- Strong intelligence and a robust civic culture are imperative in the final anti-terror push
That latest Boko Haram attack, the one on Sabon Gari Market in Domboa, Domboa Local Government of Borno State, was gory enough: between 20 and 50 dead, according to media reports; and no less than 50 injured in an explosion that went off in a crowded market at about 1:30 pm.
While eye witness talked of Boko Haram cells, disguised as Fulani women milk sellers, planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs), passing as cow milk containers, the local police authorities gave a slightly different account. Aderemi Opadokun, the Borno State Police commissioner, said a male suicide bomber detonated an IED strapped to his body.
Whichever of the two accounts was correct, one thing was clear: the high level of casualties, dead and injured. That is a grim reminder that Boko Haram, with all its attendant anguish and trauma, is still very much with us; and might not be history very soon. On that score, the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency should further work on its strategies to bring to an end this horror.
Still, from the pattern and trend of the latest attacks, it would appear that Boko Haram, as a frontal fighting force, seizing territory and hoisting its black flag over captive communities, has all but been checkmated. That is no mean feat, given the rampage of the crazed Islamists, and the horror and terror they visited on their captive communities, while its territory-seizure tactics lasted.
The Federal Government, the old under President Goodluck Jonathan and the new under President Buhari, have earned due commendation: the one for starting the curtailment, when everything seemed near-lost; the other for consolidating on the anti-terror gains.
By changing strategy, and taking the war to the Islamists’ notorious and hitherto dreaded bases in Sambisa Forest, instead of waiting to repel attacks, President Buhari has done very well indeed. The security forces appear to have seriously degraded Boko Haram as a combat force, thus seeming to pin it to a restricted area, en route to launching a final push to bury it.
But the government successes have only succeeded to push the war right to where it began: hit-and-run terror tactics, with ferocious attacks mainly on soft targets.
Boko Haram started on Islamist militants, on motor bikes, attacking police personnel and facilities, and banks: killing surprised police troopers; looting weapons after razing police facilities and looting money from attacked banks. At its most brazen, it introduced suicide bombing, with indoctrinated cells used as suicide bombers. Its climax was territorial seizure, over which it proclaimed its Islamic sovereignty.
With reverses however, it is now back to hit-and-run attacks with which it started. Even its “suicide bombing” would appear degraded somewhat to surrogate bombing, in which naive souls are conned into blowing up themselves — with their innocent victims — without knowing why. There were reported cases of minors bearing bombs, but which other cells, at a distance, detonate.
To combat this phase, strong intelligence is key. So, is a renewed culture of civic responsibility, that sense of citizens’ total commitment to the cause of a community — in this case, every local’s total commitment to the collective safety and security of the affected area.
For instance, the latest Damboa attack could perhaps have been averted with a more bonded community, ready to yield terror intelligence before even attacks are carried out. Even if no one had a fore-knowledge of the attack, a generally higher vigilance level could have triggered an alarm when women posing as Fulani milk sellers vanished, leaving behind their wares.
The security forces therefore must ramp up their intelligence-gathering capabilities. Also, they should build on the goodwill on the Buhari government, particularly judging from the massive votes from the areas of conflict where the president won hands down in the last election, to draw the people closer, and build a strong and robust civic culture.
With the locals accepting the anti-terror war as theirs, and seeing Boko Haram as a threat to individual and collective their survival, gathering the intelligence to conquer the menace won’t be such laboured work.
