With Boko Haram terrorism rapidly escalating, exemplified in deadly suicide bomb attacks and general insecurity across the land, the sacking of the military service chiefs on Monday was long overdue. As had been expected since May 29, when he assumed office, President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated that he can take big decisions needed to breathe new life into the flagging campaign against the Islamists.
Those relieved of their jobs were Alex Badeh (Chief of Defence Staff); Kenneth Minimah (Chief of Army Staff); Adesola Amosun (Chief of Air Staff); and Usman Jibrin (Chief of Naval Staff). They were appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in January 2014. Sambo Dasuki, Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, was also sent packing. Buhari has immediately named Abayomi Olonisakin (CDS); Tukur Buratai (COAS); Ibok-Ete Ibas (Navy); Sadique Abubakar (Air Force); Monday Morgan (Defence Intelligence); and Babagana Monguno (NSA) to replace them.
Yet, daunting challenges lie ahead. Early in the year, the murderous Boko Haram group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. A few days ago, the criminal gang released its first beheading video since pledging allegiance to ISIS and announced it would adopt the name “Islamic State’s West Africa Province.” Dismissing the evil alliance as inconsequential as the military often do may be catastrophic.
To chart a new way ahead, the new service chiefs need to prioritise the war against terrorism, deploying all the resources and might of the Nigerian state to degrade the fighting capacity of the insurgents. True, the military, under the former service chiefs, belatedly moved into action in the twilight of the Jonathan government, yet, the gains made when the terrorists were partially dislodged from the Sambisa forest in Borno State have given way to frequent bombings and gun attacks. The May 29 directive from Buhari to the erstwhile chiefs to move the military command control centre from Abuja to Maiduguri, Borno State did not have the desired result under them.
With renewed venom against the Nigerian state, Boko Haram operatives are perpetrating mind-boggling massacres across the North. According to a tally compiled by the French news agency, AFP, Boko Haram has killed 650 people, mostly via suicide bombings, since Buhari took over the mantle of leadership. On a daily basis, the insurgents have been murdering innocent Nigerians in Borno and Yobe states. In Zabarmari, a village 10 kilometres from Maiduguri, a series of devastating suicide bomb attacks in a crowded market over three days in the first weekend of July left 200 people dead.
The insurgents have bombed mosques and churches in the two states, as well as in Jos, Plateau State. Last week, the terrorists, who are campaigning to overthrow the Nigerian state and enthrone their own warped version of Islamic caliphate, stormed Zaria, Kaduna State, and murdered 25 people in a queue to have their biometric data captured. In all, over 1,000 Nigerians have been killed in Boko Haram attacks since January, while more than 15,000 have died since 2009 when the Boko Haram rebellion started in the North-East.
The new appointments have come at a time Nigerians are despairing, wondering whether there will ever be an end to the six-year-long insurgency that has ravaged their nation. While Buhari’s decision comes highly recommended, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. This is because there is much ground for the new appointees to cover.
Suicide terrorism has become a strategy of terrorists worldwide. Intelligence and security services need to be on high alert for potential attacks as they are more likely to intercept suicide bombers. More than ever before, intelligence gathering should play a prominent role in this asymmetric warfare. In this kind of war, the intelligence services must develop the capability and the networks to stop the terrorists in their tracks before they can reach their targets. This is very important.
The power of intelligence, infiltration and profiling was demonstrated on Monday in the United States when Federal Bureau of Investigation officers arrested Alexander Ciccolo, 23, in a counter-terrorism operation in Boston. Ciccolo, the son of a police captain, was arrested after he bought two pistols and two rifles from an undercover agent. The search of his house yielded precious information about the jihad he wanted to conduct for ISIS in an American university.
The new helmsmen, the intelligence services and the police should not fall into the trap of self-denial that says Boko Haram is not waging a religious war. Indeed, jihad, an act of war against the so-called infidels, is a purported legitimate campaign by salafist militants worldwide. Therefore, all measures to wear down the terrorists must be deployed. Through intelligence gathering, effective policing and partnership with local communities and international security agencies, they should uncover the group’s financial backers. Where do they get their arms and ammunition from? Where are their centres of operation? Who are their trainers? Where do they procure fuel for their vehicles – up to 200 at times – and motorcycles? Most importantly: where are the kidnapped Chibok girls?
Similarly, the new service chiefs should go after the top Boko Haram commanders, either to eliminate or capture them. Since the 9/11 attacks, the US has captured the likes of Abu Zubaidah, Sheikh Mohammed and Yasser al-Jaziri, while al-Qaeda founder, Osama bin Laden, Mohammed Atef and Fazul Mohammed have all been killed.
For Buhari, this is the time to rebuild and re-energise other underperforming organisations, such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (in spite of its recent activities), the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Nigeria Intelligence Agency and the Department of Petroleum Resources.
In the same vein, the President, who has been perceived to be slow in effecting the “change” he promised during electioneering, has to move fast in appointing some key ministers in charge of finance, petroleum and the attorney general/minister of justice. There is certainly little he alone can do without his team in place.
