OUR STRUGGLE WITH THE NEW BOKO-HARAM JUST BEGAN

The Al-Barnawi faction of Boko Haram (aka ISWAP) has shown the obsolete Shekau faction how to do the business of Jihad (I use the word "business" advisedly). It has succeeded in getting the following with the Dapchi girls' abduction and release:

1. Got all boarding schools in the Borno-Yobe axis closed, a victory for its campaign against Western education. With little or no Western schooling, the Northeast will become an even bigger hotbed of radicalization.

2. Set back girl-child education in the area by at least twenty years. After dropping them off, Boko Haram spent at least twenty minutes preaching to the girls to abandon Western education and "return to the path of Allah." They also dropped a subtle warning: we released you to give you a second chance to shun Western education and "return to the path of Allah," which of course they define as incompatible with Western education. I would be shocked if those girls' parents allowed them back into any Western/secular school again. Parents of girls in the region are taking notes and may become wary of sending their daughters--and sons--to secular schools.

3. They scored a huge revenue haul, with an unconfirmed $20 million ransom payment. With this money, the group has bought itself another five years worth of weapons with which to challenge our soldiers, institutions, and cohesion.

4. They scored a major public relations and propaganda victory, bonding with the people of Dapchi to the point of being hailed and given a heroic farewell upon their departure from the town.

This is precisely what distinguishes Al-Barnawi from Shekau. The former is a sophisticated Jihadist who wants to win the hearts and minds of the people of the Northeast and convince them that his group can replace the decadent, secular government of Nigeria with a just, magnanimous Islamic caliphate. The latter alienates them with his murderous madness.

The takeaways are simple:

1. With today's events, Al-Barnawi has outmaneuvered Shekau and written himself into Jihadi lore in the region.

2. Al-Barnawi is infinitely more dangerous and more threatening to Nigeria's sovereignty than Shekau, who is his own enemy and is wont to self-destruct. With today's release, similar acts of pretend goodwill in the past, and by refraining from wanton killings and embarking on community reassurance gestures, Al-Barnawi is quietly normalizing and decriminalizing Boko Haram, or at least his faction of it. His Jihad has the potential to become mainstreamed, rehabilitated, accepted at the Muslim grassroots, and eventually naturalized. That would be a nightmare scenario for Nigeria.

3. Our struggle with Boko Haram is a long way from being over.

As posted on facebook. What do you think?

New Boko Haram motto:
BENEVOLENT TERRORISTS

We kidnap, terrorize and with the right price/negotiations do home delivery service too.

If you doubt us ask APC and Dapchi school girls.
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Nigerians shouldn't be surprised if they float a BH peoples party in the nearest future cos if same people can hail same terrorists despite abducting their wards and the killings / destructions mete on them then anything is possible. The soil for that is fertile enough with the sharia, poverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment and almajiris for pick.

It's so unfortunate our soldiers are being sacrificed as pawns and collateral damage for a war that some power hungry mofos wouldn't want to end.

And the kidnap and manner of release of the girls have shown North is BH and BH is North in connivance with some of their leaders. Didn't one even said a fight against boko haram is a fight against the north?

Southern Nigeria should wake up.

TheFreeOne:
New Boko Haram motto:
BENEVOLENT TERRORISTS

We kidnap, terrorize and with the right price/negotiations do home delivery service too.

If you doubt us ask APC and Dapchi school girls.
------

Nigerians shouldn't be surprised if they float a BH peoples party in the nearest future cos if same people can hail same terrorists despite abducting their wards and the killings / destructions mete on them then anything is possible. The soil for that is fertile enough with the sharia, poverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment and almajiris for pick.

It's so unfortunate our soldiers are being sacrificed as pawns and collateral damage for a war that some power hungry mofos wouldn't want to end.

And the kidnap and manner of release of the girls have shown North is BH and BH is North in connivance with some of their leaders. Didn't one even said a fight against boko haram is a fight against the north?

Southern Nigeria should wake up.

are you talking about Yoruba Muslim that has refused to see what the handwriting on the wall

Why is this not on the front-page? Mynd44, Seun, Lalasticlala.

The problem with Boko Haram is simply the problem of honesty and interest. The northerners, the military and our leaders are not honest and are spurred by political, religious and financial interest.