The Rampage of Terrorist and Bandit Killings in Nigeria. Where does the blame lie?

ICMS, Inc Reports

By Tom Okure, Ph.D
August 30, 2021

 Is the rampage of killings in Nigeria getting out of control?

It appears according to a recent video on social media by an Islamic Imam (source of video is unknown), that we have all failed as parents, as politicians, as community leaders and as the government of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria to teach our children and the population of Nigeria that human life is sacred and that we should not kill a fellow Nigerian and human being. Is he correct in his assertion and rebuke of the Nigerian society? 

Boko Haram is an Islamist militant group in Nigeria which has been responsible for thousands of killings, suicide bombings and abduction of boys and girls in many schools in the northern states in Nigeria for over 13 year now. There are other militant groups such as the IPOB in the South-East region of Nigeria, and the Fulani northern cattle herders all killing people indiscriminately for one reason or the other all over Nigeria. 

IPOB wants the creation of an independent state of Biafra from the current Nigeria and alleges that it is defending Christians in their propaganda videos and statements. Nevertheless the group adopts a militant posture in their actions by killing even fellow Christians and terrorizing all the citizens in those states where they are opposed.

Fulani cattle herders on the other hand have always moved and grazed their cattle across Nigerian communities over the millennia and since Nigeria gained independence in 1960 from the British. However in the past several years these herders, many of who are illegally armed by the cattle owners are committing a lot of hideous killings in Christian communities as the come into contact with southern communities and farmers protecting their farms from the roaming cattle of the headers.

The current Nigerian Federal Government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari has been unable to prevent these killings and the clashes between the Christian communities and the invading herders.  The government has no solution to the killings so far, only blaming the rampant herder killings “to population pressure, escalating aridity of northern states, and climate change” which is forcing the roaming and nomadic cattle herders to travel further into southern Nigerian states in order to find grazing lands for their cattle.

In the video above, this Imam (a man who leads Muslim worshippers in prayer or in a global general sense, the head of a Muslim community) points the blame squarely on the federal government’s inability to control the bandits and terrorists terrorizing and killing Nigerians in large numbers. The Imam in the video blames himself too and says that we are all (Nigerians) to blame for the excessive killings and the total disregard for the value human life in Nigeria .What is your opinion on this issue? Watch the video:

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D. CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc. (or ICMS Inc.). ICMS, Inc., is a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York        

Nigerian Dapchi schoolgirls abducted in February 19, 2018 suddenly released by their militant abductors

ICMS, Inc Reports
By Tom Okure, Ph.D

Picture of released abducted girls:
Courtesy: Reuters/Reuters/Ola Lanre

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According to Nigeria’s Ministry of Information, “back channel efforts” by the federal government has resulted in the sudden release of 76 of the 110 Dapchi schoolgirls abducted from their boarding school on the evening of Monday, February 19 2018, by a militant group who attacked the town of Dapchi in Yobe State.

One of the schoolgirl’s parent who spoke to a BBC correspondent by name Kundili Bukar said the militants believed to be Boko Haram “drove into the town in a motorcade in the early hours of Wednesday morning and surrendered the girls to the community.” The militants departed immediately they released the girls who were alleged to look tired and fatigued from their ordeal.

Dapchi schoolgirls are pictured in Jumbam village Yobe State after their release look tired and fatigued from their ordeal.

One may recall that President Muhammadu Buhari was very frustrated with the announcement of the kidnappings in February and declared it a "national disaster" and expressed his regrets to the parents of the girls' on 12 March noting the government would negotiate with the militants carefully in order to ensure the peaceful release the girls without resorting to military action. Speaking to the press at the time President Buhari sated "We are trying to be careful. It is better to get our daughters back alive."

Nigerian Minister of Information Lai Mohammed

In a government statement by the minister of information Lai Mohammed today, he said "The government had a clear understanding that violence and confrontation would not be the way out as it could endanger the lives of the girls," Nine of the girls abducted are confirmed to be dead according to the Nigerian government in its press statement on the matter.

The release of the girls comes about one week from the date President Muhammadu Buhari visited the Dapchi school, during which time he met with the girl’s parents and reaffirmed government efforts to secure the immediate release of their children.

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Links to read more:

More than half of kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls freed, official says

Kidnapped Dapchi schoolgirls freed in Nigeria