BORDER SECURITY AND THE OPERATIONS OF BOKO HARAM TERRORISM IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Effective border management is one of the requirements for the actualizationof national security in any state. Therefore, poor border security is a great threat to national security. This paper critically examines border security and the operations of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria. The main objective of this work is to show how poor border security has aided the Boko Haram operations in Nigeria and proffer suitable solutions for achievement of effective border security in Nigeria. The theory of transnationalism was adopted as the framework of analysis. Data were collected through secondary sources and analyzed qualitatively. This paper revealed that the inability of Nigerian government to effectively combat the Boko Haram insurgency is mainly associated with poor border security (porosity of the border). The poor border security has aided or enhanced the capability of Boko Haram insurgency by ensuring easy trafficking of arms and ammunitions, recruitment and training of personnel, establishment of network with international terroristgroups, migration of terrorists and flow of finance. This work recommends, among others, that to achieve effective border security towards combating the Boko Haram terrorism, there is need for use of ICT, strengthening of the cooperation and coordination between border security agencies, effective security cooperation between Nigerian and its neighours and ECOWAS and strengthening of community policing.