quarta-feira, 14 de janeiro de 2015

Boko Haram: the unstoppable terrorism?

Nobody knows for sure the number of people killed by the Boko Haram extremist group in recent weeks, but, judging by the number of attacks recorded in various parts of the country, may be concerned hundreds of people.

The Nigerian terrorist group's name means "Islamic education is a sin".

The methods of the Boko Haram include: mass killings, use of women and children in suicide attacks, rape and slavery.

Last weekend, while the construction of the tributes to the victims of the attack against the newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in France, the Boko Haram bomb women and children used to kill dozens of people in the Northwest of the country.

In recent months, there have been dozens of attacks. In Borno State, where in April had been abducted 223 girls, who were in a school, the Islamic radical group kidnapped more than 40 children on the last day of the year.

On Thursday, there was no record of a large-scale attack which would have cost the lives of 2,000 people, in Berry, strategic region in northeastern Nigeria. These advanced numbers by local authorities were denied by the Nigerian Ministry of defence, who mentioned the existence of 150 fatalities.

The Nigerian Government is unable to contain the terrorist threat and has been accused of minimizing the number of victims of terrorism.

The lack of coordination between Central and local authorities, the poverty of wide layers of the population and the disorganization of the country's armed forces are pointed with reasons for the inefficiency in the fight against terrorism.

In Nigeria, the President's policy is the target of criticism. Goodluck Jonathan expressed his regret for the attacks against the wording of the French newspaper but did not mention the aggressions of Boko Haram in their own country.

There are those who talk on the need for change of power. The forthcoming Nigerian elections will take place on 14 February.

The violence also threatens neighboring countries. Yesterday, a military base in Kolofata in Cameroon, was attacked by fighters of the group.

Today, the Government of Cameroon made it known that the armed forces of the country killed 143 Boko Haram fighters, during a military operation that lasted five hours.

In may 2014, the France hosted a mini-Summit with the Presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Benin to launch a global war against the Boko Haram, backed by Western countries. The European Union, Britain and the United States were invited to attend the meeting.

On that occasion, the French President stated that the Boko Haram had links to extremists of AQMI (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), without excluding the possibility of attacks on European soil.

This Monday, a message disclosed in various radical Islamist sites on the Internet, Al-Qaeda made it known that France paid the price of its aggression against Muslims ".

Nigeria is the largest oil exporter country of Africa (11 globally) and has a fundamental geostrategic position in the Gulf of Guinea. An important economic sector at regional level. Sao Tome has signed an agreement with Nigeria to create a Joint development zone between the two countries for oil and gas exploration.

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