Boko Haram was originated as a native group, revolving itself into
a Jihadist group in 2009. It suggests that communication with the
Western World
is prohibited, and also supports opposition to the
Muslim founding and the administration
of Nigeria.
Members of the unit do not interact with the Muslim population
and have carried out assassinations
in the past of anyone who
criticises it, including Muslim clerics.
2009, BBC interviewed Mohammed Yusuf,
then leader of the
group, stated his belief that the fact of a globular Earth
is contrary
to Islamic teaching and should be rejected, along with Darwinian
evolution
and the fact of rain creating from water evaporated by
the sun. Before his
death, Yusuf reiterated the group's
dispassionate of changing the existing schooling
system and
rejecting democracy. Nigerian academic Hussain Zakaria told
BBC News that the contentious cleric had a
graduate education,
spoke proficient English, lived a extravagant life and
drove a
Mercedes Benz.
In the wake of the 2009 crackdown on
its members and its
following re-emergence, the growing frequency and
range of attacks attributed to Boko Haram have led some political
and religious
leaders in the north to the conclusion that the group
has now expanded beyond
its original religious composition to
include not only Islamic militants, but
criminal elements and
disgruntled politicians as well. For instance Borno State
Governor
Kashim Shettima said of Boko Haram: “[they have] become a
franchise
that anyone can buy into. It's something like a Bermuda
Triangle.” The group
has also forcibly converted non-Muslims to
Islam