ISWAP: OLD WAR, NEW TACTICS

Security agencies should devise ways to contain the new security challenges

Last week report in a national newspaper that Boko Haram, ANSARU, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s branch in West Africa (ISWAP) and other terror groups are competing with one another in a mass membership drive in the northern part of the country is a worrisome development. These terror groups are also reported to be hoisting their flags within some ‘annexed’ territories and collecting taxes from residents. It cannot be an accident that these developments are coming following the elimination of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, by Abu Musab al-Barnawi of the breakaway ISWAP.

While the battle against violent extremism and all forces of disintegration is a war which the Nigerian state must win, the authorities must understand that the risk posed by the tactically astute ISWAP deserves more attention, if they are to contain the growing national security threats. Al-Barnawi is more strategic than Shekau. Against the background that in July 2018, The Sun newspaper of the United Kingdom, reported that ISIS leaders were furtively bringing their commanders into Nigeria to recruit and train terrorists, the military must understand that we have just entered a new, and perhaps more sinister, phase in the fight against insurgency.

A militant group with perhaps the most brutal version of Islamic rule, ISWAP must not be allowed to gain foothold in a country littered with angry millions of youths who are bereft of opportunities. Already, many countries in the sub-region, particularly those sharing borders with Nigeria, are weighed down by internal challenges. There will be no shortage of people from which to recruit. The authorities must bear this in mind in their counterstrategies.

It is on public record that the Al-Barnawi group has pledged its loyalty to a more sophisticated foreign support. The supremacy of ISWAP over Boko Haram has already reopened a new era in insurgency backed by foreign powers. It should therefore not be seen as reduction in the terror attacks as the al-Barnawi led group has lately posed a greater threat to the Nigerian military. It means that the terror group which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq, that has been decimated in the Middle East, is shifting its energy to insurgencies in Africa. This bodes ill for Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Cameroun, and other neighbouring countries of West African region.

ISIS, the principal partner of ISWAP, is an extremist group noted for sectarian hatred, unbridled savagery, beheadings, and mass executions. The well-provided-for organisation gained international notoriety in 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of some key cities, including Mosul, the country’s second largest city. A United Nations Commission of inquiry on Syria discovered in 2016 that the group had no scruples in using any deadly weapons available, including cluster bombs, chemical and biological weapons on innocent civilians to achieve its aim of an Islamic caliphate.

We commend the military for their efforts in trying to contain the insurgency that had in the past 12 years led to the death of over 40,000 innocent Nigerians. The dramatic upsurge in violence with the insurgents unleashing vicious and gruesome attacks on civilians as well as members of the armed forces, is a clear testimony that they still constitute mortal danger to their immediate and outlying communities and indeed, to members of the armed forces. Meanwhile, with reports that ISWAP and other terror affiliates are recruiting members, the military must devise a new strategy in dealing with an insurgency backed by international partners. If there is anything that the development underscores, it is that the security challenges are taking a different and perhaps more dangerous dimension.

ISWAP MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO GAIN FOOTHOLD IN A COUNTRY LITTERED WITH ANGRY MILLIONS OF YOUTHS WHO ARE BEREFT OF OPPORTUNITIES