Boko Haram attacks prompt Nigeria state of emergency

[Eugene]

31 December 2011 Last updated at 19:27 GMT

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in parts of the country following attacks from the Islamist group Boko Haram.

The measure is in force is areas of the Yobe and Borno states in the north-east, Plateau state in central Nigeria and Niger state in the west.

International borders in the affected areas have been temporarily closed.

Mr Jonathan vowed to "crush" Boko Haram, which killed dozens in attacks across the country on Christmas Day.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16373531

[Turbineguy]

1. Maybe Boko Haram

should figure out a different strategy than murder to win hearts and minds.

[stockholmer]

2. I have been predicting the Anglo/Americans' eventual empiric invasion of Nigeria since AFRICOM went

live in late 2008, and Blackwater (Xe) went live there around the same time. Nothing like the oh-so predictable "Islamic terror" to get the NATO jets screaming.

-----------------------------------

http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/03/blackwaters-new-frontier-their-own-private-africa

Blackwater's New Frontier: Their Own Private Africa

"You give me money, I don't care who you are." It was late October, and Zimbabwe's defense attaché, a soft-spoken, thick-shouldered lieutenant colonel, was explaining his country's freewheeling approach to business in the banquet room of the Liaison hotel on Capitol Hill. Mingling around him were representatives from some of the world's best-known private security and military contracting firms, gathered to explore their prospects in the industry's next frontier: Africa. None betrayed any eagerness to do business with Robert Mugabe, notwithstanding assurances from the beaming attaché that Zimbabwe—"the second-largest economy in southern Africa"—remains strong despite 231 million percent annual inflation. But there were plenty of other avenues to explore, including a recent shake-up in the US military's command structure that seemed to promise new demand for firms like Blackwater (which recently changed its name to Xe), Triple Canopy, and DynCorp.


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[octothorpe]

3. So this stuff we've been hearing about Boko Haram isn't true?