Monarch among 20 slain in Nigerian attacks

Goodness Adams, a 10-month baby, who survived Monday’s bomb explosion in Abuja, Nigeria, is carried Wednesday by her aunt, Grace Sabo, in an ambulance to be reunited with her mother, who was at another hospital.
Goodness Adams, a 10-month baby, who survived Monday’s bomb explosion in Abuja, Nigeria, is carried Wednesday by her aunt, Grace Sabo, in an ambulance to be reunited with her mother, who was at another hospital.

ABUJA, Nigeria - Suspected Islamic militants have struck for a fourth time in three days in Nigeria, killing 20 people including a traditional ruler in attacks in the northeast, local government and security officials said Wednesday.

The string of attacks, which started with an explosion in the capital, Abuja, that killed at least 75 people, has raised questions of the ability of Nigeria’s military to contain the 5-year-old Islamic uprising. It has killed more than 1,500 people this year alone, compared with an estimated 3,600 between 2010 and 2013.

“Once again, the sophisticated methods of the bombers and insurgents, the audacity of their open attacks and the devastating stealth with which they operate … calls into question the strategy of the Nigerian security forces and their commitment to the fight,” Nigeria’s The Guardian newspaper said in an editorial Wednesday.

“As Nigeria bleeds all over, a more heart-rending phenomenon is the politicization of the insurgency,” the newspaper said. “The ruling elite seems conscienceless enough to be exploiting the crisis, in symbols and in substance.”

Last week, the emir of Gwoza district appealed to the government to “save our souls,” saying his people were being attacked daily.

By late Tuesday, one of his local monarchs was dead.

“They simply walked right into the palace of the monarch and shot him in his bedroom, and on their way out they also shot his guard before fleeing,” said local politician Hyeldi Bwala.

Hours later on Wednesday morning, gunmen attacked Wala, a village in the district, and killed another 18 people, according to a local government official and an intelligence agent. They both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

The emir, Idrissa Timta, had indicated security forces were inadequate and said he might have to flee to neighboring Cameroon “where we may perhaps get protection.”

“We in Gwoza have suffered too many attacks, killings and destruction,” he said. “Our people have been forced to flee, our markets no longer operate optimally, food items, goods and wares are no longer coming in. … We want action from government so that lives can be saved.”

The attacks came after Monday’s explosion just miles from Nigeria’s seat of government, timed for the busy morning rush hour to ensure maximum casualties, and Tuesday’s abduction of about 100 young women taking final exams at a school, also in Gwoza.

The federal government said security forces had mounted a manhunt for the students, and a reward of $300,000 was offered Wednesday for information leading to the young women’s safe return by Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno state.

Later Wednesday, Nigeria’s military said all but eight of the 129 kidnapped female students had been freed.

Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said one of the kidnappers had been captured. Without giving details, he said that other than the eight, “The others have been freed this evening.”

The government said security forces were in hot pursuit of the other militants.

Shettima said the principal of the boarding school told him the extremists arrived dressed in military fatigues and posing as soldiers. He said the principal believed they were taking away the students for their own safety, and it was only as they were leaving and started shooting that he realized his mistake.

The militants killed a soldier and a police officer guarding the school.

A condemnation from the 57-state Organization of Islamic Cooperation warned the abduction “tarnishes the good image of Islam” and emphasized the importance of girls’ education in Islam. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the organization’s children’s fund called for their immediate release and noted. “The targeting of schools and school children is a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”

In other news, The Daily Trust newspaper published a story about a 10-month-old baby who was lost in the chaos of the Abuja bomb blast.

The toddler, named Goodness, was being cared for at a hospital where it was presumed her mother was among the dead. But family members found Gloria Adams, the mother, in another hospital. And then an aunt discovered baby Goodness.

Hospital officials reunited the two Wednesday, Goodness with a black eye swollen shut that doctors said they were monitoring. However, Adams suffered serious injuries and was in the intensive-care unit of Wuse General Hospital.

Health officials say 141 wounded victims from Monday’s attack were in 15 hospitals and clinics.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan drew criticism for traveling to northern Kano city on Tuesday for a political rally seen as campaigning ahead of elections scheduled for February.

Gov. Rabi’u Kwankwaso of Kano state berated the president for “gallivanting round the country” while Nigerians were in mourning and worrying about the fate of the kidnapped students.

Jonathan’s party responded that Nigeria’s leader could not allow his actions to be dictated by terrorists “who seek to impose a reign of terror in our country, cow the president, dictate the tempo of government and ultimately shut down governance.”

Information for this article was contributed by Haruna Umar and Jon Gambrell of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 04/17/2014

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