The current
resurgence of the insurgency in the North-east may be due to strategic blunders
by the Nigerian government, security experts familiar with the dynamics of the
Boko Haram conflict have said.
They said
strategic steps taken by the government are now helping the insurgents to wax
stronger and frustrating the efforts of the military. .
Against the
new wave of deadly attacks by the terrorists, PREMIUM TIMES sought the opinions
of some individuals familiar with the ongoing counterinsurgency operation in
the North-east on why Boko Haram still carry out surprising attacks despite
official claims that the group has been degraded.
In their
opinions, the recent deals the Nigerian government had with Boko Haram have not
helped the counterinsurgency efforts.
They suggest
that the government exchanged money and some captured commanders of Boko Haram
to secure the freedom of the 107 Chibok schoolgirls, the ten Borno women and
three University of Maiduguri oil explorers.
PREMIUM
TIMES reported how some senators had earlier acknowledged that the Nigerian
government paid ransom to Boko Haram for some of the kidnap victims. The
federal government is, however, yet to formally acknowledge that it paid ransom
for the victims but had in the past hinted at a prisoner swap.
While
Nigerians commended the government for securing the release of the victims, the
ransom and the released terrorists may, however, have strengthened the terror
group.
RECENT ATTACKS
In the past
two weeks, Boko Haram fighters have carried out some attacks in parts of Borno
and Yobe which resulted in the abduction of over 110 schoolgirls and killing of
some personnel of the United Nations.
The Minister
of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed, said the attack on Dapchi was a sign
that Boko Haram had been substantially defeated, and abducting the schoolgirls
was nothing but a publicity stunt by the terrorists.
Exactly 11
days after the Dapchi attack, heavily armed Boko Haram fighters invaded the
remote town of Rann, the headquarters of Kala-Balge local government area of
Borno State, where they killed 11 officials comprising three UN workers and
eight Nigerian security personnel.
The UN said
two Nigerian midwives working for the International Committee for the Red Cross
(ICRC) were also abducted by the gunmen during the attack.
On the same
night, the insurgents were reported to have attacked a village under Madagali
local government area of Adamawa State where they abducted three persons.
On Monday
night, a lone Boko Haram suicide bomber attacked a suburb of Maiduguri, killing
three operatives of the Civilian-JTF and injuring 17 others.
Many
Nigerians have blamed the recent bold attacks of the Boko Haram on the federal
government for not being able to manage its successes in the ongoing
counterinsurgency operation.
EXPERTS
CONDEMN DEALS
PREMIUM
TIMES sought the opinion of Ahmed Abdullahi, a former State Director of the
Department of Security Service (DSS) in Borno for about six years until he left
in 2015, who fingered negotiation with the terrorists as a major misstep in the
war against Boko Haram.
“I used to
think that Nigeria and her multiple problems were a headache for all of us; not
anymore,” he said in utter disappointment with the organs of government
prosecuting the counterinsurgency operation.
“When we
have other countries with similar but milder terror problems meting out
commensurate punishments including death to terror suspects in custody, here we
trade them by releasing Boko Haram suspects.”
Boko Haram
Mr.
Abdullahi. who during his time as director of DSS in Borno not only personally
led operations that resulted in the arrest of top Boko Haram kingpins but is
also credited for establishing what is today known as Civilian-JTF, said he
weeps seeing how the gains of such efforts are being wasted by the current
managers of the country’s security.
“Over 400 BH
(Boko Haram) suspects in Kainji detention facility were released by a local
court in the area recently,” he said.
“Is this how
the war will be won? Almost all the commanders in the DSS custody – dreaded
criminals that we risked our lives to apprehend over the years – have been
evacuated and traded under the guise of securing the release of Chibok girls.”
He said the
recent abductions by Boko Haram are another avenue cheaply given to the Boko
Haram commanders to generate more cash in hard currencies from the federal
government which the insurgents could use to further arm themselves.
“Dapchi
girls will further fetch more Euros to the current callous commanders (of Boko
Haram) and security managers who have no sincerity of purpose,” said Mr. Abdullahi.
Another
expert, Kabiru Adamu, a security risk consultant to some of the UN
organisations working in the North-east, blamed the Nigerian government for
“unwittingly” allowing a degraded Boko Haram to regroup by indirectly giving
them oxygen to breath.
“The
government has unwittingly allowed the group to regroup by, firstly,
negotiating with them, and in the process allowing them some kind of funding –
though I am not certain about this; as well as allowing them (recover) some of
their members who had been in detention”, he said.
He said
though the government has not made public details of the negotiation, “what we
are hearing suggest that monies were received and possibly some of their
members may have been released in all the negotiations that have taken place so
far”.
He said the
military, through its several operations in the North-east, succeeded in
plugging all the channels and sources of funding for Boko Haram, but the
federal government whom it is working for is using another hand to spoon-feed
the starving insurgents.
“Their
funding and supply sources may have been blocked; now they are looking for ways
to generate more funding and one of the easiest ways to generate these funding
is through kidnapping, especially since they know the Nigerian government is
negotiating with them.
“So that’s
why you see in recent attacks…they would end with kidnapping. This is something
they ordinarily would not do in the past”.
Mr. Kabiru,
who is the chief executive of Beacon Security, said rather than government
continuing negotiation with Boko Haram, they could as well leverage on the
opened window of communication to advance a bigger dialogue and possibly
negotiate a deal to end the entire war.
“I agree
with the opinion that negotiations should go beyond hostage release and ransom
payment,” said Mr. Kabiru.
“In the
measures to addressing terrorism, globally, the number one measure is to
address grievances of affected communities, and sadly Nigerian government is
not doing enough in that direction.
“Why I am
saying this is that, if you are going to negotiate anything, the starting point
for that negotiation is to indicate that you have addressed grievances. And
what are those grievances? Poverty, deprivation, and other socio-economic
issues that have been affecting the targeted region.
“Like in
Borno, the poverty level is extremely high; illiteracy as well as lack of
education is significantly high amongst the youth. So these are the kind of
issues you use in negotiating apart from other pecuniary benefits that the
leadership of the group may have.”
Just like
the former Borno SSS director had opined, Mr. Kabiru said he suspects that the
current state of insecurity, especially in the North-east may be benefitting
some individuals in government.
“But
unfortunately, as it is being rumoured, there are may be some elements within
the Nigerian government, including the Nigerian military that perhaps don’t
want this to come to an end for reasons best known to them,” said Mr. Kabiru.
“May be for
personal benefits or perhaps lack of deeper understanding of the dynamics
behind the conflict, but the truth of it is that no counterinsurgency operation
is run through military exercise alone.
“Since they
already have a channel of communication, I personally believe that they should
expand the channel of communication to include broad negation towards ending
the conflict,” he said.
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