Strategic Intelligence: How Nigeria’s Porous Borders, Proliferation of Arms Fuel Boko Haram Insurgency, Militancy

Preamble: Few days ago, Colonel Al-Amin Abubakar Garba who is the Commander, Division Intelligence Command (DIC) of the Nigerian Army 1^st Division, Kaduna, stated the obvious that, ’’porous borders and weak security system are routes through which Boko Haram and other criminal groups source arms. In his words, ‘’the porous Nigeria’s frontiers make it difficult to track movement of illegal arms and immigrants, hence the proliferation of weapons among criminal groups’’. Also speaking on the sporadic attacks attributed to herdsmen, the erstwhile Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase opined that most of the herdsmen that allegedly attack locals were foreigners who gained entrance into Nigeria due to border porosity. There’s no gainsaying the fact that persistent human trafficking and influx of illegal immigrants, weapons and ammunitions, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and their raw materials through Nigeria’s ubiquitous porous borders and their far-reaching socio-economic and national security implications. That Boko Haram militants abducted and have in their custody,  a chunk of the over 276 Chibok school girls it seized over two years ago, underscores lax security and porosity of Nigeria’s extensive borders.