Islamic terrorism spree shakes Nigeria

A declaration of a state of emergency in three northern Nigerian states does nothing to address the root cause of a surge in Islamic terrorism against Christians and others, an expert in Islamism told Baptist Press.

Further, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's May 14 declaration is only a partial state of emergency because local governments in the northeastern states are still in place, said Adeniyi Ojutiku, a native Nigerian Christian and founder of Lift Up Now, a Christian nonprofit outreach to improve living conditions in his homeland.

"Nigeria is the number one country where Christians are killed. Nigeria tops that list," Ojutiku said. "And it's an ideological warfare. It's a coup d'état. [Jonathan] wants to stem the tide of violence without really addressing the basic factors that are associated with Islamism.

"What Jonathan did is an immediate measure that is only palliative. It's really not addressing the fundamental issues of Islamic terrorism," Ojutiku said. "What Jonathan has done is a show of brute force, state force.

"Unfortunately, what is going to happen is that these people are going to retreat for a while. They are going to regroup and restrategize." Read more

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