Petroleum Africa
Find us on: 
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Islamic militant group in northern Nigeria, Boko Haram, has been responsible for a number of deaths over the past five years and if the past few days are anything to go by, the group does not plan to let up any time soon. On November 28 there was a devastating attack in Kano at the Grand Mosque that left an estimated 200 dead.
While the group are Islamist militants it has targeted the Muslim establishment in Nigeria, accusing it of not defending the interests of the country’s Muslim population of corruption, and of perverting Islam. The emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a former governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank frequently preaches at the Kano mosque on Fridays and is the second-most influential Muslim figure in Nigeria. Sanusi was out of the country at the time of the bombing, but during one of his last prayers at the Grand Mosque he urged Nigerians to defend themselves against Boko Haram. “People must stand resolute” against a group that enslaves girls (referring to the kidnapping of the Nigerian school girls) and “must not assume that the crisis will not reach their area,” Sanusi said.
The November 28 attack was followed by more than one attack on December 1. At least 39 people were killed in a raid on Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state. According to a Reuters, report 33 of the dead were policeman and six were soldiers. There were also 20 militants who died in the raid and the morgue said it expected that number to increase as more bodies were brought in.
Citing a local security source, the report said the insurgents had taken many of their dead away, filling four pick-up trucks with bodies. Nigeria’s military had to use ground and air forces to repulse the insurgents from the city following their dawn raid. A separate bomb attack in the Borno state capital Maiduguri, also on December 1, killed at least five people.
The group has been around since 2002, although the violence did not really start until 2009 when it raided police stations and government buildings in Maiduguri, and other northern cities. Between 2009 and 2014 the group has been responsible for thousands of deaths, kidnappings, and assorted destruction of schools, churches, and mosques.
" alt="Sintana to Expand Asset Base in Namibia with Acquisition">
" alt="Luanda Gives Afentra Nod for Azule Acquisition">
" alt="TotalEnergies Increases Stake in ROC’s Giant Moho Field and Sells Mature Assets">
" alt="Africa’s $824 Billion Debt Burden and Opaque Resource-Backed Loans Hinder its Potential">
" alt="African Refiners Ponder Threats to Energy Security for Africa as Transition Takes Center Stage">
" alt="Invictus Inks Gas Sales MOU to Deliver Power to Eureka Gold Mine">
" alt="Globeleq Acquires the 25 MWp Winnergy Solar PV Plant in Egypt">
" alt="Sintana Completes Well Testing at Mopane 1-X in Namibia">
