Sustaining military operations beyond Baga

The ongoing National Civil Military Dialogue has come at the right time, especially in assessing current national security challenges. This is with a view to providing appropriate solutions to them. While politicians and section of the media continue to focus on casualty figures rather than humanitarian needs of victims of disasters, we need to examine the situation. Ir is debatable whether we should be talking of figures or the protection of lives and properties of the people.

The people of Baga, a border town in the restive Borno State, unfortunately paid for the sins of Boko Haram militants, when their town was razed after an alleged reprisal attack by soldiers of the Joint Task Force. The reprisal attack was allegedly in response to the killing of some soldiers by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2013.

Different figures were presented as the casualty count from the clash between the military and Boko Haram insurgents. While some reports claimed that over 100 people were killed and over 2000 houses destroyed in the fracas, the military and the National Emergency Management Agency claimed the figures were exaggerated.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, had while submitting a report to President Jonathan after an assessment of the area the following week after the incident described the figures as ‘misleading’. He was emphatic in accusing the political elite of generating the misleading report purposely to discredit the military. He also said it was with the aim of getting the President to withdraw soldiers from the streets of Northern states under the Boko Haram siege.

Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpayi of the Multinational Joint Task Force said 37 people died, mostly Boko Haram members.

In view of the discrepancies over the figure, the Senate set up a committee to investigate the alleged massacre. By the time the committee published its report, after two months rather than the two weeks given to it, it reported that only 115 houses were destroyed. Senator Thompson Sekibo, a member of the committee, said the death toll was exaggerated.

But there may have been more than 37 deaths, as there was no documentary evidence from either the people of the town or the military to ascertain the figures. The report said the committee members saw “only nine graves” and counted 115 burnt houses.

The recent report of National Human Rights Commission is more concerned with whether the nature of force used was proportionate or disproportionate, taking into account the circumstances of the case rather than the casualty figures. Though the commission admitted that it did not visit Baga but relied on other accounts, it stated that it was yet to publish its impression of the numbers killed in the attack and those responsible for the deaths. It said the incident illustrated “serious concerns” about the “proportionality of the use of force as well as humanitarian and human rights compliance in internal security operations.”

The Senate and the NHRC called on the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army to recruit more soldiers because the military was overstretched. They have also called on the Federal Government to take full responsibility for JTF funding, including compensation of military personnel. The NHRC pointed out that the Special Operations Forces working within the emergency deployment appear to have enhanced the professionalism of JTF personnel in many sectors and advised that there should be a rotation of troops in order to allow for rest and recuperation.

The military should be commended for its efforts in stamping out Boko Haram, and ending its disruption of economic activities and killings of Nigerians. Since the declaration of the state of emergency, with the involvement of community leaders and youth volunteers, the military has recorded successes which are evident in the reduction in the spate of attacks in the affected states. Members of the sect, including their leader, Abubakar Shekau, have also fled to neighbouring countries.

The JTF and MJTF should be given necessary assistance in the war against terror, in the way of the Volunteer Vigilance Youths Group. They are the youths in troubled areas who have resolved to rid their homeland of Boko Haram. They have been instrumental in the arrests of several Boko Haram members, pursuing them to their hiding holes and training grounds. The VVYG leader, Abubakar Mallun, recently disclosed that their goal was to destroy anything that stands between their community and normalcy. They carry out their work with sticks and cutlasses and once arrests are made, they hand suspects over to the JTF.

It is gratifying to note that special forces and the volunteers have intensified their cordon-off and search operations, leading to the arrest of more than 20 top leaders of Boko Haram. The rise of volunteers, who branded themselves as ‘Civilian JTF’, is a cheering development as they assist troops to locate suspected Boko Haram members. Military authorities should put in place mechanism to regulate the activities of the ‘Civilian JTF’ members.

Security forces should reciprocate the gallantry of these youths by providing them with logistics to facilitate their work. The Federal Government and state governments can also agree on incorporating the volunteer groups into the security architecture in those areas. They can be employed and given training in counter-terrorism so that by the time soldiers are withdrawn, they can help prevent terrorists from returning to their areas. This will also reduce unemployment and prevent the rise of another militant group.