Clinton: Poverty helping fuel violence in Nigeria (AP)

LAGOS, Nigeria ? Former U.S. President Bill Clinton says poverty is fueling the religious violence tearing at Nigeria.

In a speech Monday, Clinton acknowledged he was "really worried" about the security problems now plaguing the nation, which includes increasingly violent attacks by a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.

Boko Haram is based in and has launched attacks across the nation's impoverished Muslim north.

Clinton noted that region remains one of the poorest of the whole country. Clinton suggested more direct investment and opportunities for those in the north, while still allowing for possible military action against the extremists.

Clinton appeared Monday night in Lagos at the ThisDay Awards, an annual ceremony hosted by Nigerian newspaper magnate Nduka Obaigbena.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120213/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_clinton

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