The establishment of a social services agency to cater for the teeming youths in Gombe state has helped to de-emphasise the interest of the youths at embracing job offers by Boko Haram. AUWAL AHMAD reports.
Boko Haram, one of the world’s deadliest terror groups, is waging an extremist insurgency war in the name of creating an Islamic caliphate. This violent conflict in Nigeria’s North-east region, according to statistics, has killed over 20,000 people since 2009, displaced nearly 2.2 million people, devastated thousands of Nigerian communities and slowed the economy of the region.
In addition to the ground battles, cities in the North-east region have suffered from spikes of suicide bombing attacks in recent years which are almost carried out by youths and children of the female gender as young as eight years old.
However, Nigerian and regional forces are progressing against the sect with the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, once declaring that the country has ‘technically won the war’. Despite this, the deadly attacks had continued as displaced families refused to return home on account of fear.
For most residents of the region, a safe and prosperous community seems far from reach.
Genesis of the sect
Boko Haram materialised in 2003-2004 as an anti-government/break-away Islamic sect but rose to prominence around 2009 after a high-profile attack.
In July 2009, after its then-leader, Mohammed Yusuf, threatened an assault on the federal government, a battle between the sect and security forces across the six northern states saw more than 800 people killed. Yusuf was arrested and executed while in the custody of the police. In June 2010, Abubakar Shekau, its former second-in-command, declared that he had assumed leadership of the sect.
This event, therefore, marked a major shift in the group’s strategy as Shekau adopted increasingly strident and violent tactics with the ultimate goal of destabilising the country to make way for, what it called, a Sharia-based caliphate. However, after this time, some members opted out of the group and an increasing proportion of members were forcibly recruited to beef up its force.
While reliable estimates are unavailable, experts agree that although the total number of Boko Haram members has decreased, its fighters still number in their thousands, the vast majority of which are youths.
The government, non-governmental agencies and international donors are increasingly turning their attention to addressing the underlying causes of the conflict in the region in addition to responding to the humanitarian crisis the conflict has produced. An estimated 92% or nearly 2 million of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are temporarily living outside the formal camps that are in host communities across the 12 states and the nation’s capital in Abuja.
To that extent, tensions are on the increase in many directions, for instance between the host communities and IDPs, Christians and Muslims, returnees and those who stay behind and family members of Boko Haram and those who have suffered in their hands.
Even before the advent of insurgency, the North-east had some of the worst health and socio-economic tales in the country. This is against the backdrop of a weak health system marked by inadequate health facilities and a dearth of skilled health workers. There’s also little donor support compared with other regions of the country.
There are several health consequences. Over two million people have been displaced due to the conflict and live in camps for internally displaced people scattered across the region. Some have gone as far as Abuja and beyond to southern states like Edo and Ondo.
Speaking to Blueprint, Musa Sani a retired military officer said the reasons youths are joining Boko Haram is basically economical. “Majority of those who joined the group voluntarily were significantly influenced by financial incentives and not by religion.”
Sani said the group remains defiant and has continued to carry out deadly and sporadic attacks which, he said, has demonstrated that it will not be defeated in Sambisa forest or through the barrel of the gun alone.
He said, “The final battle against the group will happen in the minds of the people and would mean tackling the fundamental factors that pull or push individuals toward the group including the pathological, religious, political and economic reasons.”
Their secret
Sani said the sect has exploited common desires of youths in Borno, Yobe Adamawa and some in Gombe to get ahead economically and distinguish themselves in their communities. “Many youths described to either accept loans prior to joining or join with the hope of receiving loans for their small, informal businesses,” he disclosed.
However in Gombe state, the activities of Boko Haram insurgency as well as recruitment of foot soldiers of the group has left many questions unanswered despite sharing boarders with Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states which are the strong hold of the dreaded group.
Established to tackle the menace being unleashed on the people by some restive youths known as Yan Kalare in the state, the Gombe State Agency for Social Services otherwise known as ‘Marshals’ is believed to be the most effective youth development and empowerment programme, a scheme established by the state government.
The agency which was said to have passed through legislative scrutiny did not just counter the issue of Kalare thugs but also made tremendous impact in the areas of traffic control, sanitation and maintenance of order in the state capital according to its chairman, Markus K. Danladi, a retired police commissioner. In an interview with Journalists in Gombe recently, he said the outfit was not driven by the quest for a state police but said, “We collaborate and help the police in fishing out criminal elements in the society.”
He added that the agency is gender-sensitive, saying that is why females were considered to be among the over 3,000 trained youths who are serving as wards, traffic and environmental marshals in the state, especially in the capital.
Markus added that the operations of the erstwhile thugs who were rehabilitated and reintegrated into the social environment of the society had been of great help to other security agencies most especially the police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in the state.
“With the constant moral lessons and physical training we are giving the boys, they have helped in reducing crime rates in the Gombe metropolis,” he said.
This initiative, according to residents of Gombe seems to be satisfying to the community. Malam Auwal is one of such members of the public who believes that if the present government had not introduced such programme and dissociated itself from empowering Kalare boys, the restive youths would have make life a nightmare in the state.
