The West African country has been ramping up efforts to secure the country as some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the northeastern region…reports Asian Lite News
Nigerian soldiers killed 79 militants and suspected kidnappers over the past week, the army said Friday, in an operation targeting a decades-long insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast and attacks by various armed groups in the northwest.
The West African country has been ramping up efforts to secure the country as some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the northeastern region, according to the U.N.
The nationwide operation by Nigeria’s military led to the arrest of 252 individuals and the liberation of 67 hostages held by the militants, a Nigerian military spokesperson, Edward Buba, said in a statement.
Kidnappings have become a common occurrence in Nigeria’s northwest, where dozens of armed groups exploit the region’s limited security presence to carry out attacks on villages and along major roads. Many victims are only released after the payment of ransoms that sometimes run into the thousands of dollars.
The 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram extremists in the village of Chibok in the northeastern state of Borno — the epicenter of the conflict between armed groups and the military — captured the attention of the world.
Among the arrested are also 28 suspects linked to crude oil theft, which is prevalent in the southern part of Nigeria, a major oil-producing nation, causing the country to lose billions of dollars in revenue annually. This activity has severely impacted the economy and government earnings.
Last year, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said Nigeria lost over $46 billion due to crude oil theft between 2009 and 2020.
The military also arrested seven suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, a separatist group demanding the creation of an independent Biafra state from the troubled southeast region of Nigeria.
The secessionist campaign in southeastern Nigeria dates back to the 1960s when the short-lived Republic of Biafra fought and lost a civil war from 1967 to 1970 to become independent from the West African country. An estimated 1 million people died in the conflict, many from starvation.
One of its leaders, Simon Ekpa, was arrested in Finland in November accused of inciting violence on social media.
At least 40 killed by militants
At least 40 farmers were killed in an attack by Islamic militants in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, a government official said.
The attack was suspected to have been carried out by extremists from the Boko Haram group and its breakaway faction that is loyal to the Islamic State group in Borno’s Dumba community, said Borno state Gov. Babagana Umara Zulum.
He warned civilians to stay within designated “safe zones” that have been cleared by the army of both extremists and munitions. Zulum also called for an investigation into the attack by the armed forces.
“Let me assure the citizens of Borno that this matter will be thoroughly investigated for further necessary action. Let me use this opportunity to call on the armed forces to track and deal decisively with the perpetrators of this heinous act of violence against our innocent citizens,” he said.
Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. The conflict, now Africa’s longest struggle with militancy, has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.
Some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million have been displaced in the northeastern region, according to the U.N. The 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in the village of Chibok in Borno state — the epicenter of the conflict — captured the attention of the world.
Nigeria holds mass funeral
Meanwhile, a mass funeral has been held for the victims of Saturday’s gasoline tanker explosion in Nigeria’s north-central state of Niger, local authorities said on Sunday, while confirming that the death toll has risen from 80 to 86.
A total of 80 bodies were buried in a mass grave in the Gurara local government area after the tanker laden with gasoline exploded when it overturned, spilling its contents on a busy road in the Dikko area of the state on Saturday morning, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, head of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, told reporters on Sunday.
The bodies of “five identifiable victims” were taken away by their relatives for burial, and one of the injured victims died while receiving treatment at a local health facility in the Dikko area, Baba-Arah said. The mass burial was done with the support of local government authorities and volunteers.
At least 55 people are now receiving treatment at local health facilities, the emergency response official added.
Tragedy struck Saturday morning as many residents in the Dikko area of Niger State were caught in a heavy fire while trying to scoop fuel from the fallen gasoline tanker.
Some residents had besieged the fallen tanker, scooping fuel while an attempt to switch on a power generator to ease the transfer of the petrol triggered an explosion, resulting in the deaths and destruction of properties, witnesses said. Most of the victims were said to have burned beyond recognition.
Reacting to the “worrisome, heartbreaking, and unfortunate” incident, Mohammed Bago, governor of Niger State, blamed “reckless truck drivers” for causing a menace to the lives of local citizens.
