Towards Containing Terrorism in North East Nigeria: A Befitting Strategy for a Protracted War

Abstract

This paper discusses the application of the containment strategy in combating terrorism in North East Nigeria. To achieve this aim, secondary data in the form of written texts, journal articles, newspaper reports and internet webpages are utilized. This research is pertinent for the Nigerian Armed Forces is yet to discover a befitting strategy at quelling terrorism in the north east region. Also, the retrogressing effects of the current strategy adopted by the Nigerian government makes the findings of this work a compelling alternative to the existing strategy. A detailed hypothesis on how the containment strategy can be applied in the north east region has been attempted in this work. There is, however, a necessity for further needs analysis and more specific and elaborate study by strategists and tacticians of the Nigerian armed forces to weigh the potency, strength, weakness, the opportunity cost and the threats of this idea in regard to the general and peculiar Boko Haram conflict context.

Keywords: Terrorism, Counterterrorism, Radicalization, Boko Haram, Containment Strategy, Deradicalization, Indoctrination, Radical Islamism, Ideology