Nigerian troops, tanks patrol Maiduguri
Source: Agencies |
January 2, 2012, Monday
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HEAVILY armed troops and tanks patrolled the streets of Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria yesterday, witnesses said, after the president declared a state of emergency in parts of the north affected by an Islamist insurgency.
President Goodluck Jonathan imposed the state of emergency in the northeast, the conflict-prone central city of Jos, and part of Niger state near Abuja on Saturday, and closed the borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger in the northeast.
Nearly a week after the radical sect Boko Haram set off a series of bombs across Nigeria on Christmas Day, including one at a church that killed at least 37 people and wounded 57, Jonathan told state television his aim was to restore security in troubled parts of the north.
A Reuters reporter in Maiduguri, a remote city in the northeast and the center of the Boko Haram insurgency, saw several tanks patrolling the city and groups of a dozen or more soldiers at a time out on foot patrol.
"We woke up this morning only to see armed soldiers all over the place and some tanks patrolling. We fear what may happen next," said Maiduguri resident Buba Guduf.
Jonathan said he had told his chief of defense staff to take other "appropriate" measures, including setting up a special counter-terrorism force.
The blasts at churches have raised fears Boko Haram, a Taliban-styled movement, is trying to ignite sectarian strife in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer.
Jonathan has been criticized by the opposition and Christian groups for what they said was a slow response to the bombings.
Residents of Maiduguri, located on the threshold of the Sahara Desert, have borne the brunt of previous clashes between Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," and security forces.
On Friday three explosions struck Maiduguri shortly after Muslim prayers but caused no casualties, and gunmen shot dead three members of a Muslim cleric's family.
Gun battles between security forces and Boko Haram killed at least 68 people in fighting in the nearby city of Damaturu on December 22 and 23.
"The soldiers have intensified their patrol in our area and most people prefer to remain indoors for fear of the unknown," Ibrahim Usman, from the Gwange ward of Maiduguri, said by telephone.
"We are just doing our normal duty," said an officer for the Joint Military Taskforce for Maiduguri, who could not be named because he was not authorised to speak.
President Goodluck Jonathan imposed the state of emergency in the northeast, the conflict-prone central city of Jos, and part of Niger state near Abuja on Saturday, and closed the borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger in the northeast.
Nearly a week after the radical sect Boko Haram set off a series of bombs across Nigeria on Christmas Day, including one at a church that killed at least 37 people and wounded 57, Jonathan told state television his aim was to restore security in troubled parts of the north.
A Reuters reporter in Maiduguri, a remote city in the northeast and the center of the Boko Haram insurgency, saw several tanks patrolling the city and groups of a dozen or more soldiers at a time out on foot patrol.
"We woke up this morning only to see armed soldiers all over the place and some tanks patrolling. We fear what may happen next," said Maiduguri resident Buba Guduf.
Jonathan said he had told his chief of defense staff to take other "appropriate" measures, including setting up a special counter-terrorism force.
The blasts at churches have raised fears Boko Haram, a Taliban-styled movement, is trying to ignite sectarian strife in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer.
Jonathan has been criticized by the opposition and Christian groups for what they said was a slow response to the bombings.
Residents of Maiduguri, located on the threshold of the Sahara Desert, have borne the brunt of previous clashes between Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," and security forces.
On Friday three explosions struck Maiduguri shortly after Muslim prayers but caused no casualties, and gunmen shot dead three members of a Muslim cleric's family.
Gun battles between security forces and Boko Haram killed at least 68 people in fighting in the nearby city of Damaturu on December 22 and 23.
"The soldiers have intensified their patrol in our area and most people prefer to remain indoors for fear of the unknown," Ibrahim Usman, from the Gwange ward of Maiduguri, said by telephone.
"We are just doing our normal duty," said an officer for the Joint Military Taskforce for Maiduguri, who could not be named because he was not authorised to speak.
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