Terror Rises

Terror Rises

Nigeria - A man appears on a shaky Youtube video clothed in military gear, with weapons in his hands, declaring to the world that “killing, murdering, destroying and bombing will be our religious duty anywhere we invade.” This is a leader of Boko Haram, meaning “Western Education is Forbidden.” Boko Haram is a terrorist organization that was started in 2002 in Nigeria. With approximately 7000 members, this group became famous when they kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from a destitute region of that country. Boko Haram strives to enforce Sharia law throughout all Nigeria and thrives on poverty to gain power. As they work toward this goal they disrupt innocent lives through their bombings of public places.
 They need to be stopped before they spread further into nearby countries.

Boko Haram’s main objective is to overthrow Nigeria’s government, and create an Islamic state. They feel all Muslims should obey the strictest form of Sharia law, which, “literally means a path to be followed” (Sacirbey). This law is derived from the Quran, a book stating the word of God, and the Sunnah, or the traditions left by the Islamic prophet Muhammed. It dictates all aspects of Muslim people’s lives, including how they eat, sleep, and even defecate.  BBC states that Boko Haram believes in 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” (Chothia). The founder of Boko Haram, Muhammed Yusuf, began the group in poverty-stricken northeastern Nigeria, believing he had gotten a message from God.

Despite being the largest country in Africa, and the eighth largest in the world population-wise, with over 177 million people (CIA.gov), Nigeria is a poor country. Worldbank.org puts the number of Nigerians living on less than $1.25 USD a day at 62.5 percent (Worldbank). As a comparison, in India less than 24 percent of the population meets this qualification. In the early 2000’s, Boko Haram’s founder set up a school in a destitute area of  Nigeria. Many impoverished people went to this school hoping to gain a general education. Instead, they were instructed in extremist Sharia law, and taught to fight for their religion. Other targets of Boko Haram’s recruitment are poor, unemployed high school drop-outs, who see few other options in their lives. As more children and youths joined Boko Haram the organization became increasingly strong.  Although Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a ¨state of emergency¨ in 2013, he has only recently begun actively combating Boko Haram. Despite this, the group continues gain great swaths of land controlling “about 8,000 square miles of northeastern Nigeria” (Callimachi) reports the New York Times.

Through its public murders and recruitment videos, Boko Haram has gained notoriety throughout the world as a dangerous terrorist organization. Their goal is to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. As Boko Haram continues to gain power through Nigeria’s underdevelopment, we must ask who will stand up and stop them before they target other countries?

Sources Cited:

 Chothia, Farouk. "Who Are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists?" BBC News. BBC, 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2015.

Hafiz, Yasmine, and Omar Sacirbey. "Sharia Law In The USA 101: A Guide To What It Is And Why States Want To Ban It." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 July 2013. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.

"Africa: Nigeria." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 20 June 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

"Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.25 a Day (PPP) (% of Population)." Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.25 a Day (PPP) (% of Population). The World Bank Group, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.


 Callimachi, Rukmini. "Boko Haram Generates Uncertainty With Pledge of Allegience to Islamic State." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2015.