News of the Week: Boko Haram in Nigeria

{member of Boko Haram (http://theeagleonline.com.ng/boko-
haram-slaughters-155-borno-adamawa-onslaught/)}

Boko Haram, or Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad (the Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad), is a Islamic militant terrorist organization that has been violently active in Nigeria, as well as parts of Cameroon and Niger, since its foundation in 2002. Boko Haram - which roughly translates to "Western education is sin" - seeks to stop Westernization in order to establish an Islamic state ruled purely by the sharia. The group's victims include Christians, Muslims, Westerners and those of the Islamic establishment who have spoken out against Boko Haram. Since Boko Haram's induction, the group has accounted for over 12,000 deaths.

Boko Haram is most active in the northeastern region of Nigerian, and parts of that region have declared as being in a state of emergency. 

{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Nigeria}

One of most dangerous elements of the Boko Haram is that no one fully understands how the group organizes itself. However, based on public appearance, the group's main leader seems to be Abubakar Shekau with his second in command being Momodu Bama. Further, the Nigerian government is overwhelmed with the presence of Boko Haram, and its tactics for handling the group are either ineffective or inhumane.

Boko Haram uses a contored interpretation of the edicts of scholars from the classical tradition to support their violence. They believe no one should indulge in Western education or work in a government-funded job. Everything relies on the emphasis on the sovereignty of God's law.

Many criticize the ideology behind Boko Haram because of its highly violent enforcement of Islam, which is traditionally a very peaceful religion. Islamic groups around the world agree that Boko Haram is misguided in its perception of the Islamic teachings, and instead, will lead to a stigma against the name of Islam.

In the early 1900s, the British took over northeastern Nigeria, spreading Christianity to the area along with Western secular education. This new form of teaching led many locals to develop strong suspicion towards secularity in general, and that is the root behind the increased dissatisfaction with westernization that sparked groups like Boko Haram.

Many of the Boko Haram's members started when the founder of group established a free mosque and a school from poor Nigerian families to enroll their children. However, the establishment revealed its ulterior motivation when the enrolled children developed into recruited Boko Haram members. The complex of the mosque and the school was relocated to Yobe in 2004 due to high unemployed youth numbers. The message of Boko Haram especially appeals to the impoverished and/or unemployed because of the clear goals based around religious devoutness of the group.

Until 2009, Boko Haram remained relatively peaceful; however, government officials received numerous warnings about the group preparing for something violent throughout the first seven years of the group's existence. Those warnings were acted upon in 2009 when the government cracked down, dis-arming and arresting some of the members. These crackdowns sparked deadly clashes between the Boko Haram and the Nigerian military, leading to over 700 deaths. While in police custody, Mohammed Yusuf was killed by the police officers, fueling a complete hatred toward the government all together. Before his death, the founder of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, interviewed with BBC in 2009 saying that the Earth is not actually spherical, that Darwinian evolution is a lie and rain is not truly water evaporated by the sun, citing contrast to Islamic teaching as his reasoning. He ended his interview claiming that Boko Haram's goal is to change the current education system in Nigeria to reflect the Islamic teachings and reject democracy.

As the group resorted itself out, no action happened until January 2011. At this time, the group killed four people in Borno. The new leader, and current leader, Abubakar Shekau was revealed. Shekau is much more ruthless and devout than Yusuf was, accounting for the increase in violence from the group.

The state of emergency status of Borno, Yobe and Adamawain was declared by Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan on May 14th, 2013. Constant military surveillance and civilian curfews have been put in place. Throughout May and April, the Nigerian military and Boko Haram fought for the territory, resulting in 200 deaths.

The inability of the Nigerian government to handle Boko Haram became clear in 2013, when Amnesty International accused the Nigerian government of human rights abuse when it was revealed the almost 1000 accused Boko Haram members had died over a 6 month span in government military run detention facility due to starvation, suffocation following overcrowding, or untreated wounds after severe beatings. Such intense treatment proves methods of intimidation and power plays rather than strategy.

Boko Haram has made headlines across the world most recently because on the night of April 14th 2014, almost 300 girls were kidnapped from a school in Borno. Shekau broadcast a video threatening to sell every girl into slavery unless every captured Boko Haram member was released from detention facilities. In a videotape, Shekau threatened to sell the kidnapped girls into slavery. Following this incident, Nigeria has offically declared war against Boko Haram and has gained support from Benin, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Britain, France, Israel, and the United States.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501