Shiite crisis: FG receives stern warning over IMN

The federal government has been warned that the manner in which the current Shiite crisis across the country is being handled could see the rise of yet another terrorist group very soon. Premium Times reports that this assertion was made by an intelligence firm SBM Intelligence, a strategic intelligence analysis provider, which said the crisis could turn terrible very fast.

It warned that the crisis “represents a threat to a society barely back on its feet from the recurring hits it has taken from the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency.” In its emailed observations to Premium Times, it noted that what could arise from this crisis would be worse than Boko Haram. “In dealing with the unfolding Shiite crisis, we are going down a well-worn path, but with a twist. “When this is situated within the context of the latent threat of a Boko Haram resurgence; the escalating situation in the Middle Belt; the continuing militant activity in the Niger Delta; the IPOB/Biafra movements which though not in open conflict, could be ignited if not handled appropriately; the current handling of the Shia crisis with force across such a vast space could be problematic, and could potentially overstretch the army so much that they are unable to contain the threat.”

”Any similar crisis with the Shiite would not be a straightforward battle, because unlike Boko Haram which depends on a largely illiterate fellowship, they are a lot more sophisticated. “Within their ranks, the Shiites boast of well-educated intellectuals who are embedded within the Nigerian state and spread across the country. The threat is one of a reported two million strong coordinated group with a robust foreign backing, in Iran.

“The consequence of engaging this group like earlier done with Boko Haram would be far-reaching, devastating and possibly apocalyptic,” the firm said. “We must realise that it is unwise to drag Nigeria into becoming a proxy site for the battle between Wahabism on the one hand and Shiism on the other. “The actual powers in the Middle East that are the sources of this conflict, Saudi Arabia and Iran, wisely keep the battles away from their own territory and fight in other people’s countries. “They are unrestrained in causing untold destruction and devastation since these proxy battlefields aren’t their own homes, an attitude that can be seen in how they have behaved in places like Yemen. “They will be even less concerned about destruction in a far-away African country, so long as their proxy battle continues. We must wisely eschew this,” SBM Intelligence said. Meanwhile, Nigerians in the United States of America on Friday, October 21, began a campaign against the newly banned Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN). The Nigerians under the aegis of More Voices Against Terrorism (MVAT) said the campaign was aimed at stopping the growing spate of religious extremism propagated by IMN.