NIGERIA: Country's elderly northern leaders meet to deliberate over insecurity that has engulfed their region claiming hundreds of lives and destroying property worth millions of dollars

Record ID: 235502

  • Title: NIGERIA: Country's elderly northern leaders meet to deliberate over insecurity that has engulfed their region claiming hundreds of lives and destroying property worth millions of dollars
  • Date: 12th March 2012
  • Summary: GOMBE, NIGERIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) SMOKE RISING FROM ROOF TOP BOMBED POLICE STATION BURNT VEHICLE KADUNA, NIGERIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) EMPTY ROAD POLICE AT ROAD BLOCK VARIOUS OF MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (English) BIMBA OGUNDAYE, TRADER, SAYING: "It takes faith for you to come out the next day you know... to face life, you know... you pray and believe that okay, even if it is happens everywhere, God will preserve me, but on a general note everybody is fearful." BENUE, NIGERIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS INSPECTING DESTROYED VILLAGES
  • Embargoed: 27th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA59RDMR1C28EI2R1CSUD07OQ2O
  • Story Text: Elders from Nigeria's north met in Abuja on Saturday (March 10) to discuss insecurity in their region that has claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed property worth millions of dollars.
    Islamic sect Boko Haram, which is based in the north and styles itself on the Taliban, is waging a low-level insurgency against Nigeria's southern-dominated government.
    "Insecurity is all over the country but there is much more insecurity in the north than anywhere else... this unity is paramount here. We have to do something about this," said Maitama Sule, an elder statesman and convener of the meeting.
    The elders were due to gather in the city of Kano on Friday but had to move the venue to Abuja after members of Boko Haram attacked a police station preventing the meeting from taking place there.
    Parts of Nigeria's north have witnessed sustained attacks by Boko Haram since 2009, prompting the government to deploy military personnel and institute curfews in towns.
    Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", wants sharia law more widely applied across Nigeria.
    Attacks by the group have nearly paralyzed life in many parts of the north and residents say they live in constant fear.
    "It takes faith for you to come out the next day you know... to face life, you know... you pray and believe that okay, even if it is happens everywhere, God will preserve me, but on a general note everybody is fearful," Bimba Ogundaye, a trader in Kaduna.
    But the feeling of insecurity is not only affecting the north.
    Christian youths killed at least 10 people in reprisal attacks after a suspected suicide bomber authorities suspect to be a Boko Haram member, hit a Catholic church in the central Nigerian city of Jos on Sunday, killing three people.
    Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a wave of bomb attacks on churches across Nigeria since Christmas Day. The bombing campaign has raised fears that the group is trying to ignite sectarian conflict in Africa's most populous country, split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims.
    Suspected Fulani herdsmen recently attacked attacked and razed to the ground several villages in Benue state. The number of casualties is yet to be confirmed.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register