Nigeria has extracted another town from the claws of Boko Haram. But, despite appearances to the contrary, it is not the Nigerian military that is responsible for this crucial victory against the militants.
Mercenaries, mostly South Africans who once worked for the Apartheid-era regime, are turning the tide against ISIL- inspired terrorism in West Africa, according to the South African press.
While Boko Haram has been engaged in a sophisticated media blitz driven by its new allegiance to ISIL, surely it is time for the international community to reconsider the wisdom of allowing the deployment of relics from apartheid-era South Africa, one of Africa’s worst regimes in recent history.
While the world’s focus has been consumed by the continuing fight against ISIL in Syria and Iraq, parts of West Africa have slid into chaos fuelled by Boko Haram’s murderous rampages.
The militants managed to grab international attention when they kidnapped hundreds of school girls last year, but their slow consolidation of territory, which Boko Haram leader Abubaker Shekau has compared to a caliphate, has yet to capture as many headlines.
Boko Haram is now riding on the coat-tails of ISIL’s meteoric rise in prominence and looking far beyond its own sphere of influence.
This is hardly surprising given that Boko Haram employs the same savage tactics but is not nearly as media savvy as ISIL.
Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan is in desperate need of victories over Boko Haram, who have killed thousands of people, displaced nearly a million and taken large areas of Nigeria’s north-east over the past five years. With a presidential election this month, Mr Jonathan needs victories in the fight against terror in his country to ensure a smooth reelection. Enter the mercenaries.
Officially employed as “security consultants”, the mercenaries have been operating in remote government airbases not far from the front lines.
One South African, a former member of the notorious apartheid-era elite military unit Koevoet, has been killed in what was officially called a “friendly fire” incident as reported by Afrikaans media outlet Netwerk24.
These men learnt their trade crushing leftist movements across South Africa on behalf of the apartheid regime.
While their fighting skills are considered to be unrivalled – the mercenaries have been reportedly operating at night against Boko Haram targets, while the Nigerian military mans the day shift – the ethics of using their services have to be questioned.
South Africa bans its citizens from engaging in mercenary activity for exactly this reason and has said that it will prosecute any returning mercenaries.
But this fight is not just about ethics — it is also about the defeat of Boko Haram. To be sure, the South African mercenaries can score a number of quick victories, but a coordinated multinational force is needed to ensure a more sustained victory over the militant group.
Guns for hire are nothing new to conflicts in Africa. Mr Jonathan has failed to defeat Boko Haram with his own army and is cynically deploying paid soldiers in an attempt to secure his reelection.
What is needed is a multinational force that will approach the fight against Boko Haram with the same intensity as the offensive against ISIL in Syria and Iraq. The success on the ground serves as a reminder of what well-trained, well-equipped soldiers can do.
The problem now is finding a long-term solution to the rise of militants in Nigeria. For that, the international community must take a leading role.
jdana@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @ibnezra
