Nigeria’s ‘Taliban’ Enigma

A recent spike in violence in northern Nigeria has drawn attention to a mysterious group of radicals known variously as “Taliban,” “Maiduguri,” and “Boko Haram.” All the terms have been attributed to the group by local people; it has no name for itself and has no link to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The group aims to overthrow the Nigerian state, impose strict Islamic law and abolish what it calls “Western-style education” – Boko Haram means “Western education is a sin.” Among other tenets, the group rejects Darwinism, the theory that rain is caused by evaporation and the idea that the Earth is a sphere. Nigerian government sources and independent observers alike contend that the group is socially isolated and has minimal support from the local community. Nevertheless, recent attacks and resulting unrest killed over 100 people. This has Nigerians worried about what kind of a threat the secretive organization could pose. Perhaps strangest of all is that the group is referred to as the Taliban, a word that originally comes from Arabic and means student of madrasas. In a world where terrorism has become conflated with fundamental Islam, Taliban and radical jihadist are now synonymous. – YaleGlobal