Publish Accumulation

Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan blames Islamic uprising on "extremist foreign elements"

ABUJA, Nigeria -- Nigeria's leader vowed on Thursday to "do everything possible to bring our daughters home," referring to the mass abduction of more than 300 schoolgirls, and said that the Islamic extremists who kidnapped them threaten the country's democratic gains.

"It is a sad fact that as I address you today, all the gains of the past 15 years of democratic governance in our country are threatened by the presence of international terrorism on our shores," President Goodluck Jonathan said in a speech marking Nigeria's transformation from decades of military dictatorship. He also blamed the Islamic uprising on "extremist foreign elements" and offered amnesty to those who renounce violence.

Jonathan gave no details of what is being done to rescue the girls who the military claimed this week it has located. But the military chief said he fears using force to rescue them could instead get them killed. Jonathan has ruled out swapping the girls, who were kidnapped from a school in the town of Chibok on April 15, for detained insurgents.

Boko Haram started off as a moderate religious sect nicknamed after the shouted refrain of its leader - "Western education is sinful" - who preached that Western influences have corrupted Nigerian society and caused the massive graft that impoverishes the nation and keeps people in the northeast among the poorest of the poor.

Jonathan has promised to address the poverty that helps fuel the uprising - but only once the insurgency is put down. The World Bank says two-thirds of 170 million Nigerians struggle in poverty in Africa's biggest oil producer.

Government troops sought to crush the Boko Haram movement in 2009, blasting its compound and mosque in Maiduguri, capital of northeast Borno state. Some 700 people were killed. The captured leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was shot dead in police custody. The group returned with a vengeance a year later, initially attacking police stations, and today has rear bases across borders in Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The military says fighters from those countries have been found fighting alongside Boko Haram in Nigeria . The insurgents are well-equipped with armored personnel carriers, machine guns and many other weapons, most apparently looted in attacks on Nigerian barracks.

The president offered an amnesty, saying: "For our citizens who have joined hands with al Qaeda and international terrorists in the misguided belief that violence can possibly solve their problems, our doors remain open to them for dialogue and reconciliation, if they renounce terrorism and embrace peace."

What Nigeria is experiencing is "a manifestation of the same warped and ferocious world view" that brought down the Twin Towers in New York and killed innocents at the Boston Marathon last year, he said.



Thousands of people have been killed in the 5-year-old insurgency, more than 2,000 so far just this year, and an estimated 750,000 Nigerians have been driven from their homes.



The extended kidnapping, now in seventh week, has highlighted the general failure to curb the uprising and what some see as Jonathan's insensitivity to the plight of victims caught up in the war. Jonathan has never referred to dozens of other girls abducted in the past year, and accepted international help in the search for the girls only after many people became outraged at home and abroad. The extremists abducted more than 300 girls from the Chibok Government Girls School, according to the police. Chibok community leader Pogu Bitrus says 57 girls escaped by themselves, which leaves an estimated 272 still held captive.

In recent weeks, the extremists have used a two-pronged strategy and widened their theater of operation beyond the remote northeast of the country, with bombings at bus stations and marketplaces in three cities that have killed about 250 victims and daily attacks on northeast villages where 20 are killed one day, 50 another. In one attack this week, suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed 24 soldiers and 21 police officers and set ablaze their military barracks and police station in Buni Yadi town of Yobe state. Buni Yadi was the scene of one of the most horrific Boko Haram attacks on a government high school where gunmen in February set fire to a dormitory, burning alive some students, then shot and slit the throats of those who tried to escape through windows. At least 58 students were killed.

Some soldiers charge that corruption and lack of motivation keep the uprising going and that some officers enriching themselves off the coffers of a fattened defense budget have no desire to halt the conflict.

Earlier this week, the country's defense chief, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, said many of the weapons captured from Boko Haram are "alien" to the Nigerian military, and urged action to halt imports of arms from neighboring states.

2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nigeria-goodluck-jonathan-blames-islamic-uprising-on-extremist-foreign-elements/

Buhari wants to Islamise Nigeria- Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose Governor Nyesom on Saturday accused President Muhammadu Buhari of mapping ways towards making Nigeria an Islamic nation.

Nigeria - Fayose" width="396" height="198"/>Fayose made the allegations while delivering a speech at the interdenominational thanksgiving held in Port-Harcourt to celebrate the victory of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike after the supreme court ruling.

Governor Fayose, who referred to himself as Peter, the rock who cannot be harmed by anyone, announced to the crowd that he had a secret to reveal.

He asked those present if he should reveal the big secret about the Buhari led, APC government.

After the crowd yelled that he should reveal it, Fayose said: They have started subtle moves to make Nigeria an Islamic nation, but God will stop them. This was done in 1984, it failed, it would fail again.

To underline an earlier boast that he could not be intimidated by the ruling party, Fayose further stated: I am not far away, I am in Ekiti. I am Ayo Fayose, Peter the rock, if you hit me you will be in trouble. If I hit you, you will be in trouble.

To substantiate his claim about the Presidents plan to make Nigeria an Islamic nation, Fayose said: Why did five of them go to Saudi Arabia to wait for our man there (referring to President Buhari and state governors), if they dont have agenda.

The agenda is coming small small, but we will resist it. Nigeria is a free nation where we proclaim the name of Jesus Christ freely, and we believe in Allah for those who are muslims. This nation will not be taken for an Islamic nation, Fayose said.

As a closing remark, the Ekiti State governor went on to declare and decree the return of a PDP-led government in 2019.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/buhari-wants-to-islamise-nigeria-fayose/

Nigeria election: Goodluck Jonathan concedes

Jonathan acknowledged the phone call and his defeat in a written statement to his countrymen.

"I thank all Nigerians once again for the great opportunity I was given to lead this country and assure you that I will continue to do my best at the helm of national affairs until the end of my tenure," he said.



The Independent National Electoral Commission is still announcing the final tally in the polls, but early numbers indicate Buhari, now the President-elect, has an overwhelming majority of votes.

Buhari ruled Nigeria from late 1983 until August 1985 after ousting his predecessor in a coup.

His 20-month rule was known for what he described as a "war on indiscipline," a tough regime that some say was marred by human rights abuses.

The 72-year-old retired major general's experience as a military ruler has variably been viewed as a plus or minus in present-day Nigeria, where the government has been locked in a deadly battle with the militant group Boko Haram.



His campaign has focused on security and ending corruption in Nigeria.

Read more: Who is Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari?

Election violenceViolent protests after elections Saturday sparked calls for calm from the two main candidates and a warning by the United States and Britain against political interference.

Demonstrators fired gunshots and torched a local electoral office in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state on Sunday as they marched to protest the elections amid claims of vote-rigging and voter intimidation.

After the protests in Rivers, Buhari's All Progressives Congress demanded the elections there be canceled. "There's been so much violence in Rivers state that it's just not tenable," party spokesman Lai Mohammed said.

But the People's Democratic Party disputed the accusation, saying the election was "credible and the result reflects the overwhelming wish of the people of Rivers state to support President Goodluck Jonathan."

Both candidates took to social media to call for calm.

"I want to urge all Nigerians to also wait patiently for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to collate and announce results," Jonathan said on his Facebook account.

"Fellow Nigerians, I urge you to exercise patience and vigilance as we wait for all results to be announced," Buhari said on Twitter.

Jonathan and Buhari last week issued a pledge reaffirming their commitment to "free, fair and credible elections" after their signing of the Abuja Accord in January.

In his statement Tuesday, Jonathan said; "I promised the country free and fair elections. I have kept my word."

He advised anyone upset with the results to follow due process and stay away from further violence.

"As I have always affirmed, nobody's ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian /a> . The unity, stability and progress of our dear country is more important than anything else," he said.

Read more: Democracy was the real winner

More than 800 people were killed in post-election violence across Nigeria's north in 2011 after charges that those elections were illegitimate.

Boko HaramNigeria's vote had been scheduled for February 14, but on February 7, Nigeria's election commission announced it would be postponed for six weeks because of security concerns, with the military needing more time to secure areas controlled by Boko Haram. The controversial decision was unpopular among many Nigerians and led to widespread protests.

Jonathan has been criticized for not doing enough to combat Boko Haram, which is waging a campaign of terror aimed at instituting a stricter version of Sharia law in Nigeria.

On Saturday, residents in the northeastern state of Gombe said at least 11 people were killed and two more injured in attacks at polling stations, apparently by Boko Haram extremists.

CNN's Christian Purefoy reported from Lagos, Nigeria, while CNN's Susannah Cullinane and Stephanie Busari wrote from London.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/31/world/nigeria-election/