| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| Boko Haram: Why Boston Isn't Kano |
| 2013-04-25 |
| [PREMIUMTIMESNG] Two movie-like incidents occurred in two cities -- Kano in Northern Nigeria and Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. The two incidents marked the difference between policing in Nigeria and the policing in the U.S.A. This discussion is not about the social media landscape and the role twitter played, turning millions of Americans into police reporters. For the first time since terrorism reared its ugly head in the mega commercial city that is Kano, the members of the public confronted two bombers who detonated their device in front of the Emir, Alhaji Ado Bayero's palace. One of the bombers died on the spot due to severe beating he got. His body and the tricycle on which they rode were burnt to ashes by the mob. The other bomber captured alive was moved into the palace before the arrival of the security officials. It was a herculean task for palace officials to stop the mob from finishing off the second bomber. This public anger was itself justifiable. The detonation of the explosive indicated that the intention of the perpetrators was not only to create panic but to cause casualties. When the security men came, the first thing they did, a witness told the Hausa Service of the Voice of America, was to shoot the suspect on his thigh. They carried him off, presumably to their detention centre. A few hours later, the JTF announced that this second bomber, taken alive had also died. Knowing how these things are done in the country today, they may actually have executed him the moment they took the suspect away from public view. Lamentably, this has cost the country an opportunity to determine whether the blast was carried out by angry individuals with grievances against the Emir; against the state or federal government or by an ideologically motivated group or organization of which the Jama'atul-Alil Sunna Wal-Iqamatu Wal-Jihad, better known as Boko Haram says it is one. |
| Posted by:Fred |