Multi-National Joint Task Force and the Fight against Boko-Haram Insurgency: A study of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon Republics

Abstract

The Boko Haram insurgent group, active in the Lake Chad Basin LBC region posed a
complex security challenge to Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon Republics. The
increasing number of cross-border attacks and the infiltration of Boko Haram insurgents from
Nigeria into the neighbouring countries posed a serious security threat to all the countries
involved. Adopting counterinsurgency theory as the framework of analysis, this article
investigates and analyses the collective efforts of the affected countries in combating Boko
Haram in the LCB region. This qualitative study aimed at contributing to the existing
literature on the topic and to close the research gap on the collective approach policies
applied by the affected countries. The method applied to collect data was interview method
where 20 participants were carefully selected based on knowledge and expertise from 3
different fields namely security, academic and journalism. Data were coded and analysed
using ATLAS.ti software to generate themes for coding process. The findings suggest that
counterinsurgency measures have seen limited success, attributed to an excessive focus on
security actions and insufficient attention to political and economic strategies in addressing
the insurgency. The article concludes that to bring an end to the menace of Boko Haram
across the affected countries, various stakeholders including governments, NGOs, and
foreign nations should include soft approaches in addition to the military approach in dealing
with the situation.