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Nigerian president says Boko Haram situation worse than civil war; jihad group has sympathizers in government and security agencies

Jan 9, 2012 12:07 am By Marisol Seibold

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….

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