THE MENACE OF THE BOKO HARAM EXTREMIST IN NIGERIA

The menace of the Islamic sect Boko Haram that started in 2009 has witnessed the killing of both young and old through random killing, bombing against defenceless citizens and armed insurgency. The government has since tried their capacity to wipe out this issue. In 2009, the Nigerian government made a great deal of effort to wipe them out with severe military raids that have since then ceased after all their menace seemed to have totally crushed. The discontinuation of such action by the government however had definitely boosted their propensity to muster strength and recruit more poverty-driven Nigerian youth into their fold.

It is so unfortunate however, how the current government meekly folded its arms since these insurgents resumed their murderous activities in December 2011, when a state of emergency was declare. The early reluctant of President Jonathan government to take action underestimate the potentials of the Nigerian youths especially those in the north who are mostly at the receiving end of the country’s poverty and corruption.

Nigerians, most especially Christians and even some Muslims who were of the view that Boko Haram represented Islamic doctrine had challenged devout Muslims to find means of curbing the nefarious activities of the sect that is painting Islam in a bad colour.

The menace is deeply rooted in the northern part of the country in Borno, Bauchi, and Yobe state. When the cause of the insurgency was first believed to be political, the federal government of Nigeria set up a panel to engage the sect in a dialogue as a tactic to bring down the intensity of the insurgency. However, the strategy proved unworkable.

It is of a clear fact that the presence of the military in the affected zone i.e. states under emergency rule has not achieved much since the joint task force went to the troubles states. This is because the military is under equipped. The Boko Haram’s sophisticated weapons are more efficient than those of the military.

Mohammed Yusuf founded the group called boko haram in 2002, the group name is translated as western education is forbidden in the Hausa language. Yusuf who was killed by the government forces in 2009 in still the group with extremist ideology. We can recall that a suicide bomber drove through the gate of the united nation headquarter in Abuja on 26 August. This same group claimed responsibility of the attack.

Boko Haram grew its rank by taking advantage of widespread anger in the north over the wealth gap. Yusuf died at the hand of the Nigerian security forces in 2009 while trying to escape from custody after a battle with the Nigerian police. His body found handcuffed in the street, raised question about the legitimacy of the escape story. The execution was expected to signal the end of Boko Haram. However, has so far proven to be their greatest recruiting tools and since 2009, over 3900 people have been killed by the insurgency launched by the group.

Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked school, churches, mosque and markets, but state institution such as police station and military facilities remains primary target. In 2009 Boko Haram launched a massive attack on police stations in Bauchi which later spread to Maiduguri and elsewhere. In 2010, gunmen attacked a prison in Bauchi. In October 2010, gunmen assassinate two security guard outside a politician’s home, in the same month several police officers were assassinated. The killing continued until 2011. May 29, 2011 Bomb explosion at the army barrack in Bauchi was also claimed by the sect. Church and police station was attacked by team of gunmen in Maiduguri on the 6th of June 2011, on the 16th there was a bomb explosion at the police headquarters in Abuja. In the same month, gunmen attacked a bank and a police station in Kankara in kastina state. Also gunmen shot and bomb a bar In Maiduguri killing over 25 people.

Boko Haram’s attack has intensified in 2014. In February, the group killed more than 100 Christian men in the village of Doran Baga and Izghe. Also in February, 59 students were killed in the Federal Government College, Burni Yadi attack in north east of Nigeria. In March, the group attacked Giwa Military Barrack, freeing captured militants. 88 people died in a bomb blast in Abuja. Boko Haram has been blamed for nearly 4000 deaths in 2014.

14th April 2014 is one of the darkest days in the country, the morning experienced a bomb blast in the most crowded park in Abuja at the rush hour while Nigerians were still mourning their loss, the night unveiled a different evil at Chibok village. Boko haram attacked the Girls’ Government Secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria. They broke into the school, shot the guards and killed one soldier. A large number of students were taken away in trucks possibly to Sambisa forest where Boko Haram is known to have fortified camps.

As if Nigeria has not had enough, barely two weeks after the first explosion rocked the popular park, another bomb exploded opposite the scene of the last blast. Hundred were killed while many sustained injuries. On the 18th may, two weeks to the Abuja motor park blast, a bomb rocked a drinking centre on middle road by Gold coast road in Sabon Gari area of Kano state killing scores of people including the suicide bomber. The disaster continued and spread to Jos in plateau state, Tuesday 20th May was a day of weeping and Anguish in the capital city, when twin explosion shattered the tranquillity in the city that had enjoyed some semblance of peace for a while. In all these recent happenings the extreme Islamists sects, Boko Haram was allegedly responsible.

If Nigeria could experience three bomb blast within days interval and few days to the celebration of democracy. Then what are we to expect on 29th day of May, 2014. Should Nigerians conclude that all is not well, so no cause for celebration? We are still struggling to bring back our girl kidnapped in Chibok. Families are still mourning their loved ones; fox are also counting their losses. Should we then say this democracy day is worth celebrating, has democracy really favoured Nigerians?

‘Segunfunmi Oyedokun

Tv Presenter

@nftv1

@gemdap

CHIBOK GIRLS: CELEBRATING MAY 27 IN MAYHEM.

The current armed insurgency by boko haram, seeking to turn Northeast Nigeria to Islamic state took observers off guard as it was never thought that the ongoing Islamic revivalism manifesting as terrorism would reach Nigeria.

The emergence of Boko haram insurgence in 2009 is rooted in post colonial history of northern Nigeria derived from the meaning of Boko Haram (western education is evil), the relatively spread of western education and Christianity in the predominantly Muslim Hausa/Fulani North weakened the Islamic faith and culture, thereby opening up the region to diverse ways inimical to Arabic/Islamic civilization. This obviously awakened jihadist orientation and provoked armed dissent.

Ever since the emergence of Boko Haram, 10,000 children have not been able to attend school as a result of the activities of Boko Haram.

Boko Haram has also been known to kidnap girls, who it believes should not be educated and use them as cooks and sex slaves contrary to the plans of Gerald and Lois Neher who came to Nigeria when girls did not go to school. While terrorist came to chibok with evil intensions, Gerald and Lois Neher came in1954 to make it possible for girls to attend school.

Many Nigerian parents especially those in the North-East, would rather have a living, breathing and uneducated child than a kidnapped or dead one. With this more girls may join the country’s estimated 10.5 million children who are out of school, six millions of whom are girls.

Speaking to CNN recently, an unidentified female student from the north said: “if this goes on, many parents will no longer let their girls go to school.

Schools around many of the communities are difficult to find, so many times, children go farther from home to get good schools. But with the current insecurity, many parents are afraid and might refuse to let their children go to school. When this happens, the girls’ dream and hope for better future are dashed.

Many girls from the north have dreams; it’s not every young girl that wants to be married off at a young age. They want to be lawyers, Doctors, Professors, Architect, Ministers, and Commissioners. They also deserve better lives.

Before now, the North has had really poor indices with regards to girl child education and retention in schools. There is a great possibility that this will worsen the nation’s growth and development. The current wave of insecurity has a deteriorating effect on education.

Today, the importance of education cannot be overemphasized. Investing in education especially girl-child education is the profitable investment anyone can make.

A study conducted by UNESCCO found that school children in Nigeria, particularly those in the north provinces are at a disadvantage in their education, with 37 percent of primary age girls in the rural north-east not attending school, and 30 percent of boys not attending school. According to world Economic forum’s Global Gender Gap index, Nigeria is ranked 106 out of 136 countries based on women’s economic participation, educational attainment and political empowerment.

Before now, various challenges have made girl-child education in Nigeria a herculean task, child marriage, which gained widespread condemnation on social media is one of such. Child marriage according to available statistic hampers the effort of these young adolescent from acquiring education. They find it difficult to combine the tedious task of being a wife and mother with schooling.

This challenge with insecurity virus that is plaguing not only the education sector but the nation has a whole is not a child play. The menace has not come to an end.

Boko Haram’s attack has intensified in 2014. In February, the group killed more than 100 Christian men in the village of Doran Baga and Izghe. Also in February, 59 students were killed in the Federal Government College Burni Yadi attack in north east of Nigeria. In March, the group attacked Giwa Military Barrack, freeing captured militants. 88 people died in a bomb blast in Abuja. Boko Haram has been blamed for nearly 4000 deaths in 2014.

On the night of 14 April 2014, Boko haram attacked the Girls’ Government Secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria. They broke into the school, shooting the guards and killed one soldier. A large number of students were taken away in trucks possibly to Sambisa forest where Boko Haram was known to have fortified camps.

The children were aged 16 to 18 and were in their final year in the secondary school. According to police report, approximately 276 children (all girls) were taken in the attack of which 53 had escaped.

The incident will no doubt drastically affect school attendance. Ordinarily, students’ enrolment in the north is low while pupils are afraid of going to school, their teachers too will be scared of staying at their duty post.

The implication is that education may be destroying completely in the north in the future and that is one of the principal objectives of Boko Haram.

Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistan activist who survived a gun shot on the head in 2011 while fighting the Taliban for her right to be educated and who is currently lending her voice to bring back our girls online campaign said “it is not true that Islamic religion forbids girl-child education”.

If Boko haram claimed to be an Islamic sect and that they are fighting for the course of Allah, why are they waging war against education? It shows the fight is not just against western education. Many of their agenda are hidden.

Although in a video release by the sect leader, Shekau, he said boastfully that they are fighting against western education, democracy, Christianity and infidel in Islam.

It has been over a month now than close to 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram from a Government School in Chibok, an isolated village, 80 miles from Maiduguri, a state capital of Borno in northeastern Nigeria. And families of these missing school girls are still hoping that their children will come back. But the questions that parents of these innocent souls are asking are; when will they be free from this prison-like experience that has exposed them to psychological trauma? When will they come back to their closely knitted and peaceful family? Will the Federal Government give a second thought on the condition for the release of the children (swapping the arrested Boko Haram for the abducted children?

Come May 27, 2014, the world will be celebrating Children’s. It is a public holiday to be observed by children in both primary and secondary schools.

Temitope Oladipo

Tv Presenter

@nftv

WHAT ARE WE CELEBRATING?

It is Children’s day and I’m sorry to tell every child in Nigeria that this year, there is nothing to celebrate. How do we celebrate, when our sisters the Chibok girls abducted by the deadly bokoharam group are still out there waiting to be rescued? They would not be dressed in their lovely school uniform lined up in the stadium waiting for their turn as they match in front of the Borno State government, they would not be anxious over winning this year’s parade nor would they anticipate the surprise lined up for them by the school authority, they may not even know which day it is.

On the 14th of April 2014, the Chibok girls like the rest of the world went to sleep with the hope of waking up the next day to continue with life. Little did they know that life had a different plan for them, during the night the terrorist group Boko Haram invaded their school and abducted over 200 girls. These are children who should be protected by the school authority and the government, yet they were failed by those they trusted.

The parents were devastated; they relied on the Nigerian Military to swing into rescue mission to bring back home their daughters. They were soon disappointed when the military claimed to have rescued nearly all the girls and retracted the statement almost immediately, claiming no girl has been rescued. In the wake of this disappointment, it was reported that the parents took to the forest immediately but were soon discouraged by the kind of weapons used by the terrorists.

Children have been killed, along with their families, in numerous Boko Haram bombings and massacres over the past five years. State schools and remote villages in the north have borne the brunt of Boko Haram’s violence this year. We still haven’t gotten over the killing of 75 students at Federal Government College Burni yadi, Yobe, yet the Boko Harams have decided to kidnap these girls who are both Christian and Muslim; their only offense, it seems, was attending school.

On April 23, Nigerians took to social media to show their anger at the government response and Ibrahim M Abdullahi, a lawyer in Abuja, sends the first tweet using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Protests followed immediately by parents who were angry about the indifference of the government and agitated by the reports of their girls being sold as wives abroad. Gradually, it became a joint cause; Protests were staged in various part of the country and abroad. People were calling for help from government and the international community. The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Onbama also posted a picture of herself holding a sign with the#BringBackOurGirls hash tag on her official Twitter account, helping to spread the awareness of the kidnapping

Unfazed by the cry of the public, on May 4, it was reported that 11 girls were abducted by suspected Boko Haram Islamists in Borno state, this time from the villages of Warabe and Wala.

On this same day President Goodluck Jonathan makes his first public comments since the abduction, saying his government is seeking assistance from the US and other world powers to tackle Nigeria’s “security challenge”. He vows to do everything to ensure the release of the girls.

It wasn’t really a surprise when the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau released a video on May 5, saying he was going to sell the girls as slaves. On 12th may, a video showing some of the girls was released, each of the girls was clad in a hijab. In this video, the Boko Haram leader demands for prisoner exchange. These girls are now captives planned to be traded for criminals or sold into slavery.

The international bodies have sympathized with the country, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNICEF has condemned the action. The United Kingdom has agreed to send experts to Nigeria to assist in the search for the girls, the United States military and law enforcement officers specializing in intelligence, investigations, hostage situations, information-sharing and victim assistance has arrived Nigeria to help salvage the situation. France has held a summit with Nigeria and its neighbours to tackle the issue; China has announced its intention to make available any useful information acquired by its satellites and intelligence service. Canadian Prime Minister has acknowledged that Canadians have joined in the effort too, Iran has offered to help and the Israeli team of intelligence experts have arrived.

It is 43 days in the jungle with strangers; no child should be made to undergo something as traumatizing as this. That is why this year’s Children’s day calls for a solemn assembly; it is not enough for us to bombard the social media with our campaign, protest round the street, rain abuses and curses on the government. Let us all gathers in our various homes, community, churches, and states and ask for God’s intervention. If you think this do not concern you, it could be your turn tomorrow. Let us work towards a safe Nigeria for our Children.

Happy Children’s Day

Long live Nigeria

Adeola Aderonke Adegoke

@adeoladegoke

Tv Presenter

@nftv1

#Bringbackourgals

Dear Papa,
I miss every one of you so much but I miss mama more, I can imagine the pains she’s going through because no one knows where I am. I couldn’t even get to wish her Happy Mothers’ Day on Sunday.
By now you should have seen my face in the video sent by that evil man, Shekau. They made us do it; they said our lives depend on it. I’m sorry Papa.
Twenty seven days in this den is more than a girl of my age should bear, I can’t sleep because of fear of what these animals can do to us. There is a rumour in the camp that we will be sold off if the federal government refuses to negotiate. I do not wish to be sold like a slave neither do I want the captured members released. I am confused Papa.
It was like the guys keeping watch over us yesterday were talking about foreign military. Is America here? If they are, I’m sure they will get us out of this place soon. Didn’t you always say Americans are smarter and that someday I will go there to become smarter too?
Papa since we got to this place I have never stopped praying to God, I pray in my heart every minute hoping that God would listen and deliver us from the hands of this Bokoharam people. I am growing tired and weary papa, I want to come home. I want to continue my education and become an engineer like Uncle Marc; I want to go on that trip to Ahmadu Bello University and University of Maiduguri so I can decide which one I want to attend. I want to visit Aunty in Lagos so that I can get to know my cousins. I wish this was just a nightmare where I get to wake up in my dorm at Chibok, write my exams and have my valedictory where I will give a speech titled “My days at Chibok”.
I know someday I will be back home, I am anticipating the hugs and pats from you. I am imagining the tears as mama draws me close to her bosom never letting go, thanksgiving in church with the pastor offering special prayers for me. I want a happily ever after Papa. Bring me home.
Your daughter,

@adeolaadegoke

#bringbackourgalscompleteandalive

Fellow Nigerians (ohk, I know how that sounded. I’m not the president’s spokesperson neither will I want to associate myself with such a clueless leader).
I have silently monitored the Chibok kidnapping saga and the #bringbackourgirls campaign and in lieu of unfolding events I think it’s time to join my voice to the voices that are daily protesting for or against this cause.
I’m still confused at how over 200 girls (we don’t even know the exact numbers) could be kidnapped from a school where they are supposed to be protected by the school authority and the government. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at all, at least students were murdered in cold blood at FGC burni yadi recently too and heaven didn’t fall. But seriously, if the school authority knows that the school environment isn’t safe enough for these kids, they could have done well by sending them home to their parents.
It is exactly 24 days since these girls got missing, yet there are no clear evidence of who these girls are and how many they are. We are yet to know their names, no pictures of them (let’s assume picture taking isn’t the rave of the moment in the north, they still need passport for their ssce exam), no pictures or names of those allegedly escaped. Maybe I’m not being sensitive here but I will like to hear from two or more parents who actually have their daughters among the victims.
If we are going to bring back our girls, we need facts to work on. The chibok girls could as well be passing through a town now but since no one knows what they look like, they have no chance of being rescued. We do not care if they are Muslims or Christians; no girl-child deserves to be captured and made to do God-knows what or sold out like a property to some man with an animalistic nature.
Maybe the government is hiding something or the school authority is I care less. They should know by now that this is a full blown case that even the theatrical performance of the nation’s first lady cannot cover up. So in the best interest of peace, let our Dear President Jona who would go gallivanting around and end up asking a journalist for information about the country he’s presiding on and his Lady Macbeth who could not even act the script well give us the information we need about these girls and bring them back home complete and alive.
Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria
#Bringbackourgirlscompleteandalive