Ryan Coughlin

Period 3

February 14, 2017

Boko Haram

The topic I chose was Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamist terrorist group. This group has

severely affected Northern Nigeria and has negatively impacted the lives of countless families.

This group is founded on the idea of evil and needs to be wiped off the Earth. Boko Haram is

unethical and needs to be stopped because of their idea of forced religion, kidnapping of girls,

and random acts of terror in Northern Nigeria.

First of all, Boko Haram believes that everyone should follow Sharia Law, which is strict

Islamic beliefs, and if someone does not, they should be killed. They are completely against

western education and if anything or anyone is associated with it, they will be destroyed. The

group, Regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, regardless of whether the

president is Muslim or not- and it has extended its military campaign by targeting neighboring

states, (BBC News). They justify killing innocent lives by saying that it is the governments fault

that all of Nigeria doesnt believe in exactly what they do. As a non-state actor, Boko Haram

brings to our attention two international trends that threaten religious freedom. The first is

violent intolerance against members of ones own faith tradition. The second trend, recently

making headlines from Sudan, is the intersection of religious intolerance and social

marginalization. Both trends are deadly.(Patterson 3). This shows how groups outside of the

government can interfere with basic rights like religious freedom.

Secondly, Boko Haram is most known for their kidnapping of over 200 school girls in the

city of Chibok. They stripped these girls of all their rights and forced them to marry fighters and
some were even forced to suicide bomb different locations. It is known as one of the, greatest of

injustices in a world where suffering and injustice are all too common,(Ghitis 1). This news

sparked outrage in Nigeria and many of the world powers donated money and provided help to

find and rescue these girls. About 50 of the girls escaped and 20 were release, however over 150

of the girls are still missing. These women were undeserving of this horror that Boko Haram

brought to them and is the biggest reason Boko Haram needs to be exterminated.

Lastly, the Nigerian Islamist extremist group takes part and leads many deadly acts of

terror in local towns and cities in Northern Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon. Such acts inflict fear

amongst the large population of innocent lives including children. Many of the children of

Nigeria that join the terrorist group do so out of fear and confusion. In the state of Bauchi, 50

Boko Haram militants attack a prison, killing five people and releasing more than 700

inmates,(CNN Library 12). Boko Haram has done dozens acts similar to this that destroys

towns and the lives of the people who live there. Boko Haram militants raid three villages in the

northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, killing at least 145 people,(CNN Library 17). Countless

operations similar to this have been acted out by Boko Haram and it is evident that their violence

needs to be stopped.

Their point of view is that they are the protectors of the prophets teachings and the

enforcers of jihad. They feel that peace will never come if everyone is not following Sharia Law.

Their point of view is weak and their perspective is heavily limited. They do not care about

taking innocent lives and try to force others to think as they do. They are a group of terror and

have no right doing what they do.

 To conclude, my project focuses on the injustice in Northern Nigeria that has been

brought by the radical Islamist terror group known as Boko Haram. Their actions are

inconceivable and need to be eliminated due to their intolerance of religion, kidnapping of girls,

and acts of terror that they bring to local towns.