The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram reportedly is working on a new offensive campaign of terror using young children to bomb “soft targets”: markets, restaurants and worship centers.
Mike Omeri of the Nigeria National Information Center told reporters that intelligence reports finding credible plans from the group for attacks on citizens in places most people previously considered off limits by the terrorists.
Available intelligence reports indicate a plan by Boko Haram to use young suicide bombers disguised as cobblers to hide explosives in their tool boxes and detonate them on soft target areas such as markets, restaurants, ATM locations, political rallies, and worship centers,” Omeri said.
“Also, there is indication of a plan by this group to use livestock such as goats, cows, donkeys and camels laden with explosives to attack chosen targets,” Omeri added. “In view of these, people who rear goats and cows in the centre are advised in their own interest to restrict such movements because actions could be taken, and nobody should blame the police and other security agencies for taking the necessary steps.”
The announcement comes as Boko Haram released a video on social media showing a training camp for child soldiers.
Muslim extremists murdered a popular Nigerian pastor who is being remembered as a “dedicated servant to the poor.”
Pastor Joshua Adah, who founded and operated a school giving free education to over 400 children in Bantaje, was slaughtered by a group of Muslim herdsmen who may be connected to the terrorist group Boko Haram.
The attackers reportedly seized Adah after his car broke down while on the way back to the mission from an outreach event.
“The pastor’s car broke down at Chediya on his return from Koji. He then phoned his mechanic at Jalingo to help him fix the car. When the mechanic arrived, the two men agreed to hire a vehicle nearby Dan Anacha, which would tow the car to Jalingo,” a police spokesman said. “The mechanic upon returning to scene could not find the pastor. … After a thorough search, his body was found in the area.”
A supporter of Pastor Adah said after finding Christ in 2000 he experienced a radical life transformation.
“Not too long after he got born again, he left the comfort and ‘luxury’ of city life for a remote village on a hill without light nor potable drinking water, not even a well in sight,” the supporter explained. “He was there with his humble wife and kids to answer the call of God at this time when larger cities meant greener pastures, fatter offerings and sizeable tithes to others doing ministry. He continued to preach the Gospel and hold campaigns, not in the urban areas but mostly in rural areas.
“I don’t know why God allowed Boko Haram to cut his life short. Even when it became dangerous, he refused to get out but kept preaching Christ in villages where many will not go,” she added .
Residents of Adamawa state, Nigeria, say that terrorists are rampaging through the region without any Nigerian Army troops in the area to stop their rampage.
Adamawa state legislator Adamu Kamale asys that over 40 people have been killed in seven villages as Boko Haram has burned down homes and businesses and even mosques.
“They don’t spare anything: they slaughtered people like rams and they burned down our houses after looting food,” Kwache said. “There’s no presence of troops, some residents are hiding on top of hills, while those that could not run were abducted, particularly youths and women.”
Kamale says he’s been begging the government to send troops into the region but has been refused on all requests.
The terrorists are moving on the city of Maidguri with over 2 million residents. Boko Haram released a statement yesterday telling the government they plan to turn the city into a “big grave” and there “will be no mercy” for residents.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has made a major advance in their attempt to take over Nigeria.
The terrorists captured the city of Monguno over the weekend, leaving over 200 people dead following an intense battle with military forces. The terror group is now attempting to drive the military out of the town of Maiduguri.
“Our soldiers initially repelled the terrorists but they mobilized more fighters and came back in full force. They overwhelmed our troops and forced them to retreat,” said one Nigerian officer to the Associated Press.
Monguno is a city of 100,000 residents. Maiduguri has over 600,000.
The terrorist group has reportedly been reinforced with Islamic extremists from other nations after formally linking to terrorist group ISIS. Fighters from Chad and Cameroon have been found as part of the Boko Haram network.
“So long as we have the resources, we will continue to regard the efforts to reclaim peace our No. 1 area of commitments. I want to reassure the good people of Borno state that we will never abdicate from our responsibility as those they entrusted with leadership,” Borno Governor Kashim Shettima said while admitting the terrorist group is becoming too hard for his local police to fight.
Boko Haram terrorists attacked the city of Baga and its surrounding villages and over 2,000 are reportedly dead from the assault.
“I received a message of the Christians Association of Nigeria, the association of Christian churches in Nigeria, which states that in that area Boko Haram has burned several churches and caused numerous victims” said Fr. Patrick Tor Alumuku, director of social communications of the Archdiocese of Abuja.
The attack from the terrorists started with a full assault on the military base in Baga. Once the terrorists captured the base, they began to kill anyone who was fleeing the villages into the bush.
The slaughter was so significant that bodies are still laying in the streets because there are not enough people to bury them all.
“I escaped with my family in the car after seeing how Boko Haram was killing people … I saw bodies in the street. Children and women, some were crying for help,” Mohamed Bukar told Reuters.
Nigerian military officials say that jihadists from Libya and Mali have come to the country to reinforce the terrorist group.
The latest terror attack by Islamic extremists in Nigeria happened Thursday morning in the city of Gombe.
Local officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the ECWA church.
“There was an explosion outside the ECWA church this morning. A suicide bomber who was restrained from getting into the church blew himself up,” Abubakar Yakubu, the head of the Nigeria Red Cross in Gombe, told the Christian Post. “Luckily no one was killed but some people were mildly injured.”
Witnesses say that the bomber arrived on a motorcycle and was furious when he was not permitted to drive past a security checkpoint that had been established by church members. The church had built the barricade as a defense against Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.
The bomber had explosives strapped to his body that detonated while he was yelling at church members who had blocked his way.
The attack was the second bombing in Gombe on Thursday. A female bomber was blown up outside a military barracks when a soldier shot the explosives strapped to her body.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has killed 11 people and kidnapped at least 20 women as they continue to expand what they call their “caliphate.”
The group says that the predominantly Christian town of Lassa is now under their control.
“As it is now, Boko Haram is fully in charge in Lassa town and has declared the town a caliphate,” one of the escapees from Lassa told Morning Star News. He declined to give his name, saying, “It is no longer safe for us to tell you our names, as doing so may pose a serious threat not only to us but also our relations who are still being held captive by Boko Haram members.”
The terrorists have also declared Chibok and Shani as part of their “caliphate.”
Samuel Dali, president of the EYN in Nigeria, who also has been displaced by the Boko Haram attacks, confirmed the attacks on the three Christian towns, saying many of his church members have been displaced.
A homicide terrorist bomber has killed 48 students at a high school in Nigeria.
Local officials say that Boko Haram is behind the attack on the students.
“We were waiting for the principal to address us, around 7:30 a.m., when we heard a deafening sound and I was blown off my feet, people started screaming and running, I saw blood all over my body,” said 17-year-old student Musa Ibrahim Yahaya to The Associated Press.
The death toll is at least 48 with 79 injured.
A wounded teacher told officials at a hospital that the terrorist had dressed as a student and walked into the assembly ground with the students.
Boko Haram, whose name means “western education is sinful”, has repeatedly attacked schools.
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has committed another kidnapping of women in Nigeria.
The group kidnapped 60 more girls despite reports they were agreeing to a ceasefire and the release of the last 200 girls still remaining from a raid on a school in Chibok in April.
“The insurgents are still in the area. They slit the throats of three men in Garta and abducted many young women. We also heard from residents of Waga that they killed two men and took 40 women away,” said Tizhe Kwada, a resident of Garta.
The Nigerian government had claimed a cease fire with the group was reached last week.
The BBC reported now Boko Haram is claiming there is no ceasefire and that talks between the extremists and the government will be continuing in neighboring Chad.
“If they are aware and they are in agreement that there is a ceasefire, I don’t think they would continue attacking innocent people and taking over places,” said Bulama Mali Gubio of the Borno Elders Forum.
The long fight against the Ebola virus received very good news Tuesday when two African nations were declared free of the virus.
Nigeria and Senegal, who both combined had 20 cases of the virus and 7 deaths (all in Nigeria), have been free of any new cases for six weeks.
“This is a spectacular success story,” World Health Organization Representative Rui Gama Vaz told Reuters. “It shows that Ebola can be contained, but we must be clear that we have only won a battle, the war will only end when West Africa is also declared free of Ebola.”
The government of Nigeria was given praise considering the virus was discovered in Lagos, a city of 21 million where tracing contacts of residents can be almost impossible.
“Nigeria was not really prepared for the outbreak, but the swift response from the federal government, state governments (and) international organizations … was essential,” said Samuel Matoka, IFRC Ebola operations manager for Lagos. “The swiftness and fastness of the reaction from all parties, helped to contain Ebola in Nigeria.”
The World Health Organization says Nigeria could be a model for nations around the world in dealing with Ebola.
