ICC Note: Ever since Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took office in late May, militant Islamist terrorists Boko Haram has increased attacks in northern Nigeria. After months of military progress against the insurgency, largely dislodging the militants from territory and strongholds they had previously held, Boko Haram appears to be making a comeback, with numerous suicide attacks and two recent assaults on villages near Lake Chad that killed nearly 150 people. Buhari has placed defeating Boko Haram at the top of his security agenda, and now faces the reality of the challenge. Christians are some of the most vulnerable to attack because they represent a religious minority and have been targeted by Boko Haram specifically, who spreads rhetoric encouraging killing Christians.
By Siobhan O’Grady
7/4/15 Nigeria (FP) – The former general and strongman ruler of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, won his country’s March election in part by promising to defeat the Boko Haram militant group and restore security to the country’s turbulent northeast. A month into his time in office, a string of Boko Haram attacks indicates the group isn’t backing down in the face of Buhari’s sabre rattling.
On Wednesday night, reports out of Borno State claimed dozens of civilians were gunned down by Boko Haram militants in a string of attacks in the extremist stronghold. By Thursday, the death toll from the attacks reached150 and may continue to rise.
Earlier on Wednesday, two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a hospital in Borno State’s capital of Maiduguri, just as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrived in the city to visit Nigerians displaced in temporary camps there.
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