Goodluck Jonathan declares state of emergency

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe following a spate of deadly attacks by Islamist militant groups. Jonathan made the announcement in a radio and televised address, ordering more troops to be sent to the northern states.

"It would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve,"

"Already, some northern parts of Borno state have been taken over by groups whose allegiance are to different flags than Nigeria's,"

The president later added: "These actions amount to a declaration of war and a deliberate attempt to undermine the authority of the Nigerian state and threaten (its) territorial integrity. As a responsible government, we will not tolerate this. We will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to justice,"

Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for most of the violence, killing some 2,000 people since 2010.

This is not the first time he has declared a state of emergency.

Last week, Mr Jonathan had to cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with the growing violence.