That would partly explain why Christians in the north have not been able to rely on the government to protect them from Boko Haram's jihadists. "Nigerian leader says Boko Haram threat worse than civil war," by Wole Oyetunji for Agence France-Presse, January 8:
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Sunday unrest blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram was worse than the 1960s civil war, with sect sympathisers in the government and security agencies.
The president, speaking at a church service in the capital Abuja, did not give details of the threat he vaguely described amid intense speculation over Boko Haram's aims, including its possible political links.
The group is thought to have varying factions with differing aims.
Boko Haram wants rule by Sharia alone, and has consistently attacked people, institutions, and practices that would stand in its way.
"The situation we have in our hands is even worse than the civil war that we fought," Jonathan said, referring to Nigeria's 1967-70 conflict that killed more than a million people.
While the death toll linked to violence blamed on Boko Haram has not reached anywhere near that level, Jonathan cited the unpredictability and pervasiveness of the threat.
"During the civil war, we knew and we could even predict where the enemy was coming from ... But the challenge we have today is more complicated."
Describing the extent of the problem, he said Boko Haram members and sympathisers could be found throughout society.
"I remember when I had a meeting with elders from the northeast and some parts of the northwest where the Boko Haram phenomenon is more prevalent," he said.
"Somebody said that the situation is bad, that even if one's son is a member, one will not even know. That means that if the person will plant a bomb behind your house, you won't know."
He added that "some of them are in the executive arm of government, some of them are in the parliamentary/legislative arm of government, while some of them are even in the judiciary.
"Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies."
At another point in the same speech, Jonathan said "politicians who justify killings in order to gain cheap political points are unpatriotic ...."
Boko Haram has been blamed for intensifying violence that has killed hundreds, including attacks targeting Christians and churches in recent weeks.
Jonathan's comments come with his government under mounting pressure to stop the violence and amid warnings from Christians that they will defend themselves....
Jihad-minded sharia-pushing Mohammedan Fifth Columnists in every area of government.
It isn't just Nigeria that has *that* particular problem, these days...
For sure, the UK government has plenty of Islamic sympathisers in its ranks, and 'ongoing relationships' with groups/individuals they should be breaking the doors down of at 4am and imprisoning/deporting.
And Scotland is even worse - stacked from top to bottom with Hamas and Hizbollah admirers...
"Jonathan's comments come with his government under mounting pressure to stop the violence and amid warnings from Christians that they will defend themselves...."
I certainly hope they have guns...they will need them...
Nigeria: What is Boko Haram?
Nigeria - President Goodluck Jonathan said the violent Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram has supporters within his own government.
Here are some facts about Boko Haram.
The group
* Boko Haram became active in about 2003 and is concentrated mainly in the northern Nigerian states of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna.
* Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria means "Western education is sinful", is loosely modelled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
* The group considers all who do not follow its strict ideology as infidels, whether they be Christian or Muslim. It demands the adoption of sharia, Islamic law, in all of Nigeria.
* Boko Haram followers have prayed in separate mosques in cities including Maiduguri, Kano and Sokoto, and wear long beards and red or black headscarves.
* The group last week published an ultimatum that Christians had three days to get out of northern Nigeria. Since the ultimatum, attacks in northeastern Nigeria have left many dead with hundreds of Christians fleeing to the south. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Nigeria on December 31, in a bid to contain the violence.
Some major attacks:
* In July 2009, Boko Haram staged attacks in the northeastern city of Bauchi after the arrest of some of its members, and clashed with police and the army in the northern city of Maiduguri. About 800 people were killed in five days of fighting in the two cities.
* Later that month, sect leader Mohammed Yusuf was captured by Nigerian security forces and shot dead in police detention some hours later.
* In early July 2010, Abubakar Shekau, a former deputy leader of the sect who was thought to have been killed by police in 2009, appeared in a video and claimed leadership of the group.
* In December 2010 the group said it was behind bombings in central Nigeria and attacks on churches in the northeast that led to the deaths of at least 86 people.
* On June 16 2011, a car bomb tore through a car park outside Nigeria's police headquarters in Abuja, killing at least two people. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the blast.
* On June 26 about 25 people were killed when several bombs exploded in the Dala ward of Maiduguri after suspected Boko Haram members threw bombs at a bar-cafe.
* On August 25, Boko Haram members attacked Gombi police station in the northeast, killing four policemen and one soldier before driving to the First Bank and Union Bank where they killed seven staff and took an unspecified amount of money.
* On August 26, a suicide bomber struck the UN building in Abuja. At least 23 people were killed and 76 wounded in the explosion. Boko Haram claimed responsibility on August 29, demanding the release of prisoners and an end to a security crackdown aimed at preventing more bombings.
- The blast was the first known suicide bombing in Nigeria. It marked an escalation in the group's tactics and revealed an increase in the sophistication of explosives it uses.
- At least 65 people were killed in the city of Damaturu and the village of Potiskum on November 04. The attacks, which also included a wave of bombings in Maiduguri, were some of the worst staged by the group.
- Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a series of bomb attacks across Nigeria on Christmas Day, including one at a church near Abuja that killed at least 37 people.
http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Nigeria-What-is-Boko-Haram-20120109