Terrorism in Nigeria
Following the 11th September, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, Congress swiftly passed what is now famously known as the USA PATRIOT Act (actually the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act). This somewhat broad legislation was significant in empowering law enforcement to gather and share intelligence, conduct enhanced surveillance of and detain terrorist actors, as well as go after terrorist financing. The PATRIOT Act also expanded some provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and though some draconian provisions may have been ruled as unconstitutional by the courts, law enforcement exploited the Act to combat terrorist threats against America.
Nigeria’s war on terror did not record similar success even though the National Assembly passed the Terrorism (Prevention) Act in 2011 as an emergency statutory response to the threat posed to national interest, security and unity by Boko Haram terrorists. This legislation was amended in 2013 and in 2021, the nation’s National Assembly deliberated on further amendments which would criminalise payment of ransom to kidnappers with up to fifteen (15) years imprisonment. This frivolous further amendment coupled with the fact that the terror group was not designated as such under the Act until sometime around June, 2013 as well as the dearth of criminal prosecution of terrorists including their financiers may lead to the presumption that the Nigerian government may be less determined than her global counterparts to combat and win the war on terror.
How then do we describe terrorism in Nigeria? The Court of Appeal per Nimpar, JCA in the case of Ibrahim Usman Ali v. FRN (2016) Legalpedia (CA) 31217 (a case that emanated from the High Court of Lagos State) described terrorism as follows: “Terrorism is a serious offence and its effect is beyond the offence of just killing one human being. The effects of terrorism include injuries, deaths and psychological trauma of the immediate victims. It has short and long term effects on the society and nation. It also impacts on the economy of the entire nation…. In fact, terrorism has no defined enemy except the general destruction of human lives and livelihood. It is not a conventional fight or agitation. It is a fact that thousands of lives have been wasted in a region of this country, innocent citizens displaced from their ancestral homes as a result of various acts of the proscribed Boko Haram group….â€
Section 1(2) of the Act (as amended in 2013) significantly expanded what amounts to terrorism and makes the crime punishable upon conviction by death while Section 1(3) of the Act describes acts of terrorism to include kidnapping and a serious intimidation of the population. Between 2009 when Boko Haram started committing large-scale acts of terrorism and 2021 when the group had metamorphosed and developed a hydra romantically referred to as bandits and herdsmen, terrorists’ activities have continued to escalate dramatically culminating in the largest humanitarian crises in Nigeria till date. In fact, acts of terror in Nigeria are estimated to have directly caused about 30,000 deaths and displaced more than two million people with several hundred people (especially school children) abducted. It is regrettable to note that these acts of terrorism in Nigeria have not abated in recent time and perhaps, may have risen to the worst levels as reports suggest that more than two thousand Nigerians were killed in the first quarter of 2021 alone.
While Section 1A(2) of the Act (as amended) primarily vests prosecution of terrorism cases on the Attorney-General of the Federation, a question which this article would not attempt to answer for a fact shall be why the nation lacks a robust jurisprudence especially in light of the tremendous powers deposited by the statute vis-à -vis the plethora of terrorist incidents across the nation. One may however safely presume that there is a lack of political will to win the nation’s war on terror!
For example, sometime around April, 2021, a very senior minister in the Buhari-led administration was alleged to be a terrorist sympathizer (in the very least) for statements which he made or published up to sometime in 2010 expressing support for Boko Haram, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. It remains strangely inexplicable that at the peak of nefarious hostilities by terrorists in Nigeria, the federal government opted to defend her minister and in fact, keep him on the executive council with access to highly sensitive and classified national security matters. In a related but different scenario (sometime in May, 2021), an aid of a member of a State’s House of Assembly posted endearing comments on his Facebook page wherein he expressed admiration for the terrorist, Shekau. His principal promptly dismissed him and dissociated himself from his ideology without more. Other instances include the case of a community leader that was alleged to aid the activities of “bandits†in his community who was merely dismissed or the case of a cleric that seemed to have real-time information about terrorists in Nigeria.
In all of the foregoing instances, none of the actors were diligently investigated or prosecuted notwithstanding applicable provisions of the Act. See, Sections 5, 8 and 11 of the Act (as amended) amongst others. It is therefore safe to conclude that though a veritable tool to fight the war on terror in Nigeria, the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended) remains impotent in the absence of a will to put it to good use.
Follow the author, AA Ibironke, Esq. on Twitter @SirMcAwesome247
