Boko Haram's Justice

Boko Haram's Justice

Imagine yourself as a parent, seeing your daughter walk to school only to hear hours later that there was an abduction in your daughter’s school, whats worse is that your own daughter was one of the abducted girls. Well instead of imagination, it really happened recently in Africa. An organization called Haram, a militant Islamic group, abducted 110 girls in a school in the northeastern town of Dapchi on February 19th. This recent event relives the 2014 abduction of 276 girls in Chibok, with many parents missing their daughters.

  

    Boko Haram has done a lot of trouble to the government. They plan to overthrow the government and take over the land in order to make an Islamic country. During these events over the years, Boko Haram’s reputation has risen to a state where the government will respond. The United States has taken notice of Boko Haram and is helping the Nigerian army fight back. 

    Boko Haram is very dangerous but in order to know more about it, we need to know how the organization was founded. In 2002, Boko Haram was founded by Mohammed Yusuf. According to The National Interest, it states that “Nigeria was always a divided country plagued by weak governance and ethnic cleavages, but today, the north and south are like two different countries entirely. It is in this context, with religious fervor growing in the Muslim north and manifesting itself in violent uprisings like Maitatsine, that Boko Haram was born”(Ford). With Mohammed Yusuf as the founder, you can tell how the organization will form into. Though many people see Boko Haram as a dangerous organization, what exactly are they doing that makes them a danger to all of Africa? Boko Haram’s major plan is to overthrow the government and take over Africa in order make an Islamic state.

    One of Boko Haram’s actions to overthrow the government is attacking certain parts in Africa. Like in one incident where militants attacked a military headquarters in Burkina Faso, leaving eight members of security forces and eight assailants dead (Perez-Pena). Although it may show little numbers of casualties, Boko Haram does these kinds of acts frequently, giving the government trouble. Not only that, recently, on March 2nd, The New York Times state that, “ABUJA, Nigeria — Boko Haram militants have killed at least 11 people, including three aid workers, in an attack on a military base near a camp for displaced people in the northeastern state of Borno in Nigeria” (Reuters). Boko Haram can be seen as very capable of destroying whatever they want, leaving many casualties.

    Although Boko Haram’s attacks cause a lot of damage, they don’t stop there. There have been reports of mass kidnappings of schoolgirls, roughly around hundreds. Recently on the 8th of March, 110 schoolgirls were abducted in Dapchi, Nigeria. This event has been spread worldwide all over the internet and now started the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Because of this, billions of dollars have been donated to aid the Nigerian military (Matfess). Though a majority of women are abducted by Boko Haram, some voluntarily joined due to the benefits that are offered as a Boko Haram member. Most women only joined because of the opportunities for education, which brings the topic how to end Boko Haram’s insurgency (Matfess). According to the former president, Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo believes that Boko Haram wouldn’t have existed if the education in the North-East was equal to the education in the South-West. Therefore, meaning that there wouldn't be any insurgency if the education was ample (Ugwuanyi). 

    Although Boko Haram has done lots of damage to the government and its society, they seem to keep growing and growing. The idea of raising education in Nigeria seems to be a possible solution to stop the insurgency, but will it be enough to take effect? Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo states that “education is the panacea, education is the key, it inculcates the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram” (Ugwuanyi). If this is true, then education is the only thing that can solve this issue.

Ford, John, et al. “The Origins of Boko Haram.” The National Interest, The Center for the National Interest, 6 June 2014, nationalinterest.org/feature/the-origins-boko-haram-10609. Ford’s paper talks about the origins of Boko Haram as the title implies. It talks about a man named Mohammed Marwa, who started his career as a Muslim preacher and had a passion for hating the Western culture. He disliked the fact that Western culture was popular in Nigeria, and through conflict Boko Haram was born. John Ford was a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University, which can consider him as a credible writer. The article shows no bias, a neutral perspective. This source was used in my article to show how Boko Haram was created.

Matfess, Hilary. “Analysis | Boko Haram Has Kidnapped More Girls. Here's What We Know.”The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 Mar. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/03/08/boko-haram-has-kidnapped-more-girls-heres-what-we-know/?utm_term=.8ab02260eba3. Hilary’s paper talks about the mass kidnapping in Dapchi, Nigeria. 110 schoolgirls were abducted by a group called Boko Haram, an Islamic militant organization. Boko Haram has practiced kidnapping many times, causing trouble for the government and its communities. Though many women are kidnapped, some even volunteer to join just for their own selfish benefits. This source is credible because this article was posted by the Washington post, and Hilary has also made a book called “Women and the War on Boko Haram”. The perspective seems to be neutral, it only shows what happens to women when being abducted, or their motives for joining the organization. This source was used in my article to introduce the 110 schoolgirls abduction incident.

PÉrez-peÑa, Richard, and Jaime Yaya Barry. “Militants Carry Out Deadly Attacks in Burkina Faso.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/world/africa/burkina-faso-embassy-attack.html?partner=rss&emc=rss. Perez-Pena and Yaya Barry’s paper focuses on attacks that Islamist Militants launched in Burkina Faso. Since this source is from the New York Times, it can be considered as a very credible source. The perspective of the attacks seems to be biased towards victims who witnessed the attacks of the Militants. This source was used in my article to show what kinds of things Boko Haram does when they attack.

Reuters. “Boko Haram Militants Kill Aid Workers at Military Base in Nigeria.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/world/africa/boko-haram-nigeria.html. This article focuses on the Boko Haram organization attacking and killing aid workers at a Military Base in Nigeria. This is credible because this article was published in the New York Times. The paper is biased towards victims who were killed during the attacks, and how violent Boko Haram was. This source was used in my article to show the damage Boko Haram is capable of making.

Ugwuanyi, Sylvester. “Obasanjo Reveals How Boko Haram Insurgency Would Have Been Averted in North-East.” Daily Post Nigeria, 10 Mar. 2018, dailypost.ng/2018/03/10/obasanjo-reveals-boko-haram-insurgency-averted-north-east/. Sylvester’s paper talks about how low education in the North-East was the cause of Boko Haram birth. Because of low education, women and children started to revolt, as voluntarily joining Boko Haram. They introduce the solution if their education was good enough to satisfy the North-East, Boko Haram’s organization would die. This source is credible because the author Sylvester Ugwanyi has down multiple reports and articles on Nigeria. This paper’s perspective is neutral since it shows the problem of why Boko Haram was created and a solution to fix it. This source was used in my article to show the reason why Boko Haram’s insurgency never stops and also serves as a solution to stop the insurgency.