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At Least 59 Killed in Latest Nigeria Violence
Authorities in northern Nigeria state say gunmen have killed at least 59 people in attacks on two small towns near the state capital, Maiduguri.
In one attack on Sunday, gunmen dressed in military uniforms entered the village of Konduga in Borno state and opened fire on the people praying at a mosque. They also set fire on nearby houses. Local police say 47 people were killed and 39 others were wounded. Some 50 houses were burned.
District chief of Konduga Zannah Masu Yale said some of the attackers were women. Borno state Governor Kashim Shettima visited the village Tuesday and promised compensation to the families of the victims.
In a separate attack, gunmen entered the village of Ngom on Saturday and killed 12 people.
There has been no claim of responsibility but officials suspect the radical Islamist group Boko Haram was behind the attacks.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for many previous attacks in northeastern Nigeria, including some on mosques whose clerics have denounced religious extremism.
A new video emerged Monday by Boko Haram's self-declared leader, Abubakar Shekau. In it, he claims responsibility for several recent attacks, including those in the towns of Bama, Malam Fatori and Gamboru.
He also urged Nigerians to abandon the country's constitution and accept Islamic law.
Boko Haram has been blamed for thousands of deaths since launching an uprising against the government in 2009.
The group says it is fighting to impose a strict form of Sharia on Nigeria's Muslim-majority north. Its name in the Hausa language means "Western education is sinful."
Borno is one of three northeastern states where President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency and deployed additional troops in May to fight Boko Haram. Rights groups have criticized the military for heavy-handed operations they say have led to hundreds more deaths.
In one attack on Sunday, gunmen dressed in military uniforms entered the village of Konduga in Borno state and opened fire on the people praying at a mosque. They also set fire on nearby houses. Local police say 47 people were killed and 39 others were wounded. Some 50 houses were burned.
District chief of Konduga Zannah Masu Yale said some of the attackers were women. Borno state Governor Kashim Shettima visited the village Tuesday and promised compensation to the families of the victims.
In a separate attack, gunmen entered the village of Ngom on Saturday and killed 12 people.
There has been no claim of responsibility but officials suspect the radical Islamist group Boko Haram was behind the attacks.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for many previous attacks in northeastern Nigeria, including some on mosques whose clerics have denounced religious extremism.
A new video emerged Monday by Boko Haram's self-declared leader, Abubakar Shekau. In it, he claims responsibility for several recent attacks, including those in the towns of Bama, Malam Fatori and Gamboru.
He also urged Nigerians to abandon the country's constitution and accept Islamic law.
Boko Haram has been blamed for thousands of deaths since launching an uprising against the government in 2009.
The group says it is fighting to impose a strict form of Sharia on Nigeria's Muslim-majority north. Its name in the Hausa language means "Western education is sinful."
Borno is one of three northeastern states where President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency and deployed additional troops in May to fight Boko Haram. Rights groups have criticized the military for heavy-handed operations they say have led to hundreds more deaths.
Kidnappers free three Edo teachers
• Govt begins certificate verification
AFTER two weeks in captivity, three female primary school teachers abducted by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers at Orhogbua Primary School in Ekhehuan village, Edo State yesterday regained their freedom.
But it was an embarrassment to the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and the state civil service as a teacher at Asologun Primary School, Ikpoba Okha Local Council, Benin City could not read a sworn affidavit she tendered as part of her credentials at the on-going verification of certificates of primary school teachers in the state.
It was learnt that the three kidnapped teachers were released at about 3.00 a.m. on Tuesday at the Ekhehuan axis of the state. They were said to have called members of their family who went to pick them up.
The teachers, Patience Osadolor, Momodu Aisha and Patience Oroghene were seized at gunpoint from the school on July 30, 2013. Their abductors had initially demanded for N60 million ransoms for their release, but later slashed the amount to N7.5 million.
At press time, it could not be ascertained if any ransom was paid before the teachers were released.
The state governor, Adams Oshiomhole who paid an unscheduled visit to the State Staff Training Centre, venue of the exercise was appalled that a teacher could not read, saying “if you can’t read, what do you teach the pupils, what do you write on the board?”
Chairman of the state Nigeria Union of Teachers, Comrade Patrick Ikosimi who was also at the screening to monitor the exercise said the woman’s performance was “an embarrassment”.
On arrival at the centre, the governor took time to check some of the teacher’s credentials and documents presented and was surprised when the teacher stuttered while reading an affidavit she deposed to.
Ikosimi, who described her failure as an embarrassment, said the union was in tune with the state government on the need to sanitise the school system.
“We are committed to partnering with the government to reposition education in the state. What this teacher has just displayed is a show of shame; it shows the decadence in the education sector.
“As the chairman of NUT, I have written to the governor that we are in total support of what he is doing. He should properly involve the NUT so that together we can fish out the culprits who are not productive as far as the system is concerned,” he said.
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