THE CHALLENGES OF DEALING WITH TERRORISM
they became more vicious and carried out a series of daring attacks to avenge the death of their erstwhile leader and followers.
At first, Boko Haram was involved mostly in fomenting sectarian violence. Its adherents participated in simple attacks on mostly Christians using clubs, machetes and small arms. By late 2010, Boko Haram had
“Apart from the general apparent insecurity, the challenges of the Boko Haram insurgence in Nigeria are also socio-economic in nature.”
added Molotov cocktails and simple Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to its tactical repertoire.2
They were alleged to have links to international terror groups as they intensified attacks on security forces. The group strategized to take over the state, which they claimed was being run by compromised Muslims.
Over time, the sect has engaged in bombings, bank robberies, kidnappings for ransom, the abduction of children and women and especially the destruction of schools. Their attacks have been more frequent in the northern states of Borno, Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Niger, Plateau, Kogi, Kaduna and Sokoto, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. However, they also claim
responsibilities for some attacks outside the northern parts of the country.
According to News24, “the real estimate of Nigerians killed since the onset of the Boko Haram insurgents in 2011 is over one hundred thousand”; and this figure is conservative. Most media reports put the number of deaths at 15,000.
Challenges of Boko Haram Apart from the general apparent insecurity, the challenges of the Boko Haram insurgence in Nigeria are also socio-economic in nature. Having evolved from a region that is educationally disadvantaged, the activities of the sect have further put school age pupils in that region out of their schools. Statistics reveal that more than 14 schools have been burnt down in Maiduguri, the state capital of Borno state,
forcing over 7,000 children out of their schools.3
It is argued that the low level of education in that part of the country makes it easier for the sect to recruit its foot soldiers, who in the face of prevailing economic hardship, lack the capacity to challenge the apparent misinterpretation of the Muslim Holy Book. Once the state had banned the use of motorcycles for commercial transportation in view of drive-by-killings by cyclists detonating explosives, the socio-economic implication was the twin consequences of causing increasing economic hardship to the majority of the population (about 80%) that use motorcycles as a means of transportation as well as rendering approximately 10,000 youths jobless. Unemployment no doubt causes frustration,
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