₦airaland Forum

enshy:
I doubt if you are in town. Are you not aware of increasing cases of obesity, rape, porn, children birth in poor homes, incests, murders, hate, fights, drunkeness all over the world? Aint these pointers to the fact that people are ruled by desires n appetites?.
Thanks.

For your information, statistics shows a significant decrease, (when 21st century was compared to prior centuries) in most of the criminal acts that you listed above, in this age.


And one major variable that has brought about decrease in most savagery acts, is the increasing secularity (breakaway from religious control) of human society.

Atheism refers to the absence of a belief in any deities. So it doesn't make any sense to speak of proving atheism in that sense.

But you might be wanting to ask what evidence is there that there is no God. That depends on your understanding of what is meant by the claim that there is no God. For example, suppose we take it to mean that there does not exist any intelligence that created the universe. That proposition is similar to the proposition that the Flying Spaghetti Monster does not exist or that there does not exist a teapot orbiting the Sun. You can't really produce any specific item of evidence in favour of the claim that these things do not exist, but there is absolutely no evidence at all that these things do exist and it's fairly a priori unlikely to think that they exist. So for that reason, lacking a belief that those things exist is eminently reasonable.

On the other hand, you might take the claim that there is no God to mean that there does not exist any omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent spirit who created the universe and who cares about the well-being of the sentient beings on this planet. It is of course completely obvious that no such being exists, because the existence of such a being is not consistent with the enormous quantity of excruciating suffering that we can observe to have been endured by so many billions of sentient beings on this planet throughout so many hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary history. Perhaps there exists a deity who created the universe and cares about the well-being of the sentient beings on this planet but who is not completely omnipotent. Or perhaps there does exist an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent spirit who created the universe but who is totally indifferent to the well-being of the sentient beings on this planet. But you can certainly rule out the possibility that there could exist an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent spirit who created the universe and cares about the well-being of the sentient beings on this planet, so for that reason the teachings of the world's major monotheistic religions cannot be completely true.

You can also rule out the possibility that certain forms of classical theism could be true on the grounds that they are incoherent. For example, many classical theists claim that God exists outside time and is completely unchanging, but also that he is a being with a mind with whom you can have some kind of meaningful personal relationship. That's obviously incoherent, so we can safely rule out the possibility that that version of classical theism could be the truth.

There might exist some kind of god somewhat similar to the being claimed to exist by the world's major monotheistic religions. Hardly any atheist would claim to know with absolute certainty that such a god does not exist. But there is absolutely no reason to think that a being of that kind exists, just as there is no reason to think that the Flying Spaghetti Monster exists or that Invisible Pink Unicorns exist. So it is entirely reasonable to simply dismiss any claim that a being of that kind exists.

-Rupert McCallum

Written by Fela Gbado

Between me and my student this morning after our discussion in a course titled "theory and practice of Marxism".

Student: Sir, you said religion was against the poor and and their plight?

Me: yes it is.

Student: Explain why it is that the poor tend to be more religious in society.

Me: what else can they do when all they've been brought up to think is "prayer is the key, prayer is the master key"?

Religion sells them hope, it tells them how much of an ultimate solution prayer is. It tells them to ask and they'll receive, seek and they'll find, knock and the door will be open for the love of the Lord has no end. When their prayers go unanswered, they are told to wait for God's appointed time. They go ahead to tell about Sarah who bore at 90.
By the way, it is practically impossible for a female human to bear at 90. Women are born with all the eggs they'll ever have. From puberty, they start releasing them 1 by 1. By middle ages, the eggs must have been exhausted so how possible is it for Sarah to conceive at 90 without eggs? A man with sufficient knowledge of biology won't contemplate writing this anywhere.

But that's religion, they tell the poor this nonsense and threaten them with hell should they challenge the ideas. That's why I talked about the scientific method earlier. Religion creates a false reality, force it down on people and immune it from scientific scrutiny. So, in all societies, the ruling class jettison standard scientific methods, create a reality that fits a thinking that's beneficial to them then force others to take them. Such realities force people to take inequality as natural and part of a bigger plan from the owner(s) of the universe.

Also, religion offers some form of hope to the poor. Think about words like "it's easier for the camel to pass... Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall..." etc etc.

Why would you not expect the poor to be more religious besides, they are in general more poorly educated?

Any objections?

Student: silence

Me: class?

Class: silence.

enshy:
Bro lust was made for me and not me from lust.
I was created to have dominion, I dont know of you?
Is hunger not natural? So I must eat like a glutton till Im obesed? All things are lawful for me but not expedient, I wont be brought under the power of any.

so, in your mind, you can't control your appetite.

And you will need to pray to be able to do that?

No matter what these burn out apologists say, the fact remains that the atheistic threads, constantly poke the illusion and delusion smeared on their minds via religious beliefs.

More importantly, the atheistic writings, help the simple and gullible minds, to see and know for fact, the idiocy of wanting to embrace religious beliefs.

Atheistic writings are constant "doubt spell" on religious teachings, and this guarantees that breeding of skeptics is sure.

So, no matter how many times atheistic writings are recycled, the effects are increasingly been reinforced.

Mekwen:
Are you still alive? what are you waiting for ? Mumu

Now you're condemned to the hottest part of hell fire... According to your god and the rebel called nazarene;

St. Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: BUT WHOSOEVER SHALL SAY, THOU FOOL, SHALL BE IN DANGER OF HELL FIRE.

enshy:
I ...You see, the stories of adultery is getting too much that every married believer needs to DESTROY LUST FROM ITS ROOT and not keep feeding it in marriage as it were food.
.

Religious folks are really interesting pieces of comic relief.

What's is "LUST" in the context of love relationship?

"LUST" (sexual attraction) is an ESSENTIAL and NORMAL physiological process that MUST occur if reproductive (along with pleasure and bonding) activity must take place in sexual organisms.

This process is purely hormonal ("spirit of lust" is an ignorance induced balderdash).

If you wanna destroy "lust" from its root, then you will have to destroy your brain (that's the root of sexual hormones).

Those who live on religious beliefs, are in for a lot of caps.

Mekwen:
Why not commit suicide & get over with it instead of beefing.

one of the zombies spotted here.

A useless life, tied to illusion of flying off to illusionary bliss, clicking away.

waldigit:
-
-The count down to the end of the world begins.Mark 1 :15, Mathew 24:4-37

Your Jesus was fraudulent and mischievous. Since he knew that the world will still be here 2000 yrs after, he should have told his zombies.

Imagine what the zombies did in acts of the apostles. They sold their properties and became useless with their lives, thinking the nazarene will return soonest.

Deluded folks you will say!

waldigit:
-
-Change of status of believers from slaves to children of God.

While the white Christians gladly dehumanised the blacks through slavery.


You didn't add that Jesus, introduced sword and enmity to the world of human relationship.

enshy:
If you have struggles, disappointments, challenges, mountains, debt, bad dreams, fear, failure, backwardness, please share on this thread.
We shall be giving scriptural advice and make prayers for you in the name of Jesus! You will see your mountains rolled away! Amen.
The King of Glory is coming down on us all here in His awesome power, souls will be saved and captives delivered! Amen!

Just wondering why your god hasn't fix the recession in Nigeria.

At least, The prayers, fasting, binding and loosing, of the millions who slave under him,, should have return Nigeria to prosperity.

enshy:
The right to judge is reserved for my Lord Jesus who shall both judge the quick n dead, rich n poor, weak n strong. Where will you spend eternity?
The level Ive gotten to, Im ready to die for this Jesus!
But before I die, Ill pull so many chosen ones out of darkness and the claws of the devil into the Light of Christ. Surely the chosen ones will yield for they are made ready by Christ!

sensing how the Holy Ghost fire is burning in your bones now, ISIS or boko haram den will be the suitable field of harvest for you.

When a man is ready to die for a belief system, such man has no value for human life, and will not hesitate to kill another human being, in defense of that belief.

You sure look forward to heaven, that has gate (just wondering who is the intruder that your god is scared of).

For the following reasons;

* the way medical records are managed in hospitals,

* the way clinical examination rooms are designed in hospitals,

* the level of enlightenment of most Nigerians on health matters,


It will be as a camel passing through the needle eye, to be a able to establish a criminal case against a medic in Nigeria.

Actionable matter IS as viable as the EVIDENCE(S).



For now, the surest way to escape the avoidable criminal negligence of medics in Nigeria, is continuous health education (Google is the place to start from), and early consultation.

Consulting a medic at the emergency(for cases that started at warning phase) stage of disease, makes you highly susceptible to criminal negligence.

nightingalee:
... Almost all, if not all atheist are intelligent. All thinking men are aethist. - Earnest Hemingway.

The apologists will nominate you for Golgotha for putting up this quote.

Much as this might sound hurray, in the understanding of the religious and the babies in act deduction.

The use of psychotherapy is diagnosis dependent.

Its (psychotherapy) use in clients that requires antidepressants, will be counterproductive, complicating and possibly fatal.

Psychotherapy is a product of scientific thinking.

The church raises the hope of the depressed, by reinforcing cure on myth, superstition, illusion and irrationalities.

How this pseudo psychotherapy will prove to be effectively therapeutic, is arguable.

enshy:
No, we dont cast pearls before swine.
The irreligious who is proud, haughty, hates the gospel and pulls down God and His Christ at every slight opportunity isnt an audience for our preaching.
We are sorry, we cant join issues with you.

but your Bible says: don't judge na

To folks who don't understand why it's impossible for Christians, to obey the instructions of the Bible, in how they live their lives, i have this to tell you;

1. The bible is a documentation book, of the lifestyle of religious folks, at different times and in different cultures.

2. Whatever is the moral codes/ethics/rituals found in the bible, it's unique to the leaders and followers of the religion, at that time and in that culture.

3. Because 21st century Christians don't live in the era of desert dwelling Israelites, Roman conquered Jews, and savagery Roman Catholic Church, they can't practice those rituals, moral codes etc, no matter how hard they try to.

* the Christians (born again deviants/variants) rejected/rejects the old testament, because they knew it's absolutely impracticable.

* Even the Matthew 5 (reviewed 10 commandments), given by the progenitor of Christian religion, is impracticable to the Christians.

Eg the Assembly of God Church few days ago rejoiced because an ungodly/damned/hell bound judge gave a court judgment in their favor.

When it's against the instructions of the Bible, that forbids Christian from going to the court to challenge fellow Christians.

1 Corinthians 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

1 Corinthians 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

1 Corinthians 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

1 Corinthians 6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

1 Corinthians 6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

1 Corinthians 6:6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.



* the bible is still been written, all the books, devotional etc being written by pastors, bishops, will in future become the bible of this era.

In the Bible of the future, you will find books like;

- Acts of winners chapel
- Acts of Rccg
- St Chris Oyakilomhe
- St TB Joshua

And depending on which group is doing the compilation, the books of Rev King, Olumba Obu, sat guru Maharaj etc would be rejected (in case the Pentecostal variant is the compiling group).


Be guided.

Thepasserby:
Text: Acts 4:13

Just like Apostle Paul, unless we have an encounter with God on our way to Damascus, we will continue to live in our blindness because the scales will never fall off our eyes.
.

Are Christians on the way(road to Damascus) to persecute Christians?

Because mission to Damascus is to behead Christians.

Well, there are Christians on the NL (eg DoctorAlien) , who come with sword against their fellow Christians.

Eg Catholic has greatly been "sworded" here on NL.

Thepasserby:
Remember that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of a sound mind. .

#thepasserby.

But no group of persons are as pathologically fearful, as Christians.

Just listen to the prayers in the church today, 99% are coming from minds held in the captivity of morbid fears.

FromZeroToHero:
Being a Christian does not make one immune from suffering.

Although suffering affects Christians like everyone else, IT DOESN’T MEAN CHRISTIANS ARE TO REACT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.
God has expectations for his children regarding how they should face suffering.

/

Another name for Christians is hypocrites.

The normal response to suffering/painful experience in humans is psychosomatic.

But because Christians now claim to be something more than human beings, they claim "extra-psychosomatic" abilities.

But it's all Hypocrisy. In Mathew 5, the nazarene taught them how to respond to suffering, but the behavior of Christians show self delusion, in obeying this commandment of nazarene.

* slap a Christian and see if she/he will turn the other cheek.

* Christians are morbidly suspicious of everyone as enemies, after which they will rain curse 24hrs, on the imaginary enemies.

In fact MFM has such curse book called prayer rain

* win a Christian at the court, he will appeal.

* if the suffering of Christians is working better glory, why are they burdening their lives in prayers of:

-i wouldn't die but live?
-i can't be sick
-witches sucking my blood, die die die dieeee by fire

*Armed robber holds a gun to the head of Christian, and ready to send the Christian to "heaven", the Christian will beg, pray and cry, towards the robber not to kill him/her.

-Christian folks don't believe there exist any heaven.


The list is endless.

Another strain of CARI (consciously acquired religious illusion).

frank317:
Off point... At this stage, u rather call on ur so called God... The almighty father, the creator of the universe, the ominipresent and ominipotent, the unchangeable changer, the alpha and the omega , the beginning and the end, the one who rules the whole world, the every every, to come and change Seun's mind.

The only way u can prove ur God is real is to ask ur God to summon ur God to come to ur rescue or forever remain CRY CRY

It's so ridiculous that the Christians have repeatedly belittle and insulted their god on NL.

Why can't they command their god, according to the works of his hand?

Their god is very good at destroying good things.

why can't NL Christians ask their god to permanently bar Internet connection to NL?

enshy:
Im sorry. The thread is for the religious and you are not one.
If you were, you would know heaven.
Thank you!

Isn't the religious, duty bound to explain the religious jargons to the irreligious?

enshy:
None not even Christianity!
Only Jesus, He is the way, the truth and life.
The thief cricified at the right hand side of Jesus wasnt a Christian but he got there.
Repent today and believe on the Lord Jesus!

what's heaven?

MaziOmenuko:
And when had he chance to destroy mosquitoes forever, he told Noah to put two mosquitoes; male and female into an ark!

Who does that?

Only the Christian god, who's under the illusion of looking forward and salivating, to roasting atheists for barbeque.

cidieschat:
Please i would love to know why these insects where created pls.. Of what use are they to mankind

Mosquitoes were created by the god of desert dwelling Jews.

Purpose:
* to hum in the ears of Christians at night, so they could wake up and pray against witches who are holding meeting at such time.

* if the Christian doesn't wake up, one of the witches will possess the Mosquitoes, bite and suck the blood of the Christian.

Result:
* the spirit of malaria will then possess the Christian.

* that's the reason for the prayers against diseases, by Christians in their churches all the time.

Inside the minds of Borno’s bomber-girls

THERE were corn rows on the head of the girl that exploded in Muna Dalti. There was a colourful bead on her wrist too. She probably loved to play dress-up and look good. Everybody forgets these bits of her. Folk remember her as the ‘vixen’ who flicked a switch and blew up, into a puddle of flesh and bone fragments. No one cares if she was ever innocent or raised in virtue. The village is thankful that she took no innocent life, save her teenage accomplice’s. Their carcass lay strewn about the rustic community in Maiduguri, Borno State. Their innards and blood spatter sully the village even as you read.

Lying in the dust few metres from her shredded mate, the girl with the corn rows evoked the dread that wild weeds induce at the base of shoots. Two hours after her ‘sister’ and agent of terrorist group, Boko Haram, detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the Muna vehicle park, injuring eight people and burning 13 freight trucks, the girl with the corn rows sauntered into Muna Dalti with another ‘sister.’

Time was 2:00 a.m. and they looked suspicious to the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) patrolling the area. When the latter accosted them, they said they were waiting for their husbands. Of course, their responses were unsatisfactory; having seen eight of their comrades incapacitated by a girl strapped to an IED few hours earlier, around 11.30 pm to be precise, the CJTF suspected foul play.

Hence the vigilante group ordered the girls to come with them. But rather than comply, one of the girls fiddled desperately with a device under her dress. Instantly, the CJTF scurried for cover, shooting sporadically in the air.



‘How I became a suicide bomber’

Suicide Bomber 2

In the ensuing melee, the girl with the corn rows reached under her dress and did what her mate couldn’t. She flicked the switch on an IED strapped to her body.

In a second, she blew herself to bits and decapitated her mate, who was standing close by.

Ka’ana Hawaye, a CJTF officer in Muna Dalti, said the girls were on a mission to kill. “The bomb blast at 11.30 pm put us on red alert. So, when we saw them, we suspected trouble. But we made sure they didn’t achieve their aim. They couldn’t kill anyone here,” he said.

Corroborating him, CJTF officer, Muhammadu Idris, stated that after the first bomb was detonated by the girl at Muna park, CJTF officers in the area became more vigilant.

However, Ba’ani Aliko, a lieutenant in the group, disclosed that there would have been more casualties had his team not stepped back from the girls in the nick of time.



Further findings by The Nation revealed that officers of the Nigerian Army killed about six members of Boko Haram at the Mafa military checkpoint few kilometres away, barely one hour before the first bomber struck in Muna motor park. They were killed about nine kilometres from the state capital while they tried to storm into town. However, as Muna town heaved a sigh of relief, tragedy struck again as the three teenage girls, who had successfully snuck into town, detonated their explosives. The first girl struck around 11:30 pm, Thursday, February 17, at Muna motor park while the other attack occurred in Muna Dalti around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 18.

The Muna bombers apparently succeeded where insurgent mates, Zainab and Amina, failed. Amina, 18, was intercepted while her co-bomber, 15-year-old Zainab, was killed as she tried to ram into motorists queuing to buy fuel and detonate a bomb at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega station along Damboa road in Maiduguri, on Tuesday, February 7.

The girls were intercepted by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps(NSCDC), soon after they arrived in Maiduguri on orders from Boko Haram.

My story, by bomber

As she recounted her experience, Amina’s eyes glistened with hope and gratification. She spoke in a crisp, clear tenor, caressing the strands of a severed ribbon from her veil. She fingered the thread and slipped it through her lips with gratifying immersion, all the piteous miseries of her life seemingly summoned in her wiry hands.

Her face, hard and weary from strife, provided a soiled, pale background to her gaunt eyes. Her eyes, twitching open and close in rhythm with the groove where her lips met with the frayed strands seemed in search of something; comfort perhaps.

Occasionally, she removed the threads from her mouth to answer questions, the words leaping from her lips as if she meant to exhale in one breath, the agony interred in her buried narratives. With submissive firmness, she revealed that she and Zainab were on a mission from Gobarawa, a Boko Haram enclave along Borno’s Alagarno axis, to kill people. She said she was abducted by the terrorists in 2015 in Madagali, Adamawa. From there, she was taken to Sambisa where she was held hostage for a while before being transferred to Gobarawa.

Life in Gobarawa

“My younger brother and sisters Umar, Fatima, fauziya, Abbas, Maryam and Faiza, were all held hostage and married off to Boko Haram men in Gambarawa. But my father and mother were all killed when they tried to escape with us from the camp where we were held hostage in Gobarawa.

“All the people in Gobarawa are Boko Haram. They are many and they all had sophisticated weapons, motorcycles and vehicles which they use to operate,” said Amina. The teenager revealed that when life became too hard in Gobarawa, her captors resorted to drastic measures.

“They usually go out to snatch food from locals and bring us food. We don’t have grinders but we relied on stone to grind sorghum. We pounded sorghum with stone to make food,” she said.

In Gobarawa, Amina, like several child hostages, was married off to a member of the sect. “I am also married to a Boko Haram Commander, an Amir, who has killed more than 100 people, including his mother and father,” she said.

I am also married to a Boko Haram Commander, an Amir, who has killed more than 100 people, including his mother and father

Suicide mission to Maiduguri

It took Amina and Zainab three days to get to Maiduguri, travelling on a motorcycle. She said: “We were directed by the sect members to detonate our explosives any where we saw any form of gathering…They said if we press the button, the bomb would explode and we will automatically go to heaven. I was scared, so, I told them that I could not detonate any explosive. But Zainab said she would do it. So, they said if Zainab detonated her own, it would serve the purpose.”

However, things didn’t go according to plan in Maiduguri. At 6.45 a.m., Amina and Zainab were accosted in the city, after a bean-cake seller alerted NSCDC operatives about their suspicious moves. But while Amina balked from the mission, Zainab decided to go ahead with it. She ignored Amina’s counsel that they flee into the city and seek help.

Amina tossed her explosive away at the point of arrest
Amina tossed her explosive away at the point of arrest
“I demobilised my own explosive right from when we were about to sleep in a nearby town en route Maiduguri. I had only N200 with me. I told Zainab to come along with me to town instead of blowing the explosive and killing herself for the sake of nothing. I told her that with the N200 they gave us, we can go to town to meet somebody I know.”

But Zainab rejected Amina’s counsel and proceeded with the mission. Initially, she attempted to detonate it at the bean-cake seller’s roadside stall but she later decided to attack the NNPC mega station in the area because it contained a greater crowd and the promise of greater casualties.

Fortunately, the bean-cake seller noticed their suspicious moves and male accomplices and she alerted NSCDC officers in the vicinity. Promptly, the latter marched up to the girls to interrogate them. But no sooner did they accost them than their male handlers disappear. Instantly, Amina revealed that she was strapped to a bomb. The security operatives scurried backwards and cocked their rifles to shoot. In the scuffle, Amina unstrapped her bomb and tossed it away.

“I already told them that I will not detonate my bomb; that was why I threw it away and handed myself over to the security. Zainab insisted on detonating her explosive. I don’t know why. I couldn’t say whether she was in her right senses,” said Amina.

Zainab ignored the NSCDC’s sharp orders that she stood down and proceeded to detonate the bomb. This attracted a warning shot from the NSCDC to her limbs. The shot was meant to demobilise her. But even while she writhed in a blood pool from her bleeding leg, the teenager stubbornly sought to detonate the bomb. This earned her a ‘kill-shot,’ this time around, from a soldier’s rifle. It was either Zainab’s life or the lives of several innocent folk citizens.

A disturbing trend

There is no gainsaying that Boko Haram radically changed the landscape of internal security in Nigeria when it launched the first suicide bombing in Nigeria, at the Police Headquarters in Abuja the Federal Capital territory on June 16, 2011. It’s 35-year-old male bomber, Mohammed Manga, detonated his explosive-laden car, killing more than five persons and destroying several cars. The group subsequently executed several attacks, involving the fitting of IEDs on its members, widely known as ‘suicide bombers’ and common means of transportation, including vehicles, motorcycles and tricycles.

However, on June 8, 2014, Boko Haram dispatched its first female operative, a teenage girl strapped to a bomb. She attacked the 301 Battalion Barracks of the Nigerian Army in Gombe State. The girl detonated the explosive concealed under her hijab, thus killing herself and a soldier.

Suicide Bomber 1

By January 20, 2015, there have been a total of 17 attempted suicide bombings by underage and teenage girls in Nigeria; 15 of the attacks were successful. By January 2016, the documented attacks increased to 89. With this new experimentation, Boko Haram joined the ranks of terrorist groups that have incorporated women into their organisational profiles. Since the first attack, women and young girls between the ages of seven and 17, have been coerced into targeting civilians at markets, bus depots, fuel stations and mosques. The 89 attacks documented between June 2014 and January 2016, mostly of civilian soft targets, have been responsible for more than 1,200 deaths and an even greater number of injuries.

A disturbing trend, however, ensues with the terrorist sect’s increasing deployment of teenage girls to execute suicide bombings in Maiduguri, Borno State. Rescued girls experience stigmatisation from family and friends when they return home. One such survivor returned to Maiduguri after being freed by soldiers. But on arrival at home, her mother turned her over to the military after finding out that she had been trained as a suicide bomber.

The adoption of female suicide bombers is not especially surprising as an operational adaptation to increased state surveillance of the group’s activities; it has been a tactic adopted by secular and religious terrorist groups from Sri Lanka to Syria.

However, Boko Haram depends on female operatives disproportionately, relative to similar insurgencies; for example, the Tamil Tigers used 46 women over the course of 10 years, whereas Boko Haram has deployed over 151 females including underage girls in a little over a year.

Data from Beyond Chibok, a United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) study, show that 44 children were used in suicide attacks in north-east Nigeria and neighbouring countries in 2015 alone.

The figures, released to mark the second anniversary of the abduction of over 270 girls from Chibok, show that children now account for nearly a fifth of all suicide bombers in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad. Thus between late 2014 and the end of 2016, the number of such attacks escalated to 151. In 2015, 89 of the attacks were carried out in Nigeria, 39 in Cameroon, 16 in Chad and seven in Niger.

Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said children used in suicide bombings should not be seen as willing combatants. “Let us be clear: these children are victims, not perpetrators. Deceiving children and forcing them to carry out deadly acts has been one of the most horrific aspects of the violence in Nigeria and neighbouring countries,” he said.

There is more to the use of girl-bombers—Theatre Commander Gen. Leo Irabor

Leo Irabor
Leo Irabor
MAJOR-GENERAL Leo Irabor is the Theatre Commander (TC) of the anti-terrorism war, code name: “Operation Lafiya Dole (Peace by force).” He was appointed as the TC on March 18, 2016. In this exclusive interview with The Nation, he bares his mind on Boko Haram’s use of minors for suicide bombing and other issues related to the anti-terrorism war.

Operation Lafiya Dole

In respect of Operation Lafiya Dole, I was appointed here as the Theatre Commander on March 18, 2016. Before then, I resumed here on the 5th of January, 2016 as the then Theatre Commander. Two months later, I was appointed the Theatre Commander. So, I have been heading this operation for one year.

The military operation here is asymmetric. It is asymmetric because you really can’t tell who the enemy is. In conventional setting, the belligerents are well defined. It is easy to identify them. You don’t need to do much to understand who the enemy is. More importantly, the belligerents have respect for the rules governing warfare. They respect the laws of war and the international human rights. But asymmetric wars like we have here in Borno, it becomes difficult to determine who the enemy is.

That the war has lasted this long is largely in part, because it is asymmetric in nature. The Nigerian military was not attuned to threats of this nature; a situation whereby the secret police should normally look into, you now get yourself involved in it.

But time has passed and we have been able to learn our lessons. And that is why you have been able to see the reversals that are occurring.

So far, our findings show that, they are told that if they blow themselves up, they will go to heaven, and so on and so forth. I know that there is more to it. We are carrying out certain investigations and by the time we are done with them, you will know what our findings are

Making sense of the girl-child bombers

Anybody can be a suicide bomber. It all depends on what you assimilate. So, someone that calls himself or herself a suicide bomber, it all depends on what the fellow assimilates. Part of the transformation that we also found in this war is that, it became a war of ideology. So for me, I would say it’s a war of ideology rather than a religious war. It is situation whereby a group of people are made to believe a certain falsehood. And that falsehood is repeated to them over and over until they begin to see it as the truth.

And that is precisely what Boko Haram leadership is trying to do with those in their fold. So, that’s why I said anybody can be a suicide bomber depending on what you assimilate.

So, who are those that they have engaged as suicide bombers? Those that are illiterate, those that are in their youth. I will not even call them youths. They engage children who cannot tell what life is; children who cannot tell right from wrong. Because they’ve been so wrongly indoctrinated, whatever their captors tell them is what they believe. They do their captors’ bidding. So far, our findings show that, they are told that if they blow themselves up, they will go to heaven, and so on and so forth. I know that there is more to it. We are carrying out certain investigations and by the time we are done with them, you will know what our findings are.

Politics and war

Many have also tried to politicise the problem which, of course, is unfortunate. They are of the erroneous notion that the military must be involved in issues of politics. Yes, there is some school of thought that believe that war is politics by other means. But certainly not a war of this nature whereby all the contending forces are all nationals of Nigeria. For me, I believe that issues of war, issues of national security must not be relegated to politics. It is wrong to read meanings into military operations. It is wrong to think soldiers have ulterior motives for engaging in battle.

There is no military around the world that will say they are sufficient in all things, no. Rather you build, you learn, you re-align, you re-assess.

At some stage, people have also tried to make the war look like some religious crisis, which of course, has now been dispelled. They once attacked structures of a particular religious faith in order to make it seem like a religious crisis. That failed. Then it became an all-faith affair, where any structure that belonged to any faith and every creed were attacked by them. Then it dawned on the populace that, these are mad men. These are people that are deranged. Until it got to that level, the cooperation between the civil society and the military was very poor. So, as the threat transformed and the war transformed, the gaps between the understanding of the civil society and the military began to narrow. And so the narrowing of the gap means that minds at both ends came together.

That closing of gap also contributed immeasurably in seeing the establishment of what we now call the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF). It is because they now understand that they’ve got a part to play, it’s not just a military affair. That of course, also accounts for the successes we have recorded.

Threats and discipline

What we call ‘Table of equipment,’ ‘Table of organisation’ takes into cognizance, the various factors, one of which is threat. What is the threat perception? Because of that setting, every military officer has at the back of his mind, a desire to honour the oath that he has pledged to. As a result of that, he cannot go against that oath. For those who may have reason to, that is why we have procedures to manage such situations. We have court-martial and so on to address such situations.

Mystic Text

Beyond Operation Lafiya Dole

The minds of the troops are focused. We’ve been able to provide them the necessary tools. This is responsible for the success stories. And the military is being more proactive. Right now, I am looking beyond “Operation Lafiya Dole.” The military leadership is thinking of its aftermath. We are making assessments of what we need to do to prevent things from returning to how they used to be. We must do everything to educate people and sensitise them to their civic responsibilities. Governance is not for a small group of people in public offices. Every citizen is part of government. And when citizens perform their civic responsibilities, they exercise their power as intrinsic part of government. Going to school to learn to read and write is only a part of education. It is not education in totality. Societies are regulated. Every society is regulated and that regulation is brought about by laws. Societies have laws that should be respected. People must understand that.


http://thenationonlineng.net/said-press-button-will-go-heaven/

CriticMaestro:
Doestoesvki's quote "If God doesn't exist, everything is permissible"

*Is it your pastor or imam that is enforcing law and order in Nigeria?

* Are your pastors and imams not enmeshed in all kinds of offenses that be in the world?

* What has your gods done to help those who worship them?
They suffer all kinds of discomfort that be in the world!

* Without your gods, the world will be less of evils that religion created.

hopefulLandlord:
“With or without religion , good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for
good people to do evil - that takes religion.”

- Steven Weinberg

The above is simply the summary of the influence of religion in the world.

But assuming god idea doesn't exist in human consciousness, i suppose the following will characterize human experience:

* most human will be more critical in their thinking, which will result in increased mental capacity utilization.

This will occur, since all that man will depend on for answers and solutions, will be his brain.

* human beings will lean less, towards the vanity of needless material acquisition.

Most mad craving after stupendous wealth, streamed from the desire to make the majority "have not", to be subservient.

The very attribute of the gods.

* If men have no illusion of life after death, they will make the very best of this very one, that we got by chance.

* The share of fraud, extortion, violence, hatred, discrimination, killings and wickedness, that have direct and indirect origin in god idea (religion), Will be non existent in the world.

Based on the above, the world will be better place without religion.

WITHOUT RELIGION, THE WORLD WILL BE LESS OF THE EVILS, THAT RELIGION CREATED!

iSpirit1:
Try check out my post.

www.nairaland.com/3647084/why-did-jesus-die

Of what PHYSICAL and VERIFIABLE BENEFIT, is the craze about your religion?

iSpirit1:
One benefit of Christianity is;
No Christ, No Eternal Life for you. John 3:16, 36. 1John 5:11-12.

Talk of this present physical world first.

iSpirit1:
So far, it's a pointless post.

I'll read the article and reply later.

at this level of awareness of global nature, what gives you religious folks this delusionary impression, that you folk know everything?

You have not read somebody's conclusion on Christianity, yet you're unintelligently quick to dismiss it as pointless.

Isn't this irrational?

felixomor:
One benefit is to be able to identify people who reason up side down like u.
People who claim they originated from fish.

That I am sure of.

Now you have confirmed my assertion that religious folks and schizophrenics share the same mental slant.

The only professionals that identifies psychos are Psychiatrist. Now that your baptism with the Holy Spirit has transformed you to Psychiatrist, your case is very familiar.

felixomor:
U r still not making sense.
So because people use science to make bombs, We can as well conclude that science is bad and fake?
You see how your brain works?

When it comes to logic, you're still marooned in Canaan of Judea.
Because no intelligent mind says bomb is inherently evil.