SUICIDE BOMBINGS AND TERRORISM IN NIGERIA | KIDNAPPINGS AND KILLINGS | BOKO HARAM'S CASE FILE



            Apart from other patterns of terrorism like gun-shot kind of terrorism, kidnapping, detonation of incendiary weapons etc. suicide bombing and or suicide terrorism seem alien to the Nigeria State. The first suicide terrorism that has been recorded in Nigeria is the case of Mohammed Manga. He was the man who bombed the Nigeria police force headquarters in Abuja on June 16, 20111. After manga’s successful bombing or suicide terrorism that has been recorded in Nigeria is the case of Mohammed manga. After manga’s success with the suicide bombing, there have been records of suicide bombing from June 2011, to December 2013.

            Suicide bombing is the most recent style adopted by the Boko Haram with Mohammed manga being a clasicus. Subsequent upon manga’s action, on August 26 2011, there was another strike by a suicide bomber at the United Nations Headquarters, Abuja Nigeria’a capital territory. This incident killed about eighteen people2.[1] According to Chidi Anselm Odinkalu of the Open Society Justice initiative, “The logic of Boko Haram has been essentially inward looking to now seek to attack the U.N entirely departs from the narrative they have so far constructed. That’s the most worrying thing about this. It makes Boko Haram an international threat3”. This is to say that the Boko Haram insurgency has metamorphosed into the Al Qaeda form of terrorism and carries with it, global threat.
            Unlike its southern counterpart, the Boko Haram has adopted suicide terrorism to imbue terror and frustration in the incumbent Nigerian government for a reason(s) best known to them. While the southern militants have a defined reason for their insurgency, the Boko Haram has failed to define their reason or aim. The former claims a “lion’s share” from the oil money as the oil is being extracted from their land.
            The use of suicide by the Boko Haram insurgency now attracts global concern that tasks security organization. This has become a formidable tactic by the Boko Haram in its war against the Nigeria State. The pedigree of this organization is traceable to 2009, under the leadership of Mallam, Yusuf Mohammed4.
[2] According to wikipedia rating, Nigeria ranks seventh globally with Iraq coming first, Pakistan second, Afghanistan third, India-forth, Yemen fifth and Somalia- sixth etc5. The reason for Nigeria to rise rapidly to the seventh position in the world’s terrorism table is not unconnected with the cases of the militants in the south, the Boko Haram in the north, Mohammed, Manga, Mujaheed, Adebalajo and his brother (the Nigerians that decapitated a British soldier in Woolwich London, and Abdul Mutallab (the Nigeria who attempted bombing an American airline).
            If Nigerian government fails to “curb” this menace of terrorism with the most needed machinery, I wonder what will be the position of Nigeria in the next fifteen years in the global terrorist rating. The person that would have taken the title of the “first Nigerian suicide bomber” before manga was Abdul Mutallab. But he failed.  On December 25, 2009, 23 year old Abdul Mutallab “the under wear bomber” failed in his attempt to detonate plastic bombs in northern west airlines flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit. He remains [3] the first and only Nigerian suicide bomber whose mission failed. His age is a great concern!
            Mutallab’s background is in contrast with the notion that suicide bombers used by the Boko Haram are urchins, illiterates and uniformed .Abdul Mutallab’s robust financial background is a sharp contrast to this claim.
            On the 22 day of May, 2013, a Nigerian Michael Adebolojo with his brother, Muhhajeed Adebolojo was arrested for a terror attack.
            Michael Adebolajo and his accomplice are believed to have run down the off-duty walked back to the Woolwich Barracks at 2:20pm on that 22day of May, 2013, crushing his body against a road sign. Witnesses said that the terror suspects then “hacked and chopped” at his body like “crazed animals” before dragging his corpse into the middle of the road leaving a trail of blood. This is barbarism at its extreme!
            All these terror –related offences committed by Nigerians within and without Nigeria contribute in ranking Nigeria among the world’s terrorist states. We have now known the extent of both suicide bombing and other patterns of terrorism in Nigeria. Globally, Nigeria is rated seventh in terrorist activities. In the subsequent topics in this chapter, we shall be considering both local and international laws on terrorism.


1 www.nairaland.com visited on 17th January, 2014
2 www.nytimes.com visited on February, 2014
3 In  an interview with newsmen 
4chapter two for the history of the Boko Haram
5 www.wikipedia.org     
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