Today we live in an age of
disturbing violence, on a scale on which the world has never
seen before. In Nigeria, Boko-Haram terrorism, rampant cases
of kidnapping, increased armed-banditry, communal violence,
herdsmen-farmers clashes, suicide bombings etc., are complex
Protracted Social Problems (PSPs) requiring a multi-faceted,
concerted response that should include using modern
technology, deploying all instruments of an asymmetric
warfare backed by efficient government policies and
legislative armory, proactive intelligence collection,
vigilant and effective law enforcement (not senseless
killing of innocent citizens by trigger-happy Police
officers), critical infrastructure protection, and
government targeted citizens engagement action toward
positive development outcomes, promoting good values,
interests and the safety-net of all Nigerians and the
environment.
The aim of all these PSPs
are to ruthlessly terrorize and spread fear throughout the
population and to create a climate of insecurity by causing
individuals mental anguish or physical injury, or by
endangering their lives, freedom and safety and to generate
multiple casualty incidents, in which random, defenceless
and innocent civilians are the victims, or, the kidnapping
of individuals and destruction of selected physical assets
of a country’s infrastructure, including places of worship,
schools, historical, public and cultural sites. The
characteristics of these PSPs are explained by the Four
Pillars of Terrorism, which are Motive (acquire unlawful
wealth or ransom), Objective (spread prefectural fear),
Target (ordinary and rich citizens, government officials or
assets) and Asset Harm (leave a permanent impression).
As I mentioned in my Book
“Effect of Global Terrorism & the Niger Delta Crisis”
published in 2007, Nigeria is in this mess largely because
Nigeria’s political leaders in the past have failed to
map-out extreme individuals and radical religious or social
groups that were radical, but not yet violent, allowing them
to grow in force. You see, from independence, Nigeria had
experienced conflict along ethnic or social lines, but
mostly over resources like land and power. The country is
also nearly evenly divided between Muslims and Christians,
with three distinct languages corresponding to linguistic
divisions, which became a recipe for political turmoil but
not religious extremism. However, the arrival of the
Maitatsine’s movement in the 1980s was a sign that the
dynamics were changing, and that religious extremism was
becoming more prominent in the Middle East in the 1970s was
also finding a home in Nigeria. That was the best time for
Nigerian Government to commence Conflict Mapping with the
aim to predict a coming generation of conflicts fuelled by
ethnicity, social, religious, political, communal or
otherwise; and address their root causes. That is why in
addressing the root cause of any conflict, it is important
to map--out the conflict first.
Nigerian Government only
cracked down on Maitatsine movement after its sermons became
increasingly anti-government in the late 1970s. The
crackdown culminated in an uprising in 1980 with the death
toll in 1982 Kano-riot reaching over 4,000 and Maitatsine
leader Mohammed Marwa, himself killed. The movement,
however, lived on killing additional 3,300 people in
Bulumkutum Borno State and nearly 1,000 in the former
Gongola State; and hundreds more in Bauchi State between
1982 to 1984
This sudden rise of
religious fundamentalism (Boko Haram) especially in the
North East is not unconnected with the “Settlement of 1960”,
in which Muslims traded away the right to impose Sharia law
across the board, because around the time of Maitatsine’s
movement, Philip Ostien and Sati Fwatshak wrote in their
book on Sharia in Nigeria, “…by the mid-1980s the idea that
Muslim consent to the Settlement of 1960 had been a terrible
mistake… was widespread and firmly entrenched in the North”
as illustrated by Capt. John Ford, US Army.
Although, later the 1999
Constitution has re-opened the door to impose Sharia by
granting significant power to Nigeria’s States and creating
a system of appellate courts to hear appeals from Sharia
trial courts, some northern states took the opportunity to
impose relaxed Sharia law over their territory. This relaxed
Sharia law prompted some groups to start opposing certain
law in a non-violent way, with the likes of Boko-Haram,
which completely opposed western education. It is in this
context, with religious fervor, joblessness and despair
growing; couple with ignorance of their followers; and
support from Al-Qaida that the sect leaders begun
manifesting their groups in violent uprisings that are
being witnessed today. Unfortunately, there are currently so
many more of such groups gradually emerging lead by extreme
individuals.
As the war on Al-Qaeda by
USA intensified after Sept 11, Al-Qaeda was on the run but
also began exploring new ways to bypass the daunting maze of
deterrents already in place. They sought to entrench and
spread where there is poverty, ignorance, despair and
hopelessness; and they found Africa: Nigeria, Somali; a
potential terrorist breeding ground especially with
institutional weaknesses that allow terrorists to operate
freely, and non-coherent and effective ways to forecast or
address their menace. So the so-called terrorist partnership
of convenience flourished illicit drugs, training on use of
explosives and arms supply in Nigeria to groups like
Boko-Haram, that started out as non-violent and turning
horribly violent; all under the watch of unconcerned
Government. But Boko-Haram is not a random event. Its
emergence is a direct result of rising religious
fundamentalism in Nigeria. Such threat to the region today
has existed for decades, right from Maitatsine.
Unfortunately, it has taken the kidnapping of nearly 300
Chibok schoolgirls to get the international community to
take notice.
Religion of Islam should
not be associated with terrorism. I think a clear
clarification in connection with Islam and terrorism is
required. The circumstances of terrorist acts witnessed
today, the September 11th, 2001, the numerous acts committed
in Borno, Adamawa, Zamfara and many other terrorist acts in
the world, ranging back several decades, in which some
Muslims have been indicted or convicted reflect two facts:
Firstly, that some terrorist acts are committed by persons
who incidentally happen to be Muslims but their religion is
not relevant to the terrorist act at all. Secondly, some
Muslims commit terrorist acts, misusing, distorting and
projecting the name of Islam. This differentiation is not
always appreciated by some sectors of the media who tend to
equate all terrorism by Muslims as so called fundamentalist
Islam and under the banner of a Jihad, holy struggle or war.
This is entirely inaccurate. Other media sources
automatically attribute Islam to any terrorist who happen to
be ethnic Arab, Muslim or of Middle East origin; a result of
a widespread misconception that all Arabs are Muslims. This
is however, incorrect as national and ethnic Arab
populations include Muslims, Jews and Christians among their
numbers, a likely situation, considering that these three
great religions have one origin, all born in the Middle
East. A large number of Israeli Jews are ethnic Arabs. Other
related widespread misconceptions are that Iranians or
Persians are also Arabs, which is incorrect and that
anti-Semitism is hatred of Jews, when in fact it is hatred
for the many different Semitic races, including Jews and
Arabs. One of the results of these misconceptions has been
to wrongly simplify some conflicts and boil them down to
facile slogans such as Islam versus the West, and Islam
versus Jihad, which very wrong.
It should further be noted
that the word often incorrectly attached to Islamic
terrorism is Jihad (Arabic - meaning to make an effort or
struggle). The word means, by translation and theological
tradition, a holy struggle, especially spiritual, against
evil, injustice or personal imperfection. It may be
fulfilled in four ways; by using the heart, tongue, hand or
sword. In contemporary use, except by terrorists, it denotes
an effort against something either personally negative or
detracting from the common social good, and is used mostly
as a last resort, as in self-defense. There are many such
Jihads. For example: A Jihad on litter in order to clean up
an area, or a Jihad on one’s self when encountering
difficulties achieving a personal goal, such as studying. In
simple terms, it can be considered as a self-motivating
effort to do some good, underpinned with prayer. But to
attribute terrorism to Islam is totally wrong and
unjustified.
To effectively address
these complex Protracted Social Problems (PSPs), there is
need for a proactive intelligence collection strategy in
place, a comprehensive monitoring approach to the diverse
threats faced by all communities in order to avoid sudden,
planned overnight attacks, kidnappings, group or suicide
bomb attack of individuals, places of worship or buildings,
banditry, etc. Such monitoring, along with improved
emergency preparedness using modern technology and proactive
human intelligence with instruments of an asymmetric warfare
in place and increased funding and welfare of security
personnel will enhance public safety in relation to a
variety of threats, while avoiding potential attacks. All
these have to be done in a concerted effort and manner, in
global collaboration.
Finally, following the
anti-terrorism resolutions passed by the United
Nations and international conventions; and
landmark UN Resolution on terrorism passed with
sanctions against a government accused of
terrorism in 1992, nations should uphold those
resolutions, agreed upon by the majority of
nations, and work together to counter the threat
of terrorism by creating an Anti-Terrorism
Agency.
Anti-Terrorist
Agency of Nigeria (ATAN) seeks to
establish a unifying core for the vast
national network of security agencies,
organizations and institutions involved in the
efforts to secure and protect our nation, and to
anticipate, pre-empt and deter threats of
terrorism in Nigeria and elsewhere
whenever possible, with the ability to respond
quickly when such threats do materialize. The Agency will work to prevent the loss of
sensitive information that would result in
damage to Nigerian National Security and
economic well-being. ATAN will contribute to the
collective work of other Nigerian Security
Agencies and form partnerships with other
international organizations, and will among
others:
-
Investigate suspected
individuals and organizations and groups to
obtain, collate, analyze, profile and assess
secret intelligence relating to the threats
of terrorism;
-
Gather intelligence and
manage information effectively and timely;
-
Frustrate terrorism and build
resilience to radicalization and
brainwashing;
-
Act as a counter-terrorism
body: Investigate sources of threats, funds
and compile evidence that will enable it to
bring suspects to justice through the
Ministry of Justice;
-
Advise the Government and
others of the threats and advises on the
appropriate response, including protective
security measures;
-
Manage and coordinate the
mass evolving algorithmic surveillance
system to filter, collect, and analyze
staggering volumes of data flowing across
the internet and mobile platforms as well as
to create a Social Credit System (SCS) to
pre-empt and curtail the scourges of
terrorism, banditry, kidnappings etc.;
-
Assist other agencies,
organizations and other Government Security
Agencies in combating the scourge.
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