Out of the Shadows: The Women Countering Insurgency in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Agbiboa
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Community Attachment ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Suicide Bombers ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Joint Task Force ◽  
Knowledge Brokers ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Moving beyond the focus on violence against women and violence committed by women, this article interrogates violence countered by women. The article sheds new light on the gendered practices of counterinsurgency in northeast Nigeria, with critical attention to why women joined the civilian resistance to the Boko Haram insurgency and their complex role and agency as local security providers. Using the voices and lifeworlds of women who joined the Civilian Joint Task Force (yan gora) in Borno State as well as the Vigilante Group Nigeria and Hunters Association (kungiya marhaba) in Adamawa State, the article underscores the layered and gender-bending role of women as frontline fighters, knowledge brokers, state informants, and producers of vigilante technologies. The article finds that women counterinsurgents mobilized after Boko Haram shifted its strategy toward using female insurgents, especially as suicide bombers. Women joined the war against Boko Haram for complex reasons, including personal loss, revenge, family ties, community attachment, patriotism, and a collective yearning for normalcy.

Impediments to Nigerian Democracy

2016 ◽  
pp. 240-251
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Sani Kankara
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Small Arms ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Joint Task Force ◽  
Post War

The paper focuses on security efforts of local vigilante groups against Boko Haram (BH) insurgency in Northern Nigeria. The fight against BH insurgency is a major source of concern throughout the Nigerian Federation. The use of charms and locally fabricated small arms by the Vigilante and Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) is a factor in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents. Through data obtained from interviews, newspapers and secondary texts, the article analyses the emergence and role of the vigilante in the fight against insurgency. The groups serve as an alternative security in the areas affected by the insurgency. The different groups use variety of locally made charms in their confrontation with Boko Haram group. Furthermore, this paper attempts to evaluate role of CJTF/Vigilante in the fight against insurgency, the nature of traditional mechanisms use by the local groups in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. In this context, the innovation and cultural practice by the vigilante groups greatly helped in the fight against insurgency. It is concluded that there is likelihood the vigilante to pose danger to the security in the post war against insurgency period.

The Precariousness of Protection: Civilian Defense Groups Countering Boko Haram in Northeastern Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Agbiboa
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
State Violence ◽  
The State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Joint Task Force ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Civilian Defense

Abstract For all the academic and policy interest in Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgency, the coping strategies of civilians who survive amid everyday violence have received relatively little attention. Focusing on the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), a pro-government militia fighting Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, Agbiboa explores how and why the group emerged, the nature of its relationship with the state and local communities, and how counterinsurgent vigilantism affects the prospects for peace. A focus on vigilantes and civil militias vis-à-vis the state points to the vital role of civil-military cooperation for effective counterinsurgency campaigns and for reducing state violence against civilians. At the same time, it underscores the precariousness of protection both in terms of increasing the targeting of civilians by vengeful insurgents as well as the tendency for civilian defense groups to “turn bad” and become threats to the communities they were expected to protect.

Arrival of the Caliphate’s Soldiers in West Africa

2018 ◽  
pp. 411-414
Author(s):  
Wilāyat Gharb Ifriqiyā
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Joint Task Force

(2 JUNE 2015) [Trans.: Abdulbasit Kassim] Available at: http://jihadology.net/2015/06/02/new-video-message-from-the-islamic-state-arrivals-of-the-soldiers-of-the-caliphate-in-west-africa-wilayat-gharb-ifriqiyyah/ A mark of the post-allegiance to ISIS period for Boko Haram is the lowered profile of Shekau, who ceases to be the major focus of its public image. In this video, the two speakers alluded to the escalation of the conflict between Boko Haram and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) comprising soldiers from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Benin. While mentioning the tensions and the context of distrust between Nigeria and her neighbors, the first speaker referred to the comment of the Chadian president, when he said that the fight against Boko Haram is being hampered by poor co-ordination between Chad and Nigeria. He also gave further information of the activities within the caliphate as well as detailed information concerning the soldiers killed in various clashes. This video should be understood within the context of Boko Haram’s display of resilience against the operations of the MNJTF...

STRATEGY OF CIVILIAN JOINT TASK FORCE MILITIA IN COMBATING BOKO HARAM IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 345-360
Author(s):  
Modu Lawan Gana
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Intelligence Gathering ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Joint Task Force ◽  
The Government ◽  
Inclusive Governance

Since 2013, the northern region of Nigeria has witnessed the unprecedented mobilization of militia group Civilian Joint Task Force to aid combating the Islamic fundamentalist Boko Haram. The participation of the militia was reportedly successful in routing the insurgent. Before the CJTF, Boko Haram defied most of the counterinsurgency measures of the government including the military and the political approaches. However, despite the successes of the CJTF, the strategy that influences the successes was not adequately known. This article, therefore, investigated the strategy of the CJTF that influences its successes. The study was conducted using a qualitative method designed in a case study. Data were collected from thirteen informants through in-depth interviews supported by non-participant observation. The finding shows that CJTF is a kind of informal self-defense group that emerged in response to the inadequate protections by the State. The combating successes of the group were influenced by the information-centric approach of its campaign. Careful intelligence gathering and procession along with the sociocultural linkage of the participants and in-depth knowledge over the physical terrain emerged influential to the groups’ combating. The article recommended that the Nigerian government should re-strategize its existing conventional counterinsurgency approach to adapt to the population-centric paradigm. The government should also adopt palliative measures of promoting sustainable counter-insurgency that should focus on inclusive governance, accountability, and addressing socio-economic issues of poverty and unemployment with all levels of seriousness rather than sticking to the security-only campaign.

scholarly journals National Interests and Regional Security in the Lake Chad: Assessing the Multinational Joint Task Force

2020 ◽  
pp. 40-49
Author(s):  
Ifeanyichukwu Micheal Abada ◽  
Charles Akale ◽  
Kingsley Chigozie Udegbunam ◽  
Olihe A. Ononogbu
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
Joint Task Force

This article assessed security architecture for counter-insurgency against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB). The paper diagnosed the impact of conflicting national interests of contributing nations on the performance of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) as a regional security architecture in the LCB. Some scholars and analysts cite corruption, historical contradictions among LCB members, poor funding, and complex nature of the insurgency, as factors responsible for failure of counter-insurgency operations in the LCB. Others contend that resource geopolitics, linguistic differences, and hegemonic politics have impacted negatively on the capacity of the MNJTF to decimate terrorists in the region. This is a qualitative study that draws from the Fund for Peace, International Crisis Group (ICG), Lake Chad Basin Commission, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), and research literature dealing with national interest and military alliances, while using content analysis to argue that conflicts in national interests, more than any other factor, have hampered the collaborative efforts of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and weakened the capacity of the MNJTF to engage in robust counterinsurgency against Boko Haram in the LCB.

Non-State Security Groups and Their Role in Countering Boko Haram Terrorism in North East Region of Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-96
Author(s):  
Jude A. Momodu
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
State Security ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
East Region ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Good Account ◽  
Joint Task Force

Abstract Non state security groups (NSSGs) have become prominent in contemporary theatres of armed conflicts around the world whether for good or bad. In the North East Region of Nigeria for instance, NSSGs such as vigilantes, hunters and civilian joint task force have given a very good account of themselves in countering the violent activities of Boko Haram terrorists. This article makes a major contribution to the contemporary research works on the role of NSSGs in countering the Boko Haram terrorism as it examines their role, successes and the threats they pose to the ongoing efforts at countering the Boko Haram terrorism and the efforts towards rebuilding the region. The study, also advocates for the incorporation of members of NSSGs that have undergone character vetting into a community or state policing structure with a view to complementing the official government security architecture towards improving peace and security in the North East region.

Creating the Deserved Protection: Reflections on Civilian Joint Task Force Counter-insurgency Operations in the North-Eastern Region of Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
'Seun Bamidele
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
The North ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Joint Task Force

This article considers the role of the Civilian Joint Task Force (popularly called CJTF), a group of armed local population participating in the joint battle against Boko Haram, has become a platform for recruitment into the Nigerian security institutions in north-eastern Nigeria. CJTF members have played many roles, from mostly discrete surveillance networks in the north-eastern region of Nigeria to military combat auxiliaries or semi-autonomous fighting forces in the country. For the region’s overstretched and under pressure militaries, they have somewhat filled the security gap and provided local knowledge. CJTF can be a powerful counter-insurgency tool, but there is a compelling need to confront the immediate concerns it raises, notably in terms of impunity, and to begin planning for its long-term post-conflict transformation. The article adopts Galula’s theory of counter-insurgency. It reveals several lessons in how a community-based security structure can be applied to a conventional security engagement.

Origines de la gouvernance hybride et de la mobilisa on des communautés armées en Afrique subsaharienne

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Agbiboa
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Afrique Subsaharienne ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Joint Task Force

Ce rapport RESOLVE, l’un de trois, cherche à comprendre l’origine, la dynamique et les moteurs des groupes armés communautaires ou GAC (community-based armed groups ou CBAGs) en Afrique. En tant qu’étude exploratoire, ce rapport implique la collecte, l’organisation et la synthèse des informations disponibles sur les acteurs de la sécurité non étatiques et leurs relations avec les communautés locales et les agences officielles de l’État, comme les systèmes d’application de la loi et de justice. Le rapport s’appuie sur des ouvrages académiques qui explorent les relations entre l’État et la société civile, en cherchant à remettre en question les rendus simplistes de ceux-ci en tant qu’entités distinctes avec des frontières clairement définies. Le rapport est également alimenté par des entretiens avec des membres de la Force d’intervention civile conjointe ou FICC (Civilian Joint Task Force ou CJTF), une milice pro- gouvernementale qui aide à repousser la violente insurrection de Boko Haram dans le nord-est du Nigeria.

Understanding the Root Causes of Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Chinyere N. Alimba ◽  
Nemanda Salihu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Democratic Development ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Joint Task Force ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Boko Haram insurgency is the most devastating experience encountered during Nigeria’s fourth republic. It is therefore imperative to investigate the root causes of Boko Haram insurgency in the country. To achieve the objective of the study, a total of ninety members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) operating in Maiduguri in Borno State were sampled through the use of a self-structured questionnaire, and key informants were interviewed in thirty-four cases to concretize data generated through the questionnaire. The study discovered that cultural practices (x̄=3.311), high rates of illiteracy (x̄=3.167), political interests of the elites (x̄=3.156), foreign influence (x̄=3.144), and bad governance (x̄=3.078) were the root causes of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. Thus, it is recommended that cultural practices capable of provoking violence should be reviewed and reshaped; leaders should be held accountable for their actions; quality and access to education should be provided; citizenship consciousness on leadership issues should be activated, and Nigeria’s foreign policy principles concerning her neighbors should be redefined to determine how the country will be looked upon in this critical stage of its democratic development.

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