Nigeria Deploys army to Fight Rebels in North

{{Nigeria rumbled to a war footing Wednesday as soldiers and equipment moved into its northeastern states as part of an emergency military campaign against Islamic extremists waging a bloody insurgency.}}

A statement issued Wednesday by Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, a military spokesman, promised a “massive deployment of men and resources.”

Witnesses have seen armored tanks and soldiers moving through major roads and cities in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

Those states, crossing an arid region of some 155,000 square kilometers (60,000 square miles), are now under a state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday night.

The presidential order allows the military to arrest anyone at will and raid any building suspected of housing extremists.

Residents of the northeastern region greeted the new military campaign with faded hope and suspicion. Some prayed for an end of a violent guerrilla campaign that’s killed more than 1,600 people since 2010.

{wirestory}