The Truth is Vague

Insurgency in Nigeria Northeast has lingered on for a decade. About 2.5 million people have been displaced, with nearly 30,000 people killed. Dozens of people have been abducted, especially school children. The ensuing humanitarian crisis has been severe as livelihoods have been destroyed, and infrastructures turned to piles of ruin.

The periodic fatal attacks by insurgents in the region keeps begging the question, is Boko Haram technically defeated as the federal government acclaims? Yesterday, the Nigerian Defense in a reaction to an open letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari by members of some communities that have been ravaged by terrorism in Borno, says that the Army needs support and not opposition. The letter holds that members of some communities have lost confidence in the military following successive attacks by insurgents that went on unabated and unchallenged.

Against the backdrop of attacks on military facilities, communities, faith-based centres, and other public centres, the Federal government of Nigeria in 2015 announced that Boko Haram terrorists had been technically defeated. The announcement has been countered with backlashes and questions. But the Nigerian state still maintains its stands even in the face of well planned, continued attacks by the degraded, defeated and eliminated terrorist sect. Due to onslaughts by the Nigerian forces,  the sect has reclined to guerrilla warfare of technically degrading military battalions and carting away caches of assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

While Defense Headquarters insists that the Northeast has been liberated,  members of communities who live with the harsh realities of the insurgency feel otherwise. It appears that the indices which informed government’s hasty proclamations have been taken over by recent events. Hence, it goes beyond vehement verbal denial but a detailed survey of the conditions in the Northeast to understand the ever-changing dynamics of the insurgency.

The military should open up collaborative channels that will encourage these people voicing their grievances the avenue to liaise with the troops for information gathering, for the military to be more proactive. Words are unnecessary, where actions are required.

For Further Reading, Click: R2P, Stabilisation and the North-East