Nigeria's military has imposed a 24-hour curfew in parts of the north-eastern city of Maiduguri as its offensive against militants continues.

A statement named 11 areas of the city where people must remain inside their homes until further notice.

Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, has been an important base for Boko Haram Islamist militants.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Gunmen believed to be members of the Islamic extremist Boko Haram group yesterday killed the Rev. Faye Pama Musa, secretary of the Borno state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He was 47.

The gunmen reportedly followed the long-time Christian leader from his church building, where he was holding an evening Bible study, to his house in the Government Reservation Area in Maiduguri, and shot him dead there, said the Rev. Titus Dama Pona, chairman of CAN’s Borno chapter.

“Rev. Faye Pama was killed last light,” Pona said this morning by phone from Maiduguri, the state capital. “I am right now with his family, and they are still consulting on what next to do.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

The Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Nicholas Okoh, on Monday opposed the call for emergency rule in parts of the country affected by armed conflict.

Mr. Okoh said this in Abuja at a press conference on the forthcoming 2013 Synod session of the Abuja Diocese of the Anglican Communion.

He said that government should rather support a national dialogue by various interest groups to address the myriad of problems militating against the country's quest for socio-economic development.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Responding to Carson’s testimony at a House Subcommittee on Africa hearing in July 2012, Subcommittee Chairman, U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), remonstrated that poverty alone does not drive people to violence. And in any case, Boko Haram is well funded by outside Islamists. “Heavy machine guns” and “buses and pickup trucks mounted with machine guns” are just the latest examples to show that Boko Haram is not just a motley crew of impoverished, marginalized local Muslims. In February 2013 it was revealed that hundreds of Boko Haram members had trained for months in terrorist camps in northern Mali with the local “Ansar Dine” al Qaeda of Mali. Their former chef, explained that he cooked for over 200 Nigerians who had “arrived in Timbuktu in April 2012 in about 300 cars, after al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) swept into the city.”

In its 2013 Nigeria briefing, human rights group Justice for Jos +, a project of Jubilee Campaign USA, remarked, “Ironically, in northern Nigeria, it is Christians who are totally disenfranchised politically, economically, and socially in their own states and by their own ethnic groups due to their religious identity.” This is worse than just “political marginalization,” Mr. Carson! Justice for Jos + continues, “Christians are regarded as inferior to Muslims and suffer ongoing, systematic and comprehensive discrimination even by local and (Sharia) state governments.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

"Churches in Northern Nigeria, amd my diocese in particular, have been recording depletion in the number of faithful attending church services owing to Boko haram insurgencies," said Catholic Bishop Stephen Mamza of Yola, an area in northern Nigeria where Muslim terrorist violence has been notable. He said that an as yet undetermined number of Catholics have moved from the area out of fear of the violent Islamic sect known as Boko Haram.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Local government officials and a military spokesman in Nigeria agreed that security forces and Islamist militants had battled in recent days in the country's far northeast. But they offered widely varying accounts Monday of how many people, including civilians, had been killed.

Some officials said about 185 people were slain in the clashes, with some residents blaming government troops in part for the deaths. Security officials put the number lower.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Nigeria’s iconic National Theatre rises out of the brackish swamps of Lagos near its islands, a massive concrete and marble structure that is a reminder of when the West African nation had seemingly endless oil dollars to spend.

Today, the theater and its surrounding marshlands have become known more as a good place to dump corpses than to catch the latest play.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Primate of the Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, yesterday stated that there was an evil force behind the Boko Haram sect.

Okoh said this in his sermon, titled “Alleluia! Christ is Risen”, at the Easter Sunday service of the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Life Camp, Gwarimpa, Abuja.

He said the dreaded group is challenged to the good fortunes of Nigeria., assuring that it shall soon become history.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

A newly emerged militant sect in Nigeria said it killed seven foreign hostages, a claim the Greek and Italian foreign ministries confimed Sunday, as a violent campaign targeting Europeans across North and West Africa escalates.

Read it all

Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Gunmen kidnapped seven foreigners and killed a security guard when they stormed the compound of Lebanese construction company Setraco in northern Nigeria's Bauchi state early on Sunday, police said.

Read it all and please pray for their safe release and for peace in Nigeria.

Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Burkina Faso played wonderfully well with a great deal of heart.

My thanks to ESPN 3 for making it possible for me to watch my first ever Africa Cup of Nations final--KSH.

Update: There is a lot more there.

Filed under: * By Kendall • * Culture-Watch • Sports • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Burkina Faso • Nigeria

The Nigerian military says it has arrested a leader of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.

Mohammed Zangina was detained in the Government Reserved Area (GRA) of the north-eastern city of Maiduguri on Sunday afternoon, a statement said.

Mr Zangina, also known as Mallam Abdullahi and Alhaji Musa, was planning "deadly attacks" against civilians and security personnel there, it added.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Recently [in Nigeria] a new line of inhumanity was crossed. In October, armed attackers, presumed to be members of Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group with links to al Qaeda, invaded the Tudun Wada Wuro Patuje area, entering the off-campus housing of the Federal Polytechnic State University.

The attackers called students out of their rooms and asked for their names. Those with Christian names were shot dead or killed with knives. Students with traditionally Muslim names were told to quote Islamic scripture. The selektion completed, at least 26 bodies were left in lines outside the buildings.

The attack was a pogrom, the victims of which were African Christians, not European Jews. To be sure, it lacked the scale and scope of Hitler's total war against the entire Jewish people. The Boko Haram seem content to burn churches and to maim and murder those—including other Muslims, but especially Christians, by the scores—who would stop the spread of their version of Shariah law in Nigeria alone.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

A delegation of Nigerian Christians visited the Washington, DC offices of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) this past Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Led by Dr. Musa Asake, the general secretary of the ecumenical Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Nigerians were in the American capital in order to discuss persecution of Nigerian Christians by the Muslim terrorist group Boko Haram (BH, translated as “Western education is sin”). The delegation presented chilling accounts of life for Christians amidst Islamist terror and called for action lest the violence only grow, engulfing Nigeria.

Asake described BH’s murderous attacks on Christians in northern Nigeria, with the initial goal of eradicating a Christian presence there. The historic long-term Islamification of the once Christian Maghreb, meanwhile, shows just how far BH’s ambitions could reach. BH uses silent nighttime killings with knives as well as firearms to massacre Christians. Asake expressed the fear that “you cannot sleep with your eyes closed” in northern Nigeria. Churches there must now surround themselves with barriers in order to prevent vehicle-borne attacks. Moreover, now northern Nigeria’s “children see dead bodies,” a troubling assault on their innocence.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Military counterterrorism officials are seeking more capability to pursue extremist groups in Africa and elsewhere that they believe threaten the U.S., and the Obama administration is considering asking Congress to approve expanded authority to do it.

The move, according to administration and congressional officials, would be aimed at allowing U.S. military operations in Mali, Nigeria, Libya and possibly other countries where militants have loose or nonexistent ties to al Qaeda's Pakistan headquarters. Depending on the request, congressional authorization could cover the use of armed drones and special operations teams across a region larger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined, the officials said.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

In a spooky, dare I say, godly coincidence, two of the world's important religions obtained new leaders in the past fortnight. What makes the coincidence seem so like divine providence is that both leaders started their vocational life not fired by the sacred but as industrialists.

The Coptic Church is now led by Pope Tawadros (Theodore) II, who ran a pharmaceutical factory until he saw the light. Former oil industry executive Justin Welby, meanwhile, was selected to be enthroned in March as the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Anglican Communion.

Both had late onset religious conversions....


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/blogs/godless-gross/a-tale-of-two-leaders-20121203-2apyg.html#ixzz2EbKcRdl9

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • CoE Bishops • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • Middle East • Egypt • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Coptic Church • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Amid what is being termed as "genocide" of Christians by Boko Haram suicide bombers in Nigeria, Christians from this West African nation living in the U.S. have intensified their calls for the designation of the Islamist group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Globalization • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Two bomb attacks have hit a church inside a military barracks in Kaduna state in northern Nigeria, killing and injuring several people, officials say.

A military spokesman told the BBC two vehicles were driven into the barracks in Jaji in what he described as "surprising and an embarrassment".

It is not clear how many casualties there were or who was responsible.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Nigeria’s military is offering about $1.8 million in rewards for information leading to the arrest of top members of a radical Islamist sect that has killed hundreds of people in the country this year alone.

Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said in a statement Friday the bounty for Boko Haram sect leader Abubakar Shekau is $312,500.

The statement says information on four other named top sect officials would earn the informant $156,000 each. It then listed 14 “commanders” and each had a $62,500 bounty.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

In a sustained follow-up operations on Wednesday afternoon, the combined troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Restore Order, 333 Air Defence Regiment, the Department of State Security, supported by armoured personnel carriers (APCs) with helicopters conducted a major offensive operations, killing a high profile Boko Haram commander, Ibn Saleh Ibrahim.

Spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, in a statement on Wednesday, said the offensive operation against the insurgent terrorist took place at Nganaram, Bulabulin and Bayan Quarters areas of Maiduguri, Borno State.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

According to reports, one of the issues raised by the government team was that one of the mediators had taken contrary position against the government-funded Joint Task Force (JTF), while another was said to have a son fighting alongside the Al-Qaeda in Islamic Magreb (AQIM) in Mali. Another member was said to have only recently been forgiven by the sect after an accusation of financial impropriety.

While such reports were still taken with a pinch of salt by many with the belief that the government and the sect would find a way through, the announcement by General Buhari last week appeared a huge stake. Buhari, while speaking at the Board of Trustees meeting of his party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) said he could not mediate for the sect.

The General said: “How can I represent people I do not know, that I do not believe in whatever their cause is? How can I work for a government that has failed to do the most important thing of protecting lives and property with all the military, with all the resources available? How do I work for them?”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

The Anglican Bishop of Enugu North Diocese, [the] Rt Rev Sosthenes Eze has said high level of corruption in Nigeria is cause of the general instability in the country.

Addressing the church's annual diocesan synod in Olo, Enugu State recently, the bishop noted that corruption has led to serious breakdown of law and order and lack of peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

He advocated setting up of a National Solemn Assembly and repentance meetings across the nation as a way of dealing with corruption.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Dozens of young men have been shot dead in Nigeria by the military in Maiduguri, residents in the north-eastern city have told the BBC.

An imam told the BBC about 11 youths from his street alone were killed, including four of his own sons.

The alleged extrajudicial executions happened as Amnesty International accused the security forces of abuses in its crackdown on Islamist militants.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

[Archbishop Nicholas] Okoh, who a fierce critic of the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, described the selection process for the new church leader as “politicised”.
The cleric said, “The Prime minister of Britain will have to appoint (the Archbishop of Canterbury), whether he is a member of the Church or not.
“When you consider the political involvement, you can see the point we are trying to make.
“In other words, we are trying to say the Anglican Communion should be separated from the politics of Great Britain.’’

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • England / UK

At least seven people have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing during Mass at a Catholic church in northern Nigeria, officials say.

An explosive-laden vehicle drove into the church and detonated its load, ripping a hole in the wall and roof.

The attack happened in Kaduna, which has been targeted by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in the recent past.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Liturgy, Music, Worship • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Several Nigerian soldiers have been killed by suspected Islamist militants in the north-eastern town of Potiskum, an army source has told the BBC.

The town has seen days of violence, with 31 reported killed and hundreds of residents fleeing since Thursday.

Meanwhile, China has a diplomatic protest against the killing of a Chinese construction worker in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

The Nigerian army says it has arrested a senior commander of Boko Haram, as attacks by suspected members of the Islamist group continue.

Shuaibu Muhammed Bama was detained at the home of a serving senator in the city of Maiduguri, the army said.

The senator - who has not been named - denies the army's claim, which has fuelled suspicions that some politicians are helping the militants.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Nomadic Muslim herdsmen attacked a Christian village in central Nigeria over long-running land disputes, killing at least 30 people in their latest assault, police said Wednesday.

The attack in Benue state comes as a bomb exploded Wednesday in northeast Nigeria, apparently killing a police officer and sparking reprisal attacks by the military in the region, residents said.

In Benue state, the attack Sunday targeted a rural village of Christian Tiv people called Yogbo in the state, police spokesman Daniel Ezeala said. After the attack, those living there fled, community leader Daniel Tsenghul said.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Archbishop John Oneikan of Abuja in Nigeria, whose brother lives in the Diocese of Tucson, offered today’s reflection to begin our full day of interventions. He reflected on an experience of his early episcopacy when he went to visit death-row prisoners living in wretched situations, He saw many wearing a rosary around their necks, which bewildered him since half of Nigerians are Muslim. He asked them what led them to Jesus.

They said that when they saw Christians living alongside of them in awful conditions, less than human circumstances and heard the joy of their singing and how they were able to retain hope amid despairing situations, they said they wanted to become Christians to share in that joy. This is a powerful example of evangelization. He inspired all of us, reminding us of the power of witness to change hearts.

Nigeria, like too many places around the world today, has experienced much violence in places like the city of Jos, where religious tensions and conflicts have surfaced. During our discussions bishops have expressed some of the struggles, persecution, tensions and turmoil happening in their communities. Listening to one another from all over the world gathered in the synod makes all of us more deeply aware of some of these challenges being experienced in many parts of the world. We can share in those sufferings and pain. We can stand in solidarity with those being persecuted, living amid violence. We can join hands, standing up against injustice and advocating for peace.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • * Culture-Watch • Poverty • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI • * Theology • Pastoral Theology

Widespread and systematic murder and persecution by Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group in northern Nigeria, likely amount to crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Government security forces have also engaged in numerous abuses, including extrajudicial killings, Human Rights Watch said.

The 98-page report, “Spiraling Violence: Boko Haram Attacks and Security Force Abuses in Nigeria,” catalogues atrocities for which Boko Haram has claimed responsibility. It also explores the role of Nigeria’s security forces, whose own alleged abuses contravene international human rights law and might also constitute crimes against humanity. The violence, which first erupted in 2009, has claimed more than 2,800 lives.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Nigeria's "robust" approach to neutralizing a threat posed by Islamist sect Boko Haram using military force, holding indirect talks with the group and improving education in the north is paying off, the Nigerian president said on Wednesday.

Boko Haram, which wants to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has been blamed for more than 1,000 deaths since its insurgency intensified in 2010. The United States has designated three of Boko Haram's senior members as terrorists.

In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's annual gathering of world leaders, President Goodluck Jonathan also played down the significance of the government forces' killing of the sect's spokesman, Abu Qaqa, in a gun battle in Kano on September 16.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

A suicide car bomber blew himself up outside a Roman Catholic church in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing himself and at least two other people and wounding 46, police said.

Police cordoned off the area around St. John's church after the blast, which caused minimal damage to the building but killed at least two people in a market area of Bauchi city.

A Reuters journalist saw emergency services bring out three bodies in the area, called Wunti, and police identified one as the occupant of the car that blew up.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations • * Theology

The Archbishop Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, on Thursday. said that the survival of the Nigerian nation and respect for human life were the two main factors restraining Christians from fighting Boko Haram which had thrown the country into an insecure state.

Primate Okoh also described the proposed bill for Fulani Commission in which government seeks to create permanent routes and reserves in all states for Fulani pastoralists as a recipe for endless crisis.

The cleric, who stated this in his primatial address during the official opening of the standing committee meeting of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Ado-Ekiti with the theme “...Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” called on President Goodluck Jonathan to act fast in tackling the prevailing insecurity in the nation before it gets out of hand.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Nonetheless, the question remains: Why haven't these blatant acts of prejudice become a cause célèbre? I can think of at least three reasons.

First, some Christians may be hesitant to speak out because, in this instance, the prejudice is coming from Jews. Given the long and depressing history of anti-Judaism in Christianity, some Christians may, in their gut, be tempted to feel: "Yeah, this is disgusting, but in a way we've got it coming."

Second, most Christians in the Holy Land are passionately pro-Palestinian, for the obvious reason that many are Palestinians themselves. Some Christians in the West sympathetic to Israel are therefore reluctant to take up their causes, however deserving in themselves, for fear of weakening the Israeli position.

Third, the travails of a handful of Trappist monks in Israel -- or Dalit and tribal Christians in India, or Nigerian Christians menaced by the Boko Haram, or the 150,000 new Christian martyrs every year generally -- simply have a hard time breaking through the media filter in the West, perhaps especially in the United States, where it's now all 2012 elections all the time.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • Middle East • * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

The Nigerian army says it has killed seven suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in a gun battle in the north of the country.

A spokesman said a further 13 people were arrested after an attack on an army checkpoint in Maiduguri.

Earlier, Nigerian police said they would mount a 24-hour guard of mobile-phone installations following Boko Haram attacks on masts in the north.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

After a lull, terrorists yesterday struck in Sabon-Laye, the Gombe capital, where they exploded a bomb.

Although no life was confirmed lost at press time, the incident caused panic in the state capital and brought business activities to a standstill as shop owners and traders immediately shut their outlets and markets and rushed to their homes.

Nevertheless, the military in Borno State made a breakthrough yesterday as they recovered a register alleged to contain suspected Boko Haram members during a dawn raid in the home of a “commander” of the terrorist group.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

The Boko Haram sect has been a thorn in the flesh of all Nigerians. Many lives and properties have been lost in the course of their influx and the flow of innocent people's blood has yet to cease. The federal government has indicated that a dialogue with this group would ease their attacks on Nigerians. Nigerian Tribune took the matter to the court of the Nigerian public through a poll. Of the 666 people who participated in the poll, 333 (50 per cent) stood against the opinion, through their votes, while 321 people (48.2 per cent) opined that it would be a reasonable decision. 12 people (1.8 per cent) voted indifferent.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Nigeria's government says it is in negotiations with Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Some analysts are skeptical the talks will end the violence blamed on the group in northern Nigeria.

There has been a lot of debate among Nigerians recently about the militant group known as Boko Haram. Are they, or are they not holding peace talks with the government?

On Sunday, the government emphatically said "Yes, they are." Presidential spokesperson Reuben Abati told state-house reporters negotiations are taking place through “backroom channels,” not at a formal table in an air conditioned office.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Even at a glance, anyone could see that the unlimited and easy availability of contraceptives in Africa would surely increase infidelity and sexual promiscuity, as sex is presented by this multi-billion dollar project as a casual pleasure sport that can indeed come with no strings – or babies – attached. Think of the exponential spread of HIV and other STDs as men and women with abundant access to contraceptives take up multiple, concurrent sex partners.

And of course there are bound to be inconsistencies and failures in the use of these drugs and devices, so health complications could result; one of which is unintended abortion. Add also other health risks such as cancer, blood clots, etc. Where Europe and America have their well-oiled health care system, a woman in Africa with a contraception-induced blood clot does not have access to 911 or an ambulance or a paramedic. No, she dies.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Men • Sexuality • Women • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • America/U.S.A.

Gunmen in Nigeria's troubled northeast blew up part of a primary school then attacked a Catholic church and police station before officers fought them off, police said on Monday.

Separately, two gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on troops at a military checkpoint in the northern city of Kano on Sunday, injuring a soldier, military spokesperson Iweha Ikedichi said.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

In a bid to forestall untoward incident during this weekend’s Eid-el-fitri celebrations marking the end of the Ramadan fast by Muslim faithful, the Federal Government has put all security agencies on red alert to contain any threat to the nation’s security before, during and after the festive period.

The move came on the heels of threat by employees of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to throw the nation into total darkness, following their deadlocked talks with government, as well as fresh plans by members of the Boko Haram sect to unleash mayhem in the nation.

Nigerian Tribune authoritatively learnt in Abuja, on Thursday, that officials of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) had been placed on high security watch nationwide as a result of unfavourable security report at the disposal of the Federal Government that the union might carry out its threat in spite of ongoing negotiations.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Nigerian troops have killed 20 suspected members of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-east of the country, the army says.

One government soldier also died in a shootout in the town of Maiduguri.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Archbishop [John] Onaiyekan pointed out that this attack was unusual in that it came on a Monday; previous attacks on churches have been carried out on Sundays during worship services.

The prelate also noted that the attack was against a Pentecostal church in the middle of Nigeria, not in the far north of the country.

Archbishop Onaiyekan called on the Islamic community to help identify the gunmen, as the town where the attack took place, Okene, is predominantly Muslim.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Gunmen have opened fire on an evangelical church during a service in central Nigeria, killing at least 19 people in the latest such attack in the country, the military said on Tuesday.

"The attack was at 8:20 pm yesterday night. The attack was from unknown gunmen at the Deeper Life Church," said Lt. Col. Gabriel Olorunyomi, head of the military's Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kogi state.

"They were doing their normal Monday evening service. When we went there we discovered the church had been attacked. Instantly we saw 15 people dead, including the pastor," he explained.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

A suicide bombing in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Damaturu has killed several soldiers, reports say.

According to an eyewitness, the suicide bomber rammed a car into a military vehicle that was part of a convoy.

The attacker's vehicle was being chased by troops when the bomb went off, a police spokesman said. No group has said it carried out the bombing.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

The religious aspect of the violence, the report says, is reinforced by radical Islamist groups like Boko Haram which, the task force believes, exploits the secular issues, and the revenge killings by Christians and Muslims.

The report states: ‘The joint delegation believes that the primary causes of the current tension and conflict in Nigeria are not inherently based in religion but rather, rooted in a complex matrix of political, social, ethnic, economic, and legal problems, among which the issue of justice—or the lack of it—looms large as a common factor. Nevertheless, the joint delegation acknowledges that there is a possibility that the current tension and conflict might become subsumed by its religious dimension (especially along geographical ‘religious fault–lines’) and so particularly warns against letting this idea—through misperception and simplification— become a self– fulfilling prediction.’

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Ireland • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT) on 12 July issued a report on their joint commitment to help in resolving the tensions in Nigeria. The report reflects a new Christian-Muslim model of cooperation for peace between religions and further interfaith dialogue.

The report follows the high level inter-religious delegation’s visit to Abuja, Jos and Kaduna, Nigeria, from 22 to 26 May. The visit and report are a response to the inter-communal strife between Christian and Muslims in the country. Last week, around a hundred people lost their lives in the Plateau state alone as a result of the clashes.

“Religion should never be used as a pretext for conflict. We are committed to the situation in Nigeria. We are concerned and anxious for the lives that are lost in the name of religion in Nigeria,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

The Pope spoke of the situation at the end of the general audience, saying he is following the news with "deep concern," as "acts of terrorism directed especially against Christian faithful continue."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

An event or ganised in honour of the retiring Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, in Abuja, Tuesday, took a different dimension, after a member of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and publisher of Champions Newspaper Ltd, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, urged the Federal Government to hold northern leaders responsible for the increasing spate of violence by the Boko Haram Islamist sect.

Iwuanyanwu, who presided over the presentation of a book entitled Tit-Bits of Advocacy, dedicated to Justice Musdapher by the Imo Law Publishers, in his speech, said: "Boko Haram problem cannot be solved by killing or shooting people. It can only be solved by the leaders in the areas where they operate.

"The massive killings must stop. Nigerians must feel free to travel to various parts of the country without fear. Nigerians must worship their God according to their faith without fear of being killed or bombed in their places of worship."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Bishop George Dodo of Zaria, Nigeria, was in the middle of his homily June 17 “when we heard a loud explosion.” A car bomb had just exploded near the Cathedral of Christ the King, where the bishop was celebrating the second Mass of the day.

“The car bomb created a crater two feet deep; all around there was broken glass, rubble and burning cars,” the bishop told Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Reuters, the British news agency, reported 10 people were killed at Christ the King.

Bombings also were reported at the Evangelical Church of the Good News in Zaria and at churches in Kaduna. Vatican Radio said June 18 that the total death toll from the Sunday bombings had reached 45 and some 100 people were reported injured, either by the bombings or by reprisal attacks afterward.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Boko Haram militants have attacked two churches during Sunday services, triggering deadly reprisal attacks.

In the central city of Jos, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a church, wounding at least 50 people.

In a separate attack, gunmen opened fire during a service in Biu in northeastern Borno state, leaving at least one person dead.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

For over 20 hours between Tuesday and yesterday, there was a gun battle in Maiduguri between the Joint Task Force (JTF) and members of the Jama'atu Ahlil Sunnati Lidda'awati Wal Jihad, better known as Boko Haram. Daily Trust reports that the result of the gun duel was devastating because residents said there was "mass casualty" on both sides.

Witnesses said the confrontation, which started on Tuesday with terrifying sound of eight bomb blasts, has left "unforgettable scars on the civilian population" in many settlements in the affected areas.

During the ensuing crisis, many people were reportedly killed, houses, shops and vehicles vandalized and freedom of movement curtailed.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Speeding up his vehicle, the attacker approached a checkpoint near the church in Bauchi State, which has previously been hit by Islamist group Boko Haram and where tension between Muslims and Christians has led to violence in the past.

"We have a checkpoint not far from the church which prevented the bomber from gaining access to his target," said state police commissioner Mohammed Ladan.

"So he rammed the car into a security gate and the car exploded, killing him and eight other people," he added.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Churches • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

In brutally poor neighborhoods and mansions alike, this city choked by military checkpoints seethes with rumors, paranoia and conspiracy theories. Even academics like to assert a favorite: The homegrown Islamic extremist movement that is terrorizing northern Nigeria is a CIA creation.

Others are convinced that the extremist group known as Boko Haram is a plot by the southern-led Nigerian government to create an eternal crisis in the north.

How else to explain Boko Haram's transformation from a group of bearded radicals stashing homemade weapons to an organization that has half the country on military alert and U.S. lawmakers warning of threats to American interests?

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Suspected members of the Boko Haram sect yesterday killed four persons. The victims died when a bomb exploded in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

It was learnt that the Boko Haram suspects threw an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) from a moving vehicle, targeting members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in a patrol vehicle.

The IED, which narrowly missed the JTF men, exploded a few metres away, killing four persons, some of who were in a moving commercial tricycle.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

The premise of [Eliza] Griswold’s book [The 10th Parallel] is that although there is frequent and bloody tension between Christians and Muslims along the 10th Parallel, especially where resources are scarce, there is no ‘clash of civilizations’. Rather, there is a competition for souls that is strongest among faiths, as Christians fight for Christians and Muslims fight for Muslims. “There is a proliferation of vibrant forms of religious practice. They look pretty kooky from a distance, but as any good Nigerian will tell you, religion is a market place. And it’s up to everybody to get as many people as possible to fill their Churches and Mosques.”

Enlightened religious organisations of both faiths in southern Nigeria are confronting reactionary groups in the north, groups which believe that vaccinations are poisons and that natural disasters are punishments from God. Meanwhile, Anglicanism and Catholicism are being supplanted along the 10th Parallel by flashy Pentecostals, who preach that God is the surest route to material wealth.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Books • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Soldiers in the northern Nigerian city of Kano killed four suspected members of Boko Haram Islamist sect in a raid on their hideout on Sunday, an army spokesman said.

“We carried out an operation today on a terrorists hideout…where we killed four of them and arrested many after a prolonged shootout,” Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told AFP. Troops from military special Joint Task Force (JTF) had stormed the hideout in the Hotoro Kwari suburb of the city notorious for Boko Haram attacks.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

The leader of Nigeria's bishops is criticizing the government's response to the growing threat from radical Islamist groups, saying Christians are increasingly at risk of attack.

Archbishops Ignatius Kaigama, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, along with Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja spoke with Aid to the Church in Need about the plight of Christians in the country, and how the government is handling the situation.

The statement came after at least 21 people were killed and more than 20 others were injured last Sunday in coordinated attacks targeting worship services at a university campus in Kano, and a chapel in Maiduguri belonging to the Church of Christ in Nigeria.

Read it all.

Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

When a suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed car into the flagship church of one of Nigeria's largest denominations, angry Christian youth retaliated by burning Muslim shops and killing nearby motorcycle riders.

The February incident, which killed 12 and injured 40 at the Church of Christ in Nigeria's Jos headquarters, fueled the global debate over whether Nigeria will erupt into a religious civil war. Christmas Day bombings of northern churches by Islamist extremists, which killed 44, also fueled such fears. The headlines haven't stopped since. On Sunday, gunmen attacked church services in Kano and in Maiduguri, killing at least 21 people, including a pastor preparing for Communion.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Pioneers, an evangelical mission movement, is reporting that thousands of Christians from Ghana, Nigeria and the Philippines are asking to be trained in the principles of “church-planting movements” (CPMs).

Today, cross-cultural church planting is taking place in regions fraught with poverty and persecution. By necessity, the local church often takes root in its simplest form. In these places, churches are essentially groups of believers gathering in homes, under trees, or cafe back rooms to worship, pray, study the Bible and teach others to do the same. And it is in response to these realities that Pioneers has adopted the “church-planting movements” approach.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • Asia • Philippines

The Primate of the Church of Nigeria has denounced as “satanic” the calls for the impeachment of the President of Nigeria after an Italian construction firm refurbished a church in the president’s home town.

Speaking to reporters last week, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh said the claim put forward by the opposition ACN party that there was an element of corruption in the refurbishment of a church was nonsense.

“The call for the impeachment of the president over the renovation of the church in his town is satanic and it is capable of causing religious bigotry which we don’t want. The ACN should apologise and retract the statement. We call on the National Assembly to disregard the call,” the archbishop said.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

One person was killed and nine others were injured last night after suspected Islamic extremists attacked a TV viewing center in a Christian area of Jos where a crowd had gathered to watch soccer.

At about 10:15 p.m. at the viewing center, one of many such establishments popular in Nigeria for watching soccer matches, the attackers drove past the site and threw an explosive device at hundreds of Christians watching the match, eyewitnesses told Compass.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Liturgy, Music, Worship • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches

Britain’s drift away from its Christian moorings is impacting its ability to support Christians being attacked in other countries, the Archbishop of Nigeria has warned.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh made the comments during a meeting at the House of Lords on Tuesday night where he gave a report on widespread attacks against churches in Nigeria.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • England / UK

Prelate of the Methodist Church, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, has described as ‘careless and unguarded statement’ the comment made by American government that years of neglect and poverty led to the insurgence of Boko Haram sect in Nigeria.

Speaking at the weekend during the launch of a book titled “Women as Teachers and Character Moulders” written by Mrs. Ezinne Elizabeth Abimbola Makinde at Hoare’s Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Yaba, Lagos, the prelate declared the premises on which such a statement was based as poor research that lacks every credibility.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Poverty • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Methodist • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

The Nigerian religious sect Boko Haram had been sporadically attacking police stations and people for years with machetes and sometimes guns to create an Islamic state in its corner of Africa's largest nation.

Then, in 2010, the group exploded into violence with suicide bombings, car bombs and coordinated assaults, months after an al-Qaeda leader in Algeria disclosed that the terror group had decided to help the Nigerian radicals....

"This new Jihadist nexus in Africa" is a rising danger that the West has yet to fully comprehend," said Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Read it all (my emphasis).

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Boko Haram formed in 2002 as a local Salafist activist group, but evidence suggests that it now collaborates and shares intelligence with al Qaeda affiliates in the region, including al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Shabaab in Somalia. The groups have been able to carry out increasingly sophisticated attacks on schools, churches, police stations and military bases.

They may also be working to expand their reach. The Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, published a report this month showing that al Qaeda is using its African partnerships to regroup and extend its propaganda and recruiting efforts, including in Britain. U.S. Congressmen Peter King and Patrick Meehan wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month urging the State Department to designate Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization for legal and intelligence-gathering purposes.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Church Year / Liturgical Seasons • Easter • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

The leader of a radical Islamist sect in Nigeria has challenged the nation's president, saying he could never destroy the group blamed for hundreds of killings this year alone, according to an online video posted Thursday.

The video featuring Imam Abubakar Shekau came as authorities blamed gunmen from the sect known as Boko Haram for killing two civilians in northeast Nigeria.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam

At least 38 people have died in a car bombing in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, officials said.

Many others were injured in the attack, which took place when officials stopped the vehicle as it approached a church.

Just hours afterwards, a bomb exploded in the central city of Jos, injuring several people.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Easter celebrations will be taking place in Nigeria under the threat of terrorist attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

“In the past celebrations of the major feasts, Boku Haram has attacked the Christian Churches,” said Father Patrick Tor Alumuku, director of social communications for the Archdiocese of Abuja.

Last Christmas, Boko Haram killed 41 people in a series of shootings and bombings.

“There is a feeling of uncertainty and of worry, generally, about how these celebrations will be concluded” Father Alumuki told Vatican Radio. “However, we have hope, and we pray everything will go well.”

Father Alumuki also pointed out most Muslims in Nigeria do not support Boku Haram, and prominent leaders of the country’s Islamic community have sent messages wishing Christians a happy Easter.

Listen to it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church Year / Liturgical Seasons • Easter • Liturgy, Music, Worship • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

Two fighters from the Islamist group Boko Haram were killed in a shootout Monday that reveals mounting frustration among residents of northern Nigeria with the group's campaign of violence.

The two came into the Sheka neighborhood of Kano on a motorcycle, shooting bullets into the air, according to an eyewitness who requested anonymity for safety reasons. "People in the area summoned courage and nabbed them. As they were planning to hand them over to the police, gunmen came from nowhere and shot them instantly to death," the witness said.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnati Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, may have concluded arrangements to engage the security operatives in Kaduna State in a free for all. They have warned residents to flee all security formations in the state.

In a letter distributed in Kaduna, the sect said it is ready to fight security operatives in the state and warns residents whose houses are located near military, police, SSS as well as prison formations to relocate with immediate effect to avoid being victims of the planned attack.

Confirming the report, the state police commissioner, Mohammed Abubakar, said: “Yes, we are aware of it... that unless their people are released from detention, if not they will come and stage attacks. We are aware of that one. We have strategized and are waiting for them....

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

The insurgent violence stalking northern Nigeria has struck a long list of official targets, killing police and army officers, elected officials, high-ranking civil servants, United Nations workers and other perceived supporters of the Nigerian government.

Now it has an ominous new front: a war against schools.

Public and private schools here have been doused with gasoline at night and set on fire. Crude homemade bombs — soda bottles filled with gasoline — have been hurled at the bare-bones concrete classrooms Nigeria offers its children.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

A Muslim cleric brokering peace talks between Nigeria's government and Islamist militant group Boko Haram said on Sunday he was quitting the negotiations because he doubted the government's sincerity after information was leaked.

The departure of Datti Ahmed, a former close ally of Boko Haram's founder, could be a major blow for the discussions which were only in their early stages.

Read it all.

Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Up to 11 people were killed after a Catholic church was targeted by suspected suicide car bombers in the restive central Nigerian city of Jos, officials say.

The car was apparently stopped before it could enter the church compound.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Science & Technology • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

In other nation states a citizen's obligations to the state or employer, trump friendship or family connections. In Nigeria the state and institutions often rank far lower than personal affiliations. Outsiders are often shocked at the way public institutions are looted and distributed to buy personal loyalty or simply given to family and friends. The state is not a revered institution serving all citizens. It is a treasure house of power and money to be captured and looted.

This, rather than Islamic fundamentalism, is the context of the tragic deaths of Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara in a bungled rescue bid in Sokoto on Thursday. A group calling itself Al-Qa'ida in the Land Beyond the Sahel claimed responsibility and it is said to be part of Boko Haram. Officials say that the demands they had made for the release of the hostages were confused.

Read it all.

Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

A high-ranking Nigerian customs officer has been shot dead by gunmen thought to be from the militant Islamist Boko Haram, police have said.

Adamu Ahmadu was killed in Yobe state in north-east Nigeria, weeks after tightening up border controls to stem the flow of arms in the region.

Boko Haram has its stronghold in Maiduguri in neighbouring Borno state.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam

A suicide car bomber has killed at least three people at a church in the troubled central Nigerian city of Jos, sparking reprisals by Christian youths.

Witnesses said the suicide bomber drove his car into the prominent Church of Christ during morning prayers.

The radical Islamist sect Boko Haram later said that it carried out the attack.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Liturgy, Music, Worship • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Police discovered the body of a 79-year-old Christian woman killed in northeast Nigeria, with a note in Arabic left on her chest reading: “We will get you soon,” a witness said Thursday.

The slaying raises religious tensions in Nigeria as a radical Islamist sect increasingly targets Christians in its bloody attacks. While police said they knew of no immediate suspects in the killing, witnesses blamed the attack on the sect known as Boko Haram, which has been blamed for killing at least 305 people this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Nigeria, a strategically important oil producer and Africa's most populous country, is unraveling in violence from a growing insurgency known as Boko Haram that is bent on revenge for the killing of its leader by police. The group is demanding job-creation programs and the imposition of Islamic law in the country's impoverished north, where it emerged with ferocity nine years ago.

Late Wednesday, about 20 gunmen presumed by officials to belong to the rebel group stormed a prison south of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and freed at least 119 inmates, a government spokesman said.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

What is the Anglican position on the issue?

The Anglican position is very clear. We stand on upholding the sanctity of human life. We condemn in totality the terror called Boko Haram. And that we denounce it because it denounces human worth by what it is doing. We are in a democracy where people are free to practice their religion anywhere they are. So we stand on that. That Christians or people of other faith anywhere should be allowed to practice their own faith, provided they do not infringe on other people’s faith, which I know the Christians would not.

Are you satisfied with efforts the Islamic leaders and governors of the north have made to curb the menace of Boko Haram?

well! I don’t know of the efforts they have made so far. But what I do know is that it is there. This people live with them. They know them. They can fish them out, but they are not doing it. By so doing, they are obstructing the course of justice. As such they are not contributing to the well being of Nigeria. This is because people are doing certain things that are evil, and you know them. Like in Ekpoma here, if people are doing certain things we know them. And so, you see arrest being made. But when you shield them, like the man who escaped, is that not a case of protection? That is a case of protection. This thing is happening in the north. There is governance in the north. All of the governments are represented in the north. They cannot say they don’t know them. If they say they don’t know them, it means they are not doing their work.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Nigeria's militant Islamists have said they carried out Tuesday's suicide bombing at the army headquarters in the northern city of Kaduna.

A man wearing a military uniform blew himself up outside the barracks - one of Nigeria's most fortified complexes.

A spokesperson for the Boko Haram group also claimed responsibility for an attempted attack on an air force base.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Residents here on Friday will mark the second week under curfew and caution since Boko Haram terrorists stormed the city’s center, setting off multiple bombings and gun assaults that residents say killed at least 200 people.

The attacks have been followed by sporadic episodes of explosions, gunfire, and kidnappings attributed to Boko Haram, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group that has since last year launched an increasing number of attacks in northern Nigeria. These continued threats have forced police to extend a curfew put in place after attacks on Jan. 20 and to lengthen it by one hour. Offices, stores, and restaurants now must close and all residents must be off the streets from 6 p.m. until 7 a.m.—in a city of about 9 million that is Nigeria’s second largest....

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Thousands of mourners in Nigeria have attended the burial service for people killed at a church on Christmas Day.

The BBC's Chris Ewokor at St Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla near the capital, Abuja, said the service sheets listed the names of 43 victims.

The militant Islamist group Boko Haram said it carried out a series of attacks on 25 December 2011.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

"Just as the mind can be poisoned, we can also de-toxiate the mind, by reaching out to them and telling them they are making a big mistake and that what they are doing is not even in their own interest.

"That is what you might call counter propaganda. This is one reason why we are challenging our Islamic community in Nigeria.

"They have said it clearly again and again that they are not in support of what they are doing. Alhaji Lattef Adegbite, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs had spoken voiceferously condemning what the Boko Haram people are doing and that what they do is not Islam. Good! They can do much more than that because whether you call them Muslims or not, they said they are one.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

A year ago arrivals on the outskirts to Kano had to pass a sign forbidding alcohol consumption and banning women from riding on motorbikes. Now it is gone.

Kano may be the sixth-biggest Muslim city in the world—after Karachi, Jakarta, Dhaka, Cairo and Istanbul—but it is far from the most conservative. Women lift their hemlines to get on the back of achabas, motorbikes that are the main source of transport. Mini vans carry both sexes to their destination. It is possible to get a cold beer to wash away sand inhaled during a day on the edge of the Sahara.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam

The Bishop of Lagos has called upon the President of Nigeria to convene an all-party, all-ethnic congress to negotiate the future of the West African nation in the wake of a week-long general strike that followed the government’s lifting of price controls on fuel.

On 16 January 2012 President Goodluck Jonathan capitulated to union demands and partially restored the state-subsidy on fuel. The week of civil strike saw the military deployed in the streets of Lagos and most major cities.

President Jonathan conceded that the “government appreciates that the implementation of the deregulation policy would cause initial hardships” and agreed to subsidize the price of fuel.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Nigeria's president has sacked the chief of police, Hafiz Ringim, forcing him to retire early, a statement from the presidency says.

It follows a wave of attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram, the latest in Kano on Friday in which 185 people died.

The group says it wants to overthrow the government and impose Islamic law.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

According to the Primate [Nicholas Okoh], this rising wave of hostility is a dimension that is unheard of because it is the highest manifestation of intolerance.

Primate Okoh stated that all hands are on deck, the National assembly is concerned, the president is having sleepless nights and the Church is already facing serious temptation even though the Church does not initiate hostility. The head of the Anglican Church said the intense attack of Boko Haram is really tempting the Christians whether to continue to maintain peace, always turning the other cheek ,or fight back to find their safety.

He therefore made a passionate appeal to leaders in the country who can reach out to Boko Haram to dissuade them from dastardly acts of killing innocent Christian’s souls, asking them to dialogue with government if they have any axe to grind with her and leave the Church alone.

He said the attempt to drag Nigerians into militancy is something Nigerians must resist.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Explosions and gunfire were reported early on Tuesday from an area near a police station in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, where co-ordinated attacks and gun battles last week killed about 178 people.

The AFP news agency reported early on Tuesday that its correspondent heard a series of blasts and gunshots coming from an area where a mobile police headquarters is located.

Details were not immediately clear and police were not available for comment.

A resident reported a similar account....

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

A man born in Nigeria and resident in Italy for a number of years, will be introduced by the Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd John McDowell, as diocesan curate with responsibility for the Devenish and Boho Group of Parishes at a service of introduction on Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Devenish Parish Church, Monea commencing at 7.30pm.

Mr Sampson Ajuka studied at the Queens Foundation for Theological Studies in Birmingham, was ordained in the Church of England, and served the Church in Venice, Padova and Trieste in the Diocese in Europe. Commenting on his move to the Church of Ireland, he said “moving into a new place with different culture is not an easy thing, it is like a school boy starting his primary education.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Ireland • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

A key suspect in the Christmas Day bombing which killed at least 38 people in Nigeria has escaped from custody, police have admitted.

Kabiru Sokoto - believed to be a member of the Islamist sect Boko Haram - was arrested on Saturday in the capital Abuja after police trailed him.

But the very next day he escaped as police attempted to search his house outside the capital.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Catholic leaders condemned the spate of bomb blasts in Nigeria and urged the government to get control of security.

Lagos Cardinal Anthony Olubunmi Okogie criticized the government for its failure to protect citizens.

Speaking at the dedication of St. Peter Church in Awka, the cardinal said the spate of bombings in a four-day period makes people wonder "what the government is doing with our money. If they cannot protect the lives of its citizens, then why do we have a government?"

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

More than 50 people have died in days of fighting between Nigerian forces and suspected Islamist gunmen in the country's north-east, officials say.

Boko Haram militants had suffered heavy casualties in a lengthy gun-battle in the town of Damaturu, said army chief of staff Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika.

"We killed over 50 of them," said Lt Gen Ihejirika.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam

Church leaders in Nigeria are sharply divided over how to react to a surge in violent attacks against Christians and churches in the country's Muslim-majority north.

Hundreds of Christians have been killed and churches burnt in regular attacks launched this year by Fulani herdsmen in Jos and members of the Boko Haram terrorist sect in Kaduna, Borno, and Niger states....

The steady attacks have thrown the Christian community into opposing camps. While some continue to advocate for calm and prayer, others are now urging Christians to defend themselves.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

The Anglican Church has declared a seven-day fasting and prayers for Nigeria and its leadership, Primate of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, has said.

Okoh disclosed this at the 2011 Carnival for Christ, a gathering of all Anglicans in the diocese of Abuja.

He said that the prayers and fasting would begin from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3 and that the prayers would be directed at God's intervention for peace to return to the country.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Christian Life / Church Life • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

A series of bomb and gun attacks in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Damaturu has killed at least 63 people, the Red Cross says.

Witnesses said the bombs hit several targets, including churches and the headquarters of the Yobe state police.

Many people are reported to have fled the town after a night of violence.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

The Church at its second Synod in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, also expressed concern over the fact that the reports of panels set up to investigate major crisis in the country have not been released to the public.

This may have also contributed to the reuption of more violence.

Delivering the Bishop’s Charge at the Synod, the Bishop of the Diocese of Egba West, Anglican Communion, Rev. Samuel Ogundeji, deplored the spate of violence and other forms insecurity in the land. He named Boko Haram, post election killings, bloodletting in Jos, the beleaguered Plateau State State capital and other parts of the city, as well as other forms of insecurity rocking parts of the country.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Listen to it all (a little under 28 1/2 minutes).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Church of Nigeria • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • Preaching / Homiletics • * Culture-Watch • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

What is your opinion on the Federal Government directive that the Minister of Defence should take over security in Jos?

I think it is a better step in the right direction that the Minister of Defence should take over because the way we see the whole thing, it seems that the security in Plateau State has collapsed. And this is the failure of the Inspector-General of Police. The police is to protect lives and secure the lives and property of people but since all these days, these killings have continued and we wonder when it would stop and so, I think, we have lost confidence in the police. I think, therefore, the IG (Inspector-General of Police) should be retired with immediate effect because this was what happened when there was kidnapping in the East....

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria