Nigeria: Dozens Die in Nigeria Gunmen Attack on Student Complex

Abuja---At least 26 people are said to have been killed in an attack on a college hostel in the Nigerian north-eastern town of Mubi in Adamawa state. Gunmen raided a student hostel complex outside the campus of the Federal Polytechnic Mubi college in Mubi town on Monday mid-night. Residents say the assailants moved from door-to-door, shooting and stabbing their victims who were mostly students whom they called out by name.

Nigerian authorities say the assailants shot and killed 19 students in an off-campus student housing area, and six other persons including a security guard, a retired soldier and other persons who were not students. 15 people who were wounded in the attack were taken to hospital and the military had taken over the area where a curfew has since been imposed.

Police are investigating whether the attack could be related to a student union election row at the college, or could be work of the Islamist group Boko Haram which has been responsible for several
previous attacks in the state.

“Although the investigation is continuing, there are signs that there may have been some internal factors, but we cannot prove it until we complete our investigation," said Mohammed Ibrahim a spokesman with the Adamawa State police. The institution has been closed down indefinitely and students sent home in fear of further attacks, suspending examinations that had began earlier in the
week. Police have recovered weapons including a rocket propelled grenade, dozens of homemade
bombs, knives and automatic assault rifles from the scene.

A student who sought anonymity said the killings were likely to be connected to last Sunday's Student Union Government elections, which were heavily contested on regional ground between Northern and Southern students in the institution. Boko Haram which was responsible for a recent attack on mobile phone masts in the town has not commented on the attack which comes few days after suspected
people linked to the group were arrested in the town.

Adamawa state has a mixed Muslim and Christian population and borders Borno state, where Boko Haram came to prominence in 2009, staging an uprising in the capital Maiduguri. Boko Haram which loosely translates to “western education is forbidden” fights to instill Islamic rule in northern Nigeria, staging insurgent attacks mainly against security installations and Christians. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

Juba, South Sudan

South Sudan Forces in Civilian Abuse

South Sudan’s Security forces have been accused of committing acts of violence against civilians in the eastern state of Jonglei following the ongoing government disarmament campaign in the region, Amnesty International has reported. The UK-based human rights group says its researches revealed
shocking acts of violence against civilians including killings and rapes, and it now wants the government to take immediate actions to end the violations.

Widespread torture and abuses against civilians including looting of property and destroying of
crops were reported by scores of people interviewed in the study.

"Far from bringing security to the region, the SPLA [South Sudan Army] and the police auxiliary forces have committed shocking human rights violations," said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty's Africa director.

The government in Juba has played down the scale of the violations, saying they are isolated cases. Analysts express fear that the alleged abuses could fuel resentment and a new round of conflict in the restive region.

The government launched disarmament Operation Restore Peace in March in response to the clashes where members of the region’s two major two cattle rearing communities have been involved in a wave of clashes.

Members of the, the Lou Nuer and rival Murle ethnic groups have been embroiled in a spate of proxy attacks against each other in violence associated with cattle rustling that has led to widespread killings
abductions and the destruction of properties.

A UN report released late in June said over 900 people had died by mid this year in the attacks that have seen thousands others displaced.

The report criticised the Juba government for failing to protect civilians, conducting investigations and holding those accountable, which have contributed to the “cycle of the attacks.”

The newly independent South Sudan has been faced with face internal clashes mainly between communities, owing to high presence of arms from the north-south civil war. South Sudan became independent in July last year following a vote in favour of the secession under the 2005 peace deal that
ended decades of war.