Prisoner: Foreigners fight in Nigeria's uprising

Extremists from neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon are fighting in Nigeria's northeastern Islamic uprising, according to a man presented by Nigeria's military as a captured member of the Boko Haram terrorist network.
His account tallies with reports from politicians and survivors of attacks, and it reinforces fears that Boko Haram, once a machete-wielding gang, now poses the greatest security threat to Nigeria's unity and may be growing closer to al-Qaeda affiliates in Africa.
It comes the same week Justice Minister Mohammed Adoke charged that Boko Haram is being influenced from abroad. "Nigeria is experiencing the impact of externally-induced internal security challenges, manifesting in the activities of militant insurgents and organised crime groups which has led to the violation of the human rights of many Nigerians," he said, defending the country's record at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

An Associated Press report last week, based on mortuary records from Maiduguri's main hospital, supported Amnesty International charges that hundreds of detainees are dying in military detention, many taken out of their cells and shot.
The government has failed to respond to requests for comment, but on Thursday night, for the first time, presented an alleged Boko Haram detainee to journalists at a news conference in the northern city of Maiduguri.
The 22-year-old, walking on crutches because of a bullet wound suffered when he was captured in a recent attack, said he was forced to join Boko Haram but that the movement has many willing and educated members.

"We have qualified doctors who are active members. They were not forced to be in the group, they are more elderly than us," the 22-year-old told reporters at a news conference Friday night in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital that is the birthplace of Boko Haram.
"We have mechanics, we have welders, we have carpenters, we have professional drivers, we have butchers, security experts, gun instructors and so on," he said, displaying his lack of education by his poor use of Hausa, the local language most common in Maiduguri, where he used to live with his parents. He refused to give his name because he was afraid his former colleagues would target his family.