Islamic militants in Nigeria gave Christians
three days to leave the north following
President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration
of a state of emergency in four northern
states.
Boko Haram, a Taliban-inspired group that
has carried out a series of raids and
bombings in the north and the capital,
Abuja, also said Muslims should leave the
south of Africa’s top oil producer.
The group urged “our fellow Muslims to
come back to the north because we have
evidence that they would be attacked,” Abu
Qaqa, a spokesman for the group, said
today in an e-mailed statement. “We are also
giving three days ultimatum to the
southerners living in northern Nigeria to
move away.”
Boko Haram, which means “Western
education is a sin,” says it’s fighting to
establish sharia law in the north. Nigeria,
Africa’s most populous country of more
than 160 million people, is roughly split
between a mainly Muslim north and
predominantly Christian south.
Qaqa said the state of emergency declared
on Dec. 31 “was meant to attack Muslims
and not to restore normalcy.”
Jonathan declared the emergency in parts
of Borno, Yobe, Plateau and Niger states and
set up a special counterterrorism unit within
the armed forces after attacks left at least
43 people dead and 73 wounded in a
Christmas day bombing of a church near
Abuja.
At least 72 people have been killed in
fighting since Dec. 22 between Nigerian
security forces and the militant group in the
northeastern city of Damaturu, according to
the government.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a
suicide car-bomb attack on the United
Nations building in the capital on Aug. 26
that killed 25 people.
No comments:
Post a Comment