There is no let-off to the mindless and incessant attacks on innocent citizens by Boko Haram, a faceless group of blood-thirsty sadists marauding as new day Jihadists. Distressing images of gory deaths, lost limbs, arms and eyes as well as wanton destruction of properties mostly churches in the North-eastern part of the country notably in Maiduguri, the Bornu State capital is what Nigerians are being forced to endure. The sect has made incursions into Bauchi, Kaduna and Niger States. They are getting more daring by the day.
In the run-up to the last elections, large caches of arms capable of mass destruction believed to have been imported from Iran were seized at the Ports. Did our security forces bother to establish if that was part of an orchestrated plan to what is presently being played out? Were those behind it identified and brought to book? This is Nigeria’s own war on terror. Terrorism breeds fear, mass terror and insecurity which compel their targets to capitulate and succumb to unreasonable demands. Nigerians are watching in abated breaths to see if the Federal government will cower to terror or take a stand against an unholy blackmail.
In the confessions made by the Boko Haram bandits arrested with their leader Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, most of them cannot read or write, they cannot even read the Holy Quran which they purportedly want our secular country to adopt! It is obvious these bands of itinerant dregs have some collaborators with bomb-making skills who are able to package bombs, possibly as sponsors who understand terrorism as a modern political tactic. It is inconceivable that illiterates could gather bomb-making materials, assemble them as bombs and use it to maximum effect. Using them as couriers who deliver these deadly weapons, all their sponsors would have had to do is to indoctrinate the mumus, what a fool believes, he sees. Karl Marx once said that “Religion is the opium of the people”.
But, it is dishonest to adduce these as the reasons for the nefarious activities of Boko Haram bandits as advanced by their apologists. Based on empirical study or cognisance fact, Boko Haram’s terror bears no semblance, direct or implied to either the Tunisian Intifada or the Egyptian Intifada. Both were intensive campaign of civil disobedience for meaningful change. They were mainly non-violent, the violence recorded were by the security forces against demonstrators from diverse socio-economic and religious backgrounds. Consequently, the geriatric regimes of Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak were toppled by people’s collective action.
Whereas Boko Haram’s stated goal is to impose Sharia on everybody, Muslims, Christians, Indigenous African faith believers and atheists in Nigeria, from the semi-arid Bornu to Lagos and from the Sokoto Caliphate to Eket! Boko Haram literally means “Western education is sin”. Their ridiculous slogans are “Education is prohibited”, “Western education is banned”. Judging by their atrocities, Boko Haram means terror. Its members and sponsors are a mob of scoundrels.
Eye-witness accounts claimed to have spotted some of them wearing jeans and T-shirts while bringing terror to bear on innocent people!
Hiding behind the facade of religion to perpetrate dastard acts of killing and maiming innocent people is not Islamic. The Holy Quran abhors such atrocities, according to Surat Al Maidah 5, Ayat 32, to kill a man unjustly is like killing humanity while to save a soul is like saving humanity. Christians, Mulims, followers of other faiths and atheists number among the victims of Boko Haram’s atrocities. Their terrorist acts run counter to their Muslim faith. Boko Haram’s terror is not Halal but Haram, hence its followers cannot be holy warriors. Islam is a religion of peace.
One cannot help the feeling that there is an underlying political agenda to their terror campaign. It would appear these violent terror campaign by a loony sect which operates on a lunatic fringe are part an orchestrated attempt to destabilise the present government as promised by some desperate northern politicians.
Additionally, the three politicians must distance themselves from “this illegal democracy and give unalloyed support towards entrenching Sharia System”.
The threat against the three notable politicians from the North-east on its own is criminal. If a serving governor is not safe and subject to the fear of an outlawed group, who else is safe? Also implicit in these threats is treason against the Federal Republic of Nigeria government. The three spineless politicians have duly complied post-haste as if to confirm that the fear of Boko Haram is the beginning of all wisdom!
Governor Isa Yuguda should have distanced himself from this “illegal democracy” by abdicating his position as Governor to demonstrate full compliance with the terrorists order. Perhaps, the next thing Boko Haram should ask for is an apology from President Jonathan for putting the JTF on the streets of Maiduguri and its environs with specific demand that he surrender our sovereignty to these monsters of terror. Thereinafter, they can rename Nigeria as the Islamic Republic of Yusuffiyya! Cowardice is not a mark of leadership.
Unconfirmed reports have fingered Ali Modu Sheriff as one of the main backers of Boko Haram. So could it be that he simulated Boko Haram’s threat to Isa Yuguda, Danjuma Goje and himself as a smokescreen? What manner of leaders do we have in Nigeria? While police men are being killed and members of the public are being slaughtered almost on a daily basis by a group whose savagery is a blot on all true Muslims and civilised people, politicians from Borno State are rooting for a negotiated settlement rather than a decisive military option that will permanently deter the terrorists and their sponsors.
Those culpable regardless of how highly or lowly placed must be made to account for their misdeeds. There must be no sacred cows and there should be no resort to extra-judicial killings either in the form of pre-emptive strikes or in response to terror attacks. Summary execution of arrested sect members is just as barbaric as the despicable acts of terror being prosecuted by the terrorists. Religion is no alibi for terrorism and politics is no excuse for murder.
–Agencies