Nigeria faces more challenges in security situation amid frequent attacks

The security situation in Nigeria's northern states shows no signs of improving, as nearly 100 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks on Sunday in Borno and Adamawa states. Suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked a village church during the morning service in Adamawa, killing up to 22 people and razing a number of houses. During the other attack on a market in Borno, attackers used explosives and guns, leaving about 85 bodies. Already up to 200 people have been killed this month in attacks by suspected Boko Haram gunmen around Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. Thousands of people had been killed, and hundreds of villages bombed in Boko Haram's four-year insurgency in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have been under the state of emergency since May 2013. The United Nations figures suggest more than 1,200 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence since the state of emergency started. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday said 6, 000 people have fled violence in northern Nigeria for neighboring Cameroon and Niger in the past 10 days. GOVERNMENT REACTIONS The two attacks came barely 10 days after Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan sacked his military high command. The heads of the country's army, navy and air force were all replaced. Air Marshal Alex Badeh replaces Admiral Ola Ibrahim as the new chief of defense staff, the most senior post in the military. Speaking after his investiture ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, Alex Badeh said attacks in the northeast must be brought to a complete stop before April 2014. Over the past two months, Nigerian forces have been raiding militant camps and launching air and ground attacks on suspected hideouts of the militants. On Dec. 30, at least 63 Boko Haram fighters were killed in raids by the Nigerian army following a recent predawn attacks on a military barracks in Bama town by the militant sect. Two weeks before the raids, more than 50 Boko Haram members were killed during gunfight with ground troops in the restive state. A joint investigation team set up by the Defense Headquarters recently recommended the immediate trial of over 500 Boko Haram suspects arrested during security operations against terrorists in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States, the military said. The Director of Defense Information, Chris Olukolade, said in a statement that the suspects are among the almost 1,400 detainees screened by the investigation team between July and September 2013. Last week, a northern states' governors forum also charged security agencies to end the killing of defenseless citizens, especially in the northeast region. It called on security agencies to do more to ensure that those perpetrating violence in the region are brought to justice. ELECTIONS APPROACHING The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) faces a major test and unprecedented challenge in conducting next year's general elections in the three states, giving current situations. Last month, Chairman of the commission, Atahiru Jega, said that elections would not be conducted in the affected states unless the current emergency rule ends before 2015. Jega said if the commission insists on conducting elections in such insecure places, not only would the elections not be free and fair, they will also be disrupted. Minister for Interior Abba Moro said the government would support Alex Badeh's endeavor to end the insurgency by April while addressing newsmen after commissioning projects at the NSCDC College of Peace, Security and Disaster Management in Katsina on Friday. He expressed optimism that the newly reconstituted military high command would utilize modernized method and fresh techniques to suppress security problems in the country.