Nigeria; Christian, Muslim Violence

[thoughtone]

source: Free Speech TV


Massacre in Nigeria: Up to 2,000 Feared Dead in Boko Haram’s Worst Attack to Date

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Fk6e9i9QuN0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

As the world focused on the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, a massive atrocity was unfolding in Nigeria. On January 3, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram attacked the northern town of Baga and surrounding areas. Over the next several days, hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians were killed. Fleeing residents were chased into the bush and shot dead, others reportedly drowning in Lake Chad as they tried to swim away. Scores of homes were burned to the ground, and bodies were strewn in the streets. Estimates of the death toll range from around 500 to up to 2,000. Some 30,000 people were also displaced. Amnesty International says the assault on Baga could be the deadliest of the Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency. The group has waged relentless violence in a bid to establish an Islamist state in northern Nigeria.

 

[thoughtone]

 

[QueEx]

I agree. Now what ?

 

[QueEx]

After targeting Niger, Cameroon
Nigeria's Boko Haram militants
now attack Chad for first time



<iframe width="780" height="1500" src="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31453951" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[QueEx]

Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls
may be exchanged for Boko Haram leaders

It is believed there are over 200 girls still in captivity

Bring Back Our Girls protestors in Abuja this week (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)​

The Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014 from Chibok, a village in the country’s north east, could be reunited with their families after the terrorist sect offered to exchange the girls for key leaders of the militant group held by the government.

The kidnap of the 276 girls, which sparked a global movement called ‘Bring Back Our Girls’, remains a key issue in the Nigerian political space and the international scene as the inability to rescue the girls despite previous false claims by the military is seen as a damning failure.

While some girls escaped, it’s believed there are over 200 girls still in captivity. In recent months there have been reports that up to three of the girls had died while some others appear to have been converted to the cause of Boko Haram.

Boko Haram’s offer of an exchange is thought to the first step to possibly opening lines of negotiation with the new government. This sentiment was given further credence recently as a key adviser to Buhari suggested the president may be willing to negotiate with Boko Haram in a bid to put an end to the hostilities which have resulted in over 10,000 deaths and the displacement of millions of Nigerians in the north east.

The Nigerian government, under president Goodluck Jonathan had previously tried to negotiate with Boko Haram and agreed to a purported ceasefire with the group in October 2014. But that turned out to be an embarrassing hoax.

Recognizing the importance of the Bring Back Our Girls movement and its international support, president Buhari promised, in his inauguration speech, to give the matter proper attention and dedicate resources to securing the safety of the kidnapped school girls. Keeping up to his promise in part, the president met the leaders of the Bring Back Our Girls movement this week and asked for patience as he seeks to win more regional support in the fight against the terrorists.

However, the initial signs of this administration’s fight against insurgency are ominous as Boko Haram have ramped up their activities resulting in the deaths of over 600 Nigerians since Buhari took office.​

http://qz.com/449131/nigerias-kidnapped-schoolgirls-may-be-exchanged-for-boko-haram-leaders/

 

[QueEx]

Nigeria Says 21 Schoolgirls Abducted By Boko Haram Have Been Released

October 13, 201612:28 PM ET

Protesters outside the Nigerian High Commission in London hold up placards demanding help from the Nigerian government
to find missing girls a year after their kidnapping by Islamic extremists in April 2014. Alastair Grant/AP


Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says 21 of the schoolgirls abducted by the militant group Boko Haram more than two years ago have been released after "successful negotiations."


More than 270 girls were taken from their boarding school in the town of Chibok in April 2014. Their kidnapping spurred an international outcry and prompted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

The International Committee for the Red Cross says it acted as a neutral intermediary and handed the 21 girls to Nigerian government authorities.

The girls' release has not been independently verified, NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports from Zimbabwe. But if true, she says, "it would be a major coup for Nigerian authorities — and relief for the families."

A spokesperson for Buhari, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the release "is the outcome of negotiations between the administration and Boko Haram ... brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government." He added in a post on Twitter that the "negotiations will continue."

The girls were in the custody of Nigeria's Department of State Services, Shehu said, adding that they are "very tired" and their names will be released soon.

"The handing over of four imprisoned militants was also part of the deal," according to the BBC.

As Ofeibea explains, "till now there is only one confirmed release of one of the students, who found her way out of captivity with a baby and was found by an army-backed civil defense group in May."

The Nigerian army has been carrying out an offensive against Boko Haram. The militant group released a video in August claiming that some of the girls were killed as a result of those airstrikes, The Two-Way has reported.

"Some 197 girls remain captive, though it is not known how many of them may have died," the Associated Press reports.

And Ofeibea notes that Boko Haram "has abducted many more girls and boys before and since the Chibok kidnapping."

Boko Haram is currently going through a leadership struggle — two different men claim to be in charge of the group. As we have reported, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group last year. One of the purported leaders is the longtime head of the group, Abubakar Shekau, while the Islamic State says it has officially named Abu Musab al-Barnawi as Boko Haram's leader.


SOURCE: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...rls-abducted-by-boko-haram-have-been-released


.