CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The increasing number of terrorists organisations around the globe in recent time is one of the main issues affects the world. Conferring to the World Economic Forum reports (2015), terrorism has been growing radically in the last 10 years, leading to a five time increase in terrorism related death since 2000 (Paraskevas & Arendell, 2017). The aspects of terrorism are not easy to relate since they differ in terms of places they occur, and the consequences of the attacks (World Economic Forum: 2015). Formerly, terrorist attacks have always been geared to countries and had often taken many countries impromptu. Nonetheless, following several terrorist attacks around the globe, countries and their government alongside industries started to recognize the negative impacts of terrorism and are unceasingly developing better majors to manage these attacks in the most effective way. This made government to adopt priorities ads to reduce the attacks (World Economic Forum, 2015). To provide an accurate response to an attack, many researches were carried out on recovery strategies.

The aspects of terrorism are so complex that if one wants to have a vivid understand of it, one must be able to go right to the scope of terrorism. To understand the phenomenon of terrorism, one must look at the scope of terrorism. Probably the most recognizable terrorist organisations in the world today is al-Qaeda (AQ), which was previously under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, and more recently under Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Qaeda has largely been based in the region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with affiliates as far as South Asia and Africa. With the Western world being led by the United States in its war on Terrorism, many high-ranking members of Al-Qaeda have been detached.  This  has  turned  out  to  be somewhat of a double-edged sword for the war on terrorism, due to the fact that, as the main body of al-Qaeda is weakened through the loss of its leaders, other groups such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and  Al-Qaeda  in  the  Islamic  Maghreb  (AQIM), Al Shabaab, Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Boko Haram and many others have become  stronger  in  recent  times(Gus, 2014).

The issue of terrorism is a universal incidence that in one way or the other affects the live of every individual in the world. It can be an increased in security protocols at border entry that may delay travelling, or the fear of an attack, or being the one of which status will change due to terrorism, everyone is affected. The evolving trend of terrorism in the present world has become an issue of concern both at the national and international levels. The growing number of terrorist organizations across the world has become one of the main impairments to global peace and security. Acts that is now referred to as terrorism have historically remained part of the management tools for addressing violent conflicts. During the 1950s and s1960s, terrorism was a very important instrument used by both parties in revolutionary or liberation struggles across the world, be it in Asia, Africa, Middle East or Latin America (Ackerman, 2014: 2).

Terrorism came to the lamplight on September 11^th, 2001; when the world witnessed it most deadly terrorist act that left 3,249 dead and 869 wounded in the United States of America (Foyou, 2018). This then brought the attention of the academia research on terrorism activities.  Over the years, the impact of terrorism has been felt all over the world; it has evolved from being just a United State (US) problem to a global problem.  Today, terrorism is a global threat. 

The growth  of  transnational  insurgencies  in  Africa  include  the  Northeastern  Nigeria Sunni-led Boko Haram Islamist terrorist groups, whose violent and bloody incursions into Chad, Cameroon, and Niger have negatively impacted on the lives, society, and the economies of these countries. The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab terrorist organizations which have launched numerous attacks into Kenya and Ethiopia, as well as the Muslim-oriented Seleka Opposition movement in the Central African Republic, which has conducted trans-border raids into Cameroon and Chad (Foyou, 2018: 67). The insurgent activities do not respect sovereign states or their borders, which certainly calls for a reconceptualization or re-configuration of the notion of borders to include assessments of the activities and impact of these transnational non-state actors. The security threat posed by these new and dangerous transnational actors to adjacent states from their original base of operations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the former Soviet Republics clearly calls for the development of interdisciplinary theoretical approaches for evaluating the activities and impact of these non-state actors on border security and international politics.

The global or transnational paradigm that incorporates international collaborative strategies to fight Islamic terrorism should be developed, funded, and supported to combat global Islamic terrorism wherever or whenever it emerges. The United Nations set a precedent in this regard when it established the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Executive Directorate (CTEF), that has sought to put into practice the various UN and regional resolutions aimed at combating terrorism (The Daily Observer, 26 September 2007). These include Security Council Resolution 1373 and the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted by the General Assembly in September 2006. American assistance (in terms of military advisors and equipment) to Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, which are currently engaged in the fight against Boko-Haram, as well as its support to Kenya and other East African nations fighting Al-Shabaab, is a model worth implementing by other global partners (Foyou, 2018: 67).

The emergence of Boko Haram as an Islamic terrorists’ group that has been agitating for the introduction of strict Islamic laws and Islamisation of Nigeria through violent activities such as killing, bombing as well as suicide bombing has taken a transnational dimension (Ayeotan, 2012). It has more recent be transformed to one of the fiercest terrorists’ organizations, whose violent activities have seriously affected the lives of people across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Transnational terrorism is diverse and multifaceted regarding scope and intensity. Dealing with it requires investment in international actors in the areas of peace, security and development (Ayeotan, 2012).

The Boko Haram attacks took a cross border dimension on the 27^th of July 2014, when over 200 militants stormed kolofata, a town in the Extreme North region of Cameroon targeting the residence of the Vice Prime Minister, Amadou Ali (Antimbom, 2016: 1). During that attack, the wife and sister in law were kidnapped to an unknown destination. The night before, Boko Haram had carried out an attack on the Cameroon military in extreme North region which resulted in the death of four Cameroonian soldiers marked the speed of Boko Haram attacks into Cameroon. Aditionally, the two sons of Bieshair Mohaman, a Cameroonian traditional leader in Limani were also kidnapped on July 15, 2014. In Nigeria, authorities traced some of the explosive used in the attacks to a quarry in North Cameroon that was raided by Boko Haram in May 2014 (Antimbom, 2016: 1). The activities of the terrorist group in the Extreme North region of Cameroon forced the Cameroon government to retaliate according. The president of Cameroon on May 21^st, 2014 declared war against the terrorist group Boko Haram.  Since then the Cameroon government have been battling with the issue of the terrorist sect in the Extreme regions of Cameroon (Far North, North and Adamawa regions) state has put in place a defense and security arsenal to deal with the terrorist threat to its independence and sovereignty (Ntuda, 2014)

The activities of Boko Haram in the transnational terrorism orchestrated the meeting called by the French president on the 17^th of May 2014 to jointly tackle the issue of Boko Haram. The meeting was attended by president of Nigeria, Benin, Chad, Niger and Cameroon with an objective to jointly declare war against the terrorist group Boko haram (Antimbom, 2016: 1). This was a clear indication that a single nation cannot solely tackle the fight against the terrorist group, thus joint task force was necessary in order to tackle the enemy from man y front. Despite the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) established in 2015 by the countries of the Lake Chad Basin to combat the Boko haram terrorist group, the terrorist group still carry-on with-it atrocities around these countries. The MNJTF is yet to demonstrate its effectiveness in tackling the terrorist group despites the political, logistical, technical and financial support at their disposal. Thus, the research is interested to assess the extent to which the JMNTF have been able to combat the terrorist group Boko Haram in the Lake Cameroon.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The violent tactic employed by Boko Haram and selection of targets to strike have attracted international attention due to its growing lethality, a scale of violence and its transnational ramifications. Its activities and the effects of its operations go beyond the traditional combat zone which is Nigeria (Walker, 2012). In its resolve asserts its ideology and territorial ambition, Boko Haram exploits the ungoverned spaces along the borders of neighboring countries like Cameroon, Chad, Benin and Niger. There are more than 1000 borders entry routes from these four countries which are unmanned and uncontrolled (Udeh, 2011). The porous nature of these borders heightens the potentials of transnational transaction such as recycling of small arms and lights weapons, mercenaries, training and funding, acquisition of strategic resources and recruitment of militarized refugees and foreign fighters. The Boko Haram sect has launched attack on Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Benin.

The cross-border dimensions of manifestation of Boko Haram pose a severe challenge for Nigeria neighbours and the region at large. In February 2013, the sect conducted its first attack outside Nigeria when it kidnapped a French family in Northern Cameroon near the border with Nigeria (Bey and Tack, 2013).  According to the UNHCR report of (2012), over 600,000 Nigerians have sought refuge in neighbouring countries since May 2013. There are about 40,000 Nigerian refugees in the Niger Republic with about 28,000 in Cameroon with majority coming from borders communities. Many of these refugees fled without any food or water intensifying the strain on scarce resources and social services of the host communities.

Transnational terrorism poses a major problem because it’s expanded the reach of violent extremism and complicates the efforts of an effective response, in a region cooperation is limited by mistrust, limited strategic capacity and government related challenges. The delay in creating a Multinational Joint Task Force and some restrictions by the Nigeria government to neighbouring countries like Cameroon, limiting its response only to areas of the border, which constitute a big challenge for an effective response to the threat and its potentials for territorial expansion. It took the intervention of France during the Paris Summit to bring all the neighbouring West Africa countries together to understand that Boko Haram could not be adequately dealt with through a single country solution. The French government called the leaders of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon together in Paris on May 17^th, 2014, urging the need for strengthened cooperation between members’ states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and the Benin Republic.

The cross-border attacks and different external factors that feed and sustain Haram sect reveals how an initial Nigeria base insurgency is becoming a source of insecurity in neighbouring countries and the continent. It is in this regard that, the need to contain the transnational reach of Boko Haram is therefore real and warrants a comprehensive regional international response. Despite the establishment of the Multinational Joint Task Force to combat Boko Haram, the terrorist group still carries out with is deadly activities and still holds territories. Thus, the research is interested in assessing the activities of the Multinational Joint Task Force, to what extent has the Multinational Joint Task Force able to combat Boko Haram and what can be done to better address the issues of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

• Research Questions
• What are the activities of the Multinational Joint Task Force?
• To what extent has the Multinational Joint Task Force able to combat the Boko Haram?
• What can be done to better combat the terrorist group Boko Haram?
• Research Objectives

The research is guided by the main and specific objectives

1.4.1 The Main Objective

This study has as the main objective, to critically examine the extent to which the Multinational Joint Task Force has been able to combat Boko Haram.

• The Specific Objectives of the Study

• To examine the activities of the Multinational Joint Task Force
• To evaluate the extent to which the Multinational Joint Task Force has been able to combat Boko Haram
• To assess measures that can better help in combatting the terrorist group Boko Haram

• Research Hypothesis

In this research, it is anticipated that:

• The Multinational Joint Task Force have so many activities it carries
• The Multinational Joint Task Force has registered significant successes in combatting Boko Haram
• There are measures that can help in combatting the terrorist group Boko Haram