Tackling Boko Haram With Intelligence And Technology

A recent report in which the Department of State Services (DSS) chief, Lawal Daura, was alleged to have gotten advance warning of the July 11 bomb attack in Kano and failed to act on it, underscores the intelligence failures of the Nigerian government in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency.

Boko Haram insurgents

According to the report, a top DSS operative said that: “Daura was informed about the attack in Kano way before it happened. He refused to release money or approve the operations until bombs went off in three states.”

READ ALSO: SHOCK ! As Shettima Discloses That Boko Haram Hold Captive Relative Of New NSA

The DSS, as Nigeria’s primary domestic intelligence agency, is under the National Security Adviser (NSA). Therefore, advance warning of any bomb attack in the country is supposed to rise through the channels to the NSA and possibly to the President.

A situation where the DSS chief ignores such a warning, means he made the call that it was a hoax; and such calls are not lightly made. Or did Mr Lawal keep this information from the NSA, Sambo Dasuki, who is currently unsettled after President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly rejected his resignation letter and ordered an audit of expenditure made in his tenure?

Whatever be the case, there is an urgent need to overhaul the nation’s domestic intelligence gathering system in the fight against Boko Haram. The resurgence of the dreaded sect in recent weeks has once again shown that the Nigerian government needs to fight terrorism with more than brute force. Since May 29 when Buhari was sworn in as president, the sect has carried out 27 attacks across five states, killing over 600 people.

This, coming after significant victories recorded by the army against Boko Haram in the last days of the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, underscores the fact that Nigeria needs to combine brute force with effective intelligence and technological warfare to eliminate the insurgency.

In doing this, it will be able to goad Boko Haram into entering (again) its third phase of insurgency – strategic offensive.

Military experts believe that as long as insurgents remain guerrillas, they remain difficult to wipe out. In that stage, small groups intermingle with the populace and sometimes use them (as is the case with Boko Haram) in carrying out terrorist attacks.

However, once they leave the guerrilla stage and operate as a conventional army, they become vulnerable to especially air strikes (again as witnessed in the victories recorded against Boko Haram armies in February and March).

While the military continues to train Special Forces and buy advanced hardware, the new administration will need to invest more funding in technological weapons and intelligence gathering equipment and personnel. Existing technological military devices such as Jammers, Explosive Trace Detectors (ETDs), Thermal Imaging, etc. can be used to tackle the use of IEDs by Boko Haram; rather than the current helplessness that exists.

There is a need to re-strategise. If not, intelligence gathered from captured Boko Haram members, coupled with extensive intelligence investments in training, will provide opportunities to infiltrate the group and weaken it.

Nations like Israel, China, Russia, France and the US have built impressive intelligence systems and are willing to help. There should be no shame in asking for this help, and there should be no expense spared in seeking for it.

READ ALSO: What Boko Haram Is Truly Aimed At Destroying – Sultan Opens Up

The cost involved in implementing a more effective intelligence and technological strategy against insurgency is daunting; especially in the face of dwindling oil sales and insufficient savings. Whether the cost is something Nigeria can afford is a decision for our policy makers. But one thing all Nigerians are sure of is that the cost of a lingering insurgency is something that the nation cannot afford.

The post Tackling Boko Haram With Intelligence And Technology appeared first on News on Naij.com | Today's Nigeria Breaking news & headlines..