At least 100 dead in blasts in Nigeria's Kano

[Princess Luna]

A series of bombings and attacks claimed by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram has left at least 100 dead and many more injured in northern Nigeria's largest city, witnesses and the Red Cross have said.

Gunfire continued to echo through some areas of Kano on Saturday, despite a strict curfew imposed on Friday night which will remain in place until further notice, local officials said. Death tolls from Friday's violence, which targeted police and state offices, varied widely as new information was gathered.

"Many agencies are involved in the evacuation of corpses from the streets," a Nigerian Red Cross spokesman said on Saturday, under condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly, following Friday night's attacks.

"From our tally, we have 121 so far," he said.

Maude Gwadabe, a journalist in Kano, told Al Jazeera by phone that he had seen at least 140 dead bodies.

Gwadabe said the disparity was due to confusion in the aftermath of Friday's attacks and that victims had been taken to different hospitals, homes and treatment clinics.

"At least 140 people died. The Red Cross and Nigerian emergency services have collected the victims and brought them to one hospital [Murtala Central Hospital], and indeed, hospital officials say 140 people were killed," Gwadabe said.

In a statement released on Friday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attacks and said the blasts were revenge for the recent arrests of its members in Kano.

"We are compelled to write this letter to inform Kano residents of this development," wrote Abubakar Shekau, the group's leader.

'Commenced investigation'

In a statement issued late on Friday, federal police spokesman Olusola Amore said attackers targeted five police buildings, two immigration offices and the local headquarters of the State Security Service, Nigeria's secret police.

"The police have commenced investigation and therefore use this medium to call for calm among the residents of Kano as police are doing their best to bring the situation under control," Amore said.

He added that police are "appealing to members of the public to come forward with information on the identity and location of these hoodlums. Information given will be treated with utmost confidentiality".Among those killed was a television reporter, Eneche Akogwu, 31, who was shot dead while interviewing witnesses.

The country's police chief, Hafiz Ringim, has called for an investigation into the blasts, which he described as "well-co-ordinated attacks".

Ringim is under investigation himself, after a suspect charged with carrying out Christmas Day bombings on churches, escaped from police custody earlier this week.

Some Nigerians have called for Ringim's resignation.

Scores of bomb blasts in Nigeria's north have been blamed on Boko Haram.

Attacks specifically targeting Christians have also given rise to fears of a wider religious conflict in the country, with Christian leaders warning they will defend themselves. Some have even evoked the possibility of civil war.

Boko Haram also claimed responsibility for the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja that killed 25 people.

Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, declared a state of emergency in parts of four states on December 31, hard hit by attacks blamed on Boko Haram.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012121141320481233.html

[manic expression]

Speechless....absolute lunacy.

[Threetune]

Frustrated desperate third world reaction to imperialist exploitation and terror, .....
and communist weakness.

[a rebel]

Between these Islamic rebels in north, and the government and more rebels in the south, expect things to be heating up in Nigeria. They also produce a lot of oil, wouldn't surprise me if the UN gets involved at some point.

[Threetune]

Between these Islamic rebels in north, and the government and more rebels in the south, expect things to be heating up in Nigeria. They also produce a lot of oil, wouldn't surprise me if the UN gets involved at some point.

I know you are joking to say that the U.N. and NATO aren’t already involved. You are joking aren’t you?

[Princess Luna]

the death toll is now at 178
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012121141320481233.html

Frustrated desperate third world reaction to imperialist exploitation and terror, .....
and communist weakness.
Bullshit, this is the work of a bunch of religious fanatics wanting to impose their beliefs on others.

[Elysian]

Goes on to show that Islamic terrorism is a real threat. It is a thing in itself ad not merely a reaction to western imperialism. These people are motivated by religion and by religion only, and not by material conditions as marxists seem to believe. Not everything is reduced to politics, people do act on ideals.

[Thirsty Crow]

Goes on to show that Islamic terrorism is a real threat. It is a thing in itself ad not merely a reaction to western imperialism. These people are motivated by religion and by religion only, and not by material conditions as marxists seem to believe. Not everything is reduced to politics, people do act on ideals.
And whence come the ideals, whence the creature-in-the-sky (or whatever it is)?

It's all to easy to criticize "Marxism" - or in other words, whatever it is that someone constructs as "Marxist"?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Goes on to show that Islamic terrorism is a real threat. It is a thing in itself ad not merely a reaction to western imperialism. These people are motivated by religion and by religion only, and not by material conditions as marxists seem to believe. Not everything is reduced to politics, people do act on ideals.

All religious terrorism is a real threat, I would say religion itself is a threat as it rejects concrete material conditions in favor of mysticism.

However,most religious armed groups I would be surprised if they were solely motivated by religion as usually the starting spark for their rebellion are social conditions brought on by material conditions.

[Elysian]

And whence come the ideals, whence the creature-in-the-sky (or whatever it is)?

It's all to easy to criticize "Marxism" - or in other words, whatever it is that someone constructs as "Marxist"?

Which came first - chicken or egg? This is the problem marxism finds itself in.

[Nox]

Badluck Jonathan

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Claiming Islamic terrorism to be the work of mindless fanatics and nothing more, is an extremely weak analysis. One propagated by the bourgeois press in order to justify imperialist interventions in these regions. There are real material conditions that are responsible the growth of these groups and ideologies. One of those conditions is certainly the failure of the left in these countries and internationally to organize a meaningful resistance to Imperialism.

[Princess Luna]

Explosions and gunfire were heard coming from an area near a police station in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, where coordinated attacks and gun battles last week killed at least 185 people.

An AFP news agency correspondent early on Tuesday heard a series of blasts and gunshots coming from an area where a mobile police headquarters is located. Details were not immediately clear and police were not available for comment.

One resident reported a similar account.

"I was awoken from sleep by explosions and gunshots coming from the mobile barracks and police station opposite," the resident said, adding that they had stopped after several minutes.

"It's terrifying ... It's too dangerous to go out, besides there is curfew."

Sporadic gunfire could still be heard after the explosions halted.

A nighttime curfew is in effect in the wake of Friday's attacks in Kano claimed by Islamist group Boko Haram.

Earlier on Monday, Nigerian police found several cars and vans filled with explosives in the city.

"The police were on a stop-and-search today and in two of the checkpoints, the Boko Haram members on sighting the checkpoints abandoned their vehicles and ran," a high-level police officer told the Reuters news agency, asking not to be named.

"The vehicles were later checked and the cars were loaded with explosives. Two brand new Hilux open pick-up vans were also found packed with explosives in the Bompai area of Kano."

Authorities discovered at least 10 unexploded car bombs, including one near a police station in Kano, as well as around 100 other explosive devices through the day on Monday.

Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Kano, said the cars, which were discovered at a petrol station near the central police station, were "filled with explosive devices that were clearly designed to go off on Friday" but did not.

In reaction to the discovery of the bombs, and potential for the discovery of more explosives, our correspondent said police have been asking for citizens to report any suspicious activities or unattended vehicles parked near symbols of Nigerian authority like police stations and government buildings.

Magaji Musa Majiya, a police spokesperson, said that officers were able to disarm the car bombs.

Security tightened

Security in Nigeria's second largest city has been strengthened since Friday when bomb attacks and fierce gun battles between the sect and police killed at least 178 people. A curfew for the hours between 7pm and 6am has been put in place by local authorities.

According to police figures released on Monday, 29 policemen, three intelligence officers, two immigration officers and scores of civilians were among the dead.

"Nearly all Nigerian security agencies are involved [in trying to figure out] how Boko Haram were able to co-ordinate the attacks. They are trying to beef up authority around the symbols of Nigerian authority" our correspondent said.

In Maiduguri, a town in the north-east that has been at the centre of Boko Haram activity, a policeman was shot dead on Monday.

"The policeman was on patrol along with his colleague in a vehicle when the Boko Haram opened fire and shot him dead," said Simeon Midena, the commissioner of police.

"As usual the killers just disappeared into the crowd."

Maidiguri patrols

The joint military task force has increased its defences and widened its patrols in Maiduguri in recent days.

On Sunday, the military killed four suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Maiduguri and found explosives in their car.

"Four members of Boko Haram sect involved in killings in Maiduguri and environs have been under surveillance of security agencies and have been shot dead in Pomomari area of Maiduguri yesterday [Sunday]," Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, an officer in the joint military task force, said in a statement.

"Various IED [improvised explosive device] materials prepared for detonation were recovered from their car."

Boko Haram, which was formed in Maiduguri in 2002, has killed hundreds of people in the last year, mostly in and around its home state of Borno, though its attacks have been spreading across the north of Africa's most populous nation.

The group, loosely modelled on Afghanistan's Taliban, focuses its attacks mostly on the police, military and government, but has also targeted Christians more recently.

It says it is fighting enemies who have wronged its members through violence, arrests or economic neglect and corruption.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has been severely criticised for not getting a grip on a group that he says has infiltrated the police, military and all areas of government.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/201212402548882842.html

[balls deep in revolution]

I know you are joking to say that the U.N. and NATO aren’t already involved. You are joking aren’t you? ya know, a lot of people don't know as much about global political situations as long time socialists.

Nigeria is always in a state of civil war between competing militias, government, and oil companies who arm both government troops as well as militias. there's no heating up to be done.

[Princess Luna]

The Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, has challenged Boko Haram to identify itself and state clearly its demands as a basis for talks.

The radical Islamist group killed more than 500 people last year and another 250 in the first weeks of 2012 in gun and bomb attacks in the West African country, according to Human Rights Watch.

"If they clearly identify themselves now and say this is the reason why we are resisting, this is the reason why we are confronting government or this is the reason why we destroy some innocent people and their properties ... then there will be a basis for dialogue," Jonathan said in an interview to Reuters at the presidential villa in the capital, Abuja,on Thursday.

"We will dialogue, let us know your problems and we will solve your problem, but if they don't identify themselves, who will you dialogue with?"

Jonathan said there was no doubt that Boko Haram had links with jihadi groups outside Nigeria.

Responsibility claim

Jonathan's remarks came as the purported leader of the group issued new threats in a message posted on YouTube, while also saying that last week's attacks in Kano were over the torture of its members.

"We were responsible," a voice identified as that of the suspected Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, says in audio played over a picture of him.

"I ordered it and I will give that order again and again. God gave us victory."

A purported spokesman for the group had earlier claimed responsibility for the co-ordinated bombings and shootings on January 20 in Kano, Nigeria's second largest city, which left at least 185 people dead.

Police stations were the main targets.


A voice identified to be of 'Boko Haram leader' Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the Kano attacks [AFP]
The man said to be Shekau says in the message that "we attacked the security formations because our members were arrested and tortured. Our women and children have also been arrested".

He then issues another threat: "They should know that they also have wives and children. We can also abduct them. It is not beyond our powers.

"Soldiers raided an Islamic seminary in Maiduguri and desecrated the Koran. They should bear in mind that they also have primary and secondary schools and universities, and we can also attack them."

The authenticity of the message could not be independently verified, but the photo matched with previous ones said to be of Shekau and the voice was similar to earlier recordings.

In the latest development in Kano, unidentified armed men abducted a German working for a construction company in the city on Thursday, police said.

Musa Majiya, a police spokesperson, said the man, an engineer, was abducted at a construction site by two armed men in a sedan who "came and handcuffed him and put him in the boot and zoomed away".

He said that police were investigating the incident.

Sect's background

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful", was formed in 2003 in the remote, northeastern city of Maiduguri.

It launched an uprising against the government in 2009 that security forces crushed in days of fighting that killed around 800 people.

Mohammed Yusuf, Boko Haram's then-leader, was captured and died in police custody during those battles, prompting vows of revenge from other members of the sect which they now seem to be honouring in attacks on security forces and authority figures.

The group's members have said they want to impose Islamic law across Nigeria, but the Nigerian president doubts they have clear aims.

"There is no clear thing to say: this is what we want," Jonathan said in the interview to Reuters.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012126215053273662.html (Jonathan urges Boko Haram to state demands)

[Princess Luna]

Spokesman for Nigeria's Boko Haram 'arrested'


Nigeria's secret service has arrested the spokesman for Boko Haram who frequently made statements to the media after attacks by the radical Islamist group, according to security sources.

Abu Qaqa was held in the northern city of Kaduna in the early hours of the morning, the State Security Services (SSS) source told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

"We are still taking to him. Since 'Abu Qaqa' is a pseudonym for the Boko Haram spokesman, we want to be sure of who we have with us. But we have been on his trail for months now. He's been changing locations and contacts," the source said.

Ahmed Abdullahi, the Borno state director of the SSS, told the Associated Press on Wednesday night that they had arrested found the man by tracking his mobile-phone signal.
Abdullahi says the man was a Nigerian citizen, but declined to name him and that he served as a go-between for journalists and Boko Haram.

The news of the arrest comes as violence blamed on the group continues unstopped in Nigeria. At least 185 people died in a co-ordinated attack January 20 by the sect in the northern city of Kano.

Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Abuja, says that while the arrest has been welcomed, questions are being raised about how credible and important his capture is.

"Abu Qaqa has been known to have given statements to journalists about the group’s aims and ambitions but the SSS will most likely interrogate him to gain intelligence that may lead to the apprehension of other Boko Haram members," our correspondent said.

"Having said that, there have been stories that there is a split in the group and that places questions about where he fits in in those factions

"There is no doubt today’s arrest will go a long way in restoring public confidence in President Goodluck Jonathan’s government who have been under tremendous pressure to bring the group to book."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/02/201221184747155479.html