Learning kills in Nigeria. In the wake of the violence, Afrikan Boy, the 20 year old south London based student who featured on MIA's award winning album Kala, and is known for tracks like 'Lidl', pens his first article for Ctrl.Alt.Shift...
 

We can all find education a chore, but to the point of it costing our lives, well that's unlikely. But over the last couple of weeks a war between Nigerian police and a group called Boko Haram - which means Western education is prohibited - has broken out in Northern Nigeria.

The northern part of Nigeria is a main Islamic sector of Nigeria while the South is mainly Christian. This group Boko Haram, commonly referred to as Radical Islamic Rebels, believe that Western education is a sin.

 

In July 2009 the Nigerian police started investigating the group, following reports that the group were arming itself. Several leaders were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces and the estimated deaths of at least 700 people. In the state of Yobe, fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station. The violence began in Bauchi, where the sect claims its mosque was attacked on 26 July.? The founder of this group, Mohammed Yusuf, 39, has been said to have been killed but no one is certain of this fact.

So, what the people are asking is, could this group become Nigeria's Taliban? “God forbid” says 33 year old Sunday from Clapham who like many Nigerians living in England are worried. "It's terrible these kinds of things are happening back home, my cousins back home fear to even carry there books around in case they are spotted by this group.” One of the women told the AFP news agency that Boko Haram members had ushered a group of civilians into waiting buses three days earlier and threatened to kill them if they refused. The woman, a theology student, said: "We asked questions about our mission but we did not get any answers. We were only told that we would continue our studies in Maiduguri and be brought back later." Nigerian forces have been working very hard to free hostages and silence this group of educaional bandits and the government is talking about an investigation into the violence.

All I know is that education is meant to better life, not take it.

Image: Flickr User Megan Sharp, examiner.com