ICC Note: On March 7, 2015, the leader of the radical Islamist terror group Boko Haram expressed his allegiance to ISIS and called upon Muslims worldwide to do the same. The Nigeria-based group has been escalating in violence against Christians since 2009, specifically targeting Christians and other religious minorities and has recently begun mimicking the methods of ISIS. By affiliating itself with ISIS, Boko Haram will establish legitimacy in the international community and likely receive guidance and training from the larger, more established group.
By Heather Clark
03/08/2015 Nigeria (Christian News Network) – The head of the Islamic terror group Boko Haram has called upon Muslims worldwide to “pledge allegiance” to the Muslim barbaric group ISIS, which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
“We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims … and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah,” leader Abubakar Shekau said in an audio recording posted to Twitter on Saturday. “We call upon Muslims everywhere to pledge allegiance to the Caliph.”
Shekau was referring to the caliphate, or Islamic State, that ISIS has been seeking to set up in parts of Iraq and Sryria. Various parts of the countries have been seized by the group, which has set up its headquarters in Raqqa, Syria—although in Iraq, local forces have been working to drive ISIS out.
Boko Haram, which being translated means, “Western education is sinful,” has been seeking to build it own caliphate in Northern Africa, a part of the continent that is predominantly Christian. The group has killed thousands since it stepped up its attacks in 2009, often targeting churches and those who are non-Muslim.
As previously reported, last August, after taking over a Nigerian town that is largely inhabited by Christians, Shekau released a video stating that Muslims were commanded by Allah to rule the world.
“Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our brethren in [the town of] Gwoza and made it part of the Islamic caliphate,” he declared. “By the grace of Allah, we will not leave the town. We have come to stay.”
