In recent times Boko Haram has seized territories across Nigeria and has launched attacks against its neighbouring countries. It has managed to take hold on towns and villages around Gwoza on the Nigerian-Cameroon border and declaring itself a Caliphate like Islamic State. The group has also pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, calling itself the Islamic States West African province. Military officials in the region noted that Boko Haram may be changing its tactics and targets, by conducting raids against civilians rather than battling with government troops. This article will be covering the history of the terrorist group Boko Haram and its creation in 2002. Once considered the most dangerous terrorist group in the world, it went from a nonviolent group wanting to purify Islam in Nigeria, to killing tens of thousands and displacing millions in a matter of years. Nigeria and its regional allies have battled Boko Haram, and this article will debate the effectiveness of their countermeasures and propose ways to improve.
History of Boko Haram
Boko Haram is an Islamic sectarian movement founded in 2002 by Muhammed Yusuf in North-eastern Nigeria. The groups original intent was to uproot the corruption and injustice in Nigeria, which it blamed on Western influences, and impose Shariah, also called Islamic Law. Yusuf established the group in Maiduguri, and while the original name of the group is not Boko Haram, the name was given to the group by the neighbouring countries based on how they viewed its teachings and lifestyle. The name Boko Haram means “Westernization is sacrilege”. Ideologically Boko Haram is against Westernization, which it views as negatively impacting Islamic teachings and values and blames Western influence for the Nigerian culture of corruption that has created huge class differences in the country.
Boko Haram gained widespread exposure in 2009 when a group member was allegedly subjected to excessive use of force by police and was denied an official investigation in the matter. The group launched attacks on the police posts and governmental installations, killing numerous police officers. The police did not manage to keep the situation under control, so the army was brought in. The Joint Military Task operation left more than 700 Boko Hara members dead and destroyed the mosque where the group had their headquarters. Yusuf and other leaders, who had willingly handed themselves over to the police for questioning, were a few days later publicly displayed dead and bullet riddled. This infuriated the group and a year later the group vowed revenge, and with that the Boko Haram insurgency had begun.
In the summer of 2010, the group started assassinations against individuals, often police officers, as well larger targets. One operation that gained widespread attention was the attack on the prison in Bauchi state, and released more than 700 inmates, including some 100 Boko Haram members. Furthermore, later in 2010 the group attacked 2 Christian churches in Maiduguri and detonated explosives in a Christian neighbourhood in Jos. With time Boko Haram’s attacks increased in frequency and magnitude, occurring primarily in Nigeria’s northeast, northcentral and central. The targets were typically police, military, Christian and Muslims critical of the group. The first high-profile international target happened in 2011 when a suicide bomber crashed a car into the United Nations building in Ajuba and detonated a bomb. One of the deadliest attacks carried out by Boko Haram occurred in 2012 after group members launched coordinated attacks in the city of Kano, targeting police officers and governmental offices.
Regional and International Response
Boko Haram being working in the shadows and well as being resilient made it difficult to create a strategy to end the groups terrorist actions. The Nigerian government originally responded by using the military, however this did little to stop the attacks. The group managed to take control over many rural governments in North-eastern states and gained more strength. Sadly, the government campaign against Boko Haram was done in a violent matter. Violence and killings were rife, and the troops often did not separate group members and civilians. The result of this was even more tension in a country already on edge. Boko Haram continued launching attacks and the government started its largest military offensive against Boko Haram to date, however the group did not stop their attacks in the aftermath of the operation. In 2014 the group drew worldwide condemnation for kidnapping 275 girls from a boarding school, and Nigeria gained more international assistance to quell the groups’ terror attacks. International sanctions were also put on the group; however, this had no discernible effects. By August Boko Haram declared their occupied area to be an Islamic State.
By 2015 the tide appeared to turn in the fight against Boko Haram after a successful offensive was launched by the Nigerian troops with support from neighbouring countries, uprooting the group from several areas it previously held. At the same time the group pledged allegiance to ISIL in the Middle East. There was also a split in the group as one of the leaders called Shekau used violence that affected Muslims, which other leaders disapproved of. However, although the task force had made significant progress against Boko Haram, the group resumed their attacks against the government. However, it seems that the group is shifting their focus away from military and police attacks towards civilian attacks.
As the group continues to thrive, a change of tactics seems to suggest an attempt to regain its momentum in the region. Increasingly there has been suicide attacks involving female members, and in 2014 as much as 85 percent of total suicide attacks involving females in the world happened in Nigeria. The operational reach of Boko Haram has also expanded across the region. The group has capitalized on a shared language and ethnicity in the region, creating networks in Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Moreover, shared economic problems like poverty and unemployment has created insecurity in the region and making it easier for Boko Haram to recruit.
Regional Cooperation
There has been significant cooperation between the countries in the region to fight back Boko Haram. However, this also demonstrates that the group continues to be a formidable threat to the stability in West Africa, as Boko Haram can adapt to a more hostile environment from a law-enforcement perspective. After former president Muhammadu Buhari came to power in Nigeria, the government has taken a number of steps to counter the renewed activity of Boko Haram. He moved the base of military operations from Abuja to Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram. His goal is to centralize operations closer to the source and effectively cutting bureaucracy and speeding up decision-making. The president also replaced the National Security Adviser, and the heads of the Military, Air Force and Navy with people from regions engulfed in Boko Haram’s violence. Therefore, they are more familiar with the situation, and the groups strength and support group.
Defeating Boko Haram and denying Islamic State foothold in West Africa has required more than military operations, as a driver of these groups has often been effective recruitment. An underlining reason for the recruitment has been attributed to socio-economic issues. The region is facing domestic problems of political corruption, poverty and illiteracy. Nigeria needs both short term and long-term measures that seek to address the social, economic and political issues of the country. Government responses to the group must be at all the levels of operation, for example eliminating leaders to weaken the groups workings. Furthermore, the government needs to separate the hard-line jihadists from those who might have been forced into carrying out attacks, for example women or children who were forced to execute suicide attacks.
Regionally, the military campaigns by Nigeria and its allies has proven successful and significantly weakened Boko Haram’s capabilities and reduced its area of control. These campaigns should be sustained to the situation does not falter. Moreover, Nigeria should look to their international allies for cooperation in counterterrorism to stop cross-border recruitment and activity. It is also paramount that counter Boko Haram’s extremist narrative that is based in radical and extreme interpretation of Salafist ideology in Sunni Islam, as this movement is often implicated in violent jihad.
However, as the terrorist attacks continued doubt was being cast on the former Nigerian president Buhari’s claim that Boko Haram had technically been defeated. There has been a deployment of a regional multilateral task force, financially supported by the EU and supported by the French anti-terror operation and US soldiers. This might have contributed to retaliatory attacks. Furthermore, Nigerian military forces have been accused of committing serious human rights violations and war crimes during operations against Boko Haram. This has led to the group carrying out multiple retaliatory attacks, and in turn leading to what Amnesty has called a “cycle of violence” in Nigeria and consequently has developed into a humanitarian crisis. With the current deployment of the international task force there has been a desperate need to prevent the force of continuing human rights abuses that often lead to strengthen local support for Boko Haram.
Poverty and Inequality
The kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria made worldwide headlines in 2014. This case has put focus on the way terrorist organizations like Boko Haram use and involve women in their operations. Using female suicide bombers as an example show this participation. The reasons behind the group using women are tied to gender inequality in Nigeria. Structural and cultural expectations make the women depend economically on men and leave women without a choice if the men choose to join Boko Haram. On the other hand, women in Nigeria has also played a big part in political activism against the group. Furthermore, the enormous humanitarian consequences of the insurgency are another part of the conflict. Civilians have been shot, beheaded, mutilated, tortured, bombed and so on. This violence has led to the forced displacement of more than two million people across the region. Because of these displacements there have been food shortages, and many have been deprived of their means of living. This is amplified with pre-existing conditions such as poverty and inequality. This crisis must be alleviated by humanitarian workers through international organizations and outside help. This requires long-term support and solving key structural issues and will not be solved by stopping Boko Haram.
On the brighter side, since Boko Haram’s most active years in 2014 and 2015, casualties related to the group has fallen dramatically. With the aforementioned military coalition of Nigeria, Benin, Chad and Niger, they have managed to push Boko Haram out of several provinces. However, for a group like Boko Haram to completely disappear, structural issues need to be addressed. Education, poverty and inequality made it possible for a terrorist organization to exploit, organize and recruit in Nigeria. The war between the government and Boko Haram has made Nigeria and the region even more destabilized. This instability can mean that even if the government manages to crush Boko Haram, it is possible other extreme groups will rise from its ashes. Addressing corrupt politicians and police, helping the economic situation for every citizen, changing equality laws and make women less dependant on men and educating every person can alleviate many of Nigeria’s problems relating to stability and create long-term peace.
Bibliography
Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, last edited Feb 26 2020, Boko Haram, retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Boko-Haram
L. dan Suleiman, Muhammad, September 2015, Countering Boko Haram, retrieved from shorturl.at/aPRW0
Plambech, Sine & Cold-Ravnkilde, Signe Marie, Feb 1 2016, Defeating Boko Haram requires a Multifaceted Approach, retrieved from shorturl.at/zP014
Comments