Recently, we were listed in a very devious group. It’s a group or caucus we do not need to belong. In fact, years ago, it was anathema to mention terrorism in Nigeria. It was sacrilege to suggest that we will ever have Nigerian suicide bombers. All that are in the past now as we could time an active ten-year war against terror. As such get listed in this terrible group. We have been categorised as the third most terrorised nation on earth coming after countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. The 2018 Global Terrorism Index, GTI, the researcher says Nigeria has indeed maintained this 3rd place terrorism ranking since 2015 despite there being a reported drop in the number of deaths caused by Boko Haram between 2015 and 2018.
It is estimated that there were 63%, 34% and 16% drop in terror-related deaths in the country in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. Describing the reduction in deaths in Nigeria and Iraq as “the most dramatic”, the GTI attributes the improvement in Nigeria to “the effectiveness of the counterinsurgency operations undertaken in Nigeria and its neighbours, Cameroon, Niger and Chad”.
It is said that Boko Haram insurgent group no longer occupies or more correctly hold territory in any part of Nigeria, especially in the North East as it used to do and its offensive edge has been substantially blunted. Yet, it continues to demonstrate a disturbing ability to launch fatal attacks against Nigerian military bases with at least 17 attempts to overrun army bases in that area made within the last six months.
Yet there’s another trend, the terrorism of herdsmen. Earlier this year (in fact from January 1) terrorism in Nigeria shifted to the Middle Belt with the activities of alleged herdsmen claiming lives on a large scale thus negating the effect of the decline in Boko Haram killings. The GTI estimates that no less than 1,700 lives were violently snuffed out through herders-farmers clashes between January and September 2018.
Also, the International Criminal Court ICC states in its 2018 annual report that over 1,300 people were killed and 300,000 displaced as a result of clashes between herders and farmers from January to June this year in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Taraba states. While still studying whether the criminal atrocities that caused these deaths falls within its jurisdiction, the ICC notes importantly that “Some of the attacks on civilians were allegedly committed by criminal gangs involved in cattle-rustling that were subsequently blamed on herders”.
It is noteworthy that attacks on farmers and their communities by alleged herdsmen, which used to be a daily affair, have almost completely abated in recent months. This should not deter the security agencies from conducting thorough investigations to get to the root of the problem, especially because of the insinuations that the mayhem was the handiwork of still unidentified armed gangs masquerading as herdsmen. We commend security agencies for the many secrets that have so far been made and urge them to do more.
However, this armed terror is not abating. They manifest in different forms like amoeba. Recent upsurge in armed robbery, kidnapping, ritual killings and sundry other crimes that are also prevalent across the country could lend credence to the changing faces of crime in Nigeria. It’s like after herders and farmers killings were curtailed, these other criminal activities erupted. This reinforces the urgent need not only to review the current template used to fight terrorism in the country but to also fundamentally rework the existing security architecture to make it more flexible and responsive to constantly and rapidly changing scenarios.
For us to do better in the next ranking as where we are do not do us justice for investments and general, well-being, government must buckle up in social engagement. Apart from law enforcement and military prowess, soft power is equally important to ridding the nation of criminal elements. Let’s not forget that corruption breeds criminal banditry. Government must at all times triple it’s efforts at resolving conflicts and entrenching justice and the rule of law.
