Free Republic

Bandits who hid AK 47 rifles in their clothes and pretended to be worshippers attacked a Juma’at mosque in Zamfara State, killing 15 worshippers. The attack on a Juma’a mosque in Ruwan Jema town of Bukkuyum Local Government Area of Zamfara State also left many injured while others were missing. Although there is no statement from the state government or the police, a source said the Friday attack “came three weeks after terrorists attacked a Friday mosque in Zugu town in the same local government area where 45 worshippers were kidnapped.” The source went on: “The bandits hid their AK-47...

Zamfara State in northern Nigeria is suffering from a long-term conflict between mostly Muslim Fulani nomadic herders and mostly Christian Hausa farmers. Zamfara has a population of about ten million, of which about 20% are Fulani and other tribal herders. Disputes between herders and farmers have been accelerated by increasing populations, the ability of herders to breed and treat cattle for “tsetse fly” related diseases, and poor and disputed land titles.While numbers are difficult to validate, hundreds, possibly thousands, have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced from their lands and homes. Armed camps in forested areas, kidnapping,...

From Chicago to Rio, from Jamaica to Nigeria, gang violence is leaving an indelible mark on communities across the globe, leaving authorities at a loss for what to do about the epidemic of lawlessness among young men who see little hope in their futures. Certainly the global economic crisis has much to do with the rise in gang violence and influence, as young men of color in most of the affected countries see few options for gainful employment. In Chicago, among 400 murders that have occurred in 2012, an estimated 80 percent of them have been gang-related. The killing in...