{"id":46008,"date":"2014-09-09T10:33:43","date_gmt":"2014-09-09T10:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=46008"},"modified":"2014-09-09T11:47:40","modified_gmt":"2014-09-09T11:47:40","slug":"nigerias-boko-haram-shoots-ex-president-obasanjos-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=46008","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria’s Boko Haram ‘shoots ex-President Obasanjo’s son’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The son of Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been shot and wounded in a battle with militant Islamists, the ex-leader’s aide says.<\/p>\n

Lt Col Adeboye Obasanjo was injured as the army fought to recapture the north-eastern town of Michika from Boko Haram, Muhammad Keffi told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“Scores of insurgents” were also killed in the battle, the military said.<\/p>\n

Last month, Boko Haram declared an Islamic state in areas it controls in north-eastern Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/div>\n
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo fought in Nigeria’s 1967-1970 civil war<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"A<\/div>\n
Tens of thousand of people have abandoned their homes because of fighting in the north<\/div>\n

Experts raised concerns that Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, could break up in a way similar to Iraq and Syria where the militant group Islamic State (IS) has declared a caliphate.<\/p>\n

‘One Nigeria’<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”pZFT9SEbCltndY5QWDdBaXKqRzgtzfZl”]Thousands of people are fleeing their homes in Mubi, the second largest city and commercial hub of north-eastern Adamawa state, amid fears that it could be Boko Haram’s next target, reports the BBC’s Bashir Sa’ad Abdullahi from the capital, Abuja.<\/p>\n

Boko Haram insurgents have over-run Michika and Baza, two towns close to Mubi, in recent days, he says.<\/p>\n

The attack on a platoon headed by Col Obasanjo coincided with a ferocious air assault on the militants, Nigeria’s privately owned This Day newspaper reports.<\/p>\n

\"map\"<\/div>\n

Col Obasanjo was in a stable condition in hospital, Mr Keffi told the BBC’s Hausa service.<\/p>\n

His front-line role showed the family’s commitment to “one Nigeria”, Mr Keffi said.<\/p>\n

A total of two officers and three soldiers were wounded in the battle, the military said.<\/p>\n

‘Cross-border raid’<\/p>\n

Olusegun Obasanjo fought in Nigeria’s 1967-1970 civil war, when the military put down a rebellion to create the breakaway state of Biafra in the south-east.<\/p>\n

A former military ruler in the late 1970s, he won two elections when Nigeria returned to multi-party democracy in 1999.<\/p>\n

In May, he said President Goodluck Jonathan was “overwhelmed” by the security situation in the north-east and he should not run for another term in elections due next year.<\/p>\n

Boko Haram’s five-year insurgency is seen as the biggest threat to Nigeria’s territorial integrity since the 1967-70 conflict, analysts say.<\/p>\n

The group has changed tactics in recent months, holding on to towns in the north-east, where most people are Muslims, rather than carrying out hit-and-run attacks.<\/p>\n

\"line\"<\/div>\n

Who are Boko Haram?<\/p>\n

\"TheLeader Abubakar Shekau has announced a caliphate in areas Boko Haram controls<\/div>\n
    \n
  • Founded in 2002<\/li>\n
  • Initially focused on opposing Western education – Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language<\/li>\n
  • Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state<\/li>\n
  • Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria – but also attacks on police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja<\/li>\n
  • Some three million people affected<\/li>\n
  • Declared terrorist group by US in 20<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \"line\"<\/div>\n

    West African military chiefs are due to meet in Ghana’s capital, Accra, to discuss the growing threat Boko Haram poses to regional stability.<\/p>\n

    The group has also made incursions into Cameroon.<\/p>\n

    On Monday, Cameroon’s military said it had killed more than 100 militants after they fired shells into the small border town of Fotokol.<\/p>\n

    Two Tuareg fighters were clearly identified amongst the dead, Cameroon’s Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma said at a press conference.<\/p>\n

    If true, it increases suspicion that\u00a0Boko Haram is recruiting fighters from other countries, possibly Niger and Mali, as Nigeria does not have a Tuareg population, analysts say.<\/p>\n

    Last year, Mr Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, vowing to send more troops to crush the insurgency.<\/p>\n

    However, Boko Haram militants have stepped up their offensive and caused international outrage in April when they captured more than 200 girls from a boarding school in the town of Chibok, also in Borno state.<\/p>\n

    Countries such as China, France, the UK and US have sent military assistance to help find the girls but they have not yet been rescued.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The son of Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been shot and wounded in a battle with militant Islamists, the ex-leader’s aide says. Lt Col Adeboye Obasanjo was injured as the army fought to recapture the north-eastern town of Michika from Boko Haram, Muhammad Keffi told the BBC. “Scores of insurgents” were also killed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":21501,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-46008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-papa-owusu-ankomah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}