The Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad, known by its Hausa name Boko Haram(pronounced [bōːkòː hàrâm]), is a militant organization based in the northeast
of Nigeria, north Cameroon andNiger. Founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002, the organization seeks to establish a "pure" Islamic state ruled bysharia, putting a stop to what it deems Westernization.[13][14] The group is known for attacking Christians, Muslims and government targets,[13] as well as for bombing churches, mosques, schools and police stations.[15][16] The group also kidnaps western tourists and has assassinated members of the Islamic establishment who have criticized the group.[17] Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.[18][19][20][21][22][23]
of Nigeria, north Cameroon andNiger. Founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002, the organization seeks to establish a "pure" Islamic state ruled bysharia, putting a stop to what it deems Westernization.[13][14] The group is known for attacking Christians, Muslims and government targets,[13] as well as for bombing churches, mosques, schools and police stations.[15][16] The group also kidnaps western tourists and has assassinated members of the Islamic establishment who have criticized the group.[17] Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.[18][19][20][21][22][23]
The group exerts influence in the northeastern Nigerian states of Borno, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Yobe and Kano. In this region, a state of emergency has been declared. The group does not have a clear structure or evident chain of command[24]and has been called "diffuse"[17] with a "cell-like structure" facilitating factions and splits.[12] It is reportedly divided into three factions[13] with a splinter group known as Ansaru. The group's main leader is Abubakar Shekau. Its weapons expert, second-in-command and arms manufacturer was Momodu Bama.
Whether it has links to jihadist groups outside Nigeria is disputed. According to one US military commander, Boko Haram is probably linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM),[25][26][27] but others have found no evidence of international material support,[28] and attacks by the group on international targets have so far been limited.[12] On November 13, 2013 the United States government designated the group a terrorist organization.
Many of the group's senior radicals were reportedly partially inspired by the late Islamic preacher known as Maitatsine.[29][30]Others believe that the group is motivated by inter-ethnic disputes as much as by religion, and that its founder Yusuf believed that a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” was being waged by Plateau State governor Jonah Jang against the Hausa and Fulanipeople.[12] Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian government of human rights abuses after 950 suspected Boko Haram militants died in detention facilities run by Nigeria's military Joint Task Force in the first half of 2013.[31] The conflicts have left around 90,000 people displaced.[32] Human Rights Watch states that Boko Haram uses child soldiers, including 12-year-olds.[33]
Etymology
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The group has officially adopted the name "the Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad"[34] or "The Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and Struggle"[35] are translations of Arabic[36] Jamā'at ahl as-sunnah li-d-da'wa wa-l-jihād(جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد).
In the town of Maiduguri, where the group was formed, the residents dubbed it Boko Haram. The term "Boko Haram" comes from theHausa word boko, originally derived from a Hausa word with meanings such as "fraud" and "inauthenticity",[37][a] and the Arabic wordharam figuratively meaning "sin" (literally, "forbidden").[39] Loosely translated, the name could mean "western education is sinful", which would symbolize its strong opposition to anything Western, which it sees as corrupting Muslims.[40] Locals who speak the Hausalanguage are also unsure what it actually means.[41]
Literally speaking, the name may be meant to convey the message that "bogus education is sinful".[42] Dr Ahmad Murtada of the Islamic Studies Department, University of Bayero, Kano has noted in his research of the group that the name of the movement should not be understood literally from the Hausa, but rather as meaning "traversing the Western system of education is haram".[35]
Ideology
Boko Haram was founded as a local salafi movement and turned into a Salafi-jihadi group in 2009.[6][43] It proposes that interaction with the Western world is forbidden, and also supports opposition to the Muslim establishment and the government of Nigeria.[44]
The members of the group do not interact with the local Muslim population[45] and have carried out assassinations in the past of anyone who criticizes it, including Muslim clerics.[40][46][47]
In a 2009 BBC interview, Mohammed Yusuf, then leader of the group, stated his belief that the fact of a spherical Earth is contrary to Islamic teaching and should be rejected, along with Darwinian evolution and the fact of rain originating from water evaporated by the sun.[48] Before his death, Yusuf reiterated the group's objective of changing the current education system and rejecting democracy.[49]Nigerian academic Hussain Zakaria told BBC News that the controversial cleric had a graduate education and spoke proficient English.[48]
Dr Ahmad Murtada of the Islamic Studies Department, University of Bayero, Kano has noted in his research into Mohammed Yusuf and Boko Haram that the core principles of the group are: an emphasis on 'Hakimiyyah' [sovereignty to God's law]; a belief that they are the "Saved Sect" mentioned in the Prophetic Tradition of Islam; prohibiting studying in Western educational centers of learning because they consider them to be based on non-Islamic traditions and colonialism, they thus criticize Saudi Arabia for its usage of "Western" educational methods; prohibiting working in any governmental institution or civil service role; a contorted interpretation of the edicts of scholars from the classical tradition such as Ibn Taymiyyah to support their rebellions and use of violence. Influences include the writings of Ibn Abi Zayd, Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, Shaykh al-Albani, and Shaykh Fawzan. Post-2009 a close relationship with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and further incorporation into the global Jihadi and Takfiri worldview.[35]
Criticism
Nigeria
Several Nigerian Muslim authorities condemned the group and its ideology. Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, the Niger State governor said, "Islam is known to be a religion of peace and does not accept violence and crime in any form" and that Boko Haram does not represent Islam.[50] The Sultan of Sokoto Sa'adu Abubakar, a spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims, has called the sect "anti-Islamic" and, as reported by the website AllAfrica.com, "an embarrassment to Islam".[51] The Coalition of Muslim Clerics in Nigeria (CMCN) have called on the Boko Haram to disarm and embrace peace.[52]
Anglosphere
The Islamic Circle of North America,[53] the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada,[54] the Muslim Council of Britain,[55] the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation[56] and the Council on American Islamic Relations[57] have all condemned the group's actions. The American Muslim argues that Boko Haram should not be singled out, as Nigerian Christians are just as violent.[58]
History
Background
Main articles: Islam in Nigeria and Colonial Nigeria
Before colonisation and subsequent annexation into the British Empire, the Bornu Empire ruled the territory where Boko Haram is currently active. It was a sovereign sultanate run according to the principles of the Constitution of Medina, with a majority Kanuri Muslim population. The Bornu Sultanate emerged after the overthrow of the Kanem-Bornu Empireruled by the Sayfawa dynasty for over 2000 years.[citation needed]
The Bornu Sultanate of the Kanuri is distinct from the Sokoto Caliphate of the Hausa/Fulani established in 1802 by the military conquest of Usman dan Fodio.[6] Both the Bornu Sultanate and Sokoto Caliphate came under control of the British in 1903. During this period Christian missionaries used western education as a tool for evangelism, which has led to secular education to being viewed with suspicion by many in the local population.[40][citation needed]
Increased dissatisfaction gave rise to many fundamentalists among the Kanuri and other peoples of northeast Nigeria. One of the most famous such fundamentalists wasMohammed Marwa, also known as Maitatsine, who was at the height of his notoriety during the 1970s and 1980s. He was sent into exile by the Nigerian authorities, refused to believe Muhammad was the Prophet and instigated riots in the country, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. Some analysts view Boko Haram as an extension of the Maitatsine riots.[59]
Origin
In 1995, the group was said to be operating under the name Shabaab, Muslim Youth Organization with Mallam Lawal as the leader. When Lawal left to continue his education,Mohammed Yusuf took over leadership of the group. Yusuf’s leadership allegedly opened the group to political influence and popularity.[60] The group was originally established atIbn Taymiyyah mosque, which was named after Boko Haram's spiritual head. [61]
Yusuf officially founded the group in 2002 in the city of Maiduguri with the aim of establishing a Shari'a government in Borno State under then-Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.[59] He established a religious complex that included a mosque and a school where many poor families from across Nigeria and from neighbouring countries enrolled their children.[40]
The center had ulterior political goals and soon it was also working as a recruiting ground for future jihadis to fight the state.[40] The group includes members who come from neighbouring Chad and Niger and speak only Arabic.[62]
In 2004 the complex was relocated to Yusuf's home state of Yobe in the village Kanamma near the Niger border.[49]
Human Rights Watch researcher Eric Guttschuss told IRIN News that Yusuf successfully attracted followers from unemployed youth "by speaking out against police and political corruption". Abdulkarim Mohammed, a researcher on Boko Haram, added that violent uprisings in Nigeria are ultimately due to "the fallout of frustration with corruption and the attendant social malaise of poverty and unemployment".[63] Ayaan Hirsi Ali of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, while pointing out that "where governments are weak, corrupt or non-existent, the message of Boko Haram and its counterparts is especially compelling," argues that this is a dynamic common to Islamic societies worldwide and reflects the darker side of the religious message.[64] Chris Kwaja, a Nigerian university lecturer and researcher, asserts that “religious dimensions of the conflict have been misconstrued as the primary driver of violence when, in fact, disenfranchisement and inequality are the root causes”. Nigeria, he points out, has laws giving regional political leaders the power to qualify people as 'indigenes' (original inhabitants) or not. It determines whether citizens can participate in politics, own land, obtain a job, or attend school. The system is abused widely to ensure political support and to exclude others. Muslims have been denied indigene-ship certificates disproportionately often.[65]
Nigerian opposition leader Buba Galadima says: "What is really a group engaged in class warfare is being portrayed in government propaganda as terrorists in order to win counter-terrorism assistance from the West."[66]
Beginning of violence
The group conducted its operations more or less peacefully during the first seven years of its existence.[6] That changed in 2009 when the Nigerian government launched an investigation into the group's activities following reports that its members were arming themselves.[102] Prior to that the government reportedly repeatedly ignored warnings about the increasingly militant character of the organization, including that of a military officer.[102]
In the wake of the 2009 crackdown on its members and its subsequent reemergence, the growing frequency and geographical range of attacks attributed to Boko Haram have led some political and religious leaders in the north to the conclusion that the group has now expanded beyond its original religious composition to include not only Islamic militants, but criminal elements and disgruntled politicians as well. For instance Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima said of Boko Haram: “[they have] become a franchise that anyone can buy into. It's something like a Bermuda Triangle.”[103] The group has also forcibly converted non-Muslims to Islam.[104]
When the government came into action, several members of the group were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people. During the fighting with the security forces Boko Haram fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station.[105] The group's founder and then leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed during this time while in police custody.[106][107][108] After Yusuf's killing, a new leader emerged whose identity was not known at the time.[109]
Reemergence
After the killing of Mohammed Yusuf, the group carried out its first attack in Borno in January 2011. It resulted in the killing of four people.[110] Abubakar Shekau, a former deputy to Yusuf, took control of the group after Yusuf's death in 2009. Shekau is an intensely private bookish theologian and ruthless killer. He rules a fractured organization.[111][112][113] Since Shekau's rise, the violence has only escalated in terms of both frequency and intensity.
State counter-offensive
According to Human Rights Watch, during the period between 2009 and beginning of 2012, Boko Haram was responsible for over 900 deaths.[114]
On 14 May 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa in a bid to fight the activities of Boko Haram. He ordered the Nigerian Armed Forces to the three areas around Lake Chad.[115] As of 17 May, Nigerian armed forces' shelling in Borno resulted in at least 21 deaths.[116] A curfew was imposed in Maiduguri as the military used air strikes and shellings to target Boko Haram strongholds.[117] The Nigerian state imposed a blockade on the group's traditional base of Maiduguri in Borno in order to re-establish Nigeria's "territorial integrity".[118]
On 21 May, the Defence Ministry issued a statement that read it had "secured the environs of New Marte, Hausari, Krenoa, Wulgo and Chikun Ngulalo after destroying all the terrorists' camps". Armed Forces Spokesman in Borno Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said that the curfew that had been imposed was not relaxed with the curfew timings being 18:00 to 7:00, however there was minimal traffic in Maiduguri.[119]
On 29 May, Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau, following military claims that the group had been halted,[120] released a video in which he said the group had not lost to the Nigerian armed forces. In the video he showed charred military vehicles and bodies dressed in military fatigues. While he called on Muslims from Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria to join his jihad, he said in Arabic and Hausa:[121]
My fellow brethren from all over the world, I assure you that we are strong, hale and hearty since they launched this assault on us following the state of emergency declaration. When they launch any attack on us you see soldiers fleeing and throwing away their weapons like a rabbit that is been hunted down.
Mohammed Yusuf
On the same day, Nigeria's Director of Defence Information Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade said that Shekau's unnamed deputy was found dead near Lake Chad and that two others from Boko Haram were arrested in the area. However, the military's claims were not verified.[122]
Satellite photos raise questions about the government's retaliatory attack on Boko Haram on April 16-17, 2013. Over 180 died, mostly from fires that appeared to be deliberately set during the government attack. Boko Haram fighters and civilians died in the attack.[123][124] The people of Maiduguri were unhappy with the declaration of war on the group and instead said the issues of poverty and inequality needed to be tackled first.[125]
It was reported in August 2013 that Shekau had been shot and deposed by members of his sect,[126] but he survived. He had been described as "the most dreaded and wanted" Boko Haram leader and the United States had recently offered a US$7m bounty for information leading to his arrest.[127] He has taken responsibility for theApril 2014 kidnapping of over 200 school girls.[112] On 6 May, eight more girls were kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram gunmen.[128][129] In a videotape, Shekau threatened to sell the kidnapped girls into slavery.[130] On May 12th 2014 Boko Haram released a Video which shows the kidnapped girls and alleging that the girls had converted to Islam and would not be released until all militant prisoners were freed.[131]
Assessment
Nigeria's former National Security Adviser, General Owoye Andrew Azazi, has been working with other African governments, European and Middle Eastern governments, and the U.S. government to build cooperation against Boko Haram. He met in 2010 with CIA Director Leon Panetta, and in 2011 with AFRICOM Commander General Ham, and other U.S. officials, and was in the United States when the congressional panel was preparing its report on Boko Haram. He participated in a CIA conference at about the same time.[133] After the Christmas 2011 bombings carried out by Boko Haram, US President Barack Obama's office issued a statement that confirmed that the US and Nigeria were cooperating against the group.[134]
Strategy and recruiting
In March 2012, it was reported that Boko Haram had taken a strategy to simulate convoys of high-profile Nigerians to access target buildings that are secured with fortifications. Boko Haram has also reportedly attacked Christian worship centers to "trigger reprisal in all parts of the country", distracting authorities so they can unleash attacks elsewhere.
The group is also known for using motorcycles as their vehicle of choice to assassinate government officials and security officers. This has led to motorcycle bans in the city ofMaiduguri.[132]
It was gathered that the group uses the Internet to propagate its activities and enhance its radicalisation and circulation of extremist ideologies. Boko Haram is reportedly planning to greatly increase its following in many states. Talk of Naija reported that Boko Haram has been involved in a recruitment drive, and they are allegedly targeting Muslims between ages of 17 and 30, and have also been recruiting freed prisoners through prison breaks. The group is also known to assign non-Kanuris on suicide missions.[60]
Funding
Funding sources for Boko Haram are not certain, but is believed to be partially funded by bank robberies[17][26][28] and by other Islamist groups. In February 2012, recently arrested officials revealed that "while the organization initially relied on donations from members, its links with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, opened it up to more funding from groups in Saudi Arabia and the UK". They went on to say that other sources of funding included the Al Muntada Trust Fund and the Islamic World Society.[135][136][137]
In the past, Nigerian officials have been criticized for being unable to trace much of the funding that Boko Haram has received.[138]
The group also extorts local governments for so-called "protection money". A spokesman of Boko Haram claimed that Kano state governor Ibrahim Shekarau and Bauchi state governor Isa Yuguda had paid them monthly.[139][140]
Since Boko Haram is designated by the US Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, it is banned from receiving funds from the US or US nationals.[141][25][142]
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