How to end Boko Haram’s attacks Written by Ayoade Abeel Tuesday, 19 July 2011

How to end Boko Haram’s attacks Written by Ayoade Abeel Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Whether Boko Haram is a terrorist or religious group is not a case to debate. Whatever nomenclature is being ascribed to the group, the   problem is that it has become a thorn in the flesh of Nigerians- the government and the governed alike. If it is believed to be a terrorist group, then it is easy to conquer, because as one of the past Inspector General of Police would hold, Operation Fire For Fire was the best option to fight criminals. They can easily be detected and crushed because they really have no spiritual backings.

But if the group is believed to be a religious one, I am afraid they cannot be bought over with material inducements or defeated completely, except when their demands are met. Religious beliefs are part and parcel of one’s life and transferred from generation to generation. Religious beliefs run in the body of adherents and more often, death is the only cut between the duo.

There are certain problems in human life that cannot just be overcome by force or application of both force and inducements. When the cause of the problem is known and it is justifiable, it becomes very deadly to apply force. Take for instance, the Niger Delta insurgency. How many Niger Delta people, especially the youths lost their lives in the cause they strongly believed in – emancipation of the Nigeria Delta as encapsulated in the meaning of MEND? The people became like the Gog and Magog who come out in folds when a section is annihilated.

The Boko Haram, as an analyst rightly said, is quite a product of the haram in the boko. Haram is illegality, unlawfulness and obscenities. These abstractions are definitely the order of the day in Nigeria, most especially among the high level of the citizenry. One needs not get lost imagining what a society can become when uprightness and mercy are drifted off the hearts of many citizens and cruelty, injustice, discrimination, inhumanity, corruption and lawlessness take over the society.

After only two years of its existence, the Boko Haram has displayed that it can do its desires anywhere and anytime. The group had held its first base in Borno hostage and gradually it is spreading like a wild fire. Its spread can be attributed to the mishandling of the situation by the security authorities concerned. It is fresh in memory that the most famous leader of the Niger Delta struggle in recent times, Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, continually warned that if the Federal Government killed him, thousands of Asari-Dokubo would emerge and strike even harder than the original Dokubo.

So, the Federal Government under former President Olusegun Obasanjo thought it wise not to apply excessive force. Obasanjo openly said the best option to adopt was the stick and carrot tactics. While minimal force was applied, there was wide room for negotiation. This yielded some results because this kept the militants hopeful and less ferocious until when late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who had a stronger political will, declared an unconditional pardon codenamed amnesty for all the Niger Delta militants - including those who definitely did not and have not returned their arms.

I know that Obasanjo did not really like the situation in the Niger Delta, but he was quite tolerant because he knew, probably being a milito-civilian the consequences of killing the leader of the struggle. Asari-Dokubo abused Obasanjo to his face, remained quite unchanged even in the prison and was ready to stage physical combat against any Nigerian citizen who stood against the demands of the Niger Delta people. The well-known Niger Delta militants were not killed except for those who fought themselves. After the amnesty, those who were behind the bars were unconditionally freed and now they are being trained to become useful citizens.

On their part, the security chiefs played along with the presidency and exerted the greatest level of caution. I was present in one of the events when arms were mobbed by the Federal Government from the militants in Port Harcourt. Some of the militant leaders challenged the army chiefs at the Bori Camp and the army never reacted negatively, at least on the spot. Their utterances were carefully made to guard against inciting the militants even though it was reported in some quarters that some unscrupulous and unpatriotic soldiers used incisive means to prolong their stay as guards in areas where they made some personal gains.

Also, the leaders of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereignty of Biafra (MASSOB) were on several occasions arrested but not killed. They were often imprisoned and released. Even though the MASSOB hardly used arms, its call for separation from Nigeria cannot be regarded welcome. There is hardly any segment of Nigeria which does not claim marginalisation. The North has been in power for a longer period than the South, but poverty, backwardness and health hazards are more visible in the north. So, for MASSOB to begin to think that taking up arms may be the best  option is far from being the reality. MASSOB must not forget that the three-year civil war which ultimately brought the Igbo to nearly second-class citizens, was caused by the same agitation for secession.

The above analysis clearly pinpoints where the government got it wrong from the onset. The killing of the Boko Haram leader cannot be distanced from being a primary cause of this rampage by the group. Maybe if the leader was alive, things would not have gone this way.  One Muhammad Yusuf was killed, but his beliefs were injected into the blood of thousands of Nigerians. Now, thousands of Muhammad Yusufs are fighting and still injecting the same beliefs into many more Nigerians. This is happening despite the cruel treatment arrested members of the group.

Apart from this great mistake committed by the police about two years ago, the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, felt it was business as before. He felt as the highest authority of the police that he should match words with actions instead of the reverse. Maybe he thought that instead of accepting failure as the IG, he should employ media war with the insurgents. Rather than do his work secretly as security ethics demand, he preferred to pursue cheap popularity with the claims of dutifulness and responsibility. That was why he proclaimed that the Boko Haram would be rounded up.