Nigerian state accused of training jihadists

ABUJA, Nigeria — The week of Feb. 6, the Nigerian government said intelligence agents had found that Kano state in northern Nigeria was seeking foreign support to train 100 jihadists among vigilante enforcers of Islamic law (sharia) called Hisbah. The state sought to train the militants in “intelligence” and the “practice of jihad” with the help of foreign Islamic governments, said Nigerian Information and National Orientation Minister Frank Nweke Jr. Christians in sharia states have complained of assault, harassment, intimidation and flagrant violation of the religious rights of Christians by the Hisbah, which one leader said is a “terror machine” in the hands of fanatical Islamic governments aimed at strangulating Christianity in northern Nigeria.