Recently, when Alhaji Lai Mohammed said Boko Haram insurgents have been “technically defeated”, he also said that Nigerians must expect some more attacks by the jihadists.
Boko Haram has been defeated – Alhaji Lai Mohammed says.
The minister of information and culture told Nigerians during a town hall meeting in Lagos that President Muhammadu Buhari’s purposeful leadership has ended the insurgency, adding that all that is left now is the reconstruction of communities, and the resettlement and rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons as they return home.
As assuring as the minister’s statement might have sounded to some, to others it was worrying, especially in the light of recent attacks by the terror group. The latest actions by Boko Haram have left many Nigerians wondering about the true meaning of the term ‘defeat’.
Scores of insurgents were reported killed while some soldiers were wounded after Boko Haram fighters attacked soldiers early on Monday, April 18, near the border with Niger in the northern town of Kareto in Borno state. Military sources reported that the attack, which followed many other attacks on military and police formations in the northeast, lasted for about three hours.
Prior to the attack at Kareto town, the insurgents had reportedly attacked Zango village, Gulani local government area in Yobe state, on April 19, Tuesday. Vigilante members and residents said that the insurgents arrived on horseback and shot dead 11 people.
The attack reportedly occurred around midnight when the Boko Haram members set ablaze houses and shot randomly at people trying to run from the flames.
One of the vigilantes, who asked to be anonymous, said: “The gunmen came midnight after 11:45pm, set ablaze our houses and opened fire on the people trying to escape. They chased people on horses and open fire on them.” According to the source, similar attacks happened in the neighbouring villages where over 20 people were murdered.
The deadliest terror group
To underestimate the murderous potential of Boko Haram is to play with fire. The flames might not only engulf Nigeria as a nation, but could at any time flare into an inferno that could do irreparable damage to Africa as a continent.
READ ALSO: Outrageous! See how Boko Haram parents are training their children (video)
The terror group, which first came to prominence about seven years ago, has grown to become the deadliest in the world, as ranked by the Global Terrorism Index in 2015.
The fact that the sect’s actions have led to the killing of about 20,000 people and the displacement of about 2.3 million from their homes, is reason enough why this group must be taken seriously, and why they should never be underestimated.
Boko Haram killed over 6,600 people in 2014 alone, and carried out mass abductions including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014.
According to an Amnesty International report published in September 2015, at least 1,600 people were killed by Boko Haram since the beginning of June 2015 when Buhari was inaugurated as the president of Nigeria. That means that twelve Nigerians were killed every day by the jihadists from when Buhari came into office to when the report was published, or in other words that during that period of time one Nigerian died every two hours as a result of Boko Haram attacks or suicide bombings.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency estimated the number of people killed by Boko Haram during the same period of four months as more than 1,320 victims. According to UN figures, this massive death toll approximately equals the number of people killed in Boko Haram attacks for a twice longer period of time in 2013 when Goodluck Jonathan was in power. Over the period from May 2013 to December 2013, when jihadists intensified their attacks, at least 1,224 people were killed.
As many as 2,000 people were killed when Boko Haram attacked Baga town in Borno state in January 2015. Before leaving presidential office, Goodluck Jonathan acknowledged that more than 13,000 people had been killed in Boko Haram attacks since the beginning of the insurgency in 2009.
In 2015, over 9,000 were killed and 1.5 million displaced. Besides that, 800 schools were destroyed in 2014 by Boko Haram militants.
Controversies and constraints
Like every other war, there is always propaganda as to the cause, key players and the goals of the sides involved. The Boko Haram war has not been without its own share of conspiracy theories.
Boko Haram seeks the establishment of an Islamic state in Nigeria. It opposes the Westernization of Nigerian society and the concentration of the wealth of the country among members of a small political elite, mainly in the Christian south of the country.
In the early stages, the sect was seen as the executors of a plot to Islamize Nigeria. It was said to have the backing of certain elites in the northern region of Nigeria. For some, the fundamentalist group which is influenced by the Wahhabi movement and advocates a strict form of sharia law, was sponsored to fight the cause of changing Nigeria’s religious orientation.
READ ALSO: Fulani Herdsmen: What Anambra government plans to do will shock you
As the movement metamorphosed, some political hypotheses began to emerge. The imposition of sharia by local authorities, beginning with Zamfara in January 2000 and covering 12 northern states by late 2002, is said to have promoted links between Boko Haram and political leaders, although the measures were considered by the group to have been corrupted.
The order of things continued to evolve and soon there were claims and counter claims that the sect was a tool in the hands of people opposed to the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Perhaps things would not have degenerated to the pogrom which best describes the sect’s campaign so far, but for the $2.1 billion arms deal scandal which rocked the Nigerian military and involved members of the Jonathan government.
A former national security adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki allegedly mismanaged funds while he served as the NSA. Dasuki who was arrested and arraigned by security operatives, is said to have misused the funds which were meant for the procurement of arms to fight against the insurgency which at the time was just brewing in the northeastern region of the country.
‘The general’ and a history of victory
It has been eleven months since Muhammadu Buhari became the president of Nigeria, and for some the former general of the Nigerian army has fought well the battle against insurgency, striving hard to bring to an end the reign of terror in the northeast of Nigeria.
For proponents of Buhari’s course, it was just a few months ago that Boko Haram hoisted flags of its imagined caliphates across large areas in the northeastern part of the country. At one point Nigeria had lost territory to the tune of 14 local government areas, an area bigger than the size of Gambia, but most territories have been reportedly recovered through the actions of the Nigerian army under the leadership of President Buhari.
Buhari’s supporters argue that prior to his emergence most towns and villages in the northeastern part of Nigeria had been made desolate by the Islamist group. They argue that millions had been displaced and economic activity in these areas came virtually to a halt. But as soon as the president came in, he took the bull by the horns, embarking on trips to strengthen relationships with the nation’s allies for the purpose of tackling Nigeria’s insecurity.
And though some hold contrary views, pro-Buharists, as they have come to be called, claim that the Nigerian leader promised frequently during his campaign that he would do everything possible to reverse the trend of Nigeria losing territory to insurgents. They say that such a reversal has happened and is still ongoing, with a final showdown speculated to be in the Sambisa forest region.
His supporters claim that he is a man of guts with a knack for glory. They claim that Buhari’s leadership has inspired the Nigerian military into launching offensives that have seen them claiming back lands lost to the insurgents in the past, rescuing those held in the claws of the terrorists, freeing from their talons men, women and children in their hundreds, and sending the captives home in peace.
Soldiers and Buni Yadi residents full of joy after their Boko Haram-ravaged community was liberated.
The Nigerian troops are said to have reclaimed almost all lost ground in the northeast. Shikah, Fikayel, Tetebah, Buza, Kamla, Bumsa, Michika, Baga, Monguno, Gulag, Bara and Gwoza are but a few major towns that have been reclaimed by Nigerian troops.
Old dog, new tricks
Having been pushed back, with land reclaimed from their control, Boko Haram had to come up with new ways of launching attacks against Nigeria.
The fundamentalists began to explore other means of waging terror. They increased the production of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). There were reports of Boko Haram members disguising themselves as legitimate fruit and vegetable sellers to smuggle IEDs in groceries to crowded areas.
Members of the general public were also informed that the insurgent group had become so desperate that they hid IEDs inside attractive objects; those which the average Nigerian would be tempted to pick up if encountered on the road.
Livestock was also said to be used as IEDs, and the government noted that the insurgents had resolved to strap bombs to cows and herd the cows to human settlements before detonating the explosives.
A major threat was also leaked by the Borno state government in which the government announced that the sect had developed a deadly plot involving the collection of permanent voter cards. In a statement issued by the government, the terrorist group was said to have started announcing to citizens, particularly women, that if they submit photocopies of their permanent voter cards they will receive N6,000 from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The alleged goal of this scheme was to group civilians at various buildings in order to maximize casualties for suicide attacks.
However, of all the schemes devised, the most horrifying was the so-called “female predatory martyrs”, a development which caused dread over the fate of the more than 200 girls who were abducted at Chibok.
For Nigeria, it was an increasingly disquieting and disturbing twist to the insurgency. In what can be described as the invention of an evil genius, Boko Haram adopted the Palestinian model of jihadism in its recruitment of teenagers and young girls as suicide bombers in crowded places.
This trend has proven to be another tough battle for the Nigerian security operatives, and one that experts argue is much more difficult to combat. These girls, who are forced to drift from the naiveté and demureness of their age group to the savagery of rebels, were the agents responsible for the perplexing rise of suicide bombings.
Radical mothers are reported to have been encouraged to compel their children to enlist in the struggle against the enemies of the nation of Islam and die as martyrs in the name of Allah.
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These sacrificial lambs are easier to work with in terms of planning and have the benefit of low cost, experts have suggested. In relation to their low social status in some societies, girls are considered expendable; willing casualties of the latest jihadi trend. It is also argued that women are more emotional and easier to indoctrinate.
Moreover, as Theophilus Ilevbaree pointed out in an analysis of the trend published by Sahara Reporters in 2014: “When a human bomb mission is accomplished, it attracts higher shock value and more media coverage if it involves a female martyr.”
So the girls and women carried out their suicide missions under the guise of faux pregnancies and breast implants, fitted with explosive devices which are nearly impossible to detect at security checkpoints, since traditional female garb, such as the hijab, is used to conceal them.
Old wine from new skins (a conspiracy theory)
Boko Haram has been outmanoeuvred after a regional offensive drove it from strongholds in the northeast. However, they have continued to come up with schemes to launch attacks. Using children to carry out attacks is one deadly method. Now there is speculation that the sect has evolved into something different. For the propagators of this theory, the sect has started masquerading as the now notorious Fulani herdsmen.
Following recent attacks by alleged cattle-herders in the southeast region, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has said that Fulani herdsmen are not responsible for the attacks, but rather Boko Haram terrorists.
Fulani herdsmen have been accused of perpetrating frequent attacks on agrarian communities, with the most recent being the attack on Ukpabi Nimbo community in Enugu state that left several people dead and more injured. However, the IYC said the attack was carried out by terrorists in the guise of herdsmen, claiming the traditional herdsmen have been grazing for years without any trouble arising.
Nigeria’s minister of the interior, Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau, has suggested that there may be Boko Haram and criminal gang angles to the frequent clashes between herdsmen and farmers across the country. He said in Abuja at the opening ceremony of a stakeholders’ meeting on pastoralists’ and sedentary farmers’ conflicts in Nigeria that Boko Haram may be using the conflicts to terrorise Nigerians. “Indications are that there are opportunistic criminal angles to the conflict in the nature of cattle-rustling, armed robbery and kidnapping,” he said.
David Otto, the CEO of the UK-based global security provider TGS Intelligence Consultants, told IBTimes UK there are fears the violence based on land control might escalate into a religious conflict which could be used by Boko Haram to its own advantage.
“As land degradation increases in the Far North, Fulani people have been moving downwards towards the middle belt, which provides vast grazing land for these nomads. However, this area is dominated by Christians or non-religious farmers who equally depend on this vast land for agriculture. This scenario has resulted in massive casualties on both sides for generations,” he explained.
“Ground report shows that these Hausa Fulani herdsmen are well armed and carry out coordinated attacks against local farmers. The danger is that such conflicts can easily be infiltrated by Salafi Jihadist Boko Haram terrorists or even organised crime groups who see an opportunity in chaos. The government has been slow to act on these ethnic clashes – seen as local skirmishes that had no national security threat – but this could become a serious security menace to the region.”
The menace highlighted by the security experts might be with us already. Arrested for attacks in Wukari, Taraba state, some Fulani herdsmen have confessed to acting on behalf of Boko Haram.
From the plains of Plateau, Nasarawa and southern parts of Kaduna states, these armed cattle herders have increased in numbers, pouring southward into Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Delta, Edo and parts of Rivers states. They brazenly herd their livestock onto people’s farmlands and threaten them with their deadly weapons at the slightest sign of protest. Some of them even go beyond that and engage in criminal ventures such as kidnapping, armed robbery, murders and rape.
The Fulani people are one of the largest ethno-linguistic groups in Africa, numbering approximately 40 million people in total. According to Senator Ben Murray Bruce of Bayelsa state, the Fulani herders have wreaked more havoc than the Boko Haram sect.
Following attacks by herdsmen in Agatu, Benue state, the Nigerian Senate said crimes of mass murder across Nigerian agrairian communities were committed by “overpowered” Boko Haram insurgents, not Fulani herdsmen.
This assertion formed part of the Senate’s resolution that followed a motion by Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP-Taraba state) on “the need to urgently flush out Boko Haram insurgents reassembling in Taraba state”.
“The Senate is aware that that Nigerian army has recorded tremendous success in the war against insurgents in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
“There is a change of tactics by insurgents who now parade as herdsmen to make it difficult for the public to identify them,” Mr. Bwacha said.
He said many communities in his Taraba South constituency had been deserted, following attacks by Boko Haram insurgents “masquerading as Fulani herdsmen”.
Eight local government areas, comprising Agatu, Buruku, Guma, Gwer-west, Logo, Kwande, Gwer-East and Katsina-Ala, have been under recurrent heavy attacks from the Fulani herdsmen.
In a recent attack in Enugu state 100 people were reported killed, while many churches and homes were burnt to the ground.
Reports state that between 300 and 500 people were murdered in Agatu and other communities of Benue earlier in March.
READ ALSO: Reprisals Attack on Fulani Herdsmen: Gunmen kill 20 persons, 83 cows in Nasarawa
Calls are being made for the federal government to take drastic action against the Fulani herdsmen, asking the presidency if cows are now worth more than human lives? Conflict experts fear that if the attacks continue, the communities being attacked will soon have no option but to fight back.
There have been many sad stories regarding the attacks by the now notorious herdsmen. Ozie Okerefor, a divisional police officer (DPO) in the Vunokilang police station in Girei local government area of Adamawa state, had only spent two months at his new duty post when he was ambushed and killed by men believed to be Fulani herdsmen. Okerefor was reportedly on his way to the scene of a dispute between some Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the area when he and 29 others were killed on Sunday, January 24.
On Tuesday, January 5, the people of Ubulu-Uku kingdom in Aniocha South local government area of Delta state received the shocking news of the abduction of their king. His Royal Majesty Akaeze Ofulue III was on his way to church on the Obior/Igbodo road when he was ambushed and subsequently kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen. According to Vanguard, the Fulani herdsmen also abducted two Catholic priests on that same road.
Three days after the king’s abduction, the kidnappers demanded a N100 million ransom, but later agreed to accept N30 million after much negotiation. News reports claimed that the kidnappers were afraid that the community would involve the police despite warnings, so they killed the king and fled.
As in this case, one of the most disturbing aspects of the attacks is that there are barely even any arrests after the herders carry out their terrible acts.
Experts say that although President Muhammadu Buhari has said that a plan to map out grazing areas is under way to end the recurring conflicts between farmers and herdsmen, there is clearly a larger issue at play, which Buhari has also acknowledged.
While speaking to a delegation from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, President Buhari noted that ethnic conflict and religious conflict stem from poverty and injustice. For decades, Fulani herdsmen have been perceived as a harmless annoyance, so the escalation of violence over the past year requires much more than merely mapping out grazing areas.
The inspector general of the Nigerian police force, Solomon Arase, has said the force will not allow the menace of the Fulani herdsmen to degenerate into a new Boko Haram.
Arase told journalists on Saturday in Abuja that the police would continue to monitor the Fulani herdsmen and “amputate them whenever they come up.”
The police boss attributed the killings being carried out by the Fulani herdsmen to the influx of arms and ammunition from Mali, Chad and Libya.
Breaking the silence and the way forward
President Buhari has been accused of adding his silence to the violence emerging in the southeast. However, the president has broken his long silence. Placing action ahead of words, Buhari has condemned the attacks by the Fulani herdsmen, and directed a crackdown on the killers.
The president gave the order on Wednesday, April 27, asking security chiefs to secure areas where the suspected killer herders are functioning.
He has directed the chief of defence staff, Major General Abayomi Olonishakin, and the IGP, Solomon Arase, to go after the herdsmen who are terrorising people around the country.
“Ending the recent upsurge of attacks on communities by herdsmen reportedly armed with sophisticated weapons is now a priority on the Buhari administration’s agenda for enhanced national security and the armed forces and police have clear instructions to take all necessary action to stop the carnage,” said the president.
It is on record that Nigeria celebrated a major victory against Boko Haram last year when the military, supported by the Republic of Chad, Niger and Cameroon, launched an aggressive attack against the insurgency over a six-week period. This culminated in the recapturing of a large part of the territory previously under Boko Haram’s control.
The destruction of these camps yielded 128 suspected Boko Haram members to the Borno state government. After being interrogated by the Nigerian army, the suspects were released to the state government, which stated that they had no ties to the radical group.
The chief of army staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, presented the released suspects comprising of 109 men, seven women, 11 boys and one unattached teenager, to the state governor, Kashim Shettima.
Though the military seemed to have been successful in dampening the energy of the terrorist group, the sect’s mode of operation has continued to change. There have been several cases of relapses and reports of the jihadists constantly ambushing security operatives and even taking the war to Nigerian security operatives.
The acting general officer commanding 7 division of the Nigerian army, Brigadier General Victor Ezugwu, escaped an attack by Boko Haram fighters who ambushed his convey enroute to a visit to troops in Bama about 8.30am on Tuesday, April 19.
During the attack a soldier was killed while two others were injured. Soldiers attached to Ezugwu’s convoy were able to repel the attack by the insurgents, killing some of the terrorists in the process.
Meanwhile there are depressing reports that the Nigerian army is yet to retrieve the dead bodies of soldiers killed in Gubio, Borno state, during a Boko Haram ambush, a soldier at the war front claimed.
Speaking to The Cable, the soldier said despite the successes recorded since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power, the Boko Haram insurgents were still fully in control of Gubio. He added that the army has not been able to penetrate Gubio because of the insurgents’ “superior fire power”, and has not been able to retrieve the bodies.
On Wednesday, April 27, a controversial report emerged, showing photographs of items captured by Boko Haram fighters from Nigerian troops in Borno state recently.
All this news if critically analyzed shows clearly that if the snake’s head has been chopped off, the body still remains deadly.
While the troops continue to advance nothing must be left to chance. The battle may be almost won but there are questions left to be answered; the snake has to be buried entirely. One question which the Nigerian government must address is the whereabouts of Abubakar Shekau, the supposed leader of the sect? Is he dead or alive?
The Nigerian government must also answer the question of where the missing Chibok girls are. Only recently, a few of the girls were featured in a video allegedly put online by the extremists. The video shows 15 of the Chibok girls abducted two years ago, alive and looking well taken care of.
The recording was reportedly sent by the jihadists to negotiators as proof that the girls were alive. For the parents of the abducted girls, the video rekindled their faith and revived their hopes of being reunited with their daughters again; however, the question is how soon?
Maj-Gen. Leo Irabor, the commander of Operation Lafia Dole, the campaign against Boko Haram in the northeast, has renewed the hopes of many Nigerians regarding the case of the Chibok schoolgirls. Irabor said the girls could be saved soon.
According to the army commander, credible army intelligence shows that the missing girls are still being held in a notorious stronghold of the Boko Haram, Sambisa forest, as well as in a location close to the Chad-Niger border. There have been so many promises of this nature, but the question is can the army and this government make good its promises?
Amnesty International estimates Boko Haram has kidnapped about 2,000 women and girls since 2014 for use as cooks, sex slaves, fighters and suicide bombers.
There are fears that the abducted Chibok girls are being indoctrinated and conscripted to carry out terrorist attacks. Experts say that some years down the road, we will have a much bigger problem on our hands with the radicalisation of these children.
The US army has said that it remains unclear how Boko Haram coerces children into carrying out the attacks, but those who have been raped are psychologically damaged and vulnerable. UNICEF notes that a third of the suicide bombers in Nigeria have been girls.
Although many children are being released from captivity as the military reclaims territory from Boko Haram, they often face stigma and rejection. Human Rights Watch reports that almost one million Nigerian children are missing out on education as Boko Haram has destroyed more than 900 schools and killed more than 600 teachers.
For the Buhari-led administration, victory in the war against insurgency will not end with the military defeat of Boko Haram. Bringing the abducted girls back will be a measure of any victory, and integrating the orphaned, lost and kidnapped into the society will also be a key factor in measuring success.
Finally, President Buhari cannot speak of having made good his promise of security if the menace of the Fulani herdsmen is not laid to rest soon.
Buhari’s ability to redeem our country from the shackles of corruption and illegality rest a great deal on how secure the people feel. The nation is surely on course to win the war against Boko Haram, but it is not yet time to dance.
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