Boko Haram exposes Nigerian president’s empty promises to defeat Islamist terror group

The Nigerian leader clearly overstated his ability to stop the Islamists, reports Alistair Dawber

A mother mourns the death of her husband after Boko Haram attacked Dalori in Nigeria on Sunday

The attack in the village of Dalori began when three female suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts in the name of Boko Haram.
Four hours later, after the jihadists had firebombed houses with local people locked inside, 86 men, women and children were dead.
“They came in through the bush, some of them riding on motorcycles and some in cars,” a resident of Dalori, in Nigeria’s violent north east, told Channels Television.

Jihadists burn many children to death in brutal attack on village

“People ran helter skelter for safety. Some crossed the river behind our village and we made distress calls to the soldiers but no help came. They started shooting and burnt the town. They even beheaded some of us and set the elderly, who could not escape, on fire,”
Boko Haram, the band of Islamists that has sworn loyalty to Isis and which wants to extend its writ across West Africa, is a group that President Muhammadu Buhari has previously said he has beaten. Its continued presence is an embarrassment for the retired army general. To make matters worse, as news of the attack filtered through, his government had been forced to go cap in hand to the World Bank and African Development Bank, asking for $3.5bn in loans as the fall in the price of oil has caused the Nigerian economy to falter. Last weekend was probably Mr Buhari’s worst since winning the election 11 months ago – and it capped an uncomfortable time in office