Nigeria calls 'state of emergency' in three states

[FarCenter]

AFP - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a "state of emergency" in three states menaced by Islamist group Boko Haram, saying the level of violence called for "extraordinary measures".

The insurgents, who say they are fighting to create an Islamic state in the north, have carried out scores of attacks since 2009 but Jonathan said the violence can no longer be treated as "militancy or criminality".

In a televised speech, he described the attacks as amounting to "a rebellion and insurgency by terrorist groups which pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity.

The president for the first time acknowledged that parts of Borno state, the epicentre of the Boko Haram conflict, have been "taken over" by insurgents with Nigeria's sovereignty having been displaced.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130515-nigeria-calls-state-emergency-three-states