The Involvement Of Boko Haram

Boko Haram is a terrorist extremist group that fights against Christianity. Their goal is to turn the world into Islam believers. Right now they have focused on Africa, Nigeria in particular. In order to do this, they have taken over towns, stolen girls from schools and brought terror to Nigeria. Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society. This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education. Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, even when the country had a Muslim president - and it has extended its military campaign by targeting neighbouring states.

Boko Haram has been terrorizing Nigeria and surrounding countries for years, with noticeable increases in power over the last five years. Best estimates indicate that the Boko Haram insurgency rose to power in the 2000s with the goal of promoting strict adherence to Islamic Shari’a Law throughout Nigeria (Bussey, Chasse, Martin, 2016). The group found footing quickly; frustrations with the faulty political system and lack of economic and social development in northern Nigeria allowed the group to recruit large numbers of members and gain momentum. In 2009, the groups leader, Muhammed Yusuf was murdered. This, coupled with increasing economic and social tensions across Nigeria caused the group to become increasingly aggressive. The group executed a prison break of over 700 prisoners in 2010 and performed the well-known kidnapping of over 200 school girls in 2014. This kidnapping truly brought global attention to the acts of terror the group was committing for the first time (Onouha, 2012). United State’s Citizens became increasingly involved, leading to the spread of the “Bring Back our Girls” movement. As United States interest in Boko Haram increased, the hostility of the group increased. In 2014, according to the Global Terrorism Index, deaths attributed to Boko Haram rose by 314%, attributing to the groups ranking as the most dangerous terrorist group in the world (Institute for Economics and Peace, 2015).

According to Mamodu (2014) a top BokoHaram historian, stated that from an interview with the group’s spokesman, he mentioned that Boko Haram’s objective is the application of the sharia law throughout Nigerian state. Through the act of kidnappings, bombings and suicide attacks which are aimed at churches and symbol of the federal government such as the police stations.

Boko Haram are motivated by a Jihadist version of Islam and is believed to be believers of the one true interpretation of the (Brinkel & Ait-Hida, 2012, p. 16). Their ultimate goal to create a true Islamic state in Nigeria directly associated with Sharia law. (Chothia, 2015, p. 5). The group has maintained their secrecy and the authorities have yet to be captured by law enforcement. Boko Haram is seen to have many basic views including their religious motivations, political downfall, and their extreme actions taken on the people of Nigeria. Boko

The Boko Haram sect in Nigeria has been a huge problem for the country in the past, and the threat is only growing. This group is considered responsible for a handful of government attacks, targets on the United Nations, and often churches who undermine the Islamic religion. Their actions have spawned from the idea that their country is controlled by “fake Muslims”, and aim to create an Islamic nation ruled with Sharia law.

This article is about the mistreatment of people fleeing from Boko Haram who thought that the Nigerian soldiers would save them. As hundreds flee from Boko Haram claimed territories, Nigerian soldiers are picking them up and holding them as prisoners in detention centers, claiming to be trying to protect others from extremist claiming to be victims. This has lead to some accusations of mistreatment because these detention centers are holding men, women, and infants for months on end in unsanitary and unsafe areas. The article then explains that the Nigerian government and army are being accused of being too extreme in its persistence and ways of trying to eliminate Boko Haram. While Nigeria is struggling to handle the threat that is Boko Haram,

Many individuals are influenced by religion to join the fight. Islamic extremism is another major reason these terrorist organizations have followers willing to fight for them. “Islamic extremists believe they are obligated to install this form of governance in Muslim-majority territories, countries, and eventually, the entire world. In the minds of Islamic extremists, they are promoting justice and freedom by instituting sharia” (“Understanding Islamist Extremism”). These extreme forms of Islam are what make up the central beliefs of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. They use their religious affiliations to justify their actions. Acts of Islamic extremism include terrorism, human rights abuses, the advancement of sharia-based governance, and overall hostility to the West (“Understanding Islamist Extremism”). While not all extremists use terrorism, it is common among the majority of the

For the past seven years innocence have been injured, killed, or brutally tortured by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. They have lost their homes and precious possessions due to a cruel, selfish satisfaction of this organization. Boko Haram members believe that these “brutal penalties” is just an ordinary way to express their culture. Although Nigeria came to a conclusion that these terrorists had given up, it only took five months later to realize it was not the end. Nigeria’s strategies had gotten them nowhere and only led them back to where they started.

In Kathy Gilsinan’s With World Focused on Boko Haram, al-Shabaab Steps Up Offensive (http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/13841/with-world-focused-on-boko-haram-al-shabaab-steps-up-offensive), the topic of al-Shabaab’s legitimacy and terror is discussed. As Boko Haram (another terrorist organization in Africa) has begin inflicting fear through the abduction of schoolgirls and other acts of terror, al-Shabaab has began to take up arms. Its acts of violence are beginning to spread outside the borders of Somalia.

Boko Haram is not able to sustain its success by just its ideological interpretation. Therefore, the organization needs some source of money which comes from external sources. According to the International Business Times (2014), Boko Haram has received millions through ransoms from kidnapping. In addition, the group receives donations from external sympathizers from all around the globe (Caulderwood, para. 8). Boko Haram also has ties to Al-Qaeda as both organizations are known to have exchanged weapons, cash, and some soldiers (para. 9). According to the South African Journal of Military Studies (2012), Boko Haram also gains revenue through an extensive drug trafficking empire. Additionally main is gained by tapping into oil pipelines and

Boko Haram have been known to switch their attack tactics due to Nigerian security forces catching up on them. To begin with, from 2009 to 2014 most attacks carried out by Boko Haram were by armed assaults, which resulted in 63% of the deaths that year (Pricopi,2016). Not only did Boko Haram conduct attacks using armed assaults but they also used bombs as well. In fact, bombing tactics in 2013 were used in 35 incidents; however, that number increased by three times in 2014, making it used in 107 incidents(Pricopi,2016). Also, in that same year the number of civilians attacked in public places also increased as well. Suicide attacks, were also another tactic used by Boko Haram and in 2014, they accounted for atleast 31 of those attacks

Boko Haram has yet to stray from its notoriety as a harsh terrorist threat to both the people of Nigeria and the government itself. In 2014, nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls were stolen from their families in the town of Chibok and taken into captivity by Boko Haram. This event has yet to be rectified now two years later, nor have the families received any news or closure from the Nigerian government. Both citizens of Chibok and activists around the world have developed voices in regard to this ongoing investigation. Videos of the girls have recently surfaced which lead one to believe that the girls are still alive; these videos, however, are most likely either old or altered. Boko Haram has yet to

Western women take a lot for granted. In many parts of the world, even in the 21st century, women are not allowed to dress freely, speak freely, drive, vote, own a business, even go to school. Those that violate the tenets of the society in which they live can be killed for their lack of obedience. Still, like Rosa Parks on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, there are women who are willing to stand up for the rights they do not yet have but know they deserve.

One of the reasons that Boko Haram has come to Cameroon is because they want to establish an Islamic state in that area. Establishing an Islamic state in that area is a solution for problems that the founders of Boko Haram saw. “Bad governance, corruption, persistent economic hardship, and rising inequality have fostered the growth of radical extremist groups” (Schultz). The founders of Boko Haram saw these problems and their solution was to try to create an Islamic state. The Islamic state that they wanted to create stretched across eastern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, and south-western Chad (“Cameroon”). The founders of Boko Haram saw a problem and tried to fix it, but they did it in a very bad way, and this bad way caused them to be in Cameroon.

Boko Haram is now the biggest problem in Nigeria today. They have caused children to see education as corruption and are causing one of the poorest places in Nigeria to suffer. The schools have been ransacked and blown apart, teachers have been shot to death, and kids kidnapped and have been either raped or put into Boko Haram. The corrupted officials running the local government have now supported them in secret; this is a problem that needs to be solved because now they will have no education to rise against them and take them down. Their future could now be in jeopardy because they will not have the right information to make Nigeria into the beautiful country it is.