Boko Haram, Al-Shabab have common elements: Analyst

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Nigeria's Islamist Boko Haram
leader Abubakar Shekau.(REUTERS)

Senior Lecturer and academic leader for International and Public Affairs in the School of Politics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Bhekithemba Mngomezulu says the origins of Boko Haram and Al-Shabab have common elements.

Boko Haram means: An Islamic jihadist organisation based in Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon.

Al-Shabab means: "The youth", an al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militant organisation based in Somalia.

Speaking on SAfm Forum@8, Mngomezulu says both extremist groups have an element of ‘thugurism’. He says in some instances these groups kill fellow Muslims.

"If you look at the manner they operate (Boko Haram and Al-Shabab), not only do they kill Christians, but they also kill fellow Muslims who don’t have their vision of the Islamic religion," adds Mngomezulu.

More than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls remain missing after they were abducted by Boko Haram.

Last week, the leader of the rebel group, Abubakar Shekau said he will release the kidnapped girls by his fighters last month in exchange for prisoners.

Militants fighting for an Islamist state stormed a secondary school in the north eastern village of Chibok on April 14 and seized 276 girls who were taking exams. Some managed to escape.
Meanwhile, a bomb blasts killed at least 118 people and wounded 45 in the crowded business district of the central Nigerian city of Jos on Tuesday, emergency services said, in an attack that appeared to bear the hallmarks of the Boko Haram insurgents.

The blasts took place in Terminus, the downtown area of Jos housing shops, some offices and a market. The explosions burned several shops to the ground, shattering windows and spreading rubble in the road.

Police sirens wailed as officers rushed to the scene. Mngomezulu says most of the problems taking place in Africa, are sustained by the international community.

He says, "They identify how these groups operate and then they strike secret deals with these groups, and then arm them."- Edited by Sthembiso Sithole and Additional Reporting by Reuters.
Click here to listen to Dr Bhekithemba Mngomezulu.

This article first appeared on SABCNews site. It was done by Sthembiso Sithole.