The Origin Of Boko Haram

The story is no longer new. Jama’atul Alhul Sunnah Lidda’watiwal jihad also known as Boko Haram, a dangerous Islamic sect is termed the principal perpetrator of these ill acts. At first, their demands were not clear. All what was known was a group of religious fundamentalists who promulgated their beliefs even though there were considered too extreme by many a Nigerian.

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But they were wont on their mission of Islamizing the country via the implementation of criminal Sharia law across the country. In essence, they chose to start from their immediate environments in Borno and Yobe states.
And to make real their pursuits, they consciously arrogated themselves a name that defines their philosophy: Jama’atul Alhul Sunnah Lidda’wati wal jihad, meaning “people committed to the propagation of the prophet’s teachings and jihad”.
That was in 2002. But not much was heard about the Islamist religious sect until in 2009 when a discrepancy erupted between them and the law enforcement agents which culminated in the death of the leader of the group, late Mohammad Yusuf.
Prior to the time, Mohammad Yusuf had faulted the participation of most leaders of northern states especially the governors who were full blooded Muslims in the affairs of the country. He saw it as illegitimate, non-Islamic venture and considered too secular for their “religious inclinations and preached a doctrine of withdrawal”.
But the lid was to be let open when the group declared that “that western education is evil”, a phrase that gave it its popular name “Boko Haram”.
Thereafter, Boko Haram began to launch an onslaught against the state, yet that did not define the reasons for their attacks whether it was to avenge the death of their former leader, Yusuf or that the government institutions were fundamentally “haram”.
In the aftermath, the attacks permeated as Boko Haram carried out a number of suicide bombings and assassinations from Maiduguri to Abuja, and staged an ambitious prison-break in Bauchi, freeing more than seven hundred inmates in 2010.
In November 2011, the group staged its most deadly attacks so far in Maiduguri as well as Yobe’s Damaturu and Potiskum, targeting churches, mosques, banks, and police stations.
At least 150 people were reported killed. November’s violence garnered more international attention for the group, with condemnations from the head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Pope, the UN Security Council, and the UN secretary general.
Bombings on Christmas Day in 2011 targeting churches and killing dozens raised fears about the possibility of another spate of religious violence between Muslims and Christians.And of course, it almost climaxed to that as most killings became the lot of Christians in the North.
At a time in 2012, the killings apparently took an ethnic dimension that fear of another civil war was felt across the federation. But somehow, the days rolled past by without wars.