Exclusive:Oritsejafor's Full Testimony on Boko Haram at U.S Congress

BOKO HARAM: ORITSEJAFOR ADDRESSES US CONGRESS
Statement of Ayodele Joseph ORITSEJAFOR,

President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
Oversight Hearing Before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and
Human Rights on “U.S. Policy Toward Nigeria: West Africa’s Troubled Titan

July 10, 2012

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

Chairman Smith and Members of the Subcommittee, I want to thank you for the
opportunity today to address this committee and for your interest in the
situation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and especially the increase in
terrorist attacks targeting Christians and Christian institutions. Just this
last weekend, 58 people were killed in Christian villages in Jos, including a
federal senator and a state lawmaker. Boko Haram already claimed responsibility
for these coordinated attacks against the Christian community in Jos, and they
also reaffirmed their earlier position saying that “for Christians in Nigeria to
know peace they must accept Islam as the only true religion.” Boko Haram is not
only a northern problem, but a Nigerian problem with global implications.
Nigeria is not a country divided by North and South, but a country divided
between those who support freedom and equality in the eyes of the law, and those
who promote persecution and violence as a means to an end.

To an outside observer it may appear as though Boko Haram is not a monolithic
group; that it is fragmented and disorganized, but I am here today to give you
the Nigerian perspective. Since its creation, the Boko Haram network has never
hidden its agenda or intentions. Boko Haram has
openly stated that they reject the Nigerian State and its Constitution and seek
to impose Shari’ah Law. To this end, Boko Haram has waged a systematic campaign
of terror and violence. They seek an end to western influence and a removal of
the Christian presence in Nigeria.This is outright terrorism, not legitimate
political activity or the airing of grievances.

By refusing to designate Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization, the
United States is sending a very clear message, not just to the Federal
Government of Nigeria, but to the world – that the murder of innocent
Christians, and Muslims who reject Islamism, and I make a clear distinction here
between Islam and Islamism, are acceptable losses. It is hypocritical for the
United States and the international community to say that they believe in
freedom and equality, when their actions do not support those who are being
persecuted.

A non-designation for the group only serves to hamper the cause of justice, and
has emboldened Boko Haram to continue to strike out at those who are denied
equal protection under the law. The frequency, lethality and sophistication of
Boko Haram’s attacks raise disturbing questions regarding training and
logistical support they have received from other like minded international
terrorist networks. In January 2012 the United Nations Security Council
published a report stating that Boko Haram members from Nigeria received
training in AQIM camps located in Mali and Chad during the summer of 2011. That
same summer Boko Haram carried out a bold terrorist attack against the United
Nations building in Abuja. Boko Haram did not hesitate in claiming
responsibility for the attack, nor has it ever hesitated in claiming
responsibility for its ongoing attacks against police, military, local
businesses, and increasingly churches and Christian institutions.

In Nigeria, my people are dying every single day, and it is only a matter of
time before the international terrorist links and anti-democratic Islamist
agenda of Boko Haram turns its attention to the United States. In fact, this may
already be a reality, in April of 2012 the NYPD learned that a U.S. resident
living on the East Coast had sent surveillance, including maps and photographs
of lower Manhattan and the Holland and Lincoln tunnels to an alleged member of
Boko Haram based in Nigeria.

State Department designated Boko Haram’s current leader; Abubaker Shekau and 2
others as “specially designated terrorists”, but fell short of designating the
organization. This would be the equivalent of designating Bin Laden as a
terrorist, but failing to designate Al Qaeda as a terrorist organization.

Although I am aware that the designation of Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization is not the final solution to all of Nigeria’s problems, yet it is
an important first step towards restoring the confidence of those who support
freedom and equality in the eyes of the law.

We too, want to have freedom, freedom of religion, freedom to worship as we
choose without fear, we want to have justice, based in equality and not driven
by discriminatory religious practices. Let me remind us that this is not about
economics but about an ideology that has a history of sponsoring genocide across
the globe.

As Boko Haram increasingly turns towards genocide through the systematic
targeting of Christians and Christian institutions in pursuit of its goals,
history will not forget the actions or the inactions of your great nation. I
thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to the continuing our strong
partnership with America.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.