Terrorism in Nigeria?
Mary Madigan
Via All Africa
A United States intelligence expert and former ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Princeton Lyman, has said that after the dreaded Middle East terrorist group, Al-Qaeda was chased out of Afghanistan, it has shifted base to Nigeria in which its influence is growing by the day.According to the Christian World News, this ethnic cleansing, or "Islamization" has already taken over much of Nigeria:Lyman in a report on the American television news station, CBN News, quoted a United Nations investigation which he said uncovered al-Qaeda's surreptitous training and building bases in Nigeria in support of his conclusion that the country is a natural target for terrorists seeking to expand their operations..
...In the last 12 months, al Qaeda-linked groups have launched a series of attacks on several oil-rich countries, including Nigeria.
CIA's new director, while briefing the congress after his appointment had expressed concern that the allure of fanatical Islam is attracting an alarming number of people from Nigeria's Muslim community. The rise of religious extremism is threatening to turn Africa's most populous nation into a breeding ground for international terrorists...
.."The Africa, or the sub-Saharan African bureaus of the CIA, were cut to the bone. They lost two-thirds of their station in West Africa, and the stations that remained were staffed at less than half the level they had been before. So you are talking about a huge cut in our ability to monitor these areas of the world," he said.
Farah says that is one reason why U.S. intelligence failed to anticipate the stunning spread of radical Islam across Africa.
He added, "but particularly in West Africa. The Wahabbi strain of Islam, which preaches hatred to the West and is largely funded by Saudi charities, moved in very rapidly in the early 90s. And it is something that people are only now discovering, and only now starting to focus on in a very minimal way."
Paul Marshall, a human rights advocate, says it is Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi strain of Islam, that is fueling much of the Islamic fervor in Nigeria.
Marshall said, "You go there and you'll find the Saudis, and you find the Sudanese there, you find the Libyans there, you find Syrians there, Pakistanis there, and it's all part of a world-wide Islamization."
And not only is Al Sunna Wal Jamma trying to Talibanize Nigeria, it is also offering the full menu of Taliban-style justice: chopping off a hand for theft, stoning adulterers, caning for drinking alcohol, and serving up death for anyone who leaves Islam.Kabiru A. Yusuf of All Africa pooh-poohs the fears of Taliban-style extremism..From Sudan to Kenya to Tanzania to here in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, Islamists are pushing to either expand or implement Sharia law."
Nigeria is almost there. To date, 12 of 36 states have adopted Sharia law.
Dozens of people are in jail waiting to be either stoned to death, have their hands chopped off, or be flogged.
I don't know if there are any actual or even potential terrorist bases in Nigeria. But my experience with such claims makes me instinctively skeptical. I assume that many of such speculative reports say more about those making them than the actual situation on the ground. In any case history has shown that the best way to create extremists of any type is first through oppression, and second by attempting to label and isolate the oppressed, and finally by using force to suppress their protest. At this point any self-respecting community will do anything to throw off this yoke.According to the CWN report, more than 10,000 have died in religious violence since Sharia law was first introduced in 1999.
Is Yusef suggesting that the many potential victims of Sharia should "throw of this yoke?" Not a bad idea...
Meanwhile, the Islamist genocide continues in the Sudan..
[Links thanks to Winds of Change]
I'm not sure, but I'd guess that Nigeria is influenced by the same problems that have been destroying the Sudan and Mauritania, Islamization and Shariah law.
According to one Mauritanian ex-slave:
"since the Arab world realized that the African continent was ripe for the taking they have been trying to Arabize it and dominate it since. The Saudis are controlling the Mosques more and more with their money and that they are driving the blacks out of the country that don't agree to their policies and influence through direct/indirect policies. He said hundreds of thousands have fled to neighboring countries already"
As for the adoption of Sharia in Nigeria - a few years ago I recall reading research that attempted to explain the popularity of Sharia courts in Nigeria thusly: unlike the traditional court system, the Sharia courts were (a) quick, (b) cheap, and (c) reasonably incorruptable. That made them an attractive alternative to the very slow, expensive, and corrupt courts run by the Nigerian regime.