A few days before the presidential election in Nigeria, at least three people were killed in a suspected Islamist attack on the governor of Borno. Governor Kashim Shettima was on a convoy near the village of Dikwa on an election campaign, as his spokesman Isa Gusau announced today.
Unknown raided some of the vehicles of the convoy. How exactly the attack went and which weapons were used remained unclear at first. On Saturday, Nigerians will vote for a new president and a new parliament, and elections for new governors will take place in most states in two weeks.
IS offshoot claims offense
The offshoot of the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) claimed Tuesday’s action and said it killed 42 people, according to the jihadist Propaganda Site Intelligence Group.
ISWAP has seceded from Boko Haram, a terrorist group that has terrorized impoverished northeastern Nigeria and adjacent areas for years. According to estimates, at least 20,000 people have been killed in attacks and attacks by Boko Haram since 2009. Around 2.5 million people have fled the violence in Nigeria or neighboring countries according to the UN Refugee Agency.
