Tag Archives: Nigeria

About 90,000 people have been displaced in clashes between militant Islamists and security forces in Damaturu city. Assailants threw a bomb into an Arabic school, injuring seven people. Another UN staff member has died from the Aug. 26 car bombing of its Nigeria headquarters, bringing the death toll to 25.

Nigerian authorities arrested two suspects in connection with the deadly Christmas Day bombings of Catholic churches. Christianin the north said they feared that a spate of deadly bombings by Boko Haram could lead to a religious war in the country.

An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria’s capital, killing at least 25 people. Boko Haram claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as other explosions also struck the nation’s northeast.

Gun battles between Nigerian security forces and Boko Haram killed at least 68 people in two days of fighting in northern Nigeria. Nigeria’s army killed more than 50 members of the sect during fighting on Thursday and Friday in the northeastern city of Damaturu.

A series of explosions followed by street battles took place in the northern cities of Maiduguri and Damaturu. Boko Haram fighters are believed to have detonated bombs in the cities and then attacked police checkpoints and other targets. No casualties have been reported.

Security forces arrested 14 suspected Boko Haram fighters in Kano. The arrests took place after Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base there, resulting in four of its fighters and three soldiers killed.

Three Boko Haram fighters were killed after their explosives detonated prematurely at their bomb factory in Maiduguri. Suspected Boko Haram fighters killed a policeman in Kano.

More than 100 members of the Oodua People’s Congress, a militia, marched through Lagos firing weapons in the air to protest the attacks by Boko Haram. “We are going to retaliate [against Boko Haram] if there is any bomb blast hitting any place,” a leader of the group said.

Boko Haram killed six policemen in an attack on police stations and a bank in Azare in Bauchi state. The father of Boko Haram spokesman Usman Al-Zawahiri said his son is insane.

President Jonathan Goodluck called for Boko Haram fighters to lay down their arms, and promised “mercy.” Boko Haram detonated an IED on a highway in Maiduguri.

The Joint Task Force commander said that Boko Haram “is al Qaeda.” The JTF commander also said that the northern city of Maiduguri is unsafe.

More than 20 suspected Boko Haram fighters attacked a police station and a highway safety office in Mainok near Damaturu. Locals claimed four policemen were killed, but the government denied this.

A government spokesman said US warnings about potential attacks on there major hotels in Abuja are “eliciting unhealthy public anxiety and generating avoidable tension.” Police have deployed armored vehicles in the city to protect the hotels.

Sixty-six people were killed during Friday’s attacks by Boko Haram in Maiduguri, Damaturu, and Potiskum. Sixty-three of those killed were in Damaturu. The US warned that the terror group may attack the Hilton, Nicon Luxury and Sheraton hotels in Abuja.