Boko Haram: Genesis, consequencies & solutions

Category: Comments Published on Saturday, 12 September 2009 01:00 Written by Umar Alhaji Waziri Hits: 2044

It would be recalled that Boko Haram was first noticed in Maiduguri around 1999 when then they were known as Al-Shabab (The youths) with a very small population. Nobody gave them any attention or chance of causing any danger then, but the late Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam in Kano, with Sheikh Ali Mustapha, Sheikh Abba Aji, Sheikh Abubakar Kyari all in Maiduguri and other Ahlussunah ulamas severally challenged the Al-Shabab on the manner and way of their preaching.

Gradually this sect started growing by the day, peopled in most cases by school leavers and dropouts as a result of unemployment. Some call them Taliban, while others call them Yusufiya in Maiduguri

Indeed, it was the joint task force led by the police and military, code named Operation Flush to check the menace of armed robbers and insecurity in the state that caused the early stir around the sect. Traditionally, when people are in religious gatherings and in convoy, be it social or otherwise, normally they don’t wear crash helmet.

So, on July 12, 2009, when Boko Haram members were conveying their dead brother to the grave yard for burial, while not wearing helmet, they were stopped by men of Operation Flush. There and then there was problem between the sect and the security forces and some of their members were shot.

This episode really provoked the entire Boko Haram people who demanded apology from the government, an apology which did not come. As expected, their leader Muhammad Yusuf told the whole world that they would take revenge for what happened to their members. They made their threat  through open letters  to the President, Chief of Defense  Staff and service chiefs,  Borno State Governor, the I.G and Director of SSS. We thought that with this threat, government would act decisively, rather government went to sleep.

Maiduguri was full with Boko Haram members on sympathy visit to their leader from all over the country; most of them were dressed like military men, carrying their bags on their backs. Surprisingly some members of the sect were arrested in Biu with weapons paraded by the police command. A retired prison officer died while trying to make bomb in his house; he was also a member of the Boko Haram. There was virtually nothing done by the security operatives to stop this dangerous move.

Consequently, upon this negligence by the government, on Sunday July 16, 2009 around 12.30 am the sect members made good their threat to avenge the July 12 incidence.  Shouting started in and around Maiduguri throughout that night.

Boko Haram members did not attack any of the school around or the civilian population as their target is the security who they claimed to have shot their brothers and the government refused to apologize to them.

Various reasons have already been given for the emergence of this anti-social phenomenon, so there is no need to do that here again. To reduce and probably checkmate the recurrence, government at all levels should start creating jobs urgently for school leavers and unemployed youths, it should monitor religious and social activities at all times. Equally, it should train its own security operatives and equip them with all modern technology and weapons.

 Traditional rulers and religious leaders should be given greater roles to play in assisting government to report any suspicious   behaviour to the government. Finally and above all, government must live up to expectation. It has to fulfil its obligations.  Remember, a hungry man is an angry man. No jobs, no drugs in hospitals, no good roads, no drinking water, electricity supply is nothing to write home about, to mention but a few.

Like in my state Borno, no subvention for local government for up to seven months; how on earth can these people survive?

What is so astonishing to me is the way and manner the leader was executed, and the burning of the sect houses and mosques and their so-called hospital (treatment centre) where other vital information and documents were also destroyed. No responsible government can rush to take such drastic measures. We are supposed to learn our lessons from other countries who witness such crisis.

Waziri writes from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.