Now that Boko Haram has effectively ended business as usual in Maiduguri, the next step is to posit a solution, namely instituting sharia law under the banner of calm and order. It's an interesting circle: make trouble, get the authorities to ban activities, then give a solution to those problems which advances your agenda.
This is Islam.
From The Street July 8 by Njadvara Musa
Nigeria: Thousands Jobless After Motorcycle Ban
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - A motorcycle ban intended to curb drive-by killings in Nigeria's restive northeast has put thousands of motorcycle taxi drivers out of work, a union leader said Friday.
Kaigama Mohammed, the Borno State chairman of the Motorcycle Transport Union of Nigeria, said the move has affected some 7,000 drivers in the urban centers of Maiduguri and Jere.
The government ban is a last-ditch effort to put an end to regular motorcycle-mounted attacks which have claimed dozens of lives in the area. Authorities blame a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram for the killings which have targeted police officers, soldiers, clerics and local leaders.
"The governor told me that the security of the state and its citizens take precedence over everything else," Mohammed said. Police have also installed numerous checkpoints in an effort to catch sect members.
If the citizens are not free to do business and move about unhindered there can be no security.
Boko Haram, which wants the strict implementation of Shariah law across Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north, has also attacked local beer parlors, churches and engineered a massive prison break. The continued violence in the area has left residents in fear as federal authorities seem unable to stop the group from attacking at will.
The state government promised to provide 5,000 rickshaws and new buses to make up for the motorcycles, but drivers and commuters are unhappy about the sudden move.
"I have lost my only source of income and parked my motorcycle at home. Now, how do I feed myself, wife and my five children?" said Tijani Bulama, a 45-year old driver.
Islam causes poverty, Bulama.
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