Whilst millions of people around the world were waking up onChristmas morning to breakfast and gifts. Christian worshippers in the Nigerian cities of Madalla (near Abuja) and the central city Jos were facing terror and destruction as a series of bomb attacks (two) at Christmas Day church services, left almost 40 people dead and many injured.
The Islamist group Boko Haram said it carried out the attacks. The group whose name means "Western
education is forbidden" - often targets security forces and state institutions. This is not the first time they have carried out a high profile attack of this nature; The group carried out an August 2011 suicide attack on the UN headquarters in Abuja, in which more than 20 people were killed.Nearly 70 people have died this week in fighting between Nigerian forces and Boko Haram gunmen in the country's north-east.
So just how are the Nigerian authorities going to tackle this growing threat of terror posed by this group in particularWell this is harder than it may seem inthe backdrop of the complex religious make up of Nigeria’s population andfailed attempts by the government to destroy the group in the past. ThePresident Goodluck Jonathan (who is a Christian) had declared a policy of"carrot and stick" which is supposed to reach out to the militants, while
improving security. However many political observers believe Nigeria is still feeling the consequences of thegovernment's attempt to destroy the group in 2009. Boko Haram's headquarters inBorno state capital Maiduguri was destroyed and their founder and leaderMuhammad Yusuf captured and then killed in custody. Hundreds of members of thegroup died and ever since the group have been attacking government targets inretaliation.
Thus some see the rise of Boko Haram as largely as a result of incompetence, lack of foresight and insensitivity from the Nigerian state.
Secondly opposition parties and in particular those in the north, such as the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), say the government is underestimating the amount of support Boko Haram has among the population. CPC national secretary Bubu Galadima said many people in the north felt marginalized and excluded from wealth and opportunity.
"The people are sympathetic to certain principles and ideas," he told the BBC. "If people feel they are being denied anything or an injustice is being meted out to them then there is likelihood that they will take the law into their own hands and help themselves."
What is certain is that the Nigerian government are going to have to come up with some sort of strategy to try to keep the destruction and murder of innocent Nigerians at the hand of this group to a minimum if not abolished at all.
Ben