World powers, including the US and China, have joined in the search for the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram Islamists who have also killed hundreds in the country’s northeast this week.
Amid global outrage over the kidnapping of the teenagers, the US, Britain and France are sending specialist teams to Nigeria.
China promised to supply “any useful information acquired by its satellites and intelligence services” to Nigeria.
Photo: EPA
The police on Wednesday offered US$300,000 for information leading to the rescue of the girls.
The latest insurgent attack targeted the town of Gamboru Ngala on the border with Cameroon, where gunmen this week razed scores of buildings and fired on civilians as they tried to flee.
Area senator Ahmed Zanna put the death toll at 300, citing information provided by locals, in an account supported by numerous residents. Zanna said the town had been left unguarded because soldiers based there had been redeployed north towards Lake Chad in an effort to rescue the kidnapped girls.
Nigeria’s response to the kidnappings has been widely criticized, including by activists and parents of the hostages, who say the military’s search operation has been inept so far. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has sought to appear more engaged with the plight of the hostages in recent days, especially after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video threatening to sell the girls as “slaves.”
In a second kidnapping, 11 more girls aged 12 to 15 were seized on Sunday from Gwoza, an area not far from Chibok and also in Boko Haram’s Borno base.
The group’s five-year uprising has killed thousands across Africa’s most populous country and top economy, with many questioning whether Nigeria has the capacity to contain the violence.
Islamist fighters riding in armored trucks and on motorcycles stormed Gamboru Ngala after midday on Monday. The extremists overran the town, making it too dangerous for locals to immediately return, survivors said. When the militants left, residents discovered their town “littered” with dead bodies, said Musa Abba, a witness.
“All economic and business centers have been burnt. The market in the town which attracts traders from all over the area... has been completely burnt,” Zanna said.
Gamboru Ngala has been attacked repeatedly in the past, but Abba said “this [was] the worst Boko Haram attack [the town] has seen.”
The Cameroonian military has reinforced security in the town of Fotokol on the Nigerian border, a medical official said by telephone, requesting anonymity.
“The toll is very heavy. We believe there are more than 200 dead,” the source said, adding that 2,000 Nigerians, including soldiers, had fled to Cameroon.
“Some of the bodies were charred. It was horrific. People had their throats slit, others were shot,” the source added.
In a fresh attack, suspected Boko Haram militants on Wednesday killed seven people in Buji-Buji, also in Borno state, village head Mohammed Garba told journalists.
“Gunmen numbering about 20 invaded our village around 3am while most people were sleeping... The gunmen opened fire on people as they attempted to escape from the ravaging fire. Seven persons died on the spot, while so many others were injured,” he said.
US President Barack Obama has described the Chibok abductions as “heartbreaking” and “outrageous,” and announced that a team of military experts had been sent to help Nigeria’s rescue mission.
US first lady Michelle Obama expressed sympathy for the schoolgirls, in a personal message on Twitter.
“Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It’s time to #BringBackOurGirls,” she said on her @FLOTUS account, with a photograph of her solemnly holding a sign saying #BringBackOurGirls” scribbled in black on white paper.
The tweet was signed “mo,” meaning she wrote it herself, and it was retweeted more than 8,500 times in just a few hours.
British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the kidnappers as “pure evil” and said a small team of planning and coordinating specialists would head to Nigeria as soon as possible. Britain is expected to send Abuja-based liaison officers from the SAS special forces to help the rescue mission, the Times reported yesterday.
France and China also pledged assistance.
As well as mounting pressure over the kidnappings, Nigeria has been hit by a spate of bombings.
Just a few hours before the mass abduction in Chibok, a car bombing at a bus station on the outskirts of Abuja killed 75 people. A copycat bombing at the same station killed 19 people on Thursday last week.
Jonathan had hoped that a World Economic Forum summit which opened in Abuja on Wednesday would highlight Nigeria’s economic progress.
Meeting Jonathan in Abuja ahead of what has been dubbed “Africa’s Davos,” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) pledged stronger cooperation with Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, but public focus has remained fixed on Boko Haram.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the