RUTHFULLY YOURS

The leftists continue to demonstrate a severe Trump Derangement Syndrome. How else do you explain a manic obsession in finding connections between everything terrible that happens in the world and President Trump, or seeing a malicious intent in his every single action and word? Planet is heating up – Trump’s to blame (no, it “doesn’t matter” for the leftists that we are reducing carbon emissions.) Trump nominates a new Supreme Court Judge – let’s oppose him with “whatever means necessary”. Trump smiled at Putin at some formal gathering — Putin’s puppet, obviously (no, it “doesn’t matter” that the Trump Administration is constantly introducing anti-Russian sanctions.)

Now, in the end of October, the Nigerian Army killed 45 and wounded nearly 100 protesters from the radical Shia group called Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) when they started throwing rocks at the soldiers. The leftist reaction? You guessed it – it was Trump’s fault. “Nigerian Army Uses Trump’s Words to Justify Fatal Shooting of Rock-Throwing Protesters,” runs the New York Times. “Nigerian Army defends killing protesters by quoting Trump. Trump’s caravan rhetoric affecting the whole world,” asserts CBS. That’s right, the whole world.

So, what actually happened? The Nigerian army’s official Twitter account posted a video, “Please Watch and Make Your Deductions,” showing Trump’s speech in which he said rocks would be considered firearms if thrown toward the American military at the nation’s borders as the 7,000-migrant caravan was approaching southern border of America. “We’re not going to put up with that,” President Trump said. “They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back.” Nigerian army deleted the post hours later without explanation after it had caused an uproar on social media. But it was more than enough for the leftist media to “connect the dots” between the Trump’s words that suggested a decisiveness to protect American border and the lives of those who defend it with the long-lasting conflict between Sunni and secular Nigerian government.

The conflict has a long and bloody history, indeed. Nigeria is a predominantly Muslim country, and the overwhelming majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunni. By most accounts, Shia Islam had little presence in Nigeria until the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

“The Iranian revolution of 1979, which led to the emergence of an Islamic government, inspired many northern Nigerian Muslims,” Michael Olufemi Sodipo, the founder of Nigeria’s Peace Initiative Network, writes. “The puritanical tendency among [Muslims and Christians] in northern Nigeria gave rise to increasingly zealous political actors.” This movement was led by Ibrahim Zakzaky, who had been trained in Shia theology in Iran. In the early ’80s, Zakzaky founded the Islamic Movement, which spread among Shias in northern Nigeria. “Its stated mission is to establish an Iran type of Islamic state in Nigeria, which has kept it in intermittent skirmishes with government security forces,” Ibrahim Haruna Hassan, a professor at Nigeria’s University of Jos, explains.

Adel Assadinia, a former Iranian diplomat, claimed that the IMN was set up by and modeled on the Lebanese Hezb’allah and that Iran provides the IMN with training “in guerrilla warfare: bomb-making, use of arms such as handguns, rifles and RPGs, and the manufacturing of bombs and hand grenades.” These claims raised some questions concerning the radicalization of the sect, that eventually formed “a state within a state” in the north of the country. Therefore, the IMN has been viewed by the Nigerian government as a threat for the territorial integrity for quite some time.

As Nigeria expert Oreuluwa Runsewe notes, “Shiite traditions have also led to widespread animosity from the Sunni. There were minor feuds between Shiites and Sunnis in Sokoto state, however, things escalated quickly when an anti-Shiite Imam in Northern Nigeria, Umaru Danmaishiyya, was murdered by unknown men in 2007. His death marked the beginning of Shiite vs. Sunni violence in Nigeria.”

Currently, the IMN leaders underline that their group is peaceful and unarmed. “They continue to say that we are armed. This is a blatant lie. If we are armed, Nigeria Army cannot face us. If we have weapons with us, Nigeria Army is too small to face us. With our courage, braveness and bare hands, they are running away, talk more of when we have arms. They are cowards,” said Abdullahi Zango, IMN Leader, on November 5, 2018.

Notably, the IMN is famous for using rocks, slingshots, catapults, and petroleum bombs during their numerous protests, which they do not consider to be weapons. Now, the Nigerian government are no angels themselves. Just like the majority of African countries, Nigeria is deeply corrupt. Political corruption, in particular, is a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria. The rise of public administration and the discovery of oil and natural gas are two major events believed to have led to the sustained increase in the prevalence of corrupt practices in the country. Even though the efforts have been made by government to minimize corruption through the enactment of laws and the enforcement of integrity systems, it had little success. Greed, ostentatious lifestyle, customs, and people’s attitudes are believed to have led to corruption. Another root cause is tribalism. Friends and kinsmen seeking favor from officials can impose strains on the ethical disposition of the official as these kinsmen see government officials as holding avenues for their personal survival and gain. Naturally, any competition is considered a threat.

Also, the situation in the country is worsened by the activity of Boko Haram, a terrorist Sunni organization that supports ISIS. An insurgency led by Boko Haram has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions more in recent years.

As we can see, Nigeria is in a tough situation, and the tensions between Sunni, Shia and corrupt government is extremely high, and have been warming up for decades and have been affected by numerous factors of the religious, political, economic and cultural nature. So, no, it wasn’t Trump who caused the killing. These people have been killing each other for decades.