SPONSORED TERRORISM IN JUDGES 9: 1-6 AND THE CHALLENGES OF ARMED INSURGENCY IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

Abstract

Terrorism is a basic factor that benumbs and cripples the peace, development and progress of any state where it is carried out. It creates fear in the citizenry, paralyses the vision and goal of the government; it drains economy and makes a state desolate. Terroristic activities drive away local and foreign investors, making the society suffer a lot social ills, ranging from poverty, unemployment and mass suffering. This study, a text-linguistic approach, investigated the case of terrorism as narrated in the Bible book of Judges 9:1-6, in which Abimelech one of the sons of Gideon a judge in Israel massacred his half-brothers in order to achieve his political ambition in becoming the judge of Israel after the death of their father. The paper reveals that while the global community battles zealously against scourge and surge of terrorism in various corners, African continent and the Nigerian state have suffered a big deal of the adverse effect of terrorism menace. It therefore suggests that while measures geared towards engaging techniques to curtail terroristic activities, there should be religious and local social contents that should be in place to control and curb the escalation of terrorism through the efforts of all and sundry.