By Balarabe Musa Al-Hassan
The criminal kidnapping of more than 200 innocent students in Chibok by the Boko Haram terrorists is our greatest opportunity to forget our differences and confront the greatest enemy of mankind- international terrorism. Terrorism is the worst kind of war ever known to mankind because it is driven by deliberate and remorseless violence against innocent people. In this war against unspeakable evil, we must rise up and condemn these bandits, who are fighting a senseless, ungodly and vile war without any rules of engagement. When people perpetrate evil in God’s name, then we have a duty to speak up in unison and deprecate their atrocities.
The so-called northern poverty is never a justification by any criminal gangs to embark on deliberate violence against innocent people and the abduction of students. And worse still, using the name of religion to violate the sanctity of life is reprehensible. Converting girls taken hostage to another religion has no foundation and justification in Islam. No less immoral and criminal is forcing captives into marriage at gunpoint. Whatever “cause” the Boko Haram purport to be fighting that “cause” is morally destroyed by the criminal methods they are using to kill innocent people. Their activities are sheer anarchy and therefore, let nobody start attributing their evil to poverty.
As clearly pointed out by the Chief Imam of Makkah, the activities of the Boko Haram sects are a disgrace to Islam and Muslims everywhere in the world. When Boko Haram started their agitation, they pretended that they wanted to avenge the extrajudicial murder of their founder, Mohammed Yusuf. However, recent events have clearly revealed that Yusuf’s death was only a pretext to kill innocent people. And the more innocent people they kill, the more they destroy their so-called “cause.”
Every Muslim should feel deeply embarrassed that these militants are using the name of Islam to perpetrate inhumanities against innocent people. From 2009 to date, the Boko Haram terrorists have killed about 4,000 (four thousand) innocent people, including Muslims and Christians, the latest being the May 1, 2014 bomb blast at Nyanya, which claimed 75 lives.
In a war situation, it is essential that the citizens rally round the government and counter-terrorism task forces to defeat these shameless and unconscionable mass murderers. Ridiculing the government’s efforts and discrediting the military in this war against terrorism can only embolden the bandits at our own expense. Unless we unite and stop pretending that Boko Haram are not Muslims, we run the risk of overlooking a calamity against mankind.
At this point, I also wish to express my outrage at the comments of some foreign leaders against Nigeria. In particular, I take exception to the comments attributed to Republican Senator John McCain and former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, criticizing Nigeria’s response to terrorism threats. Terrorism is relatively new to Nigeria. And that means we are dealing with an enemy we are unaccustomed to. Nigeria needs understanding, and not condemnations, no matter our limitations. Bullying and ridiculing our leaders by Western politicians is uncharitable. No country can claim to have the strategy to end terrorism in one day. Whether you love him or hate him, the late General Sani Abacha was always ready to stand up to Western nations seeking to talk down to African leaders. Yes, Nigeria needs foreign collaboration to fight terrorism because it is a crime of international dimension. However, that is not an excuse for Western politicians to be ridiculing or insulting our leaders. Western leaders called Abacha names because he refused to accept humiliation. He was always ready to defend weaker African countries against foreign insults.
Al-Hassan wrote from No. 86, Adamu Ciroma Street, Jabi, Abuja.
E-mail: [email protected]
