Clashes in northern Nigeria between a radical Islamist group and Nigerian authorities left at least 700 dead and forced thousands to flee their homes late last month. This incident was the latest in a series of violent outbreaks the half-Christian, half-Muslim West African nation has seen in the past decade.
The Islamist group responsible for this most recent violence has been known as the Nigerian Taliban, al-Sunnah wal Jamma (Followers of Muhammad’s Teachings) and, most commonly, Boko Haram, which means, “Western education is forbiddenâ€.
As their name suggests, members of the group oppose western education and western culture more generally. Their purported mission was to overthrow the Nigerian government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country.
The fighting began on Sunday, July 26, but was largely curtailed by the end of the month. Initially, members of Boko Haram had been arrested in the state of Bauchi on charges of a plot to attack a police station. Violence quickly spread to neighboring states of Kano, Yobe and Borno. Members of Boko Haram targeted police stations, churches and government buildings, apparently attacking anyone who looked like a police officer or other government official.
The police fought back against Boko Haram members wielding pangas, knives and homemade explosives until July 28, when the army was called in assist. The army subsequently shelled a mosque and the home of the group’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf. Following this attack, hundreds of the group’s members were either killed or arrested. Most of the casualties were believed to have occurred in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. On Friday, July 31, Nigerian authorities reported that the group’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, had been killed while in police custody. Some reports have said that Yusuf was hiding in a goat-pen immediately prior to his capture and death.
Shortly before his death, Mohammed Yusuf was quoted by the BBC as saying that western education “runs contrary to our beliefs in Islam.†He also said that if any belief, such as the earth being spherical in shape, “runs contrary to the teachings of Allah, we reject it.†This rejection of “western†education is despite the fact, or perhaps because of the fact, that Mohammed Yusuf himself was believed to be highly educated, and likely received the same “western†education he denounced. The group’s leader was believed to be relatively young, in his thirties, and thought to have substantial wealth. Human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Nigeria’s Civil Rights Congress have called for investigations into Mohammed Yusuf’s death, as the details surrounding his killing remain unclear.
Boko Haram, apparently founded sometime in 2004, had for some time been under surveillance by security agencies, according to Nigerian president Umaru Yar-Adua, who described them as a “potentially dangerous groupâ€. Established in Maiduguri, the capital city of the state of Borno, Boko Haram had over the years recruited a number of unemployed and poorly educated youth. While Boko Haram apparently modeled itself after the Taliban of Afghanistan, there have been no proven links with terrorist groups either inside or outside of Africa. Radical Islam is not thought to have gotten a strong following in either Nigeria or West Africa more generally. Nevertheless, the potential for the cooperation of groups like Boko Haram with radical Islamist groups outside of Nigeria has for some time been a concern of Nigerian and western governments alike.
This most recent outbreak of violence is only the latest in a series of deadly confrontations linked to religious groups in the country.
Other recent occurrences include riots in 2006 following the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish publication that left over 150 people dead, and riots in 2002 in the northern city of Kaduna after the publication of another article some Muslims felt was defamatory to the Prophet. Over 200 people were killed. In the city of Jos, in central Nigeria, whose population is split between Muslims and Christians, thousands have been killed in multiple outbreaks of election-related sectarian violence in the past decade.
Nigeria, the most populous country on the African continent, is home to 140 million people and over 200 ethnic groups, whose population is split more or less evenly between Christians and Muslims, who belong primarily to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam. The Christians are dominant in southern Nigeria, while Muslims are the majority in northern Nigeria. 12 northern states introduced Sharia law in 1999 after the general elections, though it has not been strictly implemented. This is believed to be one of the reasons why groups such as Boko Haram have occasionally tried to take matters into their own hands, attempting to implement a more extreme form of Islamic law.
They have failed in the face of the far superior military might of the Nigerian authorities, but they have left many dead or injured in their wake. And without addressing the underlying issues that have been simmering for years, it is likely only a matter of time before the next outbreak occurs.
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