Nigeria: Report Gives Details, Says Terrorist Groups Gaining Foothold in Nigeria

Those that might be tempted to think that Boko Haram is about Islam as a religion should go back to history and see that, unlike what many might perceive, Islam had produced a lot of thinkers, scientists, philosophers and inventors throughout human civilization who had tremendously helped in giving the world our mathematics, poetry, architecture, commerce and governance.

Here a few of them deserves mention. The 10th century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in winter shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obcura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.

Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam’s foremost scientist, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today – liquefaction, crystallization, distillation, purification, oxidization, evaporation and filtration.

Ibn Hayyan emphasized systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry. Likewise, the crank-shaft, another fundamental piece of engineering instrument and one of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, was created by a Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics.

In the field of medicine, many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognizable to a modern surgeon.

Also in the 13th century another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. In commerce, the cheque we use today was first used by Muslim merchants in the ninth century. In architecture, ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques were borrowed from Muslim genius. Of course there are others but space will not permit a longer discourse.

My point is that Boko Haram is not a reflection of the principles and antecedents of its mother religion, but the inevitable manifestation of the perennial struggle between the finite and the infinite in the human psyche, which at various times are crystallized in group forms to wreck havoc on the society.

In 1993, on a ranch near Waco, Texas, United States, a Christian cult known as the Branch Davidian led by David Koresh engaged the American law enforcement agents (the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) in a fierce armed combat for several weeks. At the end nearly a hundred members of the cult were killed, including a number of small children, in a ball of exploding fire believed to have been ignited by the members themselves as they ran out of ammunition.

The truth is that there are people who cannot cope under certain pressures of life, and one of these is the pressure of balancing the spiritual and the material aspects of the human psyche. Specialists have discovered that man is made up of what they call a bicameral mind, which is the existence of two hemispheres in the makeup of the human brain: one side (the right brain) handles intuition and visions; the other part (the left brain) handles intelligence, language and movement. These two parts work in automatic coordination and balance. R. Joseph, a leading neuropsychologist, asserted that the left hemisphere of the brain handles sophisticated functions such as language and manual dexterity. It is also the seat of the conscious memory, which is dependent upon the ability to put experience into words. The right brain specializes in experiences that do not require conscious processing, such as intuition and emotional responsiveness; it cannot talk, read, write, or spell. It is therefore regarded as the place where the unconscious resides.

Man carries out his everyday "physical" activities through the work of the left brain, while his right brain directs his "spiritual" (or religious) existence. Education and daily learning is part of the left brain while praying, believing and doing "God’s work" are functions of the right brain. The Nobelist Robert Sperry has made a remarkable discovery to prove that an individual can show two distinct personalities when these two hemispheres of his brain are severed. In other words the individual’s continued sanity is determined by the cooperation between the two parts of his brain. He has to be able to balance being a believer in a particular religion and being a specialist in a particular profession, because sometimes the principles of these two practices are diametrically opposed; and he has to adjust his mind constantly as he visits both the worship centre (church, mosque or synagogue) and the work centre (school, factory, or business plaza).

However, just as different people are endowed with different abilities, not everybody has a perfect coordination of the two brains; people tend to balance their two psychic parts at varying degrees. Some people cannot tolerate religious people and vice versa. Likewise some find it easy, even congenital, to be religious. And this reality has manifested on a macrocosmic level in the battle between the rational world – represented by science – and the spiritual world – represented by the various religions.

The path of human development from prehistoric times to the present age contains evidences of the battle between science and religion. The Inquisition in Europe, Killing of Twins in Africa, and Caste System in Asia are screaming headlines. Human development in science and technology, and even in socio-cultural dynamics, seems to be as a result of the conquest of the human experience by reason and innovations based on the empirical world, as opposed to the belief in the supernatural and its corollary of religious methods.

This also manifests in the religious faiths, denominations and sects that exist in the world. One finds it easy to fit into a fast changing world while the other finds it terrifying. This is the dynamic behind the millennial groups that litter the world. In 1840 in the US, the Millerites started disposing of their belongings in anticipation of the judgment day.

Currently the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in separation from any earthly government, and consequently refuses to salute any flag, vote, perform military service, or otherwise signify allegiance to any government, which have brought them into conflict with governmental authorities in many countries. It is also strikingly amusing that just like the adherents of Boko Haram there are some pentecostal preachers that burnt their academic certificates as they were "called" into ministry.

I believe that the struggle between science and religion shall continue, but the future of the world shall be defined by philosophies, principles, technologies and initiatives that would be set to create a bridge between the two worlds. Let it be noted that inter-denominational religious movements and ecumenical peace initiatives also fall into this category of bridge-building.

The duty of the government is to reach out to religious bodies and Non Governmental Organizations [NGO], sponsoring such fora where inter-faith issues are discussed and solved, and also carrying out constant security checks on religious activities in Nigeria in order to determine the ones that have potentials of evolving into violent anti-social movements.

This is also a call to religious people to constantly work at ways of adapting to the fast changing world. In a world where it is becoming harder to survive without having adequate knowledge in new technologies and ideas, the child of God cannot afford to be left behind, because as the Christian holy book says, heaven’s streets are paved with gold. Modern science started with alchemy, a quest to turn metal to gold; what if the ultimate end of science is to make the earth like heaven: turn metal to gold and use it in constructions? I always wonder.

[Description of Source: Port Harcourt The Neighborhood in English -- Privately owned daily]

Nigeria: Anxiety in Borno over Islamic Sect's Violent Tendency

AFP20101023686012 Port Harcourt The Port Harcourt Telegraph in English 22 Oct 10 p 9

[Report by Jude Nwanjoku: "Borno Gripped by Fear as Boko Haram Unleashes Terror"]

For sometimes now, residents of Maiduguri, Borno state capital and its environs no longer sleep with their two eyes closed, as a result of the increasing wave of killings of police officers and prominent civilians by unidentified gunmen suspected to be members of the outlawed Boko Haram Islamic sect, which began three months ago. A statistic of casualty released by the state police command revealed that so far, five police officers and seven civilians have been murdered in separate but similar circumstances. In all the attacks, the assailants drove on bikes to the homes of their victims to carry out the heinous act before fleeing away.

Our correspondent gathered that the coordinated killings are alleged reprisal attacks on the police by the Boko Haram group, in revenge for last year’s casualties suffered by their men during the sect’s uprising against the authority which led to the death of over 1,000 persons. Property worth hundreds of millions of naira was also destroyed.

These unexplained assassinations may not be unconnected to the alleged vow by the group’s current leader, Abubakar Shekau to mark a bloody one-year anniversary of the death of their former leader, Mohammed Yusuf, who died under suspicious circumstances in police detention.

Although police had then dismissed the sect’s threat to avenge the killings of their men as baseless, security was nonetheless beefed up with operatives put on red alert at strategic locations in the Borno State capital as a result of the spate of killings. The security measures include a stop-and-search operation on all motorists and the restriction of movement placed on the commercial motorcycle operators after 6.00pm. Security personnel in patrol vehicles patrolled the major streets.

Assuring the people, the state Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Abdu had said that there was no cause for alarm as adequate security measures were in place to foil further attacks by the sect. Abdu had said ‘‘we have placed our men on red alert to stem any ugly incident in the state, just as the command is collaborating with other security agencies in exchange of intelligence and surveillance report’’.

On its part, the Borno state government had urged the public to remain calm, insisting that adequate security measures was in place to ensure that no individual or group breached the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in the state. A statement signed by the Special Adviser to Governor Ali Modu Sheriff on Media and Publicity, Shehu Mustapha Liberty, had hinted that the re-introduction of the joint security outfit was part of the government readiness to deal with troublemakers.

However, despite these assurances and security measures, months later the sect began coordinated killings of police officers after which they take away their rifles in broad daytime. The killings were not however, restricted to police officers, as prominent civilians such as ward heads and Islamic leaders, also fell prey to the assailants. Ward heads may have become among the prime targets due to their role in identifying members of the sect in their respective areas who fled during the 2009 clash between the group and security operatives. Some of the attacks carried out on civilians by the sect include the one at Gwadambari area where two gunmen on a motor bike assassinated the ward head of the area, Bulama Mohammed for being an alleged police informant.

The group also raided the house of the Speaker of the state Assembly, Honorable Goni Ali Modu along Pompamari area in Maiduguri metropolis killing his police guard and stealing his service rifle.

Three hours after this incident, other gunmen stormed the home of the national vice chairman, (North-East) of the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP] and brother-in-law of governor Sheriff, Alhaji Awana Ngala and murdered him.

Malam Goni Tom, an associate of late Ngala, who witnessed the attack, told newsmen that "the assailants entered into the house some minutes after eight in the night and started beating us, and one of them holding a rifle fired many shots at Ngala. When they were convinced that he is dead, they fled".

Three days later, the gangsters murdered a council chief in Bama town, Mamman Zanna and a Sunni Islamic cleric, Sheikh Bashir Mustapha alongside his pupil, Modu Sunoma at Gwange ward in the metropolis. According to family source, the late cleric may have been killed by the Boko Haram due to his strong opposition to their interpretation of Islam. He had, prior to his murder, received several text messages threatening his life. ‘‘Due to these threats, the deceased has been sleeping at unknown police station for safety, while his family relocated to the house of other relatives. However, Sheikh Mustapha may have been trailed by the gunmen as, on that fateful day, he returned home to pick some belongings, that was how they got him’’, the source revealed.

Three days later gunmen bombed a Gamboru police outpost wounding three out of the five officers on duty. It was gathered that, the attack took place at about 9:30pm when over ten gunmen armed with AK47 rifles, drove to the police station in two Golf cars. An eyewitness, Malam Waziri Mohammed, told our correspondent that on their arrival, some of the gunmen stationed themselves at different directions of the station, firing several shots on the air to scare the public, while others entered inside and started shooting sporadically.

As the coordinated killings continue, commissioners and other top government officials, especially those presumed to be close to Governor Ali Modu Sheriff, have fled from Maiduguri with their families for fear of attack. Security operatives attached to the convoy and residence of the governor were re-inforced with heavily armed soldiers. Similarly, hundreds of soldiers have been deployed at strategic locations to take over most of the areas hitherto manned by the police.

The state of insecurity in Maiduguri and environs has adversely affected commercial activities. Traders ,who under normal situation, close business at 6.00pm, are now going home at 4.00pm, just as most people are now under self-imposed curfew returning to their homes as early as 6.00pm. Similarly, vehicular movements have dropped by 80 percent with major streets and roads deserted with okada riders the worst hit by the situation, as their movement is restricted to 5.00pm.

Commenting to the situation, the Borno State chairman of the opposition Congress for Progressive Change [CPC], Comrade Zanna Shettima, blamed the assassinations on Governor Sheriff calling on him to resign for his failure to safeguard the lives of the citizenry. Shettima argued that it is high time for the governor to surrender the mantle of the state’s leadership to a more responsible and patriotic individual who is capable enough to ensure safety for all citizens.

‘‘The call for the governor to resign was long overdue as he has failed woefully to govern the state in accordance with the constitution of the nation. It was unfortunate that innocent lives are being lost daily, but all what Sheriff succeeded in doing was to concentrate on siphoning public funds and the agenda of 2011 general election’’, he alleged.

Also, the deputy national chairman of Africa Liberation Party [ALP] Alhaji Abba Kale attributed the persistent killings to bad leadership and unemployment among the youths, saying the government should urgently address the problem to curb recurrence.

According to him, the renewed Boko Haram violence was caused by poverty and unemployment among youths, asserting that if they are properly empowered to be self-reliant, the youths could not be misled into joining violent groups like Boko Haram.

Similarly, a group of prominent Islamic scholars in the state has written to the governor advising him to urgently constitute a high powered committee to map out modalities on how to trace leaders of the outlawed Boko Haram sect and dialogue with them in order to stem the wave of killings. One of the elders told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that the letter, which was given to Sheriff during his meeting with the clerics at the Government House, also alerted Sheriff on the imminent dangers awaiting the state, should the assassination of innocent people continue.

‘‘If the Federal Government succeeded in ending the Niger Delta crisis through a dialogue with the militants, I see no reason why Sheriff cannot adopt similar approach with the group as a strategy to motivate them to stop terrorizing the residents.

We suggested that a committee comprising Islamic scholars, traditional institutions and other relevant stakeholders be constituted to identify leaders of the sect, meet with them and hear their grievances so as to proffer possible solutions", the source disclosed further.

The Assistant Inspector General of Police (Zone 12), Bauchi, Mohammed Hadi Zarewa, confirmed that the unidentified assailants who have been terrorizing people were certainly members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect as several explosives they buried behind old Maiduguri Prison, were dug out by the police.

Hadi Zarewa, who briefed newsmen in Maiduguri on the security situation of the state said ‘‘we believed that the unidentified gunmen who engaged in the brutal killings of innocent people belong to the dreaded Boko Haram group as we studied their victims, mode of operation and arms’’. He also blamed the group for the Monday night’s attack on the Gamborou police outpost where the same members of the sect used explosives to blow up the outpost, injuring two of the officers on duty.

The police chief, who said he was specifically deployed to lead the police fight against the insurgents, revealed that some locally made bombs, believed to have been planted by the sect along El-Kanemi roundabout, have exploded within the week, but there was no casualty.

In addition, the Inspector General of Police Alhaji Uba Ringim has deployed 400 heavily armed anti-riot policemen to the state as reinforcement to the ones already on ground. AIG Zarewa, however, stressed the need for the larger society to provide useful information to the police that might lead to the arrest of the assailants.

[Description of Source: Port Harcourt The Port Harcourt Telegraph in English -- Rivers State owned daily]

Nigeria: Suspected Islamists Kill Local Chief in North

AFP20101024534001 Paris AFP (World Service) in English 2156 GMT 23 Oct 10

KANO, Nigeria, Oct 23, 2010 (AFP) - Gunmen suspected of being members of Boko Haram Islamist sect believed to be behind a series of killings in recent months have shot dead a local chief in northern Nigeria, a legislator said Saturday.

Tukur Ahmad, a neighbourhood chief in northern city of Bauchi was killed by two unidentified gunmen outside his house Friday night shortly after attending Muslim prayers in a nearby mosque, said MP Babayo Garba, representing the area in the Bauchi state House of Assembly.

"The two assailants suspected to be members of Boko Haram used the cover of the night and shot him dead outside his house and fled. They came on foot and sneaked away through back streets after the attack," Garba told AFP.

This was the third attack suspected on Boko Haram to be carried out in the city in barely one week.

Such shootings along with other attacks in recent months in northern Nigeria, including a prison raid and the torching of a police station, have raised alarm over the sect, which launched an uprising last year.

The revolt was put down by a police and military assault, leaving hundreds dead.

Last month suspected Boko Haram extremists attacked a prison in Bauchi and freed more than 700 inmates, including around 100 sect members standing trial for their involvement in the sect's armed insurrection last year.

Police authorities in Bauchi have declined to comment on the attacks.

Attacks have also occurred in other areas in recent months.

Authorities had to deploy troops in the northern city of Maiduguri this week after a series of attacks blamed on Boko Haram.

Two weeks ago, suspected sect members attacked and torched a police station in Maiduguri, the centre of last year's uprising.

The government's assault on the Islamists left the sect's mosque and headquarters in ruins.

Its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was captured alive and then killed by police, who said he was trying to escape. His deputy, Abubakar Shekau, is believed by some to have since taken over as leader.

Boko Haram means "Western education is sin" in the Hausa language.

[Description of Source: Paris AFP (World Service) in English -- world news service of the independent French news agency Agence France Presse]

Nigeria: Islamic Sect Threatens To 'Carry Out Further Attacks' in Northern State

AFP20101024565001 Ibadan Nigerian Tribune Online in English 23 Oct 10

[Nigeria: Islamic Sect Threatens To 'Carry Out Further Attacks' in Northern State]

The Muslim Fundamental group, Boko Haram, on Thursday evening threatened to carry out further attacks in some state in the North while also invokeing the al-Qaeda's North African branch.

Al-Qaeda is the group established by Osama bin Laden which claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre in the United State.

According to an online news agency, the Boko Haram group invoked the North African branch of the al-Qaeda group and pasted posters in some areas in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, declaring loyalty to the group.

Posters by the sect appeared at key intersections in the city of Maiduguri bearing the name of Imam Abubakar Shekau, the group's de facto leader.

The two top corners of the posters bore a symbol of an opened Quran, flanked on each side by Kalashnikov assault rifles and a flag in the middle -- mirroring the logo of al-Qaeda in the North Africa.

The message warned the public against assisting the police or going near soldiers guarding the town at night.

The message also acknowledged a recent reward offered for information leading to the arrest of suspected sect members.

"Any Muslim that goes against the establishment of Sharia (law) will be attacked and killed," the message read.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in Hausa language, has campaigned for the implementation of strict Shariah law.

The poster said it was from Shekau on behalf of "The Group of the People of Sunnah, Call and Jihad."

Police officers began removing the signs late Wednesday, according to the agency.

"These publications and messages on Boko Haram activities are seditious and could jeopardise our investigations into the four-month serial attacks and killings in the state," Borno State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Abubakar, was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Saturday Tribune, which was in Maiduguri, learnt that such massages, which were seen around Shehuri, Jejeri, Bullumkuttu and other areas of the state, were also shown on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

Saturday Tribune also learnt that the new Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, had made a statement on the position of security in that regard.