Nigeria: Report Gives Details, Says Terrorist Groups Gaining Foothold in Nigeria

JOS, Nigeria, Dec 25, 2010 (AFP) - A series of Christmas Eve church attacks and explosions have left at least 14 people dead in Nigeria as authorities worked Saturday to prevent a new wave of religious violence.

The situation was especially tense in the central city of Jos, where explosions on Friday evening left at least eight people dead. The region has been previously hit by sectarian unrest that has killed hundreds this year.

In the city of Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year attacked three churches, leaving six people dead and one of the churches burnt, an army spokesman said.

There was no immediate indication the incidents in the vast country's north and central regions were linked.

Police sought to calm the situation in Jos as some residents reported that a gang of youths had barricaded a road leading to an area where one blast occurred and had set about five vehicles ablaze.

"The situation is tense now and we just want to pacify the people," state police spokesman Mohammed Lerama told AFP, refusing to comment further.

A national police spokesman has said at least eight people were killed in an explosion on Friday night in Jos, but the state information commissioner and residents have reported several blasts.

The commissioner, Gregory Yenlong, also reported some 20 dead, but police cast doubt on the information.

Police say they have not determined the cause, but Yenlong said there had been rumours of attacks aimed at disrupting Christmas celebrations in recent days.

Local media attributed the explosions to bombs and death tolls varied widely.

Jos is in the so-called middle-belt region between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south and has long been a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction in Nigeria.

Local rights groups say 1,500 people have died in inter-communal violence in the Jos region this year alone.

Many observers say the violence has resulted from politicians stoking ethnic divisions in a local struggle for power.

The Maiduguri attacks in the north were the latest violence blamed on the sect known as Boko Haram, behind an uprising last year that ended with a police and military assault which left hundreds dead.

Sect members have been blamed for a series of attacks in recent months, including shootings of police officers and community leaders as well as raids on police posts and a prison.

"In an attack on a Baptist church in Alamderi area, five worshippers including a pastor of the church were killed by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram," Lieutenant Abubakar Abdullahi said.

In another area of the city, a security guard was killed when suspected sect members attacked another church, he said.

Soldiers managed to repel a third attack on a church in Maiduguri, with no one reported killed in that incident.

He said the Baptist church was burnt down, along with the house of the pastor next to it.

Nigeria will hold elections in April and observers have warned of an increase in violence as the polls approach.

In addition to violence in the Jos region and in the north, militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta have carried out scores of attacks in recent years, including kidnappings of foreign oil workers and sabotage of pipelines.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country with 150 million people and one of the world's largest oil producers.

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English -- world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse]

Nigeria: Christmas Eve Attacks Kill at Least 38 in Jos

AFP20101225670007 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1414 GMT 25 Dec 10

[Corrected version: adding 'Terrorism', 'Urgent' tags. " Christmas Eve attacks kill at least 38 in Nigeria" -- AFP headline]

JOS, Nigeria, Dec 25, 2010 (AFP) - A series of unprecedented Christmas Eve bomb blasts and attacks on churches have left at least 38 people dead in Nigeria as authorities worked Saturday to keep the violence from spreading.

Seven explosions went off in two different areas of the flashpoint city of Jos in central Nigeria, killing 32 people and injuring 74, many of them as they were doing their Christmas shopping, police said.

In the city of Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year attacked three churches, leaving six people dead and one of the churches burnt, an army spokesman said.

There was no immediate indication the incidents in the vast country's north and central regions were linked.

The situation was especially tense in Jos, which has been previously hit by sectarian unrest that many observers say has been stoked by politics and which has killed hundreds this year.

Police sought to calm the situation after some residents reported that a gang of youths had barricaded a road leading to an area where one blast occurred and had set about five vehicles ablaze.

"We lost 32 and 74 were injured," Plateau state police commissioner Abdulrahman Akano said.

Previous violence in the region has often involved inter-communal clashes and reprisals, and the explosions marked a dramatic turn in the situation.

"This is the very first time explosives of this magnitude are involved," said Akano.

Police had not determined who was behind the blasts, he said, adding it appeared dynamite was used.

"People were doing their shopping," he said of the areas where the explosions went off. "The place targeted had all kinds of people there -- Muslims, non-Muslims."

Jos, the capital of Plateau state, is in the so-called middle-belt region between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south and has long been a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction in Nigeria.

Local rights groups say 1,500 people have died in inter-communal violence in the Jos region this year alone.

"The aim of the mastermind is to pit Christians against Muslims and spark off another round of violence that will eventually culminate in the scuttling of the ongoing electioneering activities," Plateau state governor Jonah David Jang said in an address carried on local television.

Elections are set for April in Nigeria and observers have warned of an increase in violence as the polls approach.

The Maiduguri attacks in the north were the latest violence blamed on the sect known as Boko Haram, behind an uprising last year that ended with a police and military assault which left hundreds dead.

Sect members have been blamed for a series of attacks in recent months, including shootings of police officers and community leaders as well as raids on police posts and a prison.

"In an attack on a Baptist church in Alamderi area, five worshippers including a pastor of the church were killed by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram," Lieutenant Abubakar Abdullahi said.

In another area of the city, a security guard was killed when suspected sect members attacked another church, he said.

Soldiers managed to repel a third attack on a church in Maiduguri, with no one reported killed in that incident.

He said the Baptist church was burnt down, along with the house of the pastor next to it.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and one of the world's largest oil producers, faces tremendous challenges in organising the April elections and is seeking to overcome a history of vote fraud and violence.

In addition to violence in the Jos region and in the north, militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta have carried out scores of attacks in recent years, including kidnappings of foreign oil workers and sabotage of pipelines.

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English -- world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse]

Islamic Sect Website Claims Nigeria Bombings

AFP20101228651009 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1133 GMT 28 Dec 10

["Islamist Sect Website Claims Nigerian Bombings" -- AFP headline]

LAGOS, Dec 28, 2010 (AFP) - A website purported to belong to an Islamist sect has claimed responsibility for Christmas Eve bombings in central Nigeria that left dozens dead, but police on Tuesday cast doubt on the claim.

"O nations of the world, be informed that verily the attacks in Suldaniyya (Jos) and Borno on the eve of Christmas was carried out by us, Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, under the leadership of Abu Muhammad, Abubakar bin Muhammad Shekau (May Allah preserve him)," a statement on the site said.

The attacks were meant "to start avenging the atrocities committed against Muslims in those areas, and the country in general. Therefore we will continue with our attacks on disbelievers and their allies and all those who help them ..."

Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad translates roughly to "People Committed to the Prophet's Teachings for Propagation and Jihad."

Suspected members of the sect known as Boko Haram, which launched an uprising in Nigeria last year, have previously said they want to be known as a group that goes by that name.

Shekau, the name mentioned in the statement, is the suspected Boko Haram leader. Video of a man believed to be Shekau speaking in the Hausa language has also been posted on the website.

The address for the website had been given in a video that emerged earlier this year purportedly from sect members.

Abdulrahman Akano, police commissioner for Plateau state, where Jos is the capital, cast doubt on the claim.

"Anybody can post anything on the Internet," he said, adding that the bomb blasts were not the usual method used by Boko Haram, which has been blamed for series of attacks in northern Nigeria in recent months.

A series of Christmas Eve bomb blasts in the central Nigerian city of Jos and reprisals killed at least 80 people, Nigeria's emergency agency said.

Also on Friday, suspected Islamist sect members attacked three churches in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, in Borno state, killing six people and leaving one church burnt.

The statement on the website also claimed responsibility for the church attacks.

Police have said there appeared to be no link between the incidents in the vast country's north and central regions, though the bombings marked the first time explosives had been used to such an extent in the Jos area.

Jos is in the so-called middle-belt region between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south and has long been a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction in Nigeria.

Many attribute the unrest in Jos to the struggle for economic and political power between the Christian Beroms, seen as the indigenous ethnic group in the region, and the Hausa-Fulani Muslims, viewed as the more recent arrivals.

The Islamist sect known as Boko Haram launched an uprising last year in Nigeria's north that ended with a brutal police and military assault which left hundreds dead.

Sect members have been blamed for a series of recent attacks, including shootings of police officers and community leaders, as well as raids on police posts and a prison in the north.

The attacks come ahead of elections set for April.

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English -- World news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse]

Nigeria: Article Says Islamist Group Strikes with Sophisticated Weapons

AFP20101228683001 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 21 Oct 10

[Unattributed report: "The Boko Haram Onslaught"]

THE band of religious extremists known as the Boko Haram struck again in Maiduguri, Borno State capital on Monday, October 11, 2010. The fanatics bombed the Gamboru Police Station and fired shots at the officers on duty, leaving four policemen with varying degrees of injury. The attack was a continuation of the serial killings by members of the group in recent months.

IT was in July last year that the notorious Boko Haram sect manifested itself as a potent threat to national security. The group attacked churches, mosques, police stations as well as public and private buildings. This triggered a police and military crackdown in which between 800 and 1,000 lives were lost. More than 120 of the fundamentalists were subsequently arrested and detained in Bauchi prison. Early last month, September -- the fanatics launched a highly-coordinated reprisal attack on Bauchi Prison. With assault rifles and other sophisticated weapons, they completely overwhelmed the prison guards and other security personnel. They set the prison ablaze and killed a soldier, a policeman, two prison guards and a civilian. They set free more than 750 inmates including members of their sect.

IT should be a matter of great concern that religious extremism and the usual aftermath -- sectarian violence -- is fast becoming an integral but avoidable part of Nigeria's national character. Previous bands of religious fanatics that disturbed the peace in the past were resolutely suppressed if not totally liquidated when the government clamped down on them. The Boko Haram is threatening to be an exception and indeed an institution that wants to exist and operate on its own terms. This is attributable to the failure of the government to take a decisive action. So it was in the recurring violence in Jos. The repeated slaughter on a large scale that took place in Jos would not have taken place if the hoodlums initially arrested had not been taken to Abuja instead of being promptly brought to justice. They were later released as if they had done nothing wrong and this enabled them to return to the tin city to unleash another round of mayhem on the people.

THE manner in which the government has been handling the Boko Haram sect leaves so much to be desired. When this dangerous sect began its violent campaign of religious bigotry, its nefarious activities spread like wildfire across four states in a matter of days. The late President Umaru Yar'Adua ordered an investigation into the atrocities perpetrated by the fanatics. Nothing was again heard about it. In our editorial of August 18, 2009, we called for a full scale judicial inquiry into the operations of the sect because we believed and still believe that there is more to the band of extremists than meet the eye.

IT has for long been in the public domain that connivance or outright collusion on the part of some people in positions of authority has been a contributory factor to the unceasing occurrence of the avoidable orgy of violence. The leader of the group, the late Mohammed Yusuf, had in the past been arrested and charged to court. For reasons only known to those involved, the security agents slated to testify against him failed to show up in the law court. He was subsequently set free in spite of the mass of evidence available against him. It has also been publicly stated that before the sect embarked on the violent phase of its activities, security agencies had provided intelligence reports that a religious uprising was in the offing but nothing was done to nip it in the bud. It was well known that members of the group had been flagrantly disobeying the law but nothing was done to check their excesses allegedly because of their connection with people in high places. There have been allegations that top government officials are among the sect's sources of funding and that these officials have been shielding its members from appropriate sanctions for their lawless conduct.

THE leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf, was not killed in a shoot-out as was claimed. He was arrested in a goat pen by a team of military men and handed over to the police. How could a man in police custody have come by a loaded gun with which he engaged the police in a shoot-out? It was a clear case of extra-judicial execution. One of the deputies of Yusuf who was a former commissioner in Borno State, Buji Foi, was reported to be one of the financiers of the maniacal group. He was also summarily executed.

EACH time precious lives are wantonly wasted, the government gives an assurance that no stone will be left unturned in bringing the culprits to justice. More often than not, nothing is done until another incident occurs in the cycle of violence. This should stop. All those closely or remotely connected with these diabolic religionists should be identified and brought to book. The sect should be totally vanquished so that innocent people may no longer die or suffer. The existence of such a group should be seen as an embarrassment to this country. Its philosophy that western education is sacrilege is senseless and crazy. The guns and bombs its members use to commit murder, the cars, the television and radio sets and other objects of comfort and sustenance that its leaders use are all products of western civilisation. The media organisations to which they have been granting interviews are western institutions. Theirs is a life of hypocrisy and humbug that borders on psychopathy. Their onslaught on society should be ruthlessly repelled. They do not belong to this age.

[Description of Source: Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English -- Website of the privately owned daily; URL: http://www.tribune.com.ng]

Nigeria: Islamic Clerics in Plateau Disown Group's Claim on Jos Serial Blasts

AFP20101229565005 Lagos This Day Online in English 28 Dec 10

[Report by Seriki Adinoyi and Omololu Ogunmade: "Jos Bombings: Islamic Clerics Disown Group"]

The Council of Ulama (Islamic clerics) in Plateau State has disowned the claim by Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, the previously unknown group that took responsibility for the Christmas Eve multiple bombings in Jos.

Spokesman of the Ulama, Alhaji Sani Mudi, said in a telephone interview yesterday: "I don't think it's a credible group or that it has any link with an established Islamic organisation either in Jos or in Maiduguri."

He said there were "a lot of things" wrong with the way the group worded their statement, especially the opening sentence.

Mudi said: "Though I've not been able to open the website, from what I saw in the newspaper I read, Muslims don't start the greetings in the way the group was quoted by the papers.

"Muslims don't say 'In the name of God the mighty' but would always say 'In the Name of Allah the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful', and we don't believe that the website is genuine. The opening sentence does not reflect something that is truly Islamic."

He, however, said whether the website was genuine or not, the bombings were condemnable and irresponsible, adding: "We call on security agents and government to get to the root of the matter."

Meanwhile, the website of the Islamic group - http://mansoorah.net - could not be accessed by last night as it had been closed abruptly.

But there was pandemonium in Jos yesterday following a clash between men of the Special Task Force (STF) and youths of Gada-Biu in Jos North Local Government area of the state following the alleged shooting of two youths by the STF.

Also, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has declared that the statement of the group was a confirmation that Boko Haram was responsible for the bombings.

They marched to the state Police Command chanting anti-STF songs and were later pacified by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abdulrahaman Akano, who pleaded with them to be calm as the police would look into their grievance.

Akano later told newsmen that a soldier was in the custody of the police but did not mention if he was one of those who shot at the youths.

Activities which were already picking up in Jos went down again as a result of the renewed pandemonium.

Speaking with THISDAY, the CAN Chairman for North-central, Rev. Yakubu Pam, said the statement of the "Jihad group" confirmed the speculation that Boko Haram was responsible for the explosions.

The cleric said the game plan of the perpetrators was to provoke the Christians to react in a negative and tempt them to fight the Muslims, so that there could be full scale crisis again in the state.

He appealed to "all the good people of the state and Nigeria" to condemn the current act of terrorism gradually gaining ground in the country, adding that the government should be alive to its responsibilities.

Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang has made a passionate appeal to leaders in the country to desist from making hasty comments about the Jos crisis, saying such comments were capable of reversing the already achieved peace and progress in the state.

Jang said those making such hasty comments about the unfortunate situation in the state might turn out to be the cause of the problems after the outcome of investigation, adding that there was the need by all to exercise restraint and be more progressive with their utterances.

He further appealed to the people of the state to eschew any act of violence, saying the state had had enough of such and needed a peaceful atmosphere to forge ahead and catch up with other developed states in the country.

He commended the security agencies in the state for containing the crisis, adding that their dedication to peace deserved commendation.

Also, the Deputy Governor of the state, Dame Pauline Tallen, through her campaign organisation has joined other dissenting voices in condemning the bomb blasts.

In Lagos yesterday, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, and CAN Presiden t, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, alleged that the Jos blasts were politically motivated.

The duo spoke at a world press conference under the aegis of Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC) co-chaired by the two religious leaders.

Abubakar, who said he had evidence to affirm his opinion that the bombings were political, made references to an advertorial in a national daily where he said a group was accusing certain politicians of masterminding the violence.

"When I say it is political, I mean it," the Sultan said, lamenting that it is wicked and cruel for some individuals to destroy other people's lives in their pursuit of selfish objectives.

"Why use human lives to achieve your goals?" he asked, saying he deliberately declined to mention names of suspects in the crisis as he appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to expedite action on suggestions made to him during the recent meeting of NIREC with him on how to find lasting peace and promptly proffer solution to the protracted crisis rocking Jos and Maiduguri.

He insisted that the crisis in the North is being masterminded by a few disgruntled elements whose ultimate drive is to create confusion and urged the Federal Government to decisively punish perpetrators of these heinous crimes. He said violence persists in the country because perpetrators always go unpunished.

"We have come together to ensure peace. Government must fish them out and deal with them whoever they are. If the government can be punishing people who do this thing, there will be a change. We must say the truth if we must get to the root of our problems in this country," the Sultan said.

Echoing the Sultan, Oritsejafor said the Jos bombings were both political and religious, lamenting that some politicians exploit the weak points of the unsuspected masses to perpetrate dastardly acts in order to suit their selfish interests.

He said such politicians do so because they do not want this country to be established on a solid foundation and hence do all they could to make the country ungovernable.

He also insisted that punishing perpetrators of violence is the only act that could offer a lasting solution to this menace.

"What happened in Jos was definitely political but it has a strong dose of religious colouration. I believe that politicians know the weaknesses of our people. They know how to manipulate their beliefs and they know the part of the country where people react easily. Look at what happened in Maiduguri. A pastor was killed, churches were burnt and the gateman who resisted was killed. There are people who don't want this country to stand firm as a nation. There are politicians who don't want elections. They want to make Nigeria ungovernable, to complicate issues in this nation. It is true that lives were lost, women were made widows and children made orphans.