WAR AGAINST TERRORISM; NIGERIAN DIPLOMATIC DIMENSION AGAINST
BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY
ABSTRACT
The research provides an appraisal of the war against terrorism with a
focus on Nigerian diplomatic dimension
against book haram insurgency . The effect of the boko haram insurgency has in recent times constituted a
serious threat to the security of lives and property of Nigerians in the north
east .As a result many lives and properties have been lost ,while others are being held hostage.However the Nigerian
government through its various military and security forces had declared a
total war to
Eliminate the boko haram insurgency in
Nigeria.The research appraises the diplomatic initiative instituted to realize
the mission.
INTRODUCTION
The Boko Haram insurgency began in
2009,]
when the jihadistrebel groupBoko Haram
started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. In 2013, more
than 1,000 died in the conflict. The violence escalated dramatically in 2014,
with 10,849 deaths. The insurgency has since spread to Cameroon, Chad, and Niger thus becoming
a major regional conflictBoko Haram conducted its operations more or less peacefully
during the first seven years of its existence. That changed in 2009 when the
Nigerian government launched an investigation into the group’s activities
following reports that its members were arming themselves.Prior to that the
government reportedly repeatedly ignored warnings about the increasingly
militant character of the organisation, including that of a military
officer.When the government came into action, several members of the group were
arrested in sparking deadly clashes with
Nigerian security forces which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people.
During the fighting with the security forces Boko Haram fighters reportedly
“used fuel-laden motorcycles” and “bows with poison arrows”
to attack a police station.The group’s founder and then leader Mohammed Yusuf
was also killed during this time while still in police custody.[45][46][ After Yusuf’s killing, AbubakarShekau became the leader and still holds the
position as of January 2015 .After the killing of M. Yusuf, the group carried
out its first terrorist attack in Borno in January 2010. It resulted in the
killing of four people. Since then, the violence has only escalated in terms of
both frequency and intensity. In September 2010, a Bauchi
prison break freed more than 700 Boko Haram militants, replenishing
their force.On 29 May 2011, a few hours after Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as president, several bombings purportedly by Boko Haram killed 15 and injured 55. On 16
June, Boko Haram claimed to have conducted the Abuja police headquarters bombing, the first known suicide attack in
Nigeria. Two months later the United Nations building in Abuja was bombed, signifying the first time that
Boko Haram attacked an international organisation. In December, it carried out attacks
in Damaturu killing over a hundred people, subsequently clashing
with security forces in December, resulting in at least 68 deaths.
Two days later on Christmas Day, Boko Haram attacked several Christian churches with
bomb blasts and shootings.In January 2012, AbubakarShekau, a former deputy to Yusuf, appeared
in a video posted on YouTube. According to Reuters, Shekau took control of the group
after Yusuf’s death in 2009. Authorities had previously believed that Shekau
died during the violence in 2009. By early 2012, the group was responsible for
over 900 deaths .On 15 April 2014, terrorists abducted
about 276 female students from a college in Chibok in Borno
state.[55]
The abduction was widely attributed to Boko Haram.
It was reported that the group had taken the girls to neighbouringCameroon and Chad where they were
to be sold into marriages at a price below a Dollar. The
abduction of another eight girls was also reported later. These kidnappings
raised public protests, with some protesters holding placards bearing the
Twitter tag #bringbackourgirls which had caught international attention.
Several countries pledged support to the Nigerian government and to help their
military with intelligence gathering on the whereabouts of
the girls and the operational camps of Boko Haram.
.
1.1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In May 2013, Nigerian governmental forces launched an offensive in the Borno
region in an attempt to dislodge Boko Haram fighters after a state of emergency
was called on 14 May. The state of emergency, which is still in force as of May
2014, applies to the states of Borno,
Yobe, and Adamawa
in northeastern Nigeria. Starting in late January 2015,
a coalition of military forces from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger began a counter-insurgency campaign against Boko
Haram. On 4 February, the Chad
Army killed over 200 Boko Haram militants. Soon afterwards, Boko Haram
launched an attack on the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, killing 81 civilians, 13
Chadian soldiers and 6 Cameroonian soldiers. In February 17, 2015,
the Nigerian military retook Monguno in a coordinated air and ground assault.On
7 March 2015, Boko Haram’s leader AbubakarShekau pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant via an audio message posted on the organisation’s Twitter account.
Nigerian army spokesperson Sami UsmanKukasheka said the pledge was a sign of
weakness and that Shekau was like a “drowning man”. That same day, five suicide bomb blasts left 54
dead and 143 wounded.]
On 12 March 2015, ISIL’s spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani released an audiotape
in which he welcomed the pledge of allegiance, and described it as an expansion
of the group’s caliphate to West Africa.On 24 March 2015, residents of Damasak, Nigeria
said that Boko Haram had taken more than 400 women and children from the town
as they fled from coalition forces. On March 27, the Nigerian army captured Gwoza, which was
believed to be the location of Boko Haram headquarters. On election day, 28
March 2015, Boko Haram extremists killed 41 people, including a legislator, to
discourage hundreds from voting.In March 2015, Boko Haram lost control of the
Northern Nigerian towns of Bama and Gwoza (believed to be their headquarters) to the Nigerian army.
The Nigerian authorities said that they had taken back 11 of the 14 districts
previously controlled by Boko Haram. In April, four Boko Haram camps in the sambisaforest
were overrun by the Nigerian military
who freed nearly 300 females. Boko Haram forces were believed to have retreated
to the mandara mountains along the Nigeria-Cameroon border. On 16 March, the
Nigerian army said that it had recaptured Bama. On 27 March 2015, the day
before the Nigerian presidential election, the
Nigerian
Army announced that it had recaptured the town of Gwoza from BokoHaram.By
April 2015, the Nigerian military was reported to have retaken most of the
areas previously controlled by Boko Haram in North-Eastern Nigeria except for
the SambisaForest.In May 2015, the Nigerian military
announced that they had released about 700 women from camps in SambisaForest.The
Nigerian government has equally seek the support of the United State of
Americas in this direction and with
joint US/ Nigeria military action hope rises for the elimination of Boko haram
insurgency in Nigeria.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The threat to lives and property posed by
terrorism in Nigeria had escalated in recent times leading to the death of
thousands of Nigerians, loss of property,while many are being held hostage.Consequently
the Nigerian government through its military and security forces declared a
total war
The problem confronting this research is
to appraise the war on terrorism ;nigerias diplomatic initiative against the
Boko Haram insurgency.
1.3
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1 What
is terrorism
1
What is the nature of the boko
haram insurgency in Nigeria
2
What is the effect of the boko
haram insurgency
3
What is the nature of the war
against the boko haram insurgency in Nigeria
4
What is the nature of nigerias
diplomatic initiative against the boko haram insurgency
1.4
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1
TO appraise the nature of terrorism in Nigeria
2 To determine the nature of the
bokoharam insurgency in Nigeria
3 To determine the effect of boko haram
insurgency
4 To appraise the war against the boko
haram insurgency
5
To determine nigerias
diplomatic initiative against the boko haram insurgency.
1.5
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study intends to determine,the nature
, causes,effect of the boko haram insurgency
As well as project the war and achievement
of the Nigerian government
through diplomatic initiative and its military and security forces
against the boko haram insurgency
1.6
STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS
1
Ho The level of terrorism
is low in Nigeria
Hi The level of terrorism is high
in Nigeria
2
Ho The effect of boko haram
insurgency in Nigeria is low
Hi The effect of boko haram
insurgency in Nigeria is high
3
Ho The effect of the war and nigerias diplomatic dimensions against
boko haram insurgencyis low
Hi The effect of the war and
nigerias diplomatic dimensions against boko haram insurgency is high
1.7
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study focuses on the war on terrorism an appraisal of nigerias
diplomatic initiative against the boko haram insurgency .
1.8
DEFINITION OF TERMS
TERRORISM DEFINED
A Clan- distant/secretive under cleared
and unconventional warfare wedge carried out
without Humanitarian
consideration.
BOKO HARAM
The Boko Haram insurgency began in
2009,]
when the jihadistrebel groupBoko Haram
started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. In 2013, more
than 1,000 died in the conflict. The violence escalated dramatically in 2014,
with 10,849 deaths. The insurgency has since spread to Cameroon, Chad, and Niger thus becoming
a major regional conflictSS