Nigeria: A Lesson On How To Treat Islamist Terrorists

Nigeria is a large, multi -religious country in West Africa that has historically had what could be described as 'a Muslim problem', in common with almost every other country with a large Muslim minority. The problem is especially bad in the majority Muslim Hausa North, which is under de facto sharia and has seen Christians killed and churches burned over things as trivial as the MoToons or a newspaper story on a beauty contest.

The problem with giving in to sharia and attempting to live with this level of intimidation is that eventually it increases and attempts to take over whatever portion of dar-harb (literally,'the house of war' the lands ruled by non-Muslims)is nearest and most vulnerable.

That's pretty much what happened in Nigeria.

A hard line Muslim group surfaced known as Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language. Observers have referred to them as a Nigerian Taliban.

They've been simmering for awhile as the local politicans tried to appease them and look the other way, but they finally erupted and attempted to take over the north and as much of the rest of Nigeria as they could grab for Dar Islam in an armed insurrection that was marked by attacks on police stations, churches, prisons and government buildings and terrorist attacks on non-Muslims.

The Nigerian police and military lost no time in dealing properly with this jihad:

The police commander of Borno state announced on state radio that Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the sect some call the Nigerian Taliban, has "died in police custody."

He gave no further explanation, but the state governor's spokesman Usman Ciroma told The Associated Press: "I saw his body at police headquarters. I believe he was shot while he was trying to escape."

Yusuf's death could provoke more violence, though his followers in the Boko Haram sect may be in disarray after troops shelled his compound in the northern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday. Yusuf, 39, managed to escape with about 300 followers, some of them armed. His deputy, Bukar Shekau, was killed in the attack, according to Army commander Maj. Gen. Saleh Maina. (...)

The government warned people to evacuate the area before the attack on the compound Wednesday, then shelled the compound and stormed the group's mosque inside, setting off a raging firefight with retreating militants armed with homemade hunting rifles and firebombs, bows and arrows, machetes and scimitars.

An AP reporter saw soldiers shoot their way into the mosque under fire and then raked those inside with gunshots.The bodies of barefoot young men littered the streets of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, on Thursday morning as the army pursued the manhunt on the outskirts of the city. Police said most of the dead were fighters with Boko Haram. Army Col. Ben Anahotu said three police officers were killed.

President Umaru Yar'Adua said that security agents had been ordered to attack when the movement started gathering fighters from nearby states at its sprawling Maiduguri compound in preparation for "the holy war." {...}

Nigeria's 140 million people are roughly divided between Christians in the south and northern-based Muslims. Shariah was implemented in 12 northern states after Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 following years of oppressive military regimes. More than 10,000 Nigerians have died in sectarian violence since then.

It's notable that the apologist goons at Human Rights Watch were quick to condemn the Nigerian military and call for the removal of the police commander who was in charge when the Islamist leader was killed in custody. The Nigerians told them to pound sand.

I particularly like the Nigerian military displaying the bodies in the street, as an example to others.

Like it or not, there's a lesson here.

Appeasement only increases the violence. Confronting it forcefully ends it. And once you decide to confront Islamism forcefully, you have to keep fighting until the Islamists are totally defeated and humiliated, and then take steps to make sure they never get in a position to attack you again. Because you've made it clear that the price is a lot higher than they're going to be willing to pay.

It's a lesson any country threatened by Islamist jihad needs to commit to memory, whether it's India, Russia,Israel, the Phillipines...or America.

Freedom was never meant to be a suicide pact.