Taming The Monster of Terrorism and Exploring the Imperative of Security Sector Reform in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of Boko Haram terrorism manifested in forms of religiously inspired sacrilege for western education and influence; they specialized in bombing, violent, horror killing and raping women. Terrorists’ activities have caused severe destruction of human lives, properties, educational institutions and infrastructures. These potent threats have signalled a looming doom and negatively affected the socio-economic and political landscape of Nigerian society with grave security implications. The direct impact of terrorism includes the colossal loss of properties worth billions of Naira and 2,184,254 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with 13.5 million out of school children and 1.7 million deaths. The security apparatuses have been overwhelmed in curtailing these menaces for a decade despite over 10 trillion of Naira spent. Nigerians are vulnerable to attacks in which the security forces are helpless. There is the need to close this gap on security sector to tackle this debacle created by lack of modern equipment, human resource and professionalism in Nigeria. There is the need for intensive Security Sector Reform (SSR), as a panacea to peace and security in Nigeria. The main objective of the paper is to create the intellectual and practical consciousness on how to mitigate the threat posed by Boko Haram. The paper adopted qualitative, documentary/content analytical technique, ex-post facto research design and collective security theory to interrogate the nature, magnitude and intensity of these phenomena. With the fading national cohesion and rising regional agitation for independence, the research calls for a more co-ordinate and systematic planned counter-terrorism action to restore human security in Nigeria by exploring the recommendation for Security Sector Reform (SSR). This is for a long-term global peace and security interest in curbing terrorism.