Nigeria: Islamic Radicals Go After The Media

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October 27, 2011: Boko Haram threatens to kill more journalists, unless the media shows the Islamic terror group some more respect. The terrorists were also angry about journalists getting information from people, who said they represented Boko Haram, but did not. While the police and army are energetically seeking out and arresting suspected Boko Haram followers and leaders, some members of the group are still carrying out one or two attacks a week. The basic problems (corruption and government mismanagement) that gave rise to Boko Haram are still there, and it's expected that the Islamic radical movement will persevere.

October 23, 2011: In the northeastern city of Maiduguri, a Boko Haram roadside bomb went off near a police vehicle, causing damage and light injuries.

October 22, 2011: In the northeastern city of Maiduguri, a Boko Haram killed a TV journalist at his home. This was the first journalist (actually, a TV cameraman) killed by the Islamic terror group.

October 20, 2011:  In the Niger Delta, police caught over fifty oil thieves (and arrested 46) in the act of loading stolen oil from 14 small boats to a seagoing tanker. A week earlier, 50 oil thieves were captured in a similar situation. In the last three months, over 2,000 small, improvised oil refineries (that produced kerosene) were found and shut down.

October 19, 2011: Self-styled defenders of Christians in the Niger Delta issued a letter ordering all Moslems to leave the area. Boko Haram terror attacks and Moslem violence against Christians was mentioned as the reason. Police insist that the letter, left at a Delta area mosque is a hoax, or just the ranting of a few southerners. However, hundreds, if not thousands, of Delta Moslems were seen to flee their homes. The violence up north has sent many Christians south, to areas where Moslems are not the majority. This religious (and tribal) violence has been present for decades, but Boko Haram is trying to turn it into a wider Moslem war of conquest.

In the northeastern city of Maiduguri, Boko Haram murdered four more people.