Nigeria’s home-grown Boko Haram group, newly weakened by a multinational force that has dislodged it from a score of north-eastern towns, has reportedly pledged formal allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Youths angry at the Nigerian government’s failure to fight Islamic extremists threw stones at President Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy in the eastern town of Jalingo, breaking windscreens and windows on several vehicles.

A French family of seven – three adults and four children – have been kidnapped in northern Cameroon, President Francois Hollande confirmed.

Suicide bombers killed 21 people in attacks on three churches in Nigeria during Sunday services, exacerbating religious tensions in a West African nation that is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.