NORTH EAST AND THE BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY

Boko Haram, which means ‘western education is forbidden’ is a Nigerian version of Islamist militant group that began with a group of young Islamic radicals in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. Its current incarnation as a violent insurgency dates back to year 2009. In 2009, its uprising started as a conflict between the group and Nigerian security forces. During that period, violence across several states in north eastern Nigeria resulted in more than 1,000 dead with over 700 of the deaths recorded in the city of Maiduguri alone.

Since then, there has been a sharp increase in both the numbers of attacks and deaths caused by Boko Haram.

Records show that for 10 consecutive years from 2009 till date, the notorious insurgents have carried out over 160 attacks in the north eastern parts of the country alone.

To buttress the above facts, the Governor of Borno State in February 13, 2017 gave statistics of deaths and material losses suffered by the state as a result of Boko Haram activities in that part of Nigeria. Governor Kashim Shettima, while delivering a paper titled “Managing the Boko Haram Crisis in Borno State, Experiences and Lessons for a Multiparty, Multiethnic and Multi-religious Nigeria” at the Annual Murtala Mohammed Memorial Lecture held at Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, recounted that Boko Haram insurgency has led to deaths of almost 100,000 persons going by the estimates of the community leaders over the years. He claimed also that 2,114,00 persons had become internally displaced as at December of 2016 in Borno State.

Although the government of Nigeria says Boko Haram has been defeated, the notorious group continues to target isolated, vulnerable villages especially in the north east.

Notwithstanding the repeated claims by the Nigerian government that Boko Haram is “technically defeated, “terribly degraded” and “completely decimated”, the dreaded group has proven resilient and continued to heat the headlines with series of attacks against innocent civilians.

The suicide attacked in Mandarari Village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State was among the latest in a string of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast in recent months when a male suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) strapped to his body that resulted in an explosion that killed the bomber, four civilians, Joint Task Force (JTF) and injured five other persons.

Also, on Thursday 31, May 2018, five soldiers were killed in an ambush by Boko Haram at Pridang-Bitta in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State

The above coupled with other string of attacks by this destructive militant insurgents on churches, mosques, schools and internally displaced persons’ camps have resulted in the massacred of more than 150,000 innocent civilians that could have been useful to the country and effect development.

A cursory look at the trend of Boko Haram activities particularly in the northeast now shows that there are certain interest groups who are perpetrating this violence while their sponsors are benefitting financially.

The trend of attacks also proved that most of the Boko Haram members live in the communities among the people. The communities know them but are afraid to disclose their identities to the government. Many of the recruits are illiterates and hopeless boys and girls who are easily recruited, hypnotised and manipulated to carry out their inhumane and dastardly acts.

The proximity of northeast to neighbouring Cameroon made it easy for the group members to flee after carrying out attacks and later regroup for further terror activities.

Also the federal government resorted to dialogue, ransom payment and exchange of prisoners and negotiation with insurgents make those gaining financially from the Boko Haram activities to continue to encourage the insurgents to hype their inhumane and endless explosions, brutal killings and abductions of men, women and children in the northeast.

In conclusion, the rate of attacks by the Boko Haram, especially in the northeast of the country has made the terrorists to become the deadliest terror group in the world, with thousands of innocent Nigerians massacred. Bashiru Adewunmi Agunloye, Executive Secretary, Atlanta-Lagos Sister Cities Committee