Former governor of Yobe state, Senator Buka Abba Ibrahim, has disclosed that politics is not the cause of Boko Haram in Nigeria, rather, skewed religious ideology.

The former governor of Yobe State who is also serving senator informed newsmen that contrary to the belief that Boko Haram started in Nigeria about six or 10 years ago, the ideological movement to that effect had actually been in existence in the Northern part of the country since the 1970s after the killing of the sect’s spiritual leader in Egypt in 1970 by President Gammal Abdel Naseer.

Specifically according to the Senator, ideological movement against western education and some other western ideas including Democracy, popularly known as Boko Haram here in Nigeria, first landed in Minna, the capital of Niger State before moving to Kano, Yobe and finally settled in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State between 2001 and 2002 but not as a full blown militant cum terrorist group against the country.

He stressed that Boko Haram militants are different from political thugs said to have been used by some politicians to form the group, saying Boko Haram itself is against Democracy being western idea and by extension, Politics.

He said: “The History of Boko Haram dates back to 10, 15 and even 20 years or more ago. This thing didn’t start six years ago as largely claimed. It started much, much earlier than the six years. Boko Haram is a philosophy driving by warped religious ideology. It is strictly an ideology on ground in some parts of the world for quite sometimes now.

“It all started, we were told in Egypt during the reign of Gammal Abdel Naseer who died in 1970. Naseer beheaded the leader of the Boko Haram Islamic sect in Egypt in 1970, an action that made the followers to spread to other parts of Africa, most especially north and western parts of Africa including Nigeria.

“When they came to Nigeria, their spread started in Minna, now the capital of Niger State, up to Kano and some other areas before moving to Yobe, and Maiduguri where they permanently settled down and later turned out to be a full blown militant group because of the high handed ness of the Nigeria Police against them.

“Police in that part of the country started killing some of them even at the grave yard while carrying out burial of some of their dead ones which consequently made them to fully militant by first taken arms and ammunitions against the Police and men of other security agencies and by extension, the Nigerian state.



“Boko, meaning, western education, is haram, meaning, prohibited, forbidden or unacceptable. Is just an idea that later turned to be something else…

“It has nothing to do with being employed by politicians or being used as political thugs but the issue of youth unemployment worsened it further by the unemployed youths serving as large army of recruitment for the insurgents”.

He lamented the destructions Boko Haram insurgents have carried out in the affected areas of the North Eastern part of the country in recent years, saying it will take the people and places affected, not less than 20 years to bounce back.

According to him, not less than 6, 600 orphans were camped in one location alone in Yobe state being taken care off by government due to killings of their parents by Boko Haram insurgents, not to talk of over 200 primary schools burnt by the insurgents in Yobe state alone.

He lamented the destructions Boko Haram insurgents have carried out in the affected areas of the North Eastern part of the country in recent years, saying it will take the people and places affected, not less than 20 years to bounce back.

“So many government structures have been destroyed. More than 200 primary schools have been destroyed. 6,600 orphans in a camp alone.

“I’ve not seen my house in the village for 18 months now which I learnt have even bombed down by the military in their war against the insurgents who earlier seized the property and drove people away from the Village (Goneri), 217 of them are presently staying in my house in Damaturu among whom are 40 primary and 50 secondary school pupils that are now schooling in Damaturu”, he lamented.

The senator however said that like other similar happenings or phenomena in the past as historically recorded, Boko Haram will definitely become history even with its alleged working hand in hand with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). More than 200 primary schools have been destroyed. 6,600 orphans in a camp alone.