November 6, 2012: A ceasefire and peace talks with Boko Haram are still stalled over the Islamic radical demands for releasing jailed members and other forms of compensation first. Meanwhile, the civilians in the north are caught between the terrorist tactics used by both Boko Haram and the army. Boko Haram will kill anyone seen talking to the soldiers and the soldiers will beat or kill people who refuse to provide information about the Islamic terrorists. Young men are at risk of being killed on the spot if suspected of being a Boko Haram member. Civilians suffer the most from the bombings, and that is apparently why Boko Haram is turning more to death squads that shoot their victims, at least in the Moslem north. Bombs are still favored against targets in the Christian south or churches in the north. The death toll from three years of fighting Boko Haram has now reached 3,000. Most of the victims have been Moslems, either those targeted by Boko Haram (for opposing them) or innocent bystanders to violence by the security forces or the Islamic terrorists. In addition to the seemingly random killings the military curfew (often for 15 hours a day) is crippling the economy in the north.

November 4, 2012: In the northeast (Yobe State) Boko Haram used explosives to attack a police station, a school, and two cellphone towers. At least two policemen were killed. Shooting went on for about an hour, until army reinforcements arrived. Boko Haram will usually chase all civilians away before using explosives to destroy structures.

November 2, 2012: In the northeastern city of Maiduguri troops raided several neighborhoods looking for Boko Haram and shot dead at least 30 young men. Witnesses said many of those killed were not members of Boko Haram but were simply the same age as many Islamic terrorists. Elsewhere in the city gunmen killed a retired general who was prominent in the 1960s civil war. Boko Haram later denied responsibility for this attack.

In the Niger River Delta a police raid on the base of a kidnapping gang led to a gun battle that left 14 dead. Kidnapping has become a big business in the region, with most of the victims taken by a few large and well-organized gangs.

October 31, 2012: In Northern Zamfara State gangsters raided a village and killed twenty people. Earlier this month police arrested seven men in an attempt to stop a cycle of revenge attacks that has left over 150 dead in the last two months. Arrests have slowed down but not stopped the violence. The attacks began last August and have turned into a deadly feud. This kind of communal violence is common in Nigeria and the cause of thousands of deaths a year.

October 29, 2012: In the southern city of Enugu, police arrested 500 people belonging to a separatist group trying to declare a separate state of Biafra in the south. This was tried in the 1960s and led several years of bloody civil war.

October 28, 2012: In the northern city of Kaduna, a Boko Haram suicide car bomber attacked a church during services and killed ten worshipers and wounded over 140 people. These attacks usually lead to young Christians going out and killing some random Moslems.