Nigeria - Page 21

Boko Haram Members Arrested in Lagos, Nigeria’s Largest City

The Islamic State-affiliated terrorist group Boko Haram has a small, but very real presence in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, authorities asserted this week. According to Nigeria’s federal intelligence agency, up to 12 people suspected of being members of Boko Haram have been arrested in the city.

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Nigerian Army Denies Reports of 160-Person Boko Haram Massacre

Nigerians in northern Yobe state are decrying a Boko Haram attack that resulted in 160 people–including dozens of children–drowning as they fled the terrorist group. But the Nigerian military is calling the reports “unsubstantiated” and denying the attack occurred at all.

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Boko Haram Leader Still Missing in New Propaganda Video

Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram– now known as the Islamic State West Africa Province– released a new video this week showing off new weapons and graphically depicting the beheading of a Nigerian policeman. The new Boko Haram video’s production value seems to indicate it was produced with help from ISIS, and leader Abubakar Shekau’s absence once again is raising questions.

The Associated Press

USCIRF Sounds Alarm on Nigeria Crisis, Urges Obama to Take Action

Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks by the jihadist group Boko Haram and in sectarian violence in the Middle Belt during the past two months, and emphasizes the intensification of Boko Haram attacks since the start of Ramadan. “The July 20 meeting in Washington D.C. between President Barack Obama and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari offers both nations the opportunity to reinvigorate their commitment to, and develop initiatives that would, help curb both types of violence,” the statement says.

Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters

Cameroon Imposes Burqa Ban in Boko Haram-Ravaged North

Following a similar initiative covering the entirety of Chad, the nation of Cameroon has imposed a ban on the Islamic burqa in the nation’s northern territories, which have been the target of repeated attacks by Boko Haram jihadists, who often use the burqa to disguise explosives.

AP Photo

New Boko Haram Rampage: 26 Throats Slit in Lake Chad Villages

A gruesome attack on villages near Lake Chad this week left 26 dead, as Boko Haram burned homes to the ground and slit the throats of anyone who stood in their way. The attack is the latest in a string of escalating violence in Nigeria and Chad exacerbated by Islamic State calls for more death during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Boko Haram

WHO Baffled as Source of New Ebola Outbreak in Liberia Still a Mystery

A new “cluster” of Ebola cases in a coastal region of Liberia has been identified, after a 17-year-old boy, initially misdiagnosed with malaria, was confirmed dead of the virus. Experts have failed to find the source of this new outbreak and are treating it as a separate set of incidents from the massive outbreak that has taken more than 10,000 lives in West Africa since February 2014.

REUTERS/BAZ RATNER

Nigerian Army Releases 182 ‘Cleared’ Boko Haram Suspects

As part of its National Army Day, Nigeria released 182 prisoners Monday–men, women, and children, all suspected of having ties to the radical jihadist group Boko Haram. Military officials confirmed that they were released in northeastern Borno State, birthplace of Boko Haram, and that they had been cleared of wrongdoing.

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Argentine Engineer Kidnapped in Nigeria: ‘Lionel Messi Saved My Life’

A 28-year-old Argentine agricultural engineer, recently liberated from abduction likely committed by nomadic criminal groups in Nigeria, told his family to thank soccer superstar Lionel Messi for saving his life. The athlete’s name, claims Santiago López Menéndez, was the only way he could communicate to his captors that he was Argentine and not American.

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Chad Begins Airstrikes, Arrests of Homeless in Fight against Boko Haram

The government of Chad has intensified its efforts against the jihadist terrorist group Boko Haram following a bomb attack on the nation’s capital, N’Djamena. After banning the Islamic burqa veil, Chad announced a new series of air strikes against the terror group along the borders with Nigeria and Niger, and has begun efforts to detain “beggars” and foreigners to increase safety in the capital.

JOE PENNEY/REUTERS