Urgent Prayer for our Troops in Africa who are fighting there.

Dear Family

I am in Urgent Prayer for my dear Friend Carlos W. Rivera who is an Air Force Pilot fighting in Africa against Boko Haram. he is a child of God and I am asking for prayer for him and his troops. They are in grave danger. Please pray for all of our troops who are world wide fighting for Freedom for the people in Africa, Iraq, and Afganistan, and everywhere our troops are fighting.They were attacked, and they have been re-located. Please pray for my dear friend, and his troops. here is a link to show you what they are up against.

God Bless You All

Rev. Carol Ann

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[edit] Etymology

The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".

But residents of Maiduguri, where it was formed in 2002, dubbed it Boko Haram. Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, this means Western education is forbidden. Residents gave it the name because of its strong opposition to Western education, which it sees as corrupting Muslims.^[4] The term "Boko Haram" comes from the Hausa word boko meaning "Animist, western or otherwise non-Islamic education" and the Arabic word haram figuratively meaning "sin" (literally, "forbidden").^[5][6][7][8]

[edit] Ideology

Boko Haram opposes not only Western education, but Western culture and modern science as well.^[9] In a 2009 BBC interview, Mohammed Yusuf, then the group's leader, stated that he rejects the fact that the earth is a sphere and views it as contrary to Islam, along with Darwinism and the fact that rain comes from water evaporated by the sun.^[5]

[edit] History

The group came into existence in the 1960's,^{[citation needed]} but only started to draw attention in 2002. Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf became its leader in the same year. In 2004 it moved to Kanamma, Yobe State, where it set up a base called "Afghanistan", used to attack nearby police outposts, killing police officers.^[10] Yusuf is hostile to democracy and the secular education system, vowing that "this war that is yet to start would continue for long" if the political and educational system was not changed.^[11]

Its followers are said to be influenced by the Koranic phrase which says: "Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the transgressors". Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with western society. This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education. Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, even when the country had a Muslim president. Since the Sokoto caliphate, which ruled parts of what is now northern Nigeria, Niger and southern Cameroon, fell under British control in 1903, there has been resistance among the area's Muslims to Western education. Many Muslim families still refuse to send their children to government-run "Western schools", a problem compounded by the ruling elite which does not see (Western-style/secular) education as a priority. Against this background, the charismatic Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yusuf, formed Boko Haram in Maiduguri in 2002. He set up a religious complex, which included a mosque and an Islamic school. Many poor Muslim families from across Nigeria, as well as neighbouring countries, enrolled their children at the school. But Boko Haram was not only interested in education. Its political goal was to create an Islamic state, and the school became a recruiting ground for jihadis to fight the state. ^[12]

In Bauchi the group was reported as refusing to mix with the local people. The group includes members who come from neighbouring Chad and speak only in Arabic.^[13][14]

[edit] Clash with the state

In July 2009 the Nigerian police started investigating the group, following reports that the group was arming itself. Several leaders were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people.^{[15][16][17][18]}

[edit] Attacks

Prior to the clashes, many Muslim leaders and at least one military official had warned the authorities about Boko Haram. Those warnings were reportedly ignored.^[17]

Bauchi

Bauchi (Nigeria)

In the state of Yobe, fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station.^[19] On 30 July, allegations were made that Yusuf himself was killed by Nigerian security forces after being taken into custody.^[20]

In January 2010, the group struck again in the Nigerian state of Borno, killing four people in Dala Alemderi ward in Maiduguri metropolis.^[21]

On September 7, 2010, Boko Haram freed over 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi State.^[22]

In December 2010, Boko Haram were blamed for a market bombing, following which 92 of its members were arrested by police.^[23]

On Friday January 28, 2011, the Borno state candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) for the April 2011 gubernatorial elections was assassinated, along with his brother, four police officers and a 12-year old boy. Boko Haram has been blamed for these killings, other commentators have noted that the assasination of the ANPP governorship candidate Mr. Modu Fannami Gubio was politically motivated. No evidence has been offered for Boko Haram's involvement. ^{[24] [25]}

On March 29, police “thwarted a plot to bomb an [ANPP] election rally” in Maiduguri, Borno State (map). The threat was blamed on Boko Haram. On April 1 (the day before the original date of Nigeria’s legislative elections), suspected Boko Haram members attacked a police station in Bauchi (map). On April 9, a polling center in Maiduguri was bombed. On April 15, the Maiduguri office of the Independent National Electoral Commission was bombed, and several people were shot in a separate incident on the same day. Authorities suspected Boko Haram. On April 20, Boko Haram killed a Muslim cleric and ambushed several police officers in Maiduguri. On April 22, Boko Haram freed 14 prisoners during a jailbreak in Yola, Adamawa State (map)^[26]

On Tuesday February 8, 2011, Boko Haram gave conditions for peace. The radicals demanded that the Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, should step down from office with immediate effect and also allow members to reclaim their mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. ^[27] On 9th May 2011 Boko Haram rejected an offer for amnesty made by the governor-elect of Borno state, Kashim Shettima^[28]

Boko Haram was blamed for a series of bombings in northern Nigeria on May 29, 2011 that left 15 dead.^[29]

On June 17, 2011, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing attack on the police force headquarters in Abuja that occurred the previous day. Officials believed that the attack was the first suicide bombing in Nigeria's history and that it specifically targeted Police Inspector-General Hafiz Ringim.^[30]

On June 26, 2011, the sect carried out a bombing attack on a beer garden in Maiduguri, according to officials and witnesses. Militants on motorcycles threw explosives into the drinking spot, killing about 25 people.^[31]

On June 27, 2011, another bombing in Maiduguri attributed to the group killed at least two girls and wounded three customs officials.^[32]

On July 03, 2011, a bombing in a beer garden in Maiduguri attributed to the group killed at least twenty people.^[33]

On July 10, 2011, a bombing at a church the All Christian Fellowship Church in Suleja, Niger State. ^[34]

On July 11, 2011, the University of Maiduguri closed its Institution down citing security concerns. ^[35]

The prominent Muslim Cleric Liman Bana was shot dead by Boko Haram on August 12, 2011. He died after sustaining gunshot wounds while walking home from conducting prayers at the main mosque in Ngala.^[36]