[Nigeria] I would not have written this piece but for an extraordinary occurrence in Lanza village, Darazo Local Government Area of Bauchi State, recently.
The event was reminiscent of the extra-terrestrial phenomenon witnessed mostly in the Western world and depicted in many Hollywood movies like Independence Day; Battle: Los Angeles; War of the Worlds, etc. The villagers of Lanza reported seeing a huge and wide reflective metallic object (described by many of them to be like a giant TV screen) appear in the sky around 4pm, and began to float across the village, at very low altitudes that it slid past trees without been brushed - for it seemed to fly right through obstacles. Needless to say, there was pandemonium among the villages who witnessed it.
But I write not because of the panic it caused, or the fact that this phenomenon is always given hush-hush coverage globally, as if the press and the government are in a conspiracy to cover up the unexplained visits, but for the empirical finding that the UFO phenomenon is connected to some religious cults, and also to most of the modern ills of the society today, like gay rights, abortion, legal suicide, divorce and hedonistic sexuality. To start with, UFO is short for unidentified flying object, which technically is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object, but in modern popular culture the term UFO has generally become synonymous with alien spacecraft. Some researchers have argued that because these objects appear to be technological and not natural phenomenon, and are alleged to display flight characteristics or have shapes seemingly unknown to conventional technology, the conclusion is that they must not be from Earth. Although UFO sightings have occurred throughout history, modern interest in them dates from World War II. It is assumed that the beings inside these craft are alien to us, hence the name aliens used to describe an extra-terrestrial UFO occupant.
On March26, 1997, in the United States of America, the California Police Department discovered the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate religious cult who had committed suicide in order to reach an alien space craft which they believed their souls would board at their death, and the UFO would take their souls to another "level of existence above humans". The cult group, led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, believed in several paths for a person to leave the Earth and survive before the "recycling", one of which was hating this world strongly enough; according to Applewhite, in a taped message he did before the mass suicide of which he led, "It was the only way to evacuate this Earth... It is also possible that part of our test of faith is our hating this world, even our flesh body, to the extent to be willing to leave it without any proof of the Next Level's existence."
Heaven's Gate is just one of the many of the so-called UFO religions dotting the globe today, with some of them having branches in Nigeria. Some others are Unarius Academy of Science, Universe People, Scientology, The International Raelian Movement and Aetherius Society (of which David Offor aka Clarus Mgbojikwe of The New Masquerade fame is a Bishop and top minister). Among them the International Raelian Movement has been described as the largest UFO religion in the world, who, interestingly, believe that scientifically advanced extra-terrestrials, known as the "Elohim" created life on earth through genetic engineering, and that a combination of human cloning and "mind transfer" can ultimately provide eternal life. They also believe that past religious teachers, like Jesus, Buddha and Prophet Muhammed were sent by these scientifically advanced extra-terrestrials to teach humanity, but the Elohim are planning a future visit to complete their revelation and education of humanity. But most significant is the sect's assertion that the Raelian Religion answers the present world's need through, in their own words, "values which are perfectly in tune with the 21st century; accepting divorce, contraception, abortion, assisted suicide, and marriages for male and female priests." And also free sex, which they term sensual meditation.
Let us examine the nexus between Boko Haram and the UFO phenomenon. To start with, one must take cognizance of the fact that the sect is a jihadist terrorist organization based in the northeast of Nigeria, and Bauchi, the UFO sighting location, is a northeast state and notably one of the known theatres of battle between the Nigerian government forces and the Boko Haram members during the 2009 insurgency. So, the pertinent question is why would a UFO choose to show up in Bauchi, and not in Lagos, Anambra or Abuja for that matter?
Secondly, let it be recalled that before the Boko Harm became violent, they were secluded and exclusive, not having anything to do with the general society in which they lived, just like other UFO religions and apocalyptic sects, especially the Heaven's Gate and the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, USA, who amassed arms and ammunitions in their seclusion and later engaged the American government forces in a fierce gun battle in 1993 that led to the death of law enforcement agents and the suicidal death of all the members, women and children inclusive. Similarly, Boko Harm, founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002 sought to abolish the secular system of government and the Muslim establishment and establish sharia law in the country, with the intrinsic belief that the Devil is in control of the secular regime. They had their own mansion and commune in Borno State and remained aloof even from the Muslim community until when the government clampdown on them which forced them to disperse and become violent.
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