I was shocked when I checked my feeds yesterday and saw this news of a couple of men attacking a lone soldier on the streets of London and hacking him to death with knives and meat cleavers. It was just so horrifying that I kind of tuned out. There has just been so much bad news in the past few weeks, both far and nearer to home.
So, I didn't think too much about it, but then I spoke to people who had seen the video of the suspect talking, and they thought there could be a Nigerian accent in there somewhere. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. But I guess I shouldn't be?
Boko Haram is right there in Nigeria dealing with the government and killing innocent civilians as collateral damage day in, day out. Even before Boko Haram became headline news, Abdulmutallab had shown that Nigerians can be radicalized and be willing to die for what they feel strongly about, as unreasonable and far-fetched as those reasons are to the rest of us.
Well, more and more sources are claiming a possible Nigerian link to the recent Woolwich attack. According to the Dailymail, "Experts believe the pair were using Muslim names and could be of Somali or Nigerian heritage." They went on to quote a Newsnight correspondent named Richard Watson who said:
‘I received a very interesting phone call from a source who knows the British jihadi scene very well and [he] said that one of the attackers was Nigerian in origin, has been living in the UK for many years, [and] was radicalised by the Islamist group Al Muhajiroun [a banned extremist group] in 2003. ‘He suggested to me that just last year this young man was stopped or arrested ... on his way to join Al Shabaab in Somalia.’
At this point, what can we say? Even if it turns out that the attackers were Nigerian, we'll still ride it out.
And, whether Nigerian or not, the poor soldier, an innocent man, is dead. May his soul rest in peace.
I strongly condemn the attack. But he was not radicalized in nigeria, but britain. If he was winning gold for GB he wud be british. But since its terror he's no longer british but nigerian.
ReplyDeleteThe beheading was done by a British citizen and not a Nigerian as speculated, his name does not confirm his nationality.
ReplyDeleteThis lunatic was born in the United Kingdom, never been to Nigeria, issued a birth certificate in the UK and held a British passport.
Suddenly he is now a Nigerian?
No matter how they cut this news, the guy is British, born and bred and buttered.
ReplyDeleteHorrible
ReplyDeleteSince George Bush manufactured his WMD theory the. World has never been. The same again. That what. We are. Paying for today.
ReplyDeleteI as a Nigerian condemn the be-heading of a soldier in the UK and I sympathise with all peace lovers across the world. However, the be-heading was not done by a Nigerian as speculated. The culprit was born in UK, has never been to Nigeria, and holds a British passport. How come he is now a Nigerian? Gabriel Agbonlahor, Andrew Osagie, Lawrence Okoye, Abiodun Oyepitan, Christine Ohuruogu, Eniola Aluko, Temi Fagbenle and several other thousands of British citizens with stronger Nigerian connections who are making Britain proud are never referred to as Nigerians. Please leave Nigeria out of this.
ReplyDeletelol, all this denials. If he was a Nobel prize winner, you'all wouldnt be making distinctions. You would claim him as yours even though you know Nigeria had nothing to do with his achievement. But if its bad, you all deny him.
ReplyDeleteHe did bad, he did bad. Does he represent 150million Nigerians? No. Are we ashamed that he has Nigerian blood? Yes as we rightfully should.
If those guys had been of Somalian, Pakistani or even Ghanian descent, Naija for join condemn them roundly.
May the Soul of the Soldier rest in peace. That's all that is required of us. To pray for the family who have lost a son so gruesomely.