The president raises the temperature in the fight against jihadists in the north
By O.A.
WHAT is the best response when facing a regional insurgency and your troops are fanning the flames with violent raids? President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria seems to think it is to send in even more troops. On May 14th, he declared a state of emergency in three northern states that suffer frequent terror attacks.
Unlike the “surge” of American troops in Iraq in 2006, which increased numbers but also refined tactics, Nigeria is going after Boko Haram, a brutal jihadi group, with a sledgehammer. “We will hunt them down, we will fish them out,” the president declared on national television. In a single raid on the town of Baga last month, troops destroyed almost 3,000 homes; estimates of civilian casualties range from 30 to 200. Nigeria is likely to see more such incidents, potentially turning an anxious public into terrorist sympathisers.
Something did need to be done. Boko Haram, which has killed more than a thousand people in recent years, has become better armed over the past 12 months, perhaps by importing weapons from Mali that originated in Libya. The president admitted that his forces have lost control of parts of the country’s north-east. A recent anti-terror campaign has been ineffective. “What we are facing is not just militancy or criminality, but a rebellion and insurgency by terrorist groups which pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity,” the president said.
The state of emergency gives troops additional authority to detain and question suspects, and lock down whole areas to conduct searches. The military has been given a free rein in the states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe, where wanton brutality and arbitrary arrests have already generated much frustration with the army.
