UN chief backs Nigeria’s integration of insurgents, calls it key to peace
Maiduguri, NigeriaReuters UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he fully supported moves to expand facilities to reintegrate surrendering Islamist insurgents in north-eastern Nigeria because it was a key step to achieving peace in Africa’s most populous nation. Nigeria has been fighting Islamist group Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) […]
Joint West African force says more than 100 insurgents killed in recent weeks
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters A joint military force from Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon said on Sunday it had killed more than 100 Islamist insurgents, including 10 commanders, in the past few weeks, as it intensifies a ground and air offensive in the Lake Chad region. Boko Haram fighters and its splinter Islamic State West Africa Province […]
Nigerian state to shut camps for people displaced by insurgency
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters Nigeria’s Borno State, the epicentre of an ongoing Islamist insurgency, will shut all camps that are holding thousands of internally displaced persons by the end of the year, its governor said on Friday, citing improved security in the state. The conflict between the insurgents and Nigeria’s armed forces has also spread to […]
Second Nigerian “Chibok girl” freed in a week seven years after abduction
Maidugri, NigeriaReuters A second young woman abducted seven years ago from the town of Chibok by Boko Haram militants was freed this week, Borno state’s governor said on Saturday. The kidnappings of some 270 teenagers in the northeastern town in 2014 sparked an international outcry and a viral campaign on social media with the hashtag […]
ISWAP militant group says Nigeria’s Boko Haram leader is dead
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters The Islamic State West African Province militant group said in an audio recording heard by Reuters on Sunday that Abubakar Shekau, leader of rival Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, was dead. Shekau died around 18th May after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle, […]
Essay: Nigeria – We must not stop calling and praying for Leah Sharibu’s freedom
With her 18th birthday marked by campaigners last week, ELLIS HEASLEY, of UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW, looks at the case of Nigerian woman Leah Sharibu, kidnapped in February, 2018, from her school…
Jihadis attack town, humanitarian posts in north-east Nigeria
Maidguiri, Nigeria AP Jihadis linked to the Islamic State group attacked the north-eastern Nigerian town of Dikwa and humanitarian posts there, security officials said. The attack in Borno state that began late Monday night came about 48 hours after the Governor of Borno state, Babagana Zulum, visited the community along with other officials, to distribute […]
Essay: Praying for breakthrough in Nigeria in 2021
ELLIS HEASLEY, of UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW, calls for Christians to join in prayer for the strife-torn nation of Nigeria where Christians are the target of escalating levels of violence which some are saying increasingly looks like genocide…
Islamist militants executed five Christian men after kidnapping in Nigeria over Christmas – reports
Islamist militants executed five Christian men in Nigeria, according to reports. The five, whose deaths were claimed by the Islamic State West Africa Province – a group which splintered off from Boko Haram in 2016, were reportedly among 11 people kidnapped on Christmas Day from thir homes in the north-eastern town of Garkida. In a 49 […]
Christian leader urges people to pray for kidnapped women in Nigeria
The leader of Nigeria’s Evangelical Church Winning All has called on Christians to pray for a number of women kidnapped by Islamic extremist groups in north-east Nigeria in recent years. Morning Star News reports that Rev Stephen Baba Panya, president of the ECWA, said church leaders were troubled at the lack of efforts from the Nigerian Govermnment […]