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Killings in Nigeria

Crimes against civilians in Nigeria are rampant at the hands of militant groups. The suicide attack on a school, which killed scores of pupils, in the northeastern town of Potiskum is cowardice in essence.

It seems to be an attempt to intimidate the process of enforcing the rule of law. The embattled government of President Goodluck Jonathan had opened a number of vistas to reach out to the militants, including the dreaded Boko Haran, which literally runs a parallel state in Nigeria.

Though Jonathan has political reasons behind the rapprochement moves, as he intends to stand for a second-term, the policy of winning over the militants to neutralise their nefarious designs is laudable. But it seems the Boko Haram is not convinced and has off and on resorted to tactics such as kidnapping for ransom, forceful conversions and target killing of people from non-Muslim communities. Such brutal acts are now the order of the day and the influence of Boko Haram extends well beyond Nigeria into neighbouring countries such as Chad and Cameroon.

It is an irony that efforts on behalf of Nigeria as well as the international conglomerate, including the United States and the European Union, to target Boko Haram hideouts had borne little results. Moreover, what makes the like of ISIS in Africa more dangerous is the fact that ideologically they are after every community that wants to educate its wards and develop the social strata. To be precise, it is a reactionary cult and has to be exterminated. The killing of schoolchildren should be avenged and Boko Haram made to pay for its sins.