http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2011/june/14/newsbreak-14-06-2011-001.html



Boko Haram (figuratively, "Western or non-Islamic education is a sin" is a controversial Nigerian militant Islamist group that seeks the imposition of Shariah law in the northern states of Nigeria.[2]

It become known internationally following sectarian violence in Nigeria in 2009


[edit] EtymologyThe term "Boko Haram" comes from the Hausa word boko meaning "Animist, western or otherwise non-Islamic education" and the Arabic word haram figuratively meaning "sin" (literally, "forbidden".[3][4][5][6]

[edit] IdeologyBoko Haram opposes not only Western education, but Western culture and modern science as well.[7] In a 2009 BBC interview, Yusuf stated that the belief that the world is a sphere is contrary to Islam and should be rejected, along with Darwinism and the theory that rain comes from water evaporated by the sun.[3]

[edit] HistoryThe group was founded in 2002 in Maiduguri by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf. In 2004 it moved to Kanamma, Yobe State, where it set up a base called "Afghanistan", used to attack nearby police outposts, killing police officers.[8] Yusuf is hostile to democracy and the secular education system, vowing that "this war that is yet to start would continue for long" if the political and educational system was not changed.[9]

In Bauchi the group was reported as refusing to mix with local people. The group includes members who come from neighbouring Chad and speak only in Arabic.[10][11]

[edit] Clash with the stateIn July 2009 the Nigerian police started investigating the group, following reports that the group was arming itself. Several leaders were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people.

[edit] AttacksPrior to the clashes, many Muslim leaders and at least one military official had warned the authorities about Boko Haram. Those warnings were reportedly ignored.[14]



BauchiBauchi (Nigeria)In the state of Yobe, fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station.[16] On 30 July, allegations were made that Yusuf himself was killed by Nigerian security forces after being taken into custody.[17]

In January 2010, the group struck again in the Nigerian state of Borno, killing four people in Dala Alemderi ward in Maiduguri metropolis.[18]

On September 7, 2010, Boko Haram freed over 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi State.[19]

In December 2010, Boko Haram were blamed for a market bombing, following which 92 of its members were arrested by police.[20]

On Friday January 28, 2011, a gubernatorial candidate was assassinated, along with his brother and four police officers. [21]

Here’s a look at some of Boko Haram’s activities during election season: On March 29, police “thwarted a plot to bomb an [ANPP] election rally” in Maiduguri, Borno State (map). The threat was blamed on Boko Haram. On April 1 (the day before the original date of Nigeria’s legislative elections), suspected Boko Haram members attacked a police station in Bauchi (map). On April 9, a polling center in Maiduguri was bombed. On April 15, the Maiduguri office of the Independent National Electoral Commission was bombed, and several people were shot in a separate incident on the same day. Authorities suspected Boko Haram. On April 20, Boko Haram killed a Muslim cleric and ambushed several police officers in Maiduguri. On April 22, Boko Haram freed 14 prisoners during a jailbreak in Yola, Adamawa State (map)[22]

On Tuesday February 8, 2011, Boko Haram gave conditions for peace. The radicals demanded that the Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, should step down from office with immediate effect and also allow members to reclaim their mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. [23] On 9th May 2011 Boko Haram rejected an offer for amnesty made by the governor-elect of Borno state, Kashim Shettima[24]

Boko Haram was blamed for a series of bombings in northern Nigeria on May 29, 2011 that left 15 dead.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram

Some have erroneously drawn comparisons between the Niger Delta militants and the Boko Haram militants.

Truth be told,any form of comparison between the two should start and end with the term "militants" which is used to describe the two,for they are both vigorously active,combative and aggressive in support of their stated "causes".

However,whilst the Niger Delta Militants took up arms owing to years massive pauperisation and destruction of thier livelihood,destruction of their eco-system and "infrastructure" arising from years of oil exploration and exploitation from their region without any attendant development  of the region,Boko haram is a group of Islamic terrorists who believe that western or non-islamic education is a sin and therefore they decided to take up arms to destroy anything that is not islamic or sharia-based,they also seek to forcefully impose sharia in all the states in the northern part of Nigeria.

From the above,one can safely say that the Niger Delta militants were justified and were fighting for a good cause and in the course of their agitation,when succesive governments at the centre refused to listen to them,they targeted oil installation;the same installations from which billions of dollars had accrued to the FG which used the funds to develop mostly other parts of the country,while the producing communities were left undeveloped,this led to a sharp drop in volume of BPD Nigeria was able to pump and by implication lower revenue for the FG,thisn was the reason the Niger delta militants were engaged at the round table and offered amnesty.

Someone please tell me where their cause resembles the cause of the boko haram militants,who should aptly be called terrorists and why the haramites should be granted amnesty??

Much as i do not support the destructive tendencies of militant groups the world over, If the Niger-Delta Militants could be granted amnesty despite the wanton destruction of oil facilities and indiscriminate killings of innocent citizens - their cause notwithstanding - then an olive branch should equally be extended to Boko Haram. They are both militant groups with destructive tendencies as can rightly be pointed out, and they both have followers and a Nigerian supporter base, so, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. What we earnestly hope for is a Nigeria that is free from the unproductive activities of militants and rebels. May God help us all.

^^^
Okayyyy
In what form might such amnesty bewould it also include sending them abroad(Europe) to acquire some specialised education(of course that would be out of sync with their ideology,since they don't want to have anything to do with western education),if not that,then should they be sent to an Islamic nation to learn obtain Islamic education,what good would that do Nigeria,it may even expose them to more modern forms of terrorism and globall terrorism cells

Federal govt should wiped these people once n for all from the surface of the earth to underground. I seemed not to get what their agitation is all about. There are simply against western education and is not as if they have been deprived of anything that is theirs. If they would be granted anmesty, on what base will that be?

Boko Haran has been granted amnesty, but they have rejected it.

It is not possible for them to accept, that will annoy "The most merciful, Allah", whom they are working for.

You can only grant people amnesty when they reject their ways and abandon their bad behaviours. But Boko Haram has not done that.

What Boko Haram needs is the kind of treatment Osisikankwu got in Abia State and this is simply a total rejection of the group by their own immediate community. This made it easier for the Army to intervene and had easier information sharing with the local community in Abia.

So long as Northerners and Hausas keep trying to explain BokoHaram's behaviour in the name of some political grieviances they will continue to gain undeserved traction. If Hausas do not rise to the occassion and reject BokoHaram we will have problem.

I also think going forward we should also entertain less of any militancy in any part of the country whether they come from the Niger-Delta or from the North. Nothing destroys a country like having a scenario where some want to suggest that violence from one group is legitimate and violence from the other is not. That is simply a recipe for Civil War.

mikeansy:

You can only grant people amnesty when they reject their ways and abandon their bad behaviours. But Boko Haram has not done that.

What Boko Haram needs is the kind of treatment Osisikankwu got in Abia State and this is simply a total rejection of the group by their own immediate community. This made it easier for the Army to intervene and had easier information sharing with the local community in Abia.

So long as Northerners and Hausas keep trying to explain BokoHaram's behaviour in the name of some political grieviances they will continue to gain undeserved traction. If Hausas do not rise to the occassion and reject BokoHaram we will have problem.
I also think going forward we should also entertain less of any militancy in any part of the country whether they come from the Niger-Delta or from the North. Nothing destroys a country like having a scenario where some want to suggest that violence from one group is legitimate and violence from the other is not. That is simply a recipe for Civil War.

They wont denounce boko haram, and surely we already have a problem.

noblezone:

They wont denounce boko haram, and surely we already have a problem.

Then let the FG liaise with international intelligence outfits so they can have a wider network to be able to expose those behind the saddistic Boko haram terrorists,the alliance should also have as one of its core aims,the targeted assasination of identified leaders of the sect(the way Israel has been dealing with hamas leaders) and the way the US targeted and killed Bin Laden)

It(the alliance) will also check the influx of Somali and Sudanese-trained al-qaeda insurgents from coming into Nigeria to carry out bomb blasts and other attacks.I can bet a million naira that the suicide bomber that attacked Loius Edet house was DEFINITELY not a Nigrerian as I'm yet to see that Nigerian that is ready to die for any cause no matter how commited to the cause they claim to be

Nosense ! tomorrow it will be amnesty for MASSOB, OPC, MIDDLE BELT MAFFIAS e.t.c. Please I need amnesty too.

Absolutely not. If they are to be granted this amnesty as most people opined, it will never stop them from perpetrating their evil deeds and besides this will peradventure lead to a formation of other interest groups with their different aims and objective.
When good men deviates from saying and taking actions on truthful matters, it will affect those who say it.
BOKO HARAM DOES NOT DESERVE ANY FORM OF AMNESTY WHATSOEVER!
WE NO WANT ALL THOSE "BIG-BIG TALKS AGAIN MBOK TAKE ACTION"