Tag: Boko Haram News

Despite the widespread #BringBackOurGirls campaign, most of them have still not been found, but 50 girls managed to escape; one of them has called for forgiveness for the militants, suggesting that their lack of education is partly to blame for their behaviour.

Deborah, 19, told the Times: “Even though they have done so much destruction, to me, punishing them will not be the best answer.

“It is by showing them what they are doing is wrong. Most of them are illiterate. They don’t know what they are doing,” she said. The Islamist militant group’s name translates as “western education is sinful”, and Islamist ideology is often fused with a strongly anti-western position, rejecting its perceived immorality.

“Some of them are in these gangs because of poverty. So by giving them a job, making them realise that these things are not good, this is the best way, I think, to help them.”

The group has terrorised northern Nigeria for the past six years, growing in strength over time and more than 10,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram related violence, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to overcome the militants, and succeed where President Goodluck Jonathan is seen to have failed – despite making promises before last week’s election that the group could be suppressed within a month.

Since her escape, Deborah has returned to her education, and taken up a place at the American University of Nigeria, in Yola, along with 20 other girls who escape. A charitable trust was set up to fund scholarships for the girls’ fees and living costs.

Members of Nigeria’s militant Islamist group Boko Haram entered a local village Wednesday and killed 45 people who gathered around the suspected attackers after deceiving them into believing they were preachers.

The attack occurred in the north-eastern city of Maidugur where the gunmen, dressed in military-style uniforms lured the group by telling them they wanted to speak to them about “the righteous path.”

“They came to our village… and lied to us that they had come to preach to us and when almost all the villagers had gathered, another set of insurgents emerged from nowhere and opened fire on the congregation before we all scampered for safety,” survivor Kallamu Bukar said,according to Nigerian news outlet Vanguard.

Following the deadly assault, Boko Haram gunmen destroyed mobile phone towers in the region, delaying news of the attack and set fire to several nearby houses and shops before burning down a Roman Catholic Church and a government office the following day.

The Maidugur attack came after Boko Haram gunmen killed at least 200 people in four villages throughout the state of Borno on Tuesday, where they dressed in military uniforms and convinced residents that they had come to provide protection after an earlier attack days before.

Several states including Borno, Adamawa and Yobe have been under a state of emergency since May 2013 as efforts to force Boko Haram out have not been successful.

The terrorist group, whose English translation means “western education is forbidden,” promotes a version of Islam that prohibits Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.

Insurgents have killed thousands since the group was founded in 2002, according to BBC, and they continue to increase their violence against civilians on an almost daily basis, because they believe local vigilante groups are assisting the military. Furthermore, Boko Haram has increased their revolt since it made international headlines with the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in April.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been criticized by nationals for his slow response to the group’s wave of attacks, is currently working alongside the Nigerian military to free the girls.  However, forcibly doing so could be dangerous and possibly prompt more kidnappings.

According to Doyin Okupe, Jonathan’s senior advisor, the military actually knows where the girls are.

“… You just cannot storm a place like that,” Okupe said, according to a CNN report. “I believe that by God’s grace, we are very near the end of this whole unfortunate saga.”

The United States and other international leaders have offered Jonathan help as they are concerned about the possibility of further turmoil in the country which is now considered Africa’s largest economy.

Source: Christianpost