The public policy research think-tank, Nextier SPD, has raised the alarm that jihadist terrorism that started with Boko Haram 12 years ago in northern Nigeria is steadily spreading to southern Nigeria through the North-Central zone.
Nextier SPD in a research conducted by its experts, Dr. Iro Aghedo, a senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Benin and Dr. Ndu Nwokolo, managing partner and chief executive at Nextier SPD, submitted that the availability of ungoverned forest spaces, easy access to deadly weapons and deployment of the poor military strategy of hit-and-run had aided the growth.
To arrest the ugly development, the group said, “One way to stop the weaponisation of these forests is for the federal and state governments to cultivate and use them for large-scale agriculture. Security forces need to rely on state-of-the-art intelligence to identify the sources and channels of illegal weapons. Rather than a hit-and-run approach, security agencies must deploy an extermination strategy to stamp out terrorism.
“All these factors aiding the spread of terrorism need to be urgently addressed if the state is to gain the upper hand against the jihadists.
“Slowly but steadily, non-state violence is spreading across the length and breadth of Nigeria, and the state is largely unable to halt it.
The agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which started in 2012, has gained enormous dominance in South-Eastern Nigeria and is fast spreading to other parts of Southern Nigeria.
“Similarly, the rural banditry which erupted in Zamfara State in 2011 has engulfed most of the North-Western zone and large swathes of the North-Central today. Even more worrisome is the mobility of the Boko Haram insurgency. Since the Ansaru broke away from Boko Haram in 2012, followed by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in 2015, jihadist violence has spread rapidly across Northern Nigeria and neighbouring countries, including Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
“However, the spread of jihadist violence towards Southern Nigeria has been slow and subtle. Still, it has gained unprecedented momentum in the last couple of years, especially since the execution of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau by ISWAP forces in 2021.
“The North-Central zone, especially Niger, Benue, Plateau and Kogi states have been a significant attraction to jihadists in their push towards the South. Nextier SPD weekly examines the growing attraction of the North-Central zone to terrorists and how the deadly push towards the South can be addressed.”
According to the report, in recent years, Niger, Benue and Plateau states have been the hotspots of violent attacks in the North-Central zone and the three states accounted for most attacks, deaths and displacements in the region.
