Since the
Boko Haram Islamist sect started unleashing violence and was declared a
terrorist organisation in 2013, no bloodletting incident in Nigeria, has
topped its scale in viciousness. For almost 12 years and counting, the
killings carried out by Boko Haram have continued to be number one in
end of year reviews. And it’s not different in 2014.
The Executive Director of the Lagos State Trust Fund, Mr. Fola Arthur- Worrey, said that terrorism in Nigeria is the world’s deadliest. He noted that the four most active militant groups are Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, now named Islamic State, Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and transnational Al-Qaeda networks.
According to Wikipedia, more than 15000 people have been killed by Boko Haram in Nigeria.
January 2014 was greeted with series of attacks in the northern parts of the country. Boko Haram members killed several people at Kawuri, Borno State. The death toll was put at 85.
On January, 31, a pastor and 10 members of his congregation were killed in Chakawa. In the Chakawa attack, throats of several church worshippers were slit, while others were shot.
The death toll was put at 138 people. On February 14, 2014, Boko Haram members attacked Christian villagers in Borno State, killing at least 121 people. The village where the attack occurred was a predominantly Christian village. Dressed in military gear, dozens of militants raided the village. Some of their victims were shot. Others had their throats slit. The militants yelled, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ before embarking on killings of their victims. The following day, Boko Haram launched a similar styled attack in Gwoza, where over 90 Christians were killed.
On May 6, 2014, around 200 people were killed when the insurgents, dressed in military uniforms, attacked Gamboru, a town in the state of Borno on the Nigeria-Cameroon border. The attackers stormed into the town when some of the residents were fast asleep and set ablaze houses while shooting at residents who tried to escape from the fire. On February 25, 2014, 59 boys were killed at the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi in Yobe State.
The 24 buildings of the school were burnt down. On the fateful day, the insurgents barged into the Federal Government College while the students were sleeping. They threw explosives into dorm rooms as they sprayed the rooms with gunfire. Students who tried to escape through windows were slaughtered as their throats were slit. Others who ran were gunned down. Boko Haram, targeted schools for violent attacks on a number of occasions. The group burnt more than 200 schools.
Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, issued a video statement in mid-February 2014, promising to continue attacks against western values. On April 14, 2014, two bombs exploded at a crowded bus station, southwest of central Abuja, killing at least 88 people and injuring at least 200. Explosives hidden inside vehicles detonated during morning rush hour at a bus station in Nyanya on the outskirts of Abuja. After the initial blast, further explosions occurred as fuel tanks in nearby vehicles ignited. 71 people were killed and 124 injured.
By April 18, the death toll had increased to 88. Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche was arrested by Interpol in Sudan in May 2014 on the suspicion of being one of the masterminds behind the bombings. Ogwuche who served in the intelligence unit of the Nigerian Army between 2001 and 2006 was on November, 24, 2014, cleared of charges of terrorism and his alleged role in the bombings.
The charges against him were struck out by a Nigerian high court for lack of diligent prosecution by the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services One of the most stunning of Boko Haram deeds was the abduction on April, 14-15, 2014, 276 female students from the Government Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State. The militants broke into the school, pretending to be guards, telling the girls to get out and come with them. A large number of students were taken away in trucks. The children were aged 16 to 18 and were in their final year of school.
On May 5, a video in which Shekau claimed responsibility for the kidnappings emerged. Shekau claimed that “Allah instructed me to sell them…I will carry out his instructions.” and “Slavery is allowed in my religion.” He said the girls should not have been in school, but should have been married since girls as young as nine were suitable for marriage.
19 people and injured at least 60. On the night of May, 5-6, 2014, Boko Haram militants attacked the twin towns of Gamboru and Ngala in Borno State. Roughly 310 residents were killed in the 12-hour attack, and the town was largely destroyed. Most of the survivors fled to Cameroon.
Armed with AK47 rifles and RPGs, the militants attacked the town on two armoured personnel carriers, stolen from the Nigeria Military. The attack occurred in the night when some residents were still sleeping. Having set homes ablaze, the militants gunned down residents who tried to escape. The official death toll was first set at 200 on May, 7. Later, the death toll was around 336.
On May, 20, 2014, two bombs exploded in Jos Plateau State, killing at least 118 people and injuring more than 56 others. The first bombing occurred in a market place, and the second near a bus station. On June 1, 2014, a bomb was set off at a football field in Mubi, Adamawa State. At least 40 people were killed in the attack. Nineteen others were injured. At approximately 6:30 pm, a bomb went off as spectators were leaving a football field in Kabang, Mubi. A number of shops were destroyed in the blast.
The blast appeared to come from within a crowd of people walking across the field on their way home, suggesting the attack was the work of a suicide bomber. The May 2014 Buni Yadi attack was a terrorist attack that occurred on May, 27, 2014, Yobe State. Some 49 security personnel (soldiers and police) and nine civilians were killed. The Gwoza massacre was a terrorist event that occurred on June, 2, 2014 in the Gwoza local government district, Borno State near the Nigerian- Cameroonian border.
Militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at least 200 civilians predominantly Christians in the villages of Goshe, Attagara, Agapalwa and Aganjara. Eyewitness reported that men and boys were targeted in these attacks. Another source reported that mothers had their male infants taken from them and shot. On November 10, 2014, at least 46 people were killed and 79 wounded, in a suicide bombing Potiskum, Yobe State.
The attack took place when students assembled in the hall of the Government Science Secondary School. The bomber entered the school wearing a school uniform. Following the attack, the state governor closed all public schools in the area. The Kano bombing was a terrorist attack on November, 28, 2014, at the Central Mosque (Grand Mosque) in Kano. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire on those who were trying to escape. Around 120 people were killed and another 260 injured.
A former Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the horrifying killings and insecurity recorded in 2014. He said: “Insecurity in 2014 worsened with increased Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and kidnappings in the South-South apparently because President Jonathan did not take the matter of security seriously. He was more preoccupied with his desire for re-election. He did not care a damn about security. The nation has never had it so badly.
Even the military was overwhelmed.” National Coordinator of Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Okechukwu Nwanguman said: “Insecurity remained on a steady increase in 2014, with Boko Haram practically keeping most of Northern Nigeria under siege, while kidnappers and armed robbers keep most of southern Nigeria under hostage. Security forces were not only incapable of checking crime, but were complicit in crime as much as they perpetrated human rights crimes.”
In the year under review, Nigerian soldiers had on several occasions, been killed and routed by the Boko Haram. Many of the soldiers sought haven in border country Cameroon, rather than get killed. The soldiers repeatedly complained of their weapons being obsolete and inadequate in comparison to those used by Boko Haram members in the war. While the 2015 election heats up, more Nigerians, soldiers and policemen continued to be killed by Boko Haram. • Additional report from Wikipedia
The Executive Director of the Lagos State Trust Fund, Mr. Fola Arthur- Worrey, said that terrorism in Nigeria is the world’s deadliest. He noted that the four most active militant groups are Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, now named Islamic State, Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and transnational Al-Qaeda networks.
According to Wikipedia, more than 15000 people have been killed by Boko Haram in Nigeria.
January 2014 was greeted with series of attacks in the northern parts of the country. Boko Haram members killed several people at Kawuri, Borno State. The death toll was put at 85.
On January, 31, a pastor and 10 members of his congregation were killed in Chakawa. In the Chakawa attack, throats of several church worshippers were slit, while others were shot.
The death toll was put at 138 people. On February 14, 2014, Boko Haram members attacked Christian villagers in Borno State, killing at least 121 people. The village where the attack occurred was a predominantly Christian village. Dressed in military gear, dozens of militants raided the village. Some of their victims were shot. Others had their throats slit. The militants yelled, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ before embarking on killings of their victims. The following day, Boko Haram launched a similar styled attack in Gwoza, where over 90 Christians were killed.
On May 6, 2014, around 200 people were killed when the insurgents, dressed in military uniforms, attacked Gamboru, a town in the state of Borno on the Nigeria-Cameroon border. The attackers stormed into the town when some of the residents were fast asleep and set ablaze houses while shooting at residents who tried to escape from the fire. On February 25, 2014, 59 boys were killed at the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi in Yobe State.
The 24 buildings of the school were burnt down. On the fateful day, the insurgents barged into the Federal Government College while the students were sleeping. They threw explosives into dorm rooms as they sprayed the rooms with gunfire. Students who tried to escape through windows were slaughtered as their throats were slit. Others who ran were gunned down. Boko Haram, targeted schools for violent attacks on a number of occasions. The group burnt more than 200 schools.
Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, issued a video statement in mid-February 2014, promising to continue attacks against western values. On April 14, 2014, two bombs exploded at a crowded bus station, southwest of central Abuja, killing at least 88 people and injuring at least 200. Explosives hidden inside vehicles detonated during morning rush hour at a bus station in Nyanya on the outskirts of Abuja. After the initial blast, further explosions occurred as fuel tanks in nearby vehicles ignited. 71 people were killed and 124 injured.
By April 18, the death toll had increased to 88. Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche was arrested by Interpol in Sudan in May 2014 on the suspicion of being one of the masterminds behind the bombings. Ogwuche who served in the intelligence unit of the Nigerian Army between 2001 and 2006 was on November, 24, 2014, cleared of charges of terrorism and his alleged role in the bombings.
The charges against him were struck out by a Nigerian high court for lack of diligent prosecution by the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services One of the most stunning of Boko Haram deeds was the abduction on April, 14-15, 2014, 276 female students from the Government Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State. The militants broke into the school, pretending to be guards, telling the girls to get out and come with them. A large number of students were taken away in trucks. The children were aged 16 to 18 and were in their final year of school.
On May 5, a video in which Shekau claimed responsibility for the kidnappings emerged. Shekau claimed that “Allah instructed me to sell them…I will carry out his instructions.” and “Slavery is allowed in my religion.” He said the girls should not have been in school, but should have been married since girls as young as nine were suitable for marriage.
19 people and injured at least 60. On the night of May, 5-6, 2014, Boko Haram militants attacked the twin towns of Gamboru and Ngala in Borno State. Roughly 310 residents were killed in the 12-hour attack, and the town was largely destroyed. Most of the survivors fled to Cameroon.
Armed with AK47 rifles and RPGs, the militants attacked the town on two armoured personnel carriers, stolen from the Nigeria Military. The attack occurred in the night when some residents were still sleeping. Having set homes ablaze, the militants gunned down residents who tried to escape. The official death toll was first set at 200 on May, 7. Later, the death toll was around 336.
On May, 20, 2014, two bombs exploded in Jos Plateau State, killing at least 118 people and injuring more than 56 others. The first bombing occurred in a market place, and the second near a bus station. On June 1, 2014, a bomb was set off at a football field in Mubi, Adamawa State. At least 40 people were killed in the attack. Nineteen others were injured. At approximately 6:30 pm, a bomb went off as spectators were leaving a football field in Kabang, Mubi. A number of shops were destroyed in the blast.
The blast appeared to come from within a crowd of people walking across the field on their way home, suggesting the attack was the work of a suicide bomber. The May 2014 Buni Yadi attack was a terrorist attack that occurred on May, 27, 2014, Yobe State. Some 49 security personnel (soldiers and police) and nine civilians were killed. The Gwoza massacre was a terrorist event that occurred on June, 2, 2014 in the Gwoza local government district, Borno State near the Nigerian- Cameroonian border.
Militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at least 200 civilians predominantly Christians in the villages of Goshe, Attagara, Agapalwa and Aganjara. Eyewitness reported that men and boys were targeted in these attacks. Another source reported that mothers had their male infants taken from them and shot. On November 10, 2014, at least 46 people were killed and 79 wounded, in a suicide bombing Potiskum, Yobe State.
The attack took place when students assembled in the hall of the Government Science Secondary School. The bomber entered the school wearing a school uniform. Following the attack, the state governor closed all public schools in the area. The Kano bombing was a terrorist attack on November, 28, 2014, at the Central Mosque (Grand Mosque) in Kano. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire on those who were trying to escape. Around 120 people were killed and another 260 injured.
A former Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the horrifying killings and insecurity recorded in 2014. He said: “Insecurity in 2014 worsened with increased Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and kidnappings in the South-South apparently because President Jonathan did not take the matter of security seriously. He was more preoccupied with his desire for re-election. He did not care a damn about security. The nation has never had it so badly.
Even the military was overwhelmed.” National Coordinator of Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Okechukwu Nwanguman said: “Insecurity remained on a steady increase in 2014, with Boko Haram practically keeping most of Northern Nigeria under siege, while kidnappers and armed robbers keep most of southern Nigeria under hostage. Security forces were not only incapable of checking crime, but were complicit in crime as much as they perpetrated human rights crimes.”
In the year under review, Nigerian soldiers had on several occasions, been killed and routed by the Boko Haram. Many of the soldiers sought haven in border country Cameroon, rather than get killed. The soldiers repeatedly complained of their weapons being obsolete and inadequate in comparison to those used by Boko Haram members in the war. While the 2015 election heats up, more Nigerians, soldiers and policemen continued to be killed by Boko Haram. • Additional report from Wikipedia
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