Nigeria’s Jonathan Declares Emergency Rule in 3 Northeast States
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared emergency rule in three northeastern states, giving sweeping powers to the security forces against Islamist insurgents he said were taking over parts of the region.
More troops will be deployed to Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states with authority to arrest and detain suspects, take over buildings and search areas suspected to be used for terrorist activity, Jonathan said today in a national broadcast.
Arms and ammunitions that have been recovered from Islamist insurgents sit on a table after a clash with soldiers in the remote northeast town of Baga, Nigeria. Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
“Some northern parts of Borno state have been taken over by those whose allegiances are to a different flag than Nigeria,” he said. Security agencies “have orders to take all necessary action, within the ambit of their rules of engagement, to put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists.”
The Boko Haram Islamist group, whose name means “western education is a sin” in the local Hausa language, started its violent campaign to impose Shariah law on Nigeria after police killed its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, while in custody for his role in clashes with the security forces in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. More than 700 people, mostly his followers, died in the violence.
Since then the group has carried out gun and bomb attacks across the north and Abuja, the capital, that have killed more than 1,500 since 2009, according to Human Rights Watch. Africa’s biggest oil producer and most populous country of more than 160 million people is roughly split between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.
“These terrorists and insurgents seem determined to establish control and authority over parts of our beloved nation and to progressively overwhelm the rest of the country,” Jonathan said.
Culled from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-14/nigeria-s-jonathan-declares-emergency-rule-in-3-northeast-states.html
No comments:
Post a Comment