Baga slaughter marks turning point in humanitarian crisis
year-old girl was used to detonate a bomb.
The heinous butchery should be a wake-up call. It’s past time for Nigeria, West Africa and the West to recognise Boko Haram for what it has become: a complex terrorism threat on a scale comparable to the Islamic State, embedded in Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation.
Since January last year, more than 5 000 have been killed in the fighting it has triggered, a count that rivals civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. The horrific violence is only intensifying.
Like the Islamic State, Boko Haram says it aims to establish an Islamic caliphate. The group has captured a territory in north-eastern Nigeria the size of Maryland and, as it has extended its operations to Cameroon and Niger, the threat has taken on a regional character.
Cameroon appears to be Boko Haram’s second front; on Monday, Cameroonian forces battled a cross-border attack by Boko Haram on a military base, forcing many to flee.
As we have written, Nigeria’s elections next month threaten to plunge the nation into a crisis that makes Boko Haram’s escalating attacks more alarming. The insecurity in key north-eastern states could suppress voter turnout in strongholds of the opposition to the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, thereby undermining the legitimacy of the eventual winner.
To his discredit, Jonathan has remained silent about the slaughter in Baga. He and his opponents have turned Boko Haram into a partisan issue, making it virtually impossible to formulate a comprehensive strategy for addressing the threat – including the long-standing underdevelopment in the north that is fuelling radicalisation.
That means the US and other inter- ested governments must step up pressure on Nigeria to address issues such as the systemic corruption and low morale in the military.
Despite Nigeria’s massive security budget of $5 billion (about R55bn), a lack of equipment, tactical mistakes, human rights abuses and internal discord have hampered its army’s ability to contain, much less counter, Boko Haram’s increasingly sophisticated aggression.
Nigeria’s neighbours also need support. It is particularly urgent to address the regional humanitarian crisis caused by the violence. About 200 000 people reportedly have fled Nigeria into Cameroon, Niger and Chad. The Baga attack alone drove 3 400 refugees into Chad.
The Obama administration’s announcement of a $40m security contingency fund for Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger in the next few months was a welcome first step.