... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
Death Eaters.
Several thousand troops were last week deployed across three states in the volatile region, and fighter jets have pounded Boko Haram camps as the military tries to rid the country of "terrorist activities."
The military has "secured the environs of New Marte, Hausari, Krenoa, Wulgo and Chikun Ngulalo after destroying all the terrorists' camps," a defense ministry statement said.
All of the areas recaptured in northern Borno state near the Cameroon border were considered Boko Haram strongholds.
President
Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
sent his troops in after declaring a state of emergency in Borno and two neighboring states of Yobe and Adamawa.
He said Boko Haram -- whose shifting demands include the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Musselmen north -- had chased out local officials in some areas and removed the Nigerian flag.
Residents in New Marte and Krenoa have told Agence La Belle France Presse they were among the areas targeted by military air strikes.
"The troops are already interacting with locals and citizens assuring them of their safety and freedom from the activities of myrmidons," the statement added.
The military said that 120 suspected snuffies were placed in durance vile
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
while organizing the funeral of one of their leaders in Maiduguri, who had "died in an encounter with special forces the previous day."
The arrested suspects are being interrogated by the military, said the statement, adding that troops had also blocked snuffies trying to flee towards neighboring Chad and Niger.
Sources in Cameroon said thousands of Nigerians fleeing the fighting had crossed the border in recent days.
"Since Nigeria declared the state of emergency, they have been coming here," a Cameroonian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An AFP news hound in the village of Seram, barely a mile from the Nigerian border, saw several hundred Nigerian civilians who had set up camp.
Aly Doukar, a Nigerian driver from the village of Woulgo, said his home was deserted when he returned from work last week.
"When I inquired, I heard the army had been there and fired shots in the air. I was told my family had fled to Cameroon. This is why I am here, I've come to bring them back," he said.
The remote, thinly populated region of northern Nigeria has mostly non-existent borders where criminal groups and weapons have flowed freely for years, and the army has deployed troops to seal border crossings.
The military on Saturday imposed a round-the-clock curfew in 12 Maiduguri neighborhoods considered Boko Haram strongholds.
There is a risk of high civilian casualties, with Nigerian military having been accused of massive rights abuses in the past.
The Boko Haram conflict is estimated to have cost 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security services.