"When we receive intelligence that Boko Haram members are in a particular location, we usually arrive on the scene spraying bullets. Innocent people die but that happens all the time in Nigeria and we are under a lot of pressure from our superiors to deliver results,"

Breath - all taken away

Northern secession in order to form a religiously pure Muslim nation is also not an option for the north's elites as the country's wealth lies in other regions and they show scant inclination of being willing to give up their access to all that oil cash.

Which in turn must make it a rather tempting option for the south's elites. I wonder what the odds might be on Nigeria following the same path recently taken by Sudan?

This being the guardian, we must not forget that 'islamitself' has nothing at all to do with any of this.

they must know Nigeria's 80 million Christians will never accept the establishment of nation-wide sharia law

They might have to accept it. Non-Muslims in Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia are having to accept it. Non-Muslims in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets may have to accept it. The Religion of Peace has a poor track record in respecting the rights of other faiths and beliefs.

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

Let the north secede and enjoy sharia law! All the oil is in the east and south of the country.

It's either that or pay them off, because it's a badly kept secret that the military have been safeguarding Boko Haram terrorists- (all of the top Nigerian military officers are from the Northern states). The military will do nothing!

The CIA were correct, Nigeria will disintegrate by 2015. If seccession will save the lives of innocent people then so be it.

The group is backed by powerful northern politicians who use the organisation as political muscle

I didn't know this, but I might have guessed. Same shit everywhere.

Celtiberico....with Nigeria, it's quite complicated...most of the oil is in a region (Niger Delta) where an ethnic minority lives not any of the biggest ethnic groups...none of the three major groups, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa would be willing to let the Niger Delta region enjoy all that oil wealth alone...although the Yorubas who live in the south and south west and the Igbos who live in the east would probably offer the least resistance to a break up of the country...but the Northerners whose only access to wealth is through the plundering of the oil money would fight the hardest to prevent such a brea up

Sorry to spoil all the fun, but isn't there room for slight nuance in all this Islam-baiting? There are different denominations, tribes, ethnic groups and other varieties within this huge world faith.

I'm no fan of religion, and Islam is among the most ridiculous and oppressive, but lumping all Muslims into one generic category of hate is counter-productive. I'm not calling you Islam-baiters 'racist', but the language you use only exacerbates divisions and makes possible conciliation all that more difficult.

dynamo1940..I would argue that the difference with Nigeria in comparison to Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia is that the Christians are not a minority but approximately half the population....50 percent will have a hard time forcing 50 percent to live by their rules.....Nigeria is actually the only country in the world where its a 50-50 proportion of Muslims and Christians...in other nations, one religious group is always dominant number-wise

For more information see:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2011/jan/04/nigerians-top-optimism-poll

That's the Guardian declaring:

Nigeria: The happiest place on earth

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

The cultural relativists observe. But they stubbornly refuse to see.

Nigeria is an example of a country on the cusp of becoming Islamic: its population is now about 50% Muslim.

Therefore it is subject to continuous low-level internecine warfare, punctuated by occasional flare-ups into massive violence, such as the Christmas Day bombings that killed dozens of people.

This is utterly inevitable and occurs everywhere that aggressive Islamism exists today and has existed in the past. After all, isn't history littered with cultures and civilisations made extinct by aggressive Islamism?

BlueJewel:

Islam itself has nothing to do with the ideology of Boko Haram - not least of all because they violate all of its tenets, and do so consciously. If you read the article, it's perfectly plain that the ambitions of the group are political; and that they are backed by politicians. Back under your bridge.

I agree with the first poster though: the cynicism and callousness of both Boko Haram and the Nigerian government is truly breath-taking.

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

All these denominations etcetera are but different colours of the same oppressive dogma. Can you point out any of these denominations, ethnic groups and other varieties that fights for the rights of homosexuals and women? Or perhaps a variety that does not prescribe death for its apostates in accordance with the Qu'ran, whether it carries out this prescription or not. I'd be interested to see the results.

I don't know what Guardian you've been reading, but most of us don't hold a great deal of preference for any of the popular myths.

How about a division of Nigeria along religious lines? Both parts to join the Commonwealth.

Nigeria is not a nation - it's just a geographical expression.

What do they plan to do, arm Christians with AK-47s?

What?! Armed, sectarian militias? In Africa of all places?!

Unimaginable I'm sure.

Nor do I - but over a few months a certain click of people seem to take Christianity and yehudah religion and blame it on everything that is wrong in the world without adding certain other myths because they are too "right on"

All these denominations etcetera are but different colours of the same oppressive dogma. Can you point out any of these denominations, ethnic groups and other varieties that fights for the rights of homosexuals and women? That is a very thought-provoking question HarshTruth.....However, I think there are two very disticnt Christianities....the christianity of the old testament and the christianity of the new testament....most Christian preacerhs today focus on the new testament which is much more humane than the old one...unfortunately in Islam, there was no such "softening" and "modernizing" of the message...it is the whole Quran which counts so any evil-minded Imam can pick a verse similar to say "an eye for an eye" in the old testament and say this is Allah's word, this is his will....if a Christian preacher used such an old testament message today, his congregation would be confounded

50 percent will have a hard time forcing 50 percent to live by their rules

Many thanks for your response to my comment. It goes without saying that you know a great deal more about Nigeria than I do. So I hope your optimism is better informed than my pessimism.

But we have to keep in mind that Islam is a supremacist faith. I'm not so confident that even numbers make good odds for Christians in Nigeria.

Nigeria is not a nation - it's just a geographical expression....that is a brutal but accurate description silliband

Is there any room for a secular voice? It increasingly looks as though trying to protect one or other cult from the viewpoints of other cults does little more than keep the bombs and bullets bouncing around the room in a perpetual cycle of hatred and violence.

What is the value of arguing that neither God nor Allah nor Jahve even exists, that all you achieve when you kill somebody is yet another corpse that will rot away leaving a wake of grieving family members, that there is no nobility in lobbing bombs at churches or mosques because nothing in the uninhabited sky will thank you for it, that all that suicide bombers face post-act is the stone-cold fact that their career, family life, brain and breath is utterly finished and will be reviled, not congratulated?

It's just that, every time religious violence happens, and pacifying voices come from religious leaders around the world condemning the act but not its parent belief-system, I get the impression that we give sop and excuse to the violence. Enough of churches, build farms.

"Christianity on the Guardian is the evil of evils."

What utter rot.

variation31

I agree with most of what you're saying there; but that's not the agenda of some posters.

There is an appalling political conflict in Nigeria; and yet despite the military and a militia killing numerous civilians, several readers are trying to exploit the issue for reasons of their own prejudice. I'm not sure which is more heartless, personally.

Can you point out any of these denominations, ethnic groups and other varieties that fights for the rights of homosexuals and women?

Nuance for goodness sake. That's what I was calling for - merely recognition that there are differences and varieties in the practice of Islam, contingent upon place, ethnic group etc etc. I've met a number of liberal muslim men and women in my day who are not homophobic and who do not subscribe to a parochial patriarchal worldview.

I suspect you're going to retaliate by saying "yes, but they've probably been westernised or aren't 'true muslims'", but would you assign the same rigid criteria for describing Christians: "they're not 'real' Christians because they're not homophobic proselytizers etc etc*

*I've already noted my aversion to Islam and how it is among the 'worst' of the world's religions. I'm also willing to admit it's dogma is worse than Christianity's.

What I take issue with is the open willingness to ignore nuance and difference within Islam and generalise its worst excesses. Smacks of bigotry to me.

with Nigeria, it's quite complicated

I know it's quite complicated. That, frankly, is what worries me - the combination of sectarian, linguistic and ethno-tribal divisions, oil-wealth, a corrupt political elite and a heavy-handed military with an unpleasant history of interventionism - all this in one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest and most important countries - makes for a potent and toxic cocktail: one which could result in blood-letting on a massive scale and destabilisation of the whole of West Africa.

Thanks for the response. Christianity does indeed have the benefits of two testaments; both indeed are very polarised. The problem with Islam that it the Qu'ran is essentially the Old Testament of Islam; there is no new testament, at least not yet, that preaches something somewhat different to the abhorrent content of the Old one. Thus, while Christians can rebuke many of the charges put toward them from the Old Testament by invoking Jesus and the New Testament, Muslims do not have this luxury.

It is important to note however, that not once did Jesus forsake or cast away the 'Law' of the Old Testament (There is a quotation to the effect of Jesus proclaiming that every 'jot' and 'tittle' of the Old Testament must still be followed, I shall try to track it down), and the more obvious thing before us that most Bibles come intact with the Old Testament alongside the New Testament, so we must likewise be careful of cherry picking when it comes to these things; one minute the Old Testament might be claimed to be irrelevant to a point made, the next, it could be claimed that it is central.

You are absolutely right - it looks here as if the 'clash of civilisations' could be masking a deliberate manipulation by Northern politicians to increase their access to the oil money. But I expect the thread will turn into the usual theological debate with interesting insights into the fall of the Ottoman empire.

You are of course right that Muslims should not be thrown into one basket...I grew up in Nigeria, our neighbors whose kids I used to play with everyday were Muslims and religion (Christian vs. Muslim) was never even an issue in discussions of adults then, much less children of course (although I should add the neighbours were Southern Muslims from the Yoruba ethnic group)

I add that fact because apart from the religious divide between southern and northern Nigeria, there is also an etnic divide....a Northern Hausa Muslim does not really accept a Southern Yoruba Muslim as "one of his own"...........the Southern Muslims of whom there not many are usually more in tune with their ethnic group's culture than with Islam itself while in the North, Islam is a very strong part of the Hausa's culture....

the fact is that before all this Christian-Muslim antagonism caused by all this Boko Haram attacks, religion wasn't a divisive issue for say 90 percent of Nigerians...but as i tried to state in the article, the real brains behind all this Boko Maram madness don't give a toss about God, Allah or whatever...their God is mammon...anything else is just a path to reach their true God:)

The history of the delta is actually linked to the Igbo and closely affiliated groups. Even the current president, his indigenous non Christian names are in Igbo.

The Niger delta traditionally belonged in the eastern region and to this day has substantial Igbo native populations that have long intermingled with the ijaw and others. Let's not revise history here brother. The Ogoni man Ken saro wiwa was a Igbo hating (by his own admission) informant during the civil war, but the majority of ethnic groups there in the delta sided with Biafra.

As for Boko Haram, it's just the latest manifestation of anti Christian terror in the country. From the Igbo pogroms in the 6o's, various massacres in the 70's, maitatsine in the 80's to the jos and other killings, it's evident that with or without northern elite backing, the local group of Hausa Muslim do not take much to kill their Christian (normally Igbo) brethren.

I remember a brief conversation I had with you when I outlined the northern backers for Boko haram but was unable to give you the details on this platform. It was well known then and it is now.

There is a script being played out here, that will lead to the return of the (northern Muslim cabal of thieves aka) military. The problem we have is that in the south too we are now lacking men of substance. The awolowo's, Zik's ojukwu's have not been replaced and these southern sycophants do not support any interest unless it involves the accumaltion of wealth in their Swiss and British bank accounts.

Jonathan does not have power. Even his godfather, obasanjo, answers to a northern drum. There is no hope, especially with this imposed buffoon masquerading as president. The silence of the power-brokers is deafening...

The sectarians of Christianity and Islam with their gay hating and other murderous antics are ramping things up just in time for the government to impose a state of emergency to police not them but it own policy announced last week of doubling of petrol prices by removing subsidies. A joint struggle of all Nigeria's poor and working classes is needed to combat this government's austerity drive and the semi-colonial robber state it represents.

There is an undeniable theological/religious aspect to the problem however. Of course, it might get taken out of hand, but i'd rather that than we people pussy-footed about the religious side of the problems/Troubles here in Northern Ireland for example. I found it rather cringe-worthy in the day watching the lengths people would go to if it means not having bring Catholocism/Protestantism up when discussing the issues at hand.

There is no chance of this. The mindset of the collective has intentionally destroyed. The rise of evangelical churches and the introduction of Wahhabi Islam saw to that. These poor are, as always, pointing the gun at the wrong enemy.

My first comment on here was in reference to this post you made, for some reason I couldn't link it.

The awolowo's, Zik's ojukwu's have not been replaced and these southern sycophants do not support any interest unless it involves the accumaltion of wealth in their Swiss and British bank accounts. My brother you are spot on with that....Its a big shame that 45 years after Ojukwu declared Biafra because of pogroms of Ndigbos in the north...Boko Haram are now threatening the same pogroms to all non-Muslims (in fact I am sure they mean non-Hausa or Fulani too) in the north.......we have come round full circle...as child brought up in Yoruba-dominated Lagos, I never really bought the arguments of my Ndigbo friends that Ojukwu was right then...but as an adult seeing what's going on now...I understand that move perfectly

"There are different denominations, tribes, ethnic groups and other varieties within this huge world faith."

Of course there are. However, the extremist element do not represent a "tiny minority" - that prefix that bodies such as the BBC and Guardian attach by default should they even go as far as using the term "Islamic Extremists".

Various polls show that a frighteningly high 30% of British Muslims believe that, in principle, someone who leaves Islam ought to be killed.

According to the Pew Research Centre, for Muslims in Pakistan, that proportion rises to a staggering 90%.

Such views define extremism. They are illiberal, totalitarian and fascistic by the very definition of those terms.

Of course it’s true that the vast majority of Muslims oppose Al Qaida, violence and ‘terrorism’ (depending upon how they choose to define that word). However, the inconvenient truth is that a very high proportion of Muslims worldwide support an interpretation of Islam that is anything but ‘moderate’.

These poor are, as always, pointing the gun at the wrong enemy.....I love that statement brother:)

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

There are different denominations, tribes, ethnic groups and other varieties within this huge world faith.

I'm no fan of religion, and Islam is among the most ridiculous and oppressive, but lumping all Muslims into one generic category of hate is counter-productive. I'm not calling you Islam-baiters 'racist', but the language you use only exacerbates divisions and makes possible conciliation all that more difficult.

Islam is remarkably monolithic, especially compared to Christianity say. It only has two main sects! Basically it all boils down to the Koran, which is very clear (as it itself boasts). I appreciate what you're saying but we should be open to the possibility that conciliation might not be possible.

Thanks for this, RemiAdekoya, I had the feeling religion was being hijacked* as always for political reasons but didn't know enough about the history to go into specifics.

* Not letting Islam or religion off the hook, but really anything can be used as an excuse for repression - look at George W. Bush launching wars in the name of "free'm".

Brother I recommend you look up an Englishman's take on Biafra, Frederick Forsyth. He outlined the massacres that led to it, and even then ojukwu still believed in Nigeria. It was the reluctance to compensate and address the legitimate grievances of the thousands who perished that forced his hand.

Anyhow, even in Lagos, it always had at least 35 per cent Igbo population. Lagos attitude informs us of what the mentality is of southerners, irrespective of ethnic group. They marry, live together, share places of worship (Muslim or Christian) without this fanatical element they have in the north.

The only hope for everybody is to partition the nation from the middle belt. Gideon Orkar came closest with the taking of dodan barracks in 91. It is the only way to avert further bloodshed.

Of course and his "you are either with us or against us line" would have made any religious or political extremist proud

"Dear Fellow Brothers and Sisters in Islam, it is with great sadness that we have heard the devastating news of the deplorable acts of violence committed against our brothers and sisters of the Christian faith in Nigeria."

Of course the overwhelming majority of Islamic scholars and ordinary Muslims would condemn the murders that occurred in Nigeria.

But how many would they condemn, unequivocally, the establishment of sharia law and the compulsion of everyone, including non-Muslims to bow to those laws?

How many would condemn, unequivocally the imposition of brutal and barbaric hudud punishments for homosexuality and sex outside of marriage?

Do you think that “Imam Mohamed Magid President, Islamic Society of North America” would be willing to stick his neck out and support unequivocally, the right of a Muslim to change their religion from Islam to say, Christianity, here and anywhere throughout the world, today and at any time in an 'ideal' future?

Why are there so very few prominent Muslims and Islamic scholars out there who have gone on record as condemning, unequivocally, their co-religionists who say that, in an ideal world, converts from Islam ought to be killed?

So forgive me, but until the Imam you quote is willing to condemn all of the evils that are promoted in the name of Islam, then I’ll take his no doubt sincere statement regarding the killings in Nigeria as I would an equally sincere statement from Nick Griffin condemning the lynching of black people.

So forgive me, but until the Imam you quote is willing to condemn all of the evils that are promoted in the name of Islam, then I’ll take his no doubt sincere statement regarding the killings in Nigeria as I would an equally sincere statement from Nick Griffin condemning the lynching of black people.....that's funny:)

Their leader in Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto went to Harvard Uni, U.S for a speach around Nov last year and told his audience at an interview, he has no regard for Nigeria Constitution and knows nothing about it as he only read the Koran and believe in Sharia Law. Nigeria government did not try him for treason.

For those who do not know Nigeria, there is not much to fear about the Islamists imposing Sharia on Nigeria as a country. Nothern Nigeria is far too backward and poverty ridden to affect Nigeria like any other Islamic countries. All that is good about Nigeria comes from the South. The part of the South (Yoruba), that has a sizeable muslim population inter - marry. It is as easy as life itself to see a wife who is christian and husband who is muslim, just as it is to see a husband who is a christian and muslim wife. Their children completely has the freedom to chose a religion or not to believe.

why fight over something that doesnt exist anyway?

Islam itself has nothing to do with the ideology of Boko Haram

Nothing? Nothing at all? Where does the concept of sharia come from? From Wikipedia: "Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah."

What you are saying is equivalent to saying the Crusades had nothing to do with Christianity. Obfuscation, pure and simple.

not least of all because they violate all of its tenets, and do so consciously.

In the same way Christians eat shellfish, Islam is much more than a set of rules from the 7th century - it is a culture, a political system and a way of life. That is why Islam does not get off scot free in this respect.

It was disgusting how BBC journalists try to portray Boko Haram as a group that strikes Muslims and Christians equally. Some time after the deadly Christmas attacks, there was a bomb explosion in the vicinity of a mosque. That was enough for these reporters to claim that things are balanced.