Revenge Against Nigeria’s Military Leads Some to Boko Haram

The desire for revenge against Nigeria’s heavy-handed military is a leading reason that people join the Boko Haram Islamic extremist group, according to a new study published Monday.

Nearly 60 percent of 119 former Boko Haram fighters interviewed in rehabilitation camps in the country’s northeast cited revenge against the military as having a strong, or being the only, influence in their recruitment.

“They kill innocent people that are not (Boko Haram) members … I think they deliberately do so. So they (victims) join the group to fight the military,” the study quoted one former extremist as saying.

The study also found that many interviewed said they were pressured into joining the extremists.

“Radicalization has less to do with military action per se and more to do with abuses contributing to a need to take revenge,” said the study, conducted by Helsinki-based Finn Church Aid group and The Network for Religious Peacemakers and South Africa’s Vibrand Research in collaboration with Vienna’s KAICIID dialogue center.

Read More- New York Times

Image courtesy of AP