Bombings and Boko Haram (Part II)

The insurgency continues in Maiduguri and though conversations aren't solely centered around the violence there, Boko Haram maintains its grip on the go-to subject in Nigeria. However, instead of looking at the issue in its current, bloody incarnation, I'd prefer to use it as a model for conflict in general, especially here in Nigeria.

I'll refer to a model from the Conflict Research Consortium, more essays and diagrams can be found here:



Ah, the majestic bell curve. The simple beauty of statistics, literary arcs, and bellmakers. The Boko Haram latent conflict can be traced back to the vestiges of colonialism and the divide and rule tactics of the British. In Nigeria, the British allowed for indirect rule of the northern states, which, from the time of the Fulani jihads, had a feudal system based on the religious power of the Sokoto caliphate. As part of this system, the British did not allow missionaries to evangelize in the North, nor did they spread the Western system of education in the Northern states.

Boko Haram, as previously mentioned, is Hausa for "Western education is forbidden." The group is extremist to say the least, but if one were to take them at their name, the foundation of their grievances is the challenge that they perceive Western education systems present to their way of life. So let's just call that the latent conflict in this scenario.

The conflict emerged through the creation of this organization and their call for an Islamic state in Northern Nigeria. Now at this point, the curve can diverge: conflict can escalate or a peace may be negotiated. It was obviously not in the Nigerian state's interest to negotiate the secession of a significant chunk of the country.

Here's where the conflict escalates: Boko Haram is a militant organization, but there are rumors that several politicians used the group for electioneering purposes. Hired thugs are unfortunately all too common in a country where 46% of the youth are unemployed. The justice system is egregiously broken in much of Nigeria as well, so the few arrests that have been made target only the foot soldiers, not the "big men" pulling the strings.

Two years ago, however, the military got involved and captured the group's leader, Muhammed Yusuf. They turned him over, and it looked like the conflict would enter a period of de-escalation and the group might fade back into obscurity. However, after the military turned Yusuf over to the police, years of impunity were transformed with a little street justice, and Yusuf was dead before he ever reached a court for trial. Since his arrest and extrajudicial execution, Boko Haram has experienced a resurgence, freeing 300 of its members from a prison in Bauchi last year and virtually taking over the city of Maiduguri.

Now the state and Boko Haram have entered the stalemate. The military operation in Maiduguri is ongoing, but the organization, like all asymmetric powers, has gone underground and rumors persist that there are cells like it all over the north. The army has been accused of human rights abuses in Maiduguri in part because they cannot differentiate civilian from combatant and are under constant pressure from improvised explosives that kill soldiers daily. Boko Haram itself says that it refuses to negotiate with a government trying to kill its members. That's not exactly crazy, as the last time one of them pitched up at the police station, he wound up dead.

So as the violence continues to unfold in Maiduguri, it will remain to be seen whether the conflict will rise, fall, or remain in its current stasis. As long as the military crackdown continues, I'm sure it will remain the topic of conversation.

Bombings and Boko Haram

If anyone has been following news in Nigeria recently, it has most likely been focused on the Islamic militant group Boko Haram and their recent attacks on the northeastern city of Maiduguri. The news is no different in Nigeria, either. Every day, front-page headlines are dedicated to updates on the continuing violence in the north of the country. Whenever there's a lull in local conversation, it is inevitably filled with some new comment about Boko Haram.

The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad," but locals in the north dubbed the group Boko Haram, a Hausa phrase which means "Western Education is Forbidden" due to the group's opposition to western education.

I could give the group's history and a little bit of background, but honestly, there's too much intrigue to cover properly in one blog post. Suffice it to say, things have gotten bad. Last month, the group targeted the police headquarters in Abuja with a car bomb that killed two, shattered windows around the city, and destroyed over 70 nearby vehicles. Since then, the Nigerian government has gone on the offensive, and the entire situation is close to turning into a full-blown insurgency. Thousands of people have fled Maiduguri, including the 35,000 students at the university there, after Boko Haram threatened it with an attack. The timing could not be worse, as most of these students were about to sit for end-of-year exams.

Here in Jos, the conversation stems around the flood of what can only be called refugees or internally displaced people. Everyone I speak to has seen these people fleeing the violence in overloaded cars and trucks. Basically anything with wheels is trucking people out of the city. There are rumors that drivers are charging upwards of 5 - 6000 Naira ($30 - $40) for the journey, a crazy sum for that distance, but one which people are paying due to the military crackdown and increasing reports of extrajudicial killings and severe human rights abuses.

But we can joke about it can't we? Honestly, Nigerians have the greatest capacity for joking about anything, but underlying the laughter is often an ounce of worry. I recently went out with some friends to get some fish and have a beer at one of the open-air bars that are ubiquitous in Africa. However, this time around it took some serious deliberation to choose one that was properly secluded. It was determined after much discussion to avoid the popular ones near West of Mines (a central, typically busy Jos Haunt). When we sat down, one of the guys joked, "Okay, no Boko Haram here." Laughing, we didn't want to believe that he was afraid of bombings. Realistically though, I think it weighs on everyone's mind. Bombs killed 80 people in Jos on Christmas Eve 2010, and reports from the north detailing the violence have continued to set people on edge. Only a few weeks ago, Boko Haram militants on motorcycles lobbed bombs into a popular nightspot in Maiduguri, killing 25 and injuring dozens more. Indeed, for a few weeks it was almost impossible to open the newspaper in the morning without coming across news of another bombing, leading many to think, "If it can happen there..."

The government has responded in its typically heavy-handed way, deploying the military to Maiduguri and watching the fallout. Traditional leaders in the city have criticized the military task force for its human rights abuses, which the state governor only recently admitted were guilty of "excesses."

But as I mentioned, these issues are too much for one post. In the next few days, I'll try to look at the government response to Boko Haram and how a conflict so local has exploded into widespread violence amounting to near-insurrection. The hard-line government stance has done little for the country in fighting the wave of terror engulfing Maiduguri and may have only worsened the situation. Stay tuned for the next post.