The war against Terrorism

WAR AGAINST INSURGENCY:AN UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Tijani Hassan A.
Email:.talk2tijanihassan@gmail.com
Since the technical defeat of Boko Haram and the capture of the dreaded Sambisa forest by the Troops of the Military code named “Operation Lafiya Dole” in 2016, the war against insurgency has taken a new dimension in recent months occasioned by the spate of suicide Bomb attacks which we have witnessed within and outside Maiduguri the Borno state Capital.

According to the Nigerian Defense Headquarters, the war against Boko Haram is now in its twilight stage as the third most dreaded terror group after ISIS and Al-Qaeda has been dismantled and degraded and as such what we have been seeing lately are cases or opportunity which the sect wants to use to create relevance in the minds of the Nigerians populace. The extent to which the group has been degraded can be seen in their inability to carry out coordinated attacks like the way we use to see in the past, but now result to the tradition of attacking soft targets.

According to some Security Experts, the fact is that the group have now been disintegrated and fractionalized in their leadership as some of the members are loyal to the Shekau faction while others are loyal to the Al-barnawi faction and this is visible in the rate of unaccounted isolated attacks in recent times.

“Insurgency has been defeated in Nigeria but the real terrorists are still in existence”

Citing the scenario from the recent past and the Chibok school girls who are now being released in batches, you will notice that whenever these girls are released, there is usually an upsurge of suicide attacks. Experts have attributed this to the fact that the different factions of the group are at loggerhead with each other and whenever one of the factions decides to release these girls, the latter will now show its rejection through the suicide attacks targeting soft targets such as IDP Camps, women, Children and the latest; the University of Maiduguri Campus.

If you look at the history and the reign of Boko Haram terror activity right from 2009 to 2016, there was no recorded cases of attack on the University of Maiduguri which stood at the heart of the city of Maiduguri hitherto declared the headquarter of the so-called Islamic Caliphate according to the defunct leader of the Boko Haram sect Abubakar Shekau. What is surprising now is how frequent the citadel of learning become victim of this heinous act of suicide attacks. It all started early this year when the first attack at the staff quarters of the University claimed the life of a Professor of Vetenary Medicine to the recent one last week which was foiled by security operatives. Looking at this, some necessary questions need to be asked about the security arrangement of the University. It has been reported in the media that the school lacks basic security precautionary measures as there is no adequate perimeter fencing of the university. Concerted efforts need to be taken by the Federal and Borno state government to correct this lacuna which is one of the causes of the recurrent attacks on the University Campus; especially the fact that the ideology of Boko Haram is against Western Education.

On the 24^th of June this year which happen to be the Eve of the Sallah celebration, there were series of attacks in the metropolis of Maiduguri involving 16 death casualties with the female suicide bombers accounting for 9 death cases. We can say that this situation means; insurgency has been defeated in Nigeria but the real terrorists are still in existence as it has to do with an issue of the mind and personal convictions.

For terrorism to become a thing of the past in Nigeria, the Nigerian Security Agencies ranging from the Police, the Military comprising the Army, the Air-force and the Navy, and the Secret Security Service need to devise new strategies and modus-operandi as the fire brigade approach which was used to defeat the insurgency may not work in the process of ending terrorism. The mode of operations of this terror group must be known which should include; their operational base, means of transportation, where is their financial support coming from? And other questions which answers need to be provided for; if not we will continue going round deceiving ourselves that we have defeated Boko Haram when the real terrorists are still at large.

Although commendations need to be given to the Nigerian Military Forces for their efforts so far in crouching the terrorist sect but more still need to be done, the support of the locals and the community people in the affected areas is also craved so as to provide the Security agencies with intelligence report on the movement of unidentified persons in their domain as that is crucial in defeating Boko Haram.

With the dedication of the current government, the zeal, commitment and dedication of the Military Forces coupled with support and prayers from Nigerians, very soon Boko Haram will become a thing of History in Nigeria.

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