We Will Kill Again, Says Boko Haram -BluePrint Magazine
Quote:
Boko Haram yesterday reacted formally to the barrage of condemnations against its Christmas Day bombing, insisting that what it did was correct and vowed to carry out more attacks.
The Islamic sect, whose actual name is Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, confirmed in a statement issued by its leader Imam Abu-Muhammad Abubakar bin Muhammad Shekau that it was responsible for the December 25 bombing of a church in Madalla, a suburb of Abuja, in which at least 37 people were killed.
Shekau said in the statement written in the Hausa language and e-mailed to media houses by the group’s spokesman Abul Qaqa: “I am informing all Nigerians and the rest of the world that there is no doubt that we committed that act and God’s willing we will carry out further attacks.”
He revealed that the attacks are meant to avenge the “mass killing of Muslims carried out by Christians with the connivance of government” in northern towns like Kaduna, Zonkwa, Langtang, Yelwan Shendam, Jos, Tafawa-Balewa, and Numan, as well as in Shagamu and Ikoyi, Lagos in the south. The latest of such killings, according to the group, took place a few months ago on Eid el-Fitr Day in Jos, the Plateau state capital, during which non-Muslims cannibalised the burnt corpses of victims.
“We swear by Allah that we will avenge any form of injustice committed, being committed or to be committed against Muslims. This is just the beginning,” Shekau vowed.
http://saharareporters.com/news-page...print-magazine
Nigeria state of emergency
Albeit limited one:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16373531
Within the report:
Quote:
Earlier this week, leaders of neighbouring Chad and Cameroon were reported to have held talks about how they can help prevent the violence spreading to their countries.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram gives Christians 3 days to leave Northern Nigeria .....
This threat, if implemented could lead to reprisal attacks in the South. Boko Haram is smart enough to take advantage of a weak and directionless government at the centre.
Quote:
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — A purported spokesman for Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has issued an ultimatum to Christians in the country's north and threatened to confront troops after the president declared a state of emergency in hard hit areas.
Abul Qaqa, who has spoken on behalf of the group blamed for scores of attacks in Africa's most populous nation numerous times in the past, said he was giving southerners living in the north a three-day ultimatum to leave.
"We find it pertinent to state that soldiers will only kill innocent Muslims in the local government areas where the state of emergency was declared," he told journalists in a phone conference late Sunday.
"We would confront them squarely to protect our brothers."
Speaking in the Hausa language common throughout the north, Qaqa said "we also wish to call on our fellow Muslims to come back to the north because we have evidence that they would be attacked.
"We are also giving a three-day ultimatum to the southerners living in the northern part of Nigeria to move away."
Boko Haram is believed to include different factions with varying aims. Its structure remains unclear and other people have claimed to speak on its behalf.
Nigeria's 160 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.
Muslims have been victims of Boko Haram attacks, but a wave of Christmas day bombings particularly targeting churches set off fears of retaliation from Christians.
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on Saturday in parts of four states hard hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram.
Boko Haram: Don’t Involve Foreign Powers, Muslim Group Tells Jonathan
Presence of foreign troops could further radicalise Nigerian Muslims, warns influential Muslim group.
Quote:
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised President Goodluck Jonathan not to contemplate the use of foreign powers in resolving the Boko Haram problem.
MURIC, while noting that America and France have offered to intervene, pointed out that their involvement will complicate matters for Nigeria because they are not acceptable to all parties.
In a New Year message made available to LEADERSHIP and signed by MURIC’s Director, Dr. Is-haq Akintola, the group explained that the Nigerian nation experienced ugly and tragic incidents in the past year, describing the Boko Haram phenomenon as the most harrowing.
MURIC emphasized that one of the most damaging attacks of the sect was the Christmas Day suicide bombing at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madala in Niger State in which about 50 people perished.
The group lamented that “this singular attack, heinous and reprehensible as it is, has the potential of igniting a religious war.”
http://www.leadership.ng/nga/article..._jonathan.html
This thread seems to be dying?
KingJaja,
I don't think the thread is dead, it may not have been updated, but has had numerous hits since creation.
Secondly I doubt if much of the 2012 Nigerian news has appeared in many SWC readers in-trays. I tend to rely on UK press and the BBC - which give sparse coverage of all matters African.
Finally to date Nigeria is for Nigerians, so we are all watching and I expect rather loath to comment too much. If civil violence escalates, especially if Westerners are the target that might change.
An illustration of hatred
A BBC report on Boko Haram's latest incidents and a particularly carefully chosen target - from my faraway armchair:
Quote:
At least 17 people were killed in Mubi in Adamawa state as gunmen opened fire in a town hall where members of the Christian Igbo group were meeting.....Residents told the BBC that those killed in Mubi belonged to the Igbo community from the south of the country. They had been meeting to organise how to transport the body of an Igbo man who was shot dead by gunmen on motorbikes on Thursday evening.
"It was while they were holding the meeting that gunmen came and opened fire on them," a resident said. Witnesses said gunmen burst into the hall and shouted "God is great" as they opened fire.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16442960
King Jaja,
Often when similar incidents have happened in the UK Muslim groups have publicly stated their condemnation and stood alongside the victims. Is that possible in Nigeria? Stan has referred to a long history of religious conflict and violence, I fear Nigerians of all faiths beyond that. Thanks.
Intelligence-led CT - not in Nigeria?
An ICSR commentary on Boko Haram that concludes:
Quote:
Consider here just one aspect: since the killing of its founder-leader, Mohamed Yusuf, nothing is known about its structure and chain of command or the identity of its current leadership. In other words, how are the security forces supposed to fight an organization it has so little intelligence on?
Link:http://icsr.info/blog/The-Scourge-of-Boko-Haram
Nigeria sect kills 15; Christians vow defense
This event happened today
Quote:
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- A radical Muslim sect attacked a church worship service in Nigeria's northeast during assaults that killed at least 15 people, authorities said Saturday, as Christians vowed to defend themselves from the group's widening sectarian fight against the country's government.
The attacks by the sect known as Boko Haram came after it promised to kill Christians living in Nigeria's largely Muslim north, exploiting long-standing religious and ethnic tensions in the nation of more than 160 million people. The pledge by the leader of an umbrella organization called the Christian Association of Nigeria now raises the possibility of retaliatory violence.
In the last few days alone, Boko Haram has killed at least 44 people, despite the oil-rich nation's president declaring a state of emergency in regions hit by the sect.
Speaking Saturday to journalists, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, vowed the group's members would adequately protect themselves from the sect. He declined to offer specifics, raising concerns about retaliation.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/07/416...northeast.html
Yet another killing.
Quote:
At least 17 people were killed in Mubi, in Adamawa, as gunmen opened fire in a town hall where members of the Christian Igbo group were meeting.
They had been meeting to organise how to transport the body of an Igbo man who was shot dead by gunmen on motorbikes on Thursday evening.
"It was while they were holding the meeting that gunmen came and opened fire on them," a resident said.
More attacks on a church and hairdressing salon in Adamawa's capital, Yola, left more than 10 dead.
The attacks prompted state governor Murtala Nyako to impose a 24-hour curfew.
Security was tightened and troops were seen patrolling the streets.