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After 10 years of Boko Haram Violence, Nigerians Crave Peace

Associated Press

   MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA, - Suicide bombings, mass kidnappings, tens of
   thousands of people killed. A ghastly insurgency by the homegrown
   Islamic extremist group Boko Haram marks 10 years this week in
   northeastern Nigeria, where many residents say life has been set back
   by decades.

   "It feels like 100 years, because everything seems to be moving slowly
   and not getting any better for me and my family," said Hassan Mamman,
   who fled to Maiduguri, the region's main city, after Boko Haram attacks
   on his rural home. He is among millions of people displaced. "I miss my
   community and always crave it but the merchants of death just won't let
   us have that much-needed peace."
   Friday marks a decade since Nigerian forces clashed with the extremists
   at Maiduguri's central mosque. More than 700 people were killed,
   including leader Mohammed Yusuf, according to officials and rights
   groups.
   From that violence sprang the insurgency of Boko Haram, which in the
   Hausa language means "Western education is taboo." The extremists have
   sought to establish a strict Islamic caliphate in Nigeria, carrying out
   attacks as far away as the capital, Abuja. The violence has also
   spilled into neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger. In recent years some
   fighters have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, creating a
   new threat.

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