Nigeria: Buhari's Huge Loss

NIGERIA

Buhari’s Huge Loss

A deadly attack by Islamist militants in Nigeria threatens to dent President Muhammadu Buhari’s chances in February’s upcoming election, undercutting his claims to have defeated the nine-year insurgency waged by Boko Haram.

Militants killed around 100 Nigerian soldiers in an attack on a military base on Sunday in one of the deadliest encounters since Buhari came to power in 2015, Reuters reported. Security personnel blamed Islamic State West Africa for the attack in the northeastern Borno state where Boko Haram and Islamic State have been most active.

“The insurgents took us unawares,” an officer told the news agency. “The base was burned with arms and we lost about 100 soldiers. It is a huge loss.”

Voters head to the polls on Feb. 16 in a test of the strength of Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) party-led coalition, wroteStratfor, a US-based think tank. In 2015, Buhari benefited from the perception that then-incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan was trying to sidestep term limits. But Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has recovered since then.