Nigerian police and immigration services are on high alert after officials said Monday they received text messages threatening new religious violence by a radical Islamic sect.
Officers set up checkpoints in armored tanks around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state where rioting by the Islamic sect Boko Haram and an ensuing police crackdown left 700 people dead. Immigration agents in the state that borders Chad, Niger and Cameroon also are watching for Boko Haram members who may cross the border to spark new violence in the area, said Adamu Isa Azare, an assistant superintendent of police in Borno.
Azare said the increased security presence comes after police received text messages that promised the group would rise again and attack around Maiduguri. Violence between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria has left more than 500 people dead since the start of the year, sparking recent calls from an al-Qaida-affiliated Web site for a Muslim uprising against Christians.
“We are not (sure) if it is Boko Haram per se, because some people we are yet to identify were just sending text messages to people that there was going to be attacks,” Azare said. “For this reason, we stepped up our security apparatus as proactive measures to ensure we were not caught unaware. We want to ensure the people are well-policed. We don’t want to take anything for granted.”
Azare also asked the public to call authorities if they saw large groups of unfamiliar people moving into the region.
Boko Haram — which means “Western education is sacrilege” in the local Hausa language — has campaigned for the implementation of strict Shariah law. Its members rioted and attacked police stations and private homes in late July, sparking the police crackdown. Authorities have been accused of killing Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf while he was in custody. Police officials said he was killed while trying to escape, but army officials said he was alive when he was arrested.
The group largely went underground after Yusuf’s death. In early March, police arrested 17 officers suspected of taking part in filmed executions that later aired on international news channel Al-Jazeera.
Nigeria: Boko Haram Militants (Photo: NeoRepublica)
LOS ANGELES, CA (ANS) — Nigerian government representatives “refused” to meet with protestors who staged a protest in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday, March 20, 2010 against the recent bloodshed in Jos, Nigeria, which has seen more than 500 Christians murdered, a Nigerian-born Christian human rights activist has claimed.
This was claimed by Helen Bako, founder of Nigerian Women Against Violence (NWAV) and organizer of the three-hour protest that took place outside the Gateway Sheraton in Los Angeles, where representatives of the Nigerian government were staying.
The protestors carried edited pictures of those killed and placards stating, “No More Deaths”, “Why Women? Why Children?”, “Machetes Kill in Cold Blood,” and “Nigerian Police, Do You Care?” were carried in a peaceful demonstration outside the hotel.
Ms. Bako, who originally comes from the Jos area, told ANS, “We then requested that the hotel management inform the Nigerian delegation that Nigerian citizens were waiting to meet with their government representatives to express their concern about the violence.
The protesters make their points at the hotel
“Hotel representatives gave us conflicting information about the presence of Nigerian representatives until hotel manager agreed to contact the Nigerian delegation with our request. He then came back and informed us that the answer was ‘no’ to a meeting, and that he could not give the name of the person who had given this decision on the grounds of hotel confidentiality.
“He then requested that our NWAV demonstrators leave the hotel property and so we picked up our signs, which had been set aside at the request of the hotel manager, and returned to their peaceful demonstration on the street outside the hotel.”
Ms. Bako added, “Reliable sources have informed us that Awalu Ibrahim, Consul General of Nigeria, was in the hotel at the time.”
For more information on Nigerian Women Against Violence, or to set up an interview with Helen Bako, you can contact her at (714) 673-7770 or by e-mail at: bakohe@aol.com
As a result of the March 7 and March 17 attacks on Christians in Jos, reports state that 41 have been arrested and will be charged with murder, and another 121 will be charged with weapons and arson crimes.
— Punch reports: “Forty-one persons out of 164 people arrested by the police in connection with the recent crisis in Jos will soon be charged to court for murder.”
— “One of our correspondents gathered that the police had concluded investigations into the March 7 mayhem, which led to the death of over 500 people.”
— “It was further learnt that 121 others would be charged with unlawful possession of arms and arson.”
— Police statement read:
— “In its resolve to deal decisively with perpetrators of violence in the nation, the Nigeria Police has concluded investigation into the mass killings in Dogo Nahawa, Rasat and Jeji villages in Jos South LGA of Plateau State, which occurred on March 7, 2010.”
— “A total of 164 persons were arrested, detained and thoroughly interrogated, as to their involvement in the sad incidents of terrorism, murder and arson.”
— Punch reports: “The police spoke just as the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria raised the alarm over fresh plans by religious extremists to attack non-Muslims in some parts of the North.”
— “Meanwhile, the National Chairman, Youth Wing, PFN, Dr. Abel Damina, who accused some security agents of complicity in the Jos crisis, appealed to the Federal Government to name the sponsors of the violence.”
— “Speaking with newsmen on Saturday, Damina explained that unless something urgent was done, such killings might not stop.”
— “Damina, who expressed disappointment in the Army, wondered how some people were allowed to cause mayhem, even when there was a curfew in place.”
— “He said, ‘How do you explain a situation where the governor of a state says there is curfew and nobody must go except the soldiers who were on patrol, only for people in Army uniform to go out and start killing Christians?'”
— “The cleric called on the Army to look inwards with a view of carrying out some internal cleansing and identifying those using their positions to terrorise the people.”
"Some of the people arrested over the Jos inter-ethnic killings. Photo: NEXT"
Nigeria: 163 arrested in Nigerian massacre
— CNN reports: “More than 160 people have been arrested in connection with the massacre earlier this month of scores of people in central Nigeria, a national police spokesman told CNN Monday.”
— “Of the 163 arrested, 41 will be charged with homicide, said spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu. The other 122 will be charged with rioting, arson and possession of firearms, he said.” Next: Jos: in their words
Helen Bako, who comes from the Jos area and now works as a social worker in Southern California, is the founder of Nigerian Women Against Violence.
She told ANS that the protest against “the recent bloodshed in Jos and the surrounding areas,” will take place at 11:00 AM on Saturday, March 20, 2010, at the the Gateway Sheraton, 6101 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, close to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) where representatives of the Nigerian government will be staying.
“Hundreds of women and children were brutally murdered by machetes and swords in Jos ten days ago,” Helen Bako told ANS. “Villagers continue to be attacked. Where was the Nigerian government? Where was the army? Where was the police? What are the facts?”
Smoke rises in Jos after latest round of violence
She added that Nigerian Women Against Violence calls on the international community and the United Nations to “hold the Government of Nigeria accountable to protect the lives of its citizens.”
She went on to say, “We believe the Nigerian Government has a responsibility to protect its children, its women, and its men, no matter what their religion. We call for an end of bloodshed in Nigeria no matter whose blood is shed.
“We call the Nigerian Government to invite an independent inquiry from the United Nations to establish what happened over the last several weeks in Jos. We want the world to know what happened. We don’t want it to happen again. We are Nigerian woman. We are against violence. We call on our government to protect us and to protect our children.”
Nigerian Women Against Violence is a grass-roots organization of women dedicated to uncovering violence in Nigeria and doing what we can to make it stop.
For more information, contact Helen Bako, Nigerian Women Against Violence. Telephone: (714) 673-7770, FAX: (714) 734-8305
E-mail: bakohe@aol.com
Helen Bako, Nigerian Women Against Violence (Photo: ANS)
— on Wednesday April 7 in New York, Nigerian Christian supporters will be holding a press conference and rally in NYC, regarding the massacre of Christians in Nigeria on March 7 and on March 17
— Date: Wednesday April 7
— Location: Permanent Mission of Nigeria, 2nd Avenue and East 44th Street, New York City, NY
— Note: street address for the Permanent Mission is: 828 Second Ave, New York, NY 10017
— Press conference will take place at 4:30-5:00 PM
— Rally from 4:45 PM to 7:00 PM
— For more information follow web site: http://april7rally.wordpress.com/
"Scenes from a mass burial organised for the victims of the sectarian violence in Jos...on Monday." (Photo: Punch)Mass Grave in Jos After Attack (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Nigeria: “Attackers in fresh Jos violence cut out victims’ tongues”
— Punch reports: “Machete-wielding raiders who killed over 12 people in an early Wednesday morning attack on the village of Byei, in the Riyom area near Jos, Plateau State cut out the victims’ tongues, according to agency reports.”
— “The Associated Press reports that the attack almost mirrored the tactics used by those who carried out similar massacres in villages dominated by ethnic Berom Christians last week when more than 500 people were slaughtered.”
— “Under the cover of darkness and a driving rain, raiders with machetes entered Byie village early Wednesday, setting fire to homes and firing gunshots into the air to drive frightened villagers into the night, witness Linus Vwi told AP”
— “Vwi said he and about 20 neighbors rushed into the surrounding wilderness, cowering in bushes as they listened to screams.”
— “He said the attackers spoke Fulani. Officials and witnesses blamed Fulani herders for the killings last week.”
— “Fulani community leader, Mallam Sale Bayari, denied that Fulanis took part in those killings, though he said the community suffered a similar massacre recently.”
— “Six people were wounded in the overnight raid and taken to a local hospital, said Mark Lipdo, leader of a regional Christian nonprofit group. He said attackers burned down 15 homes during the violence.”
— “The dead included seven women, four children and one man, Lipdo said. Attackers removed the tongues of most of the victims, witnesses said.”
— Nigeria: At Least 13 Killed in New Nigerian Sectarian Clash
— Voice of America: “Nigerian officials and residents say at least 13 people were killed by Muslim herdsmen who attacked a predominantly Christian village close to the troubled central city Jos.”
— “Witnesses say the attackers, disguised as soldiers, raided the village, 30 kilometers south of Jos, at dawn. Most of the victims of the attack were women and children. Local officials said security forces were alerted about the attack, but help came too late”
In Jos, Nigeria, a massacre took place during the night of March 7, 2010 with 500 Christians murdered in the night by a gang with machetes – killing women and children. A summary from London Times Africa reporter and other media reports are listed below.
The London Times reports “500 butchered in Nigeria killing fields”: — London Times summary: “Officials estimate that 500 people were massacred in night-time raids by rampaging Muslim gangs near the city of Jos. Survivors told The Times that entire families were killed, some to the chants of Allahu Akbar – God is Greatest”
— London Times report: — “Dozens of bodies lined the dusty streets of three Christian villages in northern Nigeria yesterday. Other victims of Sunday morning’s Muslim rampage were jammed into a local morgue, the limbs of slaughtered children tangled in a grotesque mess.”
— “One toddler appeared fixed in the protective but hopeless embrace of an older child, possibly his brother. Another had been scalped. Most had severed hands and feet.”
— “Officials estimate that 500 people were massacred in night-time raids by Muslim gangs near Jos, the city that bestrides Nigeria’s Christian-Muslim fault line.”
— “Local journalists and civil rights organisations who toured the area yesterday told The Times they had counted at least 200 victims shot and hacked to death in apparent revenge for sectarian violence in January that claimed about 300 lives from the two communities. Mark Lipdo, a co-ordinator for the Stefanos Foundation, a Christian aid group, confirmed at least 93 dead in one village. ‘But there are corpses charred beyond recognition,’ he said.”
— “Survivors claimed that Muslim inhabitants of the targeted villages of Zot, Dogo Nahawa and Rastat had received telephone calls two days before the attack telling them to leave the area.”
— “Witnesses said gangs waited at main entry points to the villages while others went from house to house, setting the homes on fire.”
— “Those who fled were killed at the exit points. Others were slaughtered after being caught in animal traps and nets as they ran in the dark.”
— “Ben Kwashi, Anglican Archbishop of Jos, said he visited one of three villages engulfed by the violence. ‘I could see kids from age zero to teenagers, all butchered from the back, macheted in their necks, their heads. Deep cuts in the mouths of babies. The stench. People wailing and crying,’ he said.”
— “Nigeria’s Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner, ordered troops into the riot-affected area ‘to confront and defeat these roving bands of killers’, he said in a statement. Last night he sacked Sarki Mukhtar, the national security adviser, a powerful figure in the inner circle of the ailing President, Umaru Yar’Adua.”
— “Villagers said army assistance came too late. Christian youths accused the military of complicity in the killings.”
Aftermath of March 7, 2010 Jos Attack (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)Aftermath of March 7, 2010 Jos Attack (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)Image of March 7, 2010 Attack Aftermath as Bodies were Gathered (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)
— London Times: “Nigerian Christian villagers flee threats of fresh attacks by Muslims” — The London Times reports:
— “Frightened Christians streamed out of villages in central Nigeria yesterday after threats of new attacks from Muslims responsible for a weekend massacre in which at least 500 people were killed.”
— “Under the gaze of troops rushed into the area, burials for the victims of the violence — believed to be in revenge for Christian killings of Muslims in late January — took place near the city of Jos, the provincial capital of Plateau State. Thousands have been killed in similar religious clashes in recent years.”
London Times: "Witnesses said that gangs waited at main entry points to the villages while others went from house to house, setting the homes on fire" (Photo: London Times)
— LA Times: Nigerian massacre victims buried in mass grave
— The LA Times reports:
— “Reporting from Ratsat, Dogo Nahawa, Nigeria, and Lagos, Nigeria — The victims of Sunday’s sectarian massacres were buried in mass graves in central Nigeria on Monday as survivors told horrific stories of Christian villagers being trapped in nets and hacked to death by Muslim herdsmen.”
— “Reports on the death toll differed wildly, with some placing it at about 200 and others reporting 528 killed and thousands injured. Casualty figures in the recurrent Muslim-Christian violence in Nigeria’s volatile Plateau state are often difficult to ascertain, as each side inflates its losses.”
— “However, attacks in January and on Sunday have left at least 500 dead, making it the worst violence here for some years.”
Mass Grave in Jos After Attack (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
