At least 24 people are reported to have been killed in suicide bomb blasts in the north-east Nigerian town of Mubi. The explosions happened in and around a mosque as Muslims were preparing for afternoon prayers. No-one has yet said they were behind the bombings, but the Islamist militant group Boko Haram has launched previous … Read more
Nigeria president to meet Trump in US Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will become the first leader from sub-Saharan Africa to be received by US President Donald Trump when he arrives in Washington for talks later. They are expected to discuss shared economic and security interests. But many will also be watching the talks closely after … Read more
Schoolgirls and teachers in north-eastern Nigeria have escaped an attack on a boarding school by Boko Haram jihadists, witnesses say. They say the militants in pick-up trucks arrived in the town of Dapchi, Yobe state, on Monday evening, shooting and setting off explosives. Alerted by the noise, staff and students were able to flee. In … Read more
More than 1,000 Boko Haram suspects go on trial More than 1,000 suspected Boko Haram militants will appear before judges in Nigeria today, as the largest mass trial in the country’s history resumes. The accused, some of whom have been held for years, are expected to be arraigned before the civilian courts at a military … Read more
Boko Haram Islamists have published a video showing three kidnapped members of an oil exploration team, after an ambush in northeast Nigeria earlier this week that killed at least 50. In the four-minute video, the trio identify themselves as being from the University of Maiduguri and call on the government to meet the jihadists’ demands … Read more
‘More than 40’ killed in battle with Boko Haram in Nigeria More than 40 people have died in north-east Nigeria during an attempt to free people who had been ambushed in a convoy by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, sources have told the BBC. At least five members of an oil exploration team were killed … Read more
Nine Nigerian soldiers and a civilian have been killed during an operation to free 10 people abducted by militant Islam group Boko Haram, the army says. The abducted group of geologists and surveyors were rescued during the battle, it added. They were in a convoy that was ambushed as it was returning to north-eastern Maiduguri … Read more
Gunmen believed to be Boko Haram Islamists have kidnapped 10 members of an oil exploration team in northeast Nigeria, colleagues and the state-run oil firm said on Wednesday. “About 10 staff from the survey and geological department of the University of Maiduguri were abducted on Tuesday,” said Ndu Ughamadu of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. … Read more
Four people were killed in suicide bomb attacks at a camp for those displaced by the Boko Haram conflict in northeast Nigeria, the emergency services said on Monday. Abdulkadir Ibrahim, from the National Emergency Management Agency, said the blasts happened at about 11:20 pm (2220 GMT) on Sunday, just outside the Borno state capital of … Read more
Three people were killed in suicide bomb attacks at a camp for those displaced by the Boko Haram conflict in northeast Nigeria, the emergency services said on Monday. Abdulkadir Ibrahim, from the National Emergency Management Agency, said the blasts happened at about 11:20 pm (2220 GMT) on Sunday, just outside the Borno state capital of … Read more
Police in the northern Nigerian city of Kano said they arrested five suspected Boko Haram militants after a gunfight Sunday, marking a flare-up of jihadist violence in the city. The suspects were taken into custody on the outskirts of the city as they were about to launch attacks on markets and “places of worship”, Kano … Read more
Mangoes and watermelons, prayer mats and Chinese-made utensils are again filling the stalls of Maiduguri’s markets, as they recover after years of Boko Haram violence. Traders sweating behind wheelbarrows overloaded with goods fight their way through the crowded alleyways in northeast Nigeria’s biggest city. But in the birthplace of Boko Haram, appearances are often deceptive. … Read more
Dozens of Boko Haram suspects have died in Cameroon custody, rights group Amnesty International said Thursday, with security forces brutally torturing them in the fight against the jihadist group. Though Boko Haram originated in Nigeria, the Islamic State-affiliated group has carried out frequent attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The NGO said it had found … Read more
Suspected Boko Haram fighters have been “brutally tortured” by security forces in Cameroon, a rights group says. Amnesty International said in a report that the suspects, including women and children, were beaten, water-boarded and forced into stress positions. The cases allegedly happened between 2013 and 2017, and dozens of detainees died as a result, it … Read more
Nigeria is reviving its search for oil in the country’s conflict-riven northeast, aided by China and emboldened by gains made against Boko Haram. President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is exploring inland basins ranging from central Benue state to Boko Haram’s heartland in northeast Borno. Renewed attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in the southern Niger delta … Read more
A group of community elders in northeast Nigeria where Boko Haram has waged a bloody eight-year insurgency are urging the Islamists to enter peace talks, a move some see as motivated by ethnic self-interest. The Borno Elders Forum of retired military and civilian officials, all ethnic Kanuri, said it was “time they (Boko Haram) put … Read more
Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Monday called for a “state of emergency for education” in Nigeria, as she visited the country and met some of the Chibok schoolgirls whose cause she championed. The 20-year-old global education campaigner made the suggestion at a meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa in Abuja. … Read more
Only three people have been rescued so far after a Cameroonian army vessel carrying 37 people capsized off the country’s south-west coast, an army source has told the BBC. Soldiers from an elite military unit were on board when the boat sunk as it was travelling to Bakassi on Sunday. The unit, the Rapid Intervention … Read more
Eight people were killed on Monday when a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, in the latest attack in the restive region. The head of the Borno state emergency management agency, Ahmed Satomi, said the blast happened at about 5:30 am (0430 GMT) in the London Ciki area of … Read more
A Cameroon army vessel transporting “dozens” of troops from the elite Rapid Intervention Brigade capsized on Sunday off the country’s southwestern coast, a security source told AFP. The boat “capsized on Sunday between the city of Limbe and Bakassi. There were dozens of troops on board, including a colonel,” the source told AFP, speaking on … Read more