Nigerian President Admits Boko Haram Infiltrated Government (VIDEO)
Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has admitted that his government may have already been infiltrated by Boko Haram, the militant group behind vicious religious attacks in the oil-rich nation.
President Goodluck, for the first time, is saying that he thinks sympathizers of the Islamic extremist Boko Haram group are in his government and security agencies, according to BBC News. This could provide insight into why Christians in Nigeria are still being killed after an ineffective declaration of a state of emergency Dec. 31. 2011.
In an earlier CNN report, Shehu Sani, a human rights activist, said that the state of emergency could be ineffective, accusing President Jonathan's security forces of harboring Boko Haram members. Since the president's declaration, weekly violence has continued, killing almost 100 people in the early weeks of January alone.
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President Goodluck also explains that the security situation in Nigeria is more complex than it was during the civil war in the 1960s that killed over a million people.
He spoke about the dire situation gripping Nigeria at a Remembrance Day church service in Abuja. Jonathan said that some of Boko Haram's sympathizers are in the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of his government, according to BBC News.
"Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies," Jonathan explained."During the civil war, we knew and we could even predict where the enemy was coming from ... But the challenge we have today is more complicated."
President Goodluck said that the situation is so bad that some members may have sons in the militant group and not even know.
"That means that if the person will plant a bomb behind your house, you won't know," Jonathan said.
Christian groups have accused the government of not doing enough to protect them. According to a report on National.com by Elizabeth Dickinson, Nigeria has failed at delivering any semblance of government, justice and security for its 150 million people.
Nigerian Government Infiltrated by Boko HaramThe country ranks 156th out of 187 countries on the United Nation's Human Development Index, according to Dickinson. She wrote that, in Nigeria, police arrest young men, hoping for bribes to be paid by families for their release. Jobs are given to crooks and family members, while corruption is on display.
Due to these factors, most of northern Nigeria supported a movement to impose Sharia Law, which Boko Haram violently promotes.
Some even blame the lack of a central government on the absence of Sharia law. Dickinson's report points to the idea that Boko Haram aims to establish the central power that the government is lacking.
