[size=14pt]Fears of a Boko Haram instigated sectarian war deepen after Islamic school attack[/size]
December 29, 2011

Onlookers view the charred remains of a vehicle following an attack at St Theresa Church in Madalla district on 25 December.

A Boko Haram instigated sectarian war seems likely after an attack at an Islamic school

Fears of a sectarian war are becoming a reality in Nigeria following a bomb blast at an Islamic school in Sapele, located in southern Delta state. At least seven people were injured in the attack and no claims of responsibility have been made at this stage.

The latest incident has contributed to already existing fears in Nigeria that a sectarian war is almost inevitable.

Boko Haram is an Islamic sect that has its roots in northern Nigeria, a largely Muslim part of the country and the group has been vociferous in its opposition to the Federal government estbalishment. To find Boko Haram’s rather broad objective is to translate its name from the Arabic phrase (jama’atu ahlis sunna lidda’awati wal-jihad) which simply means “Western education is a sin” and when localised to the local Hausa language, takes the form of “Boko Haram”.

Boko Haram began as a loosely connected group comprising mostly self-radicalised extremists who sought the strict implantation of Sharia Law across the Nigeria, this goal has not changed but the group’s capability of coordinating attacks across the country has.

In the past most of the group’s attacks involved the use of rudimentary homemade bombs and Molotov cocktails (petrol bombs). Recently however, the group has started to use locally produced but potent explosives as evidenced by an attack on the UN Building on 26 August which resulted in the deaths of as many as 23 people. The group has also started using suicide bombers, a possible contagion effect from the Taliban and Haqqani Network in Afghanistan.

The police and the whole security apparatus have been found inadequate at dealing with the terrorist threat posed by Boko Haram. The Joint Task Force (JTF) which has been deployed to areas susceptible to Boko Haram activity such as Maiduguri and Jos has been unable to halt the violence. Instead, in the presence of security forces Boko Haram has developed more sophisticated attacks that have dealt a huge casualties to both ordinary citizens and the security forces.

The inadequacy of the Nigerian government has not only been in keeping Boko Haram in check, at least from a security perspective. But there have been investigative and procedural missteps by the authorities. Very few Boko Haram suspects are ever apprehended and even after four days (at the time of writing this article) no arrests have been made since the deadly church bombings in Madalla district, 40km west of the capital, Abuja on 25 December.

This is compounded by allegations that several high ranking state officials are either supporting or providing financial backing to Boko Haram. A man purported to be a Boko Haram spokeperson, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, stated on 3 November that politicians, particularly those from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had a hand in facilitating the groups’ activity.

In the absence of an adequate security response and the perceived cosy relationship between prominent politicians and Boko Haram, the rest of Nigeria, especially its Christian population which predominantly lives in the country’s south has been left to its own devices. On 28 December the Christian Association of Nigeria stated that Boko Haram had declared war with its recent violence thereby leaving them with “no other option” but to defend themselves. The assumption then follows that the latest attack on the Islamic school in Sapele and a previous attack on 10 December are part of the Christian offensive.

It is in this environment that sectarian violence or all-out war finds commonplace. One hopes that the federal government is able to quell this impending unrest before it is too late. If not, Nigeria will possibly be ripe for the long mentioned subdivision of the country in two seperate states.

- Political Analysis South Africa

http://www.politicalanalysis.co.za/2011/12/29/fears-of-a-boko-haram-instigated-sectarian-war-deepen-after-islamic-school-attack/

Fire must be met with fire.

I believe boko haram has pushed too far. The repercussions are going to be ugly, its really hard to see a way back from the brink.

Exactly what they want.

this boko nuisance are cowards.

if u want to fight a war, come out of hiding.

America went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan and their soldiers were on the street.

why is it that all these Islamic militants hide to battle the authorities?

they are simply fools!

christains need to come out and fight,

as taught by who? Jesus?

So its going to be a christian vs moslem war and not a south vs north war?

One phrase comes to my mind in finding a solution to this menace:POLITICAL WILL. I don't how GEJ wants to b perceived in nig's history,but if he wants to b seen in anything close to positive,he must garner d political will to confront this threat,massive intelligence gathering/infiltration& deal ruthlessly wt the sponsors/people so identified.Some people(not me then) still see Yar'Adua as a gud leader simply bc of his handling of d ND militants(I saw him as a selfish human who rada watch d country burn than handover to his den deputy,but looking @events now,I now rather feel he knew d kind of ineffective leader GEJ wud b& felt no captain @all was better than our presido now).
Anyways,history is beckoning on GEJ to prove wrong all who ever doubted his ability,his capacity& evn his doctorate degree,he can still prove he is not a disaster by doing away wt his present approaches:these are unconventional times in nig,unconventional but effective methods are required of those we av entrusted our destinies to or unconventional ways of ruling d land come to d fore

Fears of sectarian war? Wat do u call the crisis taking hold in the country in recent times? Abeg writer should go back to english school and stop writing rubbish. The Sectarian strive is a long running Nigerian issue particularly with regards to the North.

If the south breaks away, in no time the North will become another somalia in Africa becos of the wicked ideology they subscribe to.

You guys have no idea what you are talking about. If you go out to fight and die, you will be a big foooooooooooool because you are being played. Open your eyes http://seeafrica..com/2011/12/freedom-of-religion-and-boko-haram-in_28.html

i find more damaging and debilitating the lies and hypocrisy of Nigerians than all the bombs of Bokoharam put together.
So now people

Take for instance the last explosion that the Vanguard reported. It said an unknown assailant threw a hand grenade into an Islamic school. The intention of whoever carried out that attack is to create the impression that Muslims were responsible for the Christmas Day bombings and Christians are retaliating. This way, another sectarian violence bigger than the 2009 one will start

if Muslims were not responsible for the bombing then who did it , who then is responsible.

The Sultan is quoted as saying that, “I want to assure all Nigerians that there is no conflict between Christians and Muslims, between Islam and Christianity. It is a conflict between evil people and good people and the good people are more than the evil doers. The good people must come together to defeat the evil ones and that is the message.”

The week and misreable attempts to turn the truth on its head can only work for gullible nigerians. How come a church was bombed and not a government building or to even make it easy why didnt they bomb an empty church atleast to show their greivances.
How come a mosque has never been bombed by BH.

if we can not blame the Hausa / fulani muslims for this then why do we keep pushing the Blames of the first military coup of January 15 1966 to an attempt by igbos to recolonise and dominate nigeria even when all coup plotters where not igbos.

Nigeria will keep Vacillating until alteast 1/2 of the populace wake up from their slumber/nightmare

kettykin:

i find more damaging and debilitating the lies and hypocrisy of Nigerians than all the bombs of Bokoharam put together.
So now people
if Muslims were not responsible for the bombing then who did it , who then is responsible.

The week and misreable attempts to turn the truth on its head can only work for gullible nigerians. How come a church was bombed and not a government building or to even make it easy why didnt they bomb an empty church atleast to show their greivances.
How come a mosque has never been bombed by BH.

if we can not blame the Hausa / fulani muslims for this then why do we keep pushing the Blames of the first military coup of January 15 1966 to an attempt by igbos to recolonise and dominate nigeria even when all coup plotters where not igbos.

Nigeria will keep Vacillating until alteast 1/2 of the populace wake up from their slumber/nightmare

It is because the average Nigerian is a coward always on the lookout for who to blame.

To find Boko Haram’s rather broad objective is to translate its name from the Arabic phrase (jama’atu ahlis sunna lidda’awati wal-jihad) which simply means “Western education is a sin” and when localised to the local Hausa language, takes the form of “Boko Haram”.

It is very important that we correctly define and give value to the meaning of the bold. Jama'atu means society or congregation of people, sunna means tradition, lidda'awati means to project or to continue a teaching and we all know what jihad means. Put together the bold means a society fighting to continue the holy traditions of a leader. There is nothing in here that says Western or Education is a sin. Some elements in the North who are against western education hijacked the society's creed and changed it crudely to Hausa and called it boko haram. Boko means western education and haram means sin.

So how did we get from "people engaged in war to push their teacher's ideology" to "western education is a sin"? There are two camps, one hijacked the other and the two are now fused. They can be separated and defeated. Divide and conquer is still a very viable political tool even in this age.