Nigerian President Declares State of Emergency

Religion Today | Updated: May 15, 2013

Nigerian President Declares State of Emergency

Nigeria's president declared a state of emergency Tuesday across the country's troubled northeast, promising to send more troops to fight an increasingly violent Islamic insurgency, Fox News reports. The Islamist group Boko Haram has intensified its attacks on security forces and government targets this month, prompting President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in certain states. Last week, dozens of Boko Haram fighters laid siege to the town of Bama, in Borno state, killing 55 and freeing more than 100 prison inmates. Days earlier, scores were killed in the fishing village of Baga, also in Borno, when troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad raided it looking for Islamists. Local residents said soldiers were responsible for many civilian deaths. Jonathan also warned that any building suspected to house Islamic extremists would be taken over in what he described as the "war" now facing Africa's most populous nation. However, it's unclear what the emergency powers will do to halt the violence, as a similar past effort failed to stop the bloodshed.



Nigerian President Declares State of Emergency