Targeting of Aid Workers in Nigeria Highlights Security Sector’s Shortcomings
A rash of recent kidnappings targeting non-governmental organization (NGO) and humanitarian aid workers in Nigeria has drawn renewed attention to the threat posed by violent extremists in West Africa and to the failings of the Nigerian government’s security sector. The presence of both al-Qaeda aligned Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has been widespread. In recent years, both groups have attacked both civilian and military targets across the northeast of the country, resulting in the deaths of numerous Nigerian soldiers. The ongoing insurgency in northeastern Nigeria has killed over 36,000 people over the last decade.
Much-needed security reform in Nigeria has been repeatedly postponed, resulting in a corrupt and ineffective security sector that fails to keep both the populace of Nigeria, its armed forces, and Western aid workers safe. The United States has attempted to foster security sector reform in Nigeria through both the Department of State and the Department of Defense in order to combat the spread of violent extremism in the region. While stabilization of the northeastern region in Nigeria would improve the security environment for Western aid workers in Nigeria, current efforts have not enabled our regional partners to effectively counter violent extremism in the Sahel.
Kidnap-for-Ransom: Profitable for Extremists. Risky for Aid Workers.
In particular, Islamic extremists in West Africa routinely target NGO and aid workers in northeastern provinces of Nigeria. The unchecked presence of armed non-state groups in the region creates insecurity for Western aid workers who operate there. In Northeastern Nigeria alone, over 100 people have been abducted by armed groups since 2019. The trend of targeting aid workers and civilians does not appear to be slowing. Since June 2020, northeastern Nigeria has seen three towns attacked by Islamic extremists, deadly attacks in the Borno province, the abduction of four aid workers, and executions of aid workers. Yet another aid worker was kidnapped in early December at a checkpoint in the Wakilti by Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) extremists.
The targeting of aid workers has been a repeated strategy for armed groups during the decade-long insurgency into northeastern Nigeria. Often, kidnapped aid workers are ransomed back to their organizations in a for-profit operation that extremist groups use to fund their activities. Despite best efforts by NGOs to educate their workers on personal safety in regions where kidnap-for-ransom operations are prevalent, aid workers are still routinely abducted. Extremist groups such as Boko Haram often execute aid workers when negotiations for their release fail.
Limited capacity in the Nigerian government’s security sector has allowed extremist groups to continue their profitable kidnap-for-ransom operations as well as their ongoing attacks against military and civilian targets. While the Nigerian government pledged to wipe out jihadists “completely” and to “ensure that no such kidnapping [of NGO staff] occurs again,” it remains unlikely that the Nigerian security sector has the capacity to support such promises. Failed negotiations for the release of aid workers between extremist groups and the Nigerian government resulted in death just two years ago, when two nurses with the International Committee of the Red Cross were killed.
Support for Reform in the Nigerian Security Sector Needed
While Abuja provides many excuses for its failed security sector, such as a lack of resources and unsupportive international partners, many of the issues stem from low levels of transparency, a lack of oversight, and resistance from local communities to cooperate with the security forces. In order to reform the security sector, the Nigerian government must consolidate its many security agencies in order to have an efficient, streamlined security apparatus. Combatting corruption and the perception of corruption within their security forces is also essential to gaining the trust of Nigeria’s citizens; 72percent of Nigerians believe the police force is corrupt according to a recent survey.. Additionally, refocusing the Nigerian military toward border conflicts and combatting insurgents rather than internal security and policing could reduce the ability of Boko Haram and ISWAP to conduct their terror attacks and kidnap-for-ransom operations in the northeastern provinces.
Without major security sector reform and a renewed focus on combatting violent extremism, it remains unlikely that Nigeria will be able to effectively combat armed insurgent groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP. Without a reduction in the presence of these groups, northeastern Nigeria remains a high-risk environment for the many Western aid workers operating there. Additionally, the presence of these extremist groups often puts U.S. citizens employed by NGOs at risk when they are kidnapped and ransomed. The presence of U.S. citizens and NGOs operating in this high-risk environment warrants a response from the U.S. in the form of increased support for Nigeria’s internal security sector reform, as well as continued partnership with the Nigerian government in the fight to counter violent extremism (CVE). While the U.S. Department of State has published guidance on helping Nigeria in CVE efforts, and the U.S. interagency has published a Stabilization Assistance Review for Nigeria, these efforts have had minimal impact on the situation in northeastern Nigeria, as shown by the continued extremist insurgency. More direct action, such as military advising and training programs, must be taken by the United States to support Nigeria’s security sector reform and CVE programs in order to improve the security environment in the northeastern provinces.
Supporting the Nigerian security sector’s reform will not only help combat violent jihadist groups operating across West Africa but will also directly benefit the many U.S. citizens who work for NGOs within Nigeria and the surrounding regions by reducing extremist groups’ abilities to carry out kidnap-for-ransom plots. Bolstering the Nigerian security sector would have widespread positive impacts across West Africa by enabling our international partners to effectively combat the violent extremist groups that inhabit their backyards, thus making their military, their citizens, and U.S. citizens in the region safer.
