tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post7958686660575566433..comments2024-03-24T20:40:46.666-04:00Comments on Pan-African News Wire: Identify Yourself for Dialogue, Nigerian President Jonathan Tells Boko
HaramPan-African News Wirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-67779092781625788562012-01-27T20:11:52.442-05:002012-01-27T20:11:52.442-05:00US citizen freed a week after kidnapping in Nigeri...US citizen freed a week after kidnapping in Nigeria<br /><br />Sat, January 28 2012 04:24 <br /><br />Yenagoa, Nigeria (ANTARA News/Reuters) - A U.S. citizen working for Marubeni Corp who was kidnapped in Nigeria`s oil rich Niger Delta on Jan. 20 has been released, police and the U.S. embassy said on Friday.<br /><br />Gunmen kidnapped the man last Friday in the southeastern town of Warri. They killed his driver and demanding a 50 million naira ($310,300) ransom, a security source said.<br /><br />"The US citizen kidnapped a week ago has been released by his captors," Charles Muka, police spokesman for Delta state, said, identifying him as William Gregory, 50. "We are informed by the company he works for that no ransom was paid."<br /><br />A spokeswoman in the U.S. embassy said: "I can confirm he was released, but can`t comment further."<br /><br />The Niger Delta, heartland of Africa`s biggest oil and gas industry, is prone to bouts of unrest and riven by militant factions. Gangs use guns and speedboats to run criminal fiefdoms that profit from kidnapping, robbery and oil theft.<br /><br />Militant activity decreased after an amnesty for several commanders in 2009, but the region remains volatile.<br /><br />Gangs in the region usually kidnap for ransoms rather than for political or ideological reasons.<br /><br />The German Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday that a German citizen had been kidnapped in northern Nigeria, where a violent Islamist sect is waging an insurgency against President Goodluck Jonathan`s government.Pan-African News Wirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-68019214163942075092012-01-27T20:06:49.818-05:002012-01-27T20:06:49.818-05:00Boko Haram’s leader rejects talks, threatens
On J...Boko Haram’s leader rejects talks, threatens<br /><br />On January 28, 2012<br /><br />Leader of the dreaded Islamic sect Boko Haram, Imam Abubakar Shekau, has rejected offers for a negotiated peace, instead promising to kidnap government officials’ family members and bomb schools, according to an Internet audio message allegedly posted by the group.<br /><br />The 40-minute message also for the first time discusses Boko Haram’s goal: Complete adoption of Islam across Nigeria. Shekau said he remains prepared to order more violence to accomplish that.<br /><br />“If (Nigerian security forces) are going to places of worship and destroying them, like mosques and Quranic schools, you have primary schools as well, you have secondary schools and universities and we will start bombing them,” Shekau said. “Touch us and see. That is what we will do.” He threatened President Goolduck Jonathan and expressed doubt over the president’s call for dialogue.<br /><br />Speaking at times in Arabic, English and the Hausa language of Nigeria’s Muslim north, Shekau said negotiations suggested by President Goodluck Jonathan between the sect and the government will not happen. “He’s lying. He cannot do it,” Shekau said. “If Jonathan does not repent as a Muslim, even if I die myself, Jonathan’s going to see. He’s looking at me like I’m nobody, but he’ll see.”<br /><br />Gunmen from the sect armed with explosives and assault rifles, some wearing army and police uniforms, others suicide car bombers, attacked police stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria’ secret police. However, Shekau denied killing civilians in the attack, claiming the sect’s gunmen tried to protect the more than 9 million people who live in the important city in Nigeria’s north.<br /><br />“We’re killing police officers, we’re killing soldiers and other government people who are fighting Allah and Christians who are killing Muslims and talking badly about our Islamic religion,” Shekau said. “I am not against anyone, but if Allah asks me to kill someone, I will kill him and I will enjoy killing him like I am killing a chicken.”Pan-African News Wirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.com