Boko Haram Acts Like ISIS in Nigeria

Call them the ISIS or IS of Africa because that is what the terrorist Sharia law Islamic Muslim group, Boko Haram is. Unlike many others in the and around the Horn of Africa, Boko Haram seems to be growing bolder, obtaining more troops and weapons as territory once controlled by the Nigerian Army, falls to them. Like the pathetic Iraqi troops who fled at the sight of ISIS troops near Mosul that gave them a city and millions of US equipment, the Nigerian Army is just as apathetic when trying to fight Boko Haram. By comparison, this terrorist group looks like the ISIS of Africa and shares the same crude, sick, form of Islam.

It seems like history is repeating far too soon. The latest conquest by them was the seizure of the town of Baga on Lake Chad. The attack followed the ISIS pattern, rapidly moving in trucks that were heavily armed causing chaos and fear in the early morning. The Nigerian Army fired a few shots but then bolted to save their skins, as did most of the population. By lunchtime, the group had control over the last army base in the northeast of Nigeria once manned by the Nigerian Army. Boko Haram gained a new cache of weapons and ammunition.

Boko has seized a chunk of Nigeria the size of Belgium, mostly in the remote northeast corner because there is no resistance to speak of. The Nigerian Army fled as did 1.5 million who once lived there. In the past nine months, the group has conducted an offensive in the region controlling towns, cities and army bases. One-fifth of the Nigerian budget is spent on the military but as oil prices plummet, Nigeria is hurting since 80% of its revenue is from the black crude.

The ironic thing about the fall of Baga is that it was the center for coordination and intelligence between Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The base was well equipped. But as US drones looked for the missing kidnapped girls that were taken and sold as slaves in 2014, Boko focused on attacking towns and cities in an ISIS style fear campaign randomly killing hundreds for no reason.

Since 2011, the group has killed 16,000. But of that total, 11,245 were killed in 2014 alone. That number qualifies them as a major threat in Africa, a very poor place where young men can easily be recruited for a couple of bucks. While the nations capital is not threatened yet, residents of Abuja are nervous of how the army simply fled.