Boko Haram War Must Be Fought On All Fronts; From Financial Networks To Cyberspace Amplifying Them

KEYNOTE ADDRESS DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, THE VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE 8TH NATIONAL SECURITY SEMINAR ORGANISED BY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL DEFENCE COLLEGE (AANDEC), AT THE NATIONAL DEFENCE COLLEGE, ABUJA ON TUESDAY MARCH 6, 2018.
Permit me to begin by saluting our men and women of our Armed Forces, stationed across Nigeria, striving in the face of unimaginable odds, to keep us safe from terrorists, bandits and criminals of all shades. As difficult as things might occasionally appear to be, we know that they would be much worse without the gallant and diligent efforts of our Armed Forces. You have displayed remarkable bravery and professionalism and we are immensely proud of your sacrifice and all that you have achieved on our behalf.
This year makes it nine years since our nation was first confronted with what perhaps has become the most persistent threat to national security in decades, the scourge of Boko Haram. But as of the end of 2016, Boko Haram as a fighting force had been effectively degraded. Yet, time and time again we are confronted with the question “I thought you said Boko Haram had been defeated? And this question arises especially after one cowardly or opportunistic act or the other.
To provide some guidance to an answer, perhaps it might be useful to put in context the nature of the war against terror, the character of the terrorists which informs their strategy and tactics, and the trajectory of the war and then perhaps a prognosis for the future.
Boko Haram is a Salafist-Jihadi terrorist group, their particular strain of false ideology is one which rejects the authority of the state and seeks to take over Nigerian territory establishing a caliphate, a copy of the so-called Islamic State of the Levant (ISIL), or ISIS
Between 2012 and early 2015 they seemed to be well on the way to achieving their objective of challenging the sovereignty of Nigeria and contesting territory with it. As of March 2015, Boko Haram controlled about 20,000 square miles of Nigerian territory - about the size of Belgium: An area stretching from the Mandara Mountains on the eastern border with Cameroon to Lake Chad in the north and the Yedseram River in the west. In Borno, 20 out of 27 LGS were under BH control, including Mubi in Adamawa and several villages in Yobe State.
In addition, their bloody footprints reached Abuja, Kano, and Kaduna, including the bombings of the UN building and police headquarters in Abuja. That was the state of affairs as of early 2015.
Today they do not occupy any local government area in Nigeria and they no longer have the capacity to hold territory or challenge the sovereignty of the State.
Gone also are the days when our military was on the back foot, under-equipped, under-inspired. Gone are the days when the footprints of the terrorists have become strayed well beyond the Northeast, leaving behind scenes of widespread carnage and sorrow as far away as Abuja and Kano.
What we have today is what used to be a fighting force now operating as disparate criminal bands, mostly in relatively small groups, taking opportunistic hits at communities, suicide bombings using children who usually do not understand that their actions would kill them and others & the kidnapping of innocent persons, especially women and even children.
So today, Boko Haram knows that they are no longer a relevant fighting force, their objective of establishing a caliphate within Nigeria is impossible. But they certainly want to give the impression that they are really an army to be reckoned with. This is the deception that is at the heart of terrorism everywhere. And to defeat terror, we must understand this reality as a people and government.
To put it more graphically, the terrorist is essentially is essentially a murderous psychopath. The tactic is to commit heinous opportunistic killings, the objective is to horrify, terrify and create fear and uncertainty. So the killing, for example, of the Buni Yadi boys on their beds in a secondary school exactly four years ago, and the numerous mindless bombings in mosques and churches full of worshippers are meant to achieve this warped purpose.
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Oluyemi Oluleke “Yemi” Osinbajo is a Nigerian Lawyer and politician who is the current Vice President of Nigeria, in office since 29 May 2015.
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