Okay… 10 points if you can name this group:
Since the beginning of March, they have killed more than 130 people, including at least 43 children. They often target schools. The United States government has declared them a terrorist organization. And, this may shape up to be their deadliest year yet.
Want the answer?
“Boko Haram,”and this deadly and growing threat operates mainly in northern Nigeria.
The name Boko Haram translates loosely to “Western education is a sin,” and the extremist group wants to establish fundamentalist Muslim rule in Northern Nigeria.
Boko Haram’s bombings, burning, and killings led Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in three Nigerian states last May. So why does Boko Haram exist?
Like many African countries, Nigeria’s borders do not align with ethnic groups. They were artificially created by British colonial administration in the 1800s, a fact that has repeatedly led to strife since the country’s independence in 1960.
The world’s eighth largest nation is now divided along religious and ethnic lines, with the northern half of the country occupied mainly by Muslims of the Hausa ethnic group.
Other tribes with Christian majorities reside in the south.
Politics are sharply split along this north/south divide. Current president Goodluck Jonathan comes from the heart of the southern territory. Furthermore, wealth is concentrated in the oil-rich south.
It is against this backdrop of ethnic split and inequality that Boko Haram rose to prominence in the last five years.
Recently a government led violent, anti-Boko Haram, military crackdown involving extrajudicial killings and destruction of civilian villages has only fanned the flames (and earned rebuke from the Human Rights Watch).
Few northern civilians support Boko Haram, but Nigerians disagree as to how the government should handle the insurgents.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populist country has enormous economic potential but the onset of Boko Haram threatens to compromise Nigeria’s position as an emerging “economic giant“.
Sadly, this is one of many religious insurgencies plaguing Africa today.
Do you know other dangerous groups around the world we all should be watching?
