Retired military generals attending the National Conference were enraged when civilian colleagues condemned previous military regimes for the country's woes. Delegates demanded ‘former military administrators and coup plotters’ to be barred from holding public offices. Retired military officers insisted civilians benefited from the regimes and sponsored the military takeovers. Fighting has not only been verbal. A security operative attacked a photo-journalist and smashed his camera. In the past week two delegates have collapsed and been taken to hospital and a retired Police Officer died. In his inaugural address the President said, ‘We cannot continue to proffer yesterday’s solutions for today’s problems.’ A representative in the conference requests the following prayers, ‘ that every plan to scuttle the confrence shall not come to pass. (Is.7: 7) that every altar raised against the National Conference shall fail. (1 Jn.3:8) and those using intimidation to misdirect, distract and confuse shall be put to shame. (Job 5 12-14) See also:

Pray: for the 2014 National Conference to be the event in history which Nigeria chooses to build and positively restructure. (Ecc.3:3 & Is.60:1-3) Pray for the Christian delegation to be protected. (Is. 54:14-17)

More: http://allafrica.com/stories/201404160219.html

An explosion ripped through Nyanya Bus Park station about five miles south of Abuja at rush hour on Monday, killing 71 people as they were travelling to work.124 people were wounded. Body parts were strewn across the station as rescue workers scrambled to contain the chaos that followed the attack. People were running around in panic. The blast destroyed more than 30 vehicles and caused secondary explosions as their fuel tanks exploded and burned. Bus parking zones have been among Boko Haram's preferred targets. A bomb killed more than 40 last year at a terminal in Kano.

Pray: for an end to terrorist attacks on the vulnerable. Ask God to protect schools, villages, markets, military bases, checkpoints and bus stations from terrorism. (Is.42:3-4a)

More: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/nigeria-bus-station-hit-deadly-explosion-100221951.html#327K1T0

Islamic uprisings in Nigeria have caused at least 1,500 deaths this year alone as attacks on unarmed civilians become more commonplace, according to CBN News. ‘The international community cannot continue to look the other way in the face of extra-judicial executions, attacks on civilians, and other crimes under international law being committed on a mass scale,’ said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International director for Africa. The Associated Press reported that the number of killings since the start of 2014 equalled the total killed from 2010 to the middle of 2013. The latest attack killed three police officers and two soldiers as Islamists burned military barracks to the ground and destroyed a cell tower in Yobe.

Pray: against the ongoing terrorist activities and executions. (Ps.109:28)

More: http://www.worthynews.com/12843-islamic-nigerian-militants-kill-1500-this-year

At least 12 new private jets ordered by rich Nigerians will be delivered this year and private jet manufacturers will deliver 70 more within the next five years. The state-of-the-art private jets are being flown by professionals, politicians and even pastors. Each jet will cost between $30m and $65m. Many are optimistic about the business aviation market but it takes time. Infrastructure is needed. Meanwhile on Tuesday the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has reiterated the need for the Nigerian economy to grow faster in order to turn the tide on poverty. She said the chronic lack of electricity across the nation holds back businesses. ‘In the villages there are welders, plumbers and carpenters telling us their problem is uncertainty of power supply.’ Solving this power deficit would give a huge boost to Nigeria’s economy. She added Nigeria's rapid growth faced ‘vulnerabilities’. See also:

Pray: into the vulnerabilities of: poor infrastructure, corruption in business, terrorism attacks on the church, government and education systems. Pray for God to turn around Nigeria’s stunted growth. (Is.1:4)

More: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/okonjo-iweala-nigeria-must-turn-the-tide-on-poverty/175131/

The increasing number of unemployed graduates is threatening the sustainability of the nation’s economic development and sending disturbing signals to the global environment. Hundreds of thousands of university graduates are without jobs and over two million graduates join them every year. Youth unemployment rate is over 25%. There are several incidents of exploitation of job applicants by various government and private employment agencies. They charge desperate applicants a certain amount for an empty promise of securing jobs for them. Rather than reimburse the applicants for travelling long distances to write aptitude test, the agencies ask these very poor unemployed citizens to pay for being given the opportunity to participate in the recruitment exercise. Also many in the region are saying that local unemployed youth are being recruited by Boko Haram's brutal campaign of violence. There is an urgent need for job creation, reducing poverty and informal work.

Pray: for fair access to job opportunities;ay for ‘tomorrow's leaders’ to have opportunities to grow and develop their gifts and talents. (Ps.25:12-13)

More: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/dangers-of-rising-youth-unemployment/174483/

Despite its vast resources Nigeria is among the most unequal countries in the world. Poverty in the north is in stark contrast to the developed southern states, while residents in the oil-rich south-east complain that all the wealth they generate flows up the pipeline to Abuja and Lagos.This week, one hundred years after the mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south were united, Abuja hosts a National Conference of 500 delegates representing ethnic, linguistic and religious groups to discuss Nigeria's future. The conference will last three months and division of oil money and powers will be the main issues. Some Nigerians want more powers to be delegated to the country's 36 states. Some believe President Goodluck Jonathan wants to use the conference to change the constitution.The conference comes ahead of next year’s elections and amid almost daily attacks by militants wanting Islamic law in the north. (See Article 4 below). Discussing whether the country should be divided is barred. Some say they will still raise this issue.

Pray: that God’s purposes would be central to all discussions around economic and social situations. May every group discussion be free of hostile dialogue; may every ethnic group have a say in the nation’s future. (Ps.85:8)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26613962

More than 2,000 people in northern Nigeria risked their lives by turning out for Sunday Mass while their city was being bombed. Describing St Patrick's Cathedral, Maiduguri, as ‘packed’, Father John Bakeni, the celebrant at the Mass, said people told him afterwards that if the attacks worsened they would prefer to die in church than anywhere else. Sunday's Mass took place after Boko Haram extremists launched one of their biggest armed campaigns of recent months, firing rocket-propelled grenades and mounting a massive assault on a military barracks. Hundreds died in the attacks, which were repulsed by the Nigerian military, but there were growing concerns about the government's capacity to hold back the extremists. The priest called on the world, ‘Please pray that this violence will stop.’

Pray: for religious freedom in Nigeria, pray protection for the church, pray the present persecution would end. (Job 34:24)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nigerians.risk.death.to.attend.mass/36251.htm

More than 1,300 people have died in the past two months as an insurgent Islamist group, Boko Haram, wages a rebellion rooted in poverty, corruption, religion and geography. Boko Haram is believed to be responsible for killing at least 1,300 people in the past two months and more than 130 people in the past week. The radical sect claims ties to al-Qaida and has ambitions to impose sharia law on Nigeria's 170 million people. In Boko Haram's heartland, even the national military is outgunned in what is fast becoming a lesson to the world in how not to tackle an Islamist insurgency. ‘What is clear is that they are as ruthless as any Islamist group or terrorists anywhere in the world,’ said Antony Goldman, a west Africa risk analyst at London-based PM Consulting. ‘They're quite happy to hit soft targets, including schools. Some in the Nigerian administration expect this to be a problem for another 10 years.’

Pray: that ways will be found to control Boko Haram and bring peace to Nigeria. (Ps.46:1)

More: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/08/nigeria-state-war-islamist-insurgency

‘Boko Haram has stepped up its violent campaign, with hardly a day going by without reports of a deadly attack by militants’, says BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross. Boko Haram gave a week’s warning that it would attack Mafa. Schools were shut and most residents fled to Maiduguri city (28 miles away). Military reinforcements were sent to Mafa, but soldiers lacked the firepower or numerical strength to confront the militants and when the attack took place on Monday they ran away with the villagers. There was no resistance. Also, two policemen were killed by a bomb on Monday morning and fourteen soldiers were missing. On Saturday night fighters destroyed the entire village of Mainok when gunmen attacked with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives, killing 47 people. Earlier on Saturday two bombs killed 50 in a densely populated area of Maiduguri - a city which Boko Haram has often targeted. On Friday 20 died in an army air raid on Daglun village. See also

Pray: for more international support for Nigeria’s counter-terrorist mission. (Ps.22:11 & 46:1)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26418161

At least 29 students have been killed after Boko Haram militants attacked a boarding school in the middle of the night in north-east Nigeria. All victims were teenage boys who were in their dormitories, 11 others were seriously injured. Most of the school was burned to the ground. Islamist militants have attacked dozens of schools in north-east Nigeria. Last September, 40 students were killed at an agricultural college during another night-time raid. Teachers said the gunmen gathered the female students together before telling them to go away and get married and to abandon their education. Nigeria's armed forces are facing increasing criticism for failing to protect civilians or to respond to raids by the militants. Many suspect there are individuals within the armed forces with sympathies to the militants. Boko Haram tends to attack schools that teach Nigeria's national curriculum, which the militants consider to be Western.

Pray: for Nigeria's military whose duty it is to contain militants and pursue attackers. (Ps.81:15-16)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26338041

Islamist militants have killed over 100 civilians in the Christian village of Izge, near the border of Cameroon in north-eastern Nigeria, according to reports. Armed men attacked the remote village on Saturday, slaughtering dozens of innocent people and forcing many others to flee. They also detonated bombs and set fire to homes, terrifying the local community in another string of recent attacks. Izge’s population is largely Christian. It has been under emergency rule since May last year when President Goodluck Jonathan authorised increased military powers to tackle ongoing violence in the north-eastern regions of Nigeria. However, there were no military forces present in the village on Saturday. ‘A hundred and six people, including an old woman, have been killed by the attackers,’ confirmed Senator Ali Ndume. A local resident told the Guardian that ‘the dead bodies of the victims are still lying in the streets. We fled without burying them, fearing the terrorists were still lurking in the bushes.’

Pray: God’s perfect peace and protection over Christians in central and northern Nigeria, who are suffering intense persecution and living in fear of their lives. (Ps 18:2).

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nigeria.latest.boko.haram.attack.kills.106/35881.htm

Suspected Islamist militants have raided a Nigerian village and murdered dozens, according to witnesses.  The gunmen reportedly rounded up a group of men in Izghe village and shot them, before going door-to-door and killing anyone they found.  Officials said they suspected the Boko Haram group was behind the attack.  Boko Haram, which claims to be fighting to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, is notorious for extreme violence and indiscriminate attacks.  Bodies in the streets: The senator for Borno state, where the attack took place, told the BBC's Newsday programme that 106 people - 105 men and an elderly woman trying to protect her grandson - were killed in the latest attack.  Ali Ndume said around 100 Islamist militants attacked Izghe for five hours on Saturday evening, without any intervention from the army. He said the military recently withdrew from the area after nine soldiers were killed in an ambush last week.

Pray: for an end to bombings, killings and abductions, provisions for widows and orphans without a source of livelihood and for desperate communities to know hope, peace and restoration. (Is.54:5; Pr.2:12)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26220300