Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
09ABUJA1377 | 2009-07-28 07:07:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Abuja |
VZCZCXRO7882 OO RUEHPA DE RUEHUJA #1377/01 2090707 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 280707Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6670 INFO RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS PRIORITY 1730 RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 2018 RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0979 RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/DIA WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001377 |
1. (C) Summary: According to Mission Nigeria contacts and local press reporting, violent clashes erupted in four Nigerian towns between Nigerian police and supporters of an Islamic extremist group from July 26 to 27. The attacks specifically targeted police stations, most likely as retaliation for a mid-June incident in which Nigerian police injured 17 of the extremist groups' members. Unconfirmed reports indicate between 39 and 200 people were killed, including military personnel. Support for this extremist group remains small, but bears watching. End Summary. 2. (SBU) Very early on July 26, an Islamist group based in northeastern Nigeria launched an attack on a police station outside the city of Bauchi, capital of Bauchi state. The group were allegedly followers of radical preacher Mohammed Yusuf, and belonged to an organization called "Boko Haram" (The Hausa name roughly translates as "western education is sin"). According to Reverend Turbe, State Secretary for the Christian Association of Nigeria, the group managed to drive off the few police officers at the station, but were unable to break into the armory before a large group of police returned to drive them off, killing five of them. The police then attacked the informal settlement on the outskirts of Bauchi where the Boko Haram men lived. During a firefight, the police reportedly killed scores of Islamists, with the number of casualties ranging from 39 to 200. 3. (C) According to Imam Sheikh Abu Arabi, there were further reports of clashes on July 27 between the police and followers of Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, in Potiskum in Yobe State (a neighboring state to Bauchi), and allegedly in Wudil, in Kano state. The clashes follow a period of growing tension between the security forces and Yusuf's followers (also sometimes referred to as the "Nigerian Taliban") in the region; the first clash between the two occurred on July 11 in Maiduguri, when police interfered with a funeral procession for one of Yusuf's followers, wounding 17 (see ref A). 4. (SBU) In addition, two of Yusuf's followers in Maiduguri were reportedly killed on July 26, when a bomb they were apparently assembling exploded. In a telephone interview with a Nigerian newspaper late on July 26, Yusuf described the two dead bombers as "martyrs," and claimed that his followers were only fighting the police in order to defend themselves, and to protect him (Yusuf) from arrest. Yusuf told the paper that: "our land was an Islamic state before the colonial masters turned it into a kafir (unbeliever) land." He added: "The current system is contrary to true Islamic beliefs." 5. (C) Yusuf and the "Nigerian Taliban" have been around since 2003, when they briefly took control of several villages in Yobe state near the Niger border, and claimed to be following the teachings of the Islamist radicals who once ruled Afghanistan. Yusuf's followers even named their camp in Yobe "Afghanistan." The so-called "Boko Haram" group is new, however, and has been campaigning against Western education for Muslims in several northern states since late 2008. The group did not draw much support, except from disaffected young men, many of them reportedly university drop-outs. In April, the Council of Ulamas, a prominent Islamic clerical body, denounced Boko Haram, even staging a public televised debate to charge that the group's teachings were un-Islamic. 6. (C) Comment: Thanks to reporting in other channels, we were aware that clashes between Mohammed Yusuf and the security forces were becoming increasingly likely. For now, at least, the focus of his attacks seems to be on the Nigerian establishment and even other Nigerian Muslims, rather than on the West or U.S. interests. In any case, Yusuf's teachings do not appear to resonate with most ABUJA 00001377 002 OF 002 Nigerian Muslims, and indeed his following seems to be limited to a relatively small number of disaffected young men. That said, there are more of such young men than there used to be, and their numbers look likely to grow in the current difficult economic times. End comment. SANDERS |