Even as global attention focused on the Islamic State (ISIS) and its horrific attacks in Paris that claimed no fewer than 130 lives, reports that Boko Haram has captured the infamous title of the world’s deadliest terrorist group should be a reminder to the Commander-in- Chief, his forces, and Nigerians that we now have a different kind of war on our hands. Boko Haram is a clear and present danger not just to Nigeria and its neighbors, but all of humanity. In 2014, the insanely murderous group killed an estimated 6,664 people, more than any other terrorist group in the world, including ISIS, which killed 6,073 people, according to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index (GTI). President Buhari has urged the service chiefs to go on and win the war against Boko Haram and, if the chiefs did not appreciate the enormity of the task before them, this report ought to drive the message home better. Nigeria is bleeding profusely; and the country needs peace and an end to the blood-letting and wailing.
Published by the Institute of Economics & Peace, the GTI which tracks terrorist attacks globally said ISIS and Boko Haram were responsible for half of all global deaths attributed to terrorism. The report found a drastic 80% increase in terrorist attacks last year, majority occurring in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, where 17,000 people have been killed and over 2.5 million homeless since the insurgency began in 2009. Last year, the deaths attributed to Boko Haram alone increased by more than 300%, the report said. The GTI index is based on data collected as part of a program by US-based Maryland University dedicated to the study of global terrorism. The report estimated that $117 billion was spent worldwide to fight terrorism.
Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to ISIS, but it is unclear what support it is getting from ISIS beyond publicity. Even as the GTI report was being released, there was no end to the sorrow, tears and blood flowing in the country as attacks in Kano claimed no fewer than 50 lives. While President Buhari has announced recent victories against Boko Haram, including seizing bomb-making materials and winning battles in the forest, the bombings have increased, bringing deaths to areas of Cameroon, Niger and a village in Chad, prompting officials there to declare a state of emergency.
The mayhem and hemorrhaging, which follows several similarly gruesome killings in the past, reinforces the palpable despair that the invasive terrorism-related carnage is far from ever abating. Moreover, given the multi-dimensional tractions of violence in the country, and its tendency to reverberate in neighboring countries, there is a gradual entrenchment of human indignity or low premium on life. The GTI report said Cameroon had experienced no terrorism-related deaths in 2013 but recorded over 500 deaths from Boko Haram terrorism last year. The Buhari administration has its job well cut out: save Nigeria from terrorism.
If, as stated in Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government” then, with specific regard to the Boko Haram atrocities, the Buhari administration has a lot of catching up to do to fulfil this constitutional obligation to the electorate. The point must be quickly made that in fairness, it is a government in power for a little over six months and no one expected that a national wound that has festered for several years can be healed overnight.
Nevertheless, given that the president was fully aware of the seriousness of the situation and indeed expressed his firm determination to confront and defeat Boko Haram, it is not unreasonable to expect that the killing would have at least been contained.
Regrettably, this has so far not been the case. Since the change of government on May 29, Boko Haram has killed over 1000 people. From its usual theatre of destruction in the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe, the murderous fanatics have widened their areas of operation and changed tactics from pitched confrontation with security forces and the control of a swathe of the Nigerian territory, to the use of harmless-looking suicide bombers against soft targets. Mosques and churches are bombed, clerics are massacred wantonly, as terrorists visit mayhem on innocent civilians. Amidst the overwhelming terror, people would rather condemn themselves to the comfort of violence than report or take succor in government protection. In short, security is not improving in many of these places, yet people carry on with their daily pursuits of living.
Perhaps, to better appreciate the people’s predicament, there has to be an understanding of terrorism universally. Urban terrorism, like the Boko Haram insurgency, is a complex and intractable security situation where victory is practically elusive. The international terrorism network is a complex web of well-bonded affiliates that are far closer to one another than their territorial distance. As demonstrated in places like Iraq, Syria, Kenya, Somalia, Mali and Libya where it has had a stronghold, once terrorism has established itself territorially, it continues to rise with renewed sophistication as local issues fan the embers of hostility.
Consequently, the 2015 GTI report should rekindle the call for reinforced security consciousness on the part of the government and the population. Although these bloody attacks may seem far from the seat of power in Abuja, the authorities concerned need not be reminded that the victims and casualties of terrorism are no mere collateral damage, but citizens, whom the Constitution mandates them to protect. Terrorism under whatever guise is a fundamental security issue that should be addressed with total sincerity of purpose.
Without over-rating its capacity for tackling the insurgency, the president must realize that the fight against Boko Haram cannot be adequately contained without support from the people. These terrorists live among the people, and it is foolhardy to assume that the civilian populace has nothing to contribute in the fight. It is for this reason that the government must do well to consider providing appropriate support to community vigilante groups for local intelligence gathering. They know the terrain, they know the people, and the people know them. This will go a long way in augmenting the intelligence network of security forces. The government and the people of Nigeria need to contain terrorism before it consumes the soul of the nation.