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Boko Haram shoots ex-President Obasanjo’s son

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The son of Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been shot and wounded in a battle with militant Islamists, the ex-leader’s aide says.

 

 

Olusegun-Obasanjo

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Lt Col Adeboye Obasanjo was injured as the army fought to recapture the north-eastern town of Michika from Boko Haram, Muhammad Keffi told the BBC.

 

 

“Scores of insurgents” were also killed in the battle, the military said.

 

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Last month, Boko Haram declared an Islamic state in areas it controls in north-eastern Nigeria.

 

 

Experts raised concerns that Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, could break up in a way similar to Iraq and Syria where the militant group Islamic State (IS) has declared a caliphate.

 

 

Thousands of people are fleeing their homes in Mubi, the second largest city and commercial hub of north-eastern Adamawa state, amid fears that it could be Boko Haram’s next target, reports the BBC’s Bashir Sa’ad Abdullahi from the capital, Abuja.

 

 

Boko Haram insurgents have over-run Michika and Bazza, two towns close to Mubi, in recent days, he says.

 

 

The attack on a platoon headed by Col Obasanjo coincided with a ferocious air assault on the militants, Nigeria’s privately owned This Day newspaper reports.

 

 

Col Obasanjo was in a stable condition in hospital, Mr Keffi told the BBC’s Hausa service.

 

 

His front-line role showed the family’s commitment to “one Nigeria”, Mr Keffi said.

 

 

A total of two officers and three soldiers were wounded in the battle, the military said.

 

 

Olusegun Obasanjo fought in Nigeria’s 1967-1970 civil war, when the military put down a rebellion to create the breakaway state of Biafra in the south-east.

 

 

A former military ruler in the late 1970s, he won two elections when Nigeria returned to multi-party democracy in 1999.

 

 

In May, he said President Goodluck Jonathan was “overwhelmed” by the security situation in the north-east and he should not run for another term in elections due next year.

 

 

Boko Haram’s five-year insurgency is seen as the biggest threat to Nigeria’s territorial integrity since the 1967-70 conflict, analysts say.

 

 

The group has changed tactics in recent months, holding on to towns in the north-east, where most people are Muslims, rather than carrying out hit-and-run attacks.

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