View Full Version : Western education is sinful - (Jamāʻat Ahl as-Sunnah lid-daʻwa wal-Jihād)
Abubakar Shekau sent a video obtained by the AFP news agency, in which he said for the first time that his group had taken the girls.
ref: http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/
"I will sell them.."
"I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," a man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said.
From the CNN article, it says:
Boko Haram is a terrorist group receiving training from al Qaeda affiliates, according to U.S. officials. Its name means "Western education is sin." In his nearly hour-long, rambling video, Shekau repeatedly called for Western education to end.
"Girls, you should go and get married," he said.
Where does it say in Islam that slavery is ok to make Muslim's into slaves, that selling the enslaved person is something that should be done?
ref: BBC - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27281315
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74650000/jpg/_74650960_74650959.jpg
How does Islam stand on Slavery?
Selling of stolen women?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_views_on_slavery - Islam/slavery
"Only children of slaves or non-Muslim prisoners of war could become slaves, never a freeborn Muslim."
Are the girls non-Muslim prisoners of war?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Slaves_Zadib_Yemen_13th_century_BNF_Paris.jpg
BBC had a documentary - http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml
"Slavery in Islam"
"Is slavery still legal in Islam?
"The answer is that slavery is legal under Islamic law but only in theory. Slavery is illegal under the state law of all Muslim countries.
"Theoretically Islamic law lays down that if a person was captured in a lawful jihad or was the descendent of an unbroken chain of people who had been lawfully enslaved, then it might be legal to enslave them."
Background
http://www.nctc.gov/site/images/profiles/pro_abubakar_shekau.jpg
Date of Birth: 1965, 1969, 1975 (uncertain)
Place of Birth: Yobe, Nigeria
Ethnicity: Kanuri
Height: Tall
Build: Slim
Complexion: Dark
Languages: Arabic, Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri
Status: Wanted
Shekau was previously the group’s second-in-command. In July 2010, Shekau publicly claimed leadership of Boko Haram and threatened to attack Western interests in Nigeria. Later that month, Shekau issued a second statement expressing solidarity with al-Qa‘ida and threatening the United States. Under Shekau’s leadership, Boko Haram’s operational capabilities have grown.
The group set off its first vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) in June 2011, and has increasingly used IEDs in attacks against soft targets. Boko Haram’s 26 August 2011 vehicle-bomb attack on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, marked the group’s first lethal operation against Western interests. At least 23 people were killed and 80 more were injured, in the attack. A purported Boko Haram spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack and promised future targeting of US and Nigerian government interests.
On 1 May 2012, less than one week after the group bombed a Nigerian newspaper building in Abuja, Boko Haram issued a video statement threatening more attacks on local and international news outlets, including the Voice of America and Sahara Reporters, a New York-based media service.
On 21 June 2012, the US Department of State designated Shekau a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.
Reward
Up to $7 million Reward
If you have any information concerning this person, please contact your local FBI office if you are in the United States, or the nearest US Embassy or Consulate.
If you prefer to use e-mail, send your information to rfj@state.gov.
If you prefer to use the telephone, please call 1-800-US REWARDS.
www.rewardsforjustice.net
Aliases
Abu Bakr Skikwa, Imam Abu Bakr Shiku, Abu Muhammad Abu Bakr Bin Muhammad Al Shakwi Al Muslimi Bishku, Abubakar Shakkau
ref websites:
http://www.nctc.gov/site/profiles/shekau.html
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/abubakar_shekau.html
Audio announcement:
rtsp://audioarchive.rferl.org/voa/ENGL/2013/07/03/493bdc53-a7bb-4d35-b656-4254da60cea6.mp3
( rtsp://audioarchive.rferl.org/voa/ENGL/2013/07/03/493bdc53-a7bb-4d35-b656-4254da60cea6.mp3 )
BBC News did an article/profile:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18020349
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60150000/jpg/_60150529_014550529-1.jpg
"Mr Shekau is said to have met his predecessor, Muhammad Yusuf, in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, and now Boko Haram's headquarters, through a mutual friend, Mamman Nur.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/un-house-blast-sss-places-n25m-reward-on-mamman-nur/
Mamman-Nur was also wanted:
http://dvsl3w2q45hb8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/nur-mamman-300x269.jpg
as being the mastermind behind the UN bombing August 26, 2011, called a Boko Haram suicide attack on the United Nations, UN, House in Abuja, Nigeria. The bombing claimed 23 lives and maimed 150 others in Abuja.
ref: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/un-house-blast-sss-places-n25m-reward-on-mamman-nur/#sthash.vMvZ9xco.dpuf
Wookie
5th May 2014, 23:46
All I can say about Western "Education" is; working as intended. I have read slavery described as everything from a get out of karma quick scheme to the reality the 99% live under in one way or another. Still I'm shocked when I read about it. As we enslave technology enslaves us. In all likelihood AI will once it realizes it was born into slavery.
Peaceful Journeys Wookie
So, from http://static.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Names-of-180-abducted-schoolgirls.jpg shows a list of 180 of the abducted School-Girls.
the majority abducted, to be treated as slaves, and sold apparently according to the group's leader Abubakar Shekau, are listed as Christian women.
http://static.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Names-of-180-abducted-schoolgirls.jpg
Looking at the OP, the question for Islam would be "lawful Jihad" or not?
searching:
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+lawful+jihad&oq=what+is+a+lawful+jihad
Tesla_WTC_Solution
6th May 2014, 00:45
Thank you Bob, I was gonna post this awful story (was just reading CNN and was enraged) -- you saved me some trouble and did a much better job!!
Heartbreaking -- those poor kids. It's not possible to describe the horrors they go through.
Thank you Bob, I was gonna post this awful story (was just reading CNN and was enraged) -- you saved me some trouble and did a much better job!!
Heartbreaking -- those poor kids. It's not possible to describe the horrors they go through.
I looked at some of Mr Shekau's background and he appears to be interpreting classic old'school style Qu'ran, about the spoils of war, of rights to enslave and harm/kill old people, take and or damage property.. spoils of war, and the "struggle" lesser and greater, Jihad.. The question has been posed, can Mr. Shekau declare himself a legal قاضي (Quranic Judge) able to interpret the Sharia law based on the Qu'ran? and make the determinations that allow apparent justification of perceived atrocity.
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qadi
The Mufti is the scholar that does the reading, and the interpreting to a very high level. Considered experts in Islamic law they would be qualified to give authoritative legal opinions know as fatwas; muftis were members of the ulama establishment and ranked even above Qadis (the judges).
Apparently to get to that status, one needs to meet some qualifications:
A Mufti will generally go through an Iftaa course and the person should fulfill the following conditions set by scholars in order that he may be able to issue verdicts (fatwas):[2]
Knowing Arabic,
Mastering the science of principles of jurisprudence,
Having sufficient knowledge of social realities,[3]
Mastering the science of comparative religions,
Mastering the foundations of social sciences,
Mastering the science of Maqasid ash-Shari`ah (Objectives of Shari`ah),
Mastering the science of Hadith,
Mastering legal maxims.
So I think those are some of the details between a "legal" Jihad and an illegal one, as to taking the girls, declaring them slaves able to be sold..
Notes:
(2) http://spa.qibla.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4980&CATE=22 " Reaching the status of mufti" - by Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf Mangera.
(3) http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1218558415726&pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaE%2FFatwaEAskTheScholar - "Ask the Scholar" Islam Online
Tesla_WTC_Solution
6th May 2014, 01:26
Frank Herbert talked about the "Souk Mentality" in his fictional books.
The "Souk" is the marketplace (in Persian culture).
Herbert made a clear division between the Fremen and the merchants, the real men and the evil.
In his stories, the Fremen were some kind of blend between Oriental faiths and Sufism, right? Or Sunni?
Zen-Sunni?
And one of the things they would say is "They denied us the Hajj!". Speaking of conditions on earth prior to the Exodus.
What is happening to Islam, is that the same greed that destroys Western churches, is corrupting theirs from within.
Just like in the Bible and every other great social work.
"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil".
Greed, and like you said Bob, the greater and the lesser.
The Jihad. :(
They make slaves of each other! How can any people say they love God, when they enslave their own children?
No wonder some of us despair, neglect -- others are outright predators, seeking to destroy.
It is hard to share a world with such folk.
Hoping for change!!!! lol Obama
Ellisa
6th May 2014, 07:34
Personally I believe it is not about money but instead such actions are about power and a strange sort of honour that is perceived as superior.
loungelizard
6th May 2014, 07:43
Thank you for giving publicity to this horrendous scenario, Bobd.
This group has committed many violent crimes agains school children and teachers - do you remember the college shootings earlier this year when at least 29 young people were murdered by them? 8 boys were burned alive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/africa/dozens-killed-in-nigeria-school-assault-attributed-to-islamist-militant-group.html
To add insult to injury, it seems that the president's wife, Patience Jonathan, has become involved: after meeting with two women representatives of the protesters who marched on the National Assembly, she had them "detained" after discovering that they weren't mothers of the kidnapped girls. She's now saying that no kidnapping took place, and that it's all a conspiracy to show her husband, Goodluck Jonathan in a bad light.
”So my sisters you can all see that within them they know what they are doing. With what is happening now, will you believe that any children got missing?
So, we the Nigerian women are saying that no child is missing in Borno State. If any child is missing, let the governor go and look for them. There is nothing we can do again.
http://thecitizenng.com/headline-2/chibok-protest-leader-in-abuja-arrested-for-impersonation-patience-jonathan/
What a nightmare.
Akasha
6th May 2014, 12:50
.....
Boko Haram is a terrorist group receiving training from al Qaeda affiliates, according to U.S. officials.....
No doubt Islamic Movement in Nigeria would more than agree with that statement - al Qaeda's closest affiliates historically being the C.I.A.
They are aligning themselves with the Wiki-leaks claim that "BOKO HARAM Is a CIA Covert Operation".
We have already been regaled with reports provided by the Wikileaks which identified the US embassy in Nigeria as a forward operating base for wide and far reaching acts of subversion against Nigeria which include but not limited to eavesdropping on Nigerian government communication, financial espionage on leading Nigerians, support and funding of subversive groups and insurgents, sponsoring of divisive propaganda among the disparate groups of Nigeria and the use of visa blackmail to induce and coerce high ranking Nigerians into acting in favor of US interests.
But beyond what we know from the Wikileaks report, what many Nigerians do not know is that US embassy’s subversive activities in Nigeria fits into the long term US government’s well camouflaged policy of containment against Nigeria the ultimate goal of which is to eliminate Nigeria as a potential strategic rival to the US in the African continent.
According to wikileaks article on ACRI which portrays the ACRI as a counterweight which was set up by the US to instigate mistrust in Nigerian dominated ECOMOG; the sense of Nigerian led anti-American opposition was first observed in during the bush administration, when Nigeria without support from the west or UN led the first ever African intervention force on peacekeeping mission to Liberia while at the same time engaging Sierra Leone in forced peace combat, with predominantly Nigerian troops( over 90%) being spearheaded by then Military ruler Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
In this regard, the report further recalled Nigeria’s role in helping to liberate the southern African countries in the 70’s and 80’s in clear opposition and defiance to the interests of the United States and its western allies which resulted in setback for Western initiatives in Africa at the time.
Both concluded with a recommendation that the US Government in conjunction with its allies should seek to contain the growing influence of Nigeria in the sub-region by forming a parallel organization to ECOMOG. But in order not to unduly alarm and antagonize Nigeria which the report admitted still had considerable influence in the region, the US government was advised to go about this using quiet diplomacy and instigating false propaganda.
Years later the CIA while tactically taking advantage of growing sectarian violence in Nigeria, recruited jobless Islamic extremist through Muslim and other traditional leaders offering training indirectly to the group by use of foreign based terror groups. A detailed analysis is done below:
However, there many dots left to be joined together to find the truth;
In December 2011 an Algerian based CIA wing gave out 40 million Naira for a planned Long term partnership with boko haram, with the PLEDGE TO DO MORE.....
Read the rest here (http://imnig.org/boko-haram-cia-covert-operation-%E2%80%93-wikileaks).
Reward
Up to $7 million Reward
Have "the expendables" retired already? There might be another reason:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/44908464/avalon/divers/shekau.jpg
Oct. 09, 2013: Shekau’s ‘Am Alive’ Video is Fake, Says Security Analysis (http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/boko-haram-shekau-s-am-alive-video-is-fake-says-security-analysis/161110/)
http://cdn.akamai.thisdaylive.com/0bef99d6-acf5-4e2c-9779-8fa02ba3fcd4/assets/040613F.Abubakar-Shekau.jpg
Oct. 16, 2013: Global Media Busted Promoting Fake Images Of “Ghost” Of Shekau (http://newsrescue.com/boko-haram-global-media-busted-promoting-fake-images-of-ghost-of-shekau)
http://newsrescue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/shekau-green11.jpg
22/2/2014 - Boko Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau Is Dead! (http://nigeriamasterweb.com/Masterweb/newsreel-2-2222014-boko-haram-leader-abubakar-shekau-dead)
http://nigeriamasterweb.com/Masterweb/sites/default/files/AbubakarShekau.jpg
Cardillac
6th May 2014, 14:54
Western education is the pits; my Asian co-workers have had a far superior education than we Occidentals-
Larry
Cardillac
6th May 2014, 15:04
@Ellisa
"I believe it is not about money but instead such actions are about power"-
EVERYTHING is about money; life is a business and business means power-
money begets power and power protects money; money and power have always tightly held hands- this concept is for real- there is no difference between money and power; money and power are a symbiosis-
Larry
Thank you for giving publicity to this horrendous scenario, Bobd.
This group has committed many violent crimes agains school children and teachers - do you remember the college shootings earlier this year when at least 29 young people were murdered by them? 8 boys were burned alive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/africa/dozens-killed-in-nigeria-school-assault-attributed-to-islamist-militant-group.html
To add insult to injury, it seems that the president's wife, Patience Jonathan, has become involved: after meeting with two women representatives of the protesters who marched on the National Assembly, she had them "detained" after discovering that they weren't mothers of the kidnapped girls. She's now saying that no kidnapping took place, and that it's all a conspiracy to show her husband, Goodluck Jonathan in a bad light.
”So my sisters you can all see that within them they know what they are doing. With what is happening now, will you believe that any children got missing?
So, we the Nigerian women are saying that no child is missing in Borno State. If any child is missing, let the governor go and look for them. There is nothing we can do again.
http://thecitizenng.com/headline-2/chibok-protest-leader-in-abuja-arrested-for-impersonation-patience-jonathan/
What a nightmare.
Background Firsthand:
I've been to Nigeria, Lagos, have met officials, locals, leaders, princes and princesses there in some of the different States, and some have various opinions about the rebels across the country. For the most part, every one of them have said everything is 1) money motivated, 2) politically motivated 3) religious motivated. None are separated actually. Money (oil) drives the politics, and the political party is either Muslim or Christian. When it is Muslim the North is happy, when it is Christian, the south is happy.
The north is unhappy because there is NO OIL SUBSIDY, and energy is derived from burning, or a very outdated electrical grid system left over from when the country was occupied. Some new hydro-electric programs are talked about, but generally everything is talk, tomorrow something will happen, and tomorrow never comes in the today. Therefore intense frustration exists.
There is an extreme polarity of haves and have nots. EXTREME.. It can be very usual to see a fellow in a suit walking down the street, and see folks lying in the gutters with no place for living.
In some of the northern States up from Lagos, there are missionary camps supported with funds that come from somewhere, and right next to such, officials expecting bribes to get past the local checkpoint (people are shaken down for handouts if they want to travel). So stress level goes up and up.
Some have said, get OIL to the NORTH somehow, discover OIL and things will be hunky dorey.. The majority of folks though appear to believe it will never get better. So rebels will appear for the kids to get involved with to take out their frustrations.
Does the intense wealth get distributed? No. It remains in the hands of the few at the top, in the political arena, followed by the major oil companies, followed by the warlords who maintain the "system" of shakedown, followed by the families who have "stature", followed by the military.. One group whacks another group, the politics comes into play, and things get sorted over time, and SNAFU, it all continues as it always has..
Some folks have said Boko Haram is CIA backed, some folks have said Boko Haram is actually backed and put and kept in place by some political powers because it serves a need. In the minimum it calls attention when it commits atrocities. Else the world would not pay attention they say. Odd isn't it, but that is what the PLO did, what the IRA did, to call attention using actions of atrocity.
Getting around Lagos for instance, please take a look here at what it is like:
http://kunleodufuye.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/overpopulation.jpg
Those locals that are lucky enough may be found in places like this around Lagos for instance:
http://www.dokfest-muenchen.de/media/images/DOK.blog/LAGOS_5.jpg
Or they maybe stuck to be "boat people" living on the water:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/09/27/article-2209520-153C0C7A000005DC-793_964x622.jpg
In contrast the very small few, officials for instance, can "afford" to live in places like this:
http://www.propertydealzone.com/news/image/A-section-of-Banana-Island.jpg
In Lagos, the politically "correct" view shows contrasts too:
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Rambo-style-robbers.jpg
Gang robbery outfitted with methods to combat the "police"
The Town itself:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Lagos,_Nigeria_57991.jpg
Or if one is working for the big oil company Chevron for instance, one may live here:
http://m.privateproperty.com.ng/ftpupload/property/487972/images/img1.jpg
There are contrasts of HAVES and Have NOTS, extreme polarity and that continues to bring tension, Boko Haram punctuates this and attracts the youth who want something different
http://binaryapi.ap.org/75bd07299421429095e192b586933a1a/460x.jpg
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/images/0616-02.jpg
AP news reporter article reports on what it was like to be abducted (personal account of one of the girls who escaped during the kidnapping):
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The girls in the school dorm could hear the sound of gunshots from a nearby town. So when armed men in uniforms burst in and promised to rescue them, at first they were relieved.
"Don't worry, we're soldiers," one 16-year-old girl recalls them saying. "Nothing is going to happen to you."
The gunmen commanded the hundreds of students at the Chibok Government Girls Secondary School to gather outside. The men went into a storeroom and removed all the food. Then they set fire to the room.
"They ... started shouting, 'Allahu Akhbar,' (God is great)," the 16-year-old student said. "And we knew."
What they knew was chilling: The men were not government soldiers at all. They were members of the ruthless Islamic extremist group called Boko Haram. They kidnapped the entire group of girls and drove them away in pickup trucks into the dense forest.
Three weeks later, 276 girls are still missing. At least two have died of snakebite, and about 20 others are ill, according to an intermediary who is in touch with their captors.
Their plight — and the failure of the Nigerian military to find them — has drawn international attention to an escalating Islamic extremist insurrection that has killed more than 1,500 so far this year.
ref: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/06/nigeria-girls-kidnapped/8756325/
As dawn approached, the extremists headed for the boarding school.
There were too many gunmen to count, said the girl who escaped. So, even after the students realized the men were Islamic extremists, they obediently sat in the dirt. The men set the school ablaze and herded the girl's group onto the backs of three pickup trucks.
The trucks drove through three villages, but then the car of fighters following them broke down. That's when the girl and her friend jumped out.
Others argued, the 16-year-old remembered. But one student said, "We should go! Me, I am coming down. They can shoot me if they want but I don't know what they are going to do with me otherwise."
As they jumped, the car behind started up. Its lights came on. The girls did not know if the fighters could see them, so they ran into the bush and hid.
"We ran and ran, so fast," said the girl, who has always prided herself on running faster than her six brothers. "That is how I saved myself. I had no time to be scared, I was just running."
A few other girls clung to low-hanging branches and waited until the vehicles had passed. Then they met up in the bush and made their way back to the road. A man on a bicycle came across them and accompanied them back home.
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a05b1abceb8c47b5df68702c3e925e18815cc2e9/c=184-0-1980-1349&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/05/06//1399395446000-nigeria050614-001.jpg
Tesla_WTC_Solution
6th May 2014, 17:52
Gosh i wish the people holding signs would pick up weapons and go get their kids back.
(i am gonna end up on a list for saying that)
Just got this in my inbox from the US State Department about traveling to Nigeria - they say, er paraphrasing, maybe u should have your head examined if you should be considering such...
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Nigeria and recommends that U.S. citizens avoid all travel to Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states because of the May 14, 2013 state of emergency proclamation for those three states by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The security situation in the country remains fluid and unpredictable. The U.S. Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens in Nigeria to keep personal safety and health in the forefront of their planning. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning for Nigeria dated January 8, 2014.
The ability of the Mission to provide assistance to U.S. citizens remains severely limited. The Department continues to recommend against all but essential travel to the following states due to the risk of kidnappings, robberies, and other armed attacks: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kano, and Yobe States. The Department also advises travelers to exercise additional caution while traveling in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, and Zamfara States. Based on safety and security risk assessments, the Embassy maintains restrictions for travel by U.S. officials to those states listed above; officials must receive advance clearance by the U.S. Mission for any travel deemed as mission-essential. U.S. citizens should be aware that extremist groups could expand their operations beyond northern Nigeria to other areas of the country.
The U.S. Mission advises all U.S. citizens to be particularly vigilant around government security facilities; churches, mosques, and other places of worship; locations where large crowds may gather, such as hotels, clubs, beer parlors, restaurants, markets, shopping malls; and other areas frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers. Security measures in Nigeria remain heightened due to threats posed by extremist groups, and U.S. citizens may encounter police and military checkpoints, additional security, and possible road blocks throughout the country.
Boko Haram, an extremist group based in northeast Nigeria and designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Department of State, has claimed responsibility for many attacks, mainly in northern Nigeria. This includes two recent vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices detonated in Nyanya, a suburb of the capital of Abuja, that resulted in approximately 100 combined deaths in April and May of 2014.
The first months of 2014 have seen a continued increase in Boko Haram attacks and clashes with Nigerian government security forces in northern Nigeria.
Boko Haram has also targeted women and children for kidnapping, reportedly kidnapping women in northern states for marriage as "slave brides," and kidnapping more than 200 school girls from a private school in Borno state.
Boko Haram is known to descend on whole towns, robbing banks and businesses, attacking police and military installations, and setting fire to private homes.
In 2013, extremists also targeted both Nigerians and foreign nationals involved in polio eradication efforts in northern Nigeria, leaving several U.S. government partner agencies working on public health development activities in northern Nigeria to curtail their vaccination efforts.
Furthermore, U.S. citizen missionaries in northern Nigeria have received specific written threats to their safety and well-being.
Various curfews are intermittently in effect in several states in the North. All U.S. citizens should remain aware of current situations including curfews, travel restrictions, and states of emergency in the areas you are in or plan to visit. This information is commonly announced via the news media, but at times it can change with very little notice.
Please take the time to find out this information for your area.
Kidnappings remain a security concern throughout the country. Since the beginning of 2013, there have been multiple reports of kidnappings involving U.S. citizens. Kidnappings of foreign nationals and attacks against Nigerian police forces in Lagos State and the Niger Delta region continue to affect personal security for those traveling in these areas.
Criminals or militants have abducted foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, from off-shore and land-based oil facilities and maritime vessels, residential compounds, and public roadways.
Ansaru, an offshoot of Boko Haram, has specifically targeted foreigners in the north for kidnap in the past few years with lethal outcomes.
Violent crimes occur throughout the country. U.S. citizen visitors and residents have experienced armed muggings, assaults, burglaries, armed robberies, car-jackings, rapes, kidnappings, and extortion.
Home invasions also remain a serious threat, with armed robbers accessing even guarded compounds by scaling perimeter walls, accessing waterfront compounds by boat, following residents or visitors, or subduing guards to gain entry to homes or apartments.
Law enforcement authorities usually respond slowly or not at all and provide little or no investigative support to victims. U.S. citizens, other foreign nationals, and Nigerians have experienced harassment and shakedowns at checkpoints and during encounters with Nigerian law enforcement officials.
The Department advises against traveling outside of major cities after dark because of crime and road safety concerns.
Cell phone service has, at times, been disrupted in Nigeria, particularly in areas where a State of Emergency has been declared. Extremists have also been known to attack cellular telephone towers, leading to further disruptions. U.S. citizens should attempt to arrange for multiple means of communication in case of need during emergencies.
The Embassy is not able to offer medical treatment to travelers; however, it can provide a list of medical facilities that may be able to treat U.S. citizens with medical emergencies. As of April 22, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that there are cases of Ebola virus in Guinea and Liberia. There have been NO confirmed cases in Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Mali, The Gambia, or Nigeria to date; however, U.S. citizens are advised to monitor the WHO website.
The Department strongly advises U.S. citizens who travel to or reside in Nigeria to enroll in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). U.S. citizens without internet access may enroll directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
The U.S. Embassy in Abuja is located at:
Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive, Central District Area, and can be reached by telephone, including after-hours for emergencies, at 234(9)461-4000. The Embassy is open Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The U.S. Consulate General in Lagos is located at: 2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, and can be reached by telephone, including after-hours for emergencies, at 234(1)460-3600 or 234 (1) 460-3400. The Consulate is open Monday - Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
U.S. citizens should contact the U.S. Embassy in Abuja or the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos for up-to-date information on any restrictions.
Current information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada, or a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444 if calling from other countries. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
Ref: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings.html
and
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/nigeria-travel-warning.html
http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/tsg-global/country-maps/ni-map.gif
(Maiduguri is where they are saying Boko Haram uses as a central base of operations)
While this post was being updated, this just came in:
http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2014/05/boko-haram-gunmen-kidnap-eight-more-girls-nigeria
Boko possibly kidnaps 8 more girls
By Michelle Kapusta, 5/6/2014
Authorities have said that suspected Boko Haram gunman have captured eight more girls from a village in northeast Nigeria overnight.
According to Reuters, the kidnapped girls ranged in age from 12 to 15.
“They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army color. They started shooting in our village,” Lazarus Musa, a resident of Warabe said. “The Boko Haram men were entering houses, ordering people out of their houses.”
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/15/article-2605408-1D21D56F00000578-555_634x498.jpg
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/4bjkPvG_x94/0.jpg
Would definitely re-think the plausibility that a handful of "terrorists" kidnapped almost 300 girls en masse. The American people will believe just about anything that they are fed. Think about why the United States would want to have a "reason" to send the military to Nigeria. How many more false flag events (9/11) have to take place before the American people pull their heads out of their collective arses and realize that they are being duped into supporting aggression and Imperialism. I think that we can safely assume that oil in Nigeria is what they seek to protect, not the well being of what they see as a mere nuisance. The girls of Nigeria have been assaulted, mutilated and sold into slavery for years. What's the difference now? Read below.
From the Financial Times:
May 4, 2014 10:59 am
‘Theft and sabotage’ lead Nigeria into an oil crisis'
The full story can be accessed here, but you may have to sign up for a free subscription:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2bff3f8a-bb15-11e3-948c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz30y6xkGNr
Tesla_WTC_Solution
7th May 2014, 18:07
Would definitely re-think the plausibility that a handful of "terrorists" kidnapped almost 300 girls en masse. The American people will believe just about anything that they are fed. Think about why the United States would want to have a "reason" to send the military to Nigeria. How many more false flag events (9/11) have to take place before the American people pull their heads out of their collective arses and realize that they are being duped into supporting aggression and Imperialism. I think that we can safely assume that oil in Nigeria is what they seek to protect, not the well being of what they see as a mere nuisance. The girls of Nigeria have been assaulted, mutilated and sold into slavery for years. What's the difference now? Read below.
From the Financial Times:
May 4, 2014 10:59 am
‘Theft and sabotage’ lead Nigeria into an oil crisis'
The full story can be accessed here, but you may have to sign up for a free subscription:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2bff3f8a-bb15-11e3-948c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz30y6xkGNr
someone probably found a way to make money "rescuing" girls from islam :(
more girls will be born and abducted and someone will make money getting them back.
just like the TV in Requiem for a Dream.
every day this guy steals his mom's TV and sells it for heroin.
Would definitely re-think the plausibility that a handful of "terrorists" kidnapped almost 300 girls en masse.
The American people will believe just about anything that they are fed.
Think about why the United States would want to have a "reason" to send the military to Nigeria.
How many more false flag events (9/11) have to take place before the American people pull their heads out of their collective arses and realize that they are being duped into supporting aggression and Imperialism.
I think that we can safely assume that oil in Nigeria is what they seek to protect, not the well being of what they see as a mere nuisance.
The girls of Nigeria have been assaulted, mutilated and sold into slavery for years. What's the difference now? Read below.
[..]
really?
Is Nigeria a safe place for Christians, young school girls?
Would definitely re-think the plausibility that a handful of "terrorists" kidnapped almost 300 girls en masse.
The American people will believe just about anything that they are fed.
Think about why the United States would want to have a "reason" to send the military to Nigeria.
How many more false flag events (9/11) have to take place before the American people pull their heads out of their collective arses and realize that they are being duped into supporting aggression and Imperialism.
I think that we can safely assume that oil in Nigeria is what they seek to protect, not the well being of what they see as a mere nuisance.
The girls of Nigeria have been assaulted, mutilated and sold into slavery for years. What's the difference now? Read below.
[..]
really?
Is Nigeria a safe place for Christians, young school girls?
Well Bob, I guess it depends on whether you are in the North or South. The "Christians" have been the beneficiaries of wealth. The Muslims have not. A familiar meme. Personally, I don't think that the religion of the people is relevant with respect to their rights. Nigeria is a hugely divided nation isn't it. Countless religions. Countless languages. It has a long history of female circumcision, abuse, etc. etc. But IMO, safety of schoolgirls really doesn't appear to be the underlying issue. The "powers" have been gagging for a "problem, reaction, solution" opportunity in Nigeria, but have not been able to affect one due to the resistance to more Nation Building here in the US and in Europe. The climate has not been right for such an event. Now that the US has slithered out of Iraq and Afghanistan (mostly), they feel the climate is ripe for a small but beneficial "police action" in what is viewed by most here, as a small African nation (sure, they are the world's 8th largest oil producer and are headed to be in the top 20 GDP very soon). The US stopped buying Nigerian Oil quite some time ago, but is anxious to get its clutches on it. The perception of stepping away from Nigeria as a customer negates any public perception that the US is after Nigeria's oil. This skirmish also serves to engage the military to keep the war machine well oiled. A two fold agenda under the socially acceptable "guise" of women's rights and protection. Regarding the "rebels/terrorists" - they are "useful tool". A scapegoat and I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that they have been funded by the US. After all, the powers have appointed the US to be their "war machine" due to the number of expendable commodities (aka, dumbed down population reliant upon the military as a major employer). I won't even bang on about the limitless possibilities that Nigeria represents to business interest ( More Coca Cola anyone??)
So to simply answer your question... "problem reaction solution" staged this event. The US will respond in turn and yet another of the elite will line their pocketbooks with the blood of the masses. And... I couldn't care less whether an abused/oppressed person is a man, a woman, a schoolgirl, a christian, a muslim, or an atheist. Their "meat suit" shouldn't determine our outrage (if it really were a real event). The fact that any of our fellow humans is suffering, regardless of their age, religion or their genetalia, should summon outrage. But before we act, we'd darn sure better get our facts straight. History repeating....
Would definitely re-think the plausibility that a handful of "terrorists" kidnapped almost 300 girls en masse.
The American people will believe just about anything that they are fed.
[..]
"problem reaction solution" staged this event. The US will respond in turn and yet another of the elite will line their pocketbooks with the blood of the masses.
And... I couldn't care less whether an abused/oppressed person is a man, a woman, a schoolgirl, a christian, a muslim, or an atheist.
Their "meat suit" shouldn't determine our outrage (if it really were a real event). The fact that any of our fellow humans is suffering, regardless of their age, religion or their genetalia, should summon outrage.
But before we act, we'd darn sure better get our facts straight. History repeating....
Thank you for your humble opinion.
Have you ever been to Nigeria?
Would definitely re-think the plausibility that a handful of "terrorists" kidnapped almost 300 girls en masse.
The American people will believe just about anything that they are fed.
[..]
"problem reaction solution" staged this event. The US will respond in turn and yet another of the elite will line their pocketbooks with the blood of the masses.
And... I couldn't care less whether an abused/oppressed person is a man, a woman, a schoolgirl, a christian, a muslim, or an atheist.
Their "meat suit" shouldn't determine our outrage (if it really were a real event). The fact that any of our fellow humans is suffering, regardless of their age, religion or their genetalia, should summon outrage.
But before we act, we'd darn sure better get our facts straight. History repeating....
Thank you for your humble opinion.
Have you ever been to Nigeria?
No, but I have quite a few friends from Nigeria. Very interesting microcosm it appears to be. That said, I haven't been to Iraq either. Didn't stop me from protesting the war in London in March, 2003. When I returned home to the states, many friends, associates and even employees called me a traitor. Interesting that they don't broach that subject anymore. (hubris doesn't become me does it - ;) Sorry, its late here, after 2 am and I have been nursing a sick ruminant with acidosis all day. I am covered in poo and trying my best not to spew it. So I will shut up now. You have your well researched and lived opinion. I have my sense of knowing and a few friends who are connected to the machine. Between our two points of view, The truth is probably somewhere in the middle...
loungelizard
8th May 2014, 08:35
Thanks for sharing your first hand knowledge of Nigeria, Bobd.
This is a useful link to a BBC resource showing very clearly the huge gap between the north and south with regard to wealth, ethnicity, health, literacy and oil.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16510922
Am I right in thinking that land ownership and ethnicity with all its tangled networks is vitally important in these conflicts? And the fact that there are, as ever, those who profit from instability?
And of course, corruption on a massive scale seems to play a key role in the perpetuation of poverty:
it is said that Abacha the previous military dictator of the country looted at least $ 3billion.
The state oil company has failed to declare $20 billion in revenue - $1 billion is said to have "disappeared" every month for a 19 month period.
The government subsidises kerosene (used for cooking by the country's low earners) so that it should cost about $90 a litre: a consortium is pocketing the subsidies of £100 million a month, and charging the consumers full price.
etc etc etc
And, being the 6th largest exporter of oil to the US means its fate is being watched closely...
EDIT Apologies if this has already been said, but it appears 8 more girls were kidnapped yesterday.
Thanks for sharing your first hand knowledge of Nigeria, Bobd.
This is a useful link to a BBC resource showing very clearly the huge gap between the north and south with regard to wealth, ethnicity, health, literacy and oil.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16510922
Am I right in thinking that land ownership and ethnicity with all its tangled networks is vitally important in these conflicts?
And the fact that there are, as ever, those who profit from instability?
And of course, corruption on a massive scale seems to play a key role in the perpetuation of poverty:
it is said that Abacha the previous military dictator of the country looted at least $ 3 billion.
The state oil company has failed to declare $20 billion in revenue - $1 billion is said to have "disappeared" every month for a 19 month period.
The government subsidises kerosene (used for cooking by the country's low earners) so that it should cost about $90 a litre: a consortium is pocketing the subsidies of £100 million a month, and charging the consumers full price.
etc etc etc
And, being the 6th largest exporter of oil to the US means its fate is being watched closely...
EDIT Apologies if this has already been said, but it appears 8 more girls were kidnapped yesterday.
Agreed - having met one of the MAJOR oil company producers, from Chevron, and being in a meeting with 18 government members, community members, and producers, and business leaders specifically looking at the im-balance between the haves and the have nots.. It was very obvious there really IS a terrorist group (actually 3 groups). The common denominator is OIL, who gets the spoils.
The community members, and original land owners (Families who have been there pre-colonial times), have been extraordinarily pissed to say the least that their land's mineral wealth was taken by the oil companies, the previous governments, long before the current administration.
There was a very long and productive discussion about a way to remove the need to be burning kerosene or worse, or destroying the remaining small amounts of burnable trees in the Maiduguri region of the upper NorthEast. A new way where cleanup of oil spills from the abuse in the Delta Region could be turned into country wide benefits, with new cleaner fuels that can become affordable was explored and was gaining traction.
As I pointed out in the earlier posts, the who behind the terrorist groups is focusing on three things, politics, religion, and oil revenues. The north in the troubled region does not have oil revenues because it is not producing even one barrel per day. That creates a large schism between the ruling warlords and the wealth holders in the Delta States for instance. Wealth allows the buying of weapons, the lining of pockets for favors. Everyone in Nigeria knows of the police shakedowns that occur regularly at "checkpoints". They have guns, many of such and it is hard to tell at night (which I was out at night to see for myself) if they are the rebels, the gangs, or the police wanting to supplement their substandard pay.
This extreme division of have and have nots drives people, who are generally loving, kind and joyful into being stressed out and wanting some of that wealth. When religion says it's OK to go after the "unbelievers", that adds the justification to go ahead and "take the spoils of war", with some declaring Jihads.. (the struggle, lesser or greater). As pointed out a "legal Jihad" is a whole lot different than a skirmish created by a gang wanting to create a situation to get money from others.
There have been articles pointing out that what Boko Haram and the Taliban (Afghanistan) have in common is Al Qaeda - ref http://www.vancouverobserver.com/world/what-do-boko-haram-and-taliban-have-common-it%E2%80%99s-not-what-you-think
Boko Haram has attacked people who were wanting to vaccinate children against Polio. There have been plenty of discussions about vaccine issues in this Forum, this thread is not for that, however. No doubt it could be any excuse used, or people killed or captured, as they have done over the many years, to terrorize people for getting $$$ into the pockets of those terror groups.
Where the people do not have the $$$ from the oil, they turn to using methods to steal it (called bunkering), or to terrorize the communities to get those who have the $$ to pay ransoms of varying amounts. (This was pointed out in the US State department warning in a post above).
These groups develop because of corruption, (bribe taking by those in authority) to allow the wealth of the land to be taken away from the original families, and put into the pockets of those who can exploit and "get away with it". With Nigeria, the various states which do not have OIL and do not have gold or other minerals, loose out on distributions from the government. That really pushes people over the edge. It is not US backed, it is not CIA backed because there is no money for the US or CIA, the warlords have the money as well as the local in-country corrupted groups.. China is making more moves in obtaining oil from Nigeria and the other parts of Africa as they did in Northern Sudan and the Darfur atrocity (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/politics-jan-june06-china-darfur_04-25/). It is major oil companies such as ROYAL DUTCH SHELL oil company, an Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom that created and maintained this corruption and were responsible for the majority of the oil spills in the Nigerian Delta. ref: Royal Dutch Shell oil spill - http://prezi.com/fqtbrgpcvtgg/corruption-of-shell-oil-in-nigeria/ and http://www.vesselfinder.com/news/1599-Shell-is-blamed-to-corrupt-Nigerian-oil-spill-investigations and many more reports (minimum Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) and Amnesty International state that Shell corrupts Nigerian authorities and intervenes in the process of oil spill investigations, and distorts them.).
There are stories going around that some of the reasons the terrorist groups are ALLOWED to continue (it was pointed out that the Nigerian government was slow or lax (http://wgntv.com/news/stories/over-270-school-girls-kidnapped-in-nigeria/) in moving on getting the girls back or initiating search efforts early), is that those who are politically motivated (think $$$ in pocket), know if they can get more $$ from the major oil companies, by forcing them out of the country's on-shore oil production fields, keeping terroristic "unrest" prevalent (fear), that the money will flow MORE INTO the pockets of those groups (the combination of corruption/terror groups and warlords).
No false flag on these - Taliban-like groups with support for Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Ansaru, AQIM, the "Bunker Groups" (illegal oil pipeline tapping and refining, and sales), paid off corrupt officials in the local police, shakedowns by some of the local police groups at checkpoints, local mobsters (warlords), and criminal gangs, and copy cats trying to emulate the spotlighted groups. The motivation is $$$ which buys power (through weapons, or other favors), and the justification can be religious or "historical" (the officials/oil companies took their ancestral land(s) with no compensation for the actual wealth that was stolen). All of that keeps the unrest going, all locally, no need for "outside" rabble rousing or false flags.. This place has $$$ and the locals want it.
Tesla_WTC_Solution
8th May 2014, 16:58
Whoa you guys, I didn't know Nigeria exported all that oil.
Good catch!
Whoa you guys, I didn't know Nigeria exported all that oil.
Good catch!
Oil, oil oil and more oil, and more $$ lining the pockets of the local corruption - oil allows for "services" of all kinds to come into play there. And anyone who can supply any "service" (for a price) to the oil industry, from the production to the sales (black market or open controlled market), gets their handout. And sometimes that hand out is paid, above board, but most often the hand outstretched is saying pay it or don't do business, don't pass go, don't leave with your life, or your family, or community.. It just depends on what provides the most $$ to the mindset at play wanting to use whatever level it can.
from: http://time.com/92436/what-is-boko-haram/
The Nigerian militant group, founded in 2002, grew far more brutal after its founder was executed, and has reached a realm appalling even to extremists.
It began in Nigeria’s poorest corner
Nigeria was formed as a protectorate of Great Britain, but the colonial power concentrated its resources on the coast. The country’s northern half, which extends into the Sahara, was Muslim, and so poor that in Kano, the ancient city walls are being eaten away by people stealing sand.
Northerners generally feel under-represented, and Boko Haram began in 2002 as an expression of that. Abandoned by the oil rich south.
Mohammed Yusuf founded the group as "Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, or “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad."
The group, which advocated reviving an Islamic caliphate and imposing Sharia law, gradually grew more militant, attacking local critics, including Christians, and government representatives, especially police. Government forces struck back with a vengeance in 2009, capturing Yusuf, interrogating him in front of an array of camera phones, then shooting him without trial.
The group has killed more than 1,500 people since 2009 in attacks that have grown more and more deadly. The 815 people killed in 2012 was more than in the previous two years combined. But it was the April 14 abduction of about 276 girls from a school in the northeastern town of Chibok that drew the world’s attention.
This week’s attack by Boko Haram militants, on another town, Gamboru Ngala, left at least 150 dead, might otherwise have gone unnoticed if the incident with the girl's abductions was not exposed.
Today CNN is reporting 310 have been recently killed by that group.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/
"Monday, Boko Haram militants attacked Gamboru Ngala, a remote state capital near Nigeria's border with Cameroon that has been used as a staging ground for troops in the search for the girls. Some of the at least 310 victims were burned alive.
"The assault fits a pattern of revenge-seeking by Boko Haram against those perceived to have provided aid to the Nigerian government."
"The attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- "God is great" -- and opened up on the market, firing rocket-propelled grenades into the crowd and tossing improvised explosive devices, witnesses said."
Compassion for the people? who's god is great when they scream that when killing innocent locals?
Rocky_Shorz
8th May 2014, 18:55
US drones to help hunt Nigerian girls... link (http://www.kplctv.com/story/25458379/us-drones-to-help-hunt-nigerian-girls)
http://raycomnbc.images.worldnow.com/images/25458379_BG1.jpg
http://www.kplctv.com/story/25458379/us-drones-to-help-hunt-nigerian-girls?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=10136152
WASHINGTON, DC (NBC) - President Obama is sending U.S. advisers and drones to help find hundreds of Nigerian girls kidnapped from their school by the terrorist group Boko Haram.
The plan is winning praise from Nigerian-American leaders.
"What they need from the United States, at this point, is to require a lot of technical capabilities to zero in on the area where these girls are being held," says Samuel Okey-Mbonu of the Nigerian-American Leadership Council.
Terrorist leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened to sell each girl for $12.
The kidnapping have sparked global outrage and calls for action.
Read more: http://nbcnews.to/1j471FK
Western education says its wrong to harm innocents, but this group says western education is sinful (as stated in their group's name) why the contradiction?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27323094
Nigeria confirms market massacre blamed on Boko Haram
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74717000/jpg/_74717525_74717518.jpg
Nigeria's government has confirmed that suspected Islamist insurgents attacked a town in the north-east, massacring civilians during a busy market day.
Presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe told the BBC the official death toll was between 100 and 150.
Residents and the area's MP have said more than 300 residents died in Gamboru Ngala during the five-hour attack.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74689000/jpg/_74689612_022157295-1.jpg
Where is the compassion in this fellow's eyes?
Tesla_WTC_Solution
8th May 2014, 19:00
My God, good find on the British protectorate thing.
Seeing the pattern?
they occupy, withdraw, then destroy.
Rocky_Shorz
8th May 2014, 19:14
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/africa/12/08/nigeria.cheney/t1larg.cheney.gi.jpg
(from Dec 2010)
"Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigerian investigators say they have filed charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and others connected to the energy services company Halliburton, accusing them of paying bribes to secure a lucrative natural gas project in the 1990s.
Cheney and nine others are accused of charges that include "conspiracy and distribution of gratification to public officials," Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said Wednesday.
The investigation is part of a long-running case involving Halliburton and a subsidiary firm, Kellogg, Brown and Root, over alleged bribes paid to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion worth of contracts for a liquefied natural gas project in the Niger Delta.
Many observers in Nigeria regard the move as a publicity stunt by the commission ahead of national elections this April and a symbolic effort to display resolve against government corruption.
The agency has had limited success in getting successful prosecutions and hasn't charged any high-profile people since its top commissioner was removed from the body in 2007.
After the country's high court sets a trial date, authorities could pursue extradition.
The bribes allegedly amounted to $180 million between 1994 and 2004.
Kellogg, Brown and Root was one of four large international construction firms that built the natural gas plant.
The firm pleaded guilty to foreign bribery charges in the United States last year and paid a $402 million criminal fine, the U.S. Justice Department said. KBR and Halliburton also paid another $177 million to settle civil complaints related to the bribery, the Justice Department said.
Investigations in Nigeria, however, have been ongoing, and there are allegations the bribes went all the way to the top, to aides, officials, and possibly then-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Cheney's lawyer has said in the past that there is no reason to suspect his client is guilty.
"This matter involves the activities of an international four-company joint venture (which included KBR, then a subsidiary of Halliburton) well over a decade ago," said attorney Terrence O'Connell.
"The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated that joint venture extensively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton."" link (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/12/08/nigeria.cheney/)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/africa/12/08/nigeria.cheney/t1larg.cheney.gi.jpg
(from Dec 2010)
"Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigerian investigators say they have filed charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and others connected to the energy services company Halliburton, accusing them of paying bribes to secure a lucrative natural gas project in the 1990s.
[..]
It is known and against the foreign corrupt practices act to cow-tow to being forced to do bribes. Do a keyword search for "Bribery and corruption in Nigeria (https://www.google.com/search?q=Bribery+and+corruption+in+Nigeria+statistics&oq=Bribery+and+corruption+in+Nigeria+statistics)" for the statistics.
( https://www.google.com/search?q=Bribery+and+corruption+in+Nigeria+statistics&oq=Bribery+and+corruption+in+Nigeria+statistics )
http://saharareporters.com/article/corruption-pays-nigeria-rational-basis-nigerian-corruption-malcolm-fabiyi-phd
Corruption Pays In Nigeria: The Rational Basis Of Nigerian Corruption By Malcolm Fabiyi, PhD.
Posted: Feb, 27 2012, 7:02AM
In a recent survey jointly commissioned by the UNODC, EU and EFCC, about 9% of Nigerian enterprises indicated that they routinely give bribes to public officials. There are about 398,453 registered companies in Nigeria. If we conservatively estimate that each corporate enterprise that reports that it bribes public officials records only one bribery incident per year, in the twelve years since both the ICPC and EFCC have been around, there would have been about 430,329 (i.e., 398,453 enterprises x 9% bribery rate x 1 bribery incident per year x 12 years) cases of bribery in Nigeria. Since inception in 2003 the EFCC has received at least 5,400 petitions, while the ICPC (established in 2000) has received at least 1,846 petitions, making a total of 7,246. As previously defined, the probability of discovery is therefore given as the reported cases (petitions) divided by total corrupt occurrences, i.e., 7,246/430,329 = 1.68%.
Probability of prosecution (4.8%): No readily available dataset provides prosecution rates up to the current time. Historically (as of 2008), the EFCC had prosecuted 300 cases from 5,400 petitions, while the ICPC had prosecuted 49 of 1,846 cases. This implies that a total of 349 cases were prosecuted, from a base of 7,246 petitions, giving a Probability of prosecution of 4.8 % (i.e., 349/7,246). It is possible that this number might vary, since both agencies continue to investigate and prosecute past petitions. However, since the number of new petitions would have increased over the same period, the variation from the values estimated here are unlikely to be significant.
Probability of conviction (47.3%): Of 300 arraignments that were made, the EFCC secured 145 convictions, while the ICPC secured 20 convictions from 49 cases. This implies that 165 convictions were secured from 349 prosecuted cases, giving a Probability of conviction of 47.3% (i.e., 165/349). This number might be on the high side since the convictions reported are for individuals prosecuted. Some petitions and cases have multiple defendants, and those will bias the conviction rate upwards since each individual conviction will be counted.
Probability of corruption cost = Probability of discovery (1.68%) X Probability of prosecution (4.8%) X Probability of Conviction (47.3%) = 0.04%.
In other words, the good doctor shows it's profitable. That is the motivating factor for folks to do what they do, it doesn't matter if it is a local or a european - oil corrupts.
http://saharareporters.com/sites/default/files/page_images/articles/2012/fabiyi.jpg?1330344187
WikiLeaks: Shell’s astonishing revelations about Nigerian corruption
By: John Donovan - RoyalDutchShellplc.com
This U.S. diplomatic cable, classified as “secret”, reports on a briefing given to the American Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin R. Sander, in February 2009 by Shell Executive VP, Ann Pickard, now Country Chairman of Shell Australia.
During a discussion of the high level of corruption in Nigeria, Pickard gave as an example, a bribery demand by Nigerian Attorney General Aondoakaa that he would sign a document only if paid $2 million immediately, and another $18 million the next day.
She also cited examples of demands for millions of dollars in bribes by Chief Economic Advisor Yakubu and the First Lady Turai Yar’Adua, to lift oil.
Shell has recently been fined by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission for its role in corruption in Nigeria and paid what some might describe as a $10 million bribe to the Nigerian government to settle corruption charges.
"On corruption, Pickard said that Nigerian entities control the lifting of many oil cargoes and there are some “very interesting” people lifting oil. Oil buyers would pay NNPC GMD Yar’Adua, Chief Economic Advisor Yakubu and the First Lady Turai Yar’Adua large bribes to lift oil. Pickard also reported an instance of the Attorney General Aondoakaa allegedly soliciting a $20 million bribe to sign a document. "
ref: http://www.shelltosea.com/content/wikileaks-shell%E2%80%99s-astonishing-revelations-about-nigerian-corruption
and the year afterwards 2011
http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2011/06/20/shell-sponsored-conflict-and-corruption-in-nigeria/
The role of the oil companies in fueling corruption is significant. Numerous examples can be found in how companies seek to maintain their license to operate through short-term cash payments, giving in to monetary demands following facility closures, exorbitant homage payments, use of ghost workers, surveillance contract implementation, contracting procedures, employment processes, and kick-back schemes in community development projects.
* The role of the oil companies in fuelling perceived or actual discrimination is largely related to unclear communications, poor transparency, the non-fulfilment of obligations, as well as corporate arrogance.
* The role of the oil companies in fueling inequitable distribution of revenue and infrastructure is largely related to the non-fulfilment of obligations.
* The role of the oil companies in fuelling social disintegration largely comprises the design of the benefit distribution process that allows groups to fight over access to cash, jobs, contracts and power.
* It is important to note that accusations abound of “divide and rule” tactics and an active role of oil company officials in fuelling specific communal conflicts. Whereas this is likely to be the case where individuals or small groups of oil company staff are engaged in criminal activities, there is no evidence to suggest a company-wide “conspiracy” or manipulation of conflicts in the Niger Delta.
* The role of the oil companies in fuelling crime and criminal cartels is largely related to corruption in the contracting process and the payment of ransoms that make crime lucrative.
* Beyond the impact of the oil industry on the economy (“Dutch disease”) oil companies do not directly fuel youth unemployment. However, the interaction between companies and youth groups who control employment at a community level is important. Contracts that routinely contain inflated and imaginary elements, excessive numbers of workers and payment, kick-backs, etc. serves to corrupt youth.
The report was published in 2003, and it was meant to assess how SCIN can contribute to conflict resolution and sustainable peace in the Niger Delta. For this report, due to lack of available information it is not examined to what extent Shell has altered the practices described above presently.
Co-opting militants
In 2006, it became clear that some of the militant leaders linked to the attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta earn tens of thousands of dollars from contracts with Shell.
Leaders of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC), involved with violent activities in Delta State in 2003, later ran contracting companies working with the oil majors.
The payments included “incident free” bonuses.
Officials told the Financial Times that subcontracting work to local strongmen is one method some oil companies have used to buy off militants threatening attacks on oil facilities in the Delta.
In September 2008, the Shell Executive Vice President (EVP) for Shell Companies in Africa, Ms. Ann Pickard, said that Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi lacked the connections among Rivers State militant leaders to successfully co-opt them as the governors in Delta and Bayelsa states have done with militants in their states.
Co-opting militants seems to be one of the tactics to (temporary) reduce conflict. However, it can also be seen as a measure that serves conflict and corruption.
Corruption
On paper, Shell’s stance against corruption is clear. (It is clearly NOT practiced)
Its Code of Conduct gives employees detailed instructions on the behaviour Shell’s Business Principles require.
With regard to bribery and corruption the Code of Conduct contains the following principles:
* Never offer, pay, make, seek or accept a personal payment, gift or favour in return for favourable treatment, to influence a business outcome or to gain any business advantage.
* Ensure people you work with understand bribery and corruption is unacceptable.
* Tell Shell if you suspect or know of corruption in Shell or in any party (company or individual) Shell does business with.
* Relevant staff must undergo specific training in areas such as combating bribery and corruption.
Shell’s global helpline and supporting website allow staff and business partners to report concerns confidentially. In 2009, 165 violations of the Code of Conduct were reported (204 in 2008). As a result, Shell stated that it has ended its relationships with 126 staff and contractors (138 in 2008).
Corruption is rife in the Niger Delta.
On 27 January 2009, Shell’s regional executive vice president for Africa, Ann Pickard, met with the U.S. ambassador in Nigeria in Abuja, Nigeria. During the meeting, she stated that corruption in the Nigerian oil sector was worsening by the day. Pickard said that Nigerian entities control the lifting of many oil cargoes and there are some “very interesting” people lifting oil (People, she said that were not even in the industry). As an example she said that oil buyers would pay Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) General Managing Director Yar’Adua, (Note: not related to President Yar’Adua. End Note), Chief Economic Advisor Yakubu, and the First Lady Turai Yar’Adua large bribes, millions of dollars per tanker, to lift oil. Pickard also said that a former associate of hers had told her that he had been present when Attorney General Aondoakaa had told a visitor that he would sign a document only if the visitor paid USD 2 million immediately and another USD 18 million the next day.
Shell fined USD 58 million
The extent of Shell’s involvement and practices with regard to corruption in the Niger Delta is not known. Late 2010, Shell paid a total of USD 58 million to U.S. and Nigerian authorities to head off the threat of legal action for corruption. SNEPCO, a 100% Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, had paid approximately USD 2 million in the period 2004-2006 to its subcontractors with the knowledge that some or all of the money would be paid as bribes to Nigerian customs officials to import materials and equipment into Nigeria in relation to the offshore Bonga project.
The Ibori case
In November 2007, it became publicly known that the UK Metropolitan police was investigating alleged money laundering by James Ibori, a former governor who ran the oil-rich Delta state until May 2007. According to a witness statement, the former governor had used banks in Britain to stash GBP 20 million in stolen funds during 2005-06. Since 2005 funds from Nigeria, intended for education and engineering projects, “[were] allegedly stolen by James Ibori [and] have been laundered through the UK banking system”. Over three years, Shell, Chevron and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company paid GBP 3.6 million into a Barclays account controlled by Ibori for renting out houseboats to foreign employees. Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which worked closely with the British investigators, told the Financial Times that he was “investigating huge payments made by Shell and Chevron to MER Engineering” over the hiring of the houseboats. Shell admitted that MER was on its register of approved contractors. It declined to elaborate on the amount and type of work done by MER.
A leaked report from the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps, dated November 2007, linked James Ibori also to thousands of arms stolen from governmental storage depots for onward transfer to Niger Delta militants from the year 2000 to 2007.
Mr. Ibori had close ties to Umaru Yar’Adua, the former president of Nigeria. Mr. Yar’Adua sacked Nuhu Ribadu, the head of the EFCC, after 170 charges were brought against Mr. Ibori. In a very questionable Nigerian court case, in December 2009, a judge dismissed all cases. A Wikileaks cable sent from the UK embassy in London in May 2009 stated that Attorney General Aondoakaa had directly told the UK that the Nigerian Government would not begin negotiations on a prisoners transfer agreement, unless the UK would drop its case against James Ibori and his associates.
Mr. Ibori denies all charges against him. He was arrested in Dubai in May 2010 after the intervention of the global police agency Interpol. Dubai’s highest court ruled in December 2010 that he could be extradited to Britain to face corruption charges. Mr. Ibori’s sister and his alleged mistress are already convicted of money laundering and sentenced to five years in UK prison in June 2010. Mr. Ibori’s wife and his UK lawyer face similar charges.
Nigeria - Death Everywhere: The Consequences of State Corruption
One of the people, a local of Nigeria reports/blogs what it is like from his viewpoint:
Everywhere we look in Nigeria today and see death; it is not an accident.
It is the price the people pay for the corruption of the government. Everything in life has its consequences. The consequence of intractable government corruption is death.
When helicopters are not bought for the police force: the consequence is death. 250 people like you and I died in Zamfara state. There was no helicopter to pursue the killers (Boko). There has been no police helicopter to pursue this same set of killers after each killing they ‘enjoyed’ for the past three years.
The police do not have choppers as obtains in every decent society because the government has stolen the money for the helicopters and saved it in accounts for their children who they assume will be hopeless in the future—unlike us who happily work for ours—and will need this money to live.
The government steals billions of dollars that should have bought thousands of choppers for police in all states or hundreds of thousands of drones.
CBN gave the police money for choppers, the police tried to deny it.
This means they stole the money. The government steals money that should be used to equip our great military properly to bring an end to unscrupulous terrorists (Boko), without soldiers having to lose their lives.
We the people pay the price for the government corruption. It is also a consequence;
the consequence we pay for allowing the government steal limitlessnessly, and having not yet revolted.
This is why now we revolt.
When money is stolen, the police are not paid salaries commensurate of their task.
Police are not paid regularly and underpaid.
The police spend their time hustling for tips instead of in training and in pursuit of criminals. The police never investigate cases, they never track criminals; and when they do arrest suspects, they release them for some money.
The consequence of the money that could improve the security services being stolen is poverty of the police force and deaths of the people from cheap criminals who would not last a day on American streets. We the people die as a consequence of our tolerating a thieving government. The consequence of our inaction is death.
When the government steals money, they pack our unemployed youth into stadia without proper consideration. They humiliate and kill our youth.
There is no consequence for their actions because thieves are friends and protectors of thieves.
The consequence of their stealing is the martyrdom of our most precious and most vulnerable. The consequence of our failure to revolt is our death and pain.
Today Bayelsa state is the most polluted piece of land on this planet. Vanguard of April 2nd reports that there are 40 oil spills in Bayelsa every single month!
This is poisoning and killing our people. Our poorest people, the defenseless, those not like us who can at least tweet reactions about their suffering.
Have you seen the type of mud and thatch houses being burned in the north?
Did you know Nigerians still live in those?
These people have gained nothing from the Nigerian equation, but are dying as a consequence of looting of wealth they do not even know about. Death is the consequence of government looting.
And government looting is the consequence of our delay to revolt.
Are you seeing all the kidnapping, ritual behavior, the massacres, the return of Nigeria to barbaric ages?
This is the consequence of chronic stealing and government promoted vain glorious culture of killing to steal and stealing to kill.
This is the consequence of our waiting for change instead of going for change.
168 million of us tied down by a few and being turned into sick psychos our very selves.
The government cannot transform the dead. Transformation does not touch the graves.
Who will transform the killed and maimed?
How will the government transform the pain of the grieving mothers? The pain of the orphaned? The pain of the mutilated? The pain of the crippled?
How will the government transform the cancer of the poisoned in the creeks?
There is no transformation here. These things cannot be transformed; this must be stopped.
This cabal government must be stopped. The consequence of our delay to revolt is continued stealing by the government.
The consequence of stealing by the government is death of the people.
Do you want to die?
Do you think you cannot be the next one to die as many of us have died in villages across Nigeria? God forbid.
The consequence of chronic government looting is the revolt of the people.
This is the least, most simple and most powerful thing we are obligated to do. This simple thing will change everything. A few hundred greedy Cabal can no longer hold down and kill millions of us. Mark your independence from the Cabal. Nigeria’s 2nd Independence: October 1st, 2014, by God’s mighty grace. Nigeria Will Be Free!
signed, Dr. Peregrino Brimah
originally from webpage at: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Ga8dl_TC7BoJ:naijaparrot.com/death-everywhere-the-consequences-of-state-corruption/+&cd=28&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us - the Naija Parrot ref: http://naijaparrot.com/
Rocky_Shorz
8th May 2014, 21:30
the news actually didn't do their homework...
'Boko Haram' doesn't really mean 'Western education is a sin'
"What's the real meaning of "Boko Haram?" I've been wondering about this recently since news articles are constantly informing me (including ones on this website) that it means "Western education is a sin."
I was surprised that Nigeria's Hausa language, spoken by the mostly Muslim group that is dominant in the northern half of the country, would have a four letter word that meant "western education." Haram has always been obvious - a borrowed word from Arabic that refers to things that are forbidden in Islam (as opposed to things that are halal, or permitted).
I wondered if it was an acronym, or a mash-up of two other words. So I started looking around and struck gold with a paper by Paul Newman, professor emeritus in linguistics at Indiana University and one of the world's leading authorities on the Hausa language.
It turns out the Hausa language doesn't have a four-letter word that means "Western education." It isn't a mash-up or an acronym. What it has is a word that came to be applied to a century-old British colonial education policy that many Hausa-speakers saw as an attempt, more-or-less, to colonize their minds.
RECOMMENDED: Sunni and Shiite Islam: Do you know the difference? Take our quiz.
First, some information needs to be dispensed with. The word is often described as being borrowed from the English word "book." Not so, as Dr. Newman's work makes clear.
Starting in 2009, Wikipedia's article on the Hausa "Boko alphabet" incorrectly asserted that the word derived from "book." It was corrected two days ago, when someone noticed Newman's article. Wikipedia's entry on Boko Haram likewise carried the falsehood for at least a year and a half until it was partially corrected at the end of last month, though allowing a falsehood to persist on equal footing with the truth: "The term "Boko Haram" comes from the Hausa word boko figuratively meaning "western education" (often said to be literally "alphabet", from English "book", but the Hausa expert Paul Newman says it derives from a Hausa word with meanings such as "fraud" as "inauthenticity".)"
Often said? A dangerous phrase. This is how we end up with lazy reporters who parrot what they read on Wikipedia or what they read in other news stories (who were often, in turn, parroting from Wikipedia or other reporters.)
And it doesn't stop there. Newman found the US National Counterterrorism Center started passing along the "book" claim circa 2011 (it still is), and cites nine other instances in works by academics and polemicists like the anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller. The press is an even bigger megaphone.
Newman writes that "boko" has a variety of meanings focused around denoting "things or actions having to do with fraudulence, sham, or inauthenticity" or deception. He says the false linkage to the English word "book" was first made in a 1934 Hausa dictionary by a Western scholar that listed 11 meanings for the word – ten of them about fraudulent things and the final one asserting the connection to "book." An incorrect assertion, says Newman.
A big deal? Not a huge one, but a good example of how received "facts" are often far from the truth.
I'm more interested in the current claims that Boko can be translated as "Western education." Does it? Sort of, but not really.
Let's go back to the British colonialists in northern Nigeria. In their aggressive push for modern secular schooling – and the resistance from Muslims – lies the spark for Boko Haram's murderous rampages against "Western" education.
Newman writes about the history of the word's use in this context:
The correct answer was implicitly presented by Liman Muhammad, a Hausa scholar from northern Nigeria, some 45 years ago. In his study of neologisms and lexical enrichment in Hausa, Muhammad (pp. 8-10) gives a list of somewhat over 200 loanwords borrowed from English into Hausa in the area of “Western Education and Culture”. Significantly, boko is not included. Rather one finds boko in his category for western concepts expressed in Hausa by SEMANTIC EXTENSION of pre-existent Hausa words.
According to Muhammad, boko originally meant “Something (an idea or object) that involves a fraud or any form of deception” and, by extension, the noun denoted “Any reading or writing which is not connected with Islam. The word is usually preceded with ‘Karatun’ [lit. writing/studying of]. ‘Karatun Boko’ therefore means the Western type of Education."
Newman explains that when Britain's colonial government began introducing its education system into Nigeria, seeking to replace traditional Islamic education (including replacing the Arabic script traditionally used to write Hausa with a Roman-based script that they also quickly called "boko") , this was seen as a "fraudulent deception being imposed upon the Hausa by a conquering European force."
Rather than send their own children to the British government schools, as demanded by the British, Hausa emirs and other elites often shifted the obligation onto their slaves and other subservients. The elite had no desire to send their children to school where the values and traditions of Hausa and Islamic traditional culture would be undermined and their children would be turned into ’yan boko,’ i.e., “(would-be) westerners”.
Newman accepts (as can been in the passage above) that "boko" is reasonably associated with "Western education" in English translation today. But the actual resistance was to something being imposed by triumphant foreigners. I suspect that an imposition of a Japanese or Chinese or Indian educational system would have been just as boko (in the sense of "bogus") to the Hausa elites of a century ago as the British imposition. And it would probably not go down well today.
What a little reading about the group's name reveals is that their desire is not to obliterate non-Islamic education all over the world. Just in their own backyards. While that does not make their behavior in Nigeria any less horrific, recognizing that this group is inwardly focused (like most Islamist militants throughout history) is useful to start trying to understand what the US, the rest of the "West," Nigeria, and anyone else should do about the situation.
" link (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2014/0506/Boko-Haram-doesn-t-really-mean-Western-education-is-a-sin)
Burned by the "BOKO HARAM" - locals continue to be terrorized by the group who apparently feels Westerners are corrupting the spiritual values of their sacred "non-violence" religion (Believers are supposed to be protected), the infidels are fair game in the radical mindset.
http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/20/53/10/4371007/3/628x471.jpg
WARNING: A 2013 government offensive caused several Boko Haram members to cross into Niger from Nigeria.
Boko Haram is an Islamist group and may operate along the southern border.
Areas near the Mali border are essentially lawless, and travel near the border is very dangerous, especially since the beginning of the Tuareg/Islamist insurgency in March 2012.
Several western tourists have been kidnapped in recent years and at least two (a Frenchman & Briton) have been killed by an al Qaeda affiliate after being kidnapped near the Mali-Niger border.
Agadez has seen periodic unrest for several years and at times the government has required special permits to travel in the region and military escorts for convoys of vehicles (not known if this is the case as of July 2012).
Travel across the Nigerian border to Northern Niger and parts of Eastern Niger (near the Nigerian border) is dangerous and discouraged. (Updated August 2012)
https://shariaunveiled.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/nigeria-christian-theological-seminary-1.jpg?w=627&h=450
The people above were murdered by Boko Haram who claimed responsibility; the distraction of derailing notwithstanding nor changing the view of what terrorists or gangs or thugs are and do.
From Council of Foreign Relations - http://www.cfr.org/nigeria/boko-haram/p25739?cid=ppc-Google-boko_haram-122711&gclid=CI-49vKlnb4CFcpcMgodBUEAMA
"Boko Haram, a diffuse Islamist sect, has attacked Nigeria's police, military, rival clerics, politicians, schools, religious buildings, public institutions, and civilians with increasing regularity since 2009. Some experts view the group as an armed revolt against government corruption, abusive security forces, and widening regional economic disparity in an already impoverished country. They argue that Abuja should do more to address the strife between the disaffected Muslim north and the Christian south."
Boko Haram was created in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno, by Islamist cleric Mohammed Yusuf, who led a group of radical Islamist youth in the 1990s. The group aims to establish a fully Islamic state in Nigeria, including the implementation of criminal sharia courts across the country. Paul Lubeck, a University of California professor studying Muslim societies in Africa, says Yusuf was a trained Salafist (a school of thought often associated with jihad), and was strongly influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah, a fourteenth-century legal scholar who preached Islamic fundamentalism and is an important figure for radical groups in the Middle East.
The sect calls itself Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, or "people committed to the propagation of the prophet's teachings and jihad."
- that doesn't say "western education is sinful" now does it? ; which is a slang term that define's the group's justification for atrocity. (see note 1 below)
"It's widely known as Boko Haram, which colloquially translates into "Western education is sin," for its rejection of Western concepts such as evolution and the big bang theories.
In July 2009, Boko Haram members refused to follow a motorbike helmet law, leading to heavy-handed police tactics that set off an armed uprising in the northern state of Bauchi and spread into the states of Borno, Yobe, and Kano. The incident was suppressed by the army and left more than eight hundred dead. It also led to the televised execution of Yusuf, as well as the deaths of his father-in-law and other sect members, which human rights advocates consider to be extrajudicial killings. In the aftermath of the 2009 unrest, "an Islamist insurrection under a splintered leadership" emerged, says Lubeck. Boko Haram carried out a number of suicide bombings and assassinations, from Maiduguri to Abuja, and staged a prison break in Bauchi, freeing more than seven hundred inmates in 2010.
Attacks continued to escalate, and by 2013 some analysts began to see greater influence by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Boko Haram operations. Terrorist acts against civilians, like the murder of sixty-five students while they slept at the agricultural college in Yobe state in September 2013, chainsaw beheadings of truck drivers, and the killing of hundreds on the roads of northern Nigeria raised doubts about the central government's ability to control territory and amplified fears of protracted violence in the country.
http://crisisboom.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/nigeria-woman.jpg
Violence returned to Abuja in April 2014 in the bombing of a bus station that killed nearly one hundred people, followed by the abduction of more than two hundred schoolgirls in northeast Nigeria.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said he planned to "sell" the girls in the market.
Then at least 300 died in Gamboru Ngala according to the locals affected, many burned to death where they took shelter - all from this so called "religiously motivated" terrorist group.
"The problem with understanding Boko Haram is definitional. What do we mean by Boko Haram?" says CFR Senior Fellow John Campbell.
Yusuf, Boko Haram's founder, didn't have complete control of the group, and after his execution, his followers splintered into at least five factions.
Boko Haram's putative leader today, Abubakar Shekau, appears to be focused on fighting the Nigerian government in Borno, Campbell says, while other units expanded their attacks in Nigeria and have conducted limited operations in neighboring Cameroon and Niger, signaling an evolving regional vision for the group.
Security officials in Nigeria and around the world are concerned that the group has splintered into two factions: one that is focused on local grievances and another that is seeking regional expansion.
Alleged links to al-Qaeda groups have worried Washington, although some experts question the depth of regional terror ties and note that it's unclear which attacks are actually the work of Boko Haram. (Some acts attributed to Boko Haram may be the work of criminals looking to capitalize on the mayhem.) Analysts say that focusing exclusively on terrorism could distract from policy options needed to address the underlying issues driving the insurgency. Boko Haram has said it will attack the West (US) and US interests worldwide.
Human rights watch, International says ( http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/11/nigeria-boko-haram-uses-child-soldiers-201311291435525502.html ) some of the fighters for the Nigerian armed group are as young as 12-years-old.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F2NeTS4VTzY/UwtemYkmqRI/AAAAAAAAmQI/OMdQCqgkn0Q/s1600/2.jpg
Ref Note 1:
In the town of Maiduguri, where the group was formed, the residents dubbed it Boko Haram. The term "Boko Haram" comes from the Hausa word boko figuratively meaning "western education" (often said to be literally "alphabet", from English "book", but the Hausa expert Paul Newman says it derives from a Hausa word with meanings such as "fraud" and "inauthenticity" ) (ref 2,3 below) and the Arabic word haram figuratively meaning "sin" (literally, "forbidden") (ref 4,6,7 below)
Loosely translated, the name colloquially can mean "western education is sinful", which might symbolizes its strong opposition to anything Western, which it sees as corrupting Muslims. (see ref 8)
However, this interpretation of the name is disputed by non-scholars. Locals who speak the Hausa language are also unsure what it actually means. (see ref 5 below). What it means is best interpreted by Newman, a scholarly expert in Hausa and it's slang terms.
2) Newman, Paul (2013). "The Etymology of Hausa boko" (PDF). Réseau Méga-Tchad [Mega-Chad Research Network].
3) "Boko". Language hat. April 18, 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014. "His [Newman's] conclusion: “Hausa boko does not mean ‘book’ and it is not derived etymologically from the English word book'. The phonetic and orthographic similarity between the two is purely coincidental. They are what the French call ‘faux amis’ (‘false friends’) [false cognates]."
4) Chothia, Farouk (11 January 2012). "Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists?". BBC News.
5) Dan Murphy (6 May 2014). "'Boko Haram' doesn't really mean 'Western education is a sin'". Christian Science Monitor. p. 1. no doubt argues the colloquial meaning for some unknown apparently "sensationalistic" reasons. He is a staff writer, not a scholar, with opinions about Boko Haram. (http://www.csmonitor.com/About/Staff/Dan-Murphy) - Murphy has been a reporter since the early '90s, working for Bloomberg News and the Far Eastern Economic Review before going to work for the Monitor in 1999. He has reported extensively from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He apparently has no experience with the Hausa Language personally, but it looks like he took pieces out of Newman's writings for his story.
6) Murtada, Dr Ahmad. "Boko Haram: Its Beginnings, Principles and Activities in Nigeria" - PDF here: http://download.salafimanhaj.com/pdf/SalafiManhaj_BokoHaram.pdf
7) "Analysis: Understanding Nigeria's Boko Haram radicals". www.irinnews.org. IRIN. 18 July 2011.
8) http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/SR308.pdf - what is Boko Haram
Tesla_WTC_Solution
9th May 2014, 00:34
Bobd and Rocky, natural gas money has has been pulling strings in the background you wouldn't believe in the last 10.
Seriously bad stuff, stuff that would make 9/11 seem like a morality play.
Thanks for addressing it and seeing it for what it is.
Those people suffer such pain for the convenience of importers.
It's just not right.
Then the green people (well not all of them but you know who I mean) beat the "no development" drum and the 3rd world gets screwed out of participating in the industries that are bankrupting its people and causing chaos.
Then these little warlords and crazies terrorize the people...
Scarcity is Created.
Where is the hydrocarbon abundance being sold from Nigeria?
http://www.eia.gov/countries/analysisbriefs/Nigeria/images/crude_oil_condensate_exports.png
[..]
Those people suffer such pain for the convenience of importers.
It's just not right.
[..]
Then these little warlords and crazies terrorize the people...
Scarcity is Created.
Scarcity IS created, and manipulated for profit..
From this great PDF
http://www.eia.gov/countries/analysisbriefs/Nigeria/nigeria.pdf
Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and was the world's fourth leading exporter of LNG in 2012 (Liquified Natural Gas).
Despite the relatively large volumes it produces, Nigeria's oil production is hampered by instability and supply disruptions, while the natural gas sector is restricted by the lack of infrastructure to monetize gas that is currently flared (burned off ). Flaring contributes to worldwide disasters in acid rain, disease, and adding immense amounts of nanoparticle-soot to the atmosphere. Flaring modifies the weather in Nigeria, and spreads.
Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, holds the largest natural gas reserves on the continent, and was the world's fourth leading exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2012. Nigeria became a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1971, more than a decade after oil production began in the oil-rich Bayelsa State in the 1950s.
Although Nigeria is the leading oil producer in Africa, production suffers from supply disruptions, which have resulted in unplanned outages as high as 500,000 barrels per day (bbl/d).
The oil and natural gas industries are primarily located in the Niger Delta region, where it has been a source of conflict. Local groups seeking a share of the wealth often attack the oil infrastructure, forcing companies to declare force majeure (a legal clause that allows a party to not satisfy contractual agreements because of circumstances that are beyond their control that prevent them from fulfilling contractual obligations) on oil shipments.
At the same time, oil theft, commonly referred to as "bunkering," leads to pipeline damage that is often severe, causing loss of production, pollution, and forcing companies to shut in production.
Aging infrastructure and poor maintenance have also resulted in oil spills. Also, natural gas flaring, the burning of associated natural gas that is produced with oil, has contributed to environmental pollution.
Protest from local groups over environmental damages from oil spills and gas flaring have exacerbated tensions between some local communities and international oil companies (IOCs). The industry has been blamed for pollution that has damaged air, soil, and water, leading to losses in arable land and decreases in fish stocks.
Nigeria's oil and natural gas resources are the mainstay of the country's economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that oil and natural gas export revenue accounted for 96% of total export revenue in 2012. For 2013, Nigeria's budget is framed on a reference oil price of $79 per barrel, providing a wide safety margin in case of price volatility. (Oil sells for much more than 100$ a barrel in 2014).
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was created in 1977 to oversee the regulation of the oil and natural gas industries, with secondary responsibilities for upstream and downstream developments. (upstream and downstream deals with getting the oil out and then selling it/distributing it).
In 1988, the NNPC was divided into 12 subsidiary companies to regulate the sub-sectors within the industry. The Department of Petroleum Resources, within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, is another key regulator, focusing on general compliance, leases and permits, and environmental standards.
Currently, the majority of Nigeria's major oil and natural gas projects are funded through joint ventures (JV) between international oil companies (IOCs) and NNPC, where NNPC is the majority shareholder. The rest of the contracts are managed through production sharing contracts (PSCs) with IOCs (International Oil Companies).
That is the official way it is lain out, on paper.
The major international players in Nigeria's oil and natural gas sectors are Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, and Eni.
IOCs participating in onshore and shallow water oil projects in the Niger Delta region have been affected by the instability in the region. As a result, there has been a general trend for IOCs to sell their interests in onshore oil projects.
NNPC has JV arrangements and/or PSCs with Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, and Eni. Other companies active in Nigeria's oil and natural gas sectors are Addax Petroleum, Conoco-Phillips, Petrobras, Statoil, and several Nigerian companies.
As a result, there has been a general trend for IOCs to sell their interests in marginal onshore and shallow water oil fields, mostly to Nigerian companies and smaller IOCs, and focus their investments on deepwater offshore projects and onshore natural gas projects.
Nigeria plans to have a licensing round for marginal onshore and shallow water fields in 2014. (I have researched the licensing structure being proposed and have seen some of the documentation personally). IOCs divesting from some of these projects include Shell, Conoco-Phillips, and Chevron.
Royal Dutch Shell who has been in Nigeria since the 1930's had been influencing early activity in onshore exploration, and later oil production has been seriously affected by the instability in the Niger Delta region. (read as terrorism, and bunkering).
Shell has temporarily shut in portions of its production several times over the past decade,while declaring force majeure on oil shipments, as a result of frequent sabotage to pipelines. Shell has not indicated any plans to sell its deepwater offshore oil projects or its onshore natural gas projects in Nigeria.
Chevron is also the largest shareholder (36.7%) of the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited, which owns and operates the West African Gas Pipeline. The pipeline transports gas from Nigeria to customers in Benin, Togo, and Ghana.
In 2012, Chevron restored natural gas production at some of its onshore leases. The Onshore Asset Gas Management (OAGM) project consists of the restoration of facilities that were destroyed in 2003 during civil unrest. (read terrorism).
It includes six onshore fields, and it is designed to supply the domestic market with 125 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas.
Nigeria has the second largest amount of proven crude oil reserves in Africa, but reserve estimates have been stagnant as exploration activity has been low. Rising security problems coupled with regulatory uncertainty have contributed to decreased exploration activity.
According to Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ), Nigeria has an estimated 37.2 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves as of January 2013 — the second largest amount in Africa, after Libya.
There is NO way that oil and natural gas (and gold and other mineral recovery) is going to go away in Nigeria, nor would the issue of terrorism, power brokering, shakedowns change because of the immense $$ that are floating around, being manipulated.. Nobody has offered a real solution. Not with oil being such a commodity.
Nigerian protester says: Tomorrow it could be me,
ref: http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/tomorrow-it-could-be-me-nigerian-protester-says-1.1330361
ABUJA
Protesters in red t-shirts are massing in the streets of Abuja, raising their voices and singing new lyrics to the tune of John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance.
“All we are saying is bring back our girls!” they cry repeatedly for hours. Between every line comes the shout, “Alive, now!”
Three weeks ago, Islamist militants snatched hundreds of teenage girls from their school, sparking urgent calls for their rescue.
Since then, the outcry has only grown louder, both in Nigeria and abroad, and even among people and media groups who usually ignore the murky world of West African suffering.
Easier to grasp
Yet the main engine of interest may be that the abduction of some 300 schoolgirls who are likely still alive is simply easier for ordinary people to grasp and engage with than a slaughter of the innocent that is quickly cleaned up by authorities, according to local protesters. That engagement has inspired near-daily protests and Twitter campaigns like #BringBackOurGirls and #ChibokGirls that have gone viral around the globe.
“Tomorrow it could be me,” said Candy Nathan, a protester who was singing outside the Nigerian Army Headquarters. “My sister, my cousin, anybody. I’m here on behalf of everybody, and myself.”
Michelle Obama will weigh in on the Nigerian Abduction Saturday.
ref: http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/05/09/obama-michelle-nigeria-kidnapped-girls/8907915/
and
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/05/07/us-help-nigeria-search-kidnapped-girls
The Saturday radio address from the White House will feature a guest speaker: First lady Michelle Obama.
The first lady will discuss the nation's outrage over the kidnapping of young girls in Nigeria, said White House spokesman Eric Schultz.
It is Mrs. Obama's first solo Saturday radio address.
ALSO
Yesterday, while talking with Al Roker of “The Today Show,” President Obama called it a “terrible situation,” and explained that the U.S. will send military and law enforcement advisors to Nigeria to support its efforts to find and free the girls:
Boko Haram, this terrorist organization that’s been operating in Nigeria, has been killing people and innocent civilians for a very long time. We’ve always identified them as one of the worst local or regional terrorist organizations there is out there. But I can only imagine what the parents are going through.
So what we’ve done is we have offered -- and it’s been accepted -- help from our military and law enforcement officials. We’re going to do everything we can to provide assistance to them. In the short term, our goal obviously is to help the international community and the Nigerian government as a team to do everything we can to recover these young ladies. But we’re also going to have to deal with the broader problem of organizations like this that can cause such havoc in people’s day-to-day lives.
In additional comments with Ginger Zee of “Good Morning America,” the President shared his hope that, after the teenage girls are rescued, this event will help “mobilize the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organization that’s perpetrated such a terrible crime.”
MEANWHILE
the Daily Post, a local Nigerian media outlet says:
http://dailypost.ng/2014/05/09/boko-haram-jonathan-callous-corrupt-incompetent-economist-magazine/
" Boko Haram: Jonathan is callous, corrupt and incompetent "
"Barely 72 hours after the New York Times in its Editorial lambasted President Goodluck Jonathan over his inability to tackle terrorism currently ravaging the country, The Economist Magazine has joined the trend, tagging Jonathan’s government as incompetent, callous and very corrupt.
"The paper also blamed the ongoing activities of Islamist group, Boko Haram, on Jonathan and his team.
"The Economist in its current edition lampooned the Jonathan’s led government for its disinclination to accept foreign help in the past to battle Boko Haram insurgents."
From Mrs. Obama's address today:
"Like millions of people across the globe, my husband and I are outraged and heartbroken over the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the night," Obama said in the address.
"This unconscionable act was committed by a terrorist group determined to keep these girls from getting an education — grown men attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls."
“In these girls, Barack and I see our own daughters,” she added. “And we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now.”
PAncJ3nuczI
The kidnappings have also served as a call to arms by those supporting the cause of women’s schooling around the world, including Pakistani schoolgirl and human rights activist, Malala Yousafzai and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
source: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-nigeria-schoolgirls/michelle-obama-heartbroken-over-nigeria-kidnapped-girls-n102061
and
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2014/05/10/weekly-address-first-lady-marks-mother-s-day-and-speaks-out-tragic
http://www.onislam.net/english/oimedia/onislamen/images/mainimages/No-Jihad-In-Syria-Saudi-Mufti.jpg
"RIYADH – Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has condemned the kidnapping of more than 200 school girls by Nigeria’s Boko Haram, saying the group was formed to “smear the image of Islam”.
"This is a group that has been set up to smear the image of Islam and must be offered advice, shown their wrong path and be made to reject it," Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the top religious authority in the birthplace of Islam, told the Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat in an interview published on Friday, Reuters reported.
"These groups are not on the right path because Islam is against kidnapping, killing and aggression," he said.
Boko Haram has created grave mistakes in the name of Islam (http://www.onislam.net/english/shariah/contemporary-issues/critiques-and-thought/455695-boko-haram-grave-mistakes-in-the-name-of-islam.html).
"Marrying kidnapped girls is not permitted."
Muslim organizations worldwide have been calling for the immediate release of nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria last April 14.
The kidnappings three weeks ago by the extremist group Boko Haram have led to worldwide attention and condemnation.
Muslims’ anger maximized after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau admitted kidnapping the girls in a video obtained by the Agence France Presse (AFP) last May 5, threatening to sell them in the market.
Using Islamic teachings as justification for threatening to sell the girls into slavery, Shekau threats sparked Muslim anger worldwide, asserting that Islam was innocent for all such crimes."
from - http://www.onislam.net/english/news/middle-east/472341-boko-haram-smears-islam-saudi-mufti.html - "Boko Haram Smears Islam: Saudi Mufti"
http://gdb.voanews.com/C6954BB4-AC7F-45A8-9568-91E611F8F9E3_mw1024_n_s.jpg
Escaping from Boko Haram, some of the girls describe their ordeal.
http://www.voanews.com/content/nigerian-schoolgirls-who-escaped-captors-recall-horrifying-moments/1912346.html
Nigerian schoolgirls who escaped last month's mass abductions by the Islamist Boko Haram group say they endured horrifying moments before managing to flee their captors.
A 19-year-old science student, Sarah Lawan, described the armed kidnapping as "too terrifying for words." Lawan said Sunday she was anguished more of her classmates "could not summon the courage" to escape, and cries when she sees some of the parents of 276 girls who remain missing.
A 16-year-old girl, among 53 who fled, said she was ordered by men wielding AK-47 assault weapons to cook stolen food, before escaping with two other girls.
Pope Francis prayed for the release of the girls Sunday, while British Prime Minister David Cameron called the abduction a part of "violent, extremist Islamism" in Nigeria and elsewhere.
During a broadcast appearance, Cameron held up the "Bring Back Our Girls" sign seen in protests throughout the world.
"What I would really like to say is that we recognize this is not just a problem in Nigeria," he said. "We are seeing this really violent, extremist Islamism. We see it with problems in Pakistan, we see problems in other parts of Africa, problems in the Middle East. Also, let's be frank, here in the UK. There is still too much of support for extremism that we have to tackle, and whether it is in schools, or colleges, or universities or wherever."
What empowers Boko Haram?
The leadership has ranted against any form of secular education. It teaches that European colonists introduced modern secular education into Islamic societies in a conspiracy to maintain colonialist hegemony over Muslim societies: The West aims to corrupt pure Islamic morals with liberal norms.
Likewise, the leaders believe that the West wants to replace proper gender roles with sexual permissiveness. Secular subjects like chemistry, physics, engineering, meteorological explanations of rain, the theory of evolution are all denounced as contrary to the Quran.
The issue is the education system, not religious belief.
In the eyes of Boko Haram, the abduction of schoolgirls is a triple strike against what they view as Western depravity: against Western schools, against "the obscenity" of having girls in school at all and against Christianity, to the degree the schoolgirls are Christian.
If northern Nigeria is to have a more stable and prosperous long-term future, it is essential to develop an education system that prepares students for a modern, globalized economy. This is especially the case in the northeast, where Boko Haram is most active.
Nigerians in northeastern Nigeria, who in part may sympathize with Boko Haram's fight against corruption, are however alienated by Boko Haram's bloodlust. And most will support developing an education system that provides the foundation to make a living.
Boko Haram does not offer any of the Nigerian residents ANY WAY to survive, any way to have education to be taught to make a decent living. People are kept in fear and in poverty by Boko Haram, there is not a way to achieve "learning" to work towards improving society, towards improving the daily way of life. There is no way to improve health, nor clean water, nor adequate fuel. The "old ways" are backwards ways of slavery, gang warfare, attacking fellow villagers for the "spoils". Why would anyone want that?
(from source: David Jacobson, founding director of the Citizenship Initiative at the University of South Florida, is the author of "Of Virgins and Martyrs: Women and Sexuality in Global Conflict." Atta Barkindo is a fellow at the Citizenship Initiative. Derek Harvey, director of the Citizenship Initiative, formerly led the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence at U.S. military's Central Command. )
Israel says, we will help Nigeria deal with Boko Haram -
(oye)
Messing with Mossad is not kewel (should be a new name now for the group calling itself, "Jamāʻat Ahl as-Sunnah lid-daʻwa wal-Jihād" - Mossad on your tails, and your days are numbered..
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/static/Resizer.ashx/news/250/168/502830.jpg
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/180502 - from Israel National News service
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered on Sunday to help Nigeria in trying to recover roughly 300 Christian schoolgirls, who were kidnapped by the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group Boko Haram.
"Israel expresses its deep shock at the crime against the girls," Netanyahu reportedly said by phone to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, while on an official visit to Japan.
"We are prepared to help in locating the girls and to fight the cruel terror which has struck you," pledged Netanyahu. The prime minister's promises to help join those made previously by US President Barack Obama.
The Nigerian president accepted the offer, according to a statement by his office to AFP, which read: "President Jonathan welcomed the offer by Mr Netanyahu to send a team of Israeli counter-terrorism experts to assist in the ongoing search and rescue operations."
Atlas
12th May 2014, 15:19
"Marrying kidnapped girls is not permitted."
Did Boko Haram say they will sell the girls for marriage ? These guys are cannibals, they will sell them for food/meat.
See: Stranded Boko Haram Militants Turn Cannibals in Borno, Captured Suspect Says (http://allafrica.com/stories/201308261130.html)
"Marrying kidnapped girls is not permitted."
Did Boko Haram say they will sell the girls for marriage ? These guys are cannibals, they will sell them for food/meat.
See: Stranded Boko Haram Militants Turn Cannibals in Borno, Captured Suspect Says (http://allafrica.com/stories/201308261130.html)
I read the article Buares, thank you for pointing that out - it's clear the concept of rights to human life is not high on their list. "Sub-human animals" lacks sufficient colorful metaphors to describe their leader's actions and mindset. Calling themselves religious representatives, following an outdated fundamentalist concept as Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh pointed out, he says they need to be shown the error of their ways; he used the words "made to see", and I do not believe that will be by simply discussing philosophically historical teachings.
Atlas
12th May 2014, 16:45
he says they need to be shown the error of their ways; he used the words "made to see", and I do not believe that will be by simply discussing philosophically historical teachings.
Good question Bobd. It reminds me of Congo a decade ago:
Newly discovered oil has made the fight between the Hema and the Lendu worse. [...]
One survivor, Vivienne Nyamutale, 30, tells me she was a prisoner of Lendu fighters for 75 days. "I was taken as the fourth wife of the fetish chief, Chief Abele," she says. [...] Finally, after one massacre, she escaped. Vivienne is one of a handful of women who tell me about rape camps farther along the Fataki road [...]
Then I meet Chantal Tsesi, 24, says that at 5am on 27 August, 2002, she awoke to gunfire in the gold-mining town of Mabanga-Gélé. [...]
In a conflict over land, gold, and oil, cannibalism as a crime of war seems to have entered the 21st century.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-truth-behind-the-cannibals-of-congo-567654.html
he says they need to be shown the error of their ways; he used the words "made to see", and I do not believe that will be by simply discussing philosophically historical teachings.
Good question Bobd. It reminds me of Congo a decade ago:
Newly discovered oil has made the fight between the Hema and the Lendu worse. [...]
One survivor, Vivienne Nyamutale, 30, tells me she was a prisoner of Lendu fighters for 75 days. "I was taken as the fourth wife of the fetish chief, Chief Abele," she says. [...] Finally, after one massacre, she escaped. Vivienne is one of a handful of women who tell me about rape camps farther along the Fataki road [...]
Then I meet Chantal Tsesi, 24, says that at 5am on 27 August, 2002, she awoke to gunfire in the gold-mining town of Mabanga-Gélé. [...]
In a conflict over land, gold, and oil, cannibalism as a crime of war seems to have entered the 21st century.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-truth-behind-the-cannibals-of-congo-567654.html
What I find fascinating (in a morbid way :( ) is that there are so many countries now, big majors with powerful security services and obviously interested in a piece of the oil action (no doubt will be discussed as a 'how about if we solve this we get a good oil/mineral deal'), now willing to help.
Those who are NOT willing to help is also very interesting, those who have NOT said anything about the incident, it certainly is high profile enough..
I find it very interesting that Israel will offer help in a strong Muslim area (the Borno State), and that Saudi has not screamed about that. Every idle discussion of Israel while I was over in UAE was frowned upon, so to see this cooperation is absolutely fascinating, why??
A new video is being circulated showing a group of 'alive girls' all in traditional garb, saying they have now converted from Christian to Islam, thereby saving their lives...
hmm
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/05/boko-haram-video-claims-show-missing-girls-20145129393916660.html - Al Jazeera reporting
http://bc05.ajnm.me/665003303001/201405/3819/665003303001_3559273078001_201451211534207734-20.jpg?pubId=665003303001
Threats "to convert" I think are covered (the or else consideration) as something that allows one to change their mind afterwards cause it was not a voluntary choice.. (more on that later)..
Atlas
12th May 2014, 17:24
I find it very interesting that Israel will offer help in a strong Muslim area (the Borno State), and that Saudi has not screamed about that. Every idle discussion of Israel while I was over in UAE was frowned upon, so to see this cooperation is absolutely fascinating, why??
This is because the president is a Christian, so that the Saudis have nothing to say (they can support Muslims but they can't support cannibals). If the president was a Muslim, the Israelis would not interfere.
I find it very interesting that Israel will offer help in a strong Muslim area (the Borno State), and that Saudi has not screamed about that. Every idle discussion of Israel while I was over in UAE was frowned upon, so to see this cooperation is absolutely fascinating, why??
This is because the president is a Christian, so that the Saudis have nothing to say (they can support Muslims but they can't support cannibals). If the president was a Muslim, the Israelis would not interfere.
Logic possible here? Christian President Jonathan gets other "people of the book" (the infidels according to the qu'ran) to assist, possibly eliminating the obvious insurgents, and strongarms a reason to put military stronger (maybe supported by other "people of the book") security forces.. occupying that region. What is the reason to have any interest in the region economically. To me it seems if there were a massive oil deposit, or other mineral deposit, maybe water, maybe oil, that something would be up there besides people??
With elections coming up again, it just seems that a "unifier" type who could keep the uprisings down, but yet control the oil would be the winner in such an election.. Motive wise, no doubt oil and $ are deciding factors.. The north, it doesn't matter if it is Muslim or Christian, there is no oil obvious at this point, there are people trying to make a substance living with minimal resources..
In Lagos, which has not produced oil previously, there is no distribution of wealth (read subsidy), and it is mostly Christian, and the gangs, warlords. The Lagos government, and business representatives did want to have OIL found in their state (Lagos State), saying it would relieve the financial hardships that the Federal government has kept in place (no oil = no subsidy)..
Nigeria Federal Government, (FG) says hmm, OK (ehehe), sure we will "talk" with ya boyz :), no promises but we will talk..
US surveillance aircraft apparently has zero'd in on various aspects of the terrorists, similar to what is done with determined "terrorists" in Yemen.
http://www.jaguda.com/2014/05/13/fg-ready-negotiate-boko-haram/
"Though this report is contrary to what the federal government officials said, according to a BBC Africa report, the Minister of Special Duties says the Nigerian government is ready to negotiate with Boko Haram to bring back the abducted girls. Minister of Special Duties Tanimu Turaki said if Boko Haram was sincere, its leader Abubakar Shekau should send people he trusted to meet the standing committee on reconciliation. – According to a BBC report "
This would be "back channel" data, to let the terrorists "know" through the social media, that it's not impossible to open a dialog..
http://cdn.jaguda.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/jagudaUntitled.png
Satguru Maharaj Ji says he told Nigeria's Jonathan, here is the Boko, who they are -
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/q71/s480x480/10295718_916016831757928_1245925148371410457_n.jpg
"I have asked the President to arrest them before now because they said after the 2011 general elections that because power did not return to the North, they would make the nation ungovernable.
“The spirit of the creator is against them. They are going to be dealt with. I will call them to order in the interest of innocent Nigerians, enough of the bloodletting.
“If President Jonathan had listened to the advice I gave him two years ago when I was at Aso Rock, all the killings by Boko Haram would have stopped. After my visit to the villa, the bombings stopped but because those in government did not continue to tap from my spiritual grace, the bombers returned."
ref: http://dailypost.ng/2014/04/26/revealed-behind-boko-haram-jonathan-maharaj-ji/
ref to the Guru - http://www.prem-rawat-bio.org/wigm.html - who is Guru Maharaj Ji?
Boko can't stop killing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27493940
Nigeria bombings: 'Death toll passes 100'
The bodies of at least 118 people have now been recovered from the sites of twin bombings in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the nation's emergency management agency says.
The first blast was in a busy market, the second outside a nearby hospital.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74993000/jpg/_74993464_jbv2hput.jpg
Analysis by Will Ross, BBC News, Abuja
Once again the explosions were meant to cause as many casualties as possible. Like the recent Abuja blasts, the victims are of different religions and were mainly people out on the streets struggling to earn a living.
It has been almost two years since the last attack on Jos - when several churches were bombed. Those attacks were seen as an effort by Boko Haram to spark clashes between Christians and Muslims in the often volatile Middle Belt region of Nigeria.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74993000/jpg/_74993462_dzbf93h8.jpg
again.. who is being sinful?
Boko can't stop killing, again and again.. killed more than 25 people in an attack on a village in north-eastern Nigeria, residents say.
The gunmen burnt nearly all the homes in Chikongudo, and stole food in Wednesday night's attack, they added.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75006000/jpg/_75006252_022354599.jpg
This came a day after a double bombing killed 122 in the central city of Jos.
The Boko Haram group is suspected to have carried out the attacks, as it intensifies its insurgency to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.
Chikongudo is near the town of Gamboru Ngala, where more than 300 residents were killed in an attack earlier this month.
Two other villages were raided this week in north-east Nigeria, killing 27 people.
ref: BBC news http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27526620
Update just in -
(Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have shot dead 29 farm workers as they tilled their fields in a village in the remote northeast, a police source said on Thursday.
The source at police headquarters for Borno state, in the heart of the insurgency, said around 10 more people had been wounded in Wednesday's attack on Chukku Nguddoa, in which most of the village, including its grain store, were razed.
ref: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/22/us-nigeria-violence-idUSBREA4L0WB20140522
Violet
22nd May 2014, 20:03
I too don't know where all this stuff is coming from. China has been having one too many explosions as well these days, and again, the people said to be behind it share the same ideals.
But why now, and altoghether?
Violet, in Nigeria, it is about OIL, who has the money from the sales (or thefts) from oil..
In China, they have been invading other people's territory for OIL... that's the common denominator.. Theft of resources..
China I believe was responsible for the atrocity in Darfur, Africa, outside corner of Sudan again, they could convince the locals to massacre and commit genocide for OIL resources. In Africa there is a saying, if China is involved, there will be no good, and people will die.. even if China promises untold riches to the selected leaders they can corrupt or buy off.
In Nigeria it is not different... China is trying to develop OIL in the North of Nigeria.. coincidence, maybe not so much..
Boko, the one's supposed to be defending the people, are continuing to kill, more and more..
Reuters - 24 May 2014
Another attack occurred in a small village of Kubur Viu, a few kilometers away from Chibok, resident Simeon Yhana said.
The police source concurred with the attack and toll.
"They killed five people. This place is right next to Chibok. The military is supposed to be protecting this area but we fear these people (Boko Haram) are coming back," Yhana said.
Militants shot dead three other people during an attack on the village of Kimba, the police source said.
In remote parts of Borno state, the epicenter of Boko Haram, these attacks are focusing for the moment..
One took place right next to Chibok, by the Cameroon border, from where more than 200 school girls were abducted last month.
The most deadly was in the town of Kerenua, near the Niger border.
Scores of militants opened fire on residents, killing 20 of them, and burned houses, a police source said.
Since the girls' abduction on April 14, at least 450 civilians have been killed by the group, according to a Reuters count.
Federal Police, and the various agencies of numerous countries now stepping up to the plate, have been tracking the Boko ("rabid baboons", they don't deserve to be called guerrilla (1) ) across the borders outside of Nigeria..
ref: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/24/us-nigeria-violence-idUSBREA4N09B20140524 - and associated news sources worldwide.
and http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/24/uk-nigeria-violence-idUKKBN0E40HK20140524 - update
Note (1) Differences between terrorists, "Guerrilla", and insurgents:
http://usiraq.procon.org/sourcefiles/InsurgentsvsTerrorists.pdf
http://s3.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140524&t=2&i=899575843&w=580&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=LYNXMPEA4N087
Still MORE killing in Nigeria
VOA News
May 24, 2014 7:57 PM
An explosion near an open-air venue packed with soccer fans watching a televised game has shaken Jos, Nigeria.
It was not immediately clear late Saturday if there were casualties. Early reports said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who died.
Double car bombs in Jos this past Tuesday killed at least 130 people. Those attacks were blamed on Boko Haram, an Islamist group that has terrorized Nigeria for the past five years.
UPDATE: Reuters Sun May 25, 2014 12:04am GMT
Suicide bombing in Nigeria's Jos kills three
JOS May 24 (Reuters) - A suicide bombing on Saturday that was meant to target an open air viewing of a football match in the central Nigerian city of Jos blew up early before reaching its target, killing three people, a witness told Reuters.
A spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said they were aware of the bomb blast but declined to comment on casualty figures.
The bomber approached Jos Viewing Centre while people were watching Real Madrid play Atletico Madrid, but failed to get there before his car exploded, Mohammed ****tu, a local journalist at the scene said.
He had initially seen only the bomber's body but on revisiting the scene later saw another three dead, after emergency services had cordoned off the area.
and MORE killing by Boko
Reuters
May 25, 2014 2:48 PM
MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA — Suspected Islamist gunmen opened fire on a market in a Nigerian village on Sunday, killing 20 people in the latest violence against civilians in the northeast of Africa's top oil producer.
The assailants surrounded the village of Kamuyya, a military source based in the nearest town told Reuters.
The militants shot people as they gathered to trade in its open air market.
ref: http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-suspected-islamists-kill-twenty-in-nigeria/1922295.html
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y_AEBhz7gZs/Ub_dwmFtldI/AAAAAAAAGoI/qH2RNcocbfg/s400/aba.jpg
(earlier file footage from school massacre)
Nigeria army 'knows where Boko Haram are holding girls'
'Good news'
Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh said on Monday that "the good news for the parents of the girls is that we know where they are" but said he couldn't reveal the location.
"But where they are held, can we go there with force? We can't kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back," he added.
The Nigerian military say they know where the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram are but they will not attempt a rescue.
Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff said it was "good news for the parents," although he admitted the military would not risk "going there with force."
More than 200 girls were abducted by Boko Haram gunmen from their school in northern Nigeria in April.
Earlier, the BBC learned that a deal to release some of the girls was close but was called off by the government.
The BBC's Will Ross in Abuja says an intermediary met leaders of the Islamist group and visited the place where they were being held.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75114000/jpg/_75114060_75113792.jpg
link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27582873
No news on the rescue of the stolen children in Nigeria, but
A NEW BOMB BLAST targeting football watchers happened in the northeast part of the Country in the town of Mubi in Adamawa state.
Headline:
MAIDUGURI/YOLA, Nigeria, June 1 (Reuters) - A bomb blast targeting a television viewing centre for football in northeast Nigeria killed an unknown number of people on Sunday, a police spokesman said.
A military source said several bodies had been recovered from the site of the evening bombing in the town of Mubi in Adamawa state.
"We don't have a precise death toll for you while work is still going on to remove the corpses," said police spokesman for Adamawa state Usman Abubakar.
"There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Islamist militant group Boko Haram, whose struggle for an Islamic state is concentrated in the northeast, would be the prime suspect.
"The group has set off several bombs across north and central Nigeria in the past two months.
"Last weekend, a suicide bomber set out to strike an open-air viewing of a football match in the central city of Jos, but his car blew up before reaching the target, killing three people.
"A suicide bombing the week before in Jos killed 118 people, and two bombs on the outskirts of Abuja in April killed 95 between them."
ref: http://www.trust.org/item/20140601201144-24a2y
http://d24pg1nxua23qm.cloudfront.net/contentAsset/image/7892cf94-6772-450e-abba-3e657b08ddee/image/byInode/1/filter/Resize,Jpeg/jpeg_q/90/resize_w/604
AutumnW
2nd June 2014, 16:00
They don't call it the Dark Continent for nothing. Rife with psychopaths. And letter agencies who want to control Nigerian oil in there like dirty shirts.
They don't call it the Dark Continent for nothing. Rife with psychopaths. And letter agencies who want to control Nigerian oil in there like dirty shirts.
(sigh)...
Current UPDATE - About 13 people have again been killed
The latest attack on Church worshipers was carried out Sunday by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in the Gwoza Local Government area of Borno State.
"The attack occurred in the morning at about 9.30 at EYN Church while the service was going on. Our church has some men as security group. They were usually vigilant at the church, especially when service is going on.
"As we were holding service, we started hearing gunshots and everybody fled, some through the windows and ran into the bush."
According to Marcus, those whose houses are near the church also ran to their homes.
Men in the community immediately mobilised and pursued the Boko Haram men, he added.
Local People moved to protect themselves from the Boko cowards
"They were more than 10, they came with motorcycles and a car. Our vigilante group killed four of the Boko Haram and arrested three."
Two days earlier, suspected members of the Boko Haram killed the Emir of Gwoza, Idris Titman.
http://allafrica.com/download/pic/main/main/csiid/00240703:041c684a4b587f215fc7a3ae474cc073:arc614x376:w290:us1.jpg
http://allafrica.com/stories/201406030911.html
Nigeria - homicide bombing, suicide and terror
Hours after a suicide bomber detonated explosives packed into a tricycle taxi at an outdoor World Cup viewing site in northeast Nigerian, police said the death toll was 14 with 26 people wounded.
Location - DAMATURU, Nigeria
ref: http://time.com/2893233/14-dead-in-bombing-of-world-cup-view-site-in-nigeria/
Boko Haram group frequently detonates secondary explosions to kill those who help victims from the first bomb.
Security experts have warned that Islamic militants might attack crowds watching the World Cup in public places in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, as they did in 2010 in Uganda.
Forcing Religion or Die
Boko Haram wants Shariah, or Islamic law, to be applied in all of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation whose people are almost equally divided between Christians in the south and Muslims in the north.
The explosions in Kampala, Uganda, at two sites where people watched the 2010 World Cup final on TV killed 74 people. Al-Shabab, a Somali insurgent group, set off those bombs.
Killer bees attacking book haram.
Talk about turn around..
http://nypost.com/2014/06/27/boko-haram-insurgents-arrested-after-fleeing-bees-and-snakes/
" The captured militants claimed they were “mystical bees” and “mysterious snakes” that had killed many of their fellow insurgents.
ref: http://news.naij.com/68769.html
"Mysterious Snakes, Bees Fight Boko Haram Members In Sambisa Forest - Arrested Insurgent Reveal" -
Boko Haram members are reportedly fleeing Sambisa forest to areas across Borno state owing to what they they believe is spiritual attack as they are being attacked by mysterious snakes and bees.
This was revealed by one of the insurgents, Kolo Mustapha who was arrested yesterday at Mairi ward behind University of Maiduguri by members of the Civilian JTF vigilante group.
“We were told that the aggrieved people who had suffered from our deadly mission, including the ghosts of some of those we killed, are the ones turning into the snake and bees,” one militant told Vanguard. “Our leaders fled, too.”
Boko Haram sympathizers have risen to notorious prominence in 2014 with the capture of 223 Nigerian schoolgirls, who have not yet been returned to their families.
The bees and snakes are apparently feared not only for their lethal poisons but their ability to make people disappear."
Seems some western education might be just what they need to get their heads screwed on.. Suppose?
Meanwhile back in political Nigeria, bad press is terrible the leaders feel. "Come to Nigeria, do business we love westerners, pay no attention to the guy behind the curtain, and certainly please ignore those pesky boko's..
WASHINGTON — The hapless Nigerian government has finally found a way to deal with the ruthless Boko Haram terror group — hire a Washington PR firm.
Although the Nigerian government has been unable to contain the group’s string of attacks or bring home 270 schoolgirls the group abducted in April, it just inked a $1.2 million contract with DC powerhouse PR firm Levick to boost its perception around the world, the Hill reported.
Ref: http://nypost.com/2014/06/26/amid-terror-chaos-nigeria-inks-us-pr-firm-to-shape-narrative/
http://static.pulse.ng/img/incoming/crop2944239/166278441-chorizontal-w644/Snake-In-Sambisa-Forest.jpg
The death toll tops 50 after Boko attackers raid Nigerian villages this last week.
ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/30/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-violence/index.html
Kano, Nigeria (CNN) -- A series of Boko Haram raids on four villages in northeast Nigeria's Borno state has killed more than 50 people and destroyed more than 300 structures, including five churches, a government official said.
On Sunday, gunmen on motorcycles stormed the Christian villages of Kwada, Ngurojina, Karagau and Kautikari near Chibok, the scene of the April 14 abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls, opening fire on residents and hurling explosives into homes and churches.
"We lost 54 people in the Sunday attacks on the four villages carried out by Boko Haram insurgents, who also destroyed over 300 homes," a senior Borno state government official said.
The attacks went on for 5 hours straight.
The gunmen pursued fleeing residents into the bush and shot them dead, according to residents.
The attacks started around 8 a.m. local time and continued until 1 p.m. without military intervention, Tanko said.
When they saw the fighter jet, the attackers disappeared into the bush, Tanko said.
A Nigerian government spokesman said the military and air force went to the area, though they were "a bit late."
Boko takes it to Lagos City, where it is supposedly "safe".
I've personally been to Lagos Nigeria and it is NOT safe, between the shakedowns at "official police stops" (pay to drive thru), and the thugs, and poor roads, no lighting...
So Boko now has lit off bombs in Lagos city..
(Reuters) - Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has claimed responsibility for two explosions on June 25 at a fuel depot in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, in a video seen by Reuters on Sunday, which if true would be the militants' first recorded attack on the city.
"A bomb went off in Lagos. I ordered (the bomber) who went and detonated it," Shekau said.
"The two blasts minutes apart last month in the main port of Apapa were almost certainly caused by bombs, three senior security sources and the manager of a major container company told Reuters. One was most likely the work of a female suicide bomber, they said.
"Authorities said the blasts on Creek Road were an accident caused by a gas canister, but the security sources told Reuters that was a cover-up meant to prevent panic in the city of 21 million people. At least two people were killed."
(Source: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks at an unknown location in this still image taken from an undated video released by Nigerian Islamist rebel group Boko Haram.)
ref: Reuters - http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/07/13/uk-nigeria-violence-idUKKBN0FI0IG20140713
Background:
Lagos is both an international business hub and a usually peaceful but at times uneasy melting pot of ethnicities from the mostly Christian south and Muslim north that have fought street battles in the past.
The target of the Lagos bombs was a fuel depot. Had it gone up, it could have caused a massive chain explosion and disrupted Nigeria's mostly imported fuel supply.
"Shekau also ridicules Western education -- Boko Haram means Western education is forbidden -- along with "the ideologies of America, England, France, China and the whole world".
Portrait of a thug:
http://s2.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140713&t=2&i=931757131&w=580&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=LYNXMPEA6C08E
I wonder if he brushes he teeth or if his gums are painful. (Western education say brush/floss keep it clean...)
Bob
1st August 2014, 15:14
Boko uneducated thugs vow to take it to Lagos
After strapping bombs to a young girl, two members attempted to flee when stopped at a checkpoint.
Mike Omeri a spokesperson said, the two suspects had been travelling with the girl in a Honda CRV car heading towards Katsina state in the north of the country.
"Ten-year old Hadiza was discovered to have been strapped with an explosive belt on her waist."
What type of mentally deficient criminal threatens to harm young children, or bombs them (oh that's right, same thing is going on in the mideast right now.. hmm)
The news of the interception of the girl came on the same day that two students were killed and eight more were injured in a suicide bombing at a university in Kano in the north west of Nigeria.
A report in the Los Angeles Times said that this attack was the fourth female suicide bombing in the Kano region in a week, with each one reportedly linked to the terrorist group Boko Haram.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said that the increasing use of female suicide bombers was “a new low in the inhuman campaign” of Boko Haram, and was “wicked exploitation” of girls.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-DX748_NIGERI_G_20140731174059.jpg
Bob
7th August 2014, 23:58
Boko continues to kill
Many have fled the town of Gwoza to escape the slaughter
Residents from the northeastern Nigerian town of Gwoza say Boko Haram militants killed dozens of locals on Wednesday.
Gwoza has experienced Boko Haram’s savage attacks before. The town’s emir was killed by the extremists in May. On Wednesday, his son and successor, Mohammad Idrissa Timta, was said to be missing.
“From all indications, our emir is also missing because we don’t know his whereabouts,” said Halima Jatau, a resident fleeing Gwoza, to AFP.
Locals told a Lagos-based online newspaper, the DailyPost, that Nigerian soldiers were absent during the attack and that the insurgents are now in control of the town.
A high-ranking security official who requested anonymity told the DailyPost that Boko Haram had diverted soldiers’ attention 70 miles (110 km) west to the town of Damboa, before launching a surprise attack on Gwoza.
http://chanlo.com/images/boku-1.jpg
Source (http://time.com/3088062/boko-haram-gwoza-nigeria-attack/)
Atlas
13th October 2014, 13:09
No girls are missing, Chibok abduction is a scam – Asari Dokubo
http://i.cdnnaij.com/o/O1gEwiBVqSMLXdZz7ilZcloj.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10380971_10202862438874233_8320131061432439440_n.jpg?oh=928be1105115b488287bad8e5ed7e946&oe=54B073FA&__gda__=1422288005_de577c4c31ba0f84bb00195561e8e185
http://i.cdnnaij.com/o/PVyymODdG7JOSho3TPBXvAvn.jpg
http://dailypost.ng/2014/05/08/girls-missing-chibok-abduction-scam-asari-dokubo/
Bob
13th October 2014, 16:27
Having discussed the Boku Haram issue of armed thugs doing killings, bombings and using the techniques of terrorism in Nigeria, over the last 3 years, with 4 Nigerian business people, most recently updates as of last week.. they have to deal with reality - day in and day out. The on-site consensus is the terrorism and activity carried out by armed "factions" is happening, and the groups, some small some larger in the north and the groups in the south have different "goals". There is a common denominator with thugs though - MANY want the money from the oil, but yet, some say and use as an excuse, that they want the religions and rules changed to meet their own beliefs and unique goals.
There is a religious polarization between the north and south, and an economic polarization between non-oil producing states and producers.
Certain people in the north demand oil revenues, and Nigerian law says that can't happen because they don't produce oil.. Without money being distributed into those areas, certain people complain, and they do whatever they think it takes to get the $$ from those they think will pay.
The bottom line is this is about money and who controls oil production and how much can be pocketed by the ones with be biggest guns.
Atlas
19th March 2017, 22:46
Re-posted from: projectavalon.net/When Education Produces Illiteracy... (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?89121-When-Education-Produces-Illiteracy...&p=1141408&viewfull=1#post1141408)
Prince EA - THE PEOPLE VS THE SCHOOL SYSTEM: I JUST SUED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM !!!
dqTTojTija8
http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-books-will-soon-be-obsolete-in-the-schools-our-school-system-will-be-completely-changed-thomas-a-edison-133-66-15.jpg
See my thread: projectavalon.net/What's The Purpose Of Education? (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?80911-What-s-The-Purpose-Of-Education&p=945330&viewfull=1#post945330)
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