At about 10:40 one morning last August, Mohammed Abul Barra
rammed his ash-colored station wagon into a security gate outside the United
Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, knocking it off its
hinges. Barra's 1996 Honda Accord then crashed through the main building's
glass doors and slammed against the reception desk.
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| Evacuating victims at the UN housing bombing in Abuja |
On security tapes of the incident seen by Reuters, a guard
peers into the car, evidently unaware that it is packed with explosives. The
grainy footage shows a dozen or so people in the reception edge towards the
vehicle. Over 10 seconds pass in confusion before one man seemingly realizes
what is about to happen. He grabs the person next to him and darts towards the
lift. But it's too late. Barra steadies himself, leans forward and the security
screens blur into white fuzz.
The suicide strike left 25 people dead and the UN
headquarters in tatters. It also drew global attention to Boko Haram, the
militant group from northern Nigeria which has claimed responsibility for the
attack and a string of bombings since then that has killed hundreds.
As the bombings have grown in frequency in recent months,
the Nigerian government and Western security officials have begun to grapple
with the exact nature of the threat. Is Boko Haram just the latest in a long
list of violent spasms in Nigeria, or is it the next battalion of global
jihadists, capable of thrusting Africa's most populous nation into civil war?
The answer to that is not simple. There is evidence - some
of it detailed in this story for the first time - that elements of Boko Haram
have received training from foreign militant groups, including North
Africa-based al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM). The August attack was far
more sophisticated than anything linked to Boko Haram before.
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| Protest against Boko Haram |
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan calls the group a
terrorist organization with global ambitions. In an interview in his
presidential villa last week, Jonathan said there was "no doubt" Boko
Haram has links with jihadist groups outside Nigeria. General Carter Ham, the
head of the US military's Africa Command, said last year Boko Haram posed a
threat to US and Western interests.
At the same time, Boko Haram remains firmly focused on
domestic Nigerian issues. When its secretive spokesman claims responsibility
for attacks, he almost always lists local grievances that have little to do
with the core ideologies of al-Qaida. The group's name means "Western
education is sinful" in Hausa, the language spoken in northern Nigeria,
the country's Muslim heartland. But its anger is directed not at America or
Europe but at Nigeria's elites: at their perceived arrogance, their failure to
deliver services, and the brutality of their security forces. Many Boko Haram
members say their focus is on targeting officials who have locked up its
members or misused state funds.
Even Nigeria's national security adviser, General Owoye
Azazi, who sees a link between Boko Haram and AQIM, urges caution in defining
the group. "We need to tackle Boko
Haram from several perspectives," Azazi said in an interview. "If you
go back to history, there are religious concerns, there are concerns about
governance, and of course, political implications. It's a combination of so
many things."
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