While many extremist terror groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS/Daesh have largely faded from the world scene, their African counterpart, Boko Haram continues to wreak havoc in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
Founded in 2002, the group has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions from their homes, according to the Global Terrorism Index.
More intriguingly, while the West hunted down Al-Qaeda and ISIS/Daesh, there seems no such campaign against this dreaded terror group haunting Africa.
Over 3.4 million people have been displaced, including over 2.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northeastern Nigeria, over 684,000 IDPs in Cameroon, Chad and Niger and 294,000 refugees in the four countries, according to the UNHCR.
So far in 2020, the terror organization has struck nine times across Africa killing around 330 people.
On March 23, in a deadly attack in Boma, Chad, the group is believed to have killed 92 soldiers. On June 9, terrorists belonging to Boko Haram attacked Gubio village in Borno state, in northeastern Nigeria killing 81 civilians.
Tracing the activities of Boko Haram, Didier Badjeck, former military spokesperson of Cameroon told Anadolu Agency that the group has developed underground and networks and sleeper cells.
“The issue of Boko Haram’s violence is continuing and looks some powers are behind, who want the conflict to continue. In addition to this, porous borders and economic decline in this particular area create a favorable environment for terrorism,” he said.
He further said the issue of terrorism was asymmetrical, which cannot be defeated only by using security means. “It needs socio-economic responses and also as long as big countries are talking to other small countries scornfully, we will not be able to find real solutions to terrorism,” Badjeck added.
Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, before expanding its attacks to neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting a military response.
Terror group grows like octopus
A former Cameroonian military official alluded that the group gets quite active when elections are around in Nigeria.
“We notice that Boko Haram’s operability intensity is variable according to the current political situation in Nigeria. Every time we get closer to the election there is an intensity. But when the elections are over these groups also live and just small raids are conducted here and there,” he said.
Denying that Boko Haram’s active presence was because of the retreat of Cameroonian defense forces, Badjeck, however, said there was a need to strengthen operational capabilities.
Praising the role of Cameroonian soldiers, Parfait Kari, the founder of the Cameroonian Association of Terrorism Victims (TVAC) said they have sanitized many areas form the terror group.
“Previously, it was impossible to travel peacefully in risk areas. Unfortunately, there are still some attacks especially since the terrorist group has become an octopus recruiting terrorists from other groups,” he said.
Kari survived an attack by Boko Haram in 2014 but lost three of his colleagues in Waza, a city in the far north. He is disabled in his right hand because of a bullet. His organization wants people to understand that victims of terrorism are not victims of ordinary accidents.
According to Zambo Regis Gael, a Cameroonian humanitarian worker, the researcher on civilian responses to terrorist situations said the victims feel neglected because of negligible support from the state.
He regretted while there is policy to rehabilitate former terrorists and are trained in skills, through the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (CNDDR), there is no such effort for their victims.
“There is a sense that violent extremism is being rewarded with this program. The victims must also be considered. If we want a just society, we have to think about justice and equity policies,” said Zambo.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
