On December 31st
of 2014 Northeastern Nigeria had a very chilling encounter with the well known
terrorist organization Boko Haram. Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic young cleric,
founded the group 12 years ago as part of his push for a pure Islamic state in Nigeria.
He was killed in 2009, but his group lived on. These rebels are an extremist
Islamic group in Nigeria that have created havoc across the north of the
country and in the capital, Abuja. Its violent attacks on government offices,
the United Nations, and churches threaten to destabilize the country. A range
of conflicting narratives has grown up around Boko Haram, and the group’s
origins, motivations, and future plans remain a matter of debate. They had
barged into the village of Malari and kidnapped 40 boys and young men as
hostages.
Next, we may ask
ourselves why did this extremist group forcibly take 40 hostages and kill none.
They have a recent past of kidnapping children as a way
of campaigning fear into the citizens. The main belief as to why they are doing
this is to recruit and mentally brainwash these younger boys. They will try to
influence them and turn against their own people. As they proceed to convince
young boys into becoming rebels, the girls are not forgotten. Some girls and
women are kidnapped to take the place of wives, and perform chores and sexual
services, according to rights groups. They deliberately raid schools knowing
they will successfully kidnap and transform these children into slaves.
This could very easily be related to a situation in the
novel “A Long Way Gone.” While running
for his life, Ishmael Beah is captured by soldiers fighting rebels and forced
to become one of them. In the process of transforming Ishmael into a rebel killing
child they influence him into different drugs and disturbing facts that change
his point of view. Ishmael is made into an animal in a matter of days and
prepared to kill people just because he is instructed to do so.
This similar to the situation in Cry Freedom as well. The oppressive Whites in South Africa,were only oppressive because they were taught to be.After all,hate is a learned trait.Whether it is done with fear, drugs, or social brainwashing, a perfectly normal human being into a creature who harms ad kills without remorse or mercy. it is more than possible to turn a
ReplyDeleteI also believe that hate is taught, not born. That aspect is also seen in Hotel Rwanda because the Hutu people were not born hating the Tutsi people, they were taught that in their own cultures.
ReplyDeleteI think mistreatment of at the hand of Western allies might play a big role in their hatred of imperialistic influences. As we talked about with Grottini, religious agendas are frequently suppressed in modernizing countries. When America or other countries work closely with governments, these special interests groups are largely silenced. When that power structure is removed, however, it gives said groups the chance to reestablish themselves with a vengeance.
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