Bridging the Norms of Counter-Terrorism and Responsibility to Protect: Countering the Proliferation and Activities of Armed Groups in Nigeria (original) (raw)
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The dominant narrative of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria emphasis that the campaigns of terror are products of human security/development crisis in the affected region. The insurgency and the efforts to end them are therefore framed as state-centric security concerns and responses: economic, political, diplomatic, legal and policing measures with most emphasise on the military. In this process, the threats that the insurgency constituted to human security and the counterinsurgency (COIN) from below are overlooked, underestimated and misplaced. Civilian's vigilance and resistance against Boko Haram in Nigeria was significant between 2003 and 2009 and subsequently in COIN, most especially since the advent of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in 2013. This study examines the common ground for state and human securities, and how civilian vigilance and resistance constitute COIN from below against Boko Haram.
The Proliferation of Non-State Armed Groups and Human Security in Nigeria: A Nation at a Crossroads
International Social Science and Humanities Studies, 2025
The oldest and simplest justification for government is the security and welfare of citizens. To achieve this purpose, the government employs, trains, funds, and equips the army and a police force. Nigeria has in recent years been plagued by violence perpetrated by a multiplicity of non-state armed groups among them insurgents, bandits, separatists, and criminal gangs. Critical public infrastructure has been destroyed, among them power stations, oil installations, and security facilities. People live in constant fear of being kidnapped and killed. Individuals have been abducted from homes, marketplaces, driveways, and public highways across the country, forcing many to flee their homes and abandon businesses. Farmers pay taxes to bandits before accessing their farms. Attacks on schools have left about one million children with little or no access to education. About two million people have been displaced and cannot fend for themselves. The impact on the economy is enormous, threatening food security and means of livelihood. These crimes are driven by a profusion of socio-economic factors such as high unemployment, poverty, failure of governance, and availability of small arms. This paper examines the protracted cycle of violence and its impact on human security in Nigeria. It finds that successive governments have failed in their primary purpose of providing security and ensuring the welfare of the people. It recommends that the government should evolve policies to address Nigeria’s harsh socio-economic conditions, create jobs, and reduce poverty. The government should eliminate illegal arms in circulation and tackle corruption in the security services.
ESCAE JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY STUDIES (EJMSS), 2021
One of the mandates of the United Nations (UN) is to ensure global peace. But, in some parts of the world, especially developing and less developed countries, there are incessant crimes against humanity resulting in deaths and displacement of innocent people from their homes. Terrorism, oppressive rule and marginalization among others are evident. Nigeria is the world's most populous black nation with huge natural resources, yet the country is entangled with incessant insurgency, marginalization, destruction of property, killings, oppressions, harassments, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, gangsterism, ethnic cleansing and other inhuman situations. This study is an analysis of why the Security Council of the UN is yet unable to adopt a decisive interventionist policy and approach to check inhuman atrocities and abuse of fundamental Human Rights in Nigeria. Non-intervention of the UN in the state of insecurity in Nigeria seemingly gives the grounds to assume that it has neglected its responsibility to protect. The study adopted historical research method and used the realist and social conflict theories to explain why the UN needs to intervene in the state of insecurity in Nigeria. It was discovered that Nigeria's state of insecurity persisted because of lack of intervention. Similarly, the internal dynamics of the United Nations tend to hinder humanitarian intervention in Nigeria. The study strongly recommends the restructuring of the Security Council, and the restructuring of the defense architecture in Nigeria among others.
BETWEEN COUNTERTERRORISM, HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATIONAL SECURITY: THE NIGERIA’S GOVERNMENT DILEMMA
From a vantage perspective and analysis, the act of terrorism has been in concomitance with the history and evolutionary trend of the Nigerian state. What is however novel is the threat which the 21st century terror groups pose on Nigerian national security. From the realist parlance, the state can adopt any measure to counter threats and perceived threats as long as “the end justifies the means”. Seemingly, the exploits of the Nigerian Armed Forces at countering terrorism have been bashed with rhetoric accusations of human rights violations by several actors. The perturbing question, however, is “what really is human rights without the state?”. This paper attempts to analyze and address the dilemma the Nigeria’s government faces in its quest to combating terrorism, securing its enclave and satiating fundamental human rights. The paper argues that it would be preposterous to rule out collateral damages in a war which one of the belligerents is faceless. Secondary data is utilized in this work.
AKSU Journal Administration and Corporate Governance (AKSULACOG), 2022
This study examined the doctrine of The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) adopted in 2001 at the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) which urges every state to protect the lives and properties of their people, and where a state is clearly either unwilling or unable to fulfil its responsibility to protect or is itself the actual perpetrator of crimes or atrocities, the wider international community, through the United Nations, should activate the residual responsibility and intervene in such a country to avoid a reoccurrence of the genocide situation in Rwanda and the devastation in Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Bosnia. Through a historical/descriptive approach, the study revealed that the indigenous peoples of Nigeria have been facing threats of genocide, yet the United Nations have not invoked the R2P doctrine to stop it. Using national interest as a framework, the study reveals that the superpowers have bastardized the applicability of the concept of The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to only situations that suit their interests. The only time R2P succeeded in Libya was because Russia abstained from voting in the case. It was recommended that Civil Society should prevail on the Nigerian government to fulfil its obligation in R2P, also, the UN should invoke the R2P doctrine and intervene in Nigeria, local peace commissions should be established to mediate inter-communal tensions and build early warning systems in high-risk regions and that Nigerian citizens should also organize indigenous security outfits like the Amotekun and Ekpe Agwo to resist the systematic extermination of their nationalities in the country by terrorists.
Journal of African Law, 2015
This article seeks to examine the paradox of Boko Haram terrorism and Nigeria's counter-terrorism efforts, personified by the Joint Task Force (JTF). While posing the challenge of human rights abuses by the JTF in its counter-Boko Haram operations, the article contends that, whereas the terrorists' activities violate the rights of victims, the JTF's actions have also resulted in significant human rights abuses against innocent civilians. It argues that, despite Nigeria's obligations under the plenitude of international human rights treaties, non-domestication of these treaties by Nigeria has rendered them insignificant. The article therefore recommends alternative approaches to this challenge. Nigeria should domesticate the catalogue of international human rights instruments to which it has acceded, enact rules of engagement for law enforcement operations by security forces, develop a counter-terrorism strategy that is subject to robust engagement with all stakeholde...
Missing Links In Nigeria's Counter Insurgency Strategies
Fixating on the security-centric approach Discounting community led interventions that address underlying drivers of the insurgency phenomenon Welfare of troops and military personnel Government investment rhetoric on prevention efforts vs available resources. The ever evolving challenges of non-state actors like Boko haram insurgents that have pledged allegiance to ISIS, caused over 20, 000 deaths, 2.15 million displacements, hundreds of kidnappings, loss of homes, investments, businesses, aspirations etc., suggests that there are missing links in Nigeria's counter insurgency strategies and approaches. It also means that the Nigerian government will need to pay more attention and invest wisely in evidence based policies that cater for these missing links in both the security-centric and community-centric approaches and in activities that can prevent any return of safe havens for insurgencies in north east Nigeria. Although several criticisms of the security-centric approach of the fight against insurgency in Nigeria have consistently emerged, the criticisms are largely because a securitized counter insurgency response alone causes retaliation or blow backs that occur when damaging army strikes produce resentment and create endless warfare against insurgents; cannot prevent a reset of a safe haven for insurgents group in Nigeria; leads to escalations caused by killing insurgents without settling the underlying conflicts that produce them; cannot alone break ties with long standing insurgency groups viewed as beneficial to meeting diverse hierarchy of humans needs and certainly misses opportunities that could prevent or mitigate new violent avengers, new sympathizers of insurgents and new entrants into insurgencies. Citizens in north eastern Nigeria affected by the insurgents argue that these damaging military strikes generate more support for insurgents and thus an endless warfare. Slow to manifest and tough to measure, but victims and some captured insurgents cite anger about military strikes as motivation for retaliation and blow backs. A victim in one of the camps (Borno) reiterates: 'I will make sure others feel the pain I felt'. Against the preceding odds, the security centric approach is still essential to stall the activities of extant extremists in the Lake Chad region particularly to prevent forceful recruitment and diabolic initiations that make innocent individuals lose their sense of humanity to strange influence. However, the success scope of the security-centric approach is still limited without devoting huge attention to the community centric approach as well as fixing the missing links in both approaches. On one hand, there is the missing continuous re-evaluation; re-assessment and re-strategizing of defense and military capacity, methods and systems that Nigerian security agencies depend on to protect Nigerian citizens. On the other hand, the successes of the security centric approach will remain limited without improving the palpable poor welfare of the larger percentage of Nigerian security service men and women. Rather than episodic response to their welfare challenges, which may suggest poor government commitment to citizens that put their lives on the line to protect the nation, a well-researched policy-relevant decision is essential. The outcomes of such well-researched policy should focus on easing the stresses of military life, motivating service members, improving salaries, amenities, ensuring regular upgrade and sustaining the wellbeing of service members and their families', improving deterrence and combat capabilities of service members, and improving their ability to leverage on knowledge and skills in civilian jobs which helps some of them transition out of the regular military service. Without this link, it may be impossible to stall and deal with the activities of an evolving extremist group.
Insurgency and National Security Challenges in Nigeria: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
2014
The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia designed a state system on the twin-principle of territoriality and sovereignty. Sovereignty accords the state unquestionable but legitimate control over the nation and polity, and gives it the latitude to preserve and protect its territorial domain from both internal and external threats. However, aside the fact that globalisation and the internationalisation of the globe have reduced the primacy of these dual principles, there have also been the problem of ideological and terrorist networks that have taken advantage of the instruments of globalization to emerge and threaten state sovereignty and its preservation. The security and sovereignty of the Nigerian State have been under threat as a result of the emergence and activities of insurgent groups, such as Boko Haram in the Northeast and other militant groups in other parts of the country. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, this paper examines the security challenges Nigeria faces from insurgen...