The rise of Islamic State: Our Reporter: Olaiya Phillips This year, I have watched closely as a country has been torn apart. A militant Islamic group has successfully exploited an opportunity to carve out a sphere of influence in Nigeria. In a Balkanised society, divided by ethnic and – more prominently – religious loyalties, decades of tension between communities has manifested as sectarian violence. For years, politicians have failed to reconcile feuding communities and prevent conflict, instead opting to exploit deep social cleavages in order to establish their own political bases and support their agenda. Once established in office, they have utilised their powers of patronage to reward their supporters, providing jobs to close allies and offering hand-outs to constituents from public funds. In a nation where it is accepted that the majority of the population fall into either one of the two major religious groups, it does not take long for religious persecution to develop. For those ethnic and religious groups unfortunate enough to be in the minority, they suffer discrimination and persecution. For others in the majority but marginalised for not supporting the winning candidate, resentment festers. In this riven nation, an organisation which starts out as a reaction to the perceived corruption of the body-politick begins preaching an extremist interpretation of Islam. Over months and years, it grows in size, structure and rhetoric until it becomes a jihadist terrorist organisation. With the support of other such organisations across international borders, the jihadist group eventually matures into an insurgency which can both match the functions of the state as well as its security apparatus. Fully functional, professional and fully trained security forces, once respected nationally and internationally, are shown to be dysfunctional, amateurish and incompetent in front of the enemy – much to the astonishment of both national and international communities. As the armed forces are pushed back, the rule of law evaporates as the black flag of the new ‘Islamic Caliphate’ is raised. The seemingly inexorable rise of the Islamic State has caught the Iraqi government, much like the rest of the world, completely unaware. Their success in Syria went almost unnoticed by international statesmen and media before crossing the border into Iraq. By then it was too late. Though I have never been to either Iraq or Syria, the country of which I write is not in the Middle East. I am writing about an African country. I am writing about what has happened – still is happening, and will happen – in northern Nigeria. In August, the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekauannounced the occupation of the remote Nigerian border town of Gwoza in Borno State. With the conflict raging in Iraq, Shekau’s vocal support for the Islamic State and his establishment of a new ‘Islamic Caliphate’ in Northern Nigeria went almost unnoticed in the Western media. Just like the Islamic State, a key element of Boko Haram’s policy when expanding the territory they control is to ‘cleanse’ the population of those they consider to be ‘infidels’. In Gwoza, as has been the case across Northern Nigeria, they targeted Christians. It is impossible to estimate how many Christians were killed in a series of attacks on Gwoza before Boko Haram occupied the town, but testimony from those that managed to escape suggests hundreds if not thousands. Gwoza was just the start. To date, 16 local government areas that have reportedly fallen under the flag of Boko Haram. In July, a report by Human Rights Watch estimated at least 2,053 civilians were murdered by the insurgents in the first half of the year. Unfortunately, since Boko Haram escalated its campaign of genocide in August, that number is certain to have risen. And, it is not just Christians that suffer at the hands of Boko Haram’s insurgents. Animists, atheists and moderate Muslims are also regularly targeted. Recently, a suicide bomber killed at least 23 Shia Muslims while they celebrated Ashura in the town of Potiskum, Yobe State. Another grim and unnoticed parallel with Iraq. Massacres and kidnappings in schools – the worst nightmare of any American parent – are becoming a regular occurrence in the Norther East and elsewhere int he country. In September, with support from several other heads of state, President Obama promised “a counter-terrorism campaign” that “will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground.” But, it is overly naïve to believe that crushing the Islamic State in the Middle East will be sufficient to protect America’s interests without also removing a burgeoning African variant in Africa’s largest nation. The global nature of militant Islamic extremism and its adherents cannot be underestimated. One must decapitate each head of the Hydra in order to defeat it. I hope that President Obama and the rest of the international community will deliver on their promise and continue to provide support to the Iraqi government, but I also think that another terrorist group is claiming to have established another Islamic State, they will be true to the spirit of that promise and offer the same continued support to the Nigerian government as we too fight the same multi-headed monster. For the tens of thousands of dispossessed Northern Nigerians, and the families of the thousands of innocent civilians that have already been lost – particularly the Northern Christian community – it cannot come soon enough. •Phillips is of the Northern States Christian Elders Forum, Abuja. Original link Read More goo.gl/m1qDx9 (y) ✍comment ☏share
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 01:22:28 +0000
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