Nigeria’s chaotic war on terrorism

The announcement of the death of the leader of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province ISWAP Abu Musab al-Barnawy by the Nigerian army on Oct 14 didn’t carry the same weight that similar news about the death of the likes of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghadi. Yet Al-Barnawy, the son of Boko Haram founder Muhammed Yusuf, was among the most dangerous terrorists not just in Nigeria but across the world.

In general, news about the Nigerian war on terrorism and its ramifications on the regions is overlooked. That remains the case despite that the number of casualties resulting from the Nigeria’s war with Boko Haram since 2019 exceeds 350,000. In addition to that, the war caused the evacuation of 3 million Nigerians from their homes and more than 310,000 refugees who left the countries.

The inability of the Nigerian army to decisively contain or eliminate Boko Haram has caused a spillover into neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Benin, Chad and Niger which suffered from continuous terrorist attacks.

The complex situation stems in part from the splintering of terrorist groups into newer ones and the aligning of jihadists with tribes in the region, who share the goal of fighting the centralized government and attacking Christians.

Alarming reports show that 3,492 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in the first 200 days of 2021 which equates to about 17 killed per day. The report added that 3000 citizens were abducted, 300 churches and 10 priests were attacks. The number indicate the systematic jihadist assault on the Christian population in Nigeria will continue to rise.

The Christian population, though it is labelled as a minority, has a large population of 89 million citizens mostly concentrated in the south of Nigeria making up nearly 49 percent of the total population. Christian villages in the north are prone to constant terror attacks and raids by Muslim Fulani tribesmen.

Reports indicate that in between July 23 and August 2, 2021 in the Irigwe area in central Nigeria resulted in around 70 people were killed, 400 houses were burned down and at least 15 villages were including churches and an orphanage. Moreover, around 20,000 people were displaced adding to the millions displaced throughout the conflict.

Boko Haram follows the common ISIS and Al Qaeda modus operandi, orchestrating attacks during Christian holidays, similar to ones that took place in Germany and France  in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Similarly, Boko Haram killed 11 Christians in a bloody massacre that including burning down a church in a village in North Nigeria. In these troubled regions foreigners were not spared as a British aid worker was killed during an attack on a resort in Kaduna.

“Many of the villages, where these killings and burnings are taking place, are basically located behind the 3rd Armored Division Barrack of the Nigerian Army, yet, these militias are allowed to continue their heinous murders and carnage without any intervention by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies” said Reverend Stephen Baba Panya, President of the Evangelical Church Winning All.

This is simply one report of many accusing Nigerian authorities of complacency in responding to Christian villages subjected to constant attacks by Boko Haram, Islamic State, and militant Fulani herdsmen.

Even some of Nigeria’s regional rulers, who sometimes act as spiritual leaders and carry royal titles, have expressed concern on the dire security situation in some regions. The spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims, Sultan Alhaji Sa’ad AbuBakar of the Sokoto Sultanate region have criticized killings ongoing in his province.

“In Sokoto alone, there was a day we buried 76 people, they were killed in cold blood by criminals, people don’t hear about that one, there was a day we buried 48 people in the same Sokoto, but we don’t hear about that one” said AbuBakar  “All the people committing these atrocities must be identified, our security agencies must up their game, identify them and take action on them, whether he is a religious leader or an ethnic leader.” he added

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy with a GDP of $432 billion. It is Africa’s largest oil producer and also its largest population, over 212 million in 2021. The unemployment rates in the country is the second highest globally at 33 percent. Nigerian youth unemployment recorded a staggering 53.40 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. This economic instability and ever increasing unemployment rate since the 2015 recession in the country have acted as catalysts to an alarming lack of security situation in the country. Reports of increasing numbers of gangs and kidnapping cases are a testament to this gloomy fact.

Nigerian President Muhammdu Buhari has warned in an article for the Financial Times that Africa is the new frontline for global terrorism war, especially after the disorganized withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. But Buhari himself is under fire from the Nigerian opposition who accused him of lacking the capabilities to solve the country’s growing economic and security woes.

That said, the Nigerian army reported some successes in the war against terrorism last September as 6,000 terrorists and extremists have surrendered to Nigerian army marking it as one of the biggest defections. The defections attributed to the death of former Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau who killed himself after losing a battle to rival terrorist from the Islamic State group in June.

Nevertheless, The Nigerian government is still shy from calling terrorists by that name and instead it uses the term “bandits” to describe the terrorists of Boko Haram, Islamic State and Al Qaeda along with their allies from local tribes. The government appears to be heeding warnings from local extremist clerics such as Ahmad Gumi to avoid branding what “bandits” as “terrorists.”

Questionable rehabilitation programs for the arrested Boko Haram are ongoing. Last June 2020, Nigerian government released 603 imprisoned Boko Haram members in an effort to reintegrate them back in societies amidst  heavy criticisms from the country’s political opposition, citizens and officers alike.

“How do you expect the police and soldiers fighting these terrorists to feel, knowing that the killers can come out tomorrow with a claim of repentance and they will be reabsorbed straight back into the society?” said Chief Sunny Onuesoke, of the People’s Democratic Party.

Moreover, the Nigerian army has been accused of negligence and attacking civilian targets such as villages.  Last September, 23 people were reported dead and injured after Nigerian air force jets fired on a village in Yobe State whilst targeting Boko Haram militants in the area.

The war on terrorism in Africa and Nigeria in particular, remains highly ignored by the mainstream media, despite claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people every year. Nigeria’s war on terrorism has been going sideways for over a decade. The loss of faith by Nigerian citizens in their government’s handling of the biggest national threat since the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) has been continuously growing.

Alas there is no end in sight or a tangible roadmap to save Africa’s largest population from a bleak future.