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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) and Boko Haram Terror |
| 2014-04-22 |
| [TRIBUNE.NG] This year alone, an estimated 1,500 Nigerians have been killed in separate attacks across the north eastern section of the country by the radical Islamist group, Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... . This astonishing figure does not include the victims of the dastardly bombings of Monday April 14th in Abuja which led to the untold deaths of scores of innocent citizens. Media accounts of the exact number of the dead vary, and although the group has not taken responsibility for the incident, all indications point to its involvement. Since the 2010 Independence Day attacks and the August 2011 kabooms at the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... headquarters in which at least 18 people were killed, Boko Haram has repeatedly threatened another attack on Nigeria's capital city. Over the past five years, Boko Haram has inaugurated a new era of everyday terror in the country. The group has attacked schools, hospitals, churches and other public spaces. In the process, it has killed and maimed thousands of men, women, and children' and its ultra-religious agenda notwithstanding, it has not been particularly rigorous in its choice of whom it puts to the sword. Nearly as many Christians have died as Moslems. Nor has it spared those who do not swear by any religious tenets. In short, the group's activities have been utterly disastrous for Nigeria as a country and Nigerians as a people. We reiterate these simple facts as a way of underscoring the total absurdity of last week's statement by the umbrella group of Nigerian Moslems, Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI). In the said statement, signed by its Secretary General Khalid Aliyu, the JNI condemned what it saw as the extrajudicial killing of Moslems by the Nigerian military "on a mere whim of unsubstantiated suspicion" (sic). Specifically alluding to a recent incident in which 15 Fulani herdsmen were reportedly killed, the Jamatu Nasril Islam lamented that 'These are people who have been exonerated by the State Governor as being peace loving people and law abiding. It is questionable that an operation of this magnitude would be carried out without the knowledge of the Chief Security Officer of the State, nor (sic) other relevant security bodies.' Pursuing the thesis of a specific vendetta against Moslems, the JNI also condemned as absurd the usage of the term 'Fulani herdsmen,' arguing that it is nothing but part of a scheme to use religious identity 'to wipe out Moslems in the guise (sic) of fighting terrorism.' 'Why is it,' the organization pursued, 'when a Christian commits a crime it is not called a Christian crime or terrorism? The fact remains, crime is crime, it is colourless, tribe less and religious less' (sic). The JNI has every right to speak for the security and welfare of Nigerian Moslems. At the same time, the group is right to demand transparency and justice in the pursuit of Islamic faceless myrmidons who have left carnage in their wake and thrown the whole of the north eastern region into absolute anarchy. Surely, while action must be taken to root out the group and restore law and order, the military and the Joint Task Force (JTF) must be careful not to blur the line between those who spread terror, and agents of the law who are licensed to contain terror and pursue terrorists. Nevertheless, it is one thing to demand that the military go about this with care, and another thing altogether to allege that any attempt to stamp out a campaign of terror by a radical Islamic group automatically becomes 'a grand agenda to destabilize the Moslem Ummah in Nigeria.' We find both the timing and the content of the JNI's statement puzzling, especially coming as it is in the face of unrelenting attacks on innocent citizens by Boko Haram. Instead of joining well-meaning Nigerians across the religious divide in condemning Boko Haram's terror, JNI has managed to find religious discrimination where none exists. The statement by the JNI is simply mind-boggling. Where exactly is the evidence of a grand agenda to destabilize the Moslem Ummah? Who put the agenda together, and when? Does the agenda involve the same military that comprises a great number of northern Moslems? Is JNI suggesting that Boko Haram members who attack cop shoppes, and kill and maim children in mosques, churches and schools be spared because they are Moslems? Does the religious affiliation of the Death Eaters trump their identity as Nigerians who are subject to the laws of the land? These are some of the questions that we encourage the JNI to chew on. No doubt, there is a case to be made against excess and pure vengeance in the pursuit of Boko Haram. We have always backed that campaign. Rather than cry wolf when there is none, the JNI should join majority of Nigerians in denouncing religious terror and those who practice it. |
| Posted by:Fred |