Unmasking the Flaws in Nigeria’s Anti-Terror Fight
By Kabir Abdulsalam,
Fifteen years. That is how long Nigeria has been neck-deep in a war with no end in sight. Since Boko Haram first bared its fangs, we have spent trillions, buried thousands, and watched entire communities disappear from the map.
Yet, not only do the old threats persist, new ones like the Mahmuda sect are emerging, daring, and spreading like wildfire. At what point do we admit that something is deeply broken?
Nigeria has treated terrorism like a beast that can be shot into silence. But after over a decade of blood and bullets, the results are clear — this war cannot be won by firepower alone.
Troops are deployed to forests, “clearance operations” are announced with fanfare, and ‘repentant’ terrorists are hurried through hollow rehabilitation programmes.
Then the cycle begins again. Attack. Retaliation. Mourning. Repeat. The tragedy is not that we are fighting. It is that we are fighting the same war the same way, expecting different results.
Terrorism in Nigeria is no longer a local nightmare. It is regional — stretching into Mali, Niger, Chad, and beyond. Yet Nigeria’s counter-terrorism playbook remains stuck in the past.
Militants today use drones, encrypted messaging apps, and exploit worsening poverty to recruit young men with nothing to lose. In contrast, our response is still largely boots and bullets.
Where is the imagination? Where is the strategy? Our soldiers are brave, no doubt. But bravery alone cannot defeat a hydra that keeps growing new heads.
Without robust intelligence, cross-border cooperation, and deliberate efforts to cut off terrorist financing, Nigeria is fighting blindfolded.
Intelligence reform is long overdue. Our security agencies hoard information like gold, refusing to collaborate even when lives are at stake. Internal rivalry, poor coordination, and lack of trust have turned our intelligence community into a house divided.
In a nation this vast, such fragmentation guarantees failure. The solution? Embrace 21st-century tools. Drones. Satellite surveillance. Artificial intelligence for tracking movement and patterns.
Real-time intelligence-sharing between police, military, DSS, and regional partners. Build community-based networks — the people often know before the agencies do.
The money trail must also be followed with ruthless precision. That some financiers of Boko Haram were tried and jailed in the UAE while Nigeria looked the other way is a national embarrassment.
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If we are serious, there must be transparent investigations, asset seizures, sanctions, and court convictions — not silence and cover-ups.
And then, the so-called deradicalization programs. Nigeria is issuing certificates of repentance like graduation diplomas, while victims still live in IDP camps and villages remain ghost towns.
This is not reintegration; it is a ticking time bomb. Genuine deradicalization requires psychological care, trust-building with local communities, monitored reintegration, and real vocational empowerment.
Otherwise, we are simply recycling terror. Let us talk about recruitment. Terror groups feed off despair. Where there is hunger, hopelessness, and illiteracy, extremism thrives.
Until we aggressively address poverty in the North-East and other vulnerable regions, we are planting the seeds of the next insurgency. Security cannot exist without development.
Equally urgent is the need to clean up the rot within our own house. Security votes vanish without audit. Soldiers go months without pay. Equipment is outdated. Meanwhile, procurement scandals bubble under the surface.
A demoralized force cannot win a motivated war. President Bola Tinubu’s administration must insist on accountability, professionalism, and the welfare of those on the frontline. A well-fed soldier is more effective than a thousand political speeches.
Then there is the regional picture. Terrorists cross borders with ease. We cannot afford to fight alone. ECOWAS must stop being a talk shop and start acting like a security bloc.
Shared intelligence hubs, joint task forces, coordinated patrols — these are not luxuries but necessities. Above all, Nigeria must move from reaction to prevention. We wait for a massacre before acting.
By then, it is too late. What we need are early warning systems, trusted community policing, protected whistleblowers, and religious leaders who counter extremism from the pulpits.
Every sermon, every schoolbook, every social media post must be part of the ideological pushback. Because this is not just a physical war. It is a battle for minds.
Until we grasp that, Nigeria will continue bleeding from the same wounds. Every new sect like Mahmuda, every comeback by Boko Haram, every attack that catches us off guard — they all say one thing: the current strategy is broken.
Guns may win battles, but only intelligence, justice, and vision will win the war. And if Nigeria refuses to change course, we will find ourselves fifteen years from now, still counting bodies, still asking how we got here.
