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...
a week ago placed parts of northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
under emergency rule in a bid to curb escalating violence after 49 people were killed on Christmas Day, most of them at a Catholic church.
The move has not stopped attacks, with Islamist sect Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or
Big Louie...
targeting more Christians and a regional police headquarters in recent days, heightening fears of widespread religious violence in Africa's most populous nation.
"Following spates of attacks in some parts of the state, the government hereby imposes a 24-hour curfew throughout the state," Adamawa state government secretary Kobis Ari said.
More than 30 Christians were bumped off in three separate attacks attributed to Boko Haram in Adamawa state and neighboring Gombe state, which are not part of the region where the emergency rule is in force.
Eleven worshippers were killed Friday evening at a church in Adamawa's state capital Yola, and 17 other Christians were rubbed out in Mubi town in the same state.On Thursday evening, gunnies had stormed a church in Gombe city and opened fire as worshippers prayed, killing six people including the pastor's wife.
The attacks followed an ultimatum issued last Sunday by the Islamists ordering Christians to leave the mainly Mohammedan north for the predominantly Christian south within three days.
Soldiers and police have deployed in Yola erecting checkpoints at strategic positions, state police spokeswoman Altine Daniel said.
"We have mobilized all our men for this task of maintaining law and order," she added.
In Potiskum, further north in Yobe state, hundreds of residents decamped their homes Saturday after all-night shootouts between Islamists and security forces.
A policeman and a civilian were killed when the gunnies robbed three banks, according to residents. They said people had decamped Potiskum for fear of military raids in the aftermath of the attack.
"Our men engaged Boko Haram gunnies in shootouts for most of the night, which led to some deaths and injuries," Yobe state police commissioner Lawan Tanko said.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", is a shadowy group believed to have a number of factions with differing aims, including a hard-core Islamist wing.
It launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 people dead.
Since the group re-emerged in 2010, it has been blamed for increasingly sophisticated and deadly attacks, including an August suicide kaboom of U.N. headquarters in Abuja that killed 25.
There have been fears of reprisals from Christians, and Christian leaders have warned they will defend themselves if attacks continue.