Nigeria latest

You may have heard that several bombs went off in Maiduguri on Friday when 50 or more people were killed and many injured.  Having tried unsuccessfully  to overrun the city by frontal attack in January, the BH are now attacking people within the city and so creating terrible fear in everyone.  Chadian, Cameroonian and Niger forces are working with the Nigerian army but may confine themselves to the Lake Chad and border areas.  One of our friends has said the Chadians especially see BH as the enemy and are out to destroy them, whereas their own Nigerian forces can easily become compromised.  Now that BH have declared their allegiance to ISIS and the Caliphate it may make the Nigerian Government more determined to overcome them, but it will be very difficult with so many sympathisers within society.

Sadly the attacks by Fulani extremists have continued in Plateau State with Sho being attacked on Saturday.  Security forces arrived too late, but they arrested two men accusing them as suspects but that caused a riot as the villagers said they were trying to defend the village.  A village in Taraba State south of Yola/Numan was attacked on Friday.  A riot ensued at a video viewing centre resulting in at least two people being killed and many houses set on fire.  Another village in Borno near Benishek was attacked Thursday/Friday night.

With the Presidential election now less than three weeks away (March 28) let us continue to pray for the country and for Christians in particular that they will know how to vote - and that there will be an end to violence both before and after the Election.