Boko Haram on Nigeria: Error On Terror!

Anyone who knows Nigeria very well has every reason to be surprised and worried about the recent bomb-blast at the Louis Edet building which housed the Nigerian police force headquarters at Abuja FCT.

If I have nothing to be worried about the Boko Haram’s abysmal ignorance about Islam and Nigeria. I need to worry about the way the suicide-bomb sponsors have demonized the good intention of Islam religion in Nigeria. Totally ignoring the positive aspects of a land filled with milk and honey, with a functional democracy, can no longer be considered a “basket case”.

This Boko Haram sect in the long run is going “Islam” to the detriment of freedom and democracy. The reputation of the Nigeria as major super anti-terrorism supporters is becoming in tatters with all these in the land. There are grave questions if the current Nigerian government is capable of protecting its own backside against an attack on its civilians.

This, however, does not mean that all is well in Nigeria. There are elements of truth in a Nigeria terrorist attack story which has classified the country as Africa’s “most dysfunctional country” for the level of violence, corruption and political disharmony. Endemic violence, killing of political opponents through bombs and assassins, persecution of opposition leaders and supporters by using state machinery by the ruling power, systematic plunder of national wealth by bank defaulters, tax evaders and rampant corruption at every level are growing before this democracy.

Jihad is not Terrorism. In Islam, Jihad is ordained to uphold right, repel injustice and establish justice, peace, security and clemency, with which the Prophet (peace be on him) was sent to take mankind out of darkness into light. More specifically, Jihad has been ordained to eliminate all forms of terrorism, and to defend the homeland against occupation, plunder and colonialism. Jihad is waged against those who support others in driving out people out of their homes, as well as against those who are in breach of their covenants. Jihad is meant to avoid tempting away Muslims from their faith or restricting their freedom to conduct peaceful propagation of their religion. Allah said:”Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for your faith, nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: For Allah loveth those who are just”

Since mid-2008, members of the Nigerian military have summarily executed around 30 known Boko Haram extremists euphemistically in “cross-firing”. Not only senior cabinet government officials are justifying these extra-judicial killings of criminals and suspects, but also the public in general (with the exceptions of handful of politicians, intellectuals and human rights activists) are happy about the “cleansing process”. This is ominous. People are celebrating killing as the prevailing chaos, possibly heading towards anarchy, has desensitized the polity. Although nothing positive is forthcoming from this state of terror and lawlessness, but it is too trite a platitude to assume that only “Islamist terror” is responsible for the chaos. One should not blame an undefined “Islamist terror” for the prevalent violence in Nigeria, as some Western “experts” blamed Muslims for the crime of Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Detroit-bound flight bomber in Christmas Eve. Yemen has become a major concern after the foiled 2009 Christmas Day attack on a Northwest Airlines flight over Detroit was traced to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The tactic of suicide bombing, believed to have been pioneered by the Tamil Tigers, has been central to al-Qaeda missions and is now adopted by the Boko Haram sect. There must be scornful sinister laughter wherever it is that al-Qaida lynchpins hatch their plots. It’s not only al-Qaida and the Taliban, moreover, who rub their hands with glee. Other terror masterminds proliferate, many linked to Iran and Syria, including the likes of Hizbullah and Hamas. While the international community may be leery of al-Qaida, it tends to be incongruously tolerant of Hamas and Hizbullah, presumably because they are perceived as “only” targeting Israel.The nihilistic ideology of al-Qaeda has no conceivable association with a just cause; nor can it claim any roots in Islam which shares core values of peace and tolerance with the world’s major religions.

For achieving ultimate success and triumph in the global fight against terrorism, the main focus in this very costly and highly sophisticated war must be on the regimes that harbor, breed, and export it, and not only on organizations and individuals. There is no doubt that global fundamentalism and terrorism will continue to be a dire threat to world peace and stability after the physical absence of bin Laden as long as there are rogue regimes left alone without any kind of deterrence to use terrorism in their expansionism, sectarianism, hostility and destructive schemes. At the forefront of regimes that sponsor terrorism are the countries of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Gaza Strip, Egypt, Iraq and the mini-state of Hezbollah, the Palestinian refugee camps and the Syrian military bases in Lebanon.

Bin Laden could not have escaped his deadly fate since 2001, if Pakistan and other countries were not providing him and his top notch terrorist aids with a safe haven. In this realm the American military and intelligence sources disclosed that Abbottabad, where Bin Laden was shot dead Sunday night on May 2, is a Pakistani garrison town where a large military base is located. His mansion was just 100 meters away from Pakistan’s military academy and 120 kilometers from the capital of Islamabad and Pakistani intelligence headquarters. These sobering facts indicate that the Pakistani military and its intelligence must have known who was living in the exceptionally large, heavily guarded mansion in their midst and in plain sight and kept this knowledge from the Americans. The mansion was encircled by 12-15 meter high walls topped by 7 foot privacy wall and barbed wire accessed through two steel, electrically-operated security gates. The Pakistani authorities could not have missed it when it was built in 2005 and more buildings were added later.

The Koran teaches that the killing of innocent humans is a crime and that suicide is unacceptable. It is therefore far from self-evident how these terrorist groups find a ready supply of followers, the jihadis. Attention is focused on the influence of Islamic education. Charismatic leaders in a small minority of institutions have been able to advocate extreme views which “radicalize” students into beliefs which are inconsistent with mainstream Islam.

This is believed to flourish especially in the northern Nigeria where inadequate funding of state education has allowed unregulated madrasa religious education to take hold. Under pressure from foreign donors, the madrasas are now increasingly subject to government closure or reform.

The government has been more than complacent of northern politicians in the like of Retrd .Gen Mohamadu Buhari and has hardly taken any action against those politicians who propagate terrorism in Bauchi, Maiduguri and Abuja. Maidugari became an open gate to smuggle foreign religious extremists, cross-border crime including arms, fuel into Boko haram‘s illegally occupied territories etc. If the Nigerian Government does not nip in the bud, the next religious crisis will arise from Boko Haram. . So how a right minded military can sympathizes with Nigeria on this terrorist attack when she allowed the sect to remain nurtured, trained and fostered; an outfit which continues to bring mayhem to our ordinary civilians? I am not a hypocrite and it is unfortunate that terrorism is becoming boomeranged on Nigerian soil in a brutal way at least to open my peoples’ eyes.

In Maiduguri a number of terrorists belonging to the Boko Haram sect have been identified as alumni of religious schools there known as pesantrens. Attemp

ts have been made to construct psychological profiles of individuals who succumb, not just to this indoctrination, but also to accept the role of triggering a suicide detonator whilst surrounded by defenceless citizens.

In Islamic countries such interest focuses on the sense of political impotence created by inadequate democracy and corrupt governance. In Bauchi, there are suggestions that young Muslims from immigrant families suffer identity problems in reconciling differences between western lifestyles and their upbringing.

The Nigeria government would not allow fundamentalism in any form and let terrorists use its land for terrorism of any sort. What is going on in some parts of some northern states of Nigeria does not bear any semblance of an Islamic revolution but looks like gang warfare for dominance and extortion, common in many unruly pockets in the quest to grab power.’ One assumes that he would similarly describe the shenanigans of another violent gang run by the power brokers in the north.

The above assertion smacks of one’s total ignorance about the prevailing regional/sub-regional conflicts among various godfathers and quasi-political leaders-cum-extortionists in Nigeria, who change colour and political allegiance with the passage of time. The various Islamic groups, both with substantial power and influence and the ones without much support and clout are not that different in this regard. Nigeria is ready to take any challenge in order to establish peace, harmony and fraternity .Nigeria has sent the highest troops in UN peacekeeping operations and 11,000 troops were now working in different missions.

The Maidugari-based Boko Haram sect is eliminating innocent people with impunity everyday. In the case of the latest attack, the story is quite different. It could demoralize our security forces. If even our police officers can be targeted by the terrorists, who can be secure in the country? I agree with the June participants of “nigeria4betterrule” forum that responsibility should be fixed and “some heads must roll” for this serious security lapse.

Now what should be done? Should Abuja remain indifferent to the plight of the people with fear haunting in their minds all the time? In order to counter the insurgency, the Nigeria Government should create a special task force within the Army and give it unfettered powers to cope with the problems of terrorism. The Army should take pre-emptive action against terrorist violence. As terrorists may choose hard targets for dramatic results in future, the intelligence agencies should thwart such nefarious designs.

This government has so far been following political appeasement and reconciliation which has proved futile. There is need for stern measures. Offence is the best defense. Deterrent measures are a must for successful combing operations against terrorism. The people of Nigeria, both Christians and Muslims, are fed up with incessant suicide-bomb attack and terrorism. Instead of opening dialogue with the outlaws or with Boko Haram sect, let the armed forces take charge of the situation and deal with it in the best possible manner.

For flushing terrorists and most wanted we cannot invite a serious international support and convince others if the goof ups and error game in police affairs and CBI continues one after the other. This is most shameful event. The IG or infact the national (Mr. President’s) security adviser needs to put his office in order and then demand patriotic support from us as Nigerians. This serious error in `terror control` while negotiating with Boko Haram shows how poor is the connectivity of patriotic national security officers with their teams and their daily work. The national security adviser’s apology is not enough as this is a very critical INTERNATIONAL evidence display of our preperadness. Are the IG and his NSA counterpart really connected to their daily work or is because of unclear accountability? Or is it true that intelligence teams stand helpless and `misused` in false image building of their masters and the minders. The control buttons remain at the top and after the Golden jubilee bomb-blast we were promised and assured better work culture for security.

Attacks on the 50th anniversary day and the Nigeria police headquaters prove the chinks in our security set-up. The killing of AIG’s and six others and injuries to two top-ranked police officers at the Nigeria Police Headquarters’ attack made us the butt of ridicule. What can be a glaring example of security lapse than this one? On top of all this is the Inspector General’s support to those responsible for such grave lapses.

It is clearly possible that the 10 out of 17 terrorists who attacked us are not of Nigerian origin but simply trained in Pakistan and facilitated by unknown perpetrators squatting inside Pakistan soil. Same as the Boko Haram, who were trained, financed and supported by the Islamic politicians and other commercial supporters resident on Nigerian soil. If Nigeria really wishes to get rid of Boko Haram Terrorism and protect the citizens, the Nigerian government first shout root out the supporters of logistics of Boko Haram in the North.

Concurrently, Nigerian Army and their counterpart in immigration services should offer a military skirt around the Northern borders between the two countries to prevent smuggling brainwashed islamic extremists. Or will Nigeria act like a whore and sail with the political wind to continue its Double Standards?