http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/8999758/Nigerias-descent-into-holy-war.html

[size=18pt]Nigeria's descent into holy war[/size]

A wave of terrorist violence across Nigeria has raised fears of an alliance between the Islamist Boko Haram movement and al-Qaeda's franchise in the Sahara. Colin Freeman reports from the Boko Haram stronghold of Maiduguri.

Cars allegedly destroyed in army reprisals against residents of Maiduguri for failing to alert them to Boko Haram attacks Photo: TOM SAATER/DEMOTIX By Colin Freeman, Maiduguri
7:30AM GMT 08 Jan 2012
Like many other Christian outposts in the spiritual homeland of Nigeria's "Taliban", the Victory Baptist Church in the northern desert city of Maiduguri no longer just relies on God for protection.

A modest whitewashed spire in a skyline dominated by mosques, for the last month it has had a military guard to defend it from Boko Haram, the militant local Islamist sect blamed for a string of terror attacks nationwide in recent weeks.

The soldiers in the sandbagged machinegun nest outside the church, though, were unable save three members of the flock last week.

On Wednesday evening, three days after Boko Haram ordered all Christians to leave Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria for good, Ousman Adurkwa, a 65-year-old local trader, answered the door of his home near the church to what he thought was an after-hours customer. Instead it was two masked gunmen.

"They shot my father dead, and then came for the rest of the family," Mr Adurkwa's other son Hyeladi, 25, told The Sunday Telegraph the following day. "One chased my brother Moussa and killed him, and the other shot at me, but my mother took the bullet in the stomach instead."

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Hyeladi spoke as weeping parishioners gathered for an impromptu memorial service in the Adurkwa family compound, where the parlour carpet was still stained with blood from the gunshot wound suffered by Mrs Aduwurka, 50, who now lies in hospital.

But while the sermon from the local pastor, Brother Balani, urged "prayers for those who God has taken away, and comfort for those who remain", it diplomatically avoided the more earthly question of who actually did it.

For one thing, no-one can be sure the killing was not simply the result of a private feud. And for another, Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful", and which wants hardline Sharia law across the whole of Nigeria, has a track record of killing anyone who points the finger at them publicly.

Yet some of the Adurkwa family's neighbouring Christian households have already made up their mind, fleeing the district for fear they might be next.

"We are going through a very difficult time because of Boko Haram," said Joseph Adams, 30, who lives nextdoor to the Aduwurkas. "Two weeks ago a nearby church was also burned down, and nine other Christians have been killed. Now all the houses around me are emptying."

Whether such killings really do herald the start of a pogrom of Christians remains in dispute. The Nigerian government, which is facing criticism for failing to curb Boko Haram's reign of terror, insists last week's threats were simply bluster, despite the deaths of some 23 Christians in two further attacks elsewhere in northern Nigeria on Thursday and Friday.

What is less in doubt is the alarming evolution of the sect, which has progressed from using machetes and poisoned arrows in its infancy to sophisticated carbombs and Mumbai-style mass gun attacks today.

Started as a religious study group in Maiduguri more than 15 years ago, it first took up arms under the leadership of a firebrand former civil servant, Mohammed Yusuf, and focused its wrath mainly against the Nigerian government, which it accused of neglecting the dirt-poor Muslim north.

Today, however, it is believed to be morphing into a new pan-African jihadist franchise, forging links with both al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb, which operates in the vast Sahara region north of Nigeria, and al-Shebab in Somalia.

Last August, in what diplomats fear may signal a campaign against Western interests in oil-rich Nigeria, it killed 24 people with a car bombing of the United Nations building in the capital, Abuja.

But what is causing even more worry is its parallel lurch into more sectarian violence, aggravating historic tensions between the Christian south and the Muslim north, and potentially destabilising West Africa's biggest and most powerful nation.

That new agenda was spelt out with a brutal sense of occasion on Christmas Day, when a car bomb killed 42 worshippers at morning mass at St Theresa's Catholic Church in Madalla, just outside Abuja.

Among the bereaved was Steady Esiri, who rushed to the scene to find a charred corpse wearing the distinctive Sunday best dress of his pregnant wife Uche, 26. Her eight-month old foetus had been torn from her womb.

"We were supposed to attend Mass together, but I was busy and planned to go the evening service instead," he said. "Then I heard a huge explosion, and when I rushed here I recognised her dress. She was a wonderful woman, a perfect housewife, now I will have to start my life again. What kind of people do this for political ends?"

For the Reverend Isaac Achi, who feared his 3,500 strong congregation might carry out reprisals against local Muslims, it was cause for a heartfelt sermon the following day reminding them of the Christian virtue of forgiveness.

"I told them revenge would just increase the number of souls dying on both sides," he said last week, looking out over church's wrecked facade, where Christmas decorations still hung lopsidedly. "But if the government cannot stop this kind of thing, I will be worried about the future of Nigeria."

For some Christian leaders, however, the time for meekness is over. In comments that angered Muslim leaders, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Reverend Ayo Oritsejafor, branded the attacks a "declaration of war" against Christians, and warned that they would "have no choice but to respond appropriately " if the authorities failed to stop them.

Responding to the crisis last weekend, Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, declared a state of emergency throughout selected northern areas, including Maiduguri, a dusty frontier town near the border with Chad.

Troops, tanks and pick-up trucks of menacing-looking plain clothes police have flooded the city's sandy, unpaved boulevards, where motorbikes - long the favourite method for Boko Haram's hit and run attacks - have long been banned. Nevertheless, an air of menace remains, with the 6pm curfew enforced not just by the soldiers, as by the knowledge that the sect generally mounts attacks from late afternoon onwards. When The Sunday Telegraph visited last week, explosions and gunfire were heard during the hours of darkness.

Pacifying the city has been made harder by the local hostility to the security forces, whose heavy-handed approach has won few hearts and minds over the years.

In 2009, more than 700 people were killed when troops fought a five day battle against Boko Haram followers which culminated in the capture of their leader, Mr Yusuf. But the government's victory was marred by reports that he was summarily executed in police custody, a move that galvanised Yusuf supporters to regroup, and put some locals off cooperating with the authorities.

Last week, The Sunday Telegraph saw one street littered with burned out cars - allegedly set fire to by soldiers after locals failed to warn them of a bomb attack.

"They were angry because we did not give them any information," said one man, afraid to give his name. "But if we do, the sect will come after us. We're stuck in the middle."

Maiduguri, however, is not the only flashpoint city in the region, and nor do Muslim extremists have a monopoly on aggression. In the religiously mixed city of Jos, north of Abuja, Christians are held equally to blame for clashes that have claimed several thousand lives in the last decade alone.

The city, said to be an acronym for "Jesus Our Saviour", sits atop a balmy plateau that provides prime farming land and was once a favoured retreat for British colonials escaping the humid malarial climes of coastal Lagos. But it is jealously regarded as a historic fiefdom by the Christian Berom tribe, who still view the Muslim Hausas who came here a century ago as interlopers, despite having sold them much of their land.

On a walk through Jos's Bukuru district, scene of Muslim-Christian clashes which claimed 150 lives two years ago, the conflicting visions become clear. While the two groups still live side by side in dense shanty towns, patches of no-go-areas abound for each, and no two accounts of how 2010's bloodshed arose are alike.

"It is the Berom who cause the problems, trying to get their land back," said Mohamed Yakuba, 32, gesturing to a row of burned-out houses where his father and eight other relatives died during the clashes.

True, he is still on good terms with his Berom neighbour John Jang, who also lost his home. But when asked for his version of events, Mr Jang insists: "The Birom were simply retaliating for attacks that the Hausa started."

Yet while most Berom and Hausa still muddle along together in every day life - urged on by street posters saying "Stop this wickedness" - some of the Jos's politicians have a less compromising view. None more so than Toma Davou, 73, the Scripture-quoting leader of the Berom parliamentary forum, who greets foreign visitors to Jos by saying "Welcome to Beromland".

"The Hausas want to push us out, and although it is about land occupation, they say it is religious so that they can get the sympathy of Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda," said Mr Davou. "Christians should arm to the teeth to meet this threat from them and Boko Haram."

Mr Davou is now campaigning for Nigeria to divide into separate Muslim and Christian states, a move that for many would evoke memories of the Biafran civil war of the 1960s.

The Nigerian government dismisses such talk, pointing out that the vast majority of its 150 million citizens get on with one another peaceably, but there is less clarity on the remedy for Boko Haram and al Qaeda, its new ally.

Some Nigerian officials even question whether the sect really exists, saying much of the havoc in Maiduguri is the work of criminal gangs who use its name to frighten people.

But others are convinced that Boko Haram's relationship is indeed having a fledgling relationship with al-Qaeda - not least Robert Fowler, a Canadian diplomat kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb while serving with the UN in Niger in 2008.

The gang who held him in the Sahara for 130 days repeatedly told him of their aim to destroy governments across central Africa as a precursor to establishing a pan-African caliphate. And among their number, they also included a Nigerian.

"It would be an obvious partnership to form, even if there isn't any hard evidence yet," Mr Fowler said. "The world should be worried, because Nigeria is a huge country, and if it implodes it will take the rest of West Africa with it."

mikeansy:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/8999758/Nigerias-descent-into-holy-war.html

[size=18pt]Nigeria's descent into holy war[/size]

Among the bereaved was Steady Esiri, who rushed to the scene to find a charred corpse wearing the distinctive Sunday best dress of his pregnant wife Uche, 26.[size=14pt] Her eight-month old foetus had been torn from her womb.[/size]

"We were supposed to attend Mass together, but I was busy and planned to go the evening service instead," he said. "Then I heard a huge explosion, and when I rushed here I recognised her dress. She was a wonderful woman, a perfect housewife, now I will have to start my life again. What kind of people do this for political ends?"

The bolded is part of why a major part of me believes that Nigeria cannot be one.
The evil act of killing a pregnant woman and cutting out her foetus has become a culture of sorts in Northern Nigeria.
Igbo say that[b] ihe ojoo gbaa afo/aho/aro, oburu omenala[/b] (when an evil act endures for years, it becomes an accepted culture).
This evil act happened in 1966, it is happening again in 2012. So, in essence, it has become a culture in Northern Nigeria. If not, it would not have repeated in 2012.
It can never be an accepted culture to me as an Igbo man.
So, we have irreconcilable differences which would make it impossible for us to be one nation.

It is a civil war. . .not a holy war.
There is nothing holy about religious bigots fighting each other.

I really dont see how a country can survive with so much blood and crime against humanity hanging on its head.

I used to be a serious pan-Nigerianist but I have come to realise that the cost of Nigeria remaining one is the blood of so many innocents especially Igbos. This is not acceptable. Now I am a preacher of let us seperate in peace rather than in pieces.  THE IGBO HIGH COMMAND NEEDS TO WAKE UP AND START BEING PRO=ACTIVE RATHER THAN REACTIONARY. Those men in Mubi, bread winners all,  fathers all, responsible men all, mowed down at the prime of their lives have left widows and fatherless children with an uncertain future in such a hate-filled country. Such stories get to me personally very deeply. What was their crime? Did their kinsman plot another coup and kill Saudana and other leaders this time? So what will be the excuse this time than they were by accident of birth born in Eastern Nigeria.?

I do not know whether such incidents affect others the way they affect me. As much as I am a critic of Igbos deciding to make their abode in the North even though I wonder if Mubi is a predominantly muslim enclave, I still realise that these are people that wanted to have their own state and protect themselves and determine their own destiny but thyey were dragged back by Nigeria and forced to remain there. It then behoves on the Nation that forced them back to provide them full security in any part of the Nation.

Having said that, I believe that henceforth Igbos must not be caught napping lured to a false sense of security by the promise of protection by the FG. Wherever they are, even in the south, they must be prepared. For instance, they should not hold similiar town meetings without being armed to the teeth. Even in churches. I believe that self defense is a fundamental human right and is not against God's laws so yes even in the church, Igbos must be armed.  Then at the regional level, the Igbos must be prepared like the state of Israel. If Israel that is 6 million strong can withstand the Arabs around them that are about 10 times more in number, why not the Igbo Nation that is over 40 million strong.

I get mad at the lack of proactive-ness of the Igbo Nation inspite of the experiences of the past. Well, Present events need to make us to wake up from our slumber and realise that the war is not over. We just had a cease-fire. Look at the vast number of Igbo brains all over the world. Many in sensitive military positions, even of the super powers. I have no doubt that the Igbo Nation can easily develop nuclear capability. I know  some Igbo folks in US and UK who can easily  turn their inventions into military use if need be but is the Igbo Nation wholistically organising herself to use these folks in that regard? I do not mean patches of organisations like  Town Unions or Trade Unions. Since it appears that Ohaneze is encumbered by her statesmanship outlook and MASSOB by her non-violence stand, Other groups geared toward Igbo defence must come on board. The Ogbunigwe group that spoke few weeks ago might be a good one but we still await what they are really made of. Meanwhile MASSOB must continue making her representations to the UN strengthening their arguments with recent events. They should also remove the issue of non-exodus in their agenda and encourage Ndigbo to start gradually selling their investments outside Igboland and investing eastwards or outside the Country or Continent and in friendly climes.

At the local level, We must  know our friends and enemies and strengthen our links with the SS stretch forth hands to SW and middle belt as well as Northern minority and christian peoples. We know that the whole Northern, Nigerian, African and World Muslims are not Pro- BH but when the push comes to shove, we know whom they will identify with.

At the International level, developing relations with World Powers and other strong Nations must be pursued. We should start re-opening links with our war-time allies using Ikemba's burial the way he designed it.

SELF DEFENCE IS A RIGHT NOT A PRIVILEDGE.

My biggest fear is that we have lost an opportunity to get a peaceful resolution to this issue, that of facilitating a U.N. Sponsored referendum. NL is definitely not the forum for this kind of discussion because of saboteurs. I extend my hand out to other like minded Southern Nigerians and Middle Belters that would like to form a New SECULAR Order to provide a functioning State, enabling Framework, Security and Prosperity amongst others. 


Nigeria will NEVER work because we have a System that historically evolved accidentally, mainly via Military rule, to the extent that our System does not fit any describable category (chaos); and neither is it a System that our Forebears from the various constituent parts of Nigeria negotiated as a pre-condition to attaining Independence.

The State along with its apparatus is malfunctioning because the checks and balances that are meant to be built into the System have been eroded, period.

Once again, I extend my hand out to other like minded Southern Nigerians and Middle Belters that would like to form a New SECULAR Order.

houvest:

I used to be a serious pan-Nigerianist but I have come to realise that the cost of Nigeria remaining one is the blood of so many innocents especially Igbos. This is not acceptable. Now I am a preacher of let us seperate in peace rather than in pieces. THE IGBO HIGH COMMAND NEEDS TO WAKE UP AND START BEING PRO=ACTIVE RATHER THAN REACTIONARY. Those men in Mubi, bread winners all, fathers all, mowed than at the prime of their life have left widows and fatherless children with an uncertain future in such a hate-filled country. Such stories get to me personally very deeply. What was their crime? Did their kinsman plot another coup and kill Saudana and other leaders this time? So what will be the excuse this time than they were by accident of birth born in Eastern Nigeria.?

I do not know whether such incidents affect others the way it affects me. As much as I am a critic of Igbos deciding to make their abode in the North even though I wonder if Mubi is a predominantly muslim enclave, I still realise that these are people that wanted to have their own state and protect themselves and determine their own destiny but thyey were dragged back by Nigeria and forced to remain there. It then behoves on the Nation that forced them back to provide them full security in any part of the Nation.

Having said that, I believe that henceforth Igbos must not be caught napping lured to a false sense of security by the promise of protection by the FG. Wherever they are, even in the south, they must be prepared. For instance, they should not hold similiar town meetings without being armed to the teeth. Even in churches. I believe that self defense is a fundamental human right and is not against God's laws so yes even in the church, Igbos must be armed. Then at the regional level, the Igbos must be prepared like the state of Israel. If Israel that is 6million strong can withstand the Arabs around them that are about 10 times more in number, why not the Igbo Nation that is over 40 million strong.

I get mad at the lack of proactive-ness of the Igbo Nation inspite of the experiences of the past. Well, Present events need to make us to wake up from our slumber and realise that the war is not over. We just had a cease-fire. Look at the vast number of Igbo brains all over the world. Many in sensitive military position, even of the super powers. I have no doubt that the Igbo Nation can easily develop nuclear capability. I know some Igbo folks in US and UK who can easily turn their inventions into military use if need be but is the Igbo Nation wholistically organising herself to use these folks in that regard. I do not mean patches of organisations like Town Unions or Trade Unions. Since it appears that Ohaneze is encumbered by her statesmanship outlook and MASSOB by her non-violence stand, Other groups geared toward Igbo defence must come on board. The Ogbunigwe group that spoke few weeks ago might be a good one but we still await what they are really made of. Meanwhile MASSOB must continue making her representations to the UN strengthening their arguments with recent events. They should also remove the issue of non-exodus in their agenda and encourage Ndigbo to start gradually selling their investments outside Igboland and invest eastwards or outside the Country or Continent and in friendly climes

At the local level, We must know our friends and enemies and strengthen our links with the SS stretch forth hands to SW and middle belt as well as Northern minority and christian peoples. We know that the whole Northern, Nigerian, African and World Muslims are not Pro- BH but when the push comes to shove, we know whom they will identify with.

At the International level, developing relations with World Powers and other strong Nations must be pursued. We should start re-opening links with our war-time allies using Ikemba's burial the way he designed it.

SELF DEFENCE IS A RIGHT NOT A PRIVILEDGE.

My brother, your message is very well thought out.
I endorse it powerfully.

Onye obula mepee anya ya o!
Nsogbu di kwa na Naijiria.

ShangoThor:

[b]My biggest fear is that we have lost an opportunity to get a peaceful resolution to this issue, that of facilitating a U.N. Sponsored referendum. [/b]NL is definitely not the forum for this kind of discussion because of saboteurs. I extend my hand out to other like minded Southern Nigerians and Middle Belters that would like to form a New SECULAR Order to provide a functioning State, enabling Framework, Security and Prosperity amongst others. 


Nigeria will NEVER work because we have a System that historically evolved accidentally, mainly via Military rule, to the extent that our System does not fit any describable category (chaos); and neither is it a System that our Forebears from the various constituent parts of Nigeria negotiated as a pre-condition to attaining Independence.

The State along with its apparatus is malfunctioning because the checks and balances that are meant to be built into the System have been eroded, period.

Once again, I extend my hand out to other like minded Southern Nigerians and Middle Belters that would like to form a New SECULAR Order.

@First bolded

My brother, I don't think it is too late for a UN sponsored resolution. Even sef methinks that it may be too early. I know how the UN works. If there is no war, or a clear incipience of war, they don't usually take on such resolution.
They can also take it on if there is a STRONG demand by the local groups. Neither has happened yet, but I believe it will happen because I honestly don't see Nigeria surmounting this crisis of "born to rule" mentality by the North.
To me, that is really the only issue/problem with Nigeria.

@Second bolded

Very welcome.

[/quote][quote author=Onlytruth link=topic=842556.msg9929474#msg9929474 date=1326137721]
The bolded is part of why a major part of me believes that Nigeria cannot be one.
The evil act of killing a pregnant woman and cutting out her foetus has become a culture of sorts in Northern Nigeria.
Igbo say that[b] ihe ojoo gbaa afo/aho/aro, oburu omenala[/b] (when an evil act endures for years, it becomes an accepted culture).
This evil act happened in 1966, it is happening again in 2012. So, in essence, it has become a culture in Northern Nigeria. If not, it would not have repeated in 2012.
It can never be an accepted culture to me as an Igbo man.
So, we have irreconcilable differences which would make it impossible for us to be one nation.

I was In Kano 1991 when all hell broke lose during a visit of  Reinhard Bonnke. I was about 2 seconds from death ( details to follow another day ).

This is one of their trademarks, disembowelling women and slicing of heads with sickles, throwing bodies down wells etc. Even an 8 year school girl was slaughtered.

The spirit behind their actions is certainly not of GOD.

Onlytruth:

@First bolded

My brother, I don't think it is too late for a UN sponsored resolution. Even sef methinks that it may be too early. I know how the UN works. If there is no war, or a clear incipience of war, they don't usually take on such resolution.
They can also take it on if there is a STRONG demand by the local groups. Neither has happened yet, but I believe it will happen because I honestly don't see Nigeria surmounting this crisis of "born to rule" mentality by the North.
To me, that is really the only issue/problem with Nigeria.

@Second bolded

Very welcome.  

I hear you bro, they say 'Patience is a Virtue', and I respectfully heed your words. However, on the contrary, methinks that the groundwork has to be started now, there is a hell of a lot of work to do.



And now this is where Alj Harem normally interjects in order to cause confusion and disunity   Feel free

ShangoThor:

I hear you bro, they say 'Patience is a Virtue', and I respectfully heed your words. However, on the contrary, methinks that the groundwork has to be started now, [size=14pt]there is a hell of a lot of work to do[/size].



And now this is where Alj Harem normally interjects in order to cause confusion and disunity   Feel free

@First bolded,

Yes, yes and yes! That is why I would plead with you to NEVER leave Nairaland, though it has saboteurs as you rightly pointed out. Here is a meeting of Nigerians, and whatever we want in Nigeria can be initialized here.
Beaf also shares in your views, though you may not know it. He has, on countless occasion, advocated the same thing. The fuel subsidy fracas is masking a lot of other more urgent issues. That is why I don't support all these protests around it. People are being butchered in Nigeria daily, and so, I can't find time for that (whether I agree with it or not). The journey of a thousand miles begins with ONE step. We shall get there, provided we stay the course.
Post more on that idea and don't worry when flak flies around you. Most of the attackers haven't actually thought about the problem. And yes some of them are kids. So, ignore them.

@Second bolded

Ignore Alj_harem too. He is an embedded Northern interest here bent on retaining the dysfunctional system that keeps him and his group on top of the food chain. Provided no one upturns that, he is a very happy ONE NIGERIAN. That is Alj_harem summarized. History however teaches us that the status quo cannot be allowed to continue. It is either they accept a fundamental change, or they ship out of Nigeria.

Onlytruth:

My brother, your message is very well thought out.
I endorse it powerfully.

Onye obula mepee anya ya o!
Nsogbu di kwa na Naijiria.

Thanks so much Eze. The time is not even now but yesterday.

Its time to call for a referendum

The most important action MASSOB can take right now is to launch a very publicised petition at the United Nation for a referendum on the future of Nigeria.

They should publicly question Ban Ki Moon why the UN has nothing to say about Nigeria.

A targeted genocide is going on in Nigeria and the world is pretending about it and ignoring it.
If Ban Ki Moon will not grant them audience they should ally with sympathetic charity organisation and launch a campaign questioning the UN, EU and US why they are all mute on Nigeria. A rally can be held outside UN offices in Switzerland, UK and US protesting this genocide.

The reason this protest is necessary is so that when Nigeria begins to crash the world will bear witness and we can forge the alliances we need to succeed.

So far the Narative has confused the war between Biroms and Hausas to mean Christains in general have been fighting this clear selective attacks against Igbos. It is important to highlight to the World that Igbos are in no way the aggressors and are a people under attack.

Onlytruth:

@First bolded,

Yes, yes and yes! That is why I would plead with you to NEVER leave Nairaland, though it has saboteurs as you rightly pointed out. Here is a meeting of Nigerians, and whatever we want in Nigeria can be initialized here.
Beaf also shares in your views, though you may not know it. He has, on countless occasion, advocated the same thing. The fuel subsidy fracas is masking a lot of other more urgent issues. That is why I don't support all these protests around it. People are being butchered in Nigeria daily, and so, I can't find time for that (whether I agree with it or not). The journey of a thousand miles begins with ONE step. We shall get there, provided we stay the course.
Post more on that idea and don't worry when flak flies around you. Most of the attackers haven't actually thought about the problem. And yes some of them are kids. So, ignore them.

@Second bolded

Ignore Alj_harem too. He is an embedded Northern interest here bent on retaining the dysfunctional system that keeps him and his group on top of the food chain. Provided no one upturns that, he is a very happy ONE NIGERIAN. That is Alj_harem summarized. History however teaches us that the status quo cannot be allowed to continue. It is either they accept a fundamental change, or they ship out of Nigeria.

I hear you bro, I hear you.

mikeansy:

The most important action MASSOB can take right now is to launch a very publicised petition at the United Nation for a referendum on the future of Nigeria.

They should publicly question Ban Ki Moon why the UN has nothing to say about Nigeria.

A targeted genocide is going on in Nigeria and the world is pretending about it and ignoring it.
If Ban Ki Moon will not grant them audience they should ally with sympathetic charity organisation and launch a campaign questioning the UN, EU and US why they are all mute on Nigeria. A rally can be held outside UN offices in Switzerland, UK and US protesting this genocide.

The reason this protest is necessary is so that when Nigeria begins to crash the world will bear witness and we can forge the alliances we need to succeed.

So far the Narative has confused the war between Biroms and Hausas to mean Christains in general have been fighting this clear selective attacks against Igbos. It is important to highlight to the World that Igbos are in no way the aggressors and are a people under attack.

Thanks so much for this Mike. Yes Why is MASSOB not using these daily events to leverage their representations to the UN and publicly too.? Why?

mikeansy:

The most important action MASSOB can take right now is to launch a very publicised petition at the United Nation for a referendum on the future of Nigeria.

They should publicly question Ban Ki Moon why the UN has nothing to say about Nigeria.

A targeted genocide is going on in Nigeria and the world is pretending about it and ignoring it.
If Ban Ki Moon will not grant them audience they should ally with sympathetic charity organisation and launch a campaign questioning the UN, EU and US why they are all mute on Nigeria. A rally can be held outside UN offices in Switzerland, UK and US protesting this genocide.

The reason this protest is necessary is so that when Nigeria begins to crash the world will bear witness and we can forge the alliances we need to succeed.

So far the Narative has confused the war between Biroms and Hausas to mean Christains in general have been fighting this clear selective attacks against Igbos. It is important to highlight to the World that Igbos are in no way the aggressors and are a people under attack.

Brilliant idea Mike. That is part of why I don't understand what MASSOB has been up to. I would think that this should come soonest because of all these killings. Well done bro.

houvest:

Thanks so much for this Mike. Yes Why is MASSOB not using these daily events to leverage their representations to the UN and publicly too.? Why?

Good question bros. I would really like to know why from a MASSOB member. I have never come across one here on Nairaland. I would like for them to tell us what they are really about, because I hate "space occupiers": those who would not enter heaven, but would stop others from entering by standing at the gate pretending to be entering. I hope I'm making sense.

If after almost 100 years of belonging in the nation, one part of the nation continues to butcher its fellow citizens, then it is time to get a UN sponsored referendum to stop the madness in that nation. It appears that Nigeria can never be one nation; if the senseless killings will not stop, then Nigeria MUST be split into as many countries as the people decide.

Onlytruth:

Good question bros. I would really like to know why from a MASSOB member. I have never come across one here on Nairaland. I would like for them to tell us what they are really about, because I hate "space occupiers": those who would not enter heaven, but would stop others from entering by standing at the gate pretending to be entering. I hope I'm making sense.

The thing is there are enough facts on ground to chronicle the kind of hatred that goes on in Nigeria! whether it is a Youth Corper murdered for doing his job, or a pregnant woman disembowed for no reason, or families who have no relatives in Government, have not benefited anything from Government but simply went to pray to God on an xmas day but got massacred. We have all the facts on Ground to ask "Why always the Igbos?"

Prophet Mohamed gets cartooned in Denmark we bear the brunt
Israel bombs Hamas strongholds in Gazza Strip we bear the brunt

In every crisis  Igbos are targeted 50:1 (if not more)
I think we have enough facts to go to the rest of the world with the question "WHY ALWAYS IGBOS".

The North/Nigeria should no longer have it both ways. One Nigeria can no longer be acceptable when it is OK to cleanse a selected group!

Katsumoto:

If after almost 100 years of belonging in the nation, one part of the nation continues to butcher its fellow citizens, then it is time to get a UN sponsored referendum to stop the madness in that nation. It appears that Nigeria can never be one nation; if the senseless killings will not stop, then Nigeria MUST be split into as many countries as the people decide.

I totally I agree with all the bolded. I want to believe that we are headed in that direction. My prayer is that the UN intervenes BEFORE all hell breaks loose in Nigeria. Meanwhile, I really think that NOW is the time for all groups in the South to start a sustained dialogue, and to rally round common goals. The bigger the demand, the more likely the UN will address it. I know they would hate chaos and over splintering of Nigeria should they have to help break it up.

mikeansy:

The thing is there are enough facts on ground to chronicle the kind of hatred that goes on in Nigeria! whether it is a Youth Corper murdered for doing his job, or a pregnant woman disembowed for no reason, or families who have no relatives in Government, have not benefited anything from Government but simply went to pray to God on an xmas day but got massacred. We have all the facts on Ground to ask "Why always the Igbos?"

Prophet Mohamed gets cartooned in Denmark we bear the brunt
Israel bombs Hamas strongholds in Gazza Strip we bear the brunt

In every crisis  Igbos are targeted 50:1 (if not more)
I think we have enough facts to go to the rest of the world with the question "WHY ALWAYS IGBOS".

The North/Nigeria should no longer have it both ways. One Nigeria can no longer be acceptable when it is OK to cleanse a selected group!

It seem as if Nigerians have become inured to all these senseless killings. However, each time we read about these killings, anyone with a soul would become nauseated and infuriated at how humans can execute devilish acts.
It must stop.

Onlytruth:

I totally I agree with all the bolded. I want to believe that we are headed in that direction. My prayer is that the UN intervenes BEFORE all hell breaks loose in Nigeria. Meanwhile, I really think that NOW is the time for all groups in the South to start a sustained dialogue, and to rally round common goals. The bigger the demand, the more likely the UN will address it. I know they would hate chaos and over splintering of Nigeria should they have to help break it up.

If the UN and other Western governments are smart, they will encourage dialogue among the different parts of Nigeria. The current levels of anger in Nigeria is so high that any full blown conflict will make Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Congo all seem like playground disputes. Those nations did not have to put up with the same sustained levels of barbarism for decades before laying into one another. I really fear for the lives of average Nigerians.

A full blown conflict will affect all Nigeria's neighbours in serious proportions.

Katsumoto:

If the UN and other Western governments are smart, they will encourage dialogue among the different parts of Nigeria. [/b]The current levels of anger in Nigeria is so high that any full blown conflict will make Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Congo all seem like playground disputes. [b]Those nations did not have to put up with the same sustained levels of barbarism for decades before laying into one another. I really fear for the lives of average Nigerians.

A full blown conflict will affect all Nigeria's neighbours in serious proportions.

I honestly don't think that any foreign country should do this for us. The UN should only act as arbiters. We should start NOW to do it because we Nigerians know our problems. They can come after we have crossed a certain bridge of BASIC understanding. Their job then would be to seal all the agreements to ensure they meet international ethos. We Nigerians must begin talking NOW, and I mean REAL talk, not all these politically correct pretenses by our so called leaders. Even bishops have been making more realistic statements these days than politicians.

I hope the call for a sovereign national conference can take on more momentum.

LONDON (AFP) - Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka warned on Tuesday that his country was heading towards a civil war, blaming political leaders who spread religious intolerance.

Asked whether he agreed with President Goodluck Jonathan that the current unrest was worse than the 1960s civil war, he told the BBC World Service: “It’s not an unrealistic comparison — it’s certainly based on many similarities.


Prof Wole Soyinka

“We see the nation heading towards a civil war.”

Soyinka was also asked whether the unrest threatened the state of Nigeria itself, and replied: “It is going that way. We no longer can pretend it’s not.

“When you’ve got a situation where a bunch of people can go into a place of worship and open fire through the windows, you’ve reached a certain dismal watershed in the life of that nation.”

Soyinka said the issues raised by Islamist group Boko Haram, which was blamed for violence targeting Christians in the north of Nigeria and has sparked fears of a wider religious conflict, had been brewing for some time.

“There are people in power in certain parts of the country, leaders, who quite genuinely and authoritatively hate and cannot tolerate any religion outside their own,” he said.

“When you combine that with the ambitions of a number of people who believe they are divinely endowed to rule the country and who… believe that their religion is above whatever else binds the entire nation together, and somehow the power appears to slip from their hands, then they resort to the most extreme measures.

“Youths who have been indoctrinated right from infancy can be used, and who have been used, again and again to create mayhem in the country.”

He added: “Those who have created this faceless army have lost control.”

Soyinka, a dramatist and essayist, became Africa’s first Nobel laureate in literature when he won the prize in 1986.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/nigeria-heading-for-civil-war-soyinka/