An American missionary has been taken captive in Lagos, Nigeria.
Kogi state Police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said that five men stormed the workplace of Rev. Phyllis Sortor and forced the woman out of the building. The kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million Naira (about $300,000 U.S.).
The kidnapping took place Monday and while Lagos is away from the main areas of operation for Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, police officials could not say the kidnapping was not related to terrorism. They said it’s possible the group is connected in some way or could sell the woman to the terrorist outfit.
Sortor runs an organization that provides schools for nomadic children in Nigeria.
Commissioner Ogunjamilusi said that the attackers scaled a wall of the school and then fled into the nearby mountains.
In their latest assault on civilians, terrorist group Boko Haram has used a girl believed to be around 7 years old on a homicide bombing.
The attack happened in Potiskum in the northeastern part of Nigeria. The attack killed five people along with the girl and sent 19 others to various hospitals.
The girl had been seen around a market by security guards who kept sending the girl away because “given her age, she did not have anything to do in the market.” The security guards had been screening people for explosives before allowing them into the market when the girl detonated her device.
Security officials could not say if the girl was one of the 200 kidnapped from a boarding school in Borno state in April 2014.
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has launched their first attack on the nation of Chad.
Militants attacked a village on the shore of Lake Chad early Friday morning. The village of Ngouboua was raided leaving many residents dead although local officials could not say the total number of the dead.
“The assailants have scattered and the army is now pursuing them,” army Col. Azem Bermandoa told The Associated Press by telephone.
Chad has been the largest supporter of Nigerian troops in their battle against the Islamists. Boko Haram leaders had been warning they were going to be launching attacks on those who had been supporting their opposition.
Chad is also working with Niger, Cameroon and Benin to start a multi-national force to fight the terrorists. The official launch of the unit is expected in the next few weeks.
Boko Haram likely chose the city because it was a refuge for Nigerians who had fled the terrorists. The U.N. says at least 3,300 refugees were in the village.
The extremist group Boko Haram has announced they are mimicking ISIS in declaring their own Islamic caliphate. The group aims to claim parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Dr. David Curry of Open Doors USA said during an event sponsored by the Family Research Council that people are underestimating the brutality of the terror group.
Curry said that in Nigeria alone, over 2,200 Christians were killed by the group in 2014 just for their faith in Christ. He also said the estimate is low because there are many other deaths at the hands of Boko Haram they have not been able to verify as being motivated by the Christian faith of the victim.
He said that Boko Haram already controls a part of Nigeria the size of Belgium.
“Nigeria has been experiencing attacks much like the Iraqis were facing just a few years ago,” Curry explained. “You have Boko Haram, which has a very similar Al-Qaeda, Islamic State ideology, they have been making attacks, bombings, like you have seen on churches. Now all of a sudden they are beginning to take territory.
“There is a common-path pattern here,” Curry added. “First, individual attacks, then bombings, then the conquering of territory and attacking of civilian sites like army bases and these sorts of things.”
The governments of Chad and Cameroon said Wednesday they have been actively using their military powers against Boko Haram and have killed 250 terrorists this week.
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram launched a major attack outside of Nigeria, shooting or burning to death dozens of civilians.
Cameroon Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakari told reporters that around 800 members of Boko Haram attacked the border town of Fotokol, “burning churches, mosques and villages.” The dead were youth that refused to join Boko Haram.
The terrorists also took livestock, food and vehicles.
The cell of terrorists reportedly crossed into Cameroon after fleeing from the Nigerian town of Gamboru. Chad and Nigerian Air Force planes drove them from the city after a series of air strikes.
The news of the attack comes on the heels of African Union officials saying they are going to fund a 7,500 strong force form Nigeria and surrounding countries to destroy Boko Haram.
The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram reportedly is working on a new offensive campaign of terror using young children to bomb “soft targets”: markets, restaurants and worship centers.
Mike Omeri of the Nigeria National Information Center told reporters that intelligence reports finding credible plans from the group for attacks on citizens in places most people previously considered off limits by the terrorists.
Available intelligence reports indicate a plan by Boko Haram to use young suicide bombers disguised as cobblers to hide explosives in their tool boxes and detonate them on soft target areas such as markets, restaurants, ATM locations, political rallies, and worship centers,” Omeri said.
“Also, there is indication of a plan by this group to use livestock such as goats, cows, donkeys and camels laden with explosives to attack chosen targets,” Omeri added. “In view of these, people who rear goats and cows in the centre are advised in their own interest to restrict such movements because actions could be taken, and nobody should blame the police and other security agencies for taking the necessary steps.”
The announcement comes as Boko Haram released a video on social media showing a training camp for child soldiers.
Muslim extremists murdered a popular Nigerian pastor who is being remembered as a “dedicated servant to the poor.”
Pastor Joshua Adah, who founded and operated a school giving free education to over 400 children in Bantaje, was slaughtered by a group of Muslim herdsmen who may be connected to the terrorist group Boko Haram.
The attackers reportedly seized Adah after his car broke down while on the way back to the mission from an outreach event.
“The pastor’s car broke down at Chediya on his return from Koji. He then phoned his mechanic at Jalingo to help him fix the car. When the mechanic arrived, the two men agreed to hire a vehicle nearby Dan Anacha, which would tow the car to Jalingo,” a police spokesman said. “The mechanic upon returning to scene could not find the pastor. … After a thorough search, his body was found in the area.”
A supporter of Pastor Adah said after finding Christ in 2000 he experienced a radical life transformation.
“Not too long after he got born again, he left the comfort and ‘luxury’ of city life for a remote village on a hill without light nor potable drinking water, not even a well in sight,” the supporter explained. “He was there with his humble wife and kids to answer the call of God at this time when larger cities meant greener pastures, fatter offerings and sizeable tithes to others doing ministry. He continued to preach the Gospel and hold campaigns, not in the urban areas but mostly in rural areas.
“I don’t know why God allowed Boko Haram to cut his life short. Even when it became dangerous, he refused to get out but kept preaching Christ in villages where many will not go,” she added .
Residents of Adamawa state, Nigeria, say that terrorists are rampaging through the region without any Nigerian Army troops in the area to stop their rampage.
Adamawa state legislator Adamu Kamale asys that over 40 people have been killed in seven villages as Boko Haram has burned down homes and businesses and even mosques.
“They don’t spare anything: they slaughtered people like rams and they burned down our houses after looting food,” Kwache said. “There’s no presence of troops, some residents are hiding on top of hills, while those that could not run were abducted, particularly youths and women.”
Kamale says he’s been begging the government to send troops into the region but has been refused on all requests.
The terrorists are moving on the city of Maidguri with over 2 million residents. Boko Haram released a statement yesterday telling the government they plan to turn the city into a “big grave” and there “will be no mercy” for residents.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has made a major advance in their attempt to take over Nigeria.
The terrorists captured the city of Monguno over the weekend, leaving over 200 people dead following an intense battle with military forces. The terror group is now attempting to drive the military out of the town of Maiduguri.
“Our soldiers initially repelled the terrorists but they mobilized more fighters and came back in full force. They overwhelmed our troops and forced them to retreat,” said one Nigerian officer to the Associated Press.
Monguno is a city of 100,000 residents. Maiduguri has over 600,000.
The terrorist group has reportedly been reinforced with Islamic extremists from other nations after formally linking to terrorist group ISIS. Fighters from Chad and Cameroon have been found as part of the Boko Haram network.
“So long as we have the resources, we will continue to regard the efforts to reclaim peace our No. 1 area of commitments. I want to reassure the good people of Borno state that we will never abdicate from our responsibility as those they entrusted with leadership,” Borno Governor Kashim Shettima said while admitting the terrorist group is becoming too hard for his local police to fight.
Muslims in Niger attacked Christians, burning their homes and churches over the weekend, in retaliation for the French magazine Charlie Hebdo publishing a cartoon of Muhammad.
The International Christian Concern reported missionaries in the capital city of Naimey said all of their churches have been burned to the ground along with the homes of every pastor in the city. Some of the missionaries’ homes are among those destroyed by the mobs.
However, the missionaries reported that while smoke is “around all of side our house”, they are going to remain in Niger to speak the truth of Christ.
The protests apparently began at the grand mosque in the city and the mob then began their attack on Christians.
“I just rushed and told my colleagues in the church to take away their families from the place,” Pastor Zakaria Jadi said. “I took my family to take them out from the place. When I came back I just discovered that everything has gone. There’s nothing in my house and also in the church.”
Boko Haram’s leader was born in Niger and is believed to continue to have strong contacts in the country.