- As Islamic State group announces new Boko Haram leader
United States government has listed 20 of Nigeria’s 36 states as unsafe and asked its citizens living in the country to stay away from them.
Among the 20, it cited Borno, Adamawa and Yobe as a complete no-go area as “the ability of the US Mission to provide assistance to US citizens” in those states remains severely limited.
Members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect recently renewed attackes in Borno State, while Fulani herdsmen have scaled up killing of villagers and farmers in Adamawa State.
The travel warning, published on Wednesday, replaced an earlier one dated February 5, 2016.
In addition to the three frontline states, the Department of State also “recommends against all but essential travel to the following states due to the risk of kidnappings, robberies, and other armed attacks: Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, and Zamfara.
“The Department also warns against travel in the Gulf of Guinea, because of the threat of piracy” the advisory published online added.
It added that based on safety and security risk assessments, the embassy maintains restrictions for travel by U.S. officials to the states listed above; officials must receive advance clearance by the U.S. Mission for any travel to those states.
The statement particularly urged vigilance around government security facilities; churches, mosques, and other places of worship; locations where large crowds may gather, such as hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants, markets, shopping malls; and other areas frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers.
“Security measures in Nigeria remain heightened due to threats posed by extremist groups, and U.S. citizens may encounter police and military checkpoints, additional security, and possible road blocks throughout the country.
“Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been displaced as a result of violence in the north.”
The State Department noted that kidnappings remained a security concern throughout Nigeria, as criminal elements across the country orchestrated kidnappings for ransom; Islamic extremists, operating predominantly in the North, also have been known to conduct kidnappings. Criminals or militants have abducted foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, from off-shore and land-based oil facilities, residential compounds, airports, and public roadways.
“Separatist groups have staged demonstrations in Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, and Rivers states, some of which have turned violent.
“Militant groups have destroyed oil production infrastructure in Bayelsa and Delta states.
“U.S citizens are advised to avoid the areas of these states where these incidents have occurred.
“Attacks by pirates off the coast of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea have increased substantially in recent years.
“Armed gangs have boarded both commercial and private vessels to rob travelers.
“The Nigerian Navy has limited capacity to respond to criminal acts at sea,” it concluded.
In the meantime, Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamic extremists have a new leader who is threatening to bomb churches and kill Christians while ending attacks on mosques and markets used by ordinary Muslims, according to an interview published Wednesday by the Islamic State group.
He also says there is a Western plot to Christianize the region and has accused charities of using their aid for that, according to a SITE Intelligence Group translation of an interview published Wednesday in the Islamic State newspaper al-Nabaa.
The newspaper identified Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the new “Wali,” or governor, of its so-called West Africa Province. The “Wali” title was previously used to describe long-time Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
The report did not say what Shekau’s current status was, although there have been rumors for weeks that he had been replaced.
The interview with al-Barnawi indicates a major shift in strategy for the Nigerian extremists, who have killed many more Muslims than Christians in attacks in mosques with suicide bombers and gunmen.
There have also been attacks on crowded marketplaces in predominantly Muslim areas and the killings and kidnappings of school children. The targeting of students accounts for its nickname Boko Haram, which means Western education is sinful or forbidden.
“They strongly seek to Christianize the society. … They exploit the condition of those who are displaced under the raging war, providing them with food and shelter and then Christianizing their children,” SITE Intelligence quotes the new leader as saying.
Al-Barnawi says the militants will respond to that threat by “booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach, and killing all of those (Christians) who we find from the citizens of the cross.”
Wednesday’s announcement indicates a coup by Boko Haram breakaway group Ansaru against Shekau, and follows a trend of extremist Islamic groups moving away from al-Qaida to the Islamic State, analyst Jacob Zenn said.
Ansaru broke away from Boko Haram because it disagrees with the indiscriminate killing of civilians, especially Muslims.
Al-Barnawi is the pseudonym of a Nigerian journalist allied with Ansaru, which is known for kidnapping foreigners, according to Zenn.
In March 2015, Shekau switched allegiance from al-Qaida and declared that Boko Haram be known as the Islamic State’s West Africa Province. At the time, Boko Haram was the most powerful military force in northeast Nigeria, controlling a huge area and was better equipped and motivated than Nigerian forces.
Under Shekau, the seven-year insurgency spread to neighboring countries, killed more than 20,000 people and drove more than 2.2 millon from their homes, and created what aid workers are calling a catastrophic humanitarian emergency with children dying of starvation daily.
Boko Haram last week ambushed a humanitarian convoy, killing three civilians including a U.N. employee and causing the suspension of U.N. aid to newly liberated but still dangerous areas of Nigeria’s northeast.
Since last year, Nigeria has a new leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator who has better armed and motivated security forces. He is also fighting corruption that diverted $2.1 billion that was meant to buy weapons to fight the Islamic uprising, and is cooperating with a multinational force that has the extremists on the run.
In the interview, al-Barnawi said that under his leadership the militants will work to seize back territory. He said that increasing numbers of youth are joining the cause, though Nigeria’s military reports that hundreds of its fighters have surrendered as aerial bombardments and ground assaults cut supply routes.
Tribune with additional report from MSN
