War against Boko Haram: should dialogue be the last option?

After the Paris summit at which Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad declared “war against Boko Haram”, the Islamic terror group has proven more deadly and stubborn in its macabre missions.

Last week’s abduction of the wife of the vice prime minister and minister delegate at the presidency in charge of relations with the assemblies, Amadou Ali, from their Kolofata home illustrates Boko Haram’s devilish capabilities.

In less than three weeks last month, the gang killed about three Cameroonian police men and the same number of soldiers. The Guardian Post is aware that some of the terrorists were recently arrested and given prison sentences from 10 to 20 years, but we wonder if the punishment was commensurate to the havoc wreaked on society.

So humiliating was the Kolofata assault, just shortly after a military Operational Command Unit was created in the region to fight the vandals, that President Biya quickly fired two senior military officers.

Issa Tchiroma, communication minister and government’s spokesman in a press statement after the Kolofata incident said the Boko Haram insurgents numbered over 200. The smoothness with which they carried out the operation, the extent of the damage on the Ali residence and the killings during a religious feast indicate that, they were not the least in a hurry. They took their time to carefully make the choice of the people they wanted to kill and the personalities to kidnap.

Had vice prime minister Ali not escaped, he too would have either been among the dead or hostage. And wouldn’t that have been more embarrassing for a nation which had declared ‘war’ against the terrorists and should have been very prepared? The security intelligence was absent and the troops caught napping. There is no other way to explain the Boko Haram’s success at Kolofata.

A large number of two hundred people, strangers, armed and certainly in a convoy drive into a small town. Could their presence not draw attention and suspicion even among people unskilled in intelligence surveillance? At the Ali’s residence, why didn’t some of the guests who escaped alert security forces? If they did, how fast was the response?

President Biya has rightly penalised two of the top security officials in the region. But this is not the time just to attribute blame. Cooperation is needed between security forces and civilians. The Guardian Post believes Cameroonians have learned their lesson and to succeed in the “war”, against the Nigerian Islamic sect, every citizen must collaborate with the security forces by reporting suspicious people in their midst. But while the “war” goes on especially as Boko Haram has made more triumphant exploits in Nigeria and Cameroon after the Paris summit, isn’t there need for dialogue?

The over 200 Nigerian School girls whose abduction forced Nigeria’s neigbours to intensify the battle against Boko Haram remain in captivities for more than three months. The blacklisting of Boko Haram by the United Nations as a terrorist gang has not deterred them. The United States, France, Israel, China and other countries have made contributions in fighting Boko Haram but there is no accomplishment which could be seen only after the girls’ freedom.

Retired Nigerian army general and former head of state, Yakubo Gowon, a Christian, has urged the warring parties to go into dialogue. His recommendation is echoed by the Concerned Muslim Professionals. The muslim group has called on the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to engage the terrorist in discussion. “The biggest task before our muslim and Islamic leaders…is to reconcile the warring communities…The other task is to make Boko Haram come out of hiding, denounce terrorism and embrace government’s overture”, the group advised.

What does the Islamic group whose atrocities have been denounced even by radical Islamic preachers want? Initially, their objective was to impose the sharia law in Nigeria. They targeted only Christians and their institutions. They have expanded their grisly operations to muslims but are today notorious for indiscriminate mass killing. They select their targets for kidnapping only among the rich or citizens of developed countries in the hope of getting lucrative ransom payments.

The abduction of a French family in Cameroon is reported to have been so rewarding and lucrative that they intensified the kidnapping. A French priest was grabbed from his home, quickly followed by two Catholic priests of Italian nationality and a Canadian reverend sister in one swoop. All were later released after ransom was allegedly paid. They are still keeping ten Chinese workers taken hostage from Cameroon and driven off in a convoy of some 12 vehicles.

There is no reservation that Cameroon went into dialogue with the group to free the hostages. Why can’t that dialogue continue on a broader scale to convince the terrorists to put down their guns? Isn’t it clear that they are now more interested just in getting ransom than their Islamic agenda they initially proclaimed? Isn’t that an indication of a failure to establish political contention which remains hollow and ineffective in many African countries?

President Goodluck Jonathan has not had luck in negotiating with the group. His predecessors, Generals Gowon and Olusengun Obasanjo have called for dialogue. President Biya can step in with his unmatch record in negotiating for the release of hostages. This he can begin with an invitation to the Nigeria leader who was speculated to visit Cameroon since March. The Boko Haram havoc has become a regional problem and needs a united solution and no war is ever won without holding peace talks.