Why The Military Cannot Defeat Boko Haram- By Bayo Olupohunda

To begin this piece, one fact has become undeniable. Our country is at war. According to the latest Human Rights Watch report, Boko Haram has killed 2, 053 Nigerians in the North-East in six months! The Nigerian military is at the forefront of the war on terror but it is doubtful if it can win this war. Now a caveat: I am aware that terrorism is a new phenomenon in our country. Terrorism causes national trauma, stalls development and drains a nation’s resources. But as we have seen, serious nations can effectively weaken terrorist organisations, break their cells, drive them underground and render them ineffective. But our military has proved to lack either the will or the capacity to confront and bring this war to an end. Why is this so?

In the wake of September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, the US government resolved to confront al Qaeda which had struck a severe blow on America’s much cherished prestige. For years, they haunted Osama bin Laden and its terror network. At the forefront of the war on terror were the formidable American military and the Department of Homeland Security. Americans saw a threat to their country and responded decisively. Bin Laden is now history. America has become safer. Unlike Nigeria, the US takes human rights violations by its military seriously. American soldiers who commit abuses in Afghanistan are punished.

In Nigeria, both our government and the military forces have proved incapable of defeating a small army of insurgents whose activities are limited to the North-East zone. This is in spite of billions of naira in defence spending since 2010. In recent years, Boko Haram has become more daring in its attacks. Apart from conducting suicide bombings, it has continued to carry out coordinated raids on villages and military formations. In these attacks, hundreds of people including soldiers are being killed. The army has often told Nigerians it is winning the war. But Nigerians have dismissed the claims as propaganda because the attacks have become more frequent and deadlier. Why has the war on terror become so intractable? Why have the military forces become so impotent? ….

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