Islamist militancy in Nigeria is being strengthened by western and regional fossil fuel interests The kidnapping of over 200 Nigerian school girls , and the massacre of as many as 300 civilians in the town of Gamboru Ngala, by the militant al-Qaeda affiliated group, Boko Haram, has shocked the world. But while condemnations have rightly been forthcoming from a whole range of senior figures from celebrities...
Insurgent groups' abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls has thrust the violence in Nigeria onto the world stage, but the group has been high on Washington's African agenda for several years US secretary of state John Kerrys announcement that Washington has a team in Nigeria to assist in the hunt for more than 200 abducted schoolgirls included a twist. "We are also going to do everything possible...
Human rights group says military had warning four hours before kidnapping as questions mount over why school was opened Nigerian security forces were aware that an armed convoy of Boko Haram militants was approaching the town of Chibok almost four hours before the extremists kidnapped 300 girls from a school in the town, Amnesty International said on Friday. The human rights group claimed the military...
5 - 9 May: Catch up with the highs, the lows and the hot topics in development this week Aliko Dangote and Nduka Obaigbena, two Nigerian business leaders who have lead the launch of a safe schools initiative in response to the growing number of attacks on the right to education in Africa . "Africa is not poor. We have the resources and if we manage them well, we can do very well." - @KofiAnnan...
The most senior authority in the birthplace of Islam adds his voice to those of other religious leaders in the Muslim world Saudi Arabia's grand mufti has condemned Nigeria's Boko Haram for its kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls and described the group as "set up to smear the image of Islam". Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh said the movement, which says it wants to establish a pure Islamic...
Is it a triumph, that social media has made Boko Haram globally notorious? Or are things more complicated? I don't know much about Nigeria. But I know what I like. I like children going to school without being kidnapped by violent criminals bent on destroying their lives. I don't know much about Boko Haram, either. But I know what I don't like. I don't like Boko Haram. That's a recent dislike. A few...
The Nigerian government has done much for women's rights. Boko Haram must not be allowed to undo our work The plight of more than 200 girls abducted by Islamist extremists from their school in Chibok has come to symbolise the struggle our country is waging against dark forces opposed to the education and empowerment of girls and women in northern Nigeria. As a mother of four children, including a daughter,...
Border Force and Met 'week of action' over illegal procedure intercepts families at Heathrow flying to or from African countries Police and UK border officials have been runnning a campaign at airports nationwide to intercept families who could have taken their children abroad for female genital mutilation. The campaign, designed to raise awareness and promote a zero-tolerance approach to the crime,...
Thanks for your concern but calling for America rather than Nigeria to take action does more harm than good, says Jumoke Balogun Simple question. Are you Nigerian? Do you have constitutional rights accorded to Nigerians to participate in their democratic process? If not, I have news you. You cant do anything about the girls missing in Nigeria. You cant. Your insistence on urging American power, specifically...
Schoolgirls from Jakarta to Timbuktu describe what education means to them and their outrage at the Boko Haram abduction The first time I heard about the kidnappings of schoolgirls in Nigeria was on Twitter, when the headline came up in my feed. I told my best friend about it and she was pretty surprised because she didn't know about it yet. Continue reading... ...
The death of her baby inspired Toyin Saraki to fight for better mother and child health in Nigeria. Girls' education and ending child marriage are key, she says Why did you start the Wellbeing Foundation (WBF) ? I started off in the retail sector with a chain of children's shops and ventures in property. But after I got married, I had a very unfortunate experience during childbirth. A parent is not...
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, says the US's inter-agency team is in Nigeria to help the search for more than 300 schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram. Kerry claims the international community should be condemning the militant Islamist group's actions. Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has said international aid will help bring an end to extremism in the country Continue reading......
Goodluck Jonathan says he believes international assistance will help resolve crisis as details emerge of new Boko Haram atrocity Nigeria's president has insisted that the internationally decried kidnapping of 286 girls by Boko Haram will mark the "beginning of the end of terror" in the country, as further details emerged of the latest rebel atrocity , which saw scores of people shot and...
People around the world have been protesting about the abduction of schoolgirls in Nigeria. Here are the pictures you have shared so far. You can add your own via GuardianWitness Continue reading... ...
A classic case of 'responsibility to protect' Principle designed to prevent atrocities undermined by distrust of UK and others using intervention as means for regime change Many months ago, officials in Britain's Foreign Office responsible for looking "over the horizon" identified Nigeria as the country which concerned them most. It had plenty of oil, but also corruption, weak central government,...
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Nigerian capital Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan discusses the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by militant group Boko Haram. The Nigerian government has stepped up efforts to find the 284 girls, offering a 50m naira (£177,000) reward for information Continue reading... ...
Soldiers based in Gamboru Ngala had been redeployed as part of effort to rescue schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist group Boko Haram has been further condemned after details emerged of a massacre of as many as 300 people close to Nigeria's border with Cameroon, while the Islamist group continued to hold more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls. The US president, Barack Obama, said the kidnappings and murders...
It's three weeks since the terrorist group Boko Haram abducted 300 schoolgirls. But it's the lack of action by a government that doesn't seem to know what's going on that is adding to the country's torment. Guardian writers unravel the crisis On that night, residents in Chibok, in a remote corner of Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state, received phone calls warning them of an imminent attack from Boko...
Developments come as reports emerge of massacre that left 300 dead in north-east of country Nigerian police offered a 50m naira (£177,000) reward on Wednesday for information on the whereabouts of 284 girls kidnapped by Islamist rebels, as reports emerged of a massacre that left 300 people dead in the country's remote and violence-ridden north-eastern region earlier this week. In a sign that...
Twitter hashtag tweeted more than 1m times with Michelle Obama the latest high profile politician to offer her support Nigeria's mass kidnapping: the vital questions answered Three weeks after 257 girls were snatched from their school in Chibok, a fortnight after #BringBackOurGirls first appeared on Twitter, and a day after Barack Obama described the kidnapping as both heart-breaking and outrageous,...