Boko Haram Controls New Town In Africa, Rejects Ceasefire With Nigerian Government

Boko Haram, the militant Islamist extremist group that has been wrecking havoc in Nigeria, has released a new video. It purports to show them in control of an unidentified town, dismissing rumors of a ceasefire with the government and reinforcing claims of a caliphate within the country.

Beyond the borders of Nigeria, Boko Haram is perhaps most notorious for the kidnapping of nearly 300 school girls in April from the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. The girls were between the ages of sixteen and eighteen and were in their final year of school. They were taken from the Government Girls Secondary School while taking final exams in physics.

The full name of the groups is Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means “People of the Sunnah (the practice and examples of the Prophet Muhammad’s life) for Preaching and Jihad Group.” Boko Haram is a simplified moniker that translates roughly to Western education is a sin.

Boko Haram has launched attacks against a variety of targets, from schools to the United Nations. It has perpetuated murders, bombings, kidnappings and other forms of violence in an attempt to make Nigeria an Islamist state. Many nations have tried to negotiate a truce and ceasefire between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government, but all such attempts have failed. Most recently, according to this Inquisitr report, the group refused to return the kidnapped school girls and told their families that all the girls had been converted and married off.

Boko Haram doesn’t seem to have ambitions beyond the borders of Nigeria, but they have created plenty of trouble there in the five years they have been waging this campaign. What started as a protest against what the militants saw as a corrupt government has grown into an indiscriminate war against all who oppose their mission; government or civilian. Upwards of 3,000 people have been killed, and more than a quarter million have fled their homes ahead of the terrorist attacks.The lack of infrastructure, sanitation and medical care in the area makes it especially hazardous for those displaced by the violence.

The Islamist terror group has been especially vicious when attacking Christians, whom Boko Haram has ordered to convert, leave Nigeria or prepare to be killed. The terrorists have burned dozens of churches, often while packed with worshipers and slaughtered every priest they can get their hands on. Nigeria has a population of 180 million, 90 million of whom are practicing Christians living in constant fear.

The latest video features the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, preaching to a group of cheering local supporters from the back of an armored vehicle with a substantial amount military hardware on display. In the video, he restates claims that the group has indeed established an Islamist Caliphate (an Islamist state with a caliph as the religious and political leader with absolute power and authority) within the country, presumably with himself as the caliph. The authenticity of the video is hard to establish.