A Review of the Counterinsurgency Approaches in Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue IX, September 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

A Review of the Counterinsurgency Approaches in Nigeria

Modu Lawan Gana¹ and Hadiza Mali Bukar^2
1Department of Public Administration, Mai Idris Alooma Polytechnic, Geidam, Yobe State
²Department of Public Administration, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria
Corresponding

Abstract: This concept paper explored and analyzed the various counterinsurgency approaches adopted both by the Nigeria government, international partners and community base groups in the combating the violent insurgency of Boko Haram in the country’s north. The article revealed that Nigeria adopted both carrot and stick approach in its operation. The former involved political campaigns of dialogue to ceasefire. The later approach is a violent aggression by the military and quasi-military forces aimed at annihilating the insurgent fighters and their alleged collaborators. Whereas the application of the two approaches is blended rather than sequential, the military aggression however remained the dominant campaign of the government. The article argued that the predominance of the military campaign undermined the unprecedented successes of the government. The indiscriminate force targeting both the insurgent and the population suppressed the chances of accessing timely and credible intelligence about the insurgents movements, their hideout and identification of their potential target. As panacea, the article suggest Nigeria government and its counterinsurgency partners to resort to the people centred campaign through enhancing governance through the provision of basic necessities of livelihood to withdraw the support of the population on the insurgent rather than sticking to the security only campaign.

Keywords; Insurgency, Counterinsurgency, Boko Haram, Military Approach; Political Approach

I. INTRODUCTION

Since the eruption of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria in 2009, there is concerted effort by State, international groups, civil society organizations, and even informal private individuals to combat the insurgency. The combined engagement of these groups is not in any coincidental, but was instigated by the devilish attacks of the Boko Haram group, killing and maiming of the public thus stampeding on fundamental rights presented by the International Humanitarian Laws and declarations of United Nations. Although, there are multifaceted approaches to the approaches and manner of the counterinsurgency campaigns, existing works has partially discussed on these perspectives. Most of the prevailing literature only centered on the analysis of humanitarian consequences induced by the insurgent rebellion. Others on the evolution on the insurgency. Specific work analyzing the general counterinsurgency approaches against the Boko Haram group is not presented. This concept paper addressed this vacuum. The importance of the work besides the contribution to the literature, it is importance for policy science suitable for the state authorities and other

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