journalists ahmed i describes and omar abuja. al jazeera is demanding their release. >> speaking to us via skype few technical problems, outbreaks of violence in certain areas but how would you describe how the voting has been going so far? what stood out for you? >> well, across the country the news we're getting is very interesting. it would appear that president jonathan and the people's democratic party and pgb are not doing well at all. which in nigeria is not well at all, normally the incumbents do extremely well. and have a massive impact. however in river state which i am stationed right now and by the way i'm primarily a journalist, there was tremendous violence, a lot of disruption and intimidation by the ruling party. probably incidents in which the opposition were also guilty, as you know these things tend to cut both ways. but what i would say is predominantly the pgb fared very poorly and there were concerns about murder, homicide. river state seems to be a pecularly unusual case study. it seems to be the most strif

at the capital of abuja. you know that nigeria is comprised of 36 states. so far what the observers have been telling us, including the european union observers today, is that overall the election itself went well despite some technical glitches, despite some attacks in the northeast where boko haram operates. so the election went well. now the tricky part is the -- when they're transferred to the capital. that is where there could be some fear of political interference. >> i mentioned the results have been trickling in. jonathan given the edge but it really is an edge. the latest results saying he's 20,000 votes ahead with around eight states already counted. this looks like it's going to be very close indeed. >> absolutely. the electoral commission started announcing the results of eight states and the capital of abuja this afternoon and it was about 2,300,000 votes so each of the two jonathan and his main rival buhari and now what the electoral commission told us is that if they get the results of all the other states before 8:00 p.m. tonight well, then

,ing in abuja. he's one of 60 million people taking part in this historic exercise. things went smoothly here but this process is happening in 120,000 locations across the country. >> i believe that it can take us to the level we want this country to go. initial for unemployment, health care and security, and the education and structure. >> reporter: but as expected there was some violence in the north. several people were killed in gombe state thousands of security agents were deployed to protect voters. in kuduna state where there has been religious violence, voter registrationsvoterregistration was delayed by hours. voters were undeterred. >> i know there's nothing that i should fear for. because choosing my leader is in my hands. even though there is somebody angry with what i did well, you cannot -- doesn't have anything to do with my life. i don't believe. >> reporter: thousands of foreign election members monitored the vote. pvcs were used for the first time in the election. >> they are takin

. >> live for us in abuja ahmed what is the latest you're hearing about this offensive in the north? >> well basically the town of damasak has been recaptured by forces from niger and chad. they crossed over into nigerian territory. now according to witnesses in that particular part of the country, the fighting was fierce. more than 200 boko haram fighters have been killed. a few nigerian and chadian soldiers have been killed. the wound have had been taken to ed have been taken to the hospital. we also heard that the troops from niger and chad actually are trying to advance further to see what more they can do if that region. >> yes, it's going to be a tough fight, ahmed. what are people saying about boko haram's pledge of allegiance to isil. is there a fear that that, in practical terms, get boko haram more resources and fighters on the ground? >> yes this is a real fear here. if isil buys into boko haram's offer, it's pledge of allegiance, and then offers boko haram to fight in the north of nigeria, then the situation could get messier than it is already. a lot of fighters have bee

they are running quite late. >> yvonne for the time being and yvonne is reporting from abuja.week since the nigerian military detained two al jazeera journalists in the north and they were embedded with the military before they were detained last tuesday and have been kept in that hotel since then and al jazeera is demanding their immediate release. the u.s. state department is saying it has been watching this case and linda thomas greenfield is the assist and secretary of state for african affairs and hopes the two are released soon. >> the united states is committed to freedom of the press and for media access so we would support your efforts to have your journalists released. we don't have all the details of what is happening, but i think the news that we have so far indicates that they had their credentials, they were traveling with the military and i think it's important that the government allow them to continue to do their work. as we were getting ready to come into nigeria we heard that some journalists were being denied visas and we certainly expressed our views there

buhari has a slight lead over the incumbent goodluck jonathan and it was in 36 states and capitol abuja votes counted so far in 18 of those states. of these 10 have gone to buhari and eight have gone for jonathan. even though buhari is leading in the overall votes the number of votes alone doesn't settle the election. we can talk live now to yvonne our correspondent who is there at the election headquarters in the capitol abuja and it seems to be quite a slow process, doesn't it but we have to remember how vast an exercise this is. >> reporter: well that's right, it's a huge exercise some 60 million people it's believe participated in this election and over 150,000 polling stations and as you were just explaining there the candidate in this race not only has to win the majority of votes nationally, the candidate who is going to win this race also has to win at least 25% of the vote in 24 of nigeria's 36 states. now, if president goodluck jonathan or the main opposition candidate buhari both fail to do this this election will go to a runoff in a week's time and it will be the first time

our starting window this week is abuja, africa's most capitalous country.e voices on the coverage of election, a spokesman for goodluck jonathan's party, his opposite number the communications director for the muhammadu buhari campaign and the acp. journalists turned author who worked for muhammadu buhari. journalists with a nigerian news outlet based in new york beyond the reach of nigerian authorities, and managing director much ait, the channel the opposition says is siding with the government which is why the incumbent's main rival refused to appear on the presidential debate that the channel broadcast. the accusations against axe it centers around coverage and this documentary in particular, called the real muhammadu buhari it was an hour-long matter that went beyond the track's record. >> and became the first to say as a woman, death by firing squad. ram rod stiff, never sniling. on the future should matter. and nothing about him sticks to the future. >> we'll take any platform to sell our party. they are not ready to walk into. we saw them as costly.

but they say they're ready yvonne ndege, al jazeera abuja. >> three day lock down to stop the spread of ebola. the president has ordered everyone to stay inside from morning until night. volunteers will go doosh to door to educate the people -- door to door to educate the people about the virus. killed more than 10,000 people in west africa. >> the u.s. state of indiana is suffering an outbreak of the hiv virus. john hendren explains why. >> in rural indiana health officials say hiv virus has caught them unprepared. >> we have to do something drastic. >> reporter: but this rural environment,. >> i do get threats ail the time about going back inside not letting them do their deals on the corner or in front of my house. this is my home, my kids home, we're not going to tolerate it in this country. >> scott county usually confirms five cases of hiv a year, so far it's 79 and counting. this time it's intravenous drug use. >> if they don't do something about it it's going to be 400 cases of hiv p the governor says it's an epidemic and it really is an epidemic. unless they have a spoons it

in karu just outside abuja they are concerned about the delays in voting and technical problems. >> what i want to advise ins is bring over a process like this, they have to test, in a smaller election like a governor election, then bring it to a general election. yesterday what i noticed is that so many people if you put your hand to the ledger it doesn't show. >> it wants the election commission to be more understanding. up to 60 million people voting up to 200,000 polling places across the country. >> they could be hungry, but let us be patient to follow the process to the logical conclusion. >> the chairman did announce we would get some results 48 hours after the last person at a polling station gets the opportunity to vote. the fact this is a huge logistic logistical challenge. some of the polling stations are in very rural areas difficult to get to and we know that up to 60 million may participate in this vote, according to the voter cards collected. they're asking the people to be patient. >> the nigerian government has been holding two al jazeera journalists, ahmed idris and ano

ahmed idris in abuja. thank you. >>> a gun and grenade attack in a restaurant has killed five people. there are reports that a french citizen and belgium national are among the dead. the gunmen stormed a bar popular with foreigners. two people have been arrested. >>> now isil fighters have destroyed parts of a 2,000-year-old city of hatra in northern iraq. this is what hatra looked like before isil attacked it. the cultural agency unes co described the city as a war crime. we have the latest of the military campaign against isil. >> hatra, south of mosul on the list of cultural heritage sites. it was on the list because of it's a confluence ever greco-roman influences, and could you see that in some of the temples an fortified walls that remain: even people who don't follow archeology now that city because of the film "the exorcist." a parts of it was filmed there. the fight against isil is proving difficult. backed by shia militias still have yet to reach the city of tikrit days after declaring a major of

. >> from abuja we have the report. >> reporter: the nigerian military said it has captured the boko haram stronghold of gwoza. we have no way of knowing for sure. in a rare public address nigeria nigeria's spokesperson gave this statement. >> it can't be verified because huge restrictions have been placed on society human rights organizations and the media. they have been held until further notice. both were embedded with the military until their detention. >> they have been very good in reporting events in the country and, indeed, they have been one of the few and if not only sources of information from the northeast ahead of elections happening, and expect stations that we would be getting reports from the al jazeera journalist who is are based there and who have worked all along embedded with the military and reporting on the military activities in the region we're particularly worried about this ways. >> this is the closest presidential election since the end of military rule in 1999. the incumbent goodluck jonathan or the main opposition candidate will have to tackle corruption

. >> reporter: there was some confusion that the school in abuja where hundreds showed up to vote ande how to organize everything and some election materials did not arrive. not far away at the national assembly preventel office things were a lot smother and hundreds in the heat in orderly lines, men separated from women. and has been waiting to vote five hours and knows what she wants the next president to deal with. >> corruption is everywhere. if we can fix corruption we fix it and we fix education and we fix unemployment, we fix power. basically power because if there is power every system of the economy will work. >> reporter: card readers being used to identify voters before they can cast their ballots, this is the fifth presidential and parliamentary election since the end of military rule in 1999. close to 60 million people are expected to vote in over 120,000 polling stations. civil society organizations say everything is going smoothly so far despite some concerns about security. >> we did get one report of controlled explosion in southeast of nigeria but have been told this

we're live in abuja. tell us more about this election-related violence that we've seen today. >> well, adrian, security was always going to be a factor in these elections. you might remember that the elections themselves were delayed by six weeks because of insecurity in the northeast of the country where the nigerian military and other forces from neighboring west african countries have been fighting boko haram. these attacks we're hearing about today have to be put in context. the authorities, the police and electoral authorities always anticipated there would be people trying to disrupt some of the voting, which is what they think they've seen today. and of course they have done, they say, a lot to protect the chances of a free, fair, and transparent election. you have to remember that there are over 120,000 polling stations that are being organized for people to vote in. and we're looking at something close to 60 million people that could be participating that have actually gone and collected their pe

ground and air and the first major push into nigerian territory and more from the nigerian capitol abujaeporter: the fight against boko haram has taken a new urgency is underway and the objective is to put them in a corner this month. so far 30 towns and villages have been liberated from them since chad efforts joined the troops to fight the group. for chad and cameroon defeating boko haram is crucial and there is also a fear the group if left unchecked will expand its area of control and be a bigger threat to the entire region. nigerian troops crush boko haram in the last five years and says they are in a position to do so. >> we are adequately equipped for a region change begins and taken delivery of the game changers and as promised by the letter of the president himself we have taken delivery of new equipment and one of which is behind me there and this is for boko haram. before the level of this point it was a defensive operation but now we are a point of offensive. >> reporter: military in february asked for six weeks to clear the northeast of boko haram to pave way for elections.

just outside of abuja. robert and his friends are awaiting them. they are concerned about delays in voting and technical problems. >> i want to advise that we want to bring over a process like this. they have to try it in a smaller election like the governorship. bring it to the general election. like yesterday what i noticed was so many people if you put your hand. >> the election commission wants people to be more understanding. up to 60 million may have voted in some 150,000 polling stations across the country. >> yes, they have to be efficient. because they can be hungry but there's a process to follow. let them follow the process to conclusion. >> given the allegations irregularities, the size of the elect rate the 157,000 polling stations - any idea when we can expect results? >> the short answer is no. what the electoral commission is saying is that the ballot papers will be counted 48 hours after everybody has stabbed voting. polling stations do not have a polling time. it's the last person credited to vote, that gets the opportunity to vot

and just outside abuja he and his friends are awaiting and concerned about delays in voting and technicalems. >> what i want to advise is i want to bring over a process like this and they have to try it for a smaller election like a government election and bring it to the general election because yesterday so many people if you do that. >> reporter: election commission wants to be understanding and up to 60 million people may have voted and some 150 polling stations across the country. >> they have to be efficient with us because they can be hungry but it has a process to follow and it's efficient and political process for the constitution. >> reporter: counting by the papers and results sheets is a huge challenge for the electoral commission and asking people to be patient but the delay could cause tension in some places i'm with al jazeera, nigeria. >>> let's go live to nigeria's biggest city legos and another of our correspondents and harry let's look at the condition in river state which turned into some kind of flash point and what happened to 15,000 or so people who said they didn't

voting took place in 36 states and in the capital abuja.ave been counted in 18 states so far. off these, 10 states have gone to parry and eight to jonathan. the number of votes alone doesn't settle the election. more from the capital abuja. >> reporter: the results from 18 other states in this presidential election are yet to be announced. include the most popular state lagos which has a population of some 17 to 20 million people and the highest number of registered voters. once there is a clear winner in terms of the national picture one candidate getting the majority of the votes, there is another phase to this which is that the winner of this election has to also get at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of nigeria's 36 states, we know from the release of data so far from the electoral commission that the main opposition presidential candidate mohamed bow harry is leading by some 2 million votes with, 18 other states still to be announced that could change, the electoral commission and the key candidates are calling on nigerians to be

>> well according to military senior military personnel in abuja the plan is going well.the last few days they have announced the retaking of major strategic towns under the control of boko haram and say not enough credit is being given to nigerian soldiers for what they are doing and there has been a bit of too much emphasis if you like on what neighboring countries like chad and niger and cameroon are doing with the group and in the past few days goodluck jonathan gave an interview and talked about the successes of nigerian military and actually vowed to defeat the group substantially within the next 2-3 weeks just ahead of elections taking place here at the end of the month. >> thank you for that that is live for us in abuja. still ahead on the program a giant in the world of fantasy literature has died and we look back at the life of terry and changing way latin american tells its own stories and we will take you to the continent's oldest. ♪ extremely wrong... >> what's the price for militarizing our police >> they killed evan dead >> faul lines, al jazeera america's

more from the capital, abuja. >> another bloody day in northern nigeria. these are victims of the latest attacks by suspected boko haram fighters. medical workers struggle to save those they can, a seen that has become a routine in the north. dozens have been killed in three coordinated attacks in a city now home to more than a million people displaced by boko haram violence. the dead are in the morgue. the injured are being treated. there are reports it was the work of male and female suicide bombers. it is possible but i can't kong firm it now. the attack the leader of boko haram pledged loyalty to is isil. boko haram had hinted at joining forces with is isil before but the timing of this announcement is important. the group has lost ground in the northeast of the country. some see this pledge of allegiance as a desperate attempt to draw is isil into operations. from cameroon niger and chad has forced fighters from their basis. it has taken back many towns and villages from the fighters. they still face resistance from boko haram. now, the group has step

just outside of abuja joseph and his friends are eagerly awaiting them.e concernedded about the delays in voting and technical problems. >> what i want to advise if you want to bring a process like this, they have to test, they have to try it first in a small irrelevant elect like a governorship election and see how efficient it is and then let's bring it to the general election. yesterday what i noticed was that so many people if you put your hand it doesn't show. >> reporter: but the election commission wants people to be more understanding. up to 60 million people may have voted in some 150,000 polling station across the country. >> yes, they just have to be patient. be patient with us, because they can be hungry, but the process has to flow. let us follow the process to the logical conclusion. >> reporter: no official results have been released by the electoral commission so far but the chairman did announce we would get some results 48 hours after the last person at a polling station gets the opportunity to vote. they have emphasized the fact that th

more from the capital abuja. >> reporter: well, the results from 18 other states in this presidentialion are yet to be announced including nigeria's most populous state lagos which has a population 17 to 20 million people and the highest number of registered voters. once there is a clear winner in terms of the national picture one candidate getting the majority of the votes there is another phase the winner has to also get 25% of the votes in two-thirds of nigeria's 36 states. we know from the release of data so far from the electoral commission that the main opposition president candidate mohamed buhari is leading by some 2 million votes but with 18 other states still to be announced that could change. the electoral commission and the key candidates are calling on nigeria's just to be patients and let the electoral commission do its job. >> security does remain tight as people wait for those election results. a report on how that is acting every day life in nigeria's biggest city lagos. >> reporter: grace worries about the next few days. she works at a market in the commercial capita

a report now from the capital abuja. >> reporter: another bloody day in northern nigeria.se are victims of the latest attacks by suspected boko haram fighters. medical workers struggle to save those they can. a scene that has now become a routine in the north. dozens have been killed in three coordinate ahead tacks. a city home for more than a million people displaced by boko haram violence. >> translator: the dead are in the morgue and the injured are being treated. there are reports that it was the work of male and female suicide bombers. it is possible, but i can't confirm it now. >> reporter: hours after the attack, the leader of boko haram, pledged loyalty to isil. boko haram had hinted at joining forces with isil before. but the timing of this announcement is important. the group has recently lost ground in the northeast of the country and some see this pledge of allegiance as a desperate attempt to draw isil in to its operations. a military onslaught by forces from nigeria cameroon, niger and chad has forced the fighters from their bases the nigh nigeria then milita

air and it's the first major push into nigerian territory and we have more from the nigerian capitol abujahe neighbors and fight against boko haram has taken a new urgency, operation of troops by chad and niger against the group is underway, objective is to push them in a corner ahead of the final onslaught this month, so far 30 towns and villages liberated from the fighters since chad and niger joined efforts from niger and cameroon troops to fight the group. the defeat in boko haram is crucial, five years of violence has cut the trade between them in africa's biggest economy and also the fear the group if left uncheck will expand area of control and be a bigger threat to the entire region. in niger troops it would crush boko haram in the last five years and say they are now in a position to do so. >> we are now adequately equipped. there is a real change in the game. we have taken delivery of the game changers and as promised by the force and letter by the head of the president himself, we have been taking delivery of new equipment and one is what you see right behind me there and this i

al jazeera abuja nigeria. >> let's go to an independent researcher on war and conflict and specializesin boko haram. he's joining us live from london. good to have you on al jazeera. many are expecting the tightest race in apology near i can't. what is at stake in this election? >> well, it is clearly the stability of nigeria and the africa region. nigeria is a populous country and one of africa's largest country. there will be all eyes on knee year i can't as nigeria will go to polls tomorrow. >> we know it will be one of the fiercest contests in the election with the opposition being able to stand up to the incumbent government, and shifting the election the incumbent government has been able too do some catch up and deal with the boko haram problem. we know that the regional leader has accepted the responsibility to the southern part of nigeria the incumbent is trying to douse that popularity. it will be a very tough election for both sides. i believe it will be a very close call. >> you brought up boko haram an issue that is not just affecting nigeria, but it has been spilling over

abuja where hundreds of people showed up to vote. electorate workers were unsure how to organize everything, and some election materials did not arrive. not far away from the provincial office things were a lot smoother. hundreds stood in the sweltering heat in line. >> corruption is everywhere. if we can fix corruption, fix health, fix education. fix unemployment. we fix power. if there is power every system of the economy will work. >> cards have been used to identify voters before they can cast their ballot. this is the fifth election since the end of military rule in 1999. close to 60 million people are expected to vote. civil society organizations say that everything is going smoothly so far despite concerns about security. >> we set get one report of patrolled explosion in southeast of nigeria but we've been told this is not a major concern and we do not have an area of high security concern. we've heard reports from areas where we're told police officers have been restricting the number of people who can come out to vote this

we are joined live from the capital abuja. let's start with the kidnapped girls. the government and president jonathan goodluck have been criticized for failing to recover the girls. jonathan goodluck has been slammed for comment made about the girls, condemned as tasteless tasteless. >> absolutely. the initial stage was a sense of denial from the government that the chibok girls have been kidnapped. gradually the raid on the government came to realise that these girls had been taken, and then there was an international effort to try to rescue the girls. no one knows what happened whether the collision disbanded and it's been nearly a year after the girls had been kidnapped. 219 are still missing. >> now, as far as the pledge of allegiance goes from boko haram to the armed group i.s.i.l. what does that mean. does it mean more global support for boko haram, more weapons for them on the ground? >> well basically boko haram - when it all started, it was an extremist group in the northern part of nigeria, particularly in borneo state, the birth place of the movement.

at the national assembly office polling station in abuja. one of 60 million people taking part in this historic exercise. things went smoothly here. this process is happening in 120,000 locations across the country. >> i believe that it can take us to a level we want this country to go - unemployment security, and education. >> reporter: as expected, there was violence in the north. several were killed when boko haram fighters attacked some going to voting stations. thousands of security were deployed to protect the voters. in some states registration was delayed by several hours. hundreds died in fighting during the last election. voters were undeterred. >> i shouldn't be concerned. there's nothing that i should fear for. choosing it is in my hands and although somebody is angry with what i did, well you cannot still have anything to do with my life. >> reporter: thousands of foreign election observers monitored the notes. permanent voters cards, pvcs were used. >> they are taking the pvc and making sure that is aligned with the card reader

parliamentarian at the national assembly office polling station in abuja. he is one of 60 million taking part. things went smoothly, but the process is happening in 120,000 locations across the country. >> i believe that the person i vote for can take us to the left-i want this country to go in the issue of unemployment and security. >> reporter: but as expected there was violence in the north. several were killed in yobe and gombe state. thousands of agents were deployed to protect voters. in kadona state where there's election related violence voting was delayed. hundreds were in the last election. voters were undeterred. i shouldn't be afraid. my hands is behind. there's nothing hear. choosing my leader is in my hands. if i do it. even though somebody is angry with what i did, well it doesn't have anything to do with my life. what is it? >> thousands of foreign election observers monitor the vote. thousands of permanent election cards, pvcs were used for the first time. >> they are taking the pvcs and are making sure that is aligned with the card reader.

this celebration held an abuja nigeria.y that there have been major gains but there is long way to go. the girls kidnapped by boko haram still have not been found. >> from the kidnapped girls at gunpoint violence against women across the world is a grave concern. the united nations said 3 million girls are at risk of genital mutilation, so-called honor killings like this one in pakistan reportedly take the lives of 5,000 women every year. >> her family was waiting for us at the main gate and then attacked us. they beat her to death. >> it's hard to know how many women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. that number is at 30%. but in some countries it's up to 70%. those staggering statistics have u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon have the protection of women and girls his number one priority. he started a campaign to stop violence against women. we sat down with the secretary general to hear his take on how far the world has come. >> the process has been too slow, and the result is too uneven. i'm

at the provincial station in abuja. things wept smoothly here. this process is happening in 120,000 locations across the country. >> i voted, i believe that it could take us to the level we want to go. under security. education and structure. >> there was some violence in the north. several were killed when boko haram attacked voters going to polling stations. thousands of agents were deployed to protect voters. in the state where there has been election-related violence voter registration was delayed by hours. hundreds died in 2011. voters were undeterred. >> i shouldn't be afraid because i know my hand is behind the creator. and there's nothing that i should fear for. if i do it someone who is angry with what i did - well it doesn't have anything to do with my life. >> reporter: thousands monitored the vote. pvs, permanent voter cards, were used for the first time. >> they are taking the pvc and making sure that it is in line with the card reader: it is taking a bit of time. sometimes they try one, two, three, four ti

we have more from abuja. >> reporter: fighters are on the way. the objective is to push the fighters into the corner against the expected final onslaught this month. more than 30 towns and villages have been liberated by the fighters since troops from chad and niger have joined the group. >> reporter: there is a fear that the group if left uncheck will expand its area of control and become a bigger threat throughout the region. >> they were unable to crush boko haram in the last five years now say that they're in position to do so. >> we are now equipped. we've taken liberty of the game changers and we've taken the liberty which is what you're seeing behind me there. before of the defensive operation we are on the defensive. >> reporter: the military in february asked for six weeks to clear the north east of boko haram. over the weekend attacks on maiduguri, a move created by the nigerian military as an desperate attempt to battle isil. they expect to strengthen the task force already taking on boko haram. >> let's speak with ahmed from the abuja

we go to the capital of abuja. >> reporter: this woman ruins a restaurant in abuja is voting in nigeria'sidential and parliamentary elections. women make up just under 50% of registered voters. but very few female candidate will be on the ballot papers. there are just under 1,000 seats up for grabs but only a couple of hundred women are running and only a handful are on the tickets of the two political parties likely to win both seats. >> the men, they will never give a chance at all to come out to to--they will never agree for a woman to come in front of them. >> despite that she plans to vote for as many female candidate as she can. >> it costs a lot of money to run for office in nigeria. many people think the place for a woman is in the home. these are the main factors were stopping women were participating in politics. only one woman is running for president out of 14 candidates. on sunday she took part in a televised debate with president goodluck jonathan. despite the low numbers of women running, she's confident things can improve. >> women themselves are proving that they're capab

from abuja yvonne ndege reports. >> in a rare public address nyjer's military spokesperson gave this statement. >> many of the terrorists have died and many have been captured in the process. tons of ammunition have been recovered, and the safe areas of the rnl terrorists terrorists have been entirely destroyed. >> army says they will be held until further notice. both were embedded with the military just before their detention. >> the al jazeera news crew few if only sources of information from the northeast. and ahead of elections happening, and an expectation that we would be getting reports from the al jazeera journalists who are based there who have worked all along embedded with the military and reporting on the military activityies in the region wee are particularly worried about this situation. >> reporter: it is the closest election since the end of military rule in 1999. insecurity corruption, unemployment and major economic challenges brought on by falling global oil prices and there are concerns about violence. >> there will probably be some violence around the country ho

a political satirist writer and lawyer joins us from the capital abuja. and nigeria is often, i would argue, mistakenly depicted as a split with muslims in the north and christians in the south. it's far from the case. that is not the case in nigeria. >> certainly not. it's common misconception that nigeria is split along the lines. however, a look at a state like lagos in the state, with the largest population in the country, one would find that they are almost always muslim governors in that state. that is in the south. there's a lot of areas, pockets in the north that have christian majorities, and this distribution is not a fair representation of nigeria, a lot is lost in that sim plist yik interpretation of the country, muslim north and christian south. >> until recently nigeria was renowned for the relaxed way that both religions cohabited side by side without a problem. how much responsibility would you say rests now with the leaders, the candidates in the presidential elections, election to make sure that that stays the case. of course any kind of

instance fighting on nigerian soil, something -- foreign troops fighting on nigerian soil, something abuja had been reluctant to see. they have launched military offensives in northern nigeria before sunday's joint operation with niger. the militants' pledge of allegiance to the islamic state group's weekend was the last straw. nigerians government -- nigeria's government appealed for international help. >> it is time for the government of nigeria to mount of its power from other countries to be able to fight and slaughter the insurgents. >> the african union recently endorsed the creation of a regional force of up to 10,000 troops to combat boko haram. for now, the operation is set to be limited to areas on the nigerian side of lake chad which represent only a fraction of the militants' zone of activity. 30,000 people have been killed during 30 -- six years of insurgency. genie: 30 people were killed in an airstrike on an oil refinery run by the islamic state group that strike by the u.s.-led coalition targeting the syrian refinery that's it near the border with turkey -- that sits near t

he granted this rare interview to the bbc at state lodge here in abuja, an interesting venue. it felt very cocooned from the outside world when you go down the lengthy corridors and past all the locked doors and the security checks it feels a thousand miles away from the rest of the country. but of course the president is under pressure at the moment also because of what's been going on in the northeast. and we have seen a radical change of the circumstances on the ground in the northeast. towns and villages have been taken back by the kneenigerian military as well as by chadian forces and with help from cameroon and niger as well. so the whole theater of conflict has changed a great deal. and that was the subject i was keen to pick up with president jonathan and i began by asking him to assess the status what he felt was the status now of boko haram. >> for getting weaker and weaker by the day. and i'm very hopeful that it will not take us more than a month to recover all territories that have been in their hands. >> where are the jihadists? where did they go? >> well, they h

. >> thank you ahmed ahmed idris in abuja. >>> initiative seems to have failed, as the war in syria enters its fifth year. >>> meanwhile u.s. led air strikes in syria have hilt an oil refinery near the turkish border. refinery workers and i.s.i.l. fighters were killed. >>> the fight against i.s.i.l. continues in iraq. deposit forces are still facing strong resistance as they start to retake the northern city of tikrit. the battle is crucial for forces second city under i.s.i.l. control since june of last year. >>> these are the latest pictures from the town al alam which lies 18 kilometers from tikrit. iraqi forces have liberated the town. >>> as part of iraqi army's offensive against i.s.i.l troops are massing outside an area ten kilometers away from fallujah. meanwhile, kurdish forces are attacking around the oil richity of kirkuk. the city itself is under kurdish control but i.s.i.l. still controls areas nearby. >>> the advance of the iraqi army against i.s.i.l. is forcing a growing number of people from their homes. it's a situation that aid agencies say is only going to get worse. jan

we're live on the line from the capital of abuja. what will these closures mean? >> well, lauren, this is very significant, going ahead with the planned timetable of these elections. people were afraid. people were jittery that it could--the elections could be postponed again. they were supposed to take place in the middle of february and the end of february. they were postponed for six weeks because the security services said that they wanted more time to fight boko haram. this announcement is an indication that everything is on course. the election for president--the presidential election will take place on saturday. there is also another election on april 11th to elect 26 state governors and local parliaments. it looks like because of this decision, it came with the approval of president goodluck jonathan, will go ahead. in the statement there was also a line about making sure that they would take part of the elections. there is a lot of cross-border migration, and the nigerian authority wants to guard against that. it seems that everything is on course and the

ballot papers and result sheets have been sent under police guard to an electoral commission depot in abujaal officials checks the papers before sending them onto polling booths. saturday's suppress shall vote is expected to be a close race between incumbent president good luck jonathan and former military general. oil is one. major issues in the election, the niger delta is where almost all of nigeria's a oil comes from and provides more than three-quarters of government revenue. but the renal sun also one the country's pour poorest. >> reporter: they know what they are doing sill legal. but they don't care. young, unemployed men school crude oil from pipelines then refine it in the creek of the niger delta. they say this lucrative resource belongs to the community. not the nigerian government or oil company. >> they are eating our money so when you have something and somebody is eating it, you will be. [ inaudible ] you owns it, this is what is happening, we look for how to get part of it. >> reporter: the men claim to produce around 60,000-liters a day from their improvised refineries. l

akmed idrus reports from the nigerian capital, abuja. . >> another bloody day in northern nigh year i't. victims of the latest attacks by suspected boko haram fighters. medical workers struggle to save those they can a scene that has become a routine in the north. >> the dead are in the morgue and the injured are being treated. there are reports that it was the work of male and female suicide bombers. it is possible but i can't confirm it now. >> dozens have been killed in the attacks on maidiguri, a town of more than 1,000. this is the scene since boko haram has gun to seize it. they are used to the violence and more concerned about how to live the next day. a military from cameroon niger and chad has forced fighters from their basis. the military has taken back many towns and villagers from theviters but they face resistance from boko haram. now, the group has stepped up its attacks on soft targets like markets and bus stations. this is causing a lot of concern among nigerians who have witnessed such bombings before in urban areas. mohammed adris, al jazeera, abuja, nigeria. >>> ali

eight states including the set has been announced at the international conference center in abuja by the head of the nigerian electoral commission. we know the presidential candidate there muhammedu boharu is winning. there are still another 28 states for which the results are to come down here to the international conference center and there are a lot of statistics to get through and numbers for the electoral commission to make public the number of voters who are registered in these 36 states of nigeria have to be announced the number of accredited voters. each of the presidential candidates and exactly how many votes each of the 14 presidential candidates scored. also the number of spoiled and cancelled ballots, the number of rejected votes have to be announced and once that process is through then the tabulation of which candidates got more than 25% in the 36 states have to be announced. and to win this race, the candidate has to get more than 25% of the vote, in at least two-thirds of nigeria's 36 states. now i asked the electoral commission boss earlier when he was here, how lon

the allegations were correct, or not. >> okay ambassador robin sanders thank you for joining us from abujaou very much. >>> returning now to one of our top stories and that is the iran nuclear talks going on in switzerland and joining us from tehran is a correspondent for the financial times. thanks for joining us. so the financial times headline from just a few hours ago read iran nuclear talks approach critical points so that is according to your headline and we understand now that the russian foreign minister sergei fedorov will lead the nuclear talks in switzerland, what do you make of that development? >> there are some complications. definitely the talks have reached a crunch point but some -- no one expected the two sides to reach an agreement easily. there are some i s that the two sides need to resolve including a timetable for lifting when iran insists. >> that is the sticking point we understand for iran how much is iran willing to concede? >> basically they are arguing if you want me to make compromises, you have to lead the functions because that is really hurting the economy.

our correspondent in abuja for us right now. security was always going to be an issue wasn't it, in this election. >> because of fierce about security in this pooley stages. there are police making sure that things go on peacefully. we know in the northeast according to security services military personnel are helping to safeguard the area, particularly in the areas where we've seen boko haram activity, and where we've seen people being killed by the group. there were great fears. people were so concerned that millions in the region could be disenfranchised, miss an opportunity to vote. and they would provide protection and make sure that people would be able to vote. nationwide the picture does seem to be peaceful despite reports we're getting about these two incidents where people have been killed. and the hope is that the voting process citizen will generally do well and people will be able to cast their ballot. >> how is this election shaping up so far, do you think? >> well, initially there was confusion at the polling stat

yvonne ndege, al jazeera abuja nigeria. >>> last remaining ebola patient has died. sierra leone has imposed a lock down. from friday to sunday. dozens of new infections have been reported there every week. sierra leone guinea and liberia have been worst hit by the ebola outbreak which has killed more than 10,000 people in west africa. >>> the u.s. state of indiana has suffered an outbreak of the hiv virus. john hendren has the story. >> indiana's governor is calling it an hiv epidemic. >> an epidemic due to an outbreak of the hirve hiv virus that is reached epidemic proportions. >> 79 cases mike pence has declared the epidemic. >> let me be clear i do not support needle exchange but this is a public health emergency and on the recommendation of the centers for disease control i am authorizing a focused short term limited needle exchange program if local officials deem this necessary and appropriate. >> indiana has barred needle exchanges in the past, it is unclear why scott county has seen such a surge but high drug rate and high teen pregnancy rate have long been p

we have this report in abuja. >> reporter: another bloody day in northern nigeria. these are victims of the latest attacks by suspected boko haram fighters. medical workers struggle to save those that they can a scope that is routine in the north. dozens have been killed in three coordinated attacks. a city home to a million people displaced by boko haram violence. >> the dead are in the morgue and the injured treated. there are reports that it was the work of male and female suicide bombers. it's possible but i kapt confirm it now. >> hours after the attack the leader of boko haram pledged loyalty to i.s.i.l. >> boko haram hinted at joining forces to i.s.i.l. the timing of this announcement is important. the group lost ground and some sore the plague of allegiance as a desperate attempt. a military group by forces from nigeria, cameroon, niger and chad forced the fighters from their bases. the nigerian military took back downs and villages. they still face resistance from boko haram. now the group stepped up attacks on soft targets and this is causing a lot of conc

. >> reporter: outside of abuja, this man and his friends are awaiting the results. they are concerned about delays in voting. what i want to advise is bringing home a process like this. they have to try a smaller election. let's bring it to the general election. like yesterday, what i notice is so many people if i put your hand it doesn't show >>> but the election commission wants people to be understanding. up to 60 million people may have voted in 160,000 polling stations across the country. >> they have to be efficient. because they can be hungry but it has to be a process to follow. let us be patient and follow the process to a conclusion. >> no results have been released by the electoral commission. but the chairman announced that we'd get some results 48 hours after the last person at a polling station gets the opportunity to vote. they've emphasised the fact that this is a huge logistical challenge for the election authorities. there's some 150,000 polling station. some are in rural areas, difficult to get to. we know that at least 60 million people might par

we've been around to various locations in abuja many people are out on the street incredibly happy and excited. here are some of the people that we spoke to just outside of president-elect buhari's house. >> corruption. we have a problem of corruption. too much corruption. no security. we need to take care of nigeria. >> now there is still quite a process to go even though buhari has been elected by nigerians today president goodluck jonathan, who has conceded defeat, and called and congratulateed buhari will remain in power until the constitutional date of power which is the end of may. at the end of may president election buhari will be sworn in as the president of the republic of nigeria. >> yvonne ndege from nay jeer i can't, thank younigeria. two al jazeera journalists have been detained in their hotel since tuesday. al jazeera is demanding their immediate release. >> talks on the future of iran's nuclear program will continue past the deadline of tuesday. the u.s. said that the negotiation has progressed that it merits staying until wednesday. simon mcgregor wood is in lausanne w

raphael casts a vote for a new president and parliamentarians at a polling station in abuja.is one of 60 million people taking part in this exercise. things went smoothly. the process is happening in 120,000 locations across the country. >> i believe that they can take us to the level we want this country to go. on the issue of unemployment and security and infrastructure. >> as expected, there was violence in the north. several were killed when boko haram fighters attacked fighters going to polling stations. thousands of agents were de-floyd protect voters. where there has been elections, voting registration was delayed by hours. hundreds of people died in fighting during the last election in 2011. voters were undeterred. >> i am not afraid. i know that there is nothing i should fear for because choosing my leader is in my hands. if i do it and someone is angry with what i did it doesn't have anything to do with my life of. >> thousands of foreign election observers monitored the vote. cards known as pvcs permanent voting cards, were used. >> they are taking the pvc, making

northeast and he said he expects to see boko haram defeated in the next two or three weeks. >> in abuja you very much staying with africa a u.s. join strike in somalia killed a member of al-shabab who planned the 2013 attack on the west gate mall in kenya and three were killed when their car was hit in the town 67 people died in the west gate attack. still ahead on the al jazeera news hour [chanting] a city on edge protests in ferguson after two police officers are shot plus. >>> i'm harry faucet from the chinese village and 19 months after a devastating flash flood here along with the damage serious doubts remain about the official government story of what happened here. >>> and in sport why world tennis number one serena williams is ending a 14 year boycott on a tournament in the u.s. ♪ but first after four years of political instability egypt has hopes for economic revival on a major conference that starts on friday and the summit is supposed to attract millions of dollars of foreign investment and we report. >> reporter: this is the kinds of image egypt wants to promote, a hardworki