[UK.REUTERS] Nigerian authorities have tossed in the slammerInto the paddy wagon wit' yez!
42 suspected members of Islamist sect Boko Haram
... 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...
in Lagos and the neighbouring southwest state of Ogun, an army front man said on Tuesday.
During a four-year insurgency Boko Haram's attacks have been focused mostly in the Musselmen north, far from the commercial capital Lagos and the southern oil fields which provide more than 2 million barrels per day to world markets.
The sect, which wants to carve out an Islamic state in the religiously mixed country, has never grabbed credit or been blamed for an attack in Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city.
"We have arrested 42 suspected members of Boko Haram in Lagos and Ogun," said an army front man in Lagos, Kingsley Umoh. "Some have already confessed to being Boko Haram and said they fled the northeast due to the military efforts there."
A military crackdown in Boko Haram's northeast stronghold since mid-May has weakened the group but it has also pushed forces of Evil into hiding and security sources fear attacks could spread to other areas.
Multiple kabooms in Nigeria's biggest northern city of Kano killed 15 people on Monday in a predominantly Christian area previously targeted by Boko Haram.
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...
says he is still open to a peaceful resolution with Salafist tough guys and has set up a committee to discuss offering Boko Haram members amnesty in return for laying down their weapons.
But the group's leader Abubakar Shekau has said in several Internet videos that he is not interested in dialogue.
The committee was due to submit its report and recommendations this week but on Tuesday Jonathan extended the deadline by two months.
He said the committee was making progress.
"We are engaged in critical discussions with faceless myrmidons ... that will lead not only to the signing of ceasefire agreements ... but also lead to disarmament," chairman of the committee Tanimu Turaki told news hounds on Tuesday.