The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • Security agents search for kidnapped French family

    Security agents search for kidnapped French family

    Security agents were in a “massive manhunt” Friday for the kidnapped members of the family after Paris said the abductors had likely separated the victims into two groups.

    “As long as there are rumours of their cross-border movements, then security agencies must be intensely searching for them,” police spokesman Frank Mba told AFP, adding that there was a “massive manhunt.”

    He, however, could not provide few other details on the operation to free the family, which includes two parents, four children aged 5 to 12 and an uncle, including who may be the suspects behind the abductions on Tuesday.

    The family was abducted while visiting a national park in Cameroon by six armed suspected Islamists on three motorbikes.

    On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande said the family members were probably being held in two groups.

    Cameroon authorities said the victims were then taken over the border into Nigeria’s northeast, a restive region where insurgents from Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and criminal gangs have long operated.

    While French officials have named Boko Haram as the likely culprits, a splinter faction of the group known as Ansaru, which has risen in prominence in recent weeks, appears to have focused on targeting foreign hostages.

    Ansaru claimed the December kidnapping of a French national in northern Nigeria and the abduction of seven foreigners from a construction site in Bauchi State at the weekend.

    In statements, Ansaru has protested against France’s efforts against Islamist rebels in Mali.

     

  • Amnesty for Boko Haram?

    Amnesty for Boko Haram?

    SIR: When I read about what is happening in Nigeria, I feel sorry for the country. Recently I read that northern leaders are canvassing that the terrorists murderers, and rapists should be granted amnesty so that there can be peace in the country.

    This type of arguments sounds foolish and runs contrary to common wisdom. The truth is where is the justice in granting amnesty to terrorists, murderers and rapist (Boko Haram)? There can never be peace in Nigeria until justice is done and seen to be done by everybody.

    These people who are canvassing for amnesty for the terrorists do not understand the extent of the damage they are doing to the country. If the government out of cowardice accedes to this, it will be a doom for the country.

     

    • Martin

    South Africa.

  • ‘Boko Haram is all about Sharia’

    ‘Boko Haram is all about Sharia’

    Fred Agbeyegbe is a renowned lawyer, human rights activist and a foremost member of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). He is also a playwright. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, he tackles many national issues bordering on the corporate existence of Nigeria and why religion and oil will continue to dominate national focus in the country.

     

    At 78, and in retrospect, would you say that most of the social ills you attacked in your plays such as The King Must Dance Naked have been solved?

    Of course not. They’ve not been achieved. To achieve those things, we need a change of mind on the part of the leaders of Nigeria. The people who rule us in this country – they are called all sorts of names, the elites and so on and so forth. For me, elitism in Nigeria is fake. The people who go into politics in Nigeria are not the elites. The elites are in fact far removed from government administration. They are the people who have been frustrated out of their minds because all the thinking they have to better the lives of Nigerians are not allowed. This is due to the usurpation of the political space by those who call themselves politicians.

    You mentioned NADECO and then paused. You played a major role in that group; how do you think the coalition fared in achieving democracy for Nigeria?

    Well, maybe I should put the question back to you. I was part of it. Do you think NADECO did the right thing to achieve democracy for us or to remove the military from government? I will say they did. NADECO did well. Ah, maybe NADECO did not do the right thing. The only thing we’ve been accused of most of the time now is that we brought out the modalities to ensure that we have a good country. But when it comes to actually taking over government, we either shied away or ran away.

    Maybe we cannot now complain from what we are seeing because of that, people feel we should have stayed to put the real government in place. Well, it depends on how you look at it. We were not canvassing to become governors and presidents or whatever. We were just simply saying you cannot have the country the way it was, and we are still thinking even now that you cannot have a country as it is now.

    Yes, the military is gone. There is no more (Gen. Sani) Abacha and so on. But I don’t think things are much different from what we had before now. The situation, to me has not changed much and that is why we feel we would have done much more thereafter.

    You are from the Niger Delta. How do you assess the situation there where thugs and kidnappers hold sway in a democratic environment?

    Well, I don’t know if you are correct by suggesting that that is what the youths are doing – the thugs, the kidnappers, the hoodlums of this country, all come from the Niger Delta. Far from it, in fact, the issue of insecurity you are talking about never started from the Niger Delta. No. The truth about the Niger Delta is that we were being oppressed. And even now, we are still being oppressed. Never mind that somebody from the Niger Delta is the head of the Nigerian government.

    The rules Jonathan is operating – the constitution he swore to uphold was not written by Niger Deltans. And nobody consulted any member of this society before the rules were put in place, not to talk of the Niger Delta. So, he is not doing what the Niger Delta people asked him to do. He is doing his own.

    What the Niger Delta people are saying is that you came to our backyard, you dug the place, pollute the air, give us ill-health, and then take the thing and go share it somewhere else… Now you come back to give us crump from the table. And we say that is not acceptable to us. Then they came with what they called amnesty. Maybe they don’t know the meaning of the word amnesty. Amnesty has a specific meaning either in English or in the dictionary or in law or in whatever. What the Niger Delta people were doing does not need amnesty. The fact that they have accepted it like that is just to make peace.

    So, for you the amnesty thing is not right?

    Of course, it was never right. What has it achieved? Have the people of Niger Delta got what they wanted? Have they? I ask you. What they set out to get with the struggle has it ended? Don’t you read what Asari Dokubo says every day? Does he not make sense to you? So, often, you ask yourself, what has the government done? Jonathan is in Aso Rock, so what? Is that what the people were fighting for?

    But the amnesty is said to be one of the reasons we have Boko Haram today?

    (Laughing) Ah, ah, well, they have to say something. They have to! Did Niger Delta people talk about religion? Do you do this because of what? What is the real reason for what Boko Haram is doing compared to the reason Niger Delta began what they did? How are the people being oppressed, that will bring about Boko Haram? What sort of injustice has been meted out in this country to the Northerners that will bring Boko Haram? How do you compare the two situations that will make them to do what they are doing? Nothing.

    So, what sort of political rubbish is that? Didn’t you hear what the Sultan of Sokoto said recently concerning the Boko Haram menace? That all the problems of the North came from the North and created by Northerners! Don’t listen to any excuse because I say don’t come and pollute my backyard. Don’t come and cause me health problems. Don’t come and take our God-given resource under the soil. And then Boko Haram people are annoyed. Why should they?

    In fact, as far as I am concerned all of us are misreading what the Boko Haram people are asking for. They are saying that they are the sovereign people and owners of their land where they stay. And they want to practice Sharia laws and nobody in this world can stop them. It doesn’t matter how many constitutions you make; they want a Sharia state for themselves and probably for the nation.

    And they have been practising Sharia laws a long time ago. The Northern states had Sharia laws, cutting off people’s limbs for offending their laws. Nobody has stopped them from doing it. Keep your Sharia laws to yourself because I am not a Muslim. Don’t come and operate it in my area. In fairness to them, they are not even saying they want to come and operate it in my area. They are saying leave my area alone for me. I want to have it alone and I want to practise Sharia Law.

    Then shouldn’t we say also say leave my Niger Delta to me? Don’t touch my oil or pollute my air or inflict health problem on me? These are the issues and we have to get them right.

    What is your stand on the 1999 Constitution?

    In the first place, we have no constitution. As long as what we have as a constitution was concocted by the military, it will not serve the desired purpose for a democratic society. The constitution we have today is far from being a perfect document to govern the nation well.

    It is a military document. And with that, you cannot genuinely practice democracy. They did it in an attempt to continue to lord it over all Nigerians. Well, we are a long way from perfection. What is the nature of the judiciary? It is not everything that happens in the judiciary that you can call the dispensing of justice.

    So, what is the constitution when people’s rights cannot be adequately protected or guaranteed? No matter the nature of the constitution you give to this country, so long as the Nigerian factor is there, we’ll never make progress. If you like bring a Togolese or Ghanaian to come over here to rule.

    As it is now, the National Assembly itself has no power to make the constitution. They have not been given the power to do so. All aspects of that 1999 Constitution are not only concocted, but a forgery. And any document that tells lies about itself does not stand. It is a forgery. At least from the little law that I know, that is the true situation. So then, the nation itself is run on the basis of forgery.

    Even the power to review the constitution doesn’t belong to the National Assembly. They cannot even be given the power to review it by anybody. That is the much I can say about that.

    Now, the federal government has decided to send troops to Mali to help quell the insurgency there. What is your take on this?

    That is international politics as far as I am concerned. You might argue and say they have not been able to take care of insecurity under their nose, then why are they going to save other people? But there are some valid points in saying that these things have a domino effect. If one place is likely to carry on as they do in Mali now and no one intervenes, more will come up sooner or later. The issue of contiguity are also involved in this matter.

    So, the policy of the federal government is that they want to contain it before it gets to our shores. I cannot fault them that.

    Now, let’s go to your artistic involvements. When you started Ajo Productions in 1983, what did you really have in mind?

    Ajo Productions is my theatre ensemble. It was established in 1983 to put up plays written by me on stage. And that is what we have been doing ever since. We also have what we call Lagos Theatre Associates. It is a collaboration outfit with Ajo Productions to do a lot of things. While Ajo Productions is a theatre group meant to put up plays by professional theatre actors and practitioners, Lagos Theatre Associates is an attempt to ensure that plays are always on stage. And you can immediately know the implications of that. Being always on stage means that there should continually be entertainment for the working people of Nigeria, who, after their tired week can relax. It means that the opportunity will be provided for the theatre or the actors to comment continuously on what is going on in the society.

    It means that there will always be employment for actors and actresses. So, it means that there will be attention all the time to art education. So, when you put all that together, it is a social service that Lagos Theatre Associates are rendering.

    How do you combine theatre and your law practice?

    (Laughs) Well, the theatre thing; I never went to any formal school to train as an artiste or as a playwright. So you have to ask the good Lord where that gift came from. The prowess with which I have been endowed, I am not the one to determine it and so I am carrying on with it. But I have been writing ever since I can remember and I enjoy every bit of it. So far, I have over eight plays to my credit.

    On the law side, it is my profession and I am still there. And I so believe in it that my children – two of them, are also lawyers. I have a grandchild who is equally a lawyer. So, I think that is enough commitment.

    What level in life has theatre taken you to?

    Well, I am sitting on top of the world. My plays are being distributed all over the world. It is on Amazon and so on and so forth. And I am sure you know that at the last Olympics, The King Must Dance Naked was one of the official plays staged in England.

    So far, I can never stop writing plays. At least I have six in the works now. And we just pray for long life so we can continue to write more plays.

    Do you hope to put them into movies someday?

    You see, that is the problem with this country. I shouldn’t be the one to do that. People should be interested in what other people do. But who knows, maybe when I find the money, I can do that.

    There is no theatre in Nigeria because the government who should be providing the infrastructure does not care. The government is not prepared to invest in theatre.

     

  • Boko Haram: 40 widows get cash from Borno governor’s wife

    Forty women whose husbands died in Boko Haram attacks in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and neighbouring Jere, yesterday received N100,000 cash from the governor’s wife, Hajiya Nana Shettima.

    Some of the women said they lost as many as six children and their husbands during the attacks.

    One of the women, who drew tears from all at the cash presentation, said her husband, a political appointee, and children, were killed in her presence by suspected members of the sect.

    Hajiya Shettima, who has a foundation for widows, orphans and the less privileged, named SWOT, said she is always moved by the plight of vulnerable women and the poor.

    She said the beneficiaries were selected from Maiduguri and Jere, being the most affected parts of the state in Boko Haram attacks.

    The governor’s wife said the gesture would be subsequently extended to other parts of the state, adding that she would take away the pains and loss of the beneficiaries.

    Hajiya Shettima urged the women to use the money judiciously to support their families and stop begging on the streets for food.

    The governor’s wife assured that the gesture would continue until it reaches other widows across the state.

    The Commissioner for Women’s Affairs Hajiya Inna Galadima said the ministry had set up a committee to go round the two local governments to residents whose homes were burnt or husbands killed.

    She said the committee came back with a list, from which 40 women were selected for the first batch.

  • Boko Haram: FG considering response to ceasefire –Sambo

    Boko Haram: FG considering response to ceasefire –Sambo

    The Federal Government  said yesterday that it recognises and welcomes the cease-fire announced by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, and is considering how to respond to it.

    Vice President Namadi Sambo speaking in Maiduguri, Borno State, the hot bed of the sect’s insurgency said  government will do all within its power to restore peace to all areas affected by the Boko Haram crisis.

    “We welcome the cease-fire offer announced recently by the Boko Haram group and we will do everything as a government to see that we achieve a lasting peace in Nigeria,” Sambo told reporters.

    “That is why the federal government is seriously consulting on the best approach to handle the cease-fire offer,” he added.

    Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz had earlier informed reporters also in Maiduguri that the group agreed to put down arms on the condition that its members were freed from prisons. He said the group made the decision after meetings with the Borno State government.

    However, hours  after the cease-fire was announced, the Joint Military Task Force, backed by helicopter gunships, raided two Boko Haram camps in Borno and killed 17 of their members in gunfights, while one soldier was killed in the clashes on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, Sagir Musa, spokesman for the force, said in Borno.

  • Boko Haram ‘ceasefire’

    Boko Haram ‘ceasefire’

    Chinua Achebe quipped in one of his novels, quoting an Igbo proverb: when a bully sees someone he can beat up, he becomes hungry for a fight. The attitude that drives bullies is cowardice. So, the converse to that Igbo proverb is when a bully sees someone that can beat him up, he scurries away like a rat.

    That explains Boko Haram, the terrorist group’s sudden unilateral declaration of ceasefire. When it was busy running rings round Goodluck Jonathan’s security apparatuses, Imam Abubakar Shekau and his group were waxing bloodily lyrical as to how they would finish with the North and go on to Islamise the whole of Nigeria. They even told Jonathan to convert to Islam as a prelude to any peace talk! Shekau even rhapsodised on some exclusive divine charter from ‘Allah’, to kill his enemies – as if God, that created Man, needed any man to fight His battles.

    But now that the French are pacifying the Mali base of the cowardly Boko Haram leaders, they are scurrying home and panting “ceasefire”; in a fond hope to turn looming defeat into a victory of sorts – not unlike the dead Osama Bin Laden that hid in the dubious safety of rocks, but told brain-washed suicide bombers to go kill themselves and thousands of innocent others for a false cause.

    But make no mistake. Boko Haram and its mass murder serve as wake-up call from the iniquity of running this country. President Jonathan is not the strongest president in Nigerian history. But his glaring weakness in confronting the Boko Haram crisis goes beyond his perceived weakness or strength. And the collateral damage, in lost lives, hacked limbs and shattered psyches, desecrated worship places, is glaring but tragic comeuppance for a nation ever willing to be hustled and bustled into systemic injustices.

    Jonathan’s road to the presidency was clearly controversial, if not outright iniquitous; given the brazen abrogation of his party’s zoning principle. When this debate raged, Nigerians almost as a consensus, hee-hawed; when they should have spoken out on principle.

    So when the first Boko Haram mass slaughter hit the polity, Jonathan, perhaps smitten by his own conscience, felt obliged to appease. But the more he did that, the more contemptuous his traducers – angry victims of an unfair power deal – appeared to become. We must note that his olive branch was tentative and gloatingly hypocritical. Hence, the lexicon: “political Boko Haram”, made a tragic entry into the polity. For a society that readily acquiesces to injustice, the Boko Haram mass destruction was a tragic consequence. We hope everyone has learnt their lessons.

    That brings the question to Boko Haram and its demands, in exchange for some “amnesty”, which in real terms sound more like amnesia. But amnesia is the costliest commodity this polity can afford right now, if it is not to sink in a messier bog in the immediate future.

    Interestingly, some “Northern elders” under the auspices of the Northern Development Focus Initiative (NDFI) are already pushing for “amnesty” in a surface link with the Niger Delta amnesty package, which curbed the swamp terrorism in the South.

    Many might even wax poetic by this poser: if the late Umaru Yar’Adua, a “northern” president could fix the Niger Delta crisis, why shouldn’t President Jonathan, a “southern” president, draw the curtains on Boko Haram’s urban warfare?

    There is no reason why not. To start with, terrorism is terrorism. It did not matter if Niger Delta militants were attacking oil installations; and the Boko Haram lunatics are bombing innocent citizens in the streets, many of them luckless Christians in their churches, muslims in mosques, merchandisers in the open markets and vulnerable police officers who never had any quarrel with Boko Haram; or demystifying the Nigerian state by facing down and “vanquishing” the Police, prime symbol of power and authority of the Nigerian state.

    So, if you could do a deal with Niger Delta militants and later set many of them up with juicy federal contracts, why not also pat Boko Haram leaders in the back and hand them their own golden handshakes? Amnesia is amnesia. If you can, for “peace”, forget the havoc of militants, so can you for the havoc of Boko Haram murderers!

    Beyond sarcasm, however, there are at least two definitive differences in the end game of the two crises: the Niger Delta militants were close to defeat; and the amnesty deal was some face-saving device. In the present case, Boko Haram is far from defeat. So, those crowing amnesty must know that, as things stand, should the French go back to Paris, Boko Haram can restart where it left off.

    But more fundamentally, the Niger Delta amnesty was basically a deal for agents of the Nigerian state to have more access to oil and its endless gravy. In the case of Boko Haram, there is no such consensus based on strategic greed.

    All Boko Haram has left in its trail is a smouldering North: troubled politics, prostrate economy, ruptured society, especially along religious and sectarian lines, and a shattered psyche. In other words, if indeed there is anything like “political Boko Haram” as alleged, all it has done is cut the North’s nose to spite its face; while hoping to put Jonathan’s nose out of joint. So those “northern elders” who push for amnesty based on amnesia should think twice: an un-decapitated Boko Haram may yet wreak more havoc for that region, its luckless people and the Federal Republic.

    While the Jonathan presidency must make some compromises for peace, such compromises must not be at the expense of justice – for there can be no peace without justice. That is why it must rigorously examine Boko Haram demands and only grant those that are reasonable.

    If Boko Haram, for instance, asks for their mosques to be rebuilt, that demand is reasonable, equitable, just and fair. If the state knows its Basic Law guarantees freedom of worship and still recklessly goes ahead to destroy places of worship, it must pay for its constitutional crime. If that would come in rebuilding mosques and paying compensation, so be it.

    But the Boko Haram request that its detained members should be released is patently absurd. How can the state release willful and murderous criminals? If there is any soft-landing at all, it should be for the brainwashed canon fodders. To serve as deterrent, the Boko Haram ring leaders must be made to pay for their crime, though in the spirit of compromise, the severity of the penalty could be tempered.

    Beyond reasonable and unreasonable demands, however, the Nigerian state should evolve an economic recovery and rehabilitation template for post-Boko Haram North to wipe out the poverty that has served as convenient nursery for Abubakar Shekau and his doctrinal anarchists to thrive.

    It is time the North – and the country – made a fresh start. But that should be under the template of a reworked and productive federal system.

     

  • Umar to Boko Haram: Forget Sharia if ….

    Umar to Boko Haram: Forget Sharia if ….

    Former military governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar (rtd) has told leaders and members of the Boko Haram sect to forget their demand for the institutionalization Sharia law for states in northern Nigeria if they are serious about dialoguing with the Federal Government.

    On the other hand, Umar also charged the Federal Government to show commitment in the fight against corruption and unemployment if indeed the government is sincere in its quest to end the spate of insecurity in the land.

    In a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, Umar blamed both the Federal Government and Boko Haram for the number of deaths and destruction of property brought about by bombings across many states in the north, particularly in the north east.

    According to the radical former military governor, it would be futile and unreasonable for Boko Haram to insist on Islamisation of any part of the north as the sect had often demanded as one of the conditions for peace.

    He reminded the sect members on the secularity of the Nigerian state as enshrined in the Constitution, stressing that there is no state in northern Nigeria that does not have its own fair share of indigenous Christian and Moslem population.

    Umar said, “They should not forget that the Constitution says Nigeria is a secular state. That means we cannot run the country as a theocracy, otherwise we cannot remain as one.

    “They should also know that the north is neither a purely Islamic territory nor a Christian territory. So if they are seeking to impose Sharia on any part of the country as a condition for dialogue, it will never work.

    “Let them imagine what Nigeria will be like if every religious organisation seeks to impose its own doctrine on any party of the country. If that happens, then we can no longer remain as one country. Northern Nigeria cannot be cut off from the rest.

    “So if the institutionalization of Sharia in the north is one of the conditions the leaders of Boko Haram are projecting for dialogue, then they should perish the thought because that is not achievable.”

     

  • ‘Boko Haram, a threat to Europe, U.S’

    ‘Boko Haram, a threat to Europe, U.S’

    Russ Feingold, the former chairman of the United States of America’s Senate Foreign Relations Sub-committee on Africa has called for more attention by and the United States on the activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria.

    “Boko Haram’s likely links to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and AQIM’s recent activities in Mali as well as Algeria, show why we (U.S.A) cannot afford to address this national security priority as if it were a compartmentalized country-by-country threat.

    “Africa has become a hotbed of terrorist group activity, and potentially poses an immediate logistical threat to Europe and the United States,” Feingold said in a statement.

    The author of the 2012 New York Times bestseller, “While America Sleeps – A Wake-up Call for the Post-9/11 Era” pleaded with the members of the U.S Senate Foreign Relations Committee to heed the warning of the United State Outgoing Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton who likened terror threat in Africa, “at this time, to the Al Qaeda threat in Afghanistan, as of September 11, 2011”.

  • Boko Haram: Light at the end of the tunnel?

    Boko Haram: Light at the end of the tunnel?

    Since the end of the civil war, no calamity of enormous proportion has befallen the fledgling nation-state more than the horror unleashed by the dreadful sec-Boko Haram. Many lives have been lost. Property worth billions of naira have been destroyed. Nobody is insulated from the attack. Government officials and buildings, traditional rulers, police and military formations and church worshippers are targets. On daily basis, there is panic. The fear of the invincible agitators has become the beginning of wisdom.

    The invincible agitators’ projected demands are inexplicable. They are offensive to civilisation. It is a paradox that a sect that has proposed an end to Western education in the North is addicted to bombings, which is an invention and legacy of the Western world. Retired military officers have warned that, if this trend of violence is not halted, urban warfare may be imminent.

    Observers contends that the political undertone of the curious war by the bombers may have been inadvertently ignored. It is also confounding that the sponsors of these destructive acts cannot be traced by intelligence agents. Indeed, the failed attempts at curbing the activities of the sect have created a hollow in the record of President Goodluck Jonathan in the critical area of national security. At a time, there was confusion in the government as the Commander-in-Chief cried out that Boko Haram had invaded his cabinet.

    It was therefore, a cheery news that a faction of the sect led by Abubakar Shekau announced a ceasefire yesterday. Reports indicated that members of the faction laid down their weapons and embraced dialogue. Their mood however, suggested that they have only temporarily suspended hostilities. The ceasefire is not final. Analysts warn that it may pale into a camouflage surrender, if their conditions are not met. Poignantly, the fighters have demanded for the release of their members who are in detention.

    If this ‘offer’ by Boko Haram is effectively managed, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for the trembling polity. Other factions within the sect may toe the same line, based on the olive branch waxed at their colleagues quitting the war. Some stakeholders have canvassed a semblance of amnesty, but those who object to this idea have come up with the explanation that what Boko Haram is fighting for is unknown. Yet, if those laying down arms are made to regret their actions and retrace their steps, they would wreak more havoc.

    But there are some questions also begging for answers: what fraction of the whole sect is laying down arms? Can government dialogue with the faction, to the exclusion of the entire Boko Haram family? What is the reaction of the sect’s other members, who are waxing stronger on the battle front and not ready to explore the dialogue option? Is Boko Haram now factionalised? Are members developing cold feet because the government is about to gain upper hand, judging by the military bombardment of their base in Mali, which is believed to be lending support for the violence in Northern Nigeria? Can suspects be released as demanded by the sect without facing the wrath of the law for blood-letting? What is the implication of dialogue with the bombers?

    Stakeholders who have objected to dialogue with Boko Haram sect pointed out that the approach is defeatist. They also submitted that dialogue with similar organisations in many African and Asian countries never yielded dividends of peace. Others canvassed the option of daring the arsonists by tracking them down and bringing them to justice. Their argument is that the nation is in agony and thirsty for justice.

    The government has exercised caution in its response to this emergency. Like sensitive war-time leaders, President Jonathan has not done anything to aggravate the tense situation. He has rejected the pressure to label the members of the sect as terrorists. That approach, fundamentally, is conciliatory. But the broader objective of dialogue may also be explored, as it is being argued, for the purpose of unveiling the power brokers sustaining the onslaught against the country. Indisputably, security agents have failed to nip the activities of the sect in the bud. Therefore, dialogue on a wider scale may also reveal the strength of the sect, the identity of its financiers, arms suppliers, links with terrorist organisations and real motivation for the affront.

    However, dialogue has limitation. Though, as a veritable tool for crisis resolution and peace making, dialogue with Boko Haram sect will require more political and professional skills.

  • Boko Haram history

    Boko Haram history

    The Boko Haram sect, though has been existence since 2001, did not become popular in the country until 2009, when it participated actively in sectarian violence, which occurred then in Jos, Plateau State.

    Mohammed Yusuf, who remained the group’s leader until he was killed by soldiers in 2009, founded the Boko Haram sect.

    After his death, Abubakar Shekau became the new Boko Haram leader, a position he still holds till date.

    Other prominent members of the group include Abul Qaqa and Abu Zaid. Both Qaqa and Zaid have been acting as the sect’s spokesmen.

    Even though the group started out as a purely Islamic group, the disposition of the group became questionable for three reasons. Firstly, the sect is not only out for non-Muslims, it is fighting the government as well. This is evident in the group’s bombings of the United Nations (UN) House in Abuja and other government owned structures.

    Secondly, recent Boko Haram news showed that the sect has non-Muslims as its members.

    Thirdly, the group has not spared some prominent Muslims, as they had attacked mosques and killed Islamic religious leaders in the past.

    The Boko Haram crisis, which is still ravaging Nigeria to date started formally in 2009 with the sectarian religious violence between rival Islamic groups in Plateau State.

    Since 2009, no fewer than 10,000 people have been killed in various activities spearheaded by the group.

    September 7, 2010

    •Bauchi prison break and 720 prisoners including 105 suspected sect members set free.

    December 31, 2010

    •Simultaneous attacks on military barracks in Abuja and Kuru, near Jos, Plateau State

    April 22, 2011

    •Yola jailbreak in which 14 prisoners, suspected to be sect members were freed.

    May 29, 2011

    •Multiple bombings in different locations in the North

    June 16, 2011

    •Bombing of the Nigeria Police Headquarters, Abuja

    June 26, 2011

    •Bombing of a beer parlour in Maiduguri, in which 25 people died and 12 others severely injured

    August 12, 2011

    •Killing of prominent Muslim cleric Liman Bana

    August 26, 2011

    •Bombing of the United Nations (UN) House in Abuja. twenty-three persons were killed and 129 others injured.

    November, 2011

    •Attack on the convoy of Bornu State Governor Kashim Shettima on his return from a trip abroad.

    •Coordinated bombing and shooting attacks on police facilities in Potiskum and Damaturu, Yobe State claimed 150 lives

    December 25, 2011

    •Multiple bomb attacks killed dozens including 35 worshippers at St. Therasa Catholic Church, Madalla, Suleja.

    •Second explosion hit a Church in Jos, killing a policeman.

    •Two attacks on centres in Damaturu and another in Gadaka, Yobe State, claimed four lives.

    January 5 and 6, 2012

    •Multiple bombings recorded as the deadliest in Kano killed 180 people

    January 20, 2012

    •The Kano bombings

    February 8, 2012

    •Suicide bombing at the Army headquarters in Kaduna

    February 16, 2012

    •Prison break in Central Nigeria, 130 prisoners released

    April 26, 2012

    •Simultaneous bomb attacks on Thisday newspaper and Sun offices in Abuja and Kaduna

    June 3, 2012

    •15 Church-goers killed in Bauchi

    June 17, 2012

    •Suicide bombing attacks on three Churches in Kaduna claimed the lives of 100 worshippers.