Pupils determined to continue their schooling in Kano, where terrorists killed 185 in a single day It is like schools the world over: ebullient children hurtle up and down the stairway as teachers try to keep some semblance of order. There are satchels and lunch boxes, colourful art, rows of wooden desks carved with graffiti by pupils. There is also a school motto: "Knowledge for success."...
Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin pledge to cooperate against militant group that has kidnapped 200 schoolgirls African leaders at a summit in Paris have agreed on a regional plan of action to combat Boko Haram, the Islamist group that has abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them into slavery. In a rare show of unity, the leaders of Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin pledged...
It took a while to sink in that Nigerian security forces were not keen to head for the epicentre of Boko Haram violence Our host lay down a raffia mat for my producer, Lillian Leposo, and me to share. It was settled: we were spending the night in Chibok. After a cross-country journey of four days, twisting and turning between Boko Haram hotspots, begging and cajoling armed police officers to accompany...
Militant group an international problem, Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan tells Paris summit as girls remain missing African leaders have pledged to wage "total war" on Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group who kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria. Continue reading... ...
No reason given for president's cancellation of visit to Chibok, which would have been his first since abductions on 14 April The Nigerian president has cancelled a visit to the northern town from where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped last month, as the US said the rescue mission was proving tough. Goodluck Jonathan had been preparing to make his first visit to Chibok since the mass abductions...
Former Nigerian soldier Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche suspected of being a ringleader of Islamist militants Boko Hararm A British-born citizen who once served in the Nigerian army has been arrested on suspicion of being a ringleader of the Islamist militants who killed 105 people in two bomb blasts in Nigeria last month. Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, in his 30s, was arrested this week in Sudan after Interpol issued an...
Abducted girls relatives in Chibok say they have lost faith in Goodluck Jonathan's government to rescue captives from Boko Haram Chibok: the village that lost its daughters to Boko Haram Relatives of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who have been missing for more than a month after being kidnapped by Islamic militants have voiced anger and despair after the country's president cancelled a visit to...
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As the 'Bring back our girls' campaign and the attack on Malala have shown, basic education is routinely denied to children. International efforts can begin to right this wrong Attacks on education have become visible in our world. The shooting of Malala Yousafzai , who was shot for daring to go to school, shocked us. We cheered when she won her fight for life. And now we are in new despair over the...
While the focus is rightly on rescuing Nigeria's abducted girls, issues of funding and school security must not be ignored Despite the plight of more than 200 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls grabbing the world's attention , there remains insufficient focus on the wider issues of education and gender politics in Africa's most populous country. Continue reading... ...
In village in north-eastern Nigeria people feel abandoned by a government that has failed to rescue 200 kidnapped schoolgirls Asabe Kwambura is getting tired of waiting. Sitting under a young mango tree alongside the charred remains of her school, the headteacher looks around nervously. It's not safe to be out here in one of the most dangerous parts of north-eastern Nigeria, but the government has...
Stories about militant Islamic groups are perennially in the news ( Nigerian forces were warned over kidnap, says Amnesty, 10 May). The names of such groups are revealing, but only if you can understand languages such as Hausa or Arabic. Wouldn't it help if the Guardian adopted a policy of adding a translation of a name on its first use in an article? So Boko Haram would be glossed as "western...
International rescue effort intensifies with Canada joining US, UK, France and Israel in offering help to find missing girls The Nigerian government has signalled it is ready to negotiate with the Islamist militants who are holding more than 200 schoolgirls captive, as international assistance to the search and rescue efforts intensifies. Canada is the latest country to disclose that it has sent special...
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala makes much ado about the recent World Economic Forum in Abuja, but deletes tweets after #BringBackOurGirls supporters object Nigerias finance minister made use of her sizeable Twitter following on Tuesday night to defend president Goodluck Jonathan and reassure the public of the governments efforts to find the kidnapped Chibok school girls , taken from their school on 14 April....
Not long ago, few Nigerians had heard of Boko Haram. Now, the whole world is talking about the extremist group that kidnaps school girls and bombs cities. How did it become so formidable? Six years ago, most Nigerians had not even heard of Boko Haram. Now the whole world is talking about the extremist group that has kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in the north of the country. Founded in 2002,...
Residents of Kalabalge ambush two truckloads of gunmen who were suspected of planning an attack Villagers in northern Nigeria have killed and detained scores of Islamist militants who were suspected of planning an attack, the residents and a security official said. Vigilante groups have been forming to resist Boko Haram, which is holding more than 270 schoolgirls captive. In Kalabalge, in Borno state,...
The father of a Nigerian schoolgirl kidnapped by the Boko Haram says he is happy his daughter is alive, but wants her returned safely home. Lawan Zanna spotted his daughter in footage released by the Islamist group and is worried for her welfare. He is appealing for the international community to help return her and the other girls to safety Continue reading... ...
The Islamists' aims remain mainly local. Saving the abducted girls won't change the conditions in which they flourish Standing among the ruins of her burnt-out school, with classes still being held because parents insisted on it, a 14-year-old Nigerian girl in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri told me that she was not afraid. "There's nothing left for them to attack," she said, as students...
Canada sends special forces to assist Nigerian troops, joining teams from the US, UK, France and Israel The Nigerian government has confirmed that a military operation has been launched with international backing to locate and rescue more than 200 girls, who have been held captive for a month. The government has also signalled it is ready to negotiate with the Islamist militants who snatched the girls...
David Cameron to send surveillance aircraft and military intelligence teams to help track down missing schoolgirls Britain is offering to step up its military assistance to Nigeria by sending surveillance aircraft and an intelligence team to help the authorities track down the kidnapped schoolgirls . As he rejected claims that the Nigerian government had failed to do enough to help find the missing...
The Boko Haram leader has said he would consider releasing the kidnapped Chibok school girls as part of a prisoner swap. The proposal puts the government in an impossible situation, writes Simon Allison Its been more than four weeks since 276 Nigerian school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram . Apart from a brief message confirming responsibility, and threatening to sell the girls , the Islamist militant...