Boko Haram fighters took over a Nigerian military base in the Borno state town of Baga yesterday, killing a number of people and sending others fleeing into neighboring Chad. The base housed Nigerian, Chadian, and Nigerien troops from a joint task force. Suspected Boko Haram fighters also stormed the town of Babban Gida in Yobe state yesterday, where they destroyed buildings. The UN sought to stay the execution of 54 Nigerian soldiers who are accused of mutiny and disobeying orders to attack Boko Haram fighters in Borno state in August. Bomb disposal experts defused explosives found near the home of an Islamic scholar in Jos, the capital of central Plateau state on Jan. 2; two days earlier, gunmen attacked the village of Katoma in Plateau, beheading one resident and killing at least one other also.
