The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram offshoot, claimed responsibility for a deadly attack this week on a state governor’s election motorcade in Nigeria that may have involved some beheadings days before people in the African country head to the polls on Saturday.

“There was heavy fighting between the attackers and the soldiers and CJTF [Civilian Joint Task Force],” a member of the civilian force told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency on condition of anonymity.

Although core Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria accepted Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance in 2015, ISWAP broke away from the Nigeria-based terrorist group in 2016 over leadership differences, prompting some in the U.S. government to treat the groups as separate entities.

On Wednesday, the pro-ISIS Amaq news agency claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of ISWAP, claiming the terrorist group had killed 42 people in Tuesday’s attack on the election convoy of the governor of Borno state, the birthplace of Boko Haram.

Reuters, however, learned from unnamed Nigerian officials that “between three and ten people were killed, and that some of them may have been beheaded,” later explaining:

Security sources said earlier on Wednesday the gunmen opened fire at the motorcade transporting Borno’s state governor Kashim Shettima [from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party] on his way from state capital Maiduguri to the market town of Gamboru for a rally. Two security sources said three people died. A government and a separate security source said as many as ten people were killed. Some of those killed may have been beheaded, they said.

Gov. Shettima survived, but some other victims are also missing, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.

The terrorists kidnapped APC supporters and took them into the bush, AFP learned.

“We still don’t know the fate of several of our supporters who were abducted during the fight,” Ngari Kalla, an APC campaigner, reportedly declared.

“There vehicle was stuck and before they could get out the gunmen surrounded them and took them away. This is a major concern to us,” Kalla added.

Last month, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria issued a security alert for American citizens, warning that Boko Haram and its offshoot ISWAP are planning to “disrupt” the elections.

Soon after, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration accused members of the opposition of mobilizing the jihadis to disrupt the general elections with “massive attacks” in several states.

Over 84 million Nigerians are expected to go to the polls on February 16 to elect the nation’s president and members of the lawmaking National Assembly.

“The incumbent governor [of Borno]— at the end of a maximum two four-year terms — was campaigning for a seat in Nigeria’s Senate in Nigeria’s elections due to take place on Saturday. Muslim-majority northeast Nigeria, including Borno, is an APC stronghold,” Reuters noted.

The opposition has blasted the Buhari administration’s record on combating ISIS and Boko Haram.

As it repeated the false allegation it has made on various occasions of having “successfully defeated” Boko Haram, the Buhari administration claimed last week that Nigeria is now facing a new “global insurgency,” referring to ISWAP.

Last week, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the top U.S. commander in Africa, told American lawmakers, “ISIS West Africa has grown. … They’re now in the neighborhood probably of around 3 to 4,000 [jihadis] … They now have taken large pieces of real estate in northern Nigeria.”

Referring to ISWAP, he added, “They’re the one that we have the most concern about because we are not sure what their intentions would be with regards to outside the region. Boko Haram probably [has] around a thousand [fighters].”</s>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria bolstered security in much of the country on Friday on the eve of a presidential election in Africa's largest democracy where past ballots have been marred by violence, voter intimidation and vote rigging.

The two leading candidates in Saturday's vote are President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015, and Atiku Abubakar, a businessman who served as vice president from 1999 to 2007.

The country, which has Africa's largest economy, is dealing with pockets of instability: authorities are trying to tackle a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast and communal violence between farmers and nomadic cattle herders in central states, along with banditry and kidnappings in the northwest.

Dozens of combat policemen and members of other security forces were deployed from police headquarters in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state that has been worst hit by Boko Haram and its off-shoot, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

"There are about 14,000 security personnel deployed for the election purpose. This deployment also includes 11,000 policemen," said Borno's police commissioner, Damian Chukwu.

Military vehicles and soldiers were seen moving toward volatile parts of the state, which has seen an uptick in attacks by ISWAP in recent months.

The group said it carried out an attack on the convoy of Borno's governor earlier this week.

In an outbreak of violence in the northwestern state of Kaduna 66 people were killed by gunmen on Friday, including 22 children and 12 women, the Kaduna government said.

The killings did not appear to be election-related. The state government gave no motive for the attack but local residents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was a reprisal attack following violence last year.

The United Nations ordered its staff not to travel to the parts of Kaduna affected by the violence.

In neighbouring Kano, a hotly contested state that is the economic hub of the north, police said at least 15,000 officers would be deployed for the election with a further 5,000 from other services. That compares with just over 10,000 officers on duty on a normal day.

Kano is the most populous state in the northwest, a region that accounts for nearly a quarter of Nigeria's voters. It has been a Buhari stronghold in the last three elections and his posters outnumber those of Atiku.

In Adamawa, Atiku's northeastern home state where he will vote, a police spokesman said more than 7,500 officers had been deployed, significantly more than the usual number on the streets.

Atiku spent much of the day in meetings with members of his party in Yola, the state capital of Adamawa.

Buhari worshipped at a mosque in Daura, his hometown in the northwest, which sits near the border with Niger.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.</s>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria bolstered security in much of the country on Friday on the eve of a presidential election in Africa’s largest democracy where past ballots have been marred by violence, voter intimidation and vote rigging.

The two leading candidates in Saturday’s vote are President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015, and Atiku Abubakar, a businessman who served as vice president from 1999 to 2007.

The country, which has Africa’s largest economy, is dealing with pockets of instability: authorities are trying to tackle a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast and communal violence between farmers and nomadic cattle herders in central states, along with banditry and kidnappings in the northwest.

Dozens of combat policemen and members of other security forces were deployed from police headquarters in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state that has been worst hit by Boko Haram and its off-shoot, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

“There are about 14,000 security personnel deployed for the election purpose. This deployment also includes 11,000 policemen,” said Borno’s police commissioner, Damian Chukwu.

Military vehicles and soldiers were seen moving toward volatile parts of the state, which has seen an uptick in attacks by ISWAP in recent months.

The group said it carried out an attack on the convoy of Borno’s governor earlier this week.

In an outbreak of violence in the northwestern state of Kaduna 66 people were killed by gunmen on Friday, including 22 children and 12 women, the Kaduna government said.

The killings did not appear to be election-related. The state government gave no motive for the attack but local residents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was a reprisal attack following violence last year.

The United Nations ordered its staff not to travel to the parts of Kaduna affected by the violence.

In neighbouring Kano, a hotly contested state that is the economic hub of the north, police said at least 15,000 officers would be deployed for the election with a further 5,000 from other services. That compares with just over 10,000 officers on duty on a normal day.

Kano is the most populous state in the northwest, a region that accounts for nearly a quarter of Nigeria’s voters. It has been a Buhari stronghold in the last three elections and his posters outnumber those of Atiku.

In Adamawa, Atiku’s northeastern home state where he will vote, a police spokesman said more than 7,500 officers had been deployed, significantly more than the usual number on the streets.

Atiku spent much of the day in meetings with members of his party in Yola, the state capital of Adamawa.

Buhari worshipped at a mosque in Daura, his hometown in the northwest, which sits near the border with Niger.</s>Boko Haram fighters have killed eight people in an attack in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri, a leader of a civilian task force said.

Two residents were shot dead and two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Friday's attack on Maiduguri's Jiddari Polo neighbourhood.



The incident comes a day after the group overran a military base north of Maiduguri on Thursday, stealing an armoured vehicle and torching buildings in the attack. "Several soldiers" went missing in the Thursday's attack, two military sources said on condition of anonymity.



"We recovered a total of eight bodies of residents killed in the Boko Haram attack," Haram Abba Aji-Kalli of the Civilian Joint Task Force told the AFP news agency.



The attack took place hours before Nigeria's electoral commission announced it was postponing Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections by a week.



The delay has been condemned by President Muhammadu Buhari, who is standing for a second term, and his main rival and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.



A day earlier, at least four people were killed when the rebel group struck a convoy belonging to the governor of northeast Nigeria's Borno state, of which Maiduguri is the capital.



In the hard-fought presidential campaign, Atiku has seized on Buhari's failure to defeat the armed group, while the president claims the "insurgency" has weakened.</s>At least 11 people were killed on Saturday when Boko Haram gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a suburb of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, police said.

Fifteen people were injured in the attack at and Polo general area.

Witnesses said the attack occurred in the morning as residents were responding to the postponement of today’s general election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The lull in activities following the postponment of the polls limited the spread of news of the attack, with many in Maiduguri only getting to learn of the attack hours later, residents said

Witnesses said four Boko Haram fighters — three with suicide vests on their bodies, and one armed with a rifle — invaded their neighborhood and immediately began to shoot sporadically while the suicide bombers blew themselves up.

In Gwozari, Muslims who went to pray in the morning had to cut short their prayers after hearing the sound of gunfire. But as they made their ways out of the mosque, the gunman shot at them killing two and injuring many.

“One of the suicide bombers tried to enter a mosque where people were observing their morning prayers but before he got closer, most them had started fleeing. So, the gunman opened fire from a distance and killed two people,” said an eyewitness named Habu Aliyu.

The other assailant detonated his suicide vests at a different locations called Kushari where he killed himself and a fleeing child, he said.

The third suicide bomber wondered into Maiduguri neighborhood called Polo where he detonated himself amidst fleeing people. Three persons died in the explosion.

A resident of Polo, who identified himself as Gaji, said “one of the civillian-JTF operàtives was able to shoot the gunman accompanying the two suicide bombers in the leg before a soldier came to shoot the injured gunman dead.”

The Borno state commissioner of police, Damian Chukwu, said the injured were taken taken to the hospital and “clearance operation is currently being carried out at the location by a joint team of Explosive Ordnance Department, the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), the Police Mobile Force, the Civil Defence and the military.”

The attack occurred barely 24 hours after Ahmad Salkida, the Nigerian journalist known for his professional access to Boko Haram, tweeted that about 50 Boko Haram fighters were spotted camping at somewhere behind Maiduguri, called Ajilari-Cross.</s>Eleven persons were killed and fifteen others injured in Saturday’s Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri, the Commissioner of Police in Borno State, Damian Chukwu, disclosed.

The Commissioner in a text message to some journalists in the town, revealed that his on the spot assessment of the scene of the attack confirmed the casualties.

He said at about 0540hrs, “gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists & suicide bombers infiltrated Gwozari/Kushari in Polo general area, Maiduguri.”

He said they shot sporadically and detonated IEDs strapped to their bodies.

He said during the attack 11 persons were killed including three suicide bombers.

Chukwu said 15 others sustained injuries and they had been taken to the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri.

He said there was an ongoing clearance operations by security teams in the attacked area.

The police boss said: “Clearance operations is ongoing by own teams of EOD, SARS, PMF, Civil Defence and military.”

It was gathered from the residents of the area that the attack was near a mosque and on worshippers returning from the early morning prayers.</s>Two suspected members of Boko Haram militants, early Saturday opened fire on worshipers close to a Mosque at Gwazari (Angwa Baba Ali) around Jidari Polo general area in Maiduguri metropolis killing 4 persons, while several others sustained injuries.

DAILY POST reports that earlier and in the eve of Friday, a suicide bomber killed himself and one other person.

Residents of Polo area told DAILY POST that with six corpses were recovered after the attacks.

It could be recalled that there have been rumour of possible Boko Haram incursion during the presidential and National Assembly elections in the northeast Nigeria.

Security agencies are yet to react to the development.</s>Boko Haram insurgents killed eight people in Nigeria during an attack on the northeastern city of Maiduguri, a civilian militia leader said on Saturday.

"We recovered a total of eight bodies of residents killed in the Boko Haram attack," late on Friday, Haram Abba Aji-Kalli of the Civilian JTF militia told AFP.

The attack came hours before Nigeria's electoral commission announced it was postponing Saturday's presidential and legislative vote for a week.

The delay has been condemned by both President Muhammadu Buhari, who is standing for a second term, and his chief opponent former vice-president Atiku Abubakar.

Boko Haram fighters shot residents while two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Friday attack on Maiduguri's Jiddari Polo neighbourhood.

The killings came after the group overran a military base north of Maiduguri on Thursday, stealing an armored vehicle and torching buildings in an attack that left "several soldiers" missing, two military sources said on condition of anonymity.

The day before, at least four people were killed when the insurgents struck a convoy belonging to the governor of northeast Nigeria's Borno state, of which Maiduguri is the capital.

In the hard-fought presidential campaign, Atiku has seized on Buhari's failure to defeat the group while the president has claimed the insurgency is weakening.</s>(Bloomberg) — Three suicide bombers killed eight people in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri Saturday morning, according to Lagos-based Channels TV. The attack happened hours after the nation delayed by a week a general election scheduled for the same day.

Suspected militants of the Boko Haram Islamist group entered a mosque with guns and explosives strapped to their bodies at about 5:40 a.m., Channels reported, citing a police spokesman.

Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state, the epicentre of Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency to impose its version of Shariah law on Nigeria. The city has mostly been secure in recent months, even as Boko Haram and a breakaway faction affiliated to Islamic State have wreaked havoc in the rest of Borno.</s>The Nigerian Army, Saturday, said its troops eliminated three key commanders of Boko Haram at Warawara general area of Borno State, in an ambush that led to the dislodgment of their enclave.

 According to Col. Sagir Musa, the Acting Director Army Public Relations, troops killed the insurgents on Saturday.

 Two AK 47 rifles, five AK 47 magazines, assorted charms, and one motorcycle were recovered from them.

 “Currently, troops are combing the general area on patrols with the view to further exploitation of the area,” Musa said.

 The names of the Boko Haram commanders were not disclosed by the army spokesman.

 Mesnwhile, witnesses said four Boko Haram fighters, three with suicide vests on their bodies, and one armed with a rifle, invaded their neighborhood and immediately began to shoot sporadically while the suicide bombers blew themselves up.

 In Gwozari, Muslims who went to pray in the morning had to cut short their prayers after hearing the sound of gunfire. But as they made their ways out of the mosque, the gunman shot at them killing two and injuring many.

 “One of the suicide bombers tried to enter a mosque where people were observing their morning prayers but before he got closer, most them had started fleeing. So, the gunman opened fire from a distance and killed two people,” said an eyewitness named Habu Aliyu.

 The other assailant detonated his suicide vests at a different locations called Kushari where he killed himself and a fleeing child, he said.

 The third suicide bomber wondered into Maiduguri neighborhood called Polo where he detonated himself amidst fleeing people. Three persons died in the explosion.

 A resident of Polo, who identified himself as Gaji, said “one of the civillian-JTF operàtives was able to shoot the gunman accompanying the two suicide bombers in the leg before a soldier came to shoot the injured gunman dead.”

 The Borno state Commissioner of Police, Damian Chukwu, said the injured were taken taken to the hospital and “clearance operation is currently being carried out at the location by a joint team of Explosive Ordnance Department, the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), the Police Mobile Force, the Civil Defence and the military.”
Boko Haram suicide bombers and a gunman kill 8 and injure 15 in an attack in Maiduguri, Nigeria. All three attackers were later killed.