Heaven only knows what their motive was except that they might have found something about the tea sellers to go against Sharia, as they have already killed two of them.
The group has thus far been quite focused in its targeting of practices and institutions that would be forbidden under Islamic law, including card games (connotations of gambling), banks that may charge interest, and alcohol use, as well as law enforcement and offices of the current government. “Shoppers help Nigeria police disarm, kill 2 gunmen,” from the Associated Press, October 6:
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) “” Police say tea shop customers helped disarm and kill two members of a feared radical sect in Nigeria’s restive northeast.
The Borno state police chief says two gunmen planned to kill 25-year-old tea shop owner Yahuza Gwoza in Maiduguri Wednesday evening.
Don’t cross tea shoppers:
Simeone Midenda says customers wrestled the attackers and shot one of them dead with his own weapon. He said officers later shot the second one dead.
Police say two other tea sellers were killed in the area last week.
Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the local Hausa language, has targeted police, soldiers, clerics, politicians and traditional leaders over the last year. They have also claimed responsibility for an Aug. 26 car bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria that killed 23 people.