2011 Colonialism


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Nigeria: Country's War On Terror Heats Up

Ahmed Tahir Ajobe

Nigeria is indeed a nation in deep shock. Until August 26th attacks on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, the Federal Government (FG) had hoped that its hard, military style in countering the Boko Haram insurgence across some states in the North was the best option.

The FG had deployed the military with a blanket order to flush out the sect members in the wake of violence that engulfed Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. As the offensive, which many, including human right activists described as heavy-handed continued, authorities in Abuja busied themselves with other issues.

Since the UN building blasts, Presidency sources say, President Goodluck Jonathan has been under immense pressure from the international community, especially Britain and USA to go all-out in the fight against terrorism. Part of the pressure on Jonathan, Weekly Trust learnt, is to first ensure the existence of a document legalising the anti-terrorism crusade in form of a bill, which needs nods from both arms of the nation's National Assembly. The bill, which has since been passed and assented to by the President, has five essential parts covering acts of terrorism and related offences.

The acts of terrorism, according to the bill, include attacks upon a person's life which may cause bodily harm or death, kidnappings, as well as the destruction of government facilities or private properties in a manner likely to endanger human life or result in a major economic loss. The bill also addresses the hijacking of aircrafts, ships, or other means of public transport, as well as the manufacture, possession, acquisition, transport, supply, or use of weapons and explosives. The propagation and dissemination of information in any form calculated to cause panic, evoke violence, or intimidate a government, person or group of persons, also fall within actions the bill seeks to deal with or prevent. It gave the president the power to declare any group a terrorist organization, imprison convicted members for as long as 20 years, and search without a warrant.

In his lead debate on the bill early December 2010, Senate leader, Teslim Folarin, had urged members to take a dispassionate look at the bill because of importance in the fight against terrorism and financial crime. "It is important to note that Nigeria does not have a comprehensive anti-terrorism law and, for that reason, has failed to meet the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), established by the G7 Summit held in Paris in 1989," Mr. Folarin said. The FATF recommendations and requirements are to detect, prevent, and suppress the financing of terrorism and terrorist acts. However, out of the Task Force's nine special recommendations, Nigeria was rated 'non-compliant' in seven and 'partially compliant' in only two. Also, Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP, Cross River) had criticised Nigeria's indifference to the war against terrorism in the past. "The global community thinks Nigeria is not doing enough," Mr. Ndoma-Egba said. "There is almost a global consensus that Nigeria is not a terrorist state, but there are concerns that there are identified footholds of terrorism in Nigeria."

Mr. Folarin described the kidnappings in southern Nigeria, the Boko Haram incident in Borno State, the Kala-Kato uprising in Bauchi State, and the ongoing Jos crises as acts of domestic terrorism, curiously leaving out Niger Delta militancy out.

However, opponents of the bill had raised concern over what they called was the sweeping powers it gave to the President. They feared that such laws may be used not only in legitimate efforts to arrest and prosecute terrorism suspects, but often as a weapon against opponents and dissenting voices. With the passage of the bill, the President has the legal framework, and with the Independence Day bombing in Abuja, the justification to launch and all-out offensive on the strongholds of the Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri.

Experts had raised concern in the wake of the offensive against the insurgence that the military solution would only compromise and complicate the already tensed situation. "People's rights will be flagrantly violated in the course, resulting in the emergence of new sources of security threats," Dr Ameachi Nwaokolo, Research Fellow in International Terrorism and Violence said.

As experts had predicted, the military offensive degenerated into further human rights and security threats with the alleged indiscriminate killings of civilians when the Joint Task Force (JTF) engaged in retaliation. Amnesty International put the death toll from that singular operation at 20. In addition, allegations of violation and other human rights abuses like indiscriminate arrest and detention.

Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (PDP, Borno South) had called on President Goodluck Jonathan to withdraw the JTF operating in Borno following the killing of a woman in Biu local government area of the state on Tuesday, August 9. Ndume said men of the JTF had opened fire on protesting women at the palace of Emir of Biu resulting in the death of one, while three other people were seriously injured. Last Saturday, about eight youths were allegedly killed by JTF men in a clash that left several injured.

Both the Defence Minister, Haliru Bello Mohammed and Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin had ruled out the possibility of troop withdrawal as canvassed by the elders, while vowing that the FG will combat Boko Haram. Since the minister's assurance, a week hardly passes without a blast claimed by the sect, especially across the North East, raising concern over the FG's capacity to 'crush' the insurgence. The concern turned to confusion when the offensive took international dimension with the bombing of the United Nation headquarters in Abuja.

The question remains: What went wrong with the FG's war on terrorism? A security source blamed the nation's top security hierarchy for the failure of the anti-terrorism war. "There is serious power-play among Nigeria's top security hierarchy and this has permeated the entire Nigeria security institutions," the source claimed. The power play, he said, has led to inter-agency rivalries, consequently undermining national security. He said the issue is so entrenched that security outfits no longer collaborate even in the area of intelligence-sharing. He said the situation in the intelligence circle degenerated further with the exit of the former National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau from the scene.

Another source told Weekly Trust that with the exit of Gusau, things turned awry within security circles over time. "It is a problem of leadership," he explained. On the rumoured pressure on the Presidency by Western powers to return Gusau as NSA, the source denied knowledge of such moves, but said he would not rule out the possibility. He however doubt whether the former NSA would want to come back in view of the manner he left.

On the presence of foreign intelligence operatives in the country to assist the investigation of the UN headquarters blast, the source said most countries have embassies in Nigeria and are interested in what is happening. Dr. Nwaokolo however believed that the presence of such foreign agents, rather than achieving the desired result, will undermine it. Their involvement is a threat to national security, he warned. Citing examples of countries where such intervention has failed, he said the Afghanistan conflict degenerated when Western intelligence was invited to help.

Nwaokolo also blamed the FG and the security agencies for failing to rise to security challenges. "Their presence is more felt on the pages of newspapers. They should stop talking and face the challenges of the moment," he advised.

In order to halt rising cases of violence in the country, the National Council of State in an emergency meeting in Abuja last Wednesday approved the overhaul of the security architecture. Before then, there was rumoured sack of President Goodluck Jonathan's Coordinator on Counterterrorism, Ambassador Zakari Ibrahim, following the spate of bombings in the country and replaced by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division of Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Sarkin Yakin Bello. Until the official announcement yesterday by Dr. Reuben Abati through a statement Thursday, the said shake-up was subject of speculation with the presidency keeping mum.

Nwaokolo, also an Intelligence Analyst, said the attacks against innocent civilians by rebel groups have long been features of armed conflicts in Africa. But it was the near-simultaneous truck bombings in August 1998 of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which claimed the lives of hundreds of Africans and some foreigners that brought home the continent's vulnerability to the activities of international terrorist networks.

The following year, African leaders meeting in Algeria under the Organization of African Unity (OAU) adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism. Although it lacked strong enforcement powers, it nevertheless was the first continental treaty anywhere on countering terrorism. Since then the OAU's successor, the African Union, has further developed Africa's continental approach.

Nwaokolo said events have demonstrated that groups using terrorist methods remain active across Africa. "They have sometimes been able to move easily across poorly guarded borders, taken advantage of governments' weak control over their territories and succeeded in recruiting among disaffected populations." He added that most persistent attacks have taken place in North Africa, especially in Algeria, where groups such as AQIM, that now operate beyond that country's borders as well and even sending fighters as far as Iraq hold sway

East Africa, according to him, has also seen some dramatic incidents, not only the US embassy bombings but also subsequent attacks in Mombasa, Kenya. In northern Uganda, he noted, the Lord's Resistance Army, which claims fundamentalist Christian views, has systematically used terror methods by murdering, kidnapping and maiming people.

Nwaokolo added that the situation in the Niger Delta should have been an eye-opener for policy-makers to evolve an enduring mechanism to meet new terrorism challenges but that like all other issues, the FG developed a nonchalant attitude to the matter. "The result is what you see today," he said.

According to Nwaokolo, while the security approach to terrorism is important and indispensable, it should be handled with care to avoid escalated unintended consequences. He advocated that counter-terrorism measures be pursued from a human rights perspective noting that such approach will tackle its root causes directly, including asymmetrical power relations, inequality, rising poverty and illiteracy among others. He warned against giving the war ethnic or religious colouration as doing so will further fuel the problem. He said elders and youth leaders in community where insurgence are active should be involved in genuine efforts to tackle the problem. "However, on whole, the administration's approach should include a political, economic and social campaign to meet the basic needs and legitimate grievances of ordinary people," he concluded.[/b]



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