Heather Murdock
May 12, 2014 11:02 AM
ABUJA — Tensions are high in Nigeria four weeks after hundreds of school girls were kidnapped by Islamist militants, as security forces break up protests demanding the rescue of the girls. Authorities say they fear protests in the more volatile parts of Nigeria will spark sectarian violence.
In the Nigerian capital of Abuja Sunday, protesters were calling for the rescue of the girls Sunday, shouting: "Bring back out girls now and alive! What are we saying? Bring back our girls now and alive!”
But the police intervened to disperse the crowd and the rally ended.
奈及利亞數百名女學生遭伊斯蘭激進分子(militant)綁架(kidnap)已過四周，維安人員(security forces)驅散(break up)上街要求解救被擄少女的抗議人士，緊張局勢(tensions)升高。當局表示，抗議行動恐怕會在奈及利亞內一些情勢高度動盪不安的(volatile)地方激發(spark)宗派間的暴力衝突(sectarian violence)。
抗議群眾周日於奈及利亞首都要求(call for . . .)解救被綁的女孩，高喊口號：「現在就把女孩活著的救回來。活著救回來！」
但警方介入(intervene)抗議活動，驅散了(disperse)群眾，抗議集會(rally)即結束。
Kaduna rally fails to materialize
Another weekend protest scheduled in Kaduna, a city known for sectarian violence, never happened. After both mosques and churches were attacked, parts of the city are under 24-hour curfew and all protests are banned. During the weekend, police occupied locations around the city where rallies were planned.
另一場原定於頻傳宗教派系衝突的卡杜納(Kaduna)舉行的抗議行動則沒有實行。區內的清真寺(mosque)與教堂都曾被攻擊，現部份區域已處於二十四小時的戒嚴狀態(under 24-hour curfew)，禁止各種抗議活動。警方於周末期間佔據了抗議計畫中的集會地點。
Protest organizer Ibrahim Garba Wala held a news conference after the rally failed to materialize.
“We were shocked even last night, the venue, which is Mutula Square, where we agreed that we are going to hold the protest was already dominated by security personnel with their tankers and their heavy machineries,” he said.
Wala says the weaponry on the streets of Kaduna this weekend would be better deployed in the northeast where security forces are searching for nearly 300 teenage girls, believed to be held hostage in the forest by Islamist militants known as Boko Haram.
Kaduna city has long been a hotspot for political and community violence, and nearly a thousand people were killed there in post-election violence in 2011. As presidential elections approach in 2015 Kaduna residents fear more bloodshed.
預訂的集會抗議無法順利實現(materialize)，負責組織的Ibrahim Garba Wala舉行了一個記者會(news conference)，他表示：「就在昨晚，維安人員(personnel)和他們帶來的大型運輸車(tanker)與重型機具(machinery)占據了我們已同意舉行抗議活動的場所(venue)，我們非常訝異。」
他認為，周末在街道上的那些武器裝備應該部屬在(deploy)維安部隊搜尋近300名少女的東北地區才對，據信這是少女被伊斯蘭激進分子擄作人質(be held hostage)的地方。
卡杜納市一直是政治與社群暴力事件的危險地區 (hotspot)，已有近千人在2011年大選後的暴力事中被殺害。隨著2015年的總統大選靠近，市內的居民們害怕將會有更多的喋血事件(bloodshed)發生。
Security crisis
In Kaduna, anger over general insecurity has intensified since the girls were kidnapped, says Wala.
“We are telling people to understand that the crisis in the northeast is not being perpetrated by the poor man. It is being perpetrated by the politicians,” said Wala.
Security crises in Kaduna, part of Nigeria’s "Middle Belt" where the mostly Christian south meets the mostly-Muslim north is often attributed to politicians hiring thugs to intimidate or punish voters. In the northeast, Boko Haram insurgents have killed thousands of people in the past five years, including hundreds of school children.
Wala認為，自少女們被綁架後，卡杜納人民對這種普遍的人身不安全的憤怒更加劇 (intensify)。他說：「我們要告訴人民的是，東北發生的這個危機不是窮人所犯下(perpetrate)的惡事，這是政客們所作的惡事。」
卡杜納處於奈及利亞的「中介帶」(Middle Belt)，是以基督信仰為大宗的南方與北方伊斯蘭信仰交會的地方。這裡發生的安全危機常被歸因是(. . .is attributed to . . .)政治人物雇派地皮流氓(thug)來恐嚇(intimidate)與處罰選民。恐怖組織Boko Haram的叛亂分子(insurgent)過去五年間在東北區已殺害數千人，其中有數百名的學童。
(編按: Middle Belt 是指奈及利亞國內多個少數族群交會雜處的一個地帶，沒有實際的地理界定範圍，但概念上是橫跨過奈及利亞的一個橫向地帶(belt)。區域內有許多少數族群居住，多種的文化與語言於區域內交雜混成，反而成為了一個自然的文化屏障，阻隔了奈及利亞北部以伊斯蘭信仰為主與南部以基督信仰為主的人口。但如新聞中的說明，區域內多種文化交鋒的結果，也產生需多衝突。詳細可見Wikipedia的解釋
The mid-April kidnapping sparked protests, in Nigeria and around the world, demanding the girls’ safe return. Officially, the Nigerian government supports the protest movement.
Nigerian Police spokesperson Frank Mbah appeared Monday in Abuja.
“The position of the Nigerian police force is clear," said Nigerian Police spokesperson Frank Mbah Monday in Abuja. "Nigerians have got the right to peaceful assembly, to peaceful association, to peaceful protest as long they do so with[in] the confines and boundaries of the law.”
奈及利亞警方發言人(spokesperson)表示：「警力的立場(position)很清楚，奈及利亞人民有和平集會(assembly)、結社(association)與抗議的權利，但需要在法律限制與許可的範圍之內(within the confines of . . .)。」
In the past week, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, China and Israel have agreed to provide material support for the rescue effort, a task U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says will be a "huge challenge."
In a video distributed to journalists last week, the man who claims to lead Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, says his group is holding the girls as slaves to be sold as wives.
在上周發佈(distribute)給記者的影帶中，一位宣稱自己是Boko Haram首領的人說，他的人手挾持這些女孩作為奴隸，將買賣給人做妻。
Language Notes 
tension (n) 緊張局勢；緊張狀況 xxxxxxxxxxmilitant (n) 好戰支人；激進分子
sectarian (a) 宗派的；派別的 xxxxxxxxxxx xintervene (v) 介入；干預；干涉
curfew (n) 宵禁；戒嚴 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ixmaterialize (v) 實現；具體化
venue (n) 集合地；發生場所 xxxxxxxxxxxxxmachinery (n) 機械
deploy (v) 部署 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxperpetrate (v) 做(壞事)；犯(罪)
thug (n) 惡棍；暴徒 ixxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx insurgent (n) 起事者；暴動者
assembly (n) 集會 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxixconfine (n) 約束；限制
distribute (v) 分發；分配
Check your vocabulary!
Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary changes. After you finish, select the text below to reveal the hidden answers.
1. The former president addressed a large assembly.
2. Who could have perpetrated such a dreadful crime?
3. The government imposed a night-time curfew throughout the country.
4. Problems were expected, but they never materialized.
5. The concert's still on Saturday but the venue has been changed.
6. He was beaten up by a gang of young thugs.
Source：http://www.voanews.com/content/tensions-high-in-nigeria-as-bring-back-our-girls-protests-dispersed-/1912781.html
編譯：簡嘉呈
館藏介紹
英語宅急便 
