By Theodore Shoebat
Muslim terrorists, part of Boko Haram, on Sunday, in Nigeria, attacked a Christian village in which they burned down several churches and Christian homes and slaughtered many Christians. In a statement from two local pastors:
Many Christians were killed… Churches were attacked and torched
Some 350 children went missing after the attack, and still have yet to be found. Beatice Elisha, a civil servant who was trapped in the town, said:
They were burning houses and many people have died. There was gunfire all over the place
These same jihadist thugs entered a town called Biu, but they were confronted with people who fight back. The local militia, working with the Nigerian military, killed 41 members of Boko Haram, and beheaded all of them. The militia chased after the jihadists from Sabon Gari to Gur in the area of Biu. The battle lasted two hours, with the militia and government forces overpowering the savages. 41 jihadists lied dead, and the militia decided to behead the bodies and display the heads to tell the people that these terrorists are not invincible. According to one of the militants, Ibrahim Kolo:
The vigilante beheaded the insurgents after the shoot out and took their heads to Biu to show the people that the Boko Haram insurgents are human and not some beast and so, people should not fear them but to join hands with security operatives to ensure that the sect, who are enemies of Islam and the people of Nigerians are defeated….
…we heard that the insurgent went to attack Sabon Gari, where people were just returning to their homes after three months of exile as internally displaced persons in various camps across the state. We went after them to foil the planned attack. …We were able to repel them and seeing that they headed towards Mandafuma in Biu local government, we pursued them and we were able to ambush them at Gur.
…
We engaged them in fierce battle with the soldiers and 41 of them were killed, one of them was taken alive. “No soldier was killed in the ambush. After they were killed we cut off their heads and took it to Biu to show the people in order to encourage them to stand up against the Boko Haram fighters, who are now destroying our villages.
The story reminds me of the Battle of Nicaea between the Christian crusaders and the Muslim Turks. In one fight, the Count of St. Gilles and the Bishop of Puy, with mighty armies and the sign of the Cross, executed a fierce incursion on the Turks, forcing many of them to retreat. (1) As time went on, and fighting proceeded, Sulaiman made a promise that he would surrender the city. But as the crusaders were believing this, Sulaiman was regaining strength and collecting more troops. It was a hudna (false peace). The Muslims sent messengers out of the city to call forward reinforcements, and so did they come, with sixty thousand Turks fresh for the intensity of the fray.
Down came the Turks from the mountains, but as they charged forward their courage sharply turned into sorrow, as they saw how organized the columns of the Christians were. The rays of the sun made a cutting reflection upon the soar eyes of the Turks as they went against the armor of the saints. The Count of Gilles counterattacked and took many lives of an innumerable multitude of the enemy. Spears flew, and neither was it possible for one to turn without seeing a lance cut through the desert heat. They turned back to the mountain, and as they sprinted from the columns of the rustic crusaders, they turned only to see the presence of their Christian enemies raising their slaughter weapons and taking many of their lives. The Muslims within Nicaea looked up only to see the raining heads of their Muslim warriors shot by the catapults. (2)
(1) See Edward Peters, The First Crusade, ch. iv, p. 147, The Siege of Nicaea, The Gesta Version
(2) Anselme of Ribemont to Manasses II, in Edward Peters, The First Crusade, ch. v, p. 223; Robert the Monk, History of the First Crusade, 3.3-4