Babagana Monguno, Nigeria’s national security adviser, says enlightenment and education are more powerful than guns in fighting Boko Haram and ISWAP.

“There’s no gun more powerful than enlightenment and education at the grassroots level,” asserted Mr Monguno at the ongoing ’14th Workshop of the League of Ulamas, Preachers and Imams of Sahel Countries’ in Abuja.

He said that terrorism and the rapid escalation of violent activities by militant Islamist groups in the Sahel since 2016 had been primarily driven by the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS).

“In that regard, it is imperative that ulamas, preachers, and community leaders in your localities key in to support efforts of our security forces in order to end this menace,” said the security adviser. “Just as collaborations between governments are boosting the advance of Security Forces in the fight against terrorism, alliances and group effort like LOPIS should be the backbone to rebuilding our terrorism-infested communities.”

He added that the groups had extended their activities to the Niger Republic and Burkina Faso.

According to him, they are supported by Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic and Muslim Support Group (GSIM) and ISGS.

“In Nigeria, Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) dominate terrorist activities, especially in the North-Eastern part of the country,” he noted. “The situation in the Sahel has never been grimmer, extremist violence continues to spread, the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is growing, and food insecurity is affecting more people than ever before.”

Mr Monguno urged the international community and its Sahel partners to prioritise governance, press for, or pursue an expanded peace process cautiously through dialogue.

The NSA added that there was also the need to push for more non-kinetic measures through affected communities.

According to him, the possibility of ISWAP creating a caliphate to rival Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) countries has been checkmated by governments in the region.

He said the adoption of both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches by LCBC countries to stem the conflict had yielded tremendous success.

(NAN)