Proper perspective of terrorism
Since 2010, the Federal Government has been struggling to end a terrorist onslaught in the northern part of the country.
In the entire region, there exists a variety of radical groups, many of which have not yet become full blown terrorist groups. Boko Haram is just one of these radical groups that went a little further with its ban on western education and ultimately became a jihadist group. But all the radical groups have similar ideologies even those that have not made this transition to jihadism. They hate the west and the Nigerian government.
The activities of the groups became the more violent after the 2011 general election, with the loss of scores of lives and destruction of property.
In the last three years, unofficial statistics estimate that the country has lost well over 5,000 lives from the attacks of the terrorist groups. The current administration has applied several strategies to check the menace to no avail.
While pronouncing an emergency rule on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States on May 11, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan said: “The activities of insurgents and terrorists have been reprehensible, causing fear among our citizens and a near-breakdown of law and order in parts of the country, especially the North. We have taken robust steps to unravel and address the root causes of these crises, but it would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilise the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve.”
The President noted that the terrorists had attacked government buildings and facilities, murdered innocent citizens and state officials, set houses ablaze, and taken women and children as hostages.
According to the President, “these actions amount to a declaration of war and a deliberate attempt to undermine the authority of the Nigerian state and threaten her territorial integrity. As a responsible government, we will not tolerate this.”
Six months after the emergency rule, it appears there are still many grounds to be covered. The President shared the same sentiment when he asked the Senate last week to approve the extension of the emergency rule.
“As a result of the laudable efforts of our security agencies and the support of the citizens in the affected areas, we have achieved considered successes in containing the activities of the terrorist elements. However, some security challenges still exist in a few parts,” he said.
We urge government to go beyond mere extension of the emergency rule in the affected states. There should be a conscious effort by relevant government agencies to really understand the makeup of the terrorists, their local and foreign supporters and allies, their source of funding, recruitment mechanisms etc.
It appears that intelligence gathering on the activities of insurgent groups in the North is not being done. If it is being done at all, it is not being shared. The borders are not being properly policed and there are lots of laxities here and there. Nigeria is just dissipating energy fighting only Boko Haram, leaving the more deadly and internationally-affiliated Ansaru to have a field day.
Experts say that a lot of what the North Eastern group of Boko Haram gets credit for in the North West is actually carried out through an intriguing milieu of international groups, that carried out these suicide bombings, which are not in the style of the North Eastern group.
The International Monetary Fund(IMF) in its latest regional economic outlook notes of “homegrown risks” as one of three near term risks to the economy of Sub-Saharan Africa. The report says “risks of domestic unrest remain elevated, particularly in the Sahel, and could become exacerbated in an environment of subdued growth. Although the political situation in Mali has progressively stabilised, spillovers from that conflict to neighbouring countries are still possible. Emerging security problems in northern Nigeria, while so far geographically constrained, are a threat.”
We strongly believe that unless the efforts at containing this terrorist onslaught is done with proper intelligence briefs, and adequate understanding of the mutative and complex character of the insurgency, even a hundred years of emergency rule may not bring the desired peace to the troubled zone.
By: BusinessDay