Fighting Insecurity and Terrorism: Lessons from the Boston Marathon Terrorist Incident
By
Don Okereke

Sequel to the Boston marathon terrorist incident and the manhunt, arrest and swift prosecution of the surviving suspect, there is no doubt Nigeria has a long way to go in her so-called fight against Insecurity and Terrorism. Yes the context may be different but we can safely make some inference and learn some lessons.

For starters, one striking thing about the whole scenario was the seamless inter-agency synergy between American Security establishments and the cooperation, resilience of Bostonians and the American people generally. Close coordination among federal, State and local officials led to the arrest of the surviving suspect. The FBI took over the investigations when it was established it was an act of terrorism. Report indicates the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) may have added the name of the Boston Marathon suspect(s) in its database of suspected terrorists some 18 months ago.

CCTV Surveillance Cameras played a major role in identifying the suspects; innocent people were not intimidated, arrested or killed in the catch-me-if-you-can manhunt that ensued. In the United States, if you do the crime, you must be ready to do the time. Right now Federal Prosecutors have commenced prosecution of the surviving suspect, sooner than later you will hear that the guy has either been convicted or acquitted.

Of course the United States have a Counterterrorism Policy which explicitly stipulates specific roles for all the Security agencies. The United States has zero tolerance for negotiating with terrorists. The leading framework of the deterrence policy of the United States is encapsulated in the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act gave new powers for Intelligence-gathering, authority to intercept communications, creation of a ‘’terrorist exclusion list’’. It also spells out assignments to specific agencies- the FEMA has the responsibility of developing an overall federal response plan while Delta Force and Seal Team Six are the ‘muscles’ of the US counterterrorism. Other sister agencies like the DCI counter-terrorist centre, the CIA and the FBI have varied roles.

After the incident, President Obama promised that the perpetrators will be fished out and brought to book and that is exactly what happened. Obama ‘’directed the full resources of the Federal government to be made available to help local authorities’’. Obama’s message to Americans and particularly to Bostonians was to say the least, comforting and uplifting.

You see why Americans reasonably trust their leaders and their government. In Nigeria, we were told Boko Haram will be history by mid 2012, yet the miasma and wanton killings by the Sect persists. We were told abductors of Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s mother were not paid ransom prior to her release, now we know the truth.
Over here we are blessed with public officials that brazenly lie to fellow citizens without blinking an eyelid. With the political permutations and agitations over the 2015 elections, there has been so much bickering and finger pointing between the ruling PDP government and the opposition at the detriment of governance. Nigeria we hail thee!!! Sorry for drifting, back to the issue.

If what happened in Boston had happened in Nigeria, a Committee/Panel would have been set up to look into the incident. Another committee will be assembled to study and harmonize the findings of the first committee. One more committee will be put in place to consider the plausibility of negotiating with and granting the terrorists a.k.a insurgents an amnesty. Reports of the coterie committees will subsequently join their ancestors in Nigeria’s flourishing ‘’National Archive of Committee and Panel Reports’’ and it is business as usual again, the vicious cycle continues. Committees and Panels were assembled aftermath of the various disturbances in Odi, Zaki Biam, Jos and other parts of the country, till date the report of those committees did not see the light of the day nor implemented. We must do away with this culture of jamboree investigative panels, committees and sub-committees. We believe there are specific agencies of government constitutionally empowered to handle such issues rather than unnecessary duplication of roles with its attendant fiscal profligacy.

According to global best practices, you don’t engage somebody or an organization allegedly complicit in an incident to be involved in investigating the incident. Doing so will be tantamount to an adjudicator judging a matter involving him. We want to believe that members of Nigeria’s Security Agencies accused of the Baga Killings are not the same people investigating what transpired. Many schools of thought concur that a Judicial Panel of Enquiry will do a better job in incidents such as the Baga killings since it will be vested with the powers to also prosecute.

If what happened in Boston took place in Nigeria, there is every possibility the culprits will waltz free since there will probably be no CCTV Surveillance camera to capture their image. Granted there are such cameras in some places in Nigeria, lack of electricity supply means those Cameras will be mere dummies. When pressure to perform becomes much on Nigeria’s security agencies, they will randomly arrest and parade innocent people as suspects. Many of the so-called suspects are seldom convicted since there is no water-tight evidence against them or the investigation has been bungled ab initio. Imagine the Nigeria Police and the State Security Service (SSS) parading different sets of suspects in the Olaitan Oyerinde’s murder episode. Sometimes when ‘suspects’ are arrested, their trial will drag for several months, years and before you know it, the detention or prison facility harboring the suspects have been attacked by sympathizers of the suspect and the suspects are set free. The recent Yola prison break and the scenario in Delta State where a suspect undergoing trial was set free by his crew are few classic examples.

Masterminds of the recent Boston marathon bombing reportedly shot and killed a 26 year old Police officer-Sean Collier but this did not prompt Boston Police officers to vent their anger on innocent citizens. Obama and the family of Sean rather praised him for ‘’dying bravely in the line of duty, doing what he committed his life to doing - serving and protecting others’’. United State’s security agencies were meticulous and ensured that at least one of the suspects- 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured alive. This will enable authorities to extract useful information from him. Juxtapose this with how Mohammed Yusuf, the erstwhile Boko Haram leader was allegedly brazenly executed by officers of Nigeria’s Security Agencies without extracting useful information from him.

It seems our Security Agencies unconsciously have a penchant for going on rampage to avenge the death of one of their own. Inter-agency rivalry and superiority complex is deafening, if it is not the Army against the Police, it is the Police against the NSCDC officers. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Nigeria’s public space is currently awash with the alleged indiscriminate extra-judicial killing of probably 185 or more people including women, children and the burning of over 2,000 houses at Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Bornu State, Nigeria. However military authorities and the federal government contend that the collateral damage aftermath of the clash between the Transnational Joint Force and suspected Boko Haram members may have been grossly exaggerated. Whether 185 or more people as reported by the media or a smaller number as agreed to by the Military authorities, the bottom line is that the sanctity of human life has been basterdized here. While we strongly condemn the despicable killing of a soldier or alleged harboring of terrorists that the Baga community is accused of, which may have prompted the retaliatory rampage, there is no justification whatsoever for the alleged wholesale killings. What happened to the rules of engagement?

Nigeria is steadily drifting, life is ceasing to have meaning in this country; life expectancy is depreciating in geometric progression. People are arbitrarily hacked to death like chickens, the issue is talked about for a couple of days, a committee or panel is assembled to look into it and the whole episode fizzles out sooner than later.

Canadian authorities recently foiled a ‘’major terrorist attack’’ in the country’s capital, Toronto. They reportedly thwarted an attempt to bomb VIA rail line. Canadian Police and intelligence agencies said the cooperation of the United States Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and a tip off from a member of the Muslim community led to the arrest of the suspects. The terror suspects are said to have been under surveillance for about a year. This was possible because members of the public cooperated with the security agencies. Imagine a potential terrorist being watched and trailed for a year! Nigeria’s Security Agencies must take a cue from their Western counterparts. They must carry the citizenry along and earn their confidence or risk members of the public seeing them as enemies. This onslaught has the potency to jeopardize or derail the wishy washy and haphazardly packaged amnesty exit strategy.

A penchant for indiscriminate killing of suspects and innocent people invariably creates a dichotomy between the security agencies and the citizenry that are supposed to volunteer nuggets of sensitive information. Such a proclivity is definitely counter-productive to the fight against insecurity and terrorism. The Security Agencies must not metamorphose to terrorists in the guise of fighting terrorists. An accused is considered innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

We appreciate the sacrifices, unconventional and precarious nature of the onerous task bedeviling the Security Agencies in their fight against insurgents and terrorists. We implore them to be less pugnacious, be more surgical, proactive and invest more resources in intelligence gathering so as to nip insecurity and terrorism in the bud. They should tone down their notoriety for a ‘kill-and-go’ mentality, bravado and gung-ho approach. The United States ambassador to Nigeria in a recent interview succinctly underscores the importance of ‘human element’ in the fight against terrorism.

A couple of years ago, arguably the biggest robbery in the history of the United Kingdom was pulled in broad daylight in a London Jewelry shop. The robbery probably lasted a few minutes and the assailants had prosthetics (face mask). It was a successful operation except that the long arm of the law caught up with the masterminds. I guess the blokes gave themselves a pat on the back for the stunt they pulled. However, a couple of days after the incident, footages of the coterie of CCTV Cameras in the streets of London were meticulously pieced together and analyzed. The culprits were eventually fished out. If this had happened in Nigeria, it’s a done deal; there will be no trace of those guys, the police will probably tell us it was evil spirits or something.

Sometime last year some major streets in Abuja were adorned with 2015 re-election posters of President Goodluck Jonathan. As usual there was so much brouhaha and finger pointing flying around sequel to the poster thing. The Police said they will investigate and fish out the culprits, till date no one knows the outcome of their investigation. With CCTV Cameras, it is not difficult to solve this riddle because pictures of the people that pasted the posters would have been captured by CCTV cameras.

Recommendations:
At the risk of over-egging the pudding, permit and pardon me for reiterating this again and again; I will continue bringing it to the fore until the right thing is done. Rather than a fire-brigade approach and mentality, Nigeria without delay, badly needs a ‘’Coherent and Comprehensive Terrorism, Counter-terrorism Policy & Strategy’’. We can’t fight Insecurity and Terrorism by blowing hot and cold; it’s high time we took a definite stand. Nigeria is in dire need of a sweeping National Security Reform that embraces and emphasizes on human capital development and state-of-the-art infrastructure.

In addition to the foregoing, this writer also believes that an ‘’Extensive Vulnerability or Resilience Test/Audit of Strategic Public Infrastructures in Nigeria’’ is crucial. Juxtaposing ourselves in the position of the bad guys, our Security Agencies and government think-tanks must brainstorm on worst-case scenarios and have answers to them. Every thoughtful and security-minded country or individual, hopes for the best but prepares for the worst.

Special attention must be paid to adequately patrolling our extensive and porous borders. With our huge budgetary allocations to Security and Defence, I think we have the resources to deploy Unattended Land/Ground Sensors in our borders. This is one of the state-of-the-art gadgets that provide enhanced protection for Border Security, Infrastructure and Force protection. Otherwise deporting so-called arrested illegal migrants will just be a mirage as they will return to Nigeria sooner than later if they so wish. Unless Nigerian Immigration and Security officials implanted RFID chips on the deported blokes prior to their deportation. I chuckle each time I hear that illegal immigrants from Chad, Niger etc in Nigeria have been arrested and deported.

With Oil Pipeline and Maritime Protection contracts in their kitty, many of the ex-Niger Delta Militants have metamorphosed to nouveau-riche multi-billionaires. Since what is good for the goose is sauce for the gander, OPC is said to be angling and are on the verge of getting their share of the federal government largesse. Persistent Oil Pipeline vandalization and Bunkering calls to question, the competence of ex-militants or Vigilantes in protecting our Oil installations and maritime waterways. Right now Nigeria is said to lose about 150,000 barrels of crude oil daily no thanks to the nefarious activities of pipeline vandals and oil bunkerers.

Rather than awarding multi-billion naira Pipeline protection contracts to inept vigilantes, it is high time Nigeria deployed Satellite technology and Internet Protocol (I.P) Networked CCTV Cameras to monitor our Oil Pipelines and Critical National Infrastructures. One believes that NigeriaSat-1/NigeriaSat-2, NigComSat, NX Nigeria inter alia, has the capability to monitor Pipeline and Oil installations across Nigeria.

Please let us give peace a chance. No individual or country will make meaningful progress and impact in an atmosphere of insecurity and unpredictability. Peace is a sine qua non for personal and national advancement.
Nigerians Unite Against Insecurity and Terrorism. See it, hear it, say it, stop it!!!

God bless Nigeria and Nigerians!

Don Okereke
(Security Analyst & Consultant)
Abuja, Nigeria
+2347080008285
donnuait@yahoo.com