Roof of an under-construction church in Nigeria collapses - kills at least 160

The roof of an under-construction church in Nigeria has collapsed during a packed service and at least 160 worshippers have been killed. The number of dead is expected to rise much further because dozens of people were also injured in the collapse in the southern city of Uyo in Akwa Ibom state.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 11 December 2016.

The Reigners Bible Church International was reportedly still under construction but it was being used for a ceremony to ordain church founder Akan Weeks as a bishop. As per witnesses, hundreds of people were inside when metal girders crashed and the corrugated iron roof caved in.
The governor of Akwa Ibom was attending the service at the time and both he and Akan Weeks escaped unhurt. Governor spokesman has indicated that the state government will hold an inquiry to investigate if building standards were compromised.
Incidentally, building collapses keep happening in Nigeria because of endemic corruption with contractors who are believed to be using sub-standard materials. They also bribe inspectors to ignore shoddy work or a lack of building permits. In 2014, a multistorey guesthouse of the Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed in Lagos and killed 116 people.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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More than 677 women and children rescued from the clutches of Boko Haram

#BokoHaram #Nigeria #Chibokgirls #Sambisa The military of Nigeria has intensified its attacks on camps of Boko Haram in the Sambisa forest and have destroyed many of these camps simultaneously, rescuing more than 677 women and children. These people had been kept imprisoned by the Boko Haram and many of the girls and women have become pregnant.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 3 May 2015.

Out of those rescued, a group of 275 have been brought to a refugee camp in northeast Nigeria. They arrived in a convoy of armed vehicles after a journey that lasted three days. There were two newborn babies among them and all of them have been taken to a school in Yola. This was converted into a refugee camp for people who have been displaced by the Islamist group. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is being entrusted with the task of caring for them.
It may be recalled that nearly 250 schoolgirls had been kidnapped from their school in Chibok last year and it is not known if any of the women rescued now are the same schoolgirls.

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200 girls rescued from Sambisa forest by Nigerian Army are not Chibok girls

#Chibok #BokoHaram #Nigeria #Sambisa Nigerian army conducted a raid against the Boko Haram militants in the Sambisa Forest and has, apparently, managed to rescue 200 girls and 93 women during a military operation as reported in news.sky.com dated 29 April 2015.
In the offensive that happened in the northeast of the country, the army destroyed three militant camps. However, as revealed by an army spokesman, the rescued girls are not those who had abducted from their school in Chibok in April 2014.

It may be recalled that Boko Haram had kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls near the northern village of Chibok last April and, while a few succeeded to escape, most of the girls are still missing. Their abduction had led to an international outcry and, it is believed that they have been kept imprisoned in the dense and heavily-mined Sambisa Forest.
This forest is situated around 60 miles from Chibok and, has been pounded by air raids for weeks after which the ground troops gained entry last week.
The activities of Boko Haram has been blamed for the death of nearly 10,000 people last year and, over and above that, some 1.5 million people have been forced to flee from their homes because of threats of the group.

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Fresh attack of Boko Haram on Maiduguri

#bokoharam #maiduguri #nigeria #bornostate Militants of the Islamist group of Boko Haram have launched a fresh assault on the strategically important Nigerian city of Maiduguri as reported in bbc.com dated 1 February 2015. There were reports of gunfire on the streets of the northern city following an attack that began in the early hours of Sunday. There were sounds of heavy artillery fire as the militants attacked the city from four directions.
This attack has come a week after Boko Haram's last attempt of capturing the capital of Borno state. The attack was repelled by the Nigerian army with heavy loss of life.
This Boko Haram group had begun guerrilla operations in 2009 and their objective was to create an Islamic state. In the process, it has already taken over the control of many towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria in the last year. Their last attempt to take over Maiduguri a week ago was stopped by the military. However, they did succeed to capture the town of Monguno located 125-Km outside the city and also took over a military base.
The conflict has already displaced at least 1.5 million people and unconfirmed reports indicate a loss of lives of the order of 2000 last year.
As to the latest attack, the security forces are tight lipped and have so far not commented – their handling of the six-year insurgency has often met with criticism and the loss of Maiduguri would be another major setback.

Nearly 2000 massacred in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants

#BokoHaram #Nigeria #Baga #AmnestyInternational In a fresh round of violence in Nigeria, militants of Boko Haram have reportedly massacred over 2000 civilians in Baga – most of them were children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough to dodge the bullets of the militants.
The bodies were strewn in bushes in Nigeria and the extremist attack has been labeled by Amnesty International as the “deadliest massacre” in the history of Boko Haram.
The fighting raged in and around Baga, a town on the border with Chad. This is where the insurgents had seized an important military base.
The district head Baba Abba Hassan has revealed that most victims are those who could not outrun the attackers who drove into Baga, firing rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles on town residents.
An Amnesty International statement has indicated that the town was razed and as many as 2,000 people killed.
Earlier, in a 14 March 2014 attack on Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri city, the number of dead was more than 600 and the latest incident in Baga is more terrible. In the March 2014 incident, soldiers had gunned down unarmed detainees freed. The figure of 600 is based on satellite imagery.
As a result of unrest in Nigeria due to insurgency of over five years, more than 10,000 people have been killed last year alone, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. In addition, over one million people are displaced inside Nigeria and hundreds of thousands have fled across its borders into neighboring Chad and Cameroon.