Essay: Why schoolchildren are regularly being targeted by terrorist groups in many countries
In an article first published on The Conversation, BRIAN J PHILLIPS, co-author of ‘Insurgent Terrorism: Intergroup Relations and the Killing of Civilians’, explores what’s behind what appears to be an escalating trend of terrorism against schools…
Essay: Nigeria’s security situation has got worse – what Tinubu’s administration needs to do about it
In an article first published on The Conversation, SALLEK YAKS MUSA looks at the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria and what steps new President Bola Tinubu needs to take to address it…
Islamist militants kill at least 25 in Nigeria’s Borno state
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters Islamist militants have killed at least 25 people in an attack in a fishing town in Nigeria’s Borno state, police and residents said on Thursday. Police commissioner Abdu Umar linked the attack in Dikwa to Boko Haram insurgents. He said a policeman was killed in a separate incident. Dikwa is close to […]
Nigerian election: Christian leaders preach peace, love and unity as nation heads to the polls
TONNY ONYULO reports on calls for a peaceful election in Nigeria this weekend…
UN seeks $US1.3 billion for Nigerians affected by insurgency
Lagos, Nigeria Reuters The United Nations on Thursday appealed for $US1.3 billion to provide assistance to six million Nigerians who are suffering the impact of a long-running Islamist insurgency in the north-east of the country. The militant Boko Haram group and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have been fighting Nigerian security forces in […]
Islamist militants kidnapped around 50 women in Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Reuters Islamist militants kidnapped around 50 women searching for food in Burkina Faso’s northern province of Soum, a hotbed of jihadist activity, on 12th and 13th January, the government said on Monday. The mass kidnapping is a first in the insurgency that spread to Burkina Faso from neighbouring Mali in 2015 despite […]
Essay: State Department blacklists are only one tool to foster international religious freedom
KNOX THAMES, US State Department special adviser on religious minorities in the Obama and Trump administrations, looks, in an article first published on Religion News Service, at whether such designations help…
“Hard to be a Christian”: Christians in Nigeria recount experiences of trauma following church attacks
TONNY ONYULO reports on how Christians in Nigeria are coping in the wake of attacks on churches…
Hungry and malnourished, north-east Nigeria endures humanitarian crisis
Damaturu, Nigeria Reuters Lying on a small bed next to her mother, 14-month-old Aisha Usman stares blankly, her eyes sunk in their sockets and rib cage visible. She is the latest arrival at a treatment centre for severely malnourished children in Nigeria’s northeast, where a long running Islamist insurgency has uprooted millions, forcing farmers to […]
An uncertain future: Uprooted again, Nigerians who fled Boko Haram face new dangers
PHILIP OBAJI, JR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on aid workers’ claims that as camps for the displaced close in Borno state, thousands of people are now at risk of extreme poverty and labour exploitation…