Government ceding territory to ‘caliphate’

Leaders of the Catholic Church in north-eastern Nigeria fear the Government is losing its grip on the region where the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has declared an “Islamic caliphate”, writes Fredrick Nzwili.

On 8 September the Islamists gained ground after overrunning the town of Michika. Earlier, on 25 August, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared an Islamic caliphate in the region, after capturing the predominantly Christian town of Gwoza and killing hundreds of people. “As a nation we are almost losing this battle because it is spinning out of control,” said Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri, in the latest situational report seen by The Tablet on 9 September. “We are sinking fast in the quicksand, let us swallow our empty pride and ask for international assistance,” Bishop Doeme said.