minority in the mainly Muslim Northeast.

Earlier in the week, most local newspapers published the warning from Boko Haram that Christians had three days to leave the Muslim areas in northern Nigeria or they would be eliminated.

The militant group also claimed responsibility for a series of bomb attacks across Nigeria on Christmas Day, including one at a church near the capital Abuja that killed at least 50 people and wounded 57.


http://www.momentng.com/images/news/thumbs/474x243/BBB_5.jpg



25 killed in northern Nigeria as sectarian violence surges

Author: By Laura Smith-Spark and Hassan John CNN
Published On: Jan 06 2012 07:23:27 AM EST  Updated On: Jan 06 2012 03:24:51 PM EST
JOS, Nigeria (CNN) -
An Islamic militant group in northern Nigeria has claimed responsibility for attacks that killed at least 25 people in a rash of violence against the country's minority Christians, officials said, after it issued an earlier ultimatum that gave Christians three days to leave the area.

Gunmen opened fire on residents Friday, killing at least 15 people who were mourning the deaths of two slain businessmen, said Rev. Paul Alhamdu, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

At least eight people were also killed on Thursday in a church shooting in northeastern Nigeria, a pastor at the church said, as sectarian violence spirals and the country is shaken by angry protests over fuel subsidies.

Gunmen attacked the Deeper Life church in Gombe, the capital of Gombe state, Thursday evening as worshipers held a prayer meeting, according to the Venerable Joseph Ninyo, a pastor with the Anglican Diocese of Gombe.

He said at least 20 people were being treated at a hospital, one of whom is in intensive care.

"Many tried to run but were gunned down," eyewitness Konson Danladi said. "I was just outside the church when the men came and started shooting, and I ran."

Police said the militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for both attacks, but CNN could not immediately confirm the claims.

The church targeted in Gombe is attended predominantly by Ibo Christians from southern Nigeria.

Boko Haram has been blamed for months of widespread bloodshed in Nigeria, with churches and police stations among the targets.

The group also claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on churches on Christmas Day.

The rising tide of violence led Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a partial state of emergency in four northern states, in a bid to contain Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is a sin."

The latest sectarian attack comes as Nigeria also faces a nationwide wave of popular protests over the removal of a gas subsidy that had kept prices artificially low.

Union leaders have called for a national strike beginning Monday if the government does not reverse the decision, which resulted in the cost of a liter of gasoline more than doubling virtually overnight.

Furious Nigerians have already taken to the streets this week, staging "Occupy Nigeria" protests and mass demonstrations across the country, and there have been calls from some quarters for the president to be impeached.

Nigeria, an oil-rich nation of about 167 million people, is regularly voted among the most corrupt countries in the world, and citizens complain that the money saved by ending the fuel subsidy is highly likely to be siphoned off by a few and salted away into offshore accounts.

The government has said the money will be used to fund infrastructure projects, such as building refineries so Nigeria can produce its own gasoline rather than having to import it.

Elizabeth Donnelly, with the Africa Programme at London-based think tank Chatham House, told CNN the two issues together -- the sectarian violence and the fuel subsidy protests -- present the biggest challenge yet for Jonathan, who was elected president last year after taking the reins in 2010 when the former president died.

Although the government struck a blow against Boko Haram in 2009 with the capture of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, it has since become more of a "franchise," or umbrella organization, for the actions of individual groups, making it harder to manage the problem, Donnelly said.

"We can trace these sorts of attacks to issues of underdevelopment, poverty, lack of resources and so on. The fact that it's framed in religious language is worrying," she said, particularly given the sectarian violence that has broken out in Nigeria in recent years.

The country's leadership needs to rise above politics and use the kind of language that will bridge the growing gap between different parts of Nigerian society, she said, rather than just treating the problem as a security issue.

But the challenge of restoring calm will be compounded by a widely felt skepticism toward government, from a population too used to corruption and political maneuvering.

That skepticism has grown since Jonathan came to power, Donnelly said, in part because of his lack of governing experience. The fact that he is southern also plays into tensions between the mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian and animist south.

"It's a very challenging time for Nigeria, and for Goodluck Jonathan, it's a very interesting moment. It could be when he and his team really prove themselves -- or where everybody's suspicions about his lack of ability could be proved right," she said.

Resolving the tough times shouldn't be solely up to Jonathan's government, though, Donnelly added. State and local administrations, as well as religious leaders, must also play a part in resolving tensions.

Meanwhile, the fuel subsidy protests could prove a trigger for wider violence, she warned, as the large crowds may become targets for people who want to launch attacks. Clashes could also break out between protesters and police.

And while not directly linked, the two issues have common threads that must be tackled if calm is to be restored, she said.

"The reason the protests are happening is that so many Nigerians live such difficult lives. They don't have a lot of money, they do worry about putting food on the table, and the smallest change in fuel prices makes an enormous difference to them," she said.

"Boko Haram has grown in a region where there's very little in the way of development and public services, and not much in the way of industry or opportunity.

"Nigeria is really grappling with these issues at the moment, both political and economic. It is a developing democracy, and these issues are part of it creating this new identity."

Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, agrees that economic discontent is at the heart of the unrest, in a country where many live on less than $2 a day and are less well-off than their grandparents.

"It's people who are fed up, the have-nots seeing the haves continue to do well at their expense," she told CNN from Washington.

"The core issue is not Boko Haram, and Christians versus Muslims, it's economic inequality -- and unless and until the government is able to address that, they will continue to have these tensions increase."

Copyright 2012 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.local10.com/thats-life/technology/25-killed-in-northern-Nigeria-as-sectarian-violence-surges/-/2944584/7653470/-/15rfkd4z/-/




MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) -- Police say gunmen from a radical Muslim sect have attacked a town hall in rural northeast Nigeria, shooting at least 20 people dead.

The attack happened around noon Friday in Mubi in Adamawa state, a town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon.

Local police commissioner Ade T. Shinaba said the attack targeted the hall when a group of Nigeria's Igbo people of the southeast were meeting.

Shinaba blamed a radical Muslim sect known as Boko Haram for the killing.

The sect, which wants to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, killed at least 510 people last year alone, according to an Associated Press count.


THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_VIOLENCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Not sure what to say anymore 

That is why they packed up and left Anambra and Delta states.

Let's see if it's true.

^^^


Reported by AP News.

They are not your typical Nigerian Rumour warmongering press

1. I hope it is not true

2. If true, Northerns MUST STAND UP AGAINST BOKO HARAM

3. THE Fg should send the military there to make sure this Boko haram people are caught !!!!!

wannan shegiya mutane

alj harem:

1. I hope it is not true

2. If true, Northerns MUST STAND UP AGAINST BOKO HARAM

3. THE Fg should send the military there to make sure this Boko haram people are caught !!!!!

wannan shegiya mutane

I am beginning to agree that this maybe political.

If this was a Northern thing , thousands would have died by now !!

This is a pin pointed killing to spark outage and chaos

I might be totally wrong though .

Are they fighting christians or Igbos? Lemme something straight here. . . . .?? ?? ? Ssmh.

This is why they all packed out of the ND and SE this morning.

Rhino.5dm:

Are they fighting christians or Igbos? Lemme something straight here. . . . .?? ?? ? Ssmh.

Christians are Igbo are they not? I trust the army are not daft and are properly lead to know wat their response should be to even the playing field.  

@ frosbel >>> Okay.

Bliss4Lyfe:

Christians are Igbo are they not?  

My sister, take heart  . I can assure you that nigeria is not longer in the 1960s where tribalsim was killing us. No NORTHERNER SUPPORT BOKO HARAM even No nigerian support Boko haram.

We should stick together and fight boko haram.  

After the protest, Nigerians should come together against boko haram

Weeping for the death of our Igbo and Christian brothers in the North .

Are our lives worth nothing !!!

Now can I ask what on earth GEJ is doing to protect life and property     

I'm happy for the killing. Those Igbos are fools. I've kept asking why an Igbo will be living a the North which is hot and uninhabitable? Is money more important than your life? Quit that job, start a new business in the East.

I will celebrate if I hear of another round of killings.

When they said all christians should leave the North?what did the FG did?Nothing,absolutely nothing.I wouldnt blame anybody but the FEDERAL GOVERMENT OF NIG

frosbel:

I am beginning to agree that this maybe political.

If this was a Northern thing , thousands would have died by now !!

This is a pin pointed killing to spark outage and chaos


I might be totally wrong though .

Thousands have died already

yes we should be asking the commisioner of police, FG, and other security agencies what they are doing about Boko haram.

Or does the government not know those behind it ? Who are they decieving ?

Boko haram said Christians should leave the north, THE FG DID NOTHING

Boko haram killed people in Mosque, Churches etc you name it. They are evil and I AS A MUSLIM can never EVER SUPPORT SUCH ORGANISATION.

Nigerians should come together and fight Boko Bast.ards

This is 110% political. GEJ + PDP know whats going on.

Now we will just here its 'Boko Haram'. No evidence nothing, they are using their name anyone with eyes can see.

Pure, unadulterated madness.

Nigeria disgusts me - this is the primary threat to the Country atm, National Security.
But do Nigerians protest en masse against it, no, instead, the are more concerned about the price and value of Oil.

I swear if I had the power, I would force Nigerians to drink the stuff. Apathetic, Ignorant fo@ls.

see link below from AP

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_VIOLENCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-01-06-09-31-04

1. If they are killing Igbos then, it might be ethnic cleansing which may be politically motivated, remember they gave southerners 3 days. i.e both muslims and christians.

2. If they are killing christains then it must religious.

3. If they are killing both, then it has to be both.

Bliss4Lyfe:

Christians are Igbo are they not? I trust the army are not daft and are properly lead to know wat their response should be to even the playing field.  

Nadanbata:

This is 110% political. GEJ + PDP know whats going on.

Now we will just here its 'Boko Haram'. No evidence nothing, they are using their name anyone with eyes can see.

Are you evil or what?

Frosbel, I have noticed how you are trying to spread stories to pin Ndigbo against others for the sake of getting us to begin another war. You are not a nigerian and I suspect you are working for a foreign gov thats trying to disintegrate nigeria.  As long as you continue this I will be encouraging my people against going the way you want by all means.

ShangoThor:

Nigeria disgusts me - this is the primary threat to the Country atm, National Security.
But do Nigerians protest en masse against it, no, instead, the are more concerned about the price and value of Oil.

I swear if I had the power, I would force Nigerians to drink the stuff. Apathetic, Ignorant fo@ls.

The protests are organised by the same forces behind boko haram. That has been clear from the outset.

Aigbofa:

Pure, unadulterated madness.

yes pure madness

that is PDP government for you

Rhino.5dm:

Are they fighting christians or Igbos? Lemme something straight here. . . . .?? ?? ? Ssmh.

We all know that Igbos, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa people are 99.9% Christians.

Frosbel you are a funny chap.

Chyz*:

Frosbel, I have noticed how you are trying to spread stories to pin Ndigbo against others for the sake of getting us to begin another war. You are not a nigerian and I suspect you are working for a foreign gov thats trying to disintegrate nigeria.  As long as you continue this I will be encouraging my people against going the way you want by all means.

Gbammm well said.

The government MUST investigate this. It is wrong for anybody to wake up and kill people anyhow.

2015 all will be reflected in the electoral register with this depopulation the northerners are perpetrating on Christians Middle-belters and Southerners.

Chyz*:

Frosbel, I have noticed how you are trying to spread stories to pin Ndigbo against others for the sake of getting us to begin another war. You are not a nigerian and I suspect you are working for a foreign gov thats trying to disintegrate nigeria.  As long as you continue this I will be encouraging my people against going the way you want by all means.

Mr , whatever your name is , I am not here to provoke any silly war.

Did you see my last update.

I simply posted news I saw on AP News    What is your problem  

Besides this will make people more aware and cautious in their movement.

As an Imo state person, how on earth do you expect me to further put the lives of my people at risk.

Next time engage your brain before posting !!!

Until Nigerians see that these so-called "Boko-Haram" attacks are no more than GEJ/PDP's handwork, then I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure I can sell the average Nigerian a Phantom hotel made of Ice located in the middle of the Sahara Desert and I'll get paid $50million for it.

Below is a link. Go through it with a fine tooth comb. And, if you don't see GEJ's/PDP's fingerprints all over this "Boko-Haram" rubbish they're selling you guys, feel free to never listen to me again.

Its all "Divide and conquer methods". "Distract from the real issues". Pit one group against the other, its all been planned. The only problem is, when they (GEJ and co) started using this method, they were too st^upid to realize that Nigeria did not have the Intel/Security Apparatus to deal with an event such as the bombings being taken over by his Political enemies or Renegade Groups. If you want to solve Boko-Haram or whatever name they decide to give it, look to GEJ; After all, HE CLAIMS TO KNOW THEIR SPONSORS BUT HE'S REFUSING TO TELL.

This Same [b]GEJ ABSOLVED MEND FROM THE VERY FIRST BOMBINGS EVEN THOUGH MEND CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY!!!  MEND EVEN SAID GEJ ASKED HIM TO IMPLICATE THE NORTH IN THE BOMBINGS. [/b]How could you guys have forgotten so soon?

You guys just love being fooled. Anyways, heres the link below. Theres still more to come.


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-838253.0.html