President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday made a surprise visit to the<\/p>\n
troubled northeast, which is in the grip of escalating Boko Haram violence
\nthat threatens next month\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
An AFP reporter in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, said the president
\narrived in the city shortly before 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) and was met at the
\nairport by the state governor Kashim Shettima.<\/p>\n
He was accompanied by the chief of defence staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh,
\nmilitary top brass and the national security advisor as well as about 200
\nsoldiers.<\/p>\n
The visit \u2014 Jonathan\u2019s first to Maiduguri since March 2013 \u2014 was shrouded
\nin secrecy and came after a previous trip to the restive region in May
\nlast year was cancelled.<\/p>\n
Jonathan had planned to visit the remote town of Chibok, also in Borno,
\nafter Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 girls from their school in a
\ncrime that shocked the world.<\/p>\n
The cancellation, reportedly for security reasons, dealt Jonathan a
\nfurther blow in his perceived woeful handling of the kidnapping crisis.<\/p>\n
Boko Haram was founded in Maiduguri in 2002 and was largely peaceful until
\na police and military crackdown against its then-leader Mohammed Yusuf and
\nhis followers in 2009.<\/p>\n
Jonathan\u2019s last visit came before a state of emergency was declared in
\nBorno and neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states in May 2013.<\/p>\n
The special measures initially saw the Islamists forced from urban centres
\nbut violence has steadily increased, particularly in the last six months,
\nand led to towns and villages overrun.<\/p>\n
On January 3, Boko Haram attacked the Borno town of Baga, killing
\nhundreds, if not more, in what is feared could be its worst atrocity in a
\nsix-year campaign to create a separate Islamic state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday made a surprise visit to the troubled northeast, which is in the grip of escalating Boko Haram violence that threatens next month\u2019s election. An AFP…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n