Research Paper on "Complex Military"

Research Paper 15 pages (4546 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Working knowledge of the strategic objectives of an operation, the operational goals, the cultural and tribal environments of the region of conflict and the nation's policies have to be critically applied by the junior leaders in order to conduct successful counter insurgency operations.

Often the junior leaders are not utilized by armies and forces by limiting the scope of tactics and the tactical level of war to mere simple maneuver and the utilization of force. The task of delivering and explaining the policies formulated by the politicians of a country or region to those of the nation or region lies with the junior leaders. Therefore the junior leaders need to be educated and such role incorporated into the induction process.

The expectations and requirements which will be levied on future junior leaders can be achieved through the expansion and the scope of tactical warfare. The expectations form the junior leaders are therefore no longer limited to the simple maneuver and battle drills, regardless of whether the armies and the security forces get involved in counter insurgency operations or in conventional wars.

The Nigerian Context & North Eastern Conflict

Nigeria is composed of 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory (Abuja). There are six geopolitical regions that compose Nigeria - North-east, Northwest, North-central, South-east, South-South and South-west.

There are number of (774) local government areas that are recognized by the federal government of the country. Nigeria has an area of 923,768 square kilometers and is the fourth largest country in Africa and is land locked on three sides with the Atlantic Ocean on the Southern side of the country.

Prior to 1914, the country did not exists but was composed of a loosely attached confederation of 4 different 'empires', some of them stretching into parts that are not part of current-day Nigeria (Awodola & Ayuba, 2015).

Religion varies considerably in terms of religion and the religious trends from one region to another. This is one of the prime reasons for the glaring distinctions that identify regional and ethnic groups in Nigeria. According to the latest studies however there is a distinct divide between Christians and Muslims with each religion having almost equal number of followers in addition to a very small population that practice traditional religion.

Muslims primarily reside in the Northern part of the country while the Christians live in the southern and central parts of the country. The Sunnis are the predominant sect of the country.

The role of ethnicity and religion along with regional sentiments are very important in Nigeria in terms of individual and group identities. There are often complex and sometimes conflicting interactions between the above mentioned two factors -- religion and ethnicity, along with regionalism.

The predominance of Muslims in the Northern part of the country coupled with the economic drawbacks of the regions sowed the seeds of discontent among the populations against the government.

Since 1999, when the country returned to democratic governance, there has been an upsurge in insurgent activities in Nigeria (Adebayo, 2014). The rising waves of insurgency had overwhelmed the police which are the primary institution that is responsible for the maintenance of law and order and its enforcement for internal security. This resulted in increased role of the army into the maintenance of internal security threats arising from ethnic violence and insurgency.

To counter the insurgency and the associated violence the federal government had been forced to deploy military-dominated Joint Task Forces (JTFs) to perform internal security duties, primarily in the conflict affected regions of the country.

A number of counter insurgency campaigns have been designed and implemented by several joint military and security task forces who were mandated by the government to conduct the operations. Internal security roles in the country have been assigned to the Army, Navy, Air Force and the paramilitary Police on a regular basis in Nigeria.

However there have been rising allegations of violation of human rights by the joint task forces as the forces have been accused of using brutal show of force that often results in high civilian casualties. Human rights cite the example of the killing of hundreds of civilians in November 1999 when a detachment of the Army bombarded Odi community in the Niger Delta in retaliation to the killing of 6 policemen by local insurgents.

The Troubled North East Nigeria & the Boko Haram

While conflicts in other regions of the country have slowed down relatively, the North Eastern region of the Nigeria has been riddled with ethnic violence. This has been compounded by the ongoing sectarian insurgency resulting in the escalation of violent confrontations between security forces and sectarian insurgents. This has not only increased casualties on both sides but has also resulted in high civilian fatalities. In addition, human settlements have been destroyed and livelihoods lost.

The region comprises of 6 states which are comparatively sparsely populated and poorer in terms of wealth and heath compared to the Central and Southern regions of Nigeria.

Since 2009, the conflicts between the security forces -- often joint forces, and the insurgent forces of Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihadl group (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad), also known as Boko Haram, have increased in the North Eastern region of the country.

Boko Haram had been active in the region for more than a decade now but its activities increased since in 2002. Earlier the group was formed after breaking away from the reformist Salafi/Wahhabi groups in northern Nigeria.

The primary reason for the forming of the group was to challenge the established suffix orders in the region and professes that the Muslims should live according to the rules and modes of conduct established by the Prophet Muhammad and the first three generations of his followers. The Boko Haram wanted to restore the Islamic doctrines in the pure form' and it condemns secular education and any form of government or civil service work.

While barring other Muslims from education and directions of following strict Muslim laws, the group itself extensively uses technology that includes the internet and mobile phones. The group has also acquired technical skills and expertise to manufacture bombs including car bombs.

However despite the government being warned on several occasions about the possible arming of the group between 2002 and 2009, there was no action taken by the Nigerian government. The government chose to overlook the situation which proved to be fatal.

After its emergence and within seven years of its formation, the group became violent after action against its members by the security forces. In June 2009, an operation known as 'Operation Flush' was initiated against the Boko Haram by a joint police and military unit. This was after minor clashes between the security forces and the group members over the issue of enforcement of a government law regarding the mandatory use of helmets by all motorcyclists. The action turned violent from protests by the members of the group and security forces killed about 17 members of the group (Forest 2012, p.63).

Taking advantage of the public outrage against the police brutality, the group organized sporadic violent attacks against the police and other Government institutions all across the troubled areas of the north-eastern states of Nigeria. This resulted in continued clashes between the group and the security forces that left more than 800 people dead. This number included extra-judicial executions organized by the leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf in July 2009.

These extra-judicial killings were the turning point in the history of North Eastern Nigeria as the group turned radical and increasingly violent over the next few years. After the death of its leader radical Mohammed Yusuf, a more radical leader Abubakar Shekau took over reigns of the group. This was also the period when the group laid silent for a brief period since 2009.

The group has turned more violent under Shekau and has carried out more violent attacks that include suicide bombings and targeted murders in North and North Eastern Nigeria (IRIN News, 2013). The increase in violence of the group resulted in the government deciding the deployment of joint military and security task forces in the affected regions of the country.

The Counter Insurgency Operations in North Eastern Nigeria

After the initial efforts to the Boko Haram movement with the police, the Nigerian government soon realized that the insurgency and the subversive activities could not be countered with police forces. Therefore the government set up Joint Task Forces to engage in counter insurgency operations to combat the increasing incidents of ethnic and sectarian violence in the region (Adebayo, 2014).

Joint Task Forces, including the army, the navy and the air force is nothing new for Nigeria. Ever since the country became a democracy in 1999, the North and the Central part of the country have been subjected to ethnic and sectarian violence that involved religion-based violence mainly in the areas of the Jos Plateau… READ MORE

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