Boko Haram: Still On Recruitment And Radicalism

In the Jihad training camps in Gao in Northern
Mali, Boko Haram recruits make up the bulk of
the trainees. There are also reports that Boko
Haram may be morphing into a regional entity,
when one considers that its members are spread
across Cameroun, Chad, Niger, and Mali. Boko
Haram leaders now boast that they are recruiting
from all of the above mentioned countries.
The current upsurge of Boko Haram activities is
related to the spread of radical Islamist
ideologies in the form of Tablighi clerics from
Pakistan and Wahhabist missionaries from Saudi
Arabia. Wahhabism, in particular, lends itself to
the ideology of Al-Qa'ida and affiliated militant
Islamist groups. These doctrines espouse the
notion that Nigeria state is taagut, or evil,
unworthy of allegiance on the part of a true
Muslim and offers Boko Haram members a
rationale for targeting policemen, politicians and
government officials.
Boko Haram's target selection has also been
influenced by its interaction with militants
abroad. The Cameroonian Mamman Nur, who is
wanted by Interpol and Federal Bureau of
Investigation for masterminding the August 26,
2011, bombing of the United Nations
Headquarters, reportedly fled to Chad and
travelled to Somalia to receive explosive training
from al- Shabab before returning to Nigeria in
the weeks before the attacks. Also, in Shekau's
Novermber 29, 2012 video, interaction with
Islamist militants has likely caused a shift in
Shekau's messaging, since it now resembles al-
Qa'ida.
Counter terrorism efforts suffer as a result of
credibility gap attributable to differences between
government promises and government
performance, between rhetoric and reality. While
promising to curb terrorism, government action
does not reflect that urgency. At a time when
even al-Qa-'ida is questioning its own brand,
militant groups need not have formal affiliations
with it to have an international agenda. Boko
Haram's connections to militants in the Northern
Mali, the Sahel and elsewhere in the Muslim
world enable it to receive and provide support to
other Islamist militants. As a result, Boko Haram
will be capable of surviving outside of its main
base of operations in Borno State if the Nigerian
security forces drive out key leaders. Also, Boko
Haram has been able to draw on al-Qa'ida
ideology and take advantage of anti-government
and anti-western sentiment in northern Nigeria
to justify its existence and ability to recruit
members. Considerations also must be given to
politicians that recruit, fund, train, encourage and
harness violence in order to destabilize the
Nigeria Federal government.
This area becomes moot especially when all of
the other overriding factors takes' precedent to
encourage recruitment.
Alex Schmid established twelve rules for
preventing and Countering Terrorism. I will take
a look at only at a few of those rules with an
assessment as to how it can help when applied
to recruitment for Boko Haram and the Nigerian
context. His position that in order to "prevent
radical individuals and groups from becoming
terrorist extremists by confronting them with a
mixture of "carrot and stick" tactics and search
for effective counter-motivation measures"; is
what Nigeria government tried to do with the
proposed amnesty. However, the premise for that
approach was ill-conceived and, as a result,
failed. He also stated: "Stimulate and encourage
defection and conversion of free and imprisoned
terrorists and find ways to reduce support of
aggrieved constituencies for terrorist
originations."
The idea is totally lost on Nigeria as it is most
likely to release captured terrorists untimely on
the premise of goodwill.
Keep in mind that terrorists seek publicity and
exploit the media and the internet to propagate
their cause, glorify their attacks, win recruits,
solicit donations, gather intelligence, disseminate
terrorist know how and communicate with their
target audience. The Federal government should
devise communication means and ways to
counter them in all of these areas. Not only that,
the Nigerian government has not done enough to
show support and sympathy to victims of
terrorism. As a result, it has bred resentment
towards the government while helping with
recruitment. The Federal Government also will
need to maintain a moral high ground in the
struggle with terrorists by defending and
strengthening the rule of law, good governance,
democracy and social justice. That way, it will
avoid apathy and sympathy that may be
generated as a result of the government's wrong
action. Finally, Nigeria needs to counter the
ideologies, indoctrination and propaganda of
secular and non-secular terrorists and try to get
the upper hand in the way of ideas and the
battle for the hearts and minds of those the
terrorist claim to speak for.