by Afolake Adeoba
President Goodluck Jonathan at the Reedemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Olive Tree Parish, Ikoyi, Lagos, recently, reiterated his belief that the violence being unleashed by the Boko Haram members on the North East represented Nigerians’ share of the negative news across the world. This was widely reported in the newspapers on February 17, 2014.
Boko Haram, in the past month, had killed dozens of people in Izghe, a village in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State. There was another massacre of 43 children at the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, at about 2.00a.m. when pupils were already asleep, on February 25.
Who are the members of this sect, Boko Haram? They are a group opposed to Western education. Their areas of operation include northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, southern Niger and Chad. Their ideology is Islamic extremism and Islamic fundamentalism, and their allies are Ansaru and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2001, and it has spiraled into its most violent phase since 2009.
Members of Boko Haram began waging war against the Nigerian state in 2009, with attacks on military, police facilities, churches, mosques, markets and drinking joints in different parts of the North and Abuja. In June 2011, a lone suicide bomber attacked the police headquarters in Abuja, killing one policeman, while 70 cars were burnt. In August 2011, they bombed the United Nations office in Abuja, killing a total of 45 persons. The dimension of their operation has now climaxed into attack on schools, killing innocent children, among which was an attack on a secondary School in Mamudo, Yobe State, killing at least 42 people. Again, on September 29, 2013, gunmen entered the male dormitory at the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Yobe State, killing 44 students and teachers. As a result of this insurgency, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states have been under emergency rule since May 2013.
As these gunmen slit throats, shoot and kill innocent people, they chant Allah Akbar, as if Allah sent them on the deadly mission.
In Islam, the name Allah is the Supreme; the Creator of the universe and omnipotent. Allah has never, and will never support the shedding of innocent blood. The voice of the Muslim faithful in Nigeria is too low to wage war against members of the Boko Haram sect, and it is sending a wrong signal to the entire world.
Is the silence as a result of the involvement of Islamic sponsors in terrorism in Nigeria with political undertone?
I, therefore, call on all and sundry, irrespective of religion, colour or tribe, to rise and fight these terrorists in our great country, Nigeria.
Afolake Adeoba may be reached at [email protected]
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author
