Nigeria president declares state of emergency

[High_Gravity]

Nigeria president declares state of emergency

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Admitting Islamic extremists now control some of his nation's villages and towns, Nigeria's president declared a state of emergency Tuesday across the country's troubled northeast, promising to send more troops to fight what he said is now an open rebellion.

President Goodluck Jonathan, speaking live on state radio and television networks, also warned that any building suspected to house Islamic extremists would be taken over in what he described as the "war" now facing Africa's most populous nation. However, it's unclear what the emergency powers will do to halt the violence, as a similar past effort failed to stop the bloodshed.

"It would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve," Jonathan said.

Jonathan said the order will be in force in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. He said the states would receive more troops, though he will not remove state politicians from their posts. Under Nigerian law, the president has the power to remove politicians from their posts and install a caretaker government in emergency circumstances.

The president's speech offered the starkest vision of the ongoing violence, often downplayed by security forces and government officials due to political considerations. Jonathan described the attacks as a "rebellion," at one point describing how fighters had destroyed government buildings and "had taken women and children as hostages."

"Already, some northern parts of Borno state have been taken over by groups whose allegiance are to different flags than Nigeria's," Jonathan said.

The president later added: "These actions amount to a declaration of war and a deliberate attempt to undermine the authority of the Nigerian state and threaten (its) territorial integrity. As a responsible government, we will not tolerate this."

Nigeria president declares state of emergency

 

[waltky]

Goodluck havin' a run o' bad luck...

Nigerian Leader Admits Parts of the Country Now Under Control of Jihadists
May 15, 2013 – Acknowledging that the state has lost control over some territory to radical Islamists, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in three northern states.

“What we are facing is not just militancy or criminality, but a rebellion and insurgency by terrorist groups which pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity,” the leader of Africa’s most populous country said in a televised announcement. “Already, some northern parts of Borno state have been taken over by groups whose allegiance is to different flags and ideologies,” he said. “These terrorists and insurgents seem determined to establish control and authority over parts of our beloved nation and to progressively overwhelm the rest of the country. In many places, they have destroyed the Nigerian flag and other symbols of state authority and in their place, hoisted strange flags suggesting the exercise of alternative sovereignty.”

Jonathan declared an emergency in Borno, a state wedged into Nigeria’s north-eastern corner bordering Cameroon, Niger and Chad; and in two neighboring states, Yobe and Adamawa. He said armed forces would have sweeping powers of search and arrest. As for terrorists and their collaborators, “whoever they may be, wherever they may go, we will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to justice. No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terror.” Shortly after the presidential broadcast, the secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Borno state, the Rev. Faye Pama Musa, was killed.

The Nation of Lagos said the pentecostal church pastor was trailed to his home and shot dead by two gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram, the Islamist group at the center of Nigeria’s security crisis. Boko Haram has declared a violent “jihad” against Nigeria’s Christians while launching increasingly audacious attacks against government facilities. More than 700 Christian deaths were attributed to the group last year alone, and its recent attacks included a May 7 assault on a prison and other government facilities in Borno that left 55 people dead – and saw 105 prisoners escape. Jonathan said in his televised address such attacks “amount to a declaration of war.”

The Obama administration 11 months ago named three Boko Haram leaders under an executive order designed to disrupt funding to terrorists, but has resisted calls by some lawmakers to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). Last January, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the administration was still looking into the FTO designation question and “whether that’s the most effective way to deal with the organization.” Despite Boko Haram’s targeting of Christians and its jihadist rhetoric – last August it demanded that Jonathan, a Christian, convert to Islam or resign – U.S. officials have played down religion as a main motivation. “As you know, Boko Haram is at the moment a loosely constructed group attached to trying to address grievances in the north,” Nuland said last June.

MORE

 

[High_Gravity]

The government is losing control of parts of the country to Jihadis, this isn't good.

 

[waltky]

Nigeria in massive offensive against Boko Haram...

Nigeria Launches Massive Offensive Against Islamists
May 16, 2013 - Nigeria says it has launched a "massive deployment of men and resources against Islamist insurgents, a day after the country's president declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states.

The Nigerian military said in a statement Wednesday it is aiming to rid the nation's border territories of terrorist bases." In Washington , the U.S. State Department urged Nigeria to keep human rights in mind as it goes after the insurgents. "We call on Nigerian officials to ensure that security forces protect civilians in a security response, in a way that respects human rights, and the rule of law. And to ensure that recent incidents in the north, including the violence in Baga,are fully investigated and those responsible are held accountable," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

On Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan said Nigeria is facing a rebellion in the north and acknowledged that Boko Haram militants have taken over parts of Borno state. Boko Haram has fought the government since 2009, killing hundreds of people in bomb and gun attacks that often target churches, officials, and law enforcement. The disruptive group seeks to impose Islamic law across northern Nigeria.

Soldiers stand during a parade in Baga village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in the north-eastern state of Borno, Nigeria

Major attacks blamed on Boko Haram

2009
July - Attacks prompt government crackdown in Bauchi and Maiduguri; 800 people killed

2010
December - Bombings in central Nigeria and church attacks in the northeast kill 86

2011
June - Attack on a bar in Maiduguri kills 25
August - Suicide bomber kills 23 at U.N. building in Abuja
November - Bombings in Damaturu and Potiskum kill 65
December - Christmas Day bombings across Nigeria kill 39

2012

See also:

Nigerians Debate Amnesty for Boko Haram
May 16, 2013 — As Nigerians debate the possibility of granting amnesty to militants in Nigeria’s north, the country marks the fourth anniversary of its amnesty program for militants in the South. Some former militants in the Niger Delta region are opening small businesses while others are bitterly disappointed, saying without change, renewed violence is inevitable.

On some Nigerian newspaper websites, there are polls asking users if they believe the government should offer amnesty to Boko Haram militants, a group blamed for thousands of deaths in the past four years. On one such website, the largest voter block was for this option: “No, they have killed innocents and should be brought to book.” For many Nigerians, though, the idea of peace through amnesty has been tested at least somewhat successfully in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta, where militants waged war against the government and oil companies for several years.

Niger Delta program

Analysts are quick to point out that the conflict in the Niger Delta was very different from the current Boko Haram conflict. Boko Haram is a shadowy militant group that says it’s fighting for Islamic law and to free its imprisoned members. The Niger Delta militancy was an offshoot of a popular movement calling for the equitable distribution of oil wealth. In the Niger Delta, however, some former militants say the amnesty program is preventing another uprising.

Epipade Kemepade, 30, used to be in charge of dispatching weapons among his fellow militants, or “freedom fighters” as they called themselves. In 2009, along with tens of thousands of other young men, he turned in his gun in exchange for the promise of job training and slightly more than $400 a month.

Now, he’s a trained welder and has his own shop. He also is among 300 former militants who were promised new equipment a month ago to grow their businesses, but it hasn’t yet arrived. On the other hand, other former militants say Kemepade is the exception and most of the “boys” - as they are known locally - are returning from training to find no jobs and no capital to start a business.

Remaining issues

 

[Bleipriester]

The government is losing control of parts of the country to Jihadis, this isn't good.

Exactly this also happnes in Syria, but there it´s ia good thing. Do you know something: I don´t get it. Do you?

 

[High_Gravity]

The government is losing control of parts of the country to Jihadis, this isn't good.

Exactly this also happnes in Syria, but there it´s ia good thing. Do you know something: I don´t get it. Do you?

I don't think its a good thing in Syria either.