Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Two people were killed when a convoy of civilian vehicles hit landmines in northeast Nigeria, a driver and a local militia member said on Wednesday. Babakura Kolo, from the Civilian Joint Task Force helping the military with security, said the blasts happened at Koibe village on …
Read More »Cameroon accused over Nigerian Boko Haram refugees
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Cameroon on Wednesday denied allegations by a human rights group that it had forcibly returned about 100,000 Nigerian refugees in breach of international agreements, putting them in danger from Boko Haram Islamists. Human Rights Watch said Nigerians who had sought refuge across the border because of …
Read More »Boko Haram displaced protest poor conditions in Nigeria camp
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Thousands of Nigerians uprooted from their homes by the Boko Haram insurgency hit the streets of Maiduguri Sunday in protest at food shortages and poor conditions in their refugee camp, demanding they be allowed to go home. More than 2.6 million people have been displaced …
Read More »UN seeks $10 million as Nigeria cholera outbreak worsens
Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP | At least 44 people have now died in a cholera outbreak in northeast Nigeria, the United Nations said Monday, calling for nearly $10 million to keep the disease from spreading. “To date, the outbreak has claimed at least 44 lives, out of close to 2,300 …
Read More »Suicide bombers kill 15 in northeast Nigeria
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 15 people were killed on Monday when suicide bombers attacked an aid distribution point in northeast Nigeria, in the latest suspected strike by Boko Haram insurgents against civilians. The blasts occurred in the Konduga area, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Borno state …
Read More »Nigerian military ordered to boost response to Boko Haram
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s military has been ordered to strengthen its response to Boko Haram after 69 people were killed in an ambush earlier this week, the government said on Sunday. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo held emergency talks with top brass to discuss Tuesday’s attack, which targeted an oil exploration …
Read More »Boko Haram ambush death toll hits 69
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 69 people died in a Boko Haram ambush of an oil exploration team in northeast Nigeria, as three men kidnapped by the jihadists made a video appeal. Experts said the attack — Boko Haram’s bloodiest this year — underscored the persistent threat it …
Read More »Call for Boko Haram peace talks masks ethnic tensions
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | A group of community elders in northeast Nigeria where Boko Haram has waged a bloody eight-year insurgency are urging the Islamists to enter peace talks, a move some see as motivated by ethnic self-interest. The Borno Elders Forum of retired military and civilian officials, all ethnic …
Read More »Malala meets her Chibok ‘heroes’ in Nigeria
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Monday called for a “state of emergency for education” in Nigeria, as she visited the country and met some of the Chibok schoolgirls whose cause she championed. The 20-year-old global education campaigner made the suggestion at a meeting …
Read More »Vigilantes: Nigeria’s next security problem?
Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP | In 2013, thousands of young men formed a rag-tag militia and rounded up Boko Haram members in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, then handed them over to the military. The Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), as it later became known, was instrumental in driving the Islamist militants …
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