Porous Border, Terrorism and National Security in Nigeria: An Appraisal

Porous Border, Terrorism and National Security in Nigeria: An Appraisal

Nasiru Shidali Phd, Amina Musa Kaita, Maiye B. Olusegun (Senior Lecturer)
Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper has examined the issues of porous border, terrorism and national security in Nigeria. Terrorism, no doubt remains a threat to the safety of all Nigerians and even her visitors are not spared from the sledge of terrorist onslaughts. While internal factors such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, corruption, religious fundamentalism, political manipulations and others have been critically identified to be responsible for the menace of terrorism, the poorly manned borders of Nigeria have also contributed in no small mean to the dynamics of national insecurity occasioned by terrorism. The paper relied majorly on secondary data in addition to the observations of the authors. The rational choice theory provided the framework of analysis. Findings revealed that the infiltrations of unregistered men and weapons including money into the county have aided the threats posed by terrorism to Nigerian national security. This has been exacerbated by the nature of Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives and agreements. As a plural state with history that predates British conquests, Nigeria has to live with the reality that she exists beyond her borders. It is recommended that Nigeria should collaborate with her neighbors and adopt technologies in manning her borders and fighting terrorism if her security as a country is to be guaranteed.

Keyword: Border Porosity, Terrorism, National Security, Development

Introduction

Security is paramount to every individual and society as its lack could end the life of the individual or underdeveloped the society. This accounts for the necessity placed on security of lives and property by the grand norm of Nigeria. Although no country and person is an island, international boundaries are created to give states the deserved territorial sovereignty from neighbours, friends and foes. When national boundaries are not well policed, the unrestricted flow of both negative and positive variables will not only threaten the nation’s security but also its sovereignty which the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 gave much to the ability of a state to maintain her territorial integrity. Both evil and good permeate into a country via the national borders, the extent to which one dominates the other depends on the porosity of national borders. Terrorism is one of the most heinous crimes in the world today and it is fast spreading with the collapse of national boundaries through the agents of globalization. Security of borders is sine qua non for the protection of lives and properties within a given state since border is the first line of defence against insecurity and the last line of a nation’s territorial integrity. Nigerian borders, especially land borders have become free entry and exit points for smugglers of all manner of contraband goods who carry out their illicit activities with little or no reservations. Irrespective of where the border is located within the country and its geographic nature, porosity is a common characteristic that is shared by all borders in the world.

As a terrible phenomenon, terrorism has become a nut difficult to be easily cracked in the international system. As a form of violence, terrorism is as old as man. The early stages of the study on domestic and international terrorism reveal that ‘terrorism’ have always been employed to protect or achieve certain interests (Political or Parochial), by individuals, groups and state and state authorities (Ikaade, 2010).

The international dimensions to terrorism became very noticeable after the Second World War. This coincided with the rapid independence of the colonized territories which was aided by some forces that later threatened the national security of some of these emerged states (Ikaade, 2010). If the benefits of the independence victory are not flowing to them in the manners they so wished, terrorizing the state becomes an alternative. Despite the various measures put in place by the governments of Nigeria to ensure the security of the country by fighting terrorism and guarding the borders, the country ranks high in the comity of nations with lingering security challenges. To this end, this paper examines the issues of porous border, terrorism and national security in Nigeria with focus on the fourth republic.

Methodology

This paper is an ex post facto research design. This will help in making replicable and valid inferences by interpreting textual materials and systematically evaluating them. In line with this, there was thematic selection and a focus on qualitative data to address the objectives of the paper. Content analysis was the method of data analysis while the Using this method of analysis, meaningful data were extracted and based on logical chains of evidence, inferences will be drawn upon and conclusions made.

Literature review

Terrorism

Terrorism has undergone various changes, resulting in many interpretations, interpretations and insights. There are many variations on what terrorism is all about. Trying to define this term is therefore a difficult task, given the fact that no definition is universally accepted among scholars, analysts and governments. It is a story of different lashes in different people as each person’s ideas are explained naturally. Etymologically, words; fear, intimidation, intimidation, terrorism and deterrence are derived from the Latin verbs ‘terrere’ meaning trembling or trembling, and ‘deterrere’ meaning terror (Wilkinson, 1986). In its most basic sense, the word refers to a state of intense fear or death.

Ironically, yesterday’s hero may be today’s terrorist and vice versa, as Marighela (1999) points out, ‘one terrorist is one’s liberator’. One important problem in defining terrorism is that the world is given a constantly changing imagery without a clear definition of what terrorism means. The act of terrorism by provinces and non-state actors has long existed. But the climax came on September 11, 2001, when four passenger planes were hijacked and attacked at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US, killing at least 5,000 people. For the shocking, extremely dangerous acts of terrorism in Spain, England, the Middle East, Turkey, North Africa, South East Asia (Wilcox, 2004)

Its weapons are murder, mass murder, carjacking, bombings, kidnappings and intimidation. Such actions according to them can be carried out by the provinces and the private sector. Although various definitions of rebellion are widespread, there are basic elements. Such factors include the use of violence, instant fear and perpetual terror, aimed at non-military or civilian citizens, and are a form of protest or political discourse. But, no matter how we look at it, terrorism is always an illegal means of resolving conflicts and committing crimes rather than political crimes.

The act of terrorism by provinces and non-state actors has been around for a long time in human history. But it came to a head, a catastrophe that swept across the country since September 11, 2001, when passenger planes were hijacked and attacked at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States of America, killing nearly 5,000 people. Terrorists try not only to instill terror but also to undermine confidence in the government and the political leadership of the country to which they are directed. In the view of this paper is a terrorist attack aimed at a group against the citizens and government of a particular region for economic, political and / or ideological purposes. The next concept that will be clarified is national security.

National security

The concept of national security incorporates different meanings such as the absence of national threats; Accident; accident; uncertainty; lack of protection, and lack of security. The concept of “national security” is often misunderstood (Wolfers, 1962) and consequently misunderstood (Carey, 2000). It is therefore a strange thing, a “fall”, and therefore a relationship with relatives, rather than a “thing” aimed at rather than being seen and handled. However, national security is a requirement to maintain state survival through economics, diplomacy, speculation and political power. The concept was greatly developed in the United States of America after World War II. Initially focused on military might; it now incorporates a variety of factors, all of which affect non-military or economic security of the nation and the values ​​supported by the national community.

National security has been defined as the ability of the national government to, among other things, maintain the integrity of the national body and the environment; to maintain its international relations in accordance with sound principles; maintain its identity, institutions, and external management; and controlling its boundaries. The ability of provinces and communities to maintain their individual ownership and operational integrity is also an important aspect of national security. The primary purpose of national security is to uphold national standards, which include national survival, sustainability, environmental integrity and economic progress (Abidde, 2014).

Therefore, in order to have national security, a nation needs economic security, energy security, environmental protection, etc. Security threats include not only common enemies like other provinces but also non-state players such as violent nationalists. players, drug associations, international companies and non-governmental organizations; some authorities include natural disasters and incidents that cause significant environmental damage in this category. Steps taken to ensure national security include: using diplomacy to bring together partners and severance of threats; consolidating economic power to facilitate or enforce cooperation; to keep the armed forces active; implementing public safety measures and emergency preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism legislation); to ensure the sustainability and redundancy of critical infrastructure; use intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information; uses counterintelligence agencies or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats

In general, Braithwaite, (1988: 9) quoting the encyclopedia of social sciences describes national security as “the ability of a nation to protect its internal values ​​from external threats”. Also, Lipmann describes it as “a nation that has security where it does not have to give up its legitimate interests to avoid war, and is able, if at all possible, to keep it at war”. Morgenthau (1948) states that national security and national interests are related; where the former is seen as powerful and therefore is a political context.

Imobigbe (1981) refers to it as the protection and survival of the state. The risk of looking at national security in this small way according to Nweke (1988: 1-2) is triple; but we will worry about the first two: First the tendency to balance “protection” with “security” and to impose undue responsibilities on the military as if only the armed forces were the security guards of the country. These tendencies create in the minds of the military to be the only ones where security, stability and progress can be achieved. Second, national security has been used by state officials as a political rhetoric or motto to unite citizens in the face of internal or external threats from ruling governments and to strengthen their domestic influence and political base (Adebayo, 1986).

Dyke (1966), concludes that there is no doubt that national security includes state sovereignty, non-violation of the territories of its territories, and the right to self-defense and collective resistance to internal and external threats. But the state is protected only when the group under which it is organized feels that they belong to the same independent political community; enjoy equal political freedom, human rights, economic opportunities, and the state itself is able to ensure independence in its development and foreign policy.

Freedman’s (1998: 53) view is that if anything causes anxiety or threatens quality of life in some way, it is labeled “safety problem”. The concept of economic security therefore promotes a controversial policy approach, while “environmental security” has often been more effective in confusing than clarifying by promoting the pursuit of opponents.

National security according to Held & McGrew (1998: 226) provides a traditional definition of national security. He describes national security as “the acquisition, deployment and use of the military to achieve the country’s goals”. Romm (1993) defines it as a lack of risk or danger in upholding values, principles and the absence of fear that those values ​​will be attacked now or in the future. Thus, national security is the preservation of a nation’s values ​​in relation to protecting its territory from human and non-human threats and guidelines in fulfilling its national interests in the international system. It is safe to consider national security as the strength and power of the world to ensure the security of everything in its place.

Border and border porosity

The concept of state border supports the planning, and indeed the condition that it is possible, both domestic and international legal and political systems (Vaughan-Williams, 2009). Internally, it is central to the general notion of the limits of monarchy and internal authority, which is reflected in Max Weber’s definition of the paradigmatic state of the state as a (successful) human society that claims to be the exclusive use of official power in a particular area. In the international arena, it enshrines the principle of local integrity, enshrined in Article 2, Article 4 of the United Nations (UN) Charter which, from the end of World War II, serves as the basis for such principles as: the rule of law and equality of all provinces before international law. ; protection from the promotion of tribalism in some provinces; and autonomy and conservation of the environment (Vaughan-Williams, 2009).

Traditionally, borders have been international borders between regions of a country. This boundary may be natural (sea, mountains, rivers, etc.), or otherwise, but in any case it is always a function, or the result of compliance, conquest and peace treaties. In O‘Dowd (2003: 24), borders ― areas of economic and political opportunities in nations and provinces as well as dozens of other interested parties and agencies, both legal and informal.

The border serves two basic purposes protection from external and internal threats and territorial demolition (Newman and Paasi, 1998). According to Zartman (2010), borders cross the country but pass through people. On the maps they appear as fine lines with one side, and the bottom has many dimensions. Boundaries are boundaries in depth, the area around the line, the place where the state meets the community, and where no one has ever felt at home (Simon, 1997). In human terms, it is impossible to understand boundaries, and indeed the close relationships between regions and communities contained in them without understanding what it is like to live with them (Zartman, 2010). A border signifies the sharp edges of a territory in which the spheres of influence of its occupants are defined.

Furthermore, borders are the razors edge which hang suspended the modern issues of war or peace, of life or death to nations (Curzon, 1906:132). This binary view of borders was underscored by Star and Most in their joint study of the border factor in international relations, when they asserted but “shared international boundaries are like coins with one side issuing with “risks” and the other with “opportunities” in international interaction (Star and Most, 1976). According to Gross, international interaction between adjacent states is a continuum with conflict at one end and co-operation at the other. This continuum would be stimulated in either direction depending on the extent which the border in question is “open or close” (Gross, 1973).

Theoretical Framework

This paper is found within the theory of rational choice that fits better with research compared to the world theory of failure. The theory of rational selection assumes that the player chooses an alternative that he or she believes to bring about a social outcome that enhances his or her choice under the assumptions (Sato, 2013). According to Marsh (2011), the basic premise of this theory is related to the demands of criminals who may be criminals in their crimes. This is due to certain processes for making different decisions for each person (ability) and real-time flexibility (available time). Theory clearly states that certain crimes are chosen by criminals and committed for a number of reasons.

The subject of the theorist argument is, “at the heart of criminal behavior are the ideas of choice and decision making” (Marsh, 2011: 142). Various options are always available to people in a particular situation and are often left to the individual to make his or her own choice. The actor chooses an alternative that he believes brings the effect of social media that extends his help (payment) under imaginary limits (Sato, 2013). From a theorist’s point of view, five key factors are included in the individual’s choice: obstacles, alternatives, social outcomes, help and belief. All of these factors are key to the individual choices in society. With regard to crime, criminals often choose to get involved in criminal activities and to avoid involvement in crime. An important aspect of rational choice theory is the idea that people will measure the happiness that can be had by committing a crime against the pain that may result from punishment, and acting accordingly. This is known as hedonistic calculus (Boyd, 2017). So the theory of rational elections means that criminals such as terrorists and illegal immigrants act responsibly, systematically, and make sound decisions about whether to commit a crime or not. Opponents of choice also recognize that the threat of punishment or the promise of reward may motivate people to act as punishment or reward itself (Scott, 2000). The coherence of this view in this paper comes from the fact that both those who undermine national security such as terrorists and illegal immigrants and the government and its various envoys who are supposed to ensure the security of the Nigerian state believe they stand. This is the wisdom of their decisions at the individual and group level. The top authority needs to make decisions that will protect borders and protect the country from internal and external invaders.

Porous borders, Terrorism and Nigerian National Security: Findings Discussed

Nigeria shares land borders with Cameroun, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic and also shares maritime boundaries with Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Cameroun and Sao Tome and Principe. Out of the thirty-six states, fifteen share international land boundaries with African countries. Ironically, the borders of Nigeria are not adequately protected by the border security forces. The traffickers of all sorts live across the border and are familiar with the routes beyond the connected security agents which is the only one holding the border, according to respondents at the Nigeria Customs office. It is not surprising that migration can be achieved as the flow of people and goods into the country is very small and uninterrupted. The ECOWAS migration policy allows people to move quickly and indirectly to neighboring countries with protection for ninety days. With this, Nigeria has been the major recipient of illegal immigrants even beyond the West African region. Border porosity has also strengthened illicit trade relations such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, and much more. The Nigerian respondents argued that their proposal was due to the existence of the West African border. Some of those who have been affected across the Nigerian borders with the intention of crossing into Niger, Chad, Benin Republic, Cameroun and do not have the necessary travel documents. The tightening of Nigerian borders appears to be promoting further human trafficking measures, as well as a lack of adequate protection and identification structures.

Nigeria has not been using or does not have a functioning government presence as the largest country in West Africa. High levels of poverty in neighboring countries also exacerbate this. Nigeria is now a hotbed of human trafficking, where traffickers benefit from the lack of effective border surveillance, security, and detection systems. Visas are obtained through fraudulent or fraudulent means, usually in connection with immigration agents. In addition, traffickers, a few secret rental sites, had shortcomings in border protection and insufficient means of detection in Ghana and Nigeria. Children are also taken from rural communities to urban areas where rural insecurity and inequality occur. The location of traffickers depends on their intent to smuggle. It is important to remember. However, Italy is the preferred reference from Nigeria to many women victims.

No doubt that there are internal elements that have threatened the peace and security of  Nigeria. However, terrorist activities such as those being orchestrated by Boko Haram since 2009 have been linked to forces beyond the shores of Nigeria. Nigeria is the origin, transit and destination of arms trafficking which means Nigeria produces, imports and exports small arms majorly through her ill-manned borders. Most of the studies had concentrated on importation of small arms or cross-border trafficking or smuggling of arms downplaying the local manufacture and supply of small arms mostly through the poorly guarded borders.

With the persistence of insurgency in the country, thousands of weapons such as Rocket Propel Grenades (RPGs), rocket launchers, anti-aircraft missiles, and AK 47 rifles have been intercepted by security operatives in various locations in around the Nigeria. It is widely believed that these weapons found their way to Nigeria from Turkey, Iran, Libya and Mali among others. The insurgent’s access to Rocket Propel Grenades (RPGs), and other high caliber arms is has remained a serious concern within the security architecture of the country. Rocket Propel Grenades (RPGs), are explosive projectile weapons used by insurgents to attack or destroy targets from long distances, while rocket launchers are devices that are used to propel missiles or explosives from long ranges. Some of the launchers can go as far as 900m. Possession of these high caliber weapons not only confers on Boko Haram deadly firepower, but also enables fighters to hit targets from long distance.

In the opinion expressed by Nte (2011), more than 1,135 companies, in more than 98 countries in one way or the other in the production of small arms, ammunition and/or components. At least 60 of them are involved in legal export of small arms. In the last 40 years, the number of countries producing small arms had doubled, and the majority of these small arms producing companies are located in Western Europe. It is surprising to note that with the various security operatives around the border area with around 119 check points mounted by the Nigerian Customs, Immigration, NDLEA and the Police, the rate of border crime have not reduced. The issue smuggling has been a major issue facing security operatives across the border areas in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole. West Africa is under attack from international criminal networks that are using the sub-region as a key global hub for the distribution, wholesale, and increasing production of illicit drugs (Brown, 2013).

The porosity of the border area tends to make it difficult for security operatives to control the movement of people and goods. The land, water and air borders are not well manned and it was discovered that, illegal routes are connecting Nigeria with her francophone neighbours which the government are not aware of. Smuggling takes various form and ranges from smuggling of food items to cars, drugs, terrorists, weapons among others. The border areas have been closed on different occasions by the Nigerian government to curb the activities of terrorists and other national security saboteurs.

Aside terrorism and terrorists activities, threats to national security that have links to the porosity of our national borders include drug trafficking, human trafficking, advanced free-fraud, prostitution, kidnapping and hostage taking, etc.

Suffice to say here that it is not only dissident groups that take advantage of the porosity of national borders to terrorize the country, the state is also involved in manipulating the loopholes on the borderlands for personal advantages. For instance the introduction of drugs trafficking in West Africa has been traced to Nigeria. As the most populous country in the region, even criminals who are not Nigerians often disguise as one or perpetuate their crimes through the Nigerian space (Adetula, 2015).

The implication thereof is that, some of these terrorists often employ other people to carry out their activities thereby making it difficult for security agencies to detect their movement. These men of the underworld often move undetected and they can be children, pregnant women, clerics, etc. In an environment where there is high poverty rate, illiteracy, poor governance, corruption, ethnic violence among others, drug trafficking and The ethno-cultural linkages of the inhabitants on both sides of the body have created the tendency to condole the criminal exploit of the federal operating along the common border. Hence, terrorists readily seek and find prompt and safe asylum from the border communities. The border communities rather than being helpful to ensure that criminals are brought to book, actually collude with them to work against the effect of the state security apparatus.

The authority of the Republic of Benin does not demonstrate the necessary enthusiasm in bringing these criminals to justice. For instance, while offenders are chased from Nigeria, as soon as they succeed in crossing the Republic of Benin side of the border, they completely disappear and one never hears of them again. This is because the country is a beneficiary in the illegal activities going on along the common border.

The length of the Nigeria-Benin-Niger-Cameroun-Chad borderlines, which is about 3,984km (Asiwaju, 1994); the characteristics terrain, its porous nature, as well as other natural constraints makes the thought of its effective policing unthinkable. The role of cultural ties in inter-territorial movement of peoples also explains a situation in which contacts and movements between groups of tribesmen across borders is greater than tribesmen of different stocks within same borders suffice. For instance, the contact and cross-border movement between Hausa of Nigeria and Niger may be greater than contacts between Hausa of Nigeria and the Jukun of Nigeria. The same subsists between Yoruba of Nigeria and Benin Republic than Yoruba of Nigeria and Igala of Nigeria.

The situation is such that no amount of resources and manpower deployed towards the manning of the common border can bring about very effective security coverage if such effort is concentrated on just one side of the common border. Aside from the fact that the considerable distances between control posts and the difficulty of the terrain, which generally presents formidable obstacles, there is the fact that no boundary can ever be completely patrolled. There is this notion that the Western and Eastern borders are better manned that those of the Northern fringes of the country. This bias has made terrorism to linger in the northern region beyond the predictions of experts.

The border problem is related to colonial history where at a conference in Berlin; Germany between November 1884 and February, 1885 the territory was partitioned and carved out for the Royal Niger Company. However, its porosity has been worsened by the failure of succeeding governments to properly administer these borders. As Onuoha observed that the high level of insecurity on African borders is largely due to the way they are administered and managed, and less to do with how colonialists patterned them (Onuoha., 2013).

Despite this spirit of enterprising and promising neighborliness, the borders linking the two countries are the most problematic because of the activities of internationally reputed criminals engaging in smuggling and trafficking of virtually everything from human trafficking, ammunition, arms, and drugs manufactured goods, agricultural produce, prostitution, and child labour to religious fanaticism, terrorist attacks and insurgency (Adeolu, & Fayomi, 2012). The demarcation of the border between Seme (Nigerian) and Krake (Benin Republic) is through the use of ropes. The ropes are tied to drums filled with sand and after interrogation by the security agents, the rope is been lifted and vehicles can pass. It is possible to plant maize in Diffa (Niger republic) and plant guinea corn in Kukawa (Nigeria) while claiming ownership of the same piece of land. Terrorists like the Boko Haram have taken advantage of this undifferentiated border to recruit and regroup against the Nigerian state, especially at the northern borderlines.

This is just for vehicles and the security for humans crossing is unbearable. Individuals moves freely from one part of the country into the other without been asked questions or been checked and it is through this movements that crimes are been perpetrated. Nigeria has hundreds of borders that are poorly manned and delimitated. Before now, it was political right to have this poor border security but right now, insurgent groups like Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers have turned the tides around even against the politicians that do benefits from border porosity.

Nigeria has also recommended consideration of sanctions for those found diverting arms into illegal networks, the establishment of a common international standard for regulating the activities of arms brokers, integrating small arms measures into comprehensive national development strategies, and the establishment of a common standard for end-user certification and stockpile management. However, the Government of Nigeria faces numerous challenges in tackling the problems of small arms proliferation and armed violence especially in the North East of’ Nigeria. Some of these challenges are self-imposed and rein creed through greed-based behaviour, while others are as a result of poor institutional capacity and the complexities of addressing widespread crime and the general situation in the Nigeria. Nigeria has national firearms legislation that is comprehensive and restrictive, but poorly en forced. Lack of clear-cut policy in defining Nigeria’s relationships with her neighbours is a great setback to her border security and national cohesion.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Nigeria has been an active participant in international and regional discussions on small arms proliferation occasioned by the porosity of borders, especially in developing economies. The country has entered into series of partnerships and international agreements even with her immediate neighbours pertaining to small arms and light weapons that fly around the region. It supported the adoption in 2005 of the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons, and has argued that this political document needs to be transformed into a legally binding instrument in a bid to control effectively and criminalize the illicit movement of small arms. Globalization has made the security of physical borers a very herculean task; however, it must not prevented nations of the global village to regulate the inflow of criminal elements that jeopardize national security architectures of state. The country’s leadership has the constitutional power and authority to secure its citizens and residents from the onslaughts of terrorists.

Arising from the above, the paper makes the following recommendations. A border patrol joint taskforce involving Nigeria and her neighbours to help in border surveillance will go a long way to ensure border safety for the country. There is need to employ technology in the surveillance and security of the country’s borders. This will involve bring the relevant agencies like the Nigerian Customs, Immigration, NDLEA, National Space Research and Development Agency (NARSDA), Nigeria Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), Armed Forces, etc on board on collaborative intelligence gathering and dissemination for actions. Corruption in the recruitment of personnel and procurement process, especially, in security organizations should be reduced to the barest minimum through automation of governmental activities. A genuine national identification programme through census will go a long way to reduce illegal immigration and foreign terrorists’ invasion. Citizens have to be more patriotic and protective of their fatherland thereby avoiding being in connivance with non-Nigerian intruders who end up constituting security threats to the country.

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