Causes Of Boko Haram In Africa

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Imagine living in a place of fear and tragedy, where your life is at stake every second. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is one of Africa’s more prosperous countries but it faces problems with terror every day. Extremists have been a growing threat in West Africa due to the fact that they are known to be the highest contributor to humanitarian crises. The extremist group Boko Haram, who also refer to themselves as the West African Province, have been involved in the massacres of many innocent lives in Nigeria since 2002. They aim to create a nation state of Islam through tremendous violence. The world leaders such as the African Union and the European Union need to take action by ensuring peace talks because their inhumane treatment of children…show more content…
Boko Harm’s intention is to have power, and they are using religion to justify their attacks on innocent lives. Nordwall says, “Boko Haram was not only interested in education. Its political goal was to create an Islamic state, and the school became a recruiting ground for jihadis.” Overall they want to implement Sharia laws and Safalism in African nations. Boko Haram shares similar beliefs with ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Due to the ample funding of ISIS, Boko Haram has allied with ISIS. Both ISIS and the Boko Haram are a threat to global security and neither of these groups are losing momentum. The Boko Haram is also growing in size due to factionalism. (CITE SOURCE) define “Perhaps the clearest example of factionalism within Boko Haram was the formation in 2012 of an alleged splinter movement known as Ansaru. Although the exact origins of Ansaru remain subject to contention, it is believed that the militant group was formed following a leadership struggle between Shekau and Boko Haram commander and former al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) operative Khalid al-Barnawi (African…show more content…
Moreover, attacks have been expanded beyond Nigeria, targeting innocent children, women and men in neighboring countries as well. As a result of the Boko Haram increasing presences, the issue is constantly growing daily and people’s lives remain under threat. One argument suggests that any attempt to successfully label Boko Haram as a terrorist group may be difficult to achieve, given that terrorism is “intended to be a matter of perception and is thus seen differently by different observers”(Cronin, 2004, p.40). More importantly, a group becomes a terrorist organization particularly when the state or even the international communities brand it as one. For now, the Nigerian government has refrained from calling the group as terrorists, referring to it as a ‘murderous religious group (Ogunrotifa,

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