Israel 'crucial and loyal ally in fight against Boko Haram,' says Nigerian
gov't spokesperson
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON The Jerusalem Post 02/20/2015 11:46
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israel-helping-in-fight-against-Boko-Haram-Nigeria-says-391641

A Nigerian government spokesman told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that
Israel has been a crucial and loyal ally in the fight against the radical
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

“Israel has been a crucial and loyal ally in our fight against Boko Haram.
It is a sad reality that Israel has a great deal of experience confronting
terrorism,” Mike Omeri, the chief coordinating spokesman of the National
Information Center, based in Abuja said. “Our Israeli partners have used
that experience, and the unique expertise gained over years of fighting
terror within its own borders, to assist us.”

Omeri said they have been incredibly supportive with the training and the
tools required to defeat Boko Haram.

Asked what role the US government has in the fight against the terrorist
group, he responded that “the American and Nigerian militaries have a long
history of close cooperation, strategic alliance, and shared values.”

Nigerian warplanes bombed training camps and equipment belonging to Boko
Haram in the northeast’s Sambisa forest on Thursday, the military said,
adding momentum to an assault meant to crush the rebels also involving
neighbors Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

After a year in which Boko Haram seemed to be gaining ground, seizing
swathes of territory, killing thousands of people and kidnapping hundreds of
mostly women and children, the tide may now be turning against them, as
neighboring countries plagued by cross-border attacks have weighed in.

Nigerian forces backed by air power killed more than 300 Boko Haram fighters
since the start of the week, the military said on Wednesday, though it was
not possible to corroborate this and the military has been accused of
exaggerating enemy casualties and understating its own and those of
civilians.

Omeri said Nigeria is simultaneously recapturing numerous territories,
defending against new attacks on key areas, and destroying Boko Haram bases.

Yunana Shibkau, a Christian activist for the Northern Coalition for
Democracy and Justice, who is from northern Nigeria, said the situation is
extremely dangerous for Christians in the north.

Shibkau said its similar to the situation Israel is in, being surrounded by
enemies.

“I am like an Israeli settler in the West Bank in the midst of
Palestinians,” he said.

When Shibkau was in primary school in the early 1970s, Islamists criticized
him and called him “Boko Haram” – meaning “Western education is sinful.”

For that reason, the Muslim areas are poorer and less educated than
Christian areas.

Shibkau says the challenger in the upcoming elections, Muhammadu Buhari, a
Muslim from the north, who has supported Sharia law there, is a
fundamentalist sympathizer “who plans on rigging the elections.”

Some parts of the Muslim community in Nigeria, led by certain members of
the political elite in the north and clerics that work to radicalize
communities, are not interested in fighting against Boko Haram, Shibkau
said.

Rev. Sunday Lakong, a Nigerian pastor, said this is not a conventional war
since Muslims live among the people.

Christians have fled dangerous areas in the north and many now lie in
churches or are homeless, he said, adding that the government is also
helping deal with the refugees.

Nigeria is “being neglected by the world. Boko Haram is killing people and
nobody seems to care what happens,” he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.