The Boko Haram Crisis Spreads In Nigeria After Ruthlessness Of The Group's Recent Assaults
Boko Haram is now taking territory and threatens a state capital by declaring caliphate in the areas it controls
By Sadho Ram — 05 Sep 2014, 07:31 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
Boko Haram, the radical group that abducted more than 200 girls from a Nigerian village in April, has steadily increased the frequency and brutality of its attacks since its formation in 2002
In recent months, the militant group has captured towns to the north, south and east of Maiduguri in a series of bloody assaults
In an alarming harbinger earlier this week, Boko Haram fighters captured the town of Bama, about 45 miles from Maiduguri and a linchpin in the jihadists’ campaign to vanquish all of Borno. Government forces had rebuffed the militants during an initial siege on Monday, but the extremist group returned en masse the following day to overwhelm the town, according to Reuters.
nytimes.com
A soldier who fought at Bama also told Reuters that government air reinforcements botched an air strike near the end of the battle, dropping bombs on parts of the town and killing everyone there — including insurgents, but also Nigerian troops.
time.com
Boko Haram fighters patrolling Bama have since prevented anyone from burying the dead, and bodies are rotting in its streets, the BBC reports
he militants have caused widespread destruction through their bombing campaign
Image via bbcimg.co.ukBoko Haram fighters were patrolling the streets of Bama, preventing people from burying the dead, Ahmed Zanna said. On Wednesday, the state government denied the town had fallen. Officials said about 26,000 people had been displaced by fighting in Bama, a key town in the battle for control of Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state.
"So many bodies litter the streets, and people are not allowed to even go and bury the dead ones. So the situation is getting worse and worse," Mr Zanna told the BBC's Newsday programme after speaking to a resident who fled the town.
inquisitr.com
Meanwhile, the Boko Haram militants have already announced their intention to carve out an Islamist territory in Nigeria's north
Subsequently, a successful attack on Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, a major commercial and Government hub and the capital of Borno State, would represent a significant advance
People gather near burnt vehicles as other stand on a fire truck at the site of a bomb explosion that rocked the busiest roundabout near the crowded Monday Market in Maiduguri, Borno State, on 1 July 2014.
Image via huffpost.com“It’s very tense,” said Maikaramba Saddiq, a human rights activist in Maiduguri and the local head of Nigeria’s Civil Liberties Organization. “The Boko Haram have taken over Bama town. That’s why many of them are running away. They think the next target is Maiduguri.”
abc.net.auThe militants, whose leader Abubakar Shekau last month declared a "Muslim territory" in the north-east after capturing the town of Gwoza on the Cameroon border, is believed to be trying to mimic the example of the Islamic State (IS), which announced the creation of a separate caliphate in Syria and Iraq. "They are creating territory for themselves ... they have seen what IS have done, so they are trying to imitate them," said Musa Sumail, a human rights activist in Maiduguri who reports on the violence in the north-east.
Travellers packed bus stations in Maiduguri seeking transport westwards towards the neighbouring Yobe state, the only safe exit route out, while vehicles laden with passengers and possessions also crowded the road. "I'm leaving now because people keep saying Boko Haram may attack Maiduguri anytime and it is possible," said Saka Lawal, a car mechanic who was leaving with his wife and two children.
aljazeera.comNigerian officials are increasingly warning that the Islamist militant group might advance on Maiduguri, capital of the besieged state, and home to some 2 million people, the New York Times reports. Boko Haram, waging a barbarous campaign of violence, has over the summer quickly collected several municipalities in the northeast, some of which officials say could be used as bases from which the militants could close in on Maiduguri.
time.com
On Thursday, the State Department's top diplomat for Africa delivered a stark warning about what she said was the "worsening" security situation in the country, in remarks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja
“We are very troubled by the apparent capture of Bama and the prospects for an attack on and in Maiduguri, which would impose a tremendous toll on the civilian population,” Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in prepared remarks at a conference in Abuja. “This is a sober reality check for all of us. We are past time for denial and pride. Despite our collective efforts, the situation on the ground is worsening.”
nytimes.com
The city is already crowded with perhaps a half-million people displaced by recent Boko Haram advances in the region. Given the ruthlessness of the group’s assaults, an attack on Maiduguri could result in widespread bloodshed. In town after town, Nigeria’s military has so far proved unable to repel assaults by Boko Haram, fleeing and leaving behind weapons and equipment. Several residents said Thursday that they feared soldiers would abandon Maiduguri.
economist.com
“From all the various happenings in other locations, they were not able to contain the insurgents,” said Abba Mohammed Bashir Shuwa, until recently a top adviser to the governor of Borno. “It is feared that they might not withstand the capabilities of the insurgents.” He said that the governor had dissolved his cabinet and had returned to Maiduguri in haste from an overseas trip to “stay with his people.”
nytimes.com
Maiduguri is home to a major military installation, the Seventh Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army, and “the military have evacuated most of their families,” Mr. Shuwa said. “They advised me to leave the town if possible before Sunday,” he said. “They are expecting that there might be an attack before Sunday.”
nytimes.com
Mentioning the unresolved capture of hundreds of schoolgirls by Boko Haram in April, the group's recent attacks across the border in Cameroon, and its leader's proclamation of an ISIS-style Caliphate, the Assistant Secretary of State added:
Internally displaced persons, who are victims of Boko Haram attacks, stay at the IDP camp for those fleeing violence from Boko Haram insurgents at Wurojuli, Gombe State 2 September 2014.
Image via wordpress.com“All of these developments are deeply disturbing, and increasingly dangerous with each passing day.” She said that the United States was “close to announcing the launch of a major border security program,” to include Nigeria and its neighbors Cameroon, Chad and Niger, but offered no details, and the State Department was unable to provide any Thursday night.
nytimes.com
The United States already trains, in a limited fashion, given Nigerian security forces’ tarnished human rights record, some army and police units, and has provided aerial reconnaissance in the so-far unsuccessful hunt for the captured schoolgirls. But it was unclear Thursday night whether military assistance would be stepped up, given the apparently intensifying threat from the Islamist militants.
Boko Haram, a movement whose name means "western education is forbidden", has killed thousands since launching an uprising in 2009 to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria
They are by far the main security threat to Africa's biggest economy. It has claimed shootings and bombings across the north and, more sporadically, in the federal capital Abuja and even in the southern coastal commercial hub of Lagos.
abc.net.auCounterterrorism experts said links exist between Boko Haram and other Islamist movements, such as Al Qaeda's North African franchise and Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab, but there has been little evidence so far of extensive cooperation.
aljazeera.com