We expect rise in militant attacks due to Mali, say military

Mohammed Yerima

The Federal Government has boosted security on the nation's borders in anticipation of increased attacks by Boko Haram militants after it sent troops to help expel Islamists from northern Mali, a military spokesman said.

“If they’re part of al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, if they’re in support of the northern Mali crisis, there’s every possibility that they will heighten their attacks,” Colonel Mohammed Yerima, director of information at Nigeria’s Defense Ministry, said Tuesday in an interview in Abuja with an international mews agency. “On our own side, we’re strategizing on how to counter them.”

Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer and most populous nation, is battling an insurgency by Boko Haram Islamists that has killed hundreds of people since 2009. The group, whose name means “Western education is a sin,” has carried out bomb and gun attacks in the mainly Muslim north and Abuja.

Nigeria is contributing 1,200 troops to join France and soldiers from other West African countries in Mali to recapture territory lost to Islamist militants and ethnic Touareg separatists. The crisis may spill into Nigeria if not brought under control, President Goodluck Jonathan told lawmakers on Jan. 17.

Gunmen opened fire at a convoy of soldiers in the central Nigerian Kogi state Jan. 19 as they were on their way to join the West African Force in Mali, leaving two dead, the army said on Jan. 20.