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Japan Today
6 days ago
- Climate
- Japan Today
Death toll from reaches 151 in Nigeria town submerged in floods, thousands displaced
People search in flooded area following a downpour in Mokwa, Nigeria, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Chenemi Bamaiyi) By TAIWO ADEBAYO and CHINEDU ASADU The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger rose to at least 151 on Saturday, the local emergency service said, amid efforts to find more victims. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometers (236 miles) west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. The spokesperson for the Niger State emergency service, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, confirmed the updated fatality count to The Associated Press on Saturday. In addition to the rising death toll, 11 people were injured and more than 3,000 people were displaced, the official added. At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden and intense flood that built rapidly in about five hours, leaving roofs barely visible and surviving residents waist-deep in water, trying to salvage what they could and rescue others. Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed. In a statement on Friday night, President Bola Tinubu expressed condolences and said he had directed the activation of an emergency response to support victims and 'accelerate' recovery. He said that security agencies have also been asked to assist in emergency operations, which remain underway amid concerns that more bodies could be recovered in remote areas. 'Relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed without delay,' the president said, promising 'no Nigerian affected will be left behind or unheard of.' Flooding is common during Nigeria's wet season. Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season. But this flood has been particularly deadly in Mokwa, a farming region near the banks of the River Niger. Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa told the AP the villagers are not used to such flooding. The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Boko Haram's resurgence: Why Nigeria's military is struggling to hold the line
By TAIWO ADEBAYO A resurgence of Boko Haram attacks is shaking Nigeria's northeast, as Islamic extremists have repeatedly overrun military outposts, mined roads with bombs, and raided civilian communities since the start of the year, raising fears of a possible return to peak Boko Haram-era insecurity despite the military's claims of successes. Boko Haram, Nigeria's homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. The conflict, now Africa's longest struggle with militancy, has spilled into Nigeria's northern neighbors, resulted in the death of around 35,000 civilians and the displacement of more than 2 million others, according to the United Nations. In the latest attack late last week in the village of Gajibo in Borno state, the epicenter of the crisis, the extremists killed nine members of a local militia that supports the Nigerian military, after soldiers deserted the base when becoming aware of the insurgents' advance, according to the group's claim and local aid workers. That is in addition to roadside bombs and deadly attacks on villages in recent months. Boko Haram has since broken into two factions. One of the them is backed by the Islamic State group and is known as the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. It has become notorious for targeting military positions and has overrun the military on at least 15 occasions this year, killing soldiers and stealing weapons, according to an Associated Press count, experts and security reports reviewed for this story. On the other hand, the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, or JAS, faction has increasingly resorted to attacking civilians and perceived collaborators, and thrives on robberies and abductions for ransom. In May, ISWAP struck outposts in Gajibo, Buni Gari, Marte, Izge, Rann, and launched a twin assault on the Nigeria-Cameroon joint base in Wulgo and Soueram in Cameroon. Other attacks this year have hit Malam Fatori, Goniri, Sabon Gari, Wajiroko and Monguno, among others. The group often attacks at night. Malik Samuel, senior researcher at non-profit Good Governance Africa, said that ISWAP's success is as a result of its territorial expansion following gains against rival JAS as well as a decentralized structure that has enhanced its ability to conduct "coordinated, near-simultaneous attacks across different regions,' Samuel said. 'The unpredictability of attacks under this framework illustrates ISWAP's growing strategic sophistication,' Samuel said. External support from IS in Iraq and Syria is also a critical resource to the militants, said Samuel, who has interviewed ex-fighters. Such support is evident in ISWAP's evolving tactics, including nighttime raids, rapid assaults with light but effective weaponry, and the use of modified commercial drones to drop explosives, Samuel said. Ali Abani, a local nonprofit worker familiar with the military operations in Borno's strategic town of Dikwa, said that the army bases are understaffed and located in remote areas, making them vulnerable to attacks. "When these gunmen come, they just overpower the soldiers,' Abani said. Reinforcements, either in the form of air support or nearby ground troops, are often too slow to arrive, allowing the militants enough time to strip the outposts of weapons needed to bolster their arsenal, he added, recalling a May 12 attack during which soldiers fled as they were outnumbered, leaving the extremists to cart away weaponry. There also have been reports of former militants who continued to work as informants and logistics handlers after claiming to have repented. At its peak in 2013 and 2014, Boko Haram gained global notoriety after kidnapping 276 Chibok schoolgirls and controlled an area the size of Belgium. While it has lost much of that territory on the back of military campaigns, the new surge in Boko Haram attacks has raised fears about a possible return to such a gloomy past. Borno Gov. Babagana Zulum warned recently of lost gains after raising concerns that military formations in the state are being dislodged 'almost on a daily basis without confrontation.' Federal lawmakers continue to highlight the extremists' growing sophistication and advanced weaponry, calling on the government to bolster the capabilities of the military. The Nigerian military didn't respond to a request for comment. Last Friday, senior commanders visited one of the troubled areas, Gamboru on the border with Cameroon, promising the deployment of more troops to combat Boko Haram. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Militant attack on 2 villages in northeast Nigeria kills at least 57
By TAIWO ADEBAYO A suspected militant attack on two villages in Nigeria left at least 57 people dead and at least 70 missing on Thursday, witnesses said Sunday, in one of the deadliest incidents in the country's conflict-ridden northeast this year. Abdulrahman Ibrahim survived Thursday's attack on two villages in Baga in Borno State and participated in the burial of the dead. He told The Associated Press that the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of the militant group Boko Haram gathered more than 100 residents of the neighboring villages of Mallam Karamti and Kwatandashi and marched them into the bush. Later on Saturday, 57 bodies were recovered there. A spokesperson for the Borno government said he could not confirm the casualty counts. The Nigerian military did not respond to a request for comment. According to Ibrahim, who is from Mallam Karamti, and another survivor from Kwatandashi who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, the villagers were accused of acting as informants for the rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Although ISWAP has gained notoriety for targeting military personnel and assets, the JAS faction has increasingly resorted to attacking civilians and perceived collaborators and thrives on robberies and abductions for ransom. 'Without the capacity to attack the military like ISWAP, JAS is focused on terrorizing civilians,' said Malik Samuel, an expert on northern Nigeria's conflicts with nonprofit Good Governance Africa. The witnesses said burial of the victims was delayed because the military was unavailable to provide support in conducting searches for bodies. Most of the dead victims were found with their throats slit, but others had been shot, the locals said. 'There are probably more bodies because we had to stop further searches with soldiers out of fear of an ambush," Ibrahim said. More than 70 are still missing, he said. The mass killing came during a week of intensifying violence in Borno. On Monday, ISWAP militants overran the 50 Task Force Battalion of the Nigerian Army stationed in Marte, seizing arms and ammunition after a deadly assault that killed several soldiers, according to videos shared on social media by soldiers who survived the attack. Following the attack on Marte, displaced people camped there fled to nearby Dikwa, a humanitarian hub where aid groups are pulling out due to international funding cuts. In a separate incident on Saturday afternoon, a roadside bomb detonated along the Maiduguri-Damboa road, the second such attack in a week. Three people died at the scene, and a fourth succumbed to injuries Sunday morning at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). More than 10 others were still being treated for injuries at the hospital, a local resident, Lawan Bukar Maigana, who has assisted the community in emergencies, said. Since 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency has created a humanitarian disaster in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, with more than 35,000 people killed and 2.6 million others displaced over the last 15 years. Borno in Nigeria, its birthplace, is the worst-affected. They want to install an Islamic state across the four countries, with Nigeria as their main target. The country is West Africa's oil giant with more than 200 million people, divided almost equally between a mainly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north. The Nigerian government has claimed progress against the insurgency, but the militants continue to attack civilians and military and have expanded into other regions, including central Nigeria where the capital Abuja is located, according to experts and public records on counterterrorism. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
