Nigeria: 52 Killed in Kaduna, Bauchi, Taraba Attacks

Unknown gunmen continued to kill with bombs and rifles yesterday in Kaduna, Bauchi and Taraba. At least 52 people were killed, scores injured and properties running into millions of naira destroyed.

In Sanga LGA of Kaduna State, 32 people were killed by gunmen suspected to be Fulani militia in the late hours of Friday. The gunmen carried out the attack on Amber community despite the 24-hour curfew imposed on the local government area following last week's killing of about 227 people.

The local government chairman, Emmanuel Adamu, who confirmed the fresh killings to LEADERSHIP Sunday, wondered how the attack was successfully executed without the knowledge of the soldiers and the police drafted to restore normalcy.

The national president of Ninzom Progressive Youths, Mr Bezard Wuyah, whose communities were attacked, told our correspondent the attack on Amber village was carried out on Friday afternoon.

Mr Wuyah, who spoke to our correspondent from some of the affected villages on phone, said: "Right now, we have been touring some of the villages affected. Last night (Friday), Amber, a village of about 5,000 people, was ransacked. We lost 22 people, and I am told that there are more corpses in the bushes.

"In Paa, a village close to Gwantu, the town was attacked from 10 this morning (Saturday) till this afternoon. Ten people were killed. The town is also burnt down. The villages are now empty. I am now in Gwantu, with Kaduna State commissioner of water resources Mr Audu Dogo. He can testify to what I am saying."

The chairman, Sanga LGA, Mr Emmanuel Adamu, said the gunmen were carrying out what he described as "guerilla killings" on his people

Over 110 bodies were given mass burial last week Thursday after many other families took away the corpses of their loves ones for burial.

LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered that all Ninzom villages, including Gwantu, the LGA, headquarters of Sanga, were deserted as people ran to police stations, primary and secondary schools in nearby towns and into neighbouring states.

The executive secretary of the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Nuhu Dogo, who is in Sanga lamented that the tense situation in the area was making distribution of relief materials to about 50,000 displaced persons almost impossible.

Mr Dogo said: "We are now in the Gwantu police station, because they are now attacking one village called Tarri. We are with the police DPO. And he is mobilizing his people to go there.

"The problem is that when there is an attack here, and the security men go, there will be another one somewhere. There is lack of enough personnel. But there is an attack on Tarri going on now," he said.

Bomb blast in Bauchi kills 10, injures 14

A bomb blast occurred on Friday night in the Bayan Gari area of Bauchi, killing 10 people and injuring 14 others.

The explosion occurred about 10pm in the area housing brothels and its impact was felt in all parts of Bauchi town.

Both the dead and the injured were taken to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

Minutes after the explosion occurred, security agents cordoned off the area to prevent people from getting access to the site of the explosion.

At ATBUTH, medical personnel were seen treating the injured. When contacted for further details, the hospital's management neither declined comments on the incident nor gave details about casualties.

The police in Bauchi confirmed the incident. Haruna Mohammed, DSP, police public relations officer (PPRO), told LEADERSHIP Sunday that residents of the affected brothels had in the past been advised by the police to vacate the hotels as such areas were prime spots for terror attacks but that those residing there refused to comply with the police directive.

When LEADERSHIP Sunday further details, the police spokesman responded: "On the 27/6/2014 at about 21:50 hours, there was an explosion at People's Brothel at Bayan Gari area of Bauchi where 10 persons were confirmed dead while 14 others sustained various degrees of injuries and were rushed to ATBU Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, for treatment."

10 killed in Taraba attack - Police

The Taraba State police command yesterday in Jalingo said unknown gunmen attacked some people coming from Garba Chade to Maihula village in Gassol local government area of the state and killed 10 people.

ASP Joseph Kwaji, the police public relations officer (PPRO), Taraba police command, who confirmed the incident while speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday on phone, that the police also recovered three empty shells and some cartridges of double-barrel gun.

Kwaji, noted that a detachment of the police and army had been drafted to the area, adding that investigation into the incident was ongoing.

Sam Mbata, a resident of Garba Chade who also confirmed the attack to our correspondent, said the unknown gunmen stormed the village about 6pm, attacked and killed 10 persons who were coming from Garba Chade to Maihula village.

The PPRO called on the general public to always report any suspected person to the nearest police station in the state.

Africa: Best and Worst of Africa On World Cup Stage

ANALYSIS

Photo: BackpagePix

Nigeria's Peter Odemwingie scores the only and winning goal in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil has shown both the best and worst of African football, but also produced for the first time ever two teams from the continent into the knockout stages.

That should be cause for celebration, though tinged with regret that with a bit more application, that number may have been greater.

Algeria’s come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Russia on Thursday sealed a first-ever place for them in the second round where they join Nigeria.

Both have difficult ties, the Algerians must face up to Germany while Nigeria tackle France.

Good news, tempered by plenty of bad.

Ill-discipline, disputes over money, player expulsions and poor application led to early exits for Cameroon, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

The latter will feel the most disappointed - they were two minutes from a place in the second round before conceding a needless penalty against Greece to lose the game, allowing the European side to move ahead of them in the table.

Most of the players in the current group of Elephants have been dubbed the ‘Golden Generation’, and there must now be serious questions raised over whether they deserve that acclaim.

For much of the past decade they have been touted as Africa’s best team, but have nothing but disappointment to show for their efforts.

Three first round exits at the World Cup, to go with two losing appearances in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, have brought about - to put it bluntly - a decade of nothing.

Whatever they have achieved in their club careers, they have been unable to translate that success in the national team jersey and showed the very worst of themselves against a limited Greek side in their final pool match on Tuesday.

When the time had come to show positivity against an inferior opponent, they looked tentative, disjointed and disorganized.

To be fair to the Elephants, their time off the pitch was difficult. During this tournament midfielder Serey Die lost his father, while the Toure brothers, Kolo and Yaya, lost their younger brother Ibrahim.

How much of an impact that had on their campaign, only they will know, but it can’t have been easy for anybody in the group to witness such tragedy.

Ghana had no heartbreak but were clearly an unhappy group at odds with their football association from the very start.

It was always going to be difficult for them to come through a group that contained Germany, Portugal and USA. Three very good teams, but the Black Stars did not help themselves.

The expulsion of midfielders Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng on the eve of their final match against Portugal, the former for allegedly striking a Ghana FA official and the latter for verbally abusing coach Kwesi Appiah, was the culmination of a horror week for the side.

While they should have been concentrating on matters on the pitch, the squad was gripped by disputes over money.

Their motives for being at the tournament were questioned too when a few players, including defender John Boye, who would later score an own goal against Portugal, were photographed kissing wads of money that had been specially flown over to Brazil at the insistence of the players.

Questions will be raised as to why these issues could not have been sorted out after the tournament, or did the Black Stars players feel their only option was to hold the FA to ransom during the tournament?

In the end the players received US$3-million between them and delivered a single point. Not money well spent.

Cameroon’s campaign was even more disastrous, though at least they settled their money disputes before, belatedly, leaving home.

Their problem was ill-discipline on the pitch, particularly in the crucial pool game against Croatia when midfielder Alex Song struck an opponent and was red-carded, while Benoît Assou-Ekotto attempted to land a head-butt on teammate Benjamin Moukandjo.

It was kindergarten stuff from professional players who should know much better, but seemed not to care for the jersey they were wearing.

Three defeats, one goal, nine conceded and their reputation in tatters, it is hard to see how this World Cup could have gone worse for the once-mighty Indomitable Lions.

So, Africa, celebrate the success of Algeria and Nigeria as their tournament continues, but reflect on the troubles that beset the fallen trio and how they could be avoided in the future.

Only then will football on this continent truly advance.

Liberia: Johnson Sirleaf - 'Bigger Achievements Have Outweighed the Small Mistakes'

INTERVIEW

Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently recieved a key innovation prize from the Kiel Institute. While in Germany, she spoke to DW about the challenges of office and her future aspirations for Liberia.

DW: You are in Germany to receive a prize for your efforts in rebuilding Liberia. You have been the president for eight years now. You have started numerous initiatives to improve the education sector, to promote reconciliation and to promote economic growth. You have come very far but despite your efforts Liberia is still a very poor, a challenged country. Do you sometimes fall into bed after a long working day as the president and wonder, why am I actually doing this to myself?

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Oh, there may be moments when I wonder what else I could do. I never wonder why. I always wonder if I have not done enough, if we could all achieve at a much faster pace. So generally I am very confident for the future and very satisfied at what we are doing, even though not at the pace I want to see.

What do you think are your greatest achievements so far as the president?

We have been able to start the process of reconstruction, infrastructure, building institutions, getting the laws and policies right, settling our large external dept to open up the fiscal space, getting kids back into school and our health and educational systems. We have had to tackle just about everything as a priority: ensuring that the environment is one that promotes democracy, ensuring people have all their freedoms, starting all the reform processes, restoring our international relationships. And so, it has been a challenging situation but again, as I said, we are pleased with the progress.

Is there a particular area where you are unhappy with the progress that has been made so far?

In our educational system. We have stated it is our number one priority, the foundation upon which everything else rests. It has been difficult because most of the professional teachers had departed the country, the schools were all broken down - everything about it required reform. And that has contributed to a slow pace and the lack of our building the capacity at a level that would assure a satisfactory implementation of our development plans.

When you came into office you were greeted with a lot of enthusiasm, both locally and abroad, and a lot of people, when you read the commentaries in the newspapers, expected you to change the country overnight, to build a very stable, prosperous Liberia. How do you cope with these enormous expectations?

It's always difficult when people have been suppressed for a long time and have not had opportunities for a long time. And then all of a sudden there is hope, hope that comes from a new government, an enlightened government. So managing those expectations is very challenging. But I must say that because we have been able to make enough progress we have given people hope and have given them a stake in society where they too feel that the future belongs to them. Because of that, we have been able to have ten consecutive years of peace. And now, we think we can build upon that. But still, there is no quick fix when a country has been destroyed over two decades and all institutions, infrastructure and systems have been totally dysfunctional. You can't fix it in ten or twenty years, even.

As you just mentioned you understand the needs of the people, they are enormous. If you travel the country, people make requests and you, as the president, of course know that you can't satisfy all their demands immediately. You know that you have to find the necessary funds first. How do you cope with that personally?

Well I guess, firstly you have to be truthful to the people by letting them know there are limitations in resources, financial and human. In those cases where one can respond to them in a small way, one tries to do that. One has to also keep pointing out that development is not only a government task or a leader's task. Development belongs to everybody and everybody must make a contribution. So it is a continuing process of engaging them and enlightening them and working with them. And despite the challenges, the message does get through.

You have always spoken out very strongly against corruption. But if you read the report by Transparency International there is still a great deal of corruption. Does it sometimes make you sad that while you are trying to explain to people what is necessary, you still see in everyday life that it is still quite difficult for many people to change their ways?

That is very true. It is one of the most challenging issues that we have to face. Corruption became a way of life. As a means of survival and it became a part of the culture, a systemic. It goes beyond government or any individual group or person. We have tried to tackle it by putting in measures of prevention. And that means improving people's compensation to reduce their vulnerabilities, coming up with the laws and the policies, rebuilding the institutions, rebuilding capacity. We still have some lacks when it comes to punishment because the system is to powerful, an overall systemic environment. And so punishing people is difficult in that situation. We have been changing laws, improving the quality of our judges, limiting bribery and all of that. And as a matter of fact, some progress has been made. If you look at the Transparency International indexes we have improved. If you look at the Millennium Challenge Account indexes we have also improved considerably. But we still have a long way to go.

How do you feel when people like Leymah Gbowee, who won the Nobel Peace Prize with you, are now coming out and criticizing you? Does that hurt because you believe you know what you are doing?

It has to come with leadership. One has to be able to take that. There is no escaping it. I keep saying that perhaps she is too young to know the many struggles that we all went through to bring the freedom that enables her to be able to criticize. That's part of what it takes to be a leader.

Do you sometimes feel that you have made any mistakes in running the country?

Oh yes. I mean nobody can say that you are perfect in the decisions you make. I have made some mistakes. Maybe sometimes not being sufficiently hard on people who haven't achieved the goals in the time I have wanted. We come from a small society where everybody knows everybody so sometimes that puts a lot of pressure on the leader - even if you want to be hard and take those decisions. But generally I accept the small mistakes. I think the bigger achievements have certainly way outweighed the small mistakes here and there.

You earned a great deal of criticism abroad but also locally for appointing some of your family members to high positions of government. If you look at this now would you see that as a mistake?

No. In the realm of things many of them earned their position before I became president and I saw no reason to remove them if they were doing a good job. The capacity is limited in many cases. We are talking about three appointments. Sometimes people forget that people who have the same name I have, are really no relatives, some of them I have not even known all my life. But in those cases where they were direct relatives like sons and have served a particular function I think they have responded to specific needs that I had. And they can now move on as one or two of them are.

How satisfied are you with the assistance from foreign donors like Germany in the rebuilding of Liberia?

We are very pleased with the response. Germany has worked with us on our debt; Chancellor Merkel was particularly instrumental in bringing the European partners together. The United States remains our number one partner and has proposed to rebuild the army. The European Commission is a major partner in infrastructure and that goes for our multilateral partners like the World Bank and the African Development Bank. So, if there is anything that has slowed the progress it's our own capacity limitations because we have not been able to negotiate as fast as we have wanted to. Or implement at the aggressive pace that we have whished for. But we are quite pleased with our partnership, even our African friends who have helped to keep the peace.

What are your priorities for your remaining years in office?

Infrastructure, our power, our ports our roads - so that we can develop the private sector which is hurting our educational reform program. Civil service reform, we have been doing a lot of work on that to make sure that we get rid of the bloated public service and bring in the capacity; Constitutional reform, to do more on liberalization, diversification of the economy - so that we can move towards agro-processing and industrialization. Responding to the big challenge of youth unemployment; giving our youth some skills and technical trainings so that they too can take a much greater participation in the economic life in the country. And continuing to promote democracy, the freedoms that our people enjoy which they have perhaps not had all their lives. Freedom of speech, association, religion. We hope to continue all of that and build upon the progress we have made and consolidate it. I keep saying our 2030 vision calls for being a middle income country by the year 2030. Over the next four years, when I complete my term in our agenda for transformation, I hope we will put it on an irreversible course for the achievement of that long term goal.

Ghana: Black Stars Must Win or Head Home

Andre Ayew celebrates his goal equalising the score against the United States at the World Cup. But the U.S. went on to score again in the final minutes of the game.

Both Ghana and Portugal must go for the win if they are to have any chance of reaching the second round of the World Cup when the teams meet in Brasilia on Thursday.

OVERVIEW

An opening game defeat to the USA mean that Ghana have to do it the hard way if they are to progress to the knockout stages, and that means beating Portugal and hoping Germany do the same to the Americans.

Ghana showed enough in their first two games to suggest that it is possible, but will enter the match with some regret at the situation they find themselves in.

They equalized late against the USA in their opener and then allowed a free-header at a corner, enabling the Americans to snatch the points in the dying minutes. At least one point was dropped there.

Then, having come from behind to lead Germany in the second half of their next match, another soft goal allowed the European side to equalize. Two more points gone.

So Ghana could have been in a much stronger position than they are now. However, there is nothing they can do about the past, the can only look forward to the challenge ahead of them.

Portugal have yet to fire in this competition, with injuries, red cards and atrocious defending against them. That they find themselves going into this game with a chance of reaching the Last 16 at all is a minor miracle, and they need to win big and hope the USA lose to make the most unlikely of comebacks.

Central to their bid will be Cristiano Ronaldo, the player who makes them tick and upon whom they rely so heavily for inspiration. Ghana will have to find a way to counter him.

The good news is that midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng and defender John Boye are both back in full training. The key pair were injured in the 2-2 draw with Germany on Saturday, but will be fit to face Portugal.

The Ghana players also appear to have been appeased over unpaid match fees after the president of the country, John Dramani Mahama, had to step in and assure the players they would be paid on Wednesday.

KEY PLAYERS

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - The reigning FIFA Ballon d'Or winner remains the key man for a Portuguese side whose World Cup has been nothing short of a disaster so far. He was helpless against Germany but did create the equaliser against USA that kept Portugal's hopes alive. As ever, he holds the key for this Portugal team.

Andre Ayew (Ghana) - Ayew has now scored in consecutive matches for Ghana and looks in top form. He is a clinical finisher and the Black Stars will look to get the ball to him as much as possible in the box.

Along with Asamoah Gyan, he is their chief goals threat.

WHAT THEY SAY

Paulo Bento (Portugal coach) - "All we can do is to give everything in our last game and try and make the most of the very little chance that we have left."

Kwesi Appiah (Ghana coach) - "You can only stop Cristiano Ronaldo, the best player in the world, by working as a team. We can't let him show what he can do. It's important that we don't allow Ronaldo to play his game. We will study their game, but it's not only him, it's the whole team."

MATCH FACTS

Date: Thursday, June 26

Kick-off: 16h00 (GMT)

Venue: Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

GHANA HEAD-TO-HEAD VS PORTUGAL

This will be the first meeting between the nations.

Mali: Abdel Kader Haidara Awarded Germany's 2014 Africa Prize for Rescuing Timbuktu Manuscripts

When Islamists began wrecking Timbuktu's cultural heritage Abdel Kader Haidara put his own life at risk to save hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. Germany has honored him with its Africa Prize.

Abdel Kader Haidara is smiling. Dressed in green, traditional garments, there is an air of tranquility about him. Yet the head of the privately funded Mamma Haidara Memorial Library in Timbuktu was capable of going to extremes, including putting his own life at risk, in order to help save the region's ancient manuscripts.

"It isn't about me personally", Haidara said. "I only played my role. We know how important and how fragile cultural heritage is. Once a manuscript has been destroyed it is lost forever". A building, for example, could be rebuilt, Haidara believes, but a document with the knowledge it contains could never be recovered. "That is why I devoted myself to this cause. Not for myself, not only for Mali, but for all of humanity," he said.

Haidara saved close to 500,000 manuscripts from destruction by Islamists over a period of 18 months. The German Africa Foundation has now honored him with the 2014 German Africa Prize. Haidara's response is modest. "This is a huge honor, not only for me, but for the all people who worked with me as well. It is a big honor for our country Mali. It makes me very proud," he said.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced the name of the prize winner at an international meeting on Wednesday (18.06.2014) which had been called to discuss further plans for the Timbuktu manuscripts' preservation.

On being shown some of the documents, Steinmeier said he had a lot of respect for what Haidara had done. "I myself and many people in your country are so very happy that you have saved this heritage for your country's future," he said. The minister described the rescue of these works of literature by Haidara and a group of assistants as a "great achievement."

'Africa has a written culture'

The oldest of the manuscripts Haidara salvaged date back to the 11th and 12th centuries when Timbuktu was a thriving trading post. This was a city where a great amount of cultural exchange took place, where the greatest intellectuals from the Arab and Muslim world would meet and keep written records of their discourses. The most recent manuscripts were drawn up in the 20th century when Mali was a French colony.

The older manuscripts were hidden from the European occupiers and were then largely forgotten. Only when Mali became independent did the world rediscover these historic documents.

They were added to UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988. "A lot of people were surprised because they had been told - even at school - that there were no written African historical records", Abdel Kader Haidara explained. "But we have hundreds of thousands of these documents in Arabic and in African languages."

Ravages of time

By 2012 Haidara had catalogued hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. He runs an NGO called SAVAMA-DCI (Sauvegarde des Manuscrits et la Defense de la Culture Islamique) and has been trying to save the ancient documents from insects and the ravages of time.

From 2012, however, there was an even bigger threat to the manuscripts. Islamist rebels from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) occupied Timbuktu spreading fear and terror across the city.

As soon as they started destroying mausoleums, Haidara realized the manuscripts were in great danger. He got in contact with families who were in possession of the manuscripts and with together international partners - such as the German embassy in Mali - arranged for the transfer of the manuscripts to a safe place in the capital Bamako. This was a very dangerous undertaking that could have cost them their lives if they had been caught by the Islamists.

The documents had to be transported over thousands of kilometers. "We fetched the manuscripts during the night. We hid them in ordinary metal boxes which we concealed under conventional commercial goods", said Sane Chirfi Alpha, one of the co-founders of SAVAMA-DCI who helped to rescue the manuscripts, close to half a million in number.

Some details of this operation are not going to revealed to anybody - not even to German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. "There are things I can talk about, but there are others which must remain secret", Haidara said. The Malians had sought advice from experts in Switzerland who were familiar with similar situations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their advice was not to give away all the details so as not to endanger future rescue operations.

A new library for Bamako?

The manuscripts are now being stored in Bamako, where they are exposed to a different kind of danger, the high level of humidity in the Malian capital. The manner in which they are being preserved at the moment - stacked on top of each other in metal boxes - will eventually lead to the papers being damaged with the passage of time. This is why the Malians need help from abroad.

The logistical and financial requirements for the construction of a new library for the manuscripts in Bamako are huge. The Malian state has estimated that 8 million euros ($10.9 million) would be needed to restore and preserve the manuscripts.

Mali's Minister of Culture, N'Diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo, said that 6 million euros ($8.2 million) are still lacking. Without the support by UNESCO, European states, Dubai and international foundations the project wouldn't be feasible.

The meeting in Berlin to help save the manuscripts for posterity was organized by the German government with assistance from the Düsseldorf-based Gerda Henkel Foundation. German experts will help with the digitization and analysis of the manuscripts. The German foreign ministry and Gerda Henkel Foundation have promised to contribute 500,000 euros ($679,800) each.

Nigeria: Suspected Boko Haram Militants Kidnap Nearly 100 in Nigeria

Suspected Boko Haram militants have abducted more than 60 women and young girls, as well as 31 boys, in restive northeast Nigeria, a local official and a vigilante leader said on Tuesday.

The group was kidnapped in the last week during a Boko Haram attack on Kummabza village in the Damboa district of Borno state, which left at least 30 dead, according to residents who escaped the violence.

Nigerian security forces denied the kidnappings. Nigeria's defense headquarters in Abuja said in a tweet late on Monday that it was "yet to confirm the several reports on the abduction of girls in Borno as at now."

Defense spokesmen were not immediately available for comment when contacted by the French news agency AFP on Tuesday.

Kummabza resident Aji Khalil said Tuesday the abductions took place Saturday in an attack during which four villagers were killed. Khalil is a member of one of the vigilante groups that have had some success in repelling Boko Haram attacks with primitive weapons.

Khalil said suspected Boko Haram militants took about 60 married women and girls and 31 boys between June 19-22 from the villages of Kummabza, Yaga and Dagu, all in Borno state, as reported by local Nigerian media.

"Four villagers who tried to escape were shot dead on the spot," Khalil said.

Village destroyed

A senior officer in the Damboa local government, who asked for his name to be withheld as he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said: "Over 60 women were hijacked and forcefully taken away by the terrorists.

"The village was also destroyed. Some of the survivors who do not have means of transporting themselves, especially old women and men, trekked to Lassa, in the Askira-Uba local government area of Borno state, 25 kilometers (away)," the officer said.

Another resident, who fled to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, and also requested anonymity, told AFP: "Over 30 men were killed during the raid, which lasted for nearly four days. Most men fled for their lives.

"The attackers held the whole village hostage for the next three days," the resident said.

There was no way to safely and independently confirm the report from Kummabza, 150 kilometers (95 miles) from Maiduguri, headquarters of a military state of emergency that has failed to curtail near-daily attacks by Boko Haram fighters.

Borno violence

Major attacks blamed on Nigeria's Boko Haram

2009

July - Attacks prompt government crackdown in Bauchi and Maiduguri; 800 people killed

2010

December - Bombings in central Nigeria and church attacks in the northeast kill 86

2011

June - Attack on a bar in Maiduguri kills 25

August - Suicide bomber kills 23 at U.N. building in Abuja

November - Bombings in Damaturu and Potiskum kill 65

December - Christmas Day bombings across Nigeria kill 39

2012

January -- Gun and bomb attacks in Kano up to 200

February - Maiduguri market attack kills 30

June - Suicide car bombings at three churches kill 21

July - Attacks in Plateau state kill dozens, including two politicians at a funeral for the victims

2013

February - French family kidnapped in Cameroon, held hostage for two months

April - Fighting with troops in Baga kills up to 200; residents say troops set deadly fires

May - Attacks in Bama kill more than 50

July - Gunmen kill 30 at a school in Yobe

August - Gunmen kill 44 at a mosque outside Maiduguri

September - Gunmen kill 40 students at a post-secondary school in Yobe

December - Militants attack military installations in Maiduguri

2014

January - Militants kill 74 people and burn down a village in attacks in Borno and Adamawa

February - Gunmen kill as many as 60 in attack on school in Yobe

April - Militants abduct 276 schoolgirls

June - Gunmen kill hundreds in massacres in Borno

The abductions are the latest to take place in Borno, which has been worst affected by the Islamist group's increasingly deadly, five-year insurgency.

Nigeria's government and military have attracted widespread criticism for their slow response to the abductions of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped April 15.

Boko Haram has been demanding the release of detained members in exchange for its hostages, but President Goodluck Jonathan has said he will not consider a swap.

A strategy to rescue the girls appears to have reached an impasse. Nigeria's military has said it knows where they are but fears their abductors would kill them if any military action is taken.

Politics have also bedeviled the issue, with many distracted by upcoming presidential elections in February 2015.

The first lady, Patience Jonathan, and some other supporters have claimed the reports of the April abductions of the schoolgirls were fabricated to discredit her husband's administration.

April 15 kidnapping

Last week, a presidential committee investigating the kidnappings stressed that they did in fact happen and clarified the number of students who have been kidnapped.

It said there were 395 students at the school, 119 escaped during the siege of the school, another 57 escaped in the first couple of days of their abduction, leaving 219 unaccounted for.

This year, the Boko Haram insurgents have embarked on a two-pronged strategy - bombing in cities and a scorched-earth policy in rural areas where they are devastating villages.

Nigeria's capital, Abuja, the central city of Jos and the northeastern state capital of Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, all have been bombed.

On Monday, an explosion at a medical college in the northern city of Kano killed at least eight people and wounded 12, police said. It was the third bomb blast in four months in Kano, Nigeria's second city.

Also on Saturday, the same day as the latest abductions, scores of Boko Haram fighters attacked four other villages, near Chibok town from which the girls were kidnapped. Witnesses said at least 33 villagers were killed as well as six vigilantes and about two dozen Boko Haram fighters.