• Nigeria: Boko Haram Attacks Cripple Northern Region's Economy

    UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 12 February 2013

    Commercial activities in the northern trade hub of Kano are down by half since 2010 because of the campaign of violence waged by militant group Boko Haram and government efforts to curb it, says the Kano traders' union.

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  • ookoroafor
    Feb 12 2013, 23:57

    It is impossible for anyone to believe that Boko Haram's leaders are declaring a cease-fire because of the effects it is having in the North. The leadership cannot be that ignorant of the fact that violence drives businesses away and ruins the economy. There is another reason why they stopped. The reasons are debatable. Some say it could be the threat of drone attacks, I believe it has something to do with the battle between Jonathan's technocrats and the old military guard. Possibly, Boko Haram's leaders believe that they may soon get federal government handouts like former MEND militants received. Whatever the reason, when you announce that you are fighting against 'Western culture' and bomb churches and government institutions and gun people down on the street, you are going to drive away people and business. Those who are Christians are often Igbos, Yorubas, and Niger-Delta ethnicities, and are entrepreneurial by nature (especially the Igbo); so they must have known that they were driving away and killing the chief job creators in the area. Also, the entrepreneurs had nothing to do with the corruption that has plundered all parts of Nigeria. Boko Haram has effectively screwed their fellow Muslims they say they were fighting for (as well as murdering them) and I believe the Boko Haram leadership knew somewhere in their gut that these things would take place.