Terrorist Organization Boko Haram - Essay Example

Boko Haram is a terrorist organization (or rebels) which first emerged in Northern Nigeria and triggered the initiation of violent and rebellious coordinated operations across the area with the inclusion of the nation’s capital, Abuja (Egbeleke 2013). The group’s primary motives and interests behind the execution of aggressive activities have been characterized under several comprehensions including the identification of political, economic and most significantly religious objectives which ultimately seek to destabilize the nation. Despite of the scope of Boko Haram’s terrorist operations which have rose fundamentally since 2009 and taken the lives of more than 5,000 people (Abrak and Brock, 2014); the true extent of the group’s affiliations with external parties and comparable organizations is yet to be certified. However, as noted by Egbeleke (2013), the group’s audacious attack on a United Nation’s compound in August of 2011 which claimed the lives of twenty-three individuals has reportedly led to the development of theories which indicate that the organization is possibly being aided by unknown external campaigns with anti-establishment aspirations and jihadist movements with similar aims. In a recent terrorist operation which has been launched by Boko Haram on 14th April, 2014, the accepted the responsibility for kidnapping 300 Nigerian schoolgirls from a public school in the town of Chibok. The terrorist group’s actions in the given scenario are being highlighted as a consequence of the organization’s ideological foundation which essentially intends to purify Nigeria from ‘Westernization’ through the imposition of Sharia Law. Moreover, the examination of Boko Haram’s origination and the coining of the group’s name indicate the presence of a deep-seated hatred towards the acceptance of all such principles which are associated with the Western nations as the term reinforces the notion which declares the attainment of Western education as a wrongdoing or sinful activity (Egbeleke, 2013). Even though, Boko Haram’s operations in Nigeria have been a cause of grave and alarming concern for the nation’s government and agencies, the present conflict commands an international significance because the primary direct stakeholders in this case are the innocent schoolgirls who have been exposed to several negative factors as an outcome of this mass kidnapping. Moreover, with the kidnapping of the young girls Boko Haram has deliberately created a highly sensitive situation where the execution of conflict management strategies in a timely and effective manner has become the top most priority for local and international governments. Accordingly, the focus of implementing conflict management strategies has also been transformed as a consequence because the group’s demands in return of a safe arrival of the victims include the arrangement of a prisoner exchange by freeing militant jihadists that have been captured by the Nigerian government in prior campaigns. Given the situation of unrest and instability across the northern region of Nigeria, the foremost conflict resolution approach which will be evaluated in this discussion is that of conducting peace negotiations with the group by involving the presence of government representatives. In his analysis of the potential of peace talks with Boko Haram and the examination of the critical question as to whether the Nigerian government should engage in peace negotiations with the organization, Kantiok (2013) documents the standard stance of international governments such as the United States on the matter and identifies that the possibility of peace ventures with terrorist organizations has been rejected by establishments. Furthermore, given the opinion of several analysts on the subject of peace negotiation the notion has been classified as an unmentionable suggestion. At this point it is important to address the question of why the initiation of peace talks is categorized as an unexplored possibility as a strategy of conflict resolution and management. According to Kantiok (2013) the rejection of peace negotiations with terrorist groups such as Boko Haram is rooted in the aspect that any interaction between the organization and government agencies to reach a mutual understanding or consensus could aid the legitimization of such entities and come across as an act of acknowledgement or acceptance. Moreover, it must also be stated that the governments’ refusal to engage in negotiations with jihadist entities is also employed as a means to transfer a subliminal message that the nation refuses meet with a group or groups which aim to destabilize the country, therefore, this act sends a strong message of confrontation to the terrorists and potentially enhances the perceived scale of the strong actions which the government is willing to take against any entity which aims to harm the state. However, historical analysis of certain events which have occurred previously with regard to the activity of terrorists shed light on the notion that the initiation of such a step may be able to mend the situation and reduce if not completely eradicate the occurrence of violent activities. Most importantly, the adoption of peace negotiation as a strategy for resolving the matter stems from the assessment of whether current tactics to discover a solution for the issue have performed up to the expectations. These measures include mass killings of terrorists, destruction of terrorist bases and locations and a public declaration of counter-attack (Kantiok, 2013). Kantiok (2013) suggests that the major drawbacks of launching the aforementioned campaigns is that the vast scope of terrorist activities, the likely affiliation of jihadist organization and the establishment of Islamist networks posits that terrorist threat is not limited to a specific location. This notion reiterates the point raised by Egbeleke (2013) who identifies that because of the stature of its recent operations it is highly likely that Boko Haram has access to assistance from external sources and similar jihadist campaigns in and outside of Nigeria. Secondly, the psychological state of mind of fanatics and radicals suggests that they are already not threatened by death as they are willing to sacrifice their lives to achieve their cause hence, any direct death threats against terrorists would appear to be futile. Given the negative implications which are associated with launching an action of retaliation on the part of the establishment, Kantiok (2013) highlights the role of introducing a peace negotiator. As an individual the significance of a peace negotiator is that he is a pivotal member of the conflict management process who remains neutral and does not lean towards accepting the demands of one party or the other based on personal opinions and beliefs. Most importantly however, the status of a peace negotiator in the process is strictly only granted to the individual who is mutually trusted by both the parties which are engaged in the peace process. Hence, if a peace negotiator fails to adhere to the following characteristics then the failure of the campaign is inevitable and would further escalate the worsening of the matter. Another facet which must be considered before recommending the launch of peace negotiations instead of engaging in armed retaliation is rooted in considering the number and nature of victims or direct stakeholders. The innocent schoolgirls which are currently held captive by Boko Haram are being presently exposed to several risks which need to be addressed and eliminated on an immediate basis. These risks can be classified under the category of human rights violations and social transgressions which are being perpetrated by the organization, including forcing the young girls to a life of sex slavery and making them a part of a child marriage union. Ultimately, the occurrence of these events enhances the risk of exposing these young girls to HIV/AIDS because of being subjected to unsafe sexual relations. Thus, it can be suggested that because of the sensitive nature of the existing scenario and the number of young, innocent lives which are at stake the government cannot afford to resolve the conflict by taking radical measures through force or attack. As mentioned previously, the assessment of historical events in which conflict resolution approaches involving peace negotiations have been applied to address the issue indicates that this stance has been adopted previously for managing the resolution process with groups which possess a fundamentalist and radical religious ideology. For example, Kantiok (2013) compares the motivations and method of attack of Boko Haram to that of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines and claims that when posed with the possibility of achieving their national aims such organizations are likely to disassociate themselves from their funding members and affiliated groups such as the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The significance of this element is that in most circumstances smaller factions of larger or global jihadist organizations such as Al-Qaeda do not possess the ability, capability or monetary means to conduct attacks or extensive terrorist activities. Therefore, if the government is able to eliminate the ties between the smaller or local militant group and a larger, more influential jihadist organization such as Al-Qaeda then it is likely that the scope of large-scale activities would eventually be eliminated. A counter-argument with regard to the aforementioned point which can be raised is that Boko Haram’s demand of freeing the schoolgirls in exchange of militants is unreasonable and thus, should not be complied upon by the Nigerian government. However, Kantiok (2013) claims that one of the main components of negotiation as a conflict management approach is that a certain party’s demand is and should not be accepted to its fullest, in fact, a peace negotiator is expected to arrive at a point of agreement where the final demand appears to be reasonable and is finally accepted by the participants which are engaged in the process. Another proposed conflict resolution strategy which has been recommended by Egbeleke (2013) follows the establishment of two separate strategies which are distinguishable by time frame such that these approaches are both short term and long term respectively. Comparable to the understanding of Kantiok (2013), Egbeleke (2013) calls for engaging in dialogue with Boko Haram. The case for participating in dialogue with regard to the mass kidnapping of schoolgirls encompasses the acceptance of the notion that the victims of the terrorist activity must be rescued on an immediate basis and should be reunited with their families because their physical and psychological wellbeing is at severe risk because of the exposure to the situation. Accordingly, the creation of a comprehensive conflict resolution strategy for preventing future attacks and operations by Boko Haram accounts for the identification of inherent political, economic and social causes behind the establishment of the group. As noted by Egbeleke (2013) the extreme economic conditions of Nigeria and the rising levels of poverty have made several civilians helpless and the youths have been particularly affected by these conditions in a negative manner. Therefore, as a consequence of the declining conditions many youths which fight for Boko Haram are simply offered a sum of 5,000 naira or even less to participate in the group’s operations and unfortunately they declare consent to participate in this agreement (Egbeleke, 2013). In such circumstances the responsibility of the government and members of the community is further enhanced because the worsening situation is highly alarming for the stability of Nigeria. The crisis situation in the country and the repeatedly violent actions of Boko Haram have put the lives of 300 innocent schoolgirls at stake, therefore, the first priority in the existing situation is to reunite these victims with their families. It is recommended that when engaging in negotiations with the terrorist (or rebel) organization the government should grant the role of a peace negotiator to an individual who possesses the trust and confidence of both parties. Given the religious inclinations of Boko Haram this individual could be a respected religious scholar who maintains moderate ideas or has prior experience in acting as a mediator under critical circumstances. Eventually, the government should reach an agreement with the group which does not cross the boundaries of being too lenient or accepting towards the demands of the organization in exchange of the young girls. Furthermore, long term strategies of counselling Nigerian youths and involving communities to report radicalization and terrorist activities should be initiated to revive the situation in the troubled state. References Abrak, I. and Brock, J. 2014. Special Report: The rifts behind Nigeria’s mass kidnap. Reuters. [Online] Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/29/us-nigeria-kidnap-missteps-idUSKBN0E916320140529 [Accessed 31 May 2014] Egbeleke , A., 2013. Rethinking Boko-Haram: Contending Perspectives among Nigerians in Diaspora and Youths . M.A. . The Hague, The Netherlands: Institute of Social Studies. Kantiok, J., 2013. Boko Haram, the Government and Peace Negotiation. Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), [Online]. Available at: http://www.cddwestafrica.org/index.php/en/reports/doc_download/44-boko-haram-the-government-and-peace-negotiation [Accessed 31 May 2014]. Read More