Violence in Maiduguri

This is to give an account of what is happening in Maiduguri in case all you have heard is a garbled sentence or two on a mainstream news channel.

Maiduguri Prison on Fire (Picture from Daily Trust - click for link)

What has happened has been misreported as “ethnic violence” which may bring to mind the “Moslem v Christian” clashes of the recent past. Early reports of many churches being burned in Maiduguri seem to be based on rumours (e.g. the first BBC report of all churches but one in Wulari being damaged) and the last I heard was that most Church buildings are intact (of course, this is hearsay on both sides). AMENDMENT: I have heard of a Christian Pastor being murdered and two churches being damaged since I wrote this.

The problem is with a loose knit group of Islamist fundamentalists and their violence is being directed to Police and other government agencies.

These people are sometimes called “Taleban” but have no links to Afghanistan. They are also called “Boko Haram” which means something like “Education is Taboo” because they see Western-style Education as Godless defilement. The leader for most of them seems to be a Mallam called Yusuf Muhammed. Funny enough, they have had a presence on the Unimaid campus for some years. They have been suspected of being involved in the 2006 riots and causing other trouble.

In the past the authorities have been fairly slow to close them down, preferring to watch them. But in the last few months they have been watched more closely by squads of policemen. The latest trouble seems to go back to six weeks ago when they went en masse to the funeral of a few of their number who died in a road accident. Police stopped the convoy and tried to arrest motorcyclists who were riding without crash helmets (!). The arrests turned into argument and – in the end – about a dozen of the sectaries were killed and some policement hurt.

Since then the group has been arming for a counter-attack. They seem to be targeting police stations and security personnel. The suspicion is that they want to grab more guns – particularly the AK47’s which are carried by some policemen – and they probably see it as appropriate revenge for the deaths of their associates.

There have been attacks in Bauchi, Biu, Potiskum and smaller disturbances elsewhere. A man died in Maiduguri over the weekend while in the process of making a homemade grenade in his house in Maiduguri and there have been widespread rumours of a battle coming.

The largest attack was in the night of Sunday/Monday on a Police Station in Maiduguri. It seems a lot of innocent bystanders suffered. A large number (around 100) of the sectaries have been shot dead and more arrested. It seems the attack was expected.

Police and army have gone on the attack. Mallam Yusuf’s house was attacked by tanks and shellfire has been heard all over the city. The latest story is that the house is destroyed and the occupiers killed.
There is a curfew which is officially dusk till dawn but no one is going out of their compounds unless forced by circumstance. No business activity at all. Many police and army are patrolling the city. There are roadblocks in abundance.

So far, the violence is mainly between Boko Haram and the uniformed authorities. Let us pray it doesn’t spread. Some links:
Daily Trust report
Leadership Nigeria article

Embarrassed to be British

My dear friend Professor Haruna and his wife have been denied visas for a three week visit to the UK by morons working for the UK Government.

It is alleged they did not have enough funds for the visit even though the plane tickets had been booked, I had given proof of my financial means as a “sponsor” and we had jumped through various obstructive hoops which seem designed to keep Nigerians visiting Britain at all.

They were due to stop by in the UK for a holiday before he attended an academic conference in Cologne.

This decision was decided on paperwork alone without an interview by an agency to which the Borders Agency has “outsourced” the processing of visas. How very “New Labour”.

We all know there are tens of thousands of “illegals” in Britain who do not even bother to fill in all those complicated forms. How does denying entry to a respected academic help to solve that problem?

As my son said after moving back from Tokyo, “No one in Britain does their job properly”. And I would add “particularly our civil servants”.

A better way to travel inter-city in Nigeria

Here is a new (and very good) way of travelling inter-city in Nigeria. Voyage stick to their schedules and have very well trained drivers and quality Chevrolet buses. I think they are 4wd. In any case, they are sturdy and comfortable and have air conditioning.

The prices are much cheaper than local airlines and they are much less hassle and more reliable to use. The premium over the inter-city taxis and so-called “luxury buses” is not so high and is well worth it for comfort, safety and reliability. You can only take one item of luggage since there is a relatively small boot and they are quite strict on this. My suitcase was fine though.

If you like Nollywood and “Super Story” movies then sit in the middle or back rows and you will be treated with one or two. I prefer the front seat with a much better view of Nigeria sailing past. The Air Con seems coldest there though and I even got a bit chilly.

The Maiduguri-Abuja run is excellent and there are a number of other routes covered already.

The Abuja office is tucked round the back of the block and the road is one way. Allow a few minutes to find it.

For much more on Nigeria check my travel blog on http://bature.wordpress.com.

Congratulations Professor Haruna!

My dear friend and brother, Dr. Andrew Haruna has just been made a full Professor at University of Maiduguri. This is a matter for celebration and thanksgiving to God. It is richly deserved (indeed over-deserved compared to some of the political, religious and ethnic “professorships” granted in the past) and it is based solely on his widely recognised academic standing.

He is more handsome without glasses but I think a Professor should wear specs, somehow.

Andrew is used by the University and Teaching Hospital as a contact man for visiting academics and doctors (completely unpaid, by the way!) since he has such cross-cultural and organisational expertise.

The University website has a Google malware warning so I won’t post a link to it but you can see a few things on my Bature blog.

Going to Nigeria!

Two and a half months away, meeting great people, preaching my socks off and catching the end of the rainy season.

I have started a NEW BLOG – http://bature.wordpress.com so visit me there please.

There is also a gallery of photos at SmugMug (click here).

Incidentally SmugMug do a brilliant photo storage/display service for $39.99 pa (£20 per year) and do discounts for referrals. If any friend wants to be recommended by me get in touch.