Nigeria:Group Warns of More Attacks as 150 Dead in Clashes

Abuja--Nigeria’s Islamist group Boko Haram has warned of more serious attacks in the ongoing spate of weekend attacks claimed by the group that killed more than 150 people in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram sect members are said Friday to have carried out at least five bomb and gun attacks targeting police stations, an army base and churches in northern Nigeria’s cities of Maiduguri, Damataru and two other small towns.

The warning came on Saturday after the group claimed responsibility of the attacks, saying that more assaults were on the way.

“We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop their excesses on our members and vulnerable civilians,” said a spokesman of the group identified as Abul-Qaqa.

The US embassy in Nigeria has issued a warning to its citizens there that the bomb attacks could possibly target luxury hotels in the capital, Abuja.

The UN Security Council has issued a stern statement saying it condemns in the strongest terms” the Nigerian attacks, also expressing condolences to the families.

Death toll from Friday’s incursion is expected to rise as local hospitals continue to present records of victims from the attack. There are conflicting accounts in the toll, with the police reporting only 53 deaths, of whom eleven which it says were from its forces. A rescue agency worker involved in the evacuation of the bodies to the morgue said the reported deaths were 150.

President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the heinous attack, directing security agents to bring perpetrators to justice. In a statement issued by his spokesman Reuben Abati, he said the president did not consider those who launched the attacks “true Muslims” as the assault came during a holy period.

The assault came few days before the feast of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, celebrated by Muslims around the world.

“Every step will be taken" to arrest those responsible,” said Mr. Abati. “The security agencies are busy at work trying to make sure the will of the majority is respected.”

Boko Haram which means “western education is sin” in local Hausa language has been fighting for the establishment of Islamic “Sharia” laws in northern Nigeria, carrying out series of attacks in the region, targeting the police, army, religious and political leaders. In August, the group attacked a UN building in Abuja, killing at least 20 people.

Despite a brutal repression from the government in 2009 that seemed to destroy its network, the group which has been claimed to be having external funding and training has regrouped and has become fierce in its recent attacks.

Monrovia, Liberia

Sirleaf Urges Liberians to Vote despite Opposition Boycott

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has urged voters to go to polls on Tuesday in the country’s presidential run-off and ignore a boycott demanded by her rival, Winston Tubman.

During an address of her Unity Party supporters, carried on state radio and TV, Saturday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate accused Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party’s Mr. Tubman of violating the constitution by calling on Liberians to boycott the November 8 run-off election.

“On Nov. 8, I urge you to go out and cast your vote for your favorite candidates,” she said. “Do not succumb to fear and intimidation. Do not allow any politician to hold our country hostage.” said Sirleaf.

Tubman, a former UN envoy said on Friday he was boycotting the run-off because he was not convinced whether the process was fair, adding that he would not recognise any government formed as a result of the polls, bearing that the election machinery was still flawed as it was in the first round.

Ms Sirleaf polled 43.9 per cent against Tubman’s 32.7 per cent in the first round of the presidential election in October that had attracted 16 candidates, including former warlord Prince Johnson who came third with 13 per cent.

The run-off comes after none of the contestants gained a required majority to be declared winner. Johnson has urged his supporters to back Sirleaf in the upcoming run-off.

This is Liberia’s first elections to be prepared locally after the initial one run by the UN in 2005 saw Sirleaf beat former football ace George Weah now Tubman’s running mate in the country’s first democratic polls since end of the 14 year-long civil war in 2003.

The US State Department has expressed disappointment by the CDC party to boycott the polls terming claims of fraud in the first round as “unsubstantiated” even after international observers declared it peaceful and transparent.

West African regional body ECOWAS has urged Tubman not to pull out of the election, warning that a boycott would risk destabilizing the country. New head of the elections commission Elizabeth Nelson has said the polls would go ahead as planned.