Solving the Boko Haram Menace

The Boko Haram crisis is worsened by lack of collaboration among security agencies, by failure of government to deliver justice and immediate relief to victims and by failure in the gathering and deployment of intelligence to forestall attacks (paraphrased).

Ambassador Othman Gamji Galtimari

Chairman Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North-East

 

Origin

The Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد) aka Boko Haram came into national attention in 2009 when its members started attacking security outfits who tried to enforce a ban on members of the group carrying arms. Maiduguri and principal towns in the North East went up in flames. Churches were burned; Christians and people hailing mostly from the south were maimed and killed.

(Body of Mohammed Yusuf)

 The military was rolled out against the group and hundreds were killed including the founder Mohammed Yusuf who was killed after being captured alive. Videos of his interview with security personnel and the lynching that led to his death are freely available on Youtube.

Before 2009 however, the group was under the influence of key politicians of Bornu. These men funded the sect and the flamboyant lifestyle of its leader- Mohammed Yusuf. Using his charismatic teachings and condemnation of the ills brought about by westernization e.g. immorality, poverty, drinking etc he was able to recruit thousands to his fold. Many graduates burned their certificates and University of Maiduguri students dropped out of school to join him. Workers left their jobs and Almajiris in their thousands sought protection from the hardships of their life from him.

( Ali Modu Sheriff, Former Governor Bornu State Nigeria)

In the 2007 general elections its support was important to the election victory of Ali Modu Sheriff in 2003 and 2007.

In the violent politicking that has come to define Nigeria’s own brand of democracy, his sect given its numbers was well funded to arm itself in pursuance of election victory for the ANPP.

Is it then little wonder that in the 2011 elections, with the sect involved in a different mission under a new ideology of  Abubakar Shekau the erstwhile deputy to Mohammed Yusuf, the ANPP lost the Bornu South Senatorial District election to the PDP for the first time since the start of the new democratic era in 1999?

(Ali Ndume, Senator  representing Bornu South)

The fact also that the group supported Ali Ndume against the then Bornu governor Ali Modu Sheriff points to the possibility of a splinter in the group. A part of the group may have wanted to punish the ANPP for withdrawing funding hence the new support for the PDP through Ndume who was a former ANPP stalwart and House of Representative member (2003-2011) under their platform.

A Change in Ideology

Under its founder Mohammed Yusuf, the sect’s aim was to spread its teachings and recruit followers.

Its teachings were Salafist initially. Salafis believe that Islam’s decline after the early generations’ results from religious innovations and from an abandoning of pure Islamic teachings; that an Islamic revival will only result through emulation of early generations of Muslims and purging of foreign influences.

(Muslim women in full Burqas)

Their teachings focused on the sins perpetuated by westernization. They taught that the women had become loose because westernization or better put secularization encouraged it. They had learned bad dressing from indigenous Christian ladies and university students from the south. Poverty was rife because the government was corrupt and the government was corrupt because it was modeled after the manner of western governments. Education rather than making the people enlightened and holy was rather making out of them thieves, whores and gangsters because they were learning the ways of the west and adopting its culture i.e. its lewd language, dressing and godlessness.

It was from these teachings that the group came to be known as Boko Haram- the Hausa term for ‘western education is sin’

The fact that these teachings won so many followers to Mohammed Yusuf in 5 years (2002-2007) as to make him so politically relevant, such that political leaders courted his alliance, should not come as a surprise to Nigerians wherever they may hail from.

 

( Lady dressed revealingly in Lagos party)

For many people especially outside of core metropolitan areas e.g. Lagos,Kano, Jos,Kaduna,Abuja and Port Harcourt, westernization has caused corruption and vice among the youths to the utter disdain of older populations. Young ladies dress revealingly and young men can be little differentiated in their manner of comportment and language from gangsters.

For many people in Nigeria the spread of western education (western is emphasized because indigenous forms of education exist) has meant an increase in vice and corruption of secular institutions e.g. government and the society as a whole.

The statement that ‘political leaders should take their oaths of office in the name of the gods’ is common especially among people of the animistic south of Nigeria. The statement is usually said because it is believed by many southerners that the new gods of Christianity and Islam are too lenient in punishing evil doers. The statement also is an indirect indictment of the secular institutions of justice who by their complacency and corruption have failed to bring justice to thieving political leaders and as a result have been complicit with the spread of corruption and impoverishment of the society.

Given the deep religious attachment of many Nigerians, any charismatic person who can espouse the cause of the predominant faith in his locality while blaming all societal ills on the adoption of western culture will never be scarce of followers. This Mohammed Yusuf was able to do to good effect like Mohammed Marwa, (leader of the Yan Tatsine of the Maitatsine riots of the 1970’s -1980’s) did before him in the 1970’s.

When news reached his political sponsors that members of the sect were stocking up arms, many of them were alarmed. The 2007 elections had been successfully conducted and the 2011 elections was still a long time off. They could see no reason as to why the sect would be doing this. They had reason to suspect that the group and its leaders had begun to have ambitions beyond being mere political thugs. The police was summoned to stop them.

This led to the conflagration described earlier and the death of Mohammed Yusuf. Members and those suspected to be linked to the group were eliminated extra-judicially and the group went underground.

( Abubakar Shekau, self proclaimed leader of Boko Haram)

In 2010, under blindfold, a Daily Trust reporter met with the new leader Abubakar Shekau who said the sect had regrouped and rearmed and was soon to start a campaign that will lead to the founding of an Islamic state across Northern Nigeria. He said western education will be outlawed and koranic education will be instituted. Women will be fully dressed as required by the faith and will be made to stay at home. When the report was published, the Nigerian police dismissed it and said that Abubakar Shekau was dead.

The Bauchi jail break in September 2010 marked the start of the coordinated campaign that has been characterized by bombing of high profile targets as the Nigerian Police headquarters and the United Nations building inAbuja.

Since Mohammed Yusuf is dead we may never know why he started to arm his group, we must however seek to understand what Abubakar Shekau was doing in the one year he was underground.

(Map showing area of influence of AQIM)

It may be safe to postulate that in that one year, deprived of funding from erstwhile political patrons, that Abubakar Shekau established links with the Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) who in turn linked him to the Al-Shabaab in Somalia. They trained his followers, armed and assured them of funding. Within safe estimates, initial funding came from AQIM. With more surveillance of their activities, arrest and death of remnants of  the old political support team and tighter border controls, the group has resorted to robbing banks for funds.

The change in ideology from being merely salafist to being a salafist jihad group is to due most likely to contact with AQIM and Al-Shabaab.

Structure

Since the death of Mohammed Yusuf, it is highly probable that the group has splintered. Abubakar Shekau claims to be leader of the sect but he probably only has total control of a part of the group and nominal control over other splinter groups.

(Ali Konduga)

A case in point is the exposed link between Ali  Konduga aka Usman Al-Zawahiri who was suspended from the group and Senator Ali Ndume who was using a splinter of the sect under Konduga to get the Election tribunal to unseat the ANPP governor of Bornu state. This particular instance shows that there exist splinters of the sect who are using violence and the dread of the sect’s name for pecuniary benefits.

(Chris Mcmanus and Franco Lamolinara blindfolded by captors)

Another case is the abduction and subsequent killing of Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara in Mabera, Sokoto. The splinter group that held these British and Italian men are probably linked actively to AQIM and their aim is to attack western interests inNigeria. The bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja on August 26, 2011 was most likely coordinated by this group.

We therefore see that the different splinters of the group have different objectives which can be narrowed to three predominant aims-

• To overthrow the secular Nigerian government and establish an Islamic state in Northern Nigeria
• To attack western interests in Nigeria as part of the global jihad against the west declared by al-Qaeda
• To pursue political interests of political patrons

Strategy

Terrorism is not a new concept. In recorded history, it dates to the 1st century CE with the Sicarii Zealots who sought to throw off Roman domination of the Jews. Other early terrorist groups that sought to establish religious beliefs and push the government to establish political and social reforms quickly include Al-Hashshashin (Persia,11th century CE) and Narodnaya Volya (Russia, 19th century CE).

(Hassan-i-Sabbah of the Al-Hashshashin)

When a group is limited in the resources, manpower and force of arms required to effect its aims against a stronger usually central government, it resorts to terrorism to strike fear in the hearts of the populace and bring about high-handed measures by the government against its people. The hope of the terrorists is to cause alienation between the government and its people and ultimately lead to weakening of central government authority.

The strategy of the Boko Haram sect has been to-

• Kill civilians who collaborate with state security
• Kill critics especially Muslim clerics
• Kill Christians or forcibly convert them
• Bomb churches and prevent conventional worshipping by Christians
• Bomb security infrastructure
• Kill security personnel
• Rob banks and churches
• Organize jail breaks to free imprisoned members and other criminals
• Threaten politicians who oppose their political patrons
• Threaten Southerners and Christians to relocate from the North
• Burn secular schools

From the above the aims of the group can be deduced as follows

• To prevent the practice of Christianity in the North
• To forcibly cause a relocation of the Christian and Southern populace from the North
• To prevent criticism and uprising against them by the local Muslim populace
• To achieve monopoly of the instruments of force and ultimately government in Northern Nigeria
• To disrupt normal life, undermine the central government and build up resentment against Nigerian security forces with the aim of sparking off mass revolt by the local populace
• To spark off sectarian violence nationwide by provoking Southerners to avenge the killings of their kin in the North.

If these Boko Haram people were to kill only these thieving politicians, the people ba, would have supported them. But they kill anybody.

Bauchi Woman

Analysis of the sect’s results

The sect has achieved the following-

• The sect has achieved national attention and has come to represent the very essence of terror in Nigeria
• It has achieved international attention and closer monitoring by the international community
• It has increased the resentment felt by most of the local population of the North- East to soldiers of the Nigerian army who have been reputed to be high-handed- killing indiscriminately and molesting the women. This has helped it undermine the authority of the government
• It has garnered the sympathy of the local populace of the North West and North East who blame their woes more on the corruption of the government than the killings of the sect
• It has reduced patronage of secular schools
• It has engendered loss of trust in the ability of the government to lead the country

The sect has also inadvertently caused the following –

• Tighter border and immigration controls
• Reform of the Nigerian police and prisons with the removal of road blocks, freeing of those imprisoned arbitrarily and closer attention by the international community to the failings of the Nigerian government
• Acceleration of regionalization

 Terrorism is the scourge of the 21^st century. Nigerians have to learn to live with it (paraphrased)

President Goodluck Jonathan

Nigerian President

Tackling the menace

The government has had varying success in its attempt to tackle the group.

It has been able to limit the attacks by the sect to Northern Nigeria. This however seems due to the sect not yet having the south in its sights than to the competency of Nigerian security forces.

It has been able to arrest key leaders of the group and engage international support to crush the sect.

Since the 9/11 attacks the global community of this era has had to wage continual warfare against terrorists worldwide. To understand how Nigeria may benefit from the various strategies used by the international community, read Beyond the 9/11 influence, an article published on this site in 2011. Click here-https://adebayoalonge.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/the-911-influence/

As a general cannot wage war without an army so also terrorism cannot thrive without the vast numbers of people who feed from it and give it form daily all over the world.

Adebayo Alonge

Solutions Ideator

In a bid to tackle the Boko Haram menace, the Nigerian government will need to localize the recommendations of the article mentioned above as well as adopt some of the proposals offered here as follows-

A)    Kill Motivation:

The United States recently advised the Nigerian government to improve access to economic opportunities for citizens living in Northern Nigeria if it hopes to put an end to the Boko Haram crisis.

This is as candid as any advice can get.

The high level of poverty and illiteracy in the North especially in the North-East is the reason why a lot of the sectarian violence seen in Nigeria has started there.

(Al-majiris in Northern Nigeria)

When the vast majority of people have no future to hope for, when their lives are marked by dehumanizing poverty and they have been raised up in the worst hardships, then it becomes easy to recruit foot soldiers from them in the guise of waging religious warfare.

Southerners may counter that they also are poor, so why then have they not resorted to terrorism? Most people who say this have not seen the form of poverty that exists in the North.

Nowhere in the south do you see children fighting over left overs in restaurants. Nowhere in the south do you see children who all their lives wake up to a life of roaming in search of their next meal. This is the face of poverty in the North.

It is why the region is so wracked by violence. It is why a large majority of  its youth abuse drugs. It is why Boko Haram started there rather than somewhere in Bayelsa.

The government needs to kill motivation of the local populace to support and join the Boko Haram sect.

This it can do by rolling out mass education projects all over the north in order to address the mass number of almajiri children. The government will need to accelerate modernization of agriculture and agro-processing in the North in order to create employment and spread income-earning opportunities to Northern citizens.

The government working with religious and traditional leaders must seek to find ways to limit the birth rate in the region which given wide spread poverty is too high to be sustainable. At the heart of this approach is the need to empower and protect women in the region. With better education and the right laws that protect girls and women , they will have much better control of their reproductive rights.

B)    Unsettle the command structure of the sect

The government must continually harass the group on every side and keep them on the run.

It must target the leaders of the group and make it difficult for them to coordinate with one another. It must maintain a stranglehold on the organization and prevent it from having unfettered access to easy funding. It must increase exponentially the costs to the group of organizing attacks.

(A citizen molested by state security officer)

The army should kill suspects only under self-defense.

Current headlines that state that security forces kill varying number of suspects are disheartening. Such killings turn the local populace against the government and prevent the security forces from having access to intelligence that can serve to forestall future attacks.

The government should coordinate with the ECOWAS and the international community to dislodge AQUIM from the Sahara and exterminate the Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Current regional and international efforts in this regard are commendable. This will isolate the Boko Haram sect and limit its access to training, arms and funding.

Local politicians who have been shown to be linked to the Boko Haram in the past and present should be investigated and where appropriate prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.

Clandestine operations should be embarked upon to do away with religious and political leaders who support the sect and who if arrested and tried publicly may lead to misinterpretation by the populace and possible sectarian strife.

The biggest mistake of the 21st century civilian is to leave monopoly of force to the government and criminals

Adebayo Alonge

Solutions Ideator

C)    Citizen participation:

The government cannot be everywhere. The people however are everywhere. The government must therefore empower its people and enable them to be able to protect themselves.

(Nigerian Vigilante)

Locals should form vigilante groups who will provide surveillance and protection for their respective communities 24/7. Already most of night time security in Nigeria is provided by local vigilante groups. This security should be extended to the day-time hours.

Such an approach is essential given the high level of corruption and job apathy amongst the Nigerian police force.

These vigilantes are to coordinate with the formal security outfits so as to ensure prompt intervention and interception by better armed security forces in periods of attacks by the sect.

Such an approach will severely limit the sect’s ability to plant bombs and launch surprise attacks- which are its modus operandi.

D)    Punish erring security officers

All security officers involved in extra judicial killings especially of the sect’s leaders and subsequently of friends and relatives to sect members must be punished according to the dictates of the law. There must be no cover up.

Social justice must be given to victims of the high-handedness of state security.

E) Negotiation

While fully pursuing the military option, the government must at the same time keep the dialogue option open. It must seek actively a means to end the conflict through dialogue.However if the sect continues to better the state’s security forces they will not be motivated to negotiate. This is why a vigorous military campaign must continue in order to force the sect to the negotiating table. Violence against the sect must stop once the group renounces all violent tactics.

F)     Improve border controls

A tight seal must be instituted across all border crossings with Niger,Chad and Cameroon in the North. This will limit the sect’s access to training, funds, men and arms from AQIM and collaborators in the aforementioned countries. This will isolate the sect and make it difficult for it to operate

G)    Improve Governance

The Boko Haram sect while being part of the global scourge of terrorism is also a direct result of failure of governance and the breakdown of social values in Nigeria. The use of thugs and private militias led to the militarization of the Boko Haram. Bad governance in spite of availability of windfall funds from high crude oil prices has entrenched poverty and helped provide cannon fodder in terms of man power and public bitterness to the sect who have so far made good use of these to further their goals.

The government must improve the access of the people to social justice and must bring to book all past leaders that have looted their people.

Victims of sectarian violence and attacks by the sect must be compensated promptly and fairly. anything short of this is to promote bitterness that will lead to further reprisals in the future.

It must empower its people through the electoral process to choose their leaders without fear of coercion or violence.

With social justice and good governance, the government can fizzle out the huge sympathy enjoyed by the sect from vast numbers of the local population.

(Osama bin Laden brought terrorism to the front burner of 21st century consciousness)

Terrorism is an idea and ideas are difficult to exterminate. It has scourged mankind for a long time and will continue to do so. It is very unlikely that the Boko Haram group can be defeated militarily. It is therefore necessary the Nigerian government and its people seek ways to limit the effectiveness of the sect’s attacks, modify day to day living to cope with this threat and find means to drive the sect underground.

A large country like Nigeria which is also rich in oil must have problems.

 Given the huge importance of oil to the modern economy and the need for other countries to trade what they have for it, it should not be beyond belief that foreigners may be deliberately encouraging discord in Nigeria in order to exchange arms and ammunition for the nation’s mineral wealth.

Also given Nigeria’s large population, it must have a fair distribution of good and bad people and as it urbanizes and partakes in the fruits of globalization, it must as a matter of fact have to deal with developmental challenges as the Boko Haram.

The Nigerian government as a matter of urgency must seek to quickly resolve the Boko Haram menace, before foreign involvement especially from North Africa and the Middle East which are currently embroiled in internal crises, expand its reach and potential for destruction.