African Food and Art

Thank you to our latest donor, Tony. Thank you, Tony. We were able to purchase three new stainless steel pots to continue our cooking and teaching heritage.

Boko Haram threat in the Lake Chad region

Boko Haram has displaced nearly 2.6 million people across the four countries around Lake Chad since 2015.
Boko Haram has displaced nearly 2.6 million people across the four countries around Lake Chad since 2015.

Boko Haram threat in the Lake Chad region


Struggle to contain Boko Haram in Africa

Lake Chad is one of Africa’s great and ancient lakes, sustaining rural communities on the edge of the Sahara for millennia. Attacks by Boko Haram in Chad’s Lac Region began in January 2015 when Chad declared a state of emergency.

The Lake Chad region experienced intensified attacks in remote areas by Boko Haram militants from Nigeria. In 2015, the village of Blarigui, located in the remote swamplands of the Lake Chad Basin, close to Chad’s border with northeastern Nigeria, Boko Haram militants moved into the village and killed eight people by cutting their throats.

Chad has been instrumental in helping Nigeria retake most of the areas Boko Haram seized in northern Nigeria. The attacks have continued through 2017, prompting displacement—including population movement of Chadian returnees and refugees from neighboring Nigeria.

In June 2017, Boko Haram attacks are responsible for deaths in Nigeria and Chad where eight people were killed when a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives at a mosque in northeast Nigeria while eight troops died in a raid in the neighboring islands on Lake Chad.

Maiduguri is the headquarters of a military force fighting against the Boko Haram Islamist group. According to Amnesty International, at least 17,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its violent uprising to try to impose Islamist rule.

As a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in Chad, around 135,000 people are internally displaced from around the lake to makeshift camps scattered around the Chadian shoreline, competing for scarce resources with an already vulnerable host community.

Boko Haram UN Security Council meeting
Boko Haram UN Security Council meeting

Did you know?
Since May, armed groups have reportedly attacked at least 12 villages in Lac, particularly in Kaiga Kindjiria and Tchoukoutalia border areas, where approximately 15,000 people are displaced, the UN reports. The members of the Security Council condemned terrorist attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria and Chad including the deadly attacks in Kwajafa in Borno state, Nigeria, on April 5, 2015 and in Tchoukou Telia, Chad, on April 3, 2015.

Who is Boko Haram
Boko Haram was declared terrorist group by US in 2013. Boko Haram founded in 2002 official Arabic name, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad" was initially focused on opposing Western education earning the nickname Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language.

Boko Haram states its purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. Women and girls who were former captives of Boko Haram face marginalization and rejection by family and community members because of social and cultural norms related to sexual violence.

Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.

Together we build awareness that boost harmony, education, and success, below are more links to articles you will find thought provoking.

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