Nigeria: In New YouTube Video, Leader of ‘Boko Haram’ Blames Christians for Forcing Him to Murder Them

Yeah, it’s always someone else’s fault:

Nigeria: Boko Haram Defends Attack on Christians as Violence Worsens

By Daniel Tovrov – IBT

The leader of Boko Haram, Nigeria’s deadly Islamic rebel group, said that the recent attacks on Christians were revenge for years of Muslim persecution.

Deferring blame away from his organization, Abubakar Shekau said in a video address that the Christmas Day church bombings that killed 49 Christians and other recent attacks were a direct response to the killings of Muslims in cities such as Jos, Kaduna, Zangon Kataf and Tafawa Balewa.

“We are also at war with Christians because the whole world knows what they did to us,” Shekau said in the video.

“They killed our fellows and even ate their flesh in Jos,” he added, referencing an incident in the tumultuous Plateau state where Christians killed and ate rivals after religious clashes.

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is split evenly between Christians and Muslim, with the former living primarily in the south and the latter in the north. Boko Haram, whose name translates roughly to “Western education is a sin,” wants to “abolish the secular system and establish an Islamic state” in Nigeria.

In its quest, Boko Haram has wantonly killed hundreds of people, including civilians, soldiers and politicians, and in recent weeks the group has specifically targeted Christian worshippers.

“Everyone has seen how we were treated, people have seen what has happened between us and armed security agents and their accomplices who give them information about us,” Shekau, who wore a bullet-proof vest and sat between two AK-47 rifles in the video, said.

Shekau also challenged President Goodluck Jonathan and Ayo Oritsejafor, the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria, saying that anyone who tried to stop Boko Haram would be killed.

Last week, Oritsejafor encouraged all Christians to take up arms and defend themselves against the Boko Haram menace.

“The consensus is that the Christian community nationwide will be left with no other option than to respond appropriately if there are any further attacks on our members, churches and property,” Oritsejafor stated.

“I will not encourage Christians to [exact] revenge, but Christians should protect themselves… anyway you can. Why should anybody come and kill you in your house? Protect your place of worship, protect your property; it is very important.”

[…]

After a year of near daily-attacks in parts of Nigeria, and despite the efforts of [President Goodluck] Jonathan’s JTF [Joint Task Force], violence in the country is still escalating.

Boko Haram allegedly shot eight people dead at a bar in in the town of Potiskum in Yobe state on Tuesday night. Five of those killed were policemen.

“The bodies included five policemen, a bartender, a customer and a 10-year-old girl,” a local doctor told Al Jazeera.

[…]
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Video of Shekau’s comments, in the Hausa language, below:

Explore posts in the same categories: Christians, Christians under attack, know your enemy, muslim Intolerance, Nigeria, Religiocide, Religion

Tags: church bombings, religious clashes

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