Boko Haram

As an outfall of the 2011 general elections rose the most deadly militant group in Nigerian history - Boko Haram.
Like a virus, they struck a couple of deadly blows and already seem to pose a much greater problem than the Niger Delta militants put together.They have proved far more deadly than MEND considering a major attack on the Police Force's Power house in the very heart of Abuja - Nigeria's seat of power.
Several comments have been made by prominent Nigerians including religious leaders as to the origin, nature and how the government should deal with them.Most are not without the usual religious and ethnic bias undertone.But the fact remains that Boko Haram is a terrorist group that claims affiliation to Islam (the religion of the majority in Northern Nigeria where it originated from).In my opinion, Boko Haram is a political group as against the extremist group as they are made to look like.I'll explain.
The name of the group - Boko Haram means "book is Haram", "book is unlawful", in plain English,Boko Haram means Western Education is forbidden.From the meaning of their name and considering the fact that they sprung from a Muslim dominated region of the country coupled with the fact that they claim to declare war on the Federal government until they are allowed to practice Shari'ah in the Northern part of he country was more than enough reason to dub them religious extremists.But a critical look into their activities so far and the shabby way the issue has been handled by security enforcement agencies despite their deadly strikes even by the President himself seems to tell a different story.I'll start from the name.
In Islam,knowledge is of top priority,be it religious or worldly.Knowledge and wisdom are things that every Muslim is mandated to seek no matter how far it is from his native home.Quotations like "wisdom is a lost treasure of the Muslims,so seek and claim it where ever you may find it","Seek for Knowledge even if you have to travel as far as China to get it","the ink of a scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr" are attributed to the Prophet of Islam,where then does the principle of "book is unlawful" springs from?
Their major claim by which all and sundry had held onto as the major evidence of the fact that they are Islamic extremists is the fact that they demanded for Shari'a implementation.Shari'a is not new in Nigeria, in fact, it's a recognized code of conduct in the Constitution of Nigeria.Any state like Zamfara may chose to make it their law.If this is true,then,on what basis would they clamor for Shari'a which has been recognized in Nigeria for as long as Nigeria itself existed?Having said that,it's time to examine government's role in all these.
The leader of Boko Haram was captured by the military and consequently handed over to the Police in one piece.It's the duty of the Police to conduct a comprehensive investigation into their activities and make arrests of the brains and sponsors behind Boko Haram.But what did the Police do with the leader of the sect?
Muhammed Yusuf's body was found lying in the filthy dirt outdoors with bullet injuries on his body.Yusuf was killed in the custody of the Police and till date the killer is yet to be fished out.The case was buried along with Late President Yar'adua who requested that the killer be fished out.
One may ask,who killed him and why,are there VIPs involved with Boko Haram,had Yusuf agreed to reveal his sponsors' IDs or do we have men in the force as members of the sect?These are questions that have been long ignored and after more than 8 incidents of bomb blasts within the short interval of like 2 years,I think it's time somebody started talking!
Jonathan,the President have been rather silent on this one and had in fact looked more confused.He's yet to make an elaborate speech on the issue and has practically kept mute all the while.That's not to forget the Governor of Borno state where it all began.He's in fact no where to be found in the picture,he doesn't seem concerned as I doubt if he had made the headlines concerning the crisis.
Another reason is the fact that they make use of bombs which could lead to their victims burning to death.If they were Islamic extremists,they wouldn't use it besides,guns and bombs are made from the study of physics and Chemistry which are more of books than otherwise.
These and many more reasons are why I believe Boko Haram is a terrorist group designed to take the appearance of a religious sect so as to adequately cover up the actual culprits who may be Muslims or Christians or a mixture of both (as far as I'm concerned).
Boko Haram is a faceless political terrorist group that has no religious affiliation as their activities is not supported by any known religion and the possibilities that they are sponsored by politicians either in power of with influences in the government are pretty high!