For a very long time the people of my great country, Nigeria were living is peace and freedom until the advent of the deadly Islamic sect BOKO HARAM. Boko Haram is described with the following:
- Western education is forbidden
- Western influence is a sin
- War against western education
- Westernization is sacrilege
We the people of Nigeria saw a different picture of Nigeria when the leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf was killed by the police, Which led to the attacks that lasted since 2002 till date. When the group was formed in the northern part of Nigeria, the focus was not to attack, but to promote Islam and the creation of Islamic state in the northern part of Nigeria. Some of the original objective of the group are:
• Reading any book outside the Quran was sinful and a sign of paganism
• To fight against western culture and tradition
• The political goal is to create an Islamic state through the teachings of Mohammed Yusuf
• The commitment of the prophet’s teachings and Jihad
The ideology of the group changed when the leader of the group was reportedly short dead by the Nigerian Police Force(NPF). There was a conflict( gun battle) in 2009 between the police called Operation Flush and the group which led to the injury of about 17 of the Islamic sect members. This led to the arrest of the leader which eventually led to his killing.
Boko Haram later re-emerged by the deputy of Mohammed Yusuf called Abubakar shekau. Attack gradually grew more deadly and sophisticated with the use of explosive device.
Since 2009 till date there has been several attacks that have drastically affected the economy of the country. Some of the notable attacks are listed below ;
- Multiple police station attack in 2003: This is regarded as The first known attack by the terrorist group. This attack was carried out in Yobe State, the northern part of Nigeria. This led to the death of so many police men and some of the terrorists.
- They started their first bombing in Bauchi State in July, 2009. killing more than 50 police officers in the first attack. The Joint Task Force(JTF) responded by killing more than 700 Boko Haram members.
- in September 2010 – 50 Boko Haram militants attack a prison in the state of Bauchi, killing five people and releasing more than 700 inmates.
- United Nations Attack – there was a bloody attack in the compound of the United Nations in Abuja. A car bomb kills 23 people and injures more than 75 others. This was one of the most terrible of the attacks as people involved were dignitaries.
some of the picturesand videos are as follows:
https://rubeneberlein.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/nigeria-200-feared-dead-bauchi-police-islamic-sect-clash/
https://www.naijacenter.com/news/boko-haram-present-situation-borno-now-war-says-sad-shettima/
Several towns and military check points were seized by the deadly Islamic group. links are given below
http://www.ibtimes.com/boko-haram-fighters-seize-army-base-nigerian-town-baga-deadly-attack-1773112
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/05/boko-haram-key-military-base-nigeria-chad-border
https://www.voanews.com/a/boko-haram-seizes-nigerian-city/2501177.html
BOKO HARAM AND PRESIDENT MUHAMADU BUHARI
Buhari, the fomar military president, in his campaign vow to defeat the deadly terrorist group if voted into power. He plan to do this by buying modern fighting equipment for the fight against the terrorists.
The assumption of president Buhari into power has reduce the power of the insurgence drastically. He started by ordering the release of $21 million to the Multinational Joint Task Force(MJTF) to enable the buy weapons to fight the terrorist group.
BOKO HARAM AND THE NIGERIA ECONOMY
The actions of the deadly Islamic group to Islamise Nigeria has led to series of bombing in the Northern part of the country. This, to a very large extent, has has led to severe destruction of the the infrastructural base of the country. Also the agricultural products produced and distributed from the Norther part of the country have been seriously affected. specifically, some of the effect of the insurgence on the economy are as follows:
---Despite killing and displacing thousands, Nigeria’s economy has continued its meteoric rise, with foreign investors scrambling to take their own share of Africa’s most promising market. There has been significant growth in the country, especially in the area of GDP.
---As a matter of fact the country was rated to having the biggest economy(after rebasing) in the whole of Africa at the pick of the attacks.
---At the moment, some of the negative economic impact the group has had is slowing down agricultural productivity in the states affected. Agriculture accounts for a significant part of the nation’s GDP and employs more than 35 percent of youths a and is starting to show signs of strain.
----Also there is a drastic reduction in the foreign direct investment going to the Northern region. The number of domestic investment has also decrease simply because of the fear of attack by the terrorist group
----there is also a drastic destruction of the infrastructural base of the country. Resources have been channeled towards the Northern for reconstruction and development.
some part of the country that has significantly damaged are shown in the below pictures and videos
In conclusion, the problem of terrorism is still very strong in Nigeria. killings take place virtually every day by the Islamic sect. though the government , under the leadership of president Buhari has significantly reduce the effect and the powers of the the terrorists, but they have not been totally flushed out.
Terrorism is not a problem the is common to Nigeria alone, so the world need to put all hands on deck to put a permanent stop to this problem of terrorism.
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